This map is intended to be fairly difficult conceptually. It needs some dynamic moves but hopefully they are fairly easy to execute.
v1.1: removed the first level up. fixed a few unintended solutions.
v1.2: fixed shortcut on the top level.

File Name: kerplunk_v1_2.rar
File Size: 1.09 MiB
Click here to download kerplunk

The concept idea is okay, the map is not funny at all though. Too much of the same concept which gets boring pretty soon. Doing it once would have been okay for one part of a map, but doing it over and over again and that's it... bleh.
Also pointing out to please not use a glitch which got fixed more than 2 months ago in an official patch is pretty pathetic aswell. It's quite obvious that someone should not use mechanics which aren't in the game at all.

Basic concept: Okay, quite enjoyable
Game design: Fail
Game knowledge: Fail

Try again, the basic idea wasn't bad.

Djinndrache wrote:
Also pointing out to please not use a glitch which got fixed more than 2 months ago in an official patch is pretty pathetic aswell. It's quite obvious that someone should not use mechanics which aren't in the game at all.

??? no gameplay ???

Glitchusing? I don't find a solution for the second light bridge ...there is a normal way or I have to use glitches?

//have an idea ...but: cube throwing cannot be the solution, ...or?!

BlumCoLe wrote:
Glitchusing? I don't find a solution for the second light bridge ...there is a normal way or I have to use glitches?

The objective is to activate the bridges for a very short time with the "normal" laser and then quickly put the cube on the new bridge to use the new laser to hold the new bridge.

For the second bridge it could look something like this: http://img825.imageshack.us/img825/2119/kerplunk.png

This way you can work up until you reach the top. When you reach the top bridge you will see what the difficult part of the map is. Not funny IMO

Djinndrache wrote:
The objective is to activate the bridges for a very short time with the "normal" laser and then quickly put the cube on the new bridge to use the new laser to hold the new bridge.

Actually no, this is not the way to do it. That sounds quite painful.
The simple way to do it is to drop the cube so it rises directly to its correct position on the new bridge. Aiming the portals is easy, but if it misses the sensor it is a simple matter to adjust the angle of the upward portal while the cube oscillates.
Although this is required 3 times, this is meant to be the easy part.
Sorry you didn't like it Djinndrache. I take your point though and perhaps I will remove the first level up.

grayarea wrote:
Actually no, this is not the way to do it. That sounds quite painful.

It is, even for advanced ninjas. The timers are awfully short

Djinndrache wrote:
grayarea wrote:

Actually no, this is not the way to do it. That sounds quite painful.

It is, even for advanced ninjas. The timers are awfully short

I'll upload my playthrough at some point. I'd like to make the frustrating approaches actually impossible so people wouldn't get stuck on them.
The map description, rather than being a "fail" should have been a clue that advanced ninjaing is not required.
Also BlumCoLe, this means no cube throwing.

grayarea wrote:
Also BlumCoLe, this means no cube throwing.

doh ^^

XjdosEV5SUc

grayarea wrote:
I'll upload my playthrough at some point.

No no no, please wait!
If you say there is a better (not so freaky ^^) solution ... then please let me try again!

Today is a better day ...i'm fit!

Interesting! Well I'm working on an updated version right now. One of the things I'll try to fix is that portals should only be placed dead-centre on the targets. Which means the laser should only pass through the middle of the portals. I struggled with getting it to work the first time but I didn't think it was important. Turns out I was wrong!

this was the hardest and most ingenious map i've ever completed i did it different than blumcole i think my way was better and more legal

inax wrote:
this was the hardest and most ingenious map i've ever completed i did it different than blumcole i think my way was better and more legal

BlumCoLe wrote:
//have an idea ...but: cube throwing cannot be the solution, ...or?!

Learn to read!
I know myself that it isn't the intended way, but when you know my videos, you would see that I try out all possible ways always.

inax wrote:
this was the hardest and most ingenious map i've ever completed i did it different than blumcole i think my way was better and more legal

thanks! i've just updated to v1.1 to fix a couple of the too-tricky methods.

if you did it as intended, it should work almost the same on the new version.

