Take Atlas, P-Body, and the Companion Cube (come on, s/he is sentient, right?) through two main testchambers (plus additional gameplay) meant to really challenge you both as you rely on timing and various applications of the cube to progress.

Just don't leave the cube behind. ~Ashley (doubledispatch)

UPDATE: I've fixed the issue with getting stuck in panels and made the area beyond the second chamber an actual (if brief) puzzle of its own. I've also made a few more improvements here and there, including making the second testchamber brighter.

File Name: mp_coop_threecompanions.zip
File Size: 4.19 MiB
Click here to download [Coop] Three Companions

this map was certainly chalenging in test chamber 2, some clever ideas

I liked how the lasers were used in test chamber 2 bc i it makes the test more fun than one would expect from lasers

tbh the last bit wasn't so much challenging as it was easy to make a mistake but otherwise there were some pretty good design elements and i liked the visual style - particually in the second room.

if there was one criticism it would be that i personally wanted more but then perhaps thats a good thing since the test interested me to make me think that so overall, excellent work. had you have added some holes leading to the outside and more panels that dont relate to the actual test it might almost seem the kind of thing valve would make (withtou glades of course)

Thankyou for your feedback. If anyone else has anything to say about what was good or could have been improved or wants to know how to do something i.e. you're stuck), please do go ahead and say.

I just played this map with my friend, and it was a lot of fun. However, in part 2 of the test chamber, my friend and I were able to get the portal surface gel into it, and it wound up making the entire chamber pretty easy (since we got it under the light bridges, the rest of the chamber was moot). I don't have any experience making maps, but if its possible I'd recommend you have the map turn that gel off once you enter the second chamber.

Otherwise, really enjoyed it; thanks for posting!

Nicely laid out level, though me and my partner also managed to break the second and last chamber with white gel.


Interestingly we found the elevator area itself had portable surfaces around it...so thus managed to reach the dissemblers by going in from the roof.
We also brought the companion cube! ...but then dropped it under the elevator...


This should be averted by just making the black walls in the transition room glass as well, as it was the ability to send gel in through the door by funnel onto the black tile behind the fizzler that let the abuse come through.

If that's the only bug people found, then I'm not too worried and yes I'll turn off the gel once you get through and otherwise do my best to fix the exploit. Thanks for playing and posting and bringing this to me attention.

EDIT: Okay, I've now set the white gel to turn off the moment the cube touches the button that opens the second door and it will refuse to turn on again even if you re-hit its activating button. This should prevent the white gel exploit. I've also replaced my portalable surface around the elevator (can't bloody believe I missed that) with the usual pitch blackness found in Valve's maps.

More exploit with the gel.
I didn't remember how exactly, but the door remained open and the gel flowed when we passed the door and the field. We was able to shoot a portal through the little window to the gel.

Anyway it was a great level!

Tzupi wrote:
More exploit with the gel.
I didn't remember how exactly, but the door remained open and the gel flowed when we passed the door and the field. We was able to shoot a portal through the little window to the gel.

Anyway it was a great level!

I'm not really worried about that since at least you can't get any more gel through the given portal. Still, I'll make the wall not portalable (even with gel) just to be on the safe side.

Anyway, thankyou for playing.

We brought in the funnel from the first room and essentially circumvented most parts of the second room by going straight to the button receptacle that activates the blue goo.

mbruck wrote:
We brought in the funnel from the first room and essentially circumvented most parts of the second room by going straight to the button receptacle that activates the blue goo.

I've fixed this in my latest version.

I'm playing custom maps and record my first time of playing them. So the run is not perfect and may not use only intended ways, but maybe it can let you see how other people may understand the map or you could just enjoy someone playing this map for entertainment.
Anyways, here is the recording:

x1cGmcV7ics
(Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1cGmcV7ics)

Also note the video description for more feedback and my signature for additional project information.

Djinndrache wrote:
I'm playing custom maps and record my first time of playing them. So the run is not perfect and may not use only intended ways, but maybe it can let you see how other people may understand the map or you could just enjoy someone playing this map for entertainment.
Anyways, here is the recording:

x1cGmcV7ics
(Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1cGmcV7ics)

Also note the video description for more feedback and my signature for additional project information.

Thankyou for making this recording and showing me how you completed my map. However, this is an earlier version of my map and the exploit with the excursion funnel is no longer possible.

doubledispatch wrote:
Thankyou for making this recording and showing me how you completed my map. However, this is an earlier version of my map and the exploit with the excursion funnel is no longer possible.

