I decided to bring a fantastic puzzle game together with an incredible puzzle game to make something that would (hopefully) turn out spectacular -- you can be the judge of that.

This is a full-scale recreation of the Forest Temple from the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time with Portal 2 puzzles scattered about. My goal was to make the map in such a way that a player with only knowledge of Portal 2 mechanics could play the map just like any other, while Zelda fans would feel that their surroundings were familiar.

I've uploaded the map here but it is also available on the Workshop, and there you'll find screenshots, insider tips, and the change log:
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/f ... d=86505390


Now with a run-through video! Included in the interest of helping the hopelessly lost:
(Note: SPOILERSSSSS!! Don't watch it. Unless you like eating spoiled vegetables, in which case I would contact a physician)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBE2RbeZDs4

File Name: sp_ForestTemple.zip
File Size: 39.14 MiB
Click here to download Forest Temple

Based on screenshots, this seems pretty damn impressive! I'm especially amazed by the rendition of the twisted corridor. Will give this a try...

I'm stuck with the darn laser puzzle. Any hints?

Tailgunner wrote:
I'm stuck with the darn laser puzzle. Any hints?

Me too! Dx

I solved the laser puzzle - it's basically a matter of making a square, of sorts; you'll need to place the cube through a portal.

I found 4 cubes, but if you have the patience to get the ball out of the room with the jigsaw puzzle you're a better man than I...

Are you having trouble with the first or second laser puzzle? (the easier* one or the harder one? =P)

Solution to laser room 1:
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/832/2012080500001.jpg/


For laser room 2, I originally had a really crazy solution in mind:
The idea was that 1 laser would enter the portal on the ground, and hit the receiver on the wall. The other 2 lasers would be redirected into the portal on the wall to hit the two receivers on the ceiling
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/21 ... 00003.jpg/


However, in my own testing, I found a simpler and faster solution:
if you knock one of the cubes on its back, so that it redirects upwards, you could point it straight at one receiver on the ceiling. Then another cube could redirect to the wall receiver and the last laser could be portalled
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/40 ... 00002.jpg/

There may be other solutions to laser room 2, but these are the ones I found and the second is the one I use myself



If someone could point me in the direction of a good free video capturing program I could record a full run-through

El Farmerino wrote:
I solved the laser puzzle - it's basically a matter of making a square, of sorts; you'll need to place the cube through a portal.

I found 4 cubes, but if you have the patience to get the ball out of the room with the jigsaw puzzle you're a better man than I...

I don't think there is any need to take the sphere out of the green ghost's room (i think that's what you're talking about). But don't let me stop you from finding creative or innovative solutions

Here are the relevant object totals:
||5 "key" cubes; these are the normal blue cubes. Note: these are the only cubes that will fit into the "lock" mechanisms to open doors

1 "boss key" cube; this is the pink companion cube -- the cube button in the basement next to the exit door will actually open to any cube, but this is the only one left at that point in the puzzle (unless you use some noclip trickery)

3 spheres; one of them is in a room with a fizzler at the entrance, effectively isolating it from other puzzles

3 reflector cubes; these are fizzled upon their respective laser puzzle's completion||

(sort-of spoiler map discussion ahead. No actual solutions to puzzles, but discussion of mechanics)





Frankly my biggest concerns were the tractor-beamable blocks, both in the room left of the center room (two blocks 128x128) and in the green ghost's room.

First they were objects that you don't find in the standard game, so the player would have to recognize their tractor-beamability, though after figuring that out it would be semi-straightforward (though admittedly the green blocks can be finicky, and basically if you're trying too hard it might be best to start the room over)

The second problem was that if you place your tractor beam wrong you can get the blocks stuck, especially with the big 128x128's in their narrow hallways. I had considered adding a reset button to this room, as well as the green ghost room, which would kill the blocks and respawn them in their original positions.
The trouble with that was that first the func_physbox that is the basis of those blocks doesn't have a dissolve animation, so actually firing a "kill" input would make them disappear into thin air, and that detracted from the immersion/aesthetic.
The second problem was that there are more to those blocks than just func_physbox's. The bigger blocks are a physbox, a portallable func_brush on top, and a portal cleanser to make them solid to "bullets" (a long story that I won't enter into depth here). The green blocks are a whole mess of monitors, the physbox, and triggers that recognize adjacent blocks. I don't know if those can all be put into a point_template that could then be used to respawn each block, but admittedly I haven't tried


