File Size: 39.17 MB
Downloads: 4504
Rating: (40 votes)
Description
They ARE sentient, of course. We just have a LOT of them. Installation instructions included in the download. Includes textures and models by Colossal. Start it with map sp_retrospective in the console.
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Hello, Excuse me if this is an ignorant question, but i can't seem to figure out how to load your map w/o the .bsp file. Other than that all the files are in there place and the addon's list inside the console has been updated.
Thank you
-trip
Same for me, I'm not sure how to actually play this map given the files in your .rar
Haven't played the map(s) through yet (late here), but this is probably the best map I've seen for Portal 2 so far. Not only does it look great, it also has fun ideas and new features. 5/5
@Others: You need to follow the installation instructions and then start the map via console, just like any other map.
You load up the files in accordance to how you find them in the rar file INTO your ~portal2/portal2 folder. (For instance files in the Media Folder get drug into the Media folder inside your ~Portal2/portal2 folder.)
The Instructions are vague and only tell you to copy the files. There is however no .Bsp (Map) file to start it from the console.
Is there another way to start it other than "map retrospective.bsp" into the console?
Where can i find this file? it didn't come out of the zip nor was it created upon starting P2.
TripNasty422 wrote:
Where can i find this file? it didn't come out of the zip nor was it created upon starting P2.
It's in the VPK so you won't see it. Just type "map sp_retrospective" in the console and it will load.
I would expect no less from Julian Assange.
Terrific material, I hope this will make the next spotlight. Better than viagra imo.
this is the awesomest custom map i've seen. bonus textures, custom posters and decals, nice puzzles - everything is perfect. I hope you get a job at Valve if you want to 
PS - had lots of fun with turrets bouncing around the corridors and screaming 
What are you trying to do here Omnicoder, work for Valve?
MAN you are good! What quality! I love your use of the cube barriers, I haven't encountered that mechanic before.
I still can't get it to load. Followed installation instructions and map still won't load. Get the error "Cannot find map sp_retrospective.bsp"
Quovatis wrote:
I still can't get it to load. Followed installation instructions and map still won't load. Get the error "Cannot find map sp_retrospective.bsp"
there is no .bsp.
i was new to this as well; just do 'map sp_retro' and press tab. it should complete it.
Quovatis wrote:
I still can't get it to load. Followed installation instructions and map still won't load. Get the error "Cannot find map sp_retrospective.bsp"
1) Find the directory c:\programfiles\steam\steamapps\common\quovatis\portal2\portal2
(it should contain a lot of VPK type files)
2) Open the downloaded file with Winrar: 3 yellow folders and 1 txt file
3) Select them all and move them with the mouse to the aforementioned folder (no need to open each one)
4) Enter the game, and in the console type: map sp_retrospective
I finally got it. I had to create a directory "addons" and put the vpk file in there for it to finally work.
Very nice map!
first off: i praise the return of the energy pellet. its absence was one of my two disappointments with portal 2 compared with 1 (the mandatory flinging in single-player is the other)
for its length, this map felt too light on the puzzles, though the ambiance, lighting, etc is fine.
well, after a second run, there aren't too few, it's just that they're too easy.
the start is fine, the falling-puzzle idea is fantastic, if a bit overly simple. the surprise that gets you to this part is fine, but it's a bit janky for a moment while sitting against the broken glass. the fall before it begins is too long. waiting sucks. that's about it. edit: ok, that was my fault for not grabbing the cube quickly enough. so when i did grab it immediately on my third run, i saw a glitch; the core spammed my screen 3 times with the same message (captions on).
putting on my complainy-pants here: the room with the turrets felt too sandboxy, just way too many portalable surfaces, imo this room could have been skipped entirely as it didn't really offer much in the way of challenge or fun... after bouncing the 3rd turret from an easily available surface, it's just "all right, i get it already!"
i don't get the point of the button between the jump-up-the-sphere room and the fling room.
i also don't get the red cube-holder above the diagonal ramps in the portal 1 room.
and i was disappointed with the fling room since you don't have to fling or even go through the square in the glass at all.
i think you need a grid in the ruined entrance to the portal 1 room; when i got the laser room puzzle figured out, my portal was way back by the fling-room.
but really everything after the blue-goo turret room is pretty good. i like the part where you swap your portals for the cube, to keep the excursion funnel room open and get the box. however, it needs to be a lot smoother when the thing happens with the upward funnel and the suddenly appearing light bridge. it's very disorienting, and not in a good way.
