This will be my 3rd release of maps. This has been in my collections of to be finished box for a while now, and even though the ending of the maps is kinda left on a cliff hanger i decided to release this none the less (else noone will end up playing these 3 levels)

As stated above, map pack as such contains 3 levels, starting on tmv_start and ending on tmv_002. You will see in the console it would continue to tmv_003 however i have not completed this map so i have not released it currently. I may go back and release this again at a later date...

I do not expect high remarks from these maps as they were really just some tester maps, however feedback and comments will be appreciated.

Take your time with them, and enjoy them!

File Name: Too Many Variables 1.1.rar
File Size: 3.18 MiB
Click here to download Too Many Variables

Change log:

I only sense 2 maps:

there is 2 levels built into in tmv_002, and 1 in the starter level

but the starter level is basically 2 puzzles smashed into 1 due to the complexity of doing certain parts of it.

Oh well; I remember playing map 1 a long time ago.
map 1 puzzle one:
Great job!

map 1 puzzle two:
It's quite a big walk from part 1 to 2 and it really took me a while to figure out that I had to take the cube from part 1 to part 2!

bug: I somehow managed to shoot a portal through the glass once. After that I was able to solve it. I had no idea how to solve it otherwise.

Personally I don't like this pretty hard air control with blue gel but I'm sure there are people who love it.

Map 2 puzzle 1:
You have observed my worst nightmares and made them come true!
I hate this kind of maps. After the first sudden death you know what to do still it takes a hell of a lot attempts to do it. When you first step in to the room and "follow the flow" you just die. I had to noclip due to frustration level over 9000!

Map 2 puzzle 2:
Very nice but rather straightforward puzzle. Good use of laser and laser cubes.

All in all the frustration of the air control things lead me to the 4/5 conclusion:
Great!

level 1
use the gel to bounce the cube into the glass to smash it :p like i said in the OP the maps are more of a tester ground for certain things ive been looking at (e.g animations and the puzzle you mentioned here)

level 2
Go with the flow dude! :p side step while looking down, was also a tester into what people could withstand in that could they funnel swap? apparently not in your case :p

level 3
used a concept i looked at a while ago in another map, but i went for a sacrifice puzzle instead to increase dificulty.. This map was my nightmare, due to how many fail safes i had to put in to stop the player getting trapped everywhere!

cheers for feedback. (and these are by far my worst creations in my view :p)

I enjoyed them. Good job. I died a few times in the funnel flow until I saw what I needed to do. The funnel speed may be a bit to fast though. Thanks for creating.

The blue gel jumps in the first chamber were the most difficult, as I had to do them several times to figure out the right sequence to get 3dots area solved. Realized late that I needed to paint area 1dot in chamber 1 for later when I needed the laser; had to backtrack a lot.
Chamber 2 and 3 were comparatively much easier with a little thought.
Very nice and varied map set. All worked and I didn't get trapped anywhere. Thanks for creating.

Great pack, enjoyed it a lot. One thing i kinda didn't like was the way to reach the 1-dot in the first map's blue gel area, except if i did it wrong. Is some strafe jumping necessary there? Cause i did it that way. It's not that i had a hard time with it, just don't feel well with the idea that it's something necessary. I prefer to think of it as an advanced technique, not a requirement to solve puzzles.

Except this small thing, i loved it. Cakes for you.

Nice maps!

The fizzler puzzle with all the buttons turning off one fizzler at a time was a bit dull, though. When I first saw it, I expected one of those mind-twisters that Chander has created with his fizzler puzzles. Instead I just had to press the buttons in the correct order and carry the cube. After that, it took me forever to realize I'd need the laser cube, too.

All in all, this was still good fun, 4/5 for me.

I kinda thought I'd be pissed off at the jumpy part of Part1, but y'know.. there's no shame in quicksave!
I didn't have enough space for a blind run, so instead; here's a chopped together solution.
(Minus the deaths).
It's clearly unintended given that I completely skipped Dot1 and took my pal Barry for a ride in the elevator, but I'm sure it has its merits

Parts 2 and 3 were fairly straightforward, but I liked the consistant theme and attention to detail throughout.
Funfun.