If enough people say that it's a problem I could try adding the reset buttons, but the dissolve animation could still be a problem and I don't have a work-around in mind

I thought I had completed all the preliminary tasks in the lower floors - including the "easy laser" which was far, far from easy. So I finally got the cube from that Laser room - my reflector cube was destroyed automatically. And went back to the main center area hoping to see some of the 4 sets of floor light strips and those 4 lamp posts light up. NOTHING !! Major bummer.

Also - in that easy laser room I could see another room above but no portable surfaces to get up there and no floor surface to beam up.

So I ventured further. I used the funnel and took my new cube up to the upper area above the funnel halls, where the 2 turrets are. Killed turrets, then dropped in cube. New Door opened - went in - shot floor portal - flung up, pressed button - NEW Cube receptacle appeared, but now I have no cube !!! Roamed around endlessly and never found another cube.

So I am stuck - a man wandering around in a desert looking for water but no oasis ever appeared.
.
Overall a ton of work went into this and it has a nice "castle" feel. There are so many useless portable surfaces and so many rooms and hallways that it is just too much to comprehend. Basically a huge maze with many dead ends. I love the exploring. But it became a real chore after a while to find things and to remember where to get other things. Also there is no real feeling that I was getting any closer to an actual solution. I found myself getting disheartened and then losing interest due to the apparent impossibility of this monumental undertaking. It seems that so far no ones has completed it, which says a lot.

It was actually very frustrating when all that initial work did not turn on a single set of lights in the main room's floor. I assume once they are all lit that vertical lift will activate ? Not sure. I would recommend reworking this into a concise map - or break it into several maps so that the person sees their progress and does not have to search around so much.

PCdoc wrote:
And went back to the main center area hoping to see some of the 4 sets of floor light strips and those 4 lamp posts light up. NOTHING !! Major bummer. ... there is no real feeling that I was getting any closer to an actual solution

I can understand that feeling, and I've updated the map to help alleviate that. I've added some indicator panels to the center room that will help clarify some of the progression, though the moments when you turn on the colored lamps should become apparent once you're there.

PCdoc wrote:
There are so many useless portable surfaces

that's part of the point hehe

PCdoc wrote:
I would recommend reworking this into a concise map - or break it into several maps so that the person sees their progress and does not have to search around so much.

That's the one thing I don't want to do. I want to keep with the spirit of the place as one big thing that you have to work through, I'd rather not change the structure of the building. I might make certain parts easier or provide hints here or there, but I don't intend to break it up

I'm going to try this out being a Zelda fan myself. From the screenshot, it look really good. Especially the twisted hallway.
Edit: I got about half-way through before the game crashed on me. I'm going to have to go through it all over again.

I like the fact that there were Wallmaster Turrets in the twisted room. The laser puzzles were challenging but not insanely hard. The Core Portraits were also fun to break.

Haha, finally managed to finish this!

Overall, I'd have to say that I enjoyed it immensely, which is weird because there were loads of things that really pissed me off....

First, the good:

- I really like the hub structure, and the fact that you have to keep revisiting different rooms to use their elements in the other ones. I'm not convinced everything I did was absolutely as intended, but then I'm not sure it matters, as it was always satisfying to progress. The 'boss fights' were variable, but I liked the idea of them and the yellow one in particular was great.

- It looks fairly nice. I haven't played Zelda, so can't comment on how well you did there, but I liked it all the same. Some of the texturing is a bit repetitive, though - could do with a bit more model detailing etc. to give it some character.

- Some of the dynamic elements are truly fantastic - that twisting corridor, the big rotating room, the way the second laser puzzle descends and forms in front of you... loved it, awesome work.

- Some great puzzles along the way.
Now, The bad:

In the room with the moving blocks, they kept getting stuck in the new update. Never had that problem the first time I played it. Eventually had to noclip past.

I fucking hate turret ambushes. Really, really hate them. I guess they're supposed to represent fights in the original Zelda level or something, but they still pissed me off.

