Take-Off is a large, highly tested and polished custom level for Portal 1. Brimming with big secrets, custom models, and custom textures, Take-Off is almost certainly unlike any Portal map you have ever played. The observant player will find that the scope of Take-Off is much greater than just a Portal test-chamber.

This map is designed to be a moderate challenge for experienced players (Portal, Portal: The Flash Version/Still Alive, at least.) The difficulty ramps up significantly within the level. Solutions to puzzles NEVER require cheats or exploits, and all playable parts of the map are designed and tested to be reachable without cheats.

Once figured out, the solutions to puzzles in this map are designed to be as easy to execute as possible. However, given the types of puzzles in Take-Off, some finesse with control will be required. The required control should not be a problem for experienced players.

Take-Off includes the three challenges: Time, Steps and Portals. Getting the gold in Time and Steps will likely not pose a huge challenge for those who have completed the level, and are experienced in these types of challenges. The gold in Portals, however, is a serious challenge, and will be very difficult for virtually all players. I assure you, it IS possible to get the gold without cheats, just very hard.

Aesthetically, Take-Off is deliberately clean. I have, in general, avoided grungy accents and opted for a "perfect," streamlined look. Except where noted in the in-game credits, I created all custom props from scratch. Except where noted, I either created custom materials from scratch, or modified Valve's materials.

I think that those who play this map to its full potential, will find that it is a unique experience they won't soon forget. : )

Enjoy!
Sword of Apollo

[Note: Take-Off v1.1 is identical to v1.0, except that one extra portal cleanser has been added to remove an exploit I just discovered.]

[Note: Take-Off 1.2 fixes the fact that the player could put a portal on the inside of the raised glass box in the large chamber. This is not an intended solution to getting to the last button, but an embarrassingly bad oversight on my part.]

[Note: Take-Off 1.3 has a slightly longer timer late in the level, a few exploit fixes, and secrets that are made slightly more obvious. One green fizzler that used to dissolve objects no longer does.]

[Note: Take-Off 1.4 is identical to 1.3, except that one part of a secret puzzle has been made easier and hopefully less frustrating to do, (physically.)
Take-Off 1.4.1 fixes a couple of model texture issues in the secrets.]

[Note: Take-Off 1.5 adds a functionality bug fix for secrets. If you downloaded v1.5 prior to 6/24/11, please redownload and reinstall, because I accidentally left items in the map that I used for testing. The prior release of 1.5 definitely will NOT play as intended.]

[Note: In Take-Off 1.6, a secret puzzle now works exactly as intended, (instead of approximately.) A portion of this puzzle is now slightly easier.]

[Note: In Take-Off 1.7, a couple of unintended solutions in the main level have been eliminated (or as close as possible.)]

[Note: v1.7.1 makes getting to one of the secrets easier than in all previous versions. The update to 1.7 had the side-effect of making it excessively hard to get to.]

File Name: Take-Off 1.7.1.zip
File Size: 133.89 MiB
Click here to download Take-Off

Very, very, VERY nicely done. Of course, I'm stuck in the very large chamber with the first energy pellet. But I was extremely impressed simplpy by the textures and the room with the blue book. Being so used to Portal 2 mechanics by now, it's refreshing to have more mobility with the portal gun.

ciaspy123 wrote: Very, very, VERY nicely done. Of course, I'm stuck in the very large chamber with the first energy pellet. But I was extremely impressed simplpy by the textures and the room with the blue book. Being so used to Portal 2 mechanics by now, it's refreshing to have more mobility with the portal gun.

Thanks, I'm glad you like the textures in the beginning. As you may have guessed, what you have seen is the tip of the iceberg of custom content. " title="Wink" />

Looks very good and it was fun but I am stuck in the exact same room. I have the cube from previous chambers with myself but I have absolutely NO IDEA where to go next or what to do. It seems I cannot get anywhere even by flinging and the same with the energy pellet. Please give us a clue!
Also, I haven't found any secrets yet, did I miss something

Awesome map! That last room is kinda scary indeed, but mostly cause of its size. After you take the first step, everything is pretty clear. To people having problems: [spoiler]the first step is to guide the ball in the catcher through a portal placement in there, you just have to find a way to make the ball exit the portal angled. It's a matter of 2-3 portals, if i remember correct.[/spoiler] Won't spoil it more, i hope that's enough to help you figure it out.

soad667 wrote: Won't spoil it more, i hope that's enough to help you figure it out.