DkEKn-emFfo

I hate blue gel puzzles, I should learn to just not play them. I couldn't get to the one dot platform, and noclipped from there on. The funnel puzzle was too tight for me, I just couldn't hit the button and turn to look down in time. I won't rate it if I can't play it.

Bigspoilers are silic's quotes.

level 1
use the gel to bounce the cube into the glass to smash it :p like i said in the OP the maps are more of a tester ground for certain things ive been looking at (e.g animations and the puzzle you mentioned here)
OF COURSE! How could I have missed that?!

level 2
Go with the flow dude! :p side step while looking down, was also a tester into what people could withstand in that could they funnel swap? apparently not in your case :p
I am very bad at timing stuff... So this was near-impossible to me.

level 3
used a concept i looked at a while ago in another map, but i went for a sacrifice puzzle instead to increase dificulty.. This map was my nightmare, due to how many fail safes i had to put in to stop the player getting trapped everywhere!
Well, this one has a Lp-seal off aproval:


cheers for feedback. (and these are by far my worst creations in my view :p)
I still thought they were worth a nice 4/5!

Still retarded... trying to get the bounce right in room 2 without dying is doable but tough.. not doable enough to warrant more than a 2/5 though...

ok just loaded up lvl2.. quit within 30 seconds.. another die 8000 times level.. not fun. Just retarded..

I can see why people dislike blue gel puzzles. But iirc in this case you just had to drop down onto the platform covered in blue gel while hitting the crouch-button. Then move forward facing number 2 and press jump - it should be the correct heigth to get into the room easily.

first jump hold down "A" and turn once hitting the blue gel, this allows you to straif into the room to your left

Once there get the laser portal set up

jump across to the second "little" room with the cube to open the fizzler to the 3rd room

Jump down onto the blue gel, holding crouch. This stops you on the centre.

Jump into the 3rd room, the height was done exactly so you could do this and not to cause annoyance trying to force yourself in from such a great height. Im not that mean

I wont go into the rest of the solution, but you get the ideaeaeaaaaaaahh....

This was an odd map-pack to play. Serene in some parts and frustrating in others with lots of deaths thrown in. Your solution for breaking the glass held me up for a long time. I tried throwing the cube against -- no break. I tried bouncing myself against it -- no break. Decided it couldn't be bounce cube against it, since test one failed. Argh!

Two small things: the cube falls into the deactivated AFP in level one. And you can lose the cube through the floor in the same room (around the tube that goes through the floor). I know, you're wondering "why would anybody be stupid enough to do that?" Well, all I can say is: desperate times call for desperate measures.

RogerL wrote:
I know, you're wondering "why would anybody be stupid enough to do that?" Well, all I can say is: desperate times call for desperate measures.

this made me laugh.

Like i said, this was a testing ground for me. but i decided that it was built enough as a level that i could release them, and let you guys see my madness when im mucking about with stuff. The concept was to use the first "room" you come into with all the tubes and glass to be like a lobby in you always return to that room after completing a chamber.

In the next map in the chain (which i never completed) you came back into the room and go through the glass which you cracked the first time. Opening the bottom part of that chamber up. But i doubt i will complete these chambers, i am working on a much better project at the moment

OK, so I managed to get through it with only about 100 deaths on the strafe jump alone, and another 25 or so on the funnel fling. It may not seem very ninja to you, but this map kung-fu'ed my ass up, down and sideways.

But I'm OK with maps like this, because they push my skills to new limits. I wouldn't enjoy more than a few chambers of it, though. So I won't miss it if you don't finish this map pack anytime soon.