A couple of the cubes are easy to miss (the very first one, especially). There's a fine line between encouraging players to explore and having them wander aimlessly, and I felt the map crossed it in a couple of places.

Similarly, there were a couple of places where I didn't realise what to do for ages - most notably when I brought all of the cores into the middle room because I didn't realise I was supposed to kill them. To make it worse, I then found out you can only kill them in the rooms you found them in; after I worked this out I couldn't be bothered taking them all back so I did it using noclip.

Killing the blue guy. That was a nightmare. In the end I took two cubes and two balls up there to do the job and it still took ten frustrating minutes.

The yellow guy - the button is too close to the faithplate, so it's really easy to accidentally step on it when you're trying to do the thing you need to do. I thought it was a brilliant puzzle, actually, but that was a little annoying.

The green guy. Didn't really like the jigsaw thing, to be honest, although it seemed much easier in the update so thanks for that.

Like I say, I have a lot of criticism, but I definitely would recommend it to anyone as I had lots of fun getting through it despite the odd moment of frustration. Kind of feel I would have liked it even more if I'd ever played the Zelda game too... Thanks a lot for sharing!

For some of the things that pissed you off El Farmerino, I'd like to explain a few of them since I've memorized the original Forest Temple.
1. The cube placements are placed in the same rooms and general areas as Keys are in the real game to unlock doors.
2. The 4 Cores represent the Poe Sisters that steal the flames that power the elevator in the main room with 4 torches. You have to damage the pictures in order get them out. In this map however, it is harder to attack the core screens and there is no indication that the cores stole power from the elevator.
3. Turret ambushes. Well, it's better than the Wallmaster grabbing you.
My main complaint is that I wanted to hear the Forest Temple theme while playing this map.

See, I knew it would have made more sense if I'd played the original. Still, I managed to work it all out on my own regardless...

MasterLagger wrote:
My main complaint is that I wanted to hear the Forest Temple theme while playing this map.

Fixed! Testers will now be accompanied through the halls by the haunting echoes of the Forest Temple theme.

I've also added a run-through video

Just solved this myself, and I can say without exaggeration that, with very few exceptions, this is the most fun I had with a Portal 2 map.

The conformity to TLOZ:OOT was pretty striking, and the miniboss fights were excellent. There are indeed a few frustrating aspects about the map, but in my book it's all overshadowed by the fun factor.
It's awesome that you've included the FT theme in the new version.

The harder laser puzzle had me stuck for a while as well, so even in the puzzle department I liked it

And I hope you make more maps...

Yeah, I'd like to see you publish all the other dungeons as well.

This certainly was something different. Epic in scope, with a huge variety of puzzles, and many new mechanics to learn, it felt a little overwhelming at times. My general impression is that this is definetly worth a play, but only if you have a lot of patience. There is a lot of searching, exploring, and, unfortunately, backtracking. I have to admit that I had to watch your video to figure out the jigsaw puzzle, and I still don't know what the goal of that was, but I faithfully copied your moves and was able to continue. And I didn't realize that that puzzle had to be completed to gain access to the puzzle for the fourth light. I spent an hour just looking for that last puzzle after giving up on the jigsaw puzzle for the fourth or fifth time. I did manage to get the movable blocks stuck once on my first time into that room, but fortunately I had a save just before that and it didn't happen again. There is a sphere button in that room that didn't seem to do anything, and it didn't look like you used it in your walkthrough -- again, that was a real time waster as I searched and searched for what it did. Overall, though, I would highly recommend this map, but only to certain types of players.

I think that's a fair assessment RogerL, this map won't be amazing for everyone. But if there are a few people out there who really enjoy it as much as I do then it's all worth it.

MasterLagger wrote:
all the other dungeons

Heh I don't know about all of them, but I've begun work on my next installment. But think serenade, not bolero

narsqrd wrote:
MasterLagger wrote:

all the other dungeons

Heh I don't know about all of them, but I've begun work on my next installment. But think serenade, not bolero

Oh no, not the damn Water Temple.

Oh well, at least the iron boots won't be involved. I can see those dragon heads rising with portal surfaces on their necks instead of a bullseye.

That's what's so great about it, the hookshot and portal gun can be used to very similar ends and many of the mechanics/obstacles can be pulled straight from the game itself

narsqrd wrote:
think serenade

Water Temple would be nice; it has quite a few aspects that lend themselves to Portal 2 mechanics...