Please, do. There are only 2 angled surfaces and both get the pellet nowhere.I am so dumb or what I can't figure it out myself for god's sake

Mek wrote: soad667 wrote: Won't spoil it more, i hope that's enough to help you figure it out.
Please, do. There are only 2 angled surfaces and both get the pellet nowhere.
I am so dumb or what I can't figure it out myself for god's sake

EDIT: The images are spoilers of the solution, everyone stay away from them if you don't want to get spoiled. Even if it's quite obvious, i'm mentioning it just in case.Hehe, ok. I took a couple of pics for the first part of the puzzle...The first pair of portals: [spoiler]click me[/spoiler]After the pellet comes out, the second pair: [spoiler]click me not[/spoiler]If you are fast enough, [spoiler]you can place the second pair exactly when the pellet comes out of the portal. If not, you can let it hit the angled surface to go all the way up to the ceiling and come back, leaving you with a lot more time to place that second pair of portals.[/spoiler]

Thank you " title="Not worthy!" />

Mek wrote: Also, I haven't found any secrets yet, did I miss something

The secrets are well hidden, and I'd suggest just trying to get through the map on the first play-through. Once you know the map, if you want to find secrets, put yourself partially in the mindset of a game tester. " title="Wink" />

I just updated to v 1.1 with the addition of a single portal cleanser before the "fizzler hall." It doesn't change anything, except that you can no longer take the cube further into the level. When Mek mentioned that he had taken the cube with him into the large chamber, I realized that this was a weak spot in my testing, and decided to check this.

A lot of players would find that the cube doesn't help them in that chamber, and if that were the case for ALL players, I would have left the map as is. But I did find an exploit that really adept players can take advantage of to bypass a puzzle. This makes it too easy to get gold in the minimum portals challenge, so I decided to strip the player of the cube after it has served its intended purpose.

Sorry for the inconvenience, but if you really want credit for the gold on minimum portals, you're going to have to do it without the cube beyond the point where the new fizzler is.

Anyway, thanks for the compliments on my map, soad667. Please tell us if you find any secrets. (Just not too specifically without spoiler tags, of course. )

Now I am stuck in the same room but I managed to get the ball on the button which turned off the two laser walls. I have placed a blue portal in the bottom of the pit. Now I need to go to the ledge above the pit I came from into the large room but I cannot do it without losing access to the part where the ball is put on the button. Other options I thought of involve pushing the switch to request another ball but that turns on the lasers again and does not help me move forward. A walkthrough would be really helpful. Any clues, please?

Mek wrote: Now I am stuck...Any clues, please?

A few hints. Use as many as you think you need:Hint 1: [spoiler]As you can see, in order to reach that ledge, you NEED an accessible portal. So, no, using that ledge is not the solution to this particular puzzle. You have to find a different way to fling yourself up. Given the height that you need, your options are rather limited, and hopefully, this should drive you to a particular alternative.[/spoiler]Hint 2: [spoiler]Remember that having that portal in the pit floor gives you access to that button from anywhere you can place an accesible portal.[/spoiler]Hint 3: [spoiler]That failed sparking automated staircase is there for a reason. If you could get through the map witout using it always portaling in and out of the inner building there would be no need for it to be there.[/spoiler]Hint 4: [spoiler]Remember what you did in the fizzler hall...?[/spoiler]

()()

""

I managed it! Here is how: [spoiler]I had the blue portal placed on the bottom of the pit. I took the ball off the button and placed it under the sparkling stairs to climb up using it into the main chamber (and I took the ball with me there). I created an orange portal in the main chamber, returned the ball onto the button to turn off the lasers and then used a technique named "portal standing" to create an orange portal on the top of the ledge above the fizzler. Then I dropped to the ledge I wanted to go to before and created an orange portal down below which gained me enough momentum to fling myself up in the pit. Was this the intended solution? Because portal standing is considered as cheating among many mappers...[/spoiler]

Well, now I am stuck again... man, this is hard. How the hell do I get to the button I just opened a way to? All the options of flinging fling me way too far or too near. Yes, I did think about it myself. For a long time. But I don't want to noclip over.

Mek wrote: I managed it! Here is how...