in retrospect (no pun intended), i did enjoy the return to the portal 1 map, but to be honest: coming after the horrible blue room like it did, it felt at first like "he's really out of ideas now". however that's more of a problem with the previous room than with the revisit itself. don't get me wrong, everything after the turret room is fine, but that room just put a bad taste in my mouth
i thought entering the portal 1 ruins through the exit was a nice touch.
i liked the titles and the random chamber numbers, but after the relatively close succession of the first two, it felt like you'd left a few out in the second half.
i really did enjoy the puzzle toward the end with two laser cubes and the reversible funnel. the new green grid is what makes it possible (if i did it right -reverse, let it stop, then unreverse, go catch up and grab it out, right?)
and this is the first map i've had to load from the vpk instead of the bsp, so i have to ask.. does that explain the video lag in this map? in places, it was far worse than i've encountered on any map thus far, and what minor lag i've had elsewhere has been negligible at worst.
i realize now that the sentry room is also a portal 1 map; for the sake of this review, when i say the "portal 1 map" i mean the one that used to have the energy pellets on the diagonals which raised the 3 lifts to the exit.
here is one graphical anomaly; since i'm standing on the bridge here, that means both portals are right behind me. so i shouldn't see these other two portal indicators here. 
Once I was able to actually figure out how to play the map, I thought they were very well done.
I would have done away with the blue-gel turret room and either removed or changed the bouncing ball energy sphere thing. That frustrated the hell out of me.
Might want to insert a really brief tutorial on how the green fields work. I figured it out, but only after back-tracking for a while to see if I missed something.
The button you fall onto doesn't do anything right? It was very misleading. I kept looking for a cube somewhere or tried to see what was changing when I was stepping on it.
Nicely done otherwise.
I'm looking forward to what else you have to offer!
Last elevator doesn't work or it just me? i went it to it but nothing happens! This one after the ruins when i needed to use bridge to cross the gap.
hayuto wrote:
Last elevator doesn't work or it just me? i went it to it but nothing happens! This one after the ruins when i needed to use bridge to cross the gap.
it doesn't work. look around. hopefully you've figured that out by the time you read this
Very nice, love the new grid and while I hate the energy ball puzzles, wasn't overpowering in them. And the tail of the energy ball doesn't travel with the ball through the portal, it noclips across the level to where the ball comes out the other side, seems kinda wierd.
Also requires you to restart portal 2 if you have it open during installation.
The turret/blue goo room was unnecessary, and what was that cube/cube-only button for? It didn't seem to do anything. To make things worse, when I walked into the room, I got blue goo on the cube which made it impossible for me to put it on the switch without opening the console and spawning a new one. Then again, did the cube do anything in the first place? I thought the solution was to [spoilers] just bounce up into the opening on the ceiling[/spoilers].
Also, on the second, super frustrating energy ball test, the ball ended up somehow bouncing up and down and it went over the barrier and to it's destination randomly, just by luck. Good thing too because I was getting frustrated with the puzzle, I think I knew the right thing to do, but my reflexes weren't good enough (it seemed like a twitch based puzzle to me).
LEVEL BREAKING BUG: After the room I described above (the second energy ball puzzle), you NEED to put a field or trigger that closes all portals after you go up the elevator. Not only did I bring the light bridge with me upstairs, but when I went back downstairs through my Portal, I couldn't re-enter the now raised elevator room, and there were crazy graphical glitches. Will post pics of what I mean.
Still, nitpicking. Amazing map. Def gonna be community spotlight, and most likely released on a map pack for consoles if you clean it up. Still, turn the custom male Glados voice louder, I thought that was a cool addition and I couldn't hear it =(.
Suggestion: Make a new antagonist character like you have, but have him appear in monitors in test chambers, and if you want the map to be super popular, have the space sphere make an appearance on the monitor with him =D.
EDIT: Totally finished with the test. Was great. Favorite sp_custom so far maybe even. Really liked the green walls. However, there were a few times where I felt like I had skipped a puzzle or two. It's cool to show, for example, a pile of weighted cubes, but when we as the players see those, we think that it means there's a cube puzzle, not to mention the switches.
If you can't see what a switch does while you're standing on it, you NEED to put the wires so that the player can tell what the switches did. It gets too frustrating/confusing otherwise.
However, the puzzles themselves were all good and made me feel smart when I solved them, and that's what Portal is all about. Considering how cinematic the whole map was, it more than makes up for the very few bugs and questionable pacing.
5/5 (would have said 4/5 but I've given maps I liked less than this a 5/5 so I'm pushing it up). Really can't wait to see more from you. Also, thanks xdiesp for recommending the map to me.
Just wanna say falling puzzle was mindblowing. PUT MONITORS IN WITH LOVESPHERE OR SOMETHING! =D
InertiaticESP wrote:
herp derp space sphere, pander to the meme idiots.