Hey

Here is chessmaster's solution for v1.0.
Alternative and "legal", bypassing most of the level's elements. Hope you like it.

cIJ6pgLQppc

I like it very much. It doesn't seem possible on v1.1 though.
The one-fizzler exit is quick and clever. I might have to have a think about that.
Thanks for playing.

Hey you know you don't have to remove unintended solutions, it's what makes maps fun, that's what made this map extremely fun to solve while others curse its difficulty.

It is even easier now in 1.1 thanks to the increased height between the levels.

I know but I'd already updated the map before you posted and the changes were needed for other reasons.
I've tried to do chessmaster's solution myself on 1.0 but haven't managed it!
I can't make the initial flight from portal-to-portal. There must be a technique I'm missing there. How embarrasing.

P2CMGamer_1 - that was the most skilled, accurate, and incredible gameplay I have ever seen. I could not replicate your moves in a million years. Wow - unbelievable.

Agreed. I can't do it... yet
Correction: I've just now managed to do it after about 1000 tries. That is some tricky jumping chessmaster!

grayarea wrote:
I can't make the initial flight from portal-to-portal. There must be a technique I'm missing there. How embarrasing.

The solution is "strafe jump"!

That's the reason why chessmaster wrote "legal" in quotation marks.

Yeah got it now. I still find it quite hard to execute on v1.0 but it is much easier in 1.1.
I think I'm going to leave it as a legit alternative solution now. It's still kind of tricky to plan and execute and most of the bridge and exit logic is still required now in v1.2.

BlumCoLe wrote:
The solution is "strafe jump"!
That's the reason why chessmaster wrote "legal" in quotation marks.

Wether a solution is legal or not is open to debate, and this is not the thread for that. It is just my personal opinion that any solution is legit, even box throwing, so long as you don't use obvious glitches, like "button glitch", "cube through emanicipation grid" or "funnel hovering".

It is fully possible to execute the alternative solution in version 1.0 without any special technique by looping between the highest and middle level, it will take longer but still works all the same. The only difficult part would be jumping from the highest light bridge to the lower one. In real life that would be the difference between a casual straight forward jump and a maximal leap where you exert yourself to the max, and that is why I believe that the "strafe jump", otherwise known as "b-hops" in counterstrike, is fine to use if it enables advanced and beautiful solutions like this one.

After all b-hops are a very difficult technique to master and even I can't do it perfectly right (chessmaster is my brother (((we devised the solution together )))

In version 1.1 it is just as easy even without strafing technique, until the bridge jump again...

Well thank you darkarea for letting that solution be, it is by all means a nice challenge for portal-diehard-pros (banansaurus rex, lemonsunshine and company) to beat a 2-3 minute time record by finding this or another alternative route.

Yes v1.0 had a number of problems. I wish I had a brother here for testing! No one has pointed out that you could also raise a cube by lifting it high and dropping it to the middle floor. Oops!
The bridge jump is a very interesting point in your solution. Lucky you could make it, as it's not part of the intended solution. Note: returning to the top bridge should be a bit harder after v1.0. I'll upload my video tomorrow.
Well thanks again for playing guys and thanks for showing me some tricks!
Maybe I'll revisit this theme again some time, but probably not on the next map.

How to do the "strafe jump". I can jump down to the bottom portal from the top and then shoot back up and out from the top portal . . . however I cannot get enough forward movement while in the air to exit from the top portal and sail forward and down to the bottom portal. I tried both Forward and Crouch while inh the air . . . I tried just forward . . . I also increased my jump height by jumping off from the top of the cube. There seems to be no Gravity effect at all so the up and down does not diminish . . . but I cannot reach the lower portal.

"How to strafe jump" - thanks.

PCdoc wrote:
How to do the "strafe jump". I can jump down to the bottom portal from the top and then shoot back up and out from the top portal . . . however I cannot get enough forward movement while in the air to exit from the top portal and sail forward and down to the bottom portal. I tried both Forward and Crouch while inh the air . . . I tried just forward . . . I also increased my jump height by jumping off from the top of the cube. There seems to be no Gravity effect at all so the up and down does not diminish . . . but I cannot reach the lower portal.

"How to strafe jump" - thanks.

