Contest submission for the 2012 Heavy-duty super-mapping super-contest.
'The Part Where' is a large map made with the collaborative efforts of GLaDOS CUBE and Another Bad Pun. The map offers 25-40 minutes of exploration, puzzle solving, and most importantly, science.
You play as one of the coop bots being tested by Wheatley in the torn apart labs of "Wheatley Laboratories". Use your wide robotic mindset of puzzle solving techniques, and most importantly, your sense of artificial pain to solve the test in a fashion that even GlaDOS would be proud of. Can you conquer this conundrum? Can you find all of the pony-related easter eggs? Are you up for the challenge?
Only one way to find out...

CREDIT THINGIES:

Puzzle and basic detailing: GLaDOS CUBE
Additional Optimization, Puzzle Refinements, and Detailing: Another Bad Pun


#supercontest2012 GLaDos_Cube Another Bad Pun

Warning Optimization May cause Weak PCs To explode*
[img]https://dl.dropbox.com/u/61522918/2012-08-05_00004800.jpg[/img]

File Name: sp_a4_the_part_where.rar
File Size: 22.8 MiB
Click here to download Sp The Part Where V1.1

I'm not quite sure what 'Additional Optimization' you did but this map ran terribly on my computer. Even on the lowest possible settings, I struggled to get a smooth and consistent framerate. I haven't managed to play through this map yet, but the performance problem is apparent the moment you start the map.

I have a AMD Radeon HD 7970 and an i5 2500k, with 12 GB of 1600MHz RAM. I experienced massive frame drops from 60 FPS to as low as 30 FPS. There is something seriously wrong with your map.

I didn't have too many framerate problems; primarily at the button in the elevator room. I'm not sure what it did, but there was a huge lag there. It took me quite a while to find out how to open the laser field, but everything else went smoothly. My one gripe about playability was I kept losing the faith plate amongst all the other clutter on the floor and getting catapulted unexpectededly many times. Maybe you could raise that up on a tiny platform or something. I didn't use the speed gel to get across to the exit platform, I used the funnel. I could never get enough of the top part of the ramp covered to make it across. I just jumped across to the lightbridge and then out -- I don't know if that was intended, since that makes the portable surface at the end of it useless.

I didn't have your custom textures, so the laserfield was pure white and there were blue error signs everywhere. I counted 2 ponies and one london olympics 2012 poster.

I was a bit annoyed with the lag, and size of it, and all the "ERROR!" models popping up, but once I started exploring and figuring out I really enjoyed the map! It's quite tricky, and well planned out!
Might have been easier to figure out if the monster box button had an animation (was playing with the sound off), but no biggie Thanks.

While looking for the real solution I came up with this one. This can't be intended given the red gel. But on the other hand the button for the laser to deactivate the deathfizzler is behind this deathfizzler - so obviously the player must go there at some point and that's the only way I found. Would you reveal the intended solution?


NnddfjifBwc

An Update is being worked on to fix
||> RogerL wrote:

I didn't use the speed gel

||All Of unintended solution video 1
||> zivi7 wrote:

NnddfjifBwc

|| Your unintended unintended solution video 2
||> wstrika wrote:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IE7VVNDjg0g&

||solutions,

and the packed files.

But the contest will not allow updates till it is over.

So it may be a while

EDIT: Some more video's showing how you beat it would be much appreciated

My feedback:
Do not read if you are judge!


This was an interesting map when it came to the puzzles. I'm not entirely sure what the whole point in the speed gel was and I think I did an extremely hacky way of disabling the death fizzler (pointed laser cube at wall on angle and put portal on roof where you stop the monster turret from hurling into the fizzler), but other than that it was a good puzzle.

The visuals were appealing however the map was incredibly laggy. My poor FPS! Also I'm not entirely sure why you put twilight sparkle on a wall either.
I did like the Wheatley lines (they were put in appropriate places) but I noticed you switched between GLaDOS wheatley and sphere wheatley lines so the sounds emitted a bit differently.

I did a bit of exploring and found both the radios, one playing the portal song and the other broadcasting a signal. I didn't get my CCTV software out to decode it though.

One thing I didn't like was you have to physically walk long distances multiple times. Not to mention I constantly accidentally kept on being catapulted.

I can see what you were trying to do here and it was pretty effective however personally I wasn't raving.
Good effort.

Well obviously I had to use the exfu glitch to finish it. But after I was done doing that, I started playing the actual map. It is great. I loved the use of the spinning pipe and the immense detail. Maybe a bit too immense, if that is possible. I did however find a 100% glitch free unintended solution to the puzzle, which I will upload as soon as I can. Still I loved the ending. Great use of dialogue. I have gone through every line that was never used and I didn't recognize a few in there. Great choices. I also loved how Wheatley would patronize you during the test.

2 things:
I was kinda annoyed by the moving robot parts. I know that's part of the story, so I don't care too much.

Also. What were the errors supposed to be?

tanger2b wrote:
2 things:
I was kinda annoyed by the moving robot parts. I know that's part of the story, so I don't care too much.

As in the sound made by atlas?

Or the pannels?

tanger2b wrote:
Also. What were the errors supposed to be?

They where a custom frame model, (Seen here https://dl.dropbox.com/u/61522918/hlmv%202012-08-12%2000-25-15-27.png

)

I meant moving atlas. It was most annoying when Bunnyhopping, considering he kept going click every time I jump. Nice Easter eggs. How many are there in total?

tanger2b wrote:
Nice Easter eggs. How many are there in total?

There should be 9 in total

GLaDOS CUBE wrote:
tanger2b wrote:

Nice Easter eggs. How many are there in total?

There should be 9 in total

I only found 2. I need to play again.

Dude - awesome. Took me a while to figure out how to get the beam to hit the laser - and yes I kept stepping on the damn faith plate. But it was a lot of fun and a great Willie-Wonka sort of factory-like environment. Hats off bro

I'm going through all of the maps that I played for the contest and post my rating and comments.
It may be a bit out of date if you have updated your map since then, but hopefully it's useful feedback nonetheless.

judging comments
Aesthetics: 4
The visual design of this map is very good. I especially like how the playing area extends to the various winding walkways around the chambers. (Or what's left of them after extensive home-improvement-by-moron action.) On one hand the area is very open, on the other hand there are these various nooks and crannies with puzzle elements hidden in them, but not too hidden that finding them is a challenge.
This visual excellence comes at a hefty price though: the frame rate is horrible, even on my pretty decent computer. (A quick "gpu_level 0" fixes that, fortunately, but not everyone knows you can do that.) I would easily have given the visuals a 5/5, if not for this performance problem and the fact that there are also a lot of missing models, and one missing texture. (LP's death fizzler?)

I did like the fumbling about by Wheatly, and the "improvised" exit.

Gameplay / Difficulty: 3;5
I have a love/hate relationship with this puzzle. It's of the "cards face up" type, where everything you need is either in plain sight or easily discoverable, and it's up to the player to combine it all into a solution. However, I found the positioning of the faith plate to be extremely annoying. It is in the middle of the room, surrounded by a few missing tiles so it doesn't stand out, and located in a spot such that I keep stepping on it accidentally EVERY FREAKIN' TIME I cross the room. Perhaps it's just me, but I think it would be better if it would have been placed a bit closer to the edge of the platform. Also, that turret is a bit pointless.

Overall, I think this is a very strong contender, if you can get around the performance problem.

Personal score: 4

Errors and laggy as noted. Also agree that the faith plate is annoying. Still a very nice map.