I hope this doesn't happen tbh.
This should help all those who couldn't figure out how to play the level.
http://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki ... rtal_2_Map
I did this short demo to explain the 2nd ball puzzle, maybe someone else might be interested
http://www.mediafire.com/?w6ddl8u4zbjiee4
(extract in portal2\portal2, enter map and input "playdemo 2" in the console)
I thought this map was incredibly well-done. Hall of fame material so far compared to most of the maps on here.
I personally am not much for stories; I prefer long, hard puzzles with at least 6 or 7 dependent steps. However, I picked up some phenomenal ideas from your map -- using portals to make a controllable kill switch; redirecting a laser back through the same portal it came through -- and you definitely have a great mind for puzzle elements. Bringing back the energy ball was awesome. The green fields were great too.
The atmosphere was excellent, the chambers done in different styles. Really cool overall. Excited to see more!
Edit: @d3phext -- the graphical anomaly you see is due to the use of a linked_portal_door I think. That's usually a convenience for the map designer as some room could overlap and intersect with another in the 3-D space, and going and redesigning the entire map to leave space for some other room is not the best use of a mapper's time.
I noticed this visual glitch. It flickered in and out in a space of like 4 world units, I'm sure this isn't your doing but I don't know what's causing it.
sp_retrospective0000.jpg
I feel like the inclusion of the companion cube is meme pandering at best. Take that as you will.
I more or less agree with what has been said previously. I also had a very difficult time hearing the voice overs, which is a shame because they seemed well done. Overall I found the map very dark lighting wise, which I'm sure was a style choice, but there were quite a few times that I was in an almost entirely black area with no clue on my bearings. Most of the revisit of chamber 16 seemed unnecessary at best, and because of the map being so dark I actually missed the hole in the ceiling (as well as the paint pointing me towards it). In the revisit of chamber 17, I also was sitting at the button, trying to figure out what it did for a while before I assumed it did nothing. I also don't know what the box button hidden in the top area was for, and in fact I got my compaion sphere stuck up there and had to reload. The lack of lighting was the worst in this part too.
I do like the material blocking grid, you used that previously in Quark (I believe?), it's one of those things I was hoping made it's way into the release of Portal 2. Aside from the lighting, visually I think things were top-notch as is expected from you. It's hard to really nail the "destroyed Aperture" and you did a great job doing that. You did seem to swap in and out of themes really quickly; one minute we are in a destroyed overgrown test chamber, and the room next to it is more or less pristine.
The gameplay just didn't sell me, though. The original puzzle areas you made were interesting and challenging, and they seemed split up by the inclusion of the revisits, both which only negatively affected the flow and pacing of the map.
here's my playthrough with annotations. i noticed the same glitch in the stairs as well.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkKpNGBY5f0[/youtube]
^ i don't think i redirected any lasers back through the same portal anywhere. different strokes i guess.
If I ignore the lots of graphical texture and floatingobject glitch (wrongly placed displacement, angled platform not touching anything, wrong alignments) the map is awesome with lots of good idea, and liked the return of the energy pellet too. Maybe the map was sometimes too dark for my taste, but overall its a decent map with a good story. The speach can be a bit louder tho
msleeper wrote:
I noticed this visual glitch. It flickered in and out in a space of like 4 world units, I'm sure this isn't your doing but I don't know what's causing it.sp_retrospective0000.jpg
I feel like the inclusion of the companion cube is meme pandering at best. Take that as you will.
I more or less agree with what has been said previously. I also had a very difficult time hearing the voice overs, which is a shame because they seemed well done. Overall I found the map very dark lighting wise, which I'm sure was a style choice, but there were quite a few times that I was in an almost entirely black area with no clue on my bearings. Most of the revisit of chamber 16 seemed unnecessary at best, and because of the map being so dark I actually missed the hole in the ceiling (as well as the paint pointing me towards it). In the revisit of chamber 17, I also was sitting at the button, trying to figure out what it did for a while before I assumed it did nothing. I also don't know what the box button hidden in the top area was for, and in fact I got my compaion sphere stuck up there and had to reload. The lack of lighting was the worst in this part too.
I do like the material blocking grid, you used that previously in Quark (I believe?), it's one of those things I was hoping made it's way into the release of Portal 2. Aside from the lighting, visually I think things were top-notch as is expected from you. It's hard to really nail the "destroyed Aperture" and you did a great job doing that. You did seem to swap in and out of themes really quickly; one minute we are in a destroyed overgrown test chamber, and the room next to it is more or less pristine.