No, this is not the intended solution. I would never make [spoiler]portal standing[/spoiler] an intended solution to a puzzle unless I were making a map that was supposed to be the ultimate challenge for elite portal players. (Then I would weave it in with a complex web of other actions needed to solve the puzzle.) But a futher hint to the intended solution is that [spoiler]your portal standing solution actually uses more portals than the intended solution.[/spoiler]I actually consider the intended solution for getting to the first button in a glass box (hand switch-type button, that is) harder than that for getting to the second. Getting to the first is more complex.The too short, or too far phenomenon on the last puzzle you mentioned was exactly the basic concept that I built this map around. This is the concept that makes the centerpiece of this chamber unique. Hint: [spoiler]Yet the solution is staring you in the face, so to speak, when you are flinging yourself across the chamber.[/spoiler]

""

""

""""

Exceedingly hard as one progresses. The fling to the door from the main chamber, sorry just couldn't make it - when I flew to the door it always closed just as I landed in front of it - frustrating (noclipped). The final slide chamber, WOW, I think I know what is needed, but I just couldn't place the first portal no matter how many times I fell through (noclipped). Really well done map and very challenging, but too hard for me near the end....Still thanks for creating and 5/5.

Nah, just realised [spoiler]I can put a portal above that ledge with the button [/spoiler]
[spoiler]I went to the second part of the map then only to realise I don't know how to solve the part when you land on the platform which lowers down into the goo after 3 seconds -> noclipped. After stepping into the elevator I was like "w0t? that was all? can't believe..." so I explored the map from the outside by using noclipping. I discovered the secrets spanning across multiple maps and then found the way how I was supposed to find them. But I really didn't get the idea. What should we do in the secret rooms and why? Nothing I tried was working... and the rooms were so strange...[/spoiler]

Mek wrote: Nah, just realised I can put a portal above that ledge with the button

This is something that, looking back on it, I think to myself: Oh my god, how could I have let that through! The crazy thing is that I actually did put a portal up there a while back, but I was standing on the projecting platform, and my brain never made the connection as to why being able to put a portal there would be a problem. Then, yesterday, I was thinking about the time I had done that, and it dawned on me that the player would likely be able to do that from the ground. So I actually caught that before I saw your last post, but wasn't able to upload a fix until today.So, a portal at the top of the box is not the intended solution, I'm afraid. Apologies to everyone who did that and thought that it was.[EDIT: Here's a light hint to the intended solution to this puzzle: [spoiler]When you fling from the high angled concrete surface the easiest and most natural way to make yourself go too far, take careful note of where and how you land. Is there something more you can do?[/spoiler]] This should pretty much give it away: The intended solution is [spoiler]a double fling[/spoiler] starting [spoiler]at the high angled wall.[/spoiler] You want to [spoiler]fire 2 portals in the air.[/spoiler]As far as the secrets go, Mek, did you see the domed rotunda next to the first room? (It has a book and 4 pedestals in it.)

Sword of Apollo wrote: As far as the secrets go, Mek, did you see the domed rotunda next to the first room? (It has a book and 4 plynths in it.)

Of course I did. [spoiler]I took the blue book and put it on the pedestal and it looked like it has activated something. Apart from that, I didnt get the other secrets. Was I supposed to bring some another books to this room[/spoiler]?

'

Brilliant. Simply Brilliant.
Very hard puzzles with simple solutions. That's what portal is all about. Now at the part where I fall dooooowwwn. Gotta get some sleep. Will continue tomorrow.

LLQuinten wrote: Brilliant. Simply Brilliant.
[...]

Thanks. I put some seriously long hours into this map. I'm glad you like the way it turned out.

OK now I'm stuck. Can't figure out how to continue from the fast ridong platform. [spoiler]Tried to put a portal on the moving blocks where the train stops and fling out the platforms that sink in the ground. But I can't manage to get through the portal with anough velocity to fling upwards.[/spoiler] Is this the right solution and do I need to practice or am I completely on the wrong track?

Some help please!

LLQuinten wrote: OK now I'm stuck. Can't figure out how to continue from the fast ridong platform. [spoiler]Tried to put a portal on the moving blocks where the train stops and fling out the platforms that sink in the ground. But I can't manage to get through the portal with anough velocity to fling upwards.[/spoiler] Is this the right solution and do I need to practice or am I completely on the wrong track?

Some help please!

LLQuinten, please use spoiler tags when describing problems late in the level in detail, or talking about your solution attempts for puzzles. (Please go back and edit this last post to add the spoiler tags, so it looks like my quote.)[spoiler]You are on the right track. You want to go through the portal before the platform stops, so adjust your position accordingly.[/spoiler]

I didn't think it was possible but this map has made me sick of playing Portal. Completing this map without the use of cheats isn't even remotely imaginable.