"To strafe" means walking sidewards. When moving sidewards in mid-air, you're getting farther than if you'd jump straight forward.
Practice it in the multiplayer lobby, try to jump from the spawning point on the hardlight surface.

The same works for all mid-air moments, not just jumping.

PCdoc wrote:
"How to strafe jump" - thanks.

Bananasaurus friend's tutorial is the place to start to become a portal pro.

http://youtu.be/JX3_KxTXkr4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JX3_KxTX ... ideo_title

Loved it. Definitely one of the harder maps I've played so far. Took me quite a while but I think I got a "legal" solution (simply because I'm crap at ninja stuff, so that was no option .

Keep up the good work!

Thanks.
Here's the intended solution. Cheers.

XxY54K5rr48

This is the hardest map to play with a controller that I've ever completed. You and Jonatan can split the bill for my new F7 key.
I really like the design of the puzzle, but it has elements that frustrate the heck out of me. Running around (or over)cubes without bumping them gives me fits; I lost count of the misses on the fling to the last bridge. Running down lightbridges with lasers on them is another, but at least yours were double-wide. I missed the jump to the top landing over and over again because I would bump the laser before I jumped. It is very hard to run in a straight line with a controller, and this map needed absolute precision in that regard. These problems would have been alleviated greatly by about two more seconds on the timers. Also, aligning the laser sources with one side of the lightbridges would have helped a lot.

I'm absolutely OK with maps that push the most skilled of players, but if Djinndrache is complaining, you know you're really pushing it. Just advertise the map as high difficulty (which you didn't) and don't complain when sissy boys like me whine about it.

I won't let the high degree of difficulty mute my enthusiasm for this puzzle. This is one I will play over and over trying to get through it once without a quick load. This map doesn't have the extras I usually require for a 5, but the inter-locking timer mechanisms were too good to ignore. 5/5 from me.

Thanks so much for your kind words KennKong. I really have no idea about console Portal, so it would be hard for me to estimate the difficulty. Have you looked at the solution video I uploaded? Is it similar to yours?
I've practiced the map hundreds of times in development and it's still challenging for me to make a run without quicksaves on my PC. I think I still laser myself once in that video.
Thanks a lot for your feedback. It's very valuable to me as it was my first time using Hammer and I didn't have any testers before uploading. I'm working on a new map now. I think the timers will be a recurring theme since they seem to allow for a lot of creative possibilities.
Cheers for playing.

grayarea wrote:
I really have no idea about console Portal, so it would be hard for me to estimate the difficulty. Have you looked at the solution video I uploaded? Is it similar to yours?

I'm not playing on a console, I just use a PS3 controller on my PC because I have a wireless keyboard and no mouse (just a trackball, left and right mouse buttons on opposite sides of the keyboard). The only difference (other than about an hour and a half) between my first playthrough and your video is putting the first cube on the lowest lightbridge. Your way is easier.

I've played a couple more times, and I am finding the most difficult maneuver to be the jump to the final landing. I keep bumping into the edge of the fizzler; if you could recess that flush with the opening, it would help. And again, even one more second on the timers would significantly decrease the difficulty of executing most maneuvers (two would be even better!)

I said before it would also help if you aligned the lasers to one side of the bridges. I know that would be a major rework to align the portal surfaces to them, so even if it were my map, I wouldn't want to do that. But, I did notice that the laser catcher for the fizzler into the final landing is aligned on the right side of the bridge; it would be much better aligned with the left.

Too friggin hard.
Unlike Jonaton's "if we can't solve it - he win's" philosophy - at least this one, with a lot of thought, you can figure out what needs to be done. But executing it takes a Portal Wizard which cuts out a lot of people (like me) from having any chance of success.

I guess everyone has a different view on how difficult each dynamic move is. I accept from KennKong that it must be quite difficult to execute with a controller. Personally I find maps that require in-flight portaling to be very difficult. Possibly because I don't have an amazing framerate.
I'm certainly not a "wizard"/"ninja" player, but I do have a nice gaming mouse which I'm sure helps a lot.

Nice map! Finally solved it... Initially I just looked at the map and thought too much without realizing that the map forces the momentum of the cube to be preserved. Found out about it after a bit of trying, then it was not very difficult.