The gameplay just didn't sell me, though. The original puzzle areas you made were interesting and challenging, and they seemed split up by the inclusion of the revisits, both which only negatively affected the flow and pacing of the map.
I'm not sure why everyone else seems to find my maps darker then they are for me. I tested on two computers, two different screens, one on max settings and the other on lowest. I don't know if its the lighting in my room or just a side effect of having made the layout that it never seems dark to me. Unnecessary buttons existed solely to for continuity with the chambers they revisited but I should have made them more obviously broken. The broken area in 17 was just some broken ceiling and I didn't realize you could become stuck up there. (still not sure how actually) As for the odd glitch with seeing that small area through the floor, I noticed that too but various changes to the geometry thee failed to fix it.
First of all, very fun map, i liked the puzzles
Second, like some people noticed before me, it was kinda too dark, actually A LOT too dark.
The "puzzle" where you are under the stairs was too...well, let's just say i couldn't see the white wall and even after randomly shooting EVERYWHERE it took me 5 minutes to actually hit something.
What i find ironic is that a lot of people didn't liked the turret room and wondering what the button was for. I think none of them realized it was actually the room from Portal1, except old and damaged. But with the blue gel now to solve it in a new way. I liked it.
Now, as for the end, i actually liked it a lot
BUT i think you could have done more with it. Something like
part1: Solve some puzzles with the C.C., however there is a wall which the C.C. won't go through in the end; go alone, find that A.I.-transformation room
part2: go through another door, do some more puzzles, find a defected A.I. sphere and go back along with something(like an energy redirecting cube) which can stop the green wall from appearing
get the C.C. and finally to the A.I.-transformation room thing.
some textures with C.C. love poems might help getting that feeling back from portal1 about the love for the C.C., so the player knows the C.C. is very important in this game.
Awesome map! Just awesome! Recorded playing, recording will come whenever I was able to upload (will post again)
Omnicoder wrote:
As for the odd glitch with seeing that small area through the floor, I noticed that too but various changes to the geometry thee failed to fix it.
You could try putting an areaportal closing off that area and see if that fixes it.
Thanks for the help guys after a restart of steam it recognized the map.
This is a fantastic map! Lots of detail and uniqueness run amuck! Can't wait to see your future maps!
To everyone who hasn't played this yet, I'd highly recommend it!!
I'll try it, but if it's anything less than life-affirming I'll be extremely dissapointed.
Also, 750 downloads? F*ck me, Portal's gone mainstream.
Yeah more or less agreeing with what sleeper said earlier. The maps are pretty dark. I don't think it an issue of it being brighter for you, but generally that you aren't doing a very good job to begin with in the lighting department.
I was really disappointed when I figured out I was revisiting older test chambers from Portal 1. Specifically because I assume Valve would maybe at some time reinvent using them in later DLC, and the gameplay was sub-par in them overall.
The idea of using paint instead of cubes is somewhat fresh, but I feel you fell into that trap of the idea of what is "fresh and fun". Honestly I feel it's not a huge deal to reinvent an old chamber, but this is only the case when the gameplay in it is really good. Just wasn't doing it here.
I'm somewhat confused as to why you still like to move across so much themes and aesthetics so fast. Like you did that in your last map, and you don't do a very good job connecting them visually and structurally. Everything is moving to fast to obtain any type of visual interest or build-up.
This leads me to my last point: You always come through with neat gameplay ideas, but you fail at making them shine.
I mentioned this with your last puzzle on the whole light beam puzzle, but the new grill effect for only being solid to physical objects is a great idea. Again I think you should have honestly removed all the other stuff you did, narrow it down, and focus only on the grills, then perhaps later building up the catcher puzzles.
I didn't like the revisited Portal ones to be honest. Felt a bit cramped and odd (especially with the altered layout of the turret one, that had me in a muddle). The last-but-one puzzle could have done with some indicators, I was stuck there for a while. Inn addition, basically what MrTVC said, plus the overuse of the chapter titles got old really quick. "Storyline" was a bit weird, as per usual.
Also, it's VERY DARK.
Really really enjoyed this map pack. Great work on the custom mechanics, the material grid and the little story touches. I didn't really find it too dark that I remembered. Lot of variety in the puzzles.
damn awesome map(s)!?
all the mappers out there should take more time mapping a big level like this one with smooth atmosphare and awesome design. last one got me cunfused but got it at the end. keep up the good work 5/5 
Amazing work. I would expect no less from Omnicoder.
Looking forward to the continuation.
Why can't we use Cocoa? 