Edit: Don't mean to come off as dickish. This is the best and most expansive map I've ever seen. It's mind boggling.
[spoiler]What's the deal with the colored lasers? At first I thought it might be a pattern based on the colors from the hallway but the colors don't match. Cyan in the hallway and orange in the temple?[/spoiler]

I feel like I could spend a lifetime working on this

On getting through the last door:

A poster on another site tells me about his attempts to get through the last door of the chamber with the glass box. He has been attempting the solution that I intended, but still can't make it. Here is my advice:

[spoiler]No, you are doing the right thing. I have to say that I would prefer to make the intended solution easier to execute. I would add an extra half second to the timer, but the problem is that an extra half second would open up an alternative solution that I don't want. I wanted the door to just slam in the player's face if they did the best they could on the alternative solution (portal in the corner,) but just slide in in the nick of time if they used the intended (flinging) solution. But it is makeable as it is, if you do the following:

Make sure that your portals are pre-placed.
Test to find the best/furthest place from the button that allows you to activate it. This is going to be part way down the stairs on the right side of the platform.
Press the button, turn right, sidestep, move forward and jump immediately, in one motion. You are going to fly right at the door, and will probably hit the wall slightly above it. Make sure that you are pressing forward as you land.
If you do it fast enough, you will slide right in the door.
(You can't really take the time to gauge your jump, so it may take you more than one try to make it into your first portal, but as soon as you do, the battle is won. Also, if you miss to the side, you can replace the portal at the last moment.)

When I do this part, I make it a large percentage of the time (over 50 percent,) but then, I have had a lot of practice. I intended this map for experienced Portal players, so I figured my target player base would be good enough technically with the controls for this last part to not be too big a frustration. But knowing what I know now with player feedback, if I had the initial release to do over again, I would rework the geometry a little to hopefully make it easier, yet prevent the alternative solution.

Anyway, if in the end you find you really have to noclip through the door, I see no shame in that, since you do know how it is supposed to be solved, and the only thing that is preventing you is control.[/spoiler]

Thanks again for this great map. In the end even the last puzzle was simple. The execution was a bit tricky but that is how its supposed to be. Keep up the good work.

Have you made other maps? Can't wait to play another one.

I'm at a standstill.

Caution, spoilers contain info about map and plot secrets

[spoiler]http://imgur.com/Fpt8y

That's all Greek to me. I was able to get to the books no problem, got all the portals linked up and have 3 books in place. In the 2nd hidden room in the main puzzle room, not the one with the book, there's the money arch room. That seems to be a dead end, there's a grate above the arch with a duct in it, but there is no portable surface inside the duct. I had to use the portal never fail cheat to get to this nexus room. Now that I'm here and have the glass plate in place to try to decode the combination, I can make neither heads nor tails of it. I first tried a literal translation from Greek, no go. I tried a translation based on your grid, no go. I'm looking at 4 axis, each point can represent 4 letters. I was thinking the symbols in the corners may be a primer or a key or some type, but I can't wrap my head around how it's supposed to work.

I've been all over the map for hours now, and it certainly appears that the grate over the money room arch is the proper way into that room, but there is no way to do that without cheating. That grate MUST be the entrance because it's impossible for it to be an exit. Once you're standing on that grate, there is NO WAY out of there without cheating as the walls aren't portable.

When I found the observatory in the room above the door button off the main puzzle room, I was BLOWN AWAY!
tl;dr I can't decode your Greek cipher puzzle![/spoiler]

AMAZING MAP! Just incredible. I have a feeling that I'd have a better appreciation for it if I were a Randian.

This one is a hardcore map (for me), loving it this way! BIG UP " title="" /> Sword of Apollo!! btw, [spoiler]i managed to get to the last button in 2 portals with no air portal placing. Required some trial and error portal placing and air steering[/spoiler]

The Last Room i was like "WTF!!!" but a minute later i was like "ah-ha, i see what you mean ".
Took me 80minutes to get through the map, the hardest part was figuring out the energy ball redirection, spent areound 20 minutes running around looking at walls

Also, no idea about that greek room, will check it out again

" title="" /> " title="" /> " title="" /> " title="" /> " title="" /> " title="Not worthy!" />

EDIT: any hints on the greek hall pls?? i only found the blue book

[spoiler]UPD: ok, with a little noclip help i found that very well hidden teleportable surface in the laser floor room and got the second book and eventually got amazed at the BOOK HALL. this is awesome. The question is, are the other secret passages hidden as well as the first one? because i would never find it without noclip Oh and is the book hall made only to amaze people?[/spoiler]

[quote="test_subject_name"]

EDIT: any hints on the greek hall pls?? i only found the blue book

Location of secrets
[spoiler]There are two more secret rooms accessible from the test chamber with the energy pellet.[/spoiler]

Method to getting to them. This will reduce the fun of discovery, but if you're using noclip it should be pretty easy to find these.