All that whining aside, I thought it was a decent map in the puzzle department because it required some re-use of elements and it was a definitely non-linear solution in parts. In the looks department, it was clean and simple and not very enticing. Some areas were rather cramped. I really hate narrow hallways with lasers down the middle or that you have to maneuver with cubes. I liked the use of the disassembly stations as elevators. So when it's all said and done, I give it a 4/5.

When I watched my playthrough today, I thought "why was there a laser at all?" I don't know, but I ninjaed it like a boss.

DlFDFvsNzD8
(Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlFDFvsNzD8)

lol @ 7 mins & 9:35

Gee, thanks, Djinndrache, another ninja skill to practice: climbing walls by jumping out of and back into a portal. Just how long do you think it will be before some sadistic mapper decides to make that a part of a puzzle?

I'm adding this map to my playlist of training maps, because of that one strafe jump. If I can get to the point where I can do that jump 100% of the time, I'll be 0.01% of the way to becoming the next BananasaurusRex.

Djinndrache wrote:
When I watched my playthrough today, I thought "why was there a laser at all?" I don't know, but I ninjaed it like a boss.

Heh, same... it was some time after recording that I remembered there was an area with 1 dot :S
Uber jumping skills though.

KennKong wrote:
Gee, thanks, Djinndrache, another ninja skill to practice: climbing walls by jumping out of and back into a portal. Just how long do you think it will be before some sadistic mapper decides to make that a part of a puzzle?

I first found this "exploit" in a map by lpfreaky90; I don't remember the mapname. I used it in a few maps so far, however I guess none really required it yet :p

Silic - so far I love the map and needed no straf to get into Fot 1 - instead I jumped into Dot 2 and then simply jumped across to Dot 1 (took about 5 tries though). Anyway I am experiencing bugs it seems. Or am I doing something wrong ? I do not want to see Video solution until I give it the old College try !!!

BUG 1 - Dots not in Order. In room one I tried going by the order of the Dots.
However Dot 1 had no way to get through because a glass plate blocked me. Apperently Dot 1 is not the first place to go.

So I ended up getting a portal into Dot 3, put gel on cube, and dropped it in to kill Turrets.
At that point I retrieved the bouncing cube and realized I needed a wash for the cube - but found none - so I killed the cube using the Fizzler in Dot 3 and went back to get a clean one.
BUG 2 - no cube ever appeared to replace the fizzled cube !! I went back and pressed all 5 buttons but no new cube would drop

So I started again and this time I realized that the Blue screens have a symbol showing they will clean the cube.
BUG 3 - the Blue Screens do NOT CLEAN THE CUBE. I tried going through both Blue Screens repeatedly and neither cleaned the gel off. I even restarted the game - to no avail.

Can you help me ?? Thanks a lot.

PC Doc

For me the gel washed off but only in the beginning.
I also used the gelled cube to bounce around and kill the turrets - and after-wards could not wash it off. For some reason the blue fields had no effect on the cube at that point.

I tried PC Doc's idea of destroying the cube to go and get a fresh cube, but no cube ever dropped into place. Determine to find out what was happening, I NoClipped and carried the cube back to the beginning and destroyed it there - then I rushed over and saw the cube dropper slats open !! I even saw 2 cubes stacked up in there - but they just stayed there and did not drop. So I retried and when the slats opened I grabbed a cube and pulled it down. That worked but I was in NoClip mode so it is a moot point. Good ideas in the map but a few bugs that ruined it for me. If those bugs were fixed I would rate it highly.

Part 2, first half - was very cool to execute.

Hi doc,

There are some issues with your bug findings, and also i have given you a hint for bug 1

Quote:
BUG 1 - Dots not in Order. In room one I tried going by the order of the Dots.
However Dot 1 had no way to get through because a glass plate blocked me. Apperently Dot 1 is not the first place to go.

The dots are correct, the glass can be broken. If you have played the coop maps or understand hammer style hints. remember there was a map with this model in it : "props_destruction\box_frame.mdl" It was used in a very unique way with glass which i have not seen in many maps. It is most probably why you are struggling at this point.