Normally I prefix my comments by saying, "overall...", but not today. This map was pure unadulterated brilliance from start to finish. The falling sequence was amazing, really like the original SP game. I like the people criticizing the turret sequence, considering that's a verbatim re-created map from Portal 1 with the blue goo... but, anyway, awesome. Keep up the good work.
I offically have no idea what to do on the collapsed walkway, the room is so dark i can't see anywhere i might portal to, i just spent the last 5 minutes randomly shooting in every direction to hit something. Also when you use world portals maybe you should use a fizzler too because the portal markers are showing up way in the distance
Edit: Ahh thats my bad i just relized the solution that puzzle, but still, there were other places where i could barely see a thing.
zwaldowski wrote:
Why can't we use Cocoa?Normally I prefix my comments by saying, "overall...", but not today. This map was pure unadulterated brilliance from start to finish. The falling sequence was amazing, really like the original SP game. I like the people criticizing the turret sequence, considering that's a verbatim re-created map from Portal 1 with the blue goo... but, anyway, awesome. Keep up the good work.
that room in portal 1 was an entirely different challenge.. you had about 6-8 cubes that you had to carefully move around and stack as shields. here, it's just a steady flow of blue goo over and over again, at a much faster pace. i'd rather do the portal 1 version any day. a successful revisit requires a twist, not a cakewalk.
I guess I'm one of the few that liked the turret part. It was fun hunting them with blue gel and making them bounce all over. I thought that particular ability was a little underused in Portal 2.
I will agree with others that the room with the square cut out of the glass seemed like it was missing a fling/puzzle, or it was just a useless room.
The puzzles that were in it made me stop and think, so great job with them.
Adair wrote:
I guess I'm one of the few that liked the turret part. It was fun hunting them with blue gel and making the bounce all over. I thought that particular ability was a little underused in Portal 2.
Yeah, testing mate, this was awesome. It's just everyone trying to be useful test subjects and finding easy or misleading pieces of puzzles. The misleading pieces are there for a reason too! The lighting was fine as well
Well I finally finished the map, here are some thoughts.
1. I loved the additional content, having some new stuff to spice up maps is nothing other then great.
2. I couldn't hear the voiceover at all, i had no clue what he was saying over the ambiant noice.
3. The falling puzzle was grea, but i don't really know why i'm forced to solve a puzzle just to hit the ground, doesn't really make any sense to me.
4. The map kinda feels disjointed to me, i don't know why but it didn't seem to have any flow to the rooms.
5. The new grill is a cool concept, but it should be made a little more obvious that it won't fizzle your portals somehow
6. The turret section was annoying. I had to mute my audio because it was just 4-5 minutes of constant gunfire and turret screaming.
7. It's a little too dark in places, the section under the stairs for example i couldn't see anywhere to portal from until i finally noclipped and saw one in the shadows
8. the room with the square hole is utterly pointless. I accidently rolled the ball into a portal on the other side before closing it and was trapped with no-way back over to the other side.
But overall a really good map that displays some nice features!
Everything I came here to say has been said.
However what I am going to say is that i would LOVE to see this map further developed to have zero "imposable areas"
This map blew my mind. Very clean (save for the over use of the imposable areas) Looked pro, Actually, forget "Looked" this was (edit IS) pro.
EDIT:
Played through again. I have some suggestions that would not affect game-play. but would be neat additions.
Can the Sphere activate the button in chamber 17?
Can the ratman dens be put in?
and can the ladder be climbable? (lead to nowhere, but climbable.)
Again, this map is amazing, and those suggestions go along with the fact that I have no idea how to build levels.
Adair wrote:
I will agree with others that the room with the square cut out of the glass seemed like it was missing a fling/puzzle, or it was just a useless room.
This is a room you do backwards from Portal 1, advance maps. It is, in face, a hard fling puzzle.that you can do easy if you stand on the ball in the bottom in a key spot. Even that was there... I checked.
Please don't double post. I see you know how to use the edit function. Continue doing that.
I had a great time playing this map. It took me a very long time to load, but i finally figured it out. This map was extravagant from start to finish, and i simply loved the green fields. I have never seen a map with this much innovation and excellence in the same place before. The only glitch i suffered from was the spawning of the weighted companion sphere. It automatically gave me one, but when i pressed the button, the ball fizzed and about 10 more came out of the dispenser.
I started playing custom maps and record me playing them. It's neither a perfect run nor do I have to have solved the map in the way it's meant to solve it. I play the maps "blind", that means I've never been in them before and play them for the very first time. I also give a little feedback for the map in the video description.
Maybe you are interested in the fact, that I played your map: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=se_wGRpV-d0
Incredible work. How in the world you did the falling sequence is beyond me but I loved it. I can't believe how critical people are. So you go from a messy, water-dripping chamber from hell into a nice, clean Hospital-like chamber . . . I might not like that all the time but it was fine for this map.