[spoiler]After hitting the button to open the door to the collapsing bridge hallway, a panel on the wall above the button opens up. It's hidden behind 2 broken small cubes. You can portal in. After that, you need to take those 2 small cubes and get on top of the black structure behind where the ball dispenser is. Use the 2 small cubes to get up farther and drop down into another room. After you get the books in these rooms, the switched portals lead to another chamber above the greek chamber. I haven't found the last book or figured out how to open a hidden door in the 3rd secret room.[/spoiler]

The problem I'm having is that after these, I'm totally stuck.

[spoiler]I think there's another secret entrance somewhere that I missed[/spoiler]

Okay, everyone who hasn't cheated everywhere yet, but is tempted to cheat to find secrets: If you can hold on a little longer, I'm working on an update that will make the secrets a little more obvious, along with fixing a couple of exploits and other issues.

Giving up for now. Going to let someone else figure out the last? puzzle.

Don't read this unless you are Sword of Apollo or are nearly finished with the map.

[spoiler]Great map but the crypto puzzles spoil it for me. I did the colored lasers in the order of the color of the rooms on my way to the laser room, didn't seem to do anything. I tried a number of combinations from things I had seen all over the map but mostly in that area and I never figured out if it did anything. If it did work there should be an affirmative tone or something. The greek crypto puzzle totally ruined the experience. The mechanics of picking up those glass plates is just horrendous in Portal. It took me probably 5 minutes to get each plate lined up correctly before I could slide them into the thing. After that, I tried to solve the puzzle but I must be missing something. There are too many possible combinations (F/R|E/Q/J/V|A/M|C/O|C/O|F/R) to try and brute force considering how long it takes to input them. If I break it down further using the colored icons as a key (Red star means top row, yellow star means bottom row, etc.) I get a possible R|R/E|A|O|O|R, neither of which worked. I'm disappointed that I didn't finish it, but I've got close to 12 hours into this map and the last 2 were spent staring at the glass plates. Oh and I still don't have any idea what unlocked the glass plates from the walls. One of them had a handle, but the other 2 seemed to just unlock of their own accord. I figured they weren't meant to come out, I left and be-bopped around the map for a while and when I came back they were unlocked. There is just no connection between actions I'm taking and the results. I'll give it an 8/10.[/spoiler]

alrite, im not going any further with noclips until the update

Hey there,

I'm really looking forward to playing this level but I'm having some issues. I know how to play downloaded maps properly and I've done it with plenty of other maps, but when I try to download yours I get a folder full of 133 MB of content. When I look in the maps folder within that content, there are 7 different versions of the Take-Off map. When I try to load those maps while playing the game, a variety of odd things happen. On take-off_00.bns and .bsp everything appears in weird flashing colors and it says error on some of the walls and floors in block letters. When I try to load take-off_01.bsp, I am greeted by someone yelling "Oh fiddlesticks! What now?". The colors here are wacky too, but not as odd as the first too. Anyway, you get the point. I think something's wrong with the files I've downloaded. Any suggestions?

P.S. I'm using a Mac. I don't know if that makes a difference.

etc wrote: Hey there,

I'm really looking forward to playing this level but I'm having some issues. I know how to play downloaded maps properly and I've done it with plenty of other maps, but when I try to download yours I get a folder full of 133 MB of content. When I look in the maps folder within that content, there are 7 different versions of the Take-Off map. When I try to load those maps while playing the game, a variety of odd things happen. On take-off_00.bns and .bsp everything appears in weird flashing colors and it says error on some of the walls and floors in block letters. When I try to load take-off_01.bsp, I am greeted by someone yelling "Oh fiddlesticks! What now?". The colors here are wacky too, but not as odd as the first too. Anyway, you get the point. I think something's wrong with the files I've downloaded. Any suggestions?

P.S. I'm using a Mac. I don't know if that makes a difference.

that's because you didnt install the map properly. Here's an extract from the README file: Simply extract the Take-Off zip file into ...\Steam\steamapps[username]\portal\portalYou need to merge all the folders you find in the archive with the ones with same names in your PORTAL directory

Wow, this map was HARD. I think I missed something; reading other peoples' posts makes me think I needed to [spoiler]bring the cube with me to the large room somehow.[/spoiler] Once I got into the room where you get the ball, I don't think I did a single thing the intended way. I forced myself to not use peek-a-portal/portal tunneling because you said it wasn't required, but I did use some other very questionable techniques. This is my (very long) playthrough of this map. Sorry for the unintended letterboxing.
Playthrough
[spoiler]Ui3UkUmt0Jk[/spoiler]

Edit: If you're curious about the missing save string or menu title, I installed this as a mod to avoid cluttering up my portal folders.