Quote:
BUG 2 - no cube ever appeared to replace the fizzled cube !! I went back and pressed all 5 buttons but no new cube would drop

This is a bug with the way i have designed the cube droppers... which I can replecate on occasion but not all the time.. I have scanned through the tmv_start.vmf which i released, and all the triggers which would cause the cube to respawn on fizzle or destruction are in place.

There are two cases which i have purposely caused no cube to spawn.

Method 1:
There is a tiny bug (if anything) in that if you in quick sucession Destroy cube after cube, meaning 2 cubes in a row, the third cube will be stuck in the catcher itself. but you can only do this bug inside the little room 5, else its impossible to replecate quick cube destruction.

Method 2:
There is also a bug in the way portal 2 saves the game. Due to i have to use a brush to stop the replacement cube from falling (I have phased these types of cube droppers from my maps now) If you destroyed the first cube, save the game, then reload it again once the cube dropper has reset itself back to standing position. The cube will be stuck in mid-air, unable to drop. This is also rare, and i have only been able to replecate it twice now out of the 12 times ive tried it... might happen more on others pc's im not sure, but for me i have found that.

I wont be replacing these cube droppers. due to i have not much love for these maps in to sort out a rare bug. If the cube is destroyed without quicksaves etc being used. no issue should happen.

Quote:
BUG 3 - the Blue Screens do NOT CLEAN THE CUBE. I tried going through both Blue Screens repeatedly and neither cleaned the gel off. I even restarted the game - to no avail.

Once again, Just looked thorough the vmf, and also (After writing out the first response to bug 2, i went and decompiled the version of the map i released and all the trigger points are there to cleanse the cube. Way i worked the cleanses was to have a trigger paint cleanser, which stops any paint from landing in the map in that certain point. It also cleanses paint from cubes and the like when passed thorough them. On both of the paint cleansing points (and also some hidden ones to ensure the map doesnt become impossible due to silly paint flings) are all there.

Just to make 100% sure to myself, and to a relatively full help in your issue, i recompiled the first map and replayed it with no issues encountered. I have re-released the new compiled map as a update in-case you somehow got a dodgy copy, and hopefully this solves the issues you have with the paint cleansers. I have ALSO included the .vmf files so you are welcome to scan thorough them, or even compile them yourself incase its something to do with my pc not compiling in the way your pc likes it. But from my end, i can actually see Nothing wrong. (i was REALLY hoping to to basically say, yep you are right sorry! :/)

Silic

Thanks for the detailed response.
The Bugs are shown in this video (I skipped much of the initial 5 fizzler part and used NoClip to speed up the display of what is happening).

I thought you might be interested to see what is actually happening.
It shows how the Gel can be removed initially but not later.
It also shows the dropper problem and the ability to pull the cube out of the dropper as a workaround.
I did try a re-download and started the Map from scratch several times. Not sure what is happening.

But let me know if you have a newer version - thanks again.

E-Y1XhOSD7Y

interesting. shall investigate further then

Unless it is out of curiosity - don't knock yourself out.
After all, it only happens when someone tries an alternative solution.
Although - I do love the gel cube method of wiping the floor with the Turrets - hehe.

It is funny because you drop the cube in there from as high as possible - sort of like Bowling - then hear then saying "Don't shoot . . . It's me . . . lalalala . . . etc , so you figger they died and jump down in there. But there always seems to be one more left to blast you. Its like jumping into a Snake Den. So you try waiting longer - but then the cube bounces its way back and into the fizzler !!

I like the map apart the bouncy gel room. Seriously, too much dieing involved.I guess some people like maps where you have to try the same thing over and over until you get it perfect but not me. I rate it 4/5 because I didn't like that part only.

Ok if intended tmv_start.bsp solution was (according to author) use the gel to bounce the cube into the glass to smash it then I guess it's still unpassable, because cube can't be cleaned and stucks in dropper. So 3/5.
Also provided tmv_start.vmf doesn't match the tmv_start.bsp at all, it's from the entirely different version of the map.