My only big problem was that I never dreamed the sphere would go through the kill-gates and it took me a long time to try that. The reason I did not try is I was looking for a Cube. I assumed I needed a cube for the broken glass room - when you step on the button you hear a sliding door - but as it turns out the button does nothing. And the 2nd button on top of the ledge even had a sign that a cube was needed. Now that was a bit sneaky, so that chamber was frustrating.
Also in the same chamber, I thought there would be a spot to shoot through the glass because the room had a couple of large shards of glass on the floor. I tried shooting every squere inch of that window to no avail.
I found the new voice-overs to be slightly irritating, but not intrusive. The extra gameplay features were well implemented. I have to give you a 5/5 for that adorable companion core alone.
All I can say is wow. The only bad stuff was some minor design issues, but all the levels were great. Energy balls were one of the best parts. How did you create the energy balls? Did u add the textures from Portal 1?
5/5
I liked the map, and eagerly await the sequel.
I did occasionally have the same issue with the brightness, but it wasn't a game-breaker.
I enjoyed reading this. (I noticed the scribbling beneath.) I don't know if you just unearthed that or if you created it, but well done in either case.
How I did that one laser puzzle
d3phext wrote:
here is one graphical anomaly; since i'm standing on the bridge here, that means both portals are right behind me. so i shouldn't see these other two portal indicators here.
A side-effect of using World Portals.
FelixGriffin wrote:
I loved this map! How did you make the green fields work like that?
func_clip_vphysics and a non-solid func_brush with a custom texture shaded by SolidEnergy.
Really I have no clue how a mod that contains the retarded pellet of suck can be called "terrific" or any similar names. Any puzzle involving pellets is automatically 3x more frustrating, time-consuming and annoying than a comparable puzzle without, simply because of pellets killing the player, disappearing when colliding with walls too often, and unreliably reflecting from skew walls. Valve knew what they were doing when they removed pellets and rocket launchers from the game. I even think this is one of the reasons why Portal 2 mods are so much better than Portal 1 mods. (Of course, the presence of fun new elements is a more important reason.)
Having played this mod until the first pellet puzzle only, I cannot comment on its overall quality, except for the obvious negative fact that it uses pellets. But I really liked what came before them. One gripe, however: The whole test chamber containing the first pellet should be split in 3 parts, I think. I know it won't improve the immersion, but at least it will seriously reduce the lag that inevitably occurs when some 8 turrets are shooting at each other non stop and an energy pellet is bouncing back and forth. Particularly turrets painted blue are a major problem with Portal's engine (I even have occasional crashes from them, although in this particular mod it only happened to me once; however in "[SP] Cloudy with a Chance of Turrets" many players reported crashes).
Two months later, Retrospective is as revolutionary as ever. I wanted to try it anew, blank slate and everything just remembering the vague sense of enthusiasm of the first time I saw it.
It's a story mode with a long and varied series of chambers, chiseled presentation, custom voiceovers, a new testing element, resurrected energy pellets and at least one breakthrough never tried before or after (that scene). But it's the variety of such situations that hit me: all those ideas, which just pass by, could have usually been used each to make a single winning map - here instead they are all packed nonchalantly, some tour of wonders.
Mapping quality is retail: you don't even feel like mentioning it - it's obvious. Puzzlework prefers chaining small, clever chambers to map spanning grandeur - I don't know, possibly it would have worked even better with a companion cube brought along. But they're clever, some are even found only here. Browsing through the critics, I recalled the complaints of old about the readapted P1 chamber or small enviroments: 500 maps later, they're worth a smile. Play it again.
Okay, so I think I got through that pellet puzzle by having the pellet ride atop of the lightbridge, while myself walking on the rim of the lightbridge to the button (more precisely, I made sure that there is enough space between the lightbridge and the wall to avoid the pellet, but not enough to fall down). Is this the/an intentional solution or did I exploit something?
I tried everything but still I get this error: CModelLoader::Map_IsValid: No such map 'maps/sp_retrospective.bsp' map load failed: sp_retrospective not found or invalid
arvisrend wrote:
Okay, so I think I got through that pellet puzzle by having the pellet ride atop of the lightbridge, while myself walking on the rim of the lightbridge to the button (more precisely, I made sure that there is enough space between the lightbridge and the wall to avoid the pellet, but not enough to fall down). Is this the/an intentional solution or did I exploit something?
Bump. Can Omnicoder or somebody else who has played the mod comment on this?
arvisrend's solution for that damnable pellet was the only one I managed to get to work. Was that not how I was supposed to do that?