Wow, Mevious, thanks for the playthrough video! I must say, I feel honored that the guy behind Portal Pro thinks enough of my map to post a playthrough video. (I haven't played Portal Pro yet, because I just recently discovered it. I've seen the gameplay videos, and it looks pretty awesome, and right up my alley.)

I will be uploading Take-Off 1.3 shortly, but I had to stop working on it to watch your playthrough video. I was aware of the [spoiler]ball-sling-to-button[/spoiler] issue, but your particular method of getting to [spoiler]the last button[/spoiler] is new. Thank you, that will help me perfect 1.3.

Okay, version 1.3 is online. It has a slightly longer timer late in the level, adjustments to make the secrets slightly more obvious, and fixes to some exploits/unintended solutions. This map has now had a lot of exposure to playtesting from actual players, and barring some unforeseen, major problem, this should be the final release of Take-Off. (Fingers crossed.)

Is the archive damaged or its just me?
redownloaded it like 3 times...

The archive is damaged, it's not just you.

Will my save games work with this new release or will I have to start from the beginning?

Re-uploading right now. If this doesn't fix it, I'll remake the zip file.

I'm pretty sure you won't be able to use saves from previous versions.

Well that doesnt work either

The zip file looks perfectly good on my desktop, so it seems like it is something in the uploading process. I'm not sure whether it's on my end, or TWP's. I'll restart my computer and try one more time before I conclude that it's on TWP's end.

A friend of mine on youtube asked me to upload this here because he doesn't have a TWP account. It's his solution to take-off with commentary.
Walkthrough
[spoiler]SBXK71AEwKU[/spoiler]

well thats really weird ,you should try to host it on a different site

After 3 attempts trying to re-upload my (perfectly good) zip file (including one that was remade), the download still produces a corrupt zip. I think the problem may be on the server's end. I have reported the problem to the site management.

It's fixed now.

Thank you.

I am thoroughly enjoying this map but as for the secrets [spoiler]I have been able to actvate the correct color pattern, after finding the numbers for Red, Yellow, Blue, and Violet; the other two i guessed. But now i am lost as to where to go next, i cant figure out what to do with the 6 colored balls that i can now get. I have been to all the other immidiate secret areas, I.E. the observatory (i hit the switch opening the panals and turned on the portal), and the Dollar tile making room. I have got 2 of the books on the pedastals and the cube on the button and i left the third book in front of the portal in the oberservatory. I know there is a small grate about the rainbow money arch at the beggining of the sequence of color rooms, but am unable to find a portalable wall, and i also noticed that there is a small fractal diamond at the base of the exhibit with the meteor or giant coconut or whatever it is. Also i am confused as to what activating the color combination did. Any nudge in the right direction would be appreciated[/spoiler]

Colonel_Cthulu wrote: I am thoroughly enjoying this map but as for the secrets [spoiler]I have been able to actvate the correct color pattern, after finding the numbers for Red, Yellow, Blue, and Violet; the other two i guessed. But now i am lost as to where to go next, i cant figure out what to do with the 6 colored balls that i can now get. I have been to all the other immidiate secret areas, I.E. the observatory (i hit the switch opening the panals and turned on the portal), and the Dollar tile making room. I have got 2 of the books on the pedastals and the cube on the button and i left the third book in front of the portal in the oberservatory. I know there is a small grate about the rainbow money arch at the beggining of the sequence of color rooms, but am unable to find a portalable wall, and i also noticed that there is a small fractal diamond at the base of the exhibit with the meteor or giant coconut or whatever it is. Also i am confused as to what activating the color combination did. Any nudge in the right direction would be appreciated[/spoiler]