So we need a new video, right? There we go:

TFTfGiu24Q0
(Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFTfGiu24Q0)

Djinndrache wrote:
So we need a new video, right? There we go:

Thanks a bunch for the new video.

The run was very nearly that which was intended. Only thing you did differently was using the orange gel to hit the two lasers in quick successession rather than dropping the cube down a portal at high speed, whilst covered in red gel, to get the cube to fly through both. But I can easily fix that.

EDIT: On second thoughts, rigging the cube dropper to a button will break the first test. I'll probably think of a solution later but I really don't have time right now.

Another video!

6xuFKNXHq8c

Was the blue gel at the end actually necessary? I put a bunch down, but the only use seemed to be to jump over the emancipation grill, and then I found that the button right next to it actually turned it off.

Thankyou for uploading this video; the run was exactly as intended, so that's good for me as a designer. The blue gel at the end was left in (redundantly I admit) after I simplified the test which once required it. This was because it required you to pull off some redicilous feat which, when I got my family to play it, rather annoyed them what with the crusher beneath.

Here's another video for you.

9slfPJQYRUo

We do have a couple of the same questions and issues already mentioned in this thread, but I think you'll still find our playthrough and comments to be pretty informative.

Krem wrote:
Here's another video for you.

9slfPJQYRUo

We do have a couple of the same questions and issues already mentioned in this thread, but I think you'll still find our playthrough and comments to be pretty informative.

Thankyou for posting this video. Now I do have something burning in my mind I must say. What you said about multiple solutions was innacurate; ||you DID need to do the timing jump with the faith plate to get to the high part. However, for some reason your cube kept flining outward whenever you let go of it. Me and other playtesters were unable to strike the two lasers simply by flinging the cube but for some reason yours glitched and flung out of your hands. The actual solution that everyone else had to do was to drop the cube down the hole on the top of the platform hence the need to be there. So there was only one solution.

As for the blue gel on the end, the light bridge looked a bit high to jump on it normally. though you could have used the cube there, it still helped. To be honest though, the last puzzle was very overcomplicated (it required some redicilous feat of timing) so I simplified it meaning the blue gel has become something of a red herring.||

Anyway, thanks for playing.

EDIT: Oh, I just wanted to say that since an update I made ages ago, it is impossible to get the white gel into the next chamber. Don't mean to be rude, but I think you should have at least tried that before giving that as a negative (you realise it turns itself off automatically when the door is opened?). Sorry if that sounded a bit negative, but you can probably tell I had to get this out my mouth. Otherwise, you were informative and the video was appreciated.

Sure, thanks just for listening to us go on for so long to begin with, heh. Our number scores aren't really to be taken seriously, we tend to subtract points first and ask questions later. Good to hear you took concerns over white gel into account when making the map - though now I'm strangely tempted to go back and try to carry it forward even though you said we couldn't...

We enjoyed solving the puzzle in this map, and we gave it 4/5. There are a lot of good things to say about this map. So many, in fact, that we just recommend that you play it and see for yourselves.

We found three problems:
1. We turned off the funnel before we rescued the cube from the entrance, and had to restart.
2. We dropped the cube on the faithplate from the floor, and it fell below the surface (this has happened in other maps, someone tell me why so I don't have the same problem). We were able to rescue it, so it wasn't fatal.
3. My klutz brother fell into the well without any portals placed, I had to go to the console to kill him.

We also felt the big room was a little too dark. We had some trouble seeing what the little panel in the ceiling was doing.

Overall, a pretty good map well worth playing. Job well done!

KennKong wrote:
We enjoyed solving the puzzle in this map, and we gave it 4/5. There are a lot of good things to say about this map. So many, in fact, that we just recommend that you play it and see for yourselves.

We found three problems:
1. We turned off the funnel before we rescued the cube from the entrance, and had to restart.
2. We dropped the cube on the faithplate from the floor, and it fell below the surface (this has happened in other maps, someone tell me why so I don't have the same problem). We were able to rescue it, so it wasn't fatal.
3. My klutz brother fell into the well without any portals placed, I had to go to the console to kill him.

We also felt the big room was a little too dark. We had some trouble seeing what the little panel in the ceiling was doing.

Overall, a pretty good map well worth playing. Job well done!

Thankyou ever so much for your feedback. It's probably a bit late now, but I've still taken on board what's been said and have made a few more improvements outlined in the map description.