Was I the only one that noticed the hidden companion cube?
Right here:
Amazing map. Bravo, sir. 
I won't spend half a page repeating all the well deserved praise the map has been given by other posters. Maps like this are what I save 5/5 for; the truly fantastic ones.
I for one enjoy energy pellet puzzles; it adds a timing dimension that laser puzzles lack. However, this particular one didn't work for me:
I thought the intended solution might be to walk on the lightbridge to the button, then run back into the room and switch the portal from the bridge to the pellet. Even wall-strafing, I could not make it back into the room in time. Then I found a puzzle-breaking method. If you put a portal at the very top and left of the area across from the catcher, the pellet will miss the panel on the way in, then bounce around behind the panel until it hits the catcher. You can solve the puzzle in 5 seconds that way.
I so hate bouncing blue turrets that I deliberately cleared that room without blue goo. Some people may find it amusing; good for them, we have a choice.
Anyway, this one goes onto my Extras menu. I have no doubt it will be there for quite some time.
The elevators didn't work for me... is there only one map? If not, I missed all the rest of them due to the not working elevators...
another vpk file that will not load for me. I get the same error message as a few posts above.
:edit:
nvm fixed.
I now have another problem. Just started the map and already i have hit a bug, when i come to approx the 1:40 mark of this walkthrough video (its not mine):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=se_wGRpV-d0
Instead of the screen going black and transitioning to the next part of the map, my portal 2 client exits to windows. Any ideas?
:edit 1:
i've managed to get it to the point where you land and can see the next part of the puzzle. I can look around and even move a bit, but as soon as i take 3 or 4 steps forward and the next chamber starts coming into view, the game crashes to windows.
Xello wrote:
another vpk file that will not load for me. I get the same error message as a few posts above.:edit:
nvm fixed.
Wait - you found a way around the VPK problem? Do tell.
I'm tired of reading conflicting posts and I hate getting quit rage before I load the frigging game. I downloaded and unpacked using Hampster and put in my portal 2/portal 2 directory. After that, the console doesn't give a damn what I type (mostly I'm trying "map sp_retrospective.bsp") I've tried it with the main menu up. I've tried after starting a new portal 2 game. I've tried it after successfully entering "update_addon_paths" and I've tried it without it.
Humor me. Treat me like the mental midget I seem to be and give me COMPLETE instructions that a 5 year could understand, okay?
Not to beat a dead horse or however that goes, but...I support nikdangr and NuclearDuckie. :/
Edit: Ignore my earlier post, obviously it was indeed necessary to extract the bsp-file first - I accidently had one left in my maps-folder. I don't have the program for that installed anymore though, I might post a tutorial when I redownload it some time.
In the meantime, I had this problem: The map crashes for me right after that falling part with the companion cube. The screen just goes black and the game closes without an error message. I'm not familiar enough with this: Is there a log-file somewhere that might help to solve this issue?
So many comments about how to get this map to work, and no answers at all. I've installed things where they need to go, I've entered in what needs to be entered in. The comments make this sound like the second coming of Portal 2, but... nothing works!
Help?
I had hoped the developer would post something about this issue. I hope I can help, too. It should work by doing this.
Download this package here made by carlymx that helps around the problems with vpk-files: VPK Extract in DLC Custom.
Extract the content of that .rar-file into your Portal-2-folder. You should now have a folder called "portal2_dlc9" in there and another folder called "Tools". Now navigate through the "Tools"-folder and open the program GCFScape. With this program open retrodist.vpk. The program should show you some folders like maps, materials etc. Now drag and drop all of these folders out of the program into the "portal2_dlc9"-Folder. Start Portal 2 and use the normal "map retrospective" command to start the map.
KennKong wrote:
I for one enjoy energy pellet puzzles; it adds a timing dimension that laser puzzles lack. However, this particular one didn't work for me. I thought the intended solution might be to walk on the lightbridge to the button, then run back into the room and switch the portal from the bridge to the pellet.
Nope. Even "Dolt the Elder" figured this one out, brother!
Here's how I did it
1. Stand on glass, not light bridge, near the end of the platform over the goo.
2. Blue portal in surface opposite catcher, in the center where the panel edges intersect.
3. Red portal opposite pellet gun, centered on the impact point. Watch a pellet or two through the glass. If your portals are in the right places, the pellets will hit the top plate and bounce straight back through your portals.
4. Wait for the gun to shoot a new pellet. As soon as it goes through red, re-fire red behind lightbridge and look forward at your blue portal (you should be standing on the glass over the bridge).