Regarding this secret: [spoiler]If you look closely at the orbs that you got, youll notice that 1 each one corresponds to a color, 2 each one has a pair of fractals on it that match the one near the meteorites display case. These fractal objects are supposed to be antennas Modern, compact antennas are fractal-shaped. Technically, Im pretty sure the ones in the map are not the right type of fractal to be an antenna as we know them today, but one could imagine they are some futuristic type. So, what this matching is supposed to convey is that the color orbs can communicate with the meteorite display case. But you have to find a way to activate them.One thing I should tell you is that the next step in this puzzle--once you find what you are supposed to with the orbs--is harder to actually do than it should be. Even once you figure it out, actually doing it may be frustrating. When I was mostly concerned with getting the level as a whole done, I was mostly concerned that that step worked, and was doable. But when I tried doing it again recently, I realized that it was likely to be frustrating to players, so I came up with a modification that will make it easier in v1.4 the only real change in 1.4. Its ready to upload, but I havent done it yet, since my internet connection has been slow and spotty lately, and Im afraid it will mess up the upload. I hope to have it up by tomorrow.Anyway, if you decide to continue with the version you currently have, I just wanted to warn you in advance that the next part could be frustrating. Sorry about that. Anything after that one step should be mostly a mental challenge.[/spoiler]

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I am stuck early and I am not ashamed - I just am. I can't kill the 2nd turret. [spoiler]When I jump over the lasers I am right there about 10 feet in front of him and he fires away. I tried jumping, zig-zagging . . . and of course I tried to bum rush him . . . all to no avail. I tried the Book just in case it had magical powers - but no.[/spoiler]

Then I did the notarget cheat to get past him and got stuck immediately again . . . with the giant room above me and nothing but Glass to shoot at. The white walls only go up to a level 3 feet below the ledge, and there is no way I can see to fling up there.

I went back into it and tried to see if i could figure it out... but i couldn't.

I appreciate you giving me hints, instead of full out telling me what to do, so i have a few questions:

1. [spoiler]Did the radio in the Blue water room have any significance? At first i thought that taking it to a certain area would cause some sort of intereference, like it was with the Portal ARG, but all i could find is that taking it close to the fizzlers causes interference.[/spoiler]

2. [spoiler]Do you have to do something with the planetarium? My first time around i detached and threw every planet into the middle area but found it didnt do anything so i didnt bother with it this time[/spoiler]

3. [spoiler]Does the solution to the colored orbs involve placing them in their respective rooms or along the rainbow money arch?[/spoiler]

I really enjoy the intricacy of this map and am looking forward to any future maps you make

lifeson99 wrote: I am stuck early and I am not ashamed - I just am. I can't kill the 2nd turret. [spoiler]When I jump over the lasers I am right there about 10 feet in front of him and he fires away. I tried jumping, zig-zagging . . . and of course I tried to bum rush him . . . all to no avail. I tried the Book just in case it had magical powers - but no.[/spoiler]

Then I did the notarget cheat to get past him and got stuck immediately again . . . with the giant room above me and nothing but Glass to shoot at. The white walls only go up to a level 3 feet below the ledge, and there is no way I can see to fling up there.

Hint on turret: [spoiler]The cube is not a companion cube, but for the first part of the map, it pretty much could have been.[/spoiler]Hint on getting to the higher level: [spoiler]A common requirement of solving puzzles in Portal is using previous rooms/spaces as a part of a strategy to tackle the current room. If a puzzle in a Portal map seems impossible, it is likely because you are not keeping in mind what came before.[/spoiler]Furthermore: [spoiler]Youll note that the fizzlers in the hallway dont go all the way to the ceiling.[/spoiler]By the way, lifeson99, I should mention that this map only gets harder from here. I don't know whether you have played Portal: The Flash Version, but if you haven't fairly recently, I would suggest at least playing through that before you attempt to go any further in Take-Off. When I mention in the Readme that players should have completed both Portal, and Portal: TFV (at a mininimum) prior to playing my map, I wasn't kidding around. Portal: Prelude is helpful experience, too, (though you will likely want to cheat past certain parts where most of the difficulty is in the execution, rather than the figuring out of the puzzle.)





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Colonel_Cthulu wrote:

1. [spoiler]Puzzle-wise, no.[/spoiler]2. [spoiler]No. Once you find the book in any given secret, there are no more puzzles there. The book is the goal.[/spoiler]3. [spoiler]Respective rooms.[/spoiler]

I finally realized what i had to do with the balls:

[spoiler]I originally saw that the purple orb flashed when i dropped it into the purple pit, but i first thought that it was a graphical glitch, until i took another orb to its color room and saw that the flashing had rhythm to it.[/spoiler]

[spoiler]Now i have free the giant coconut and, im assuming this is the part that you said was really difficult to execute, cause that thing is a bitch to push/portal around.[/spoiler]