Good news everyone!

I've found a neat little entity by the name of phys_ragdollconstraint and used it to fix a very important thing: the tractor-beam blocks have now had their rotation constrained. This change should significantly reduce the chances of getting blocks stuck, reduce the difficulty of solving the green ghost's puzzle, and ultimately make the map better for everyone.

The Water Temple was my favourite dungeon of the Zelda series, because it made me think spacially for the final puzzle and that kind of blew my young mind. Of course, since people are idiots, it gets the most flak out of any OoT dungeon (other favourites are the Shadow Temple and the gasp Forest Temple). I tried this map briefly, but I didn't like the turret ambush (although thinking about it is like the Furryfos (not Bone-fos) rising from the earth and 'ambushing' you at the start of the Temple), and I didn't feel like playing at that point (I might retry it later though).

Mr Waterhandle wrote:
I tried this map briefly, but I didn't like the turret ambush (although thinking about it is like the Stalfos rising from the earth and 'ambushing' you at the start of the Temple), and I didn't feel like playing at that point (I might retry it later though).

cough Wolfos cough cough

Mr Waterhandle wrote:
The Water Temple was my favourite dungeon of the Zelda series, because it made me think spacially for the final puzzle and that kind of blew my young mind. Of course, since people are idiots, it gets the most flak out of any OoT dungeon...

How are people idiots if they are pointing out that equipping/unequiping the Iron Boots is irritating? It's not the dungeon itself that's being criticized, just the way the Iron Boots where used. Even the developers were aware about this and they fixed that issue in the 3DS remake.

right

Most of the complaints I've heard were about it being too confusing. And yeah, that boots swapping isn't a complaint about the dungeon.

anybody else getting "Engine Error ED_Alloc: No free edicts" before starting the loaded map, crashing the game?

I got that error while playing the map, not before. It went away on it's own, but is this happening constantly or just the one time?

constantly. i suppose this can't have something to do with the amount of ram. i read specification as it is a limit which should fire regardless of ram but entities in the map. i do not understand. maybe cave does?

The only time it happened to me is when I held a cube through a portal and fell down away from the portal while still hold the cube through the wall.

Very nice map! Love the design and the whole theme. Sadly I haven't played the original Zelda version. (only the snes and gameboy version) Took me some time to figure out what to do with the monitors. Always nice to see someone being creative and using diffrent puzzle elements than the typical buttons and fizzlers thing.
Somehow I'm stuck in the room with the flying cubes. I tried to complete the room for 30 mins until I looked for a solution video here and I noticed that the cubes are supposed to drop on the floor once the funnel gets activated. I guess I found a bug because they are strangly hoovering under the ceiling and not dropping on the floor. I tried to noclip and press the button through the wall to continue this stage but the trigger wasn't activated yet.
I replayed the map and the error occured again and I really want to play the rest of the map.
Anyways great map so far... Going into my favs

I have the same problem as marKiu.

I have loved the map so far, but now I cannot continue. I even restarted the map from scratch.

Is there a setting problem or something?

I see the problem. The entity I used to constrain the blocks' rotation seems to act strange after reloading the map (if you died for example, or enter "reload" in the console).

Figuring out the problem is one thing, but now fixing it is another. I'll have to try some things out and see what I can do

So the key is to not die, restart, or reload? I can give that a try.

Anybody else having a problem breaking the last monitor screen with the blue gel covered bouncing ball?
I've gotten all of the screens broken but the last one nearest the ground level where the blue bouncing liquid and the water are dripping out. Nothing I do will break it. I've watched the video and see that I am doing the same thing, but nothing. I've tried it over and over maybe 50 times. Is this a bug or am I just not doing something right?

bmail wrote:
Anybody else having a problem breaking the last monitor screen with the blue gel covered bouncing ball?

Yes! I'm having the exact same problem. All other monitors broke fairly easily, but the one at the top of the first set of stairs off the gel room remains intact after scores of direct hits with the ball. I even quit, restarted steam and played through the level again, but can't break that last monitor. I'm really enjoying the map and would like to be able to finish so any suggestions/help are greatly appreciated.