5. When you hear the pellet bounce off the plate behind (and beneath) you, run forward, drop onto light bridge, then run backward while hugging the wall to your right. If your portal placement is right, you won't fall off the edge of the bridge.
6. The top plate will stop you close enough to hit the button and crouch against the wall.
7. Pellet will miss you and go into the catcher.
Once I figured it out, I got it on the second try (and you know how "nimble" I am!).
Fun map. Large and involved. Some parts were a bit dim, but not excessively so. I've seen far worse, as far as lighting is concerned.
One very minor annoyance: In the turret gauntlet, one of the turrets in the debris-filled side room fell down (or was initially positioned?) in a hole in the debris. It was still active and trying to fire at me but couldn't hit me because of the debris. However, I was unable to pick it up out of the hole and kill it. I also got tired of all the turrets bounding around endlessly so once I found my way through to the next room, I fizzled all of them.
I liked the "material restriction grilles" and the way you used them. I have seen that concept before, in newer maps -- perhaps those mappers got the idea from you?
Finally, unlike so many others, I had no trouble at all getting the files installed and the map to load:
.vpk goes in "addons" folder.
.bik file goes in "media" folder.
.dat and .txt files go in the "resource" folder.
If you're using a mod, put these files into the corresponding folders for your mod. If they don't exist, create them.
If game is running when you copy the files, exit and restart. Unlike .BSP's, game only sees .VPKs that are present at startup. Console command to load the map is simply "map sp_retrospective". Do not specify .bsp extension.
With all that said, solid 5/5 from me.
Ugh all these posts about getting vpks to work. It won't load for me and here's what I did:
The .vpk went into> common/portal2/portal2/addons
The .bik went into> common/portal2/portal2/media
The .bat and .txt went into> common/portal2/portal2/resource
Then in console:
update_addon_paths
map retro //autofill found nothing
map retrospective //manually typed it out and file still not found
map retrospective.vpk //still nothing but worth a shot
Restarted portal2 and repeated the above console block and still nothing worked.
Then respectively put the files into:
common/portal2/portal2/maps/addons
common/portal2/portal2/maps/media
common/portal2/portal2/maps/resource
And repeated this whole thing all over again and still nothing found.
I've never gotten a vpk to work on Portal 2, only Portal 1. I think they just aren't compatible with some systems under P2 so before you reply with, "et werked fur mii sew yur juss nawt dewin et rite" just remember we're all following the same directions, using the same methods but getting different results. Just because it worked for you doesn't mean it will work for everyone else.
comoros94 wrote:
I have the same problem as xello and zivi7. what is that ?
It's a problem introduced with portal 1 dlc #1.
What you can do is:
1) create a folder called portal2_dlc3 (Steam\steamapps\common\portal 2\portal2_dlc3)
2) re-name the vpk to pak01_dir.vpk
3) copy over pak01_dir.vpk to your portal2_dlc3 folder.
4) copy over the media and resource folder to your portal2_dlc3 folder too!
To uninstall just delete the dlc3 folder again.
thx for reply.
I did everything what you said but in game , how can I start this map ?
zivi7 wrote:
In the meantime, I had this problem: The map crashes for me right after that falling part with the companion cube. The screen just goes black and the game closes without an error message. I'm not familiar enough with this: Is there a log-file somewhere that might help to solve this issue?Xello wrote:
Instead of the screen going black and transitioning to the next part of the map, my portal 2 client exits to windows. Any ideas?
I found some files in portal2/models/effects make crash game : combineball.mdl .vtx and .vvd
I just removed them and i played the cool map
OK, this is much simpler than everyone thinks. A .vpk file is only a compressed format that the game uses, but if you open it up with GCFScape you'll see the folders inside (maps, materials, models, scripts). Just extract this content to whatever location in your pc; then drop them into portal2/portal2 folder and every file will be placed in its right location (say yes when it asks you to combine folders or overwrite files). Now you only have to run the game, open the console and type "map sp_retrospective" and it should play fine!
(apart from the .vpk into this file "retrodist.rar" there are 2 folders ("media" and "resource") that should also be dropped into portal2/portal2 in order to run this map correctly...)
This is one of the best puzzles ever made. Nice! I had some problems starting it, but when I downloaded GCFScape, I easily extracted the .vpk folders to the portal 2 directory. The ending was epic! I liked the edgeless companion sphere and the green fizzlers very much. Did you make the 'the lemon is a lie' and 'know your lies' poster? Good one!
They ARE sentient, of course. We just have a LOT of them.
Installation instructions included in the download.
Includes textures and models by Colossal.
Start it with map sp_retrospective in the console.
File Name: retrodist.rar
File Size: 39.17?MiB
Retrospective