EDIT: I just saw that 1.4 was uploaded i will download it and see what i can do

EDIT 2: [spoiler]Yup. Now im stuck on the Greek puzzle. I have all 4 plates in but apart from the general idea that you are supposed to map each symbol to a letter, i am confused. I thought that maybe only one of the symbols were the ones you are supposed to use and the rest are red herrings, but i found that 2 of the symbols have 5 symbols each on the plates and the other two have 7 symbols each, excluding the Corner symbols that im am leaning towards thinking that they are decorative or some kind of legend.
Also i really hope i dont have to go back and put those Blue and red vases somewhere cause my attention span is not large enough for that.[/spoiler]

Mind consuming map! Deep thinking and a nice result. I am now after the secrets. [spoiler]Stuck in red orb (how to activate it?). I've jumping at the dollar at the ceiling but could not get it[/spoiler]. Thanks for the fun.

stubUg wrote: Mind consuming map! Deep thinking and a nice result. I am now after the secrets. [spoiler]Stuck in red orb (how to activate it?). I've jumping at the dollar at the ceiling but could not get it[/spoiler]. Thanks for the fun.

Could you be more specific?Have you completed the color pattern, and are you talking about the orbs you obtain after inputting it correctly?

Hi!, yes. [spoiler]I was droping the orbs on the corresponding colour rooms, but while 2 of them got activated, orange, red and green had to be placed inside some light holding structures. I just could not see the way in the red chamber. I changed my monitor's gamma value and then I found it[/spoiler]. Sorry, as soon as I realized I could be wrong I have edited this message, for some reason I assumed you had finished the map and the spoiler was way past my last checkpoint. I hope you finished it or haven't already looked at the previous spoiler. In any case my question now is [spoiler]after getting the four books and opening the door I get the piece of cake award, must it be taken somewhere?[/spoiler].

stubUg wrote: Hi!, yes. [spoiler]I was droping the orbs on the corresponding colour rooms, but while 2 of them got activated, orange, red and green had to be placed inside some light holding structures. I just could not see the way in the red chamber. I changed my monitor's gamma value and then I found it[/spoiler]. Sorry, as soon as I realized I could be wrong I have edited this message, for some reason I assumed you had finished the map and the spoiler was way past my last checkpoint. I hope you finished it or haven't already looked at the previous spoiler. In any case my question now is [spoiler]after getting the four books and opening the door I get the piece of cake award, must it be taken somewhere?[/spoiler].

I did not finish it i got stuck on the greek puzzle with the 4 glass plates, i have placed them but cannot decipher the puzzle, if you could help me with that

Colonel_Cthulu wrote: stubUg wrote: Hi!, yes. [spoiler]I was droping the orbs on the corresponding colour rooms, but while 2 of them got activated, orange, red and green had to be placed inside some light holding structures. I just could not see the way in the red chamber. I changed my monitor's gamma value and then I found it[/spoiler]. Sorry, as soon as I realized I could be wrong I have edited this message, for some reason I assumed you had finished the map and the spoiler was way past my last checkpoint. I hope you finished it or haven't already looked at the previous spoiler. In any case my question now is [spoiler]after getting the four books and opening the door I get the piece of cake award, must it be taken somewhere?[/spoiler].

I did not finish it i got stuck on the greek puzzle with the 4 glass plates, i have placed them but cannot decipher the puzzle, if you could help me with that

I also spent some time deciphering the Greek puzzle, some clues: [spoiler]besides the plate observatory you can place in the holder, which I couldnt perfectly fit but ok, you will need the information from the others F5 key is helpful here. The four symbols at the display corners tell you the row and column to read each entry you just need to care about the six symbols at the gate. The lack of grid lines in the plates dont help.[/spoiler]. [spoiler]Lately I have realized you can actually take the plates to the Greek room[/spoiler], so I did it the hard way!.

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I am absolutely stumped. Not on the main puzzle, that was a piece of cake, so to speak. The secrets, though... I was able to get the first 2 books [spoiler](one in the large room, of course), and one where the entrance is under the laser floor near the beginning.[/spoiler]

The rest, though, is very well hidden. I refuse to use noclip until I rule out every possibility of it not being on top of the large "building" in the energy ball room. Any help, locations?

breakingspell wrote: I am absolutely stumped. Not on the main puzzle, that was a piece of cake, so to speak. The secrets, though... I was able to get the first 2 books [spoiler](one in the large room, of course), and one where the entrance is under the laser floor near the beginning.[/spoiler]

The rest, though, is very well hidden. I refuse to use noclip until I rule out every possibility of it not being on top of the large "building" in the energy ball room. Any help, locations?

Location 1: [spoiler]Look upwards from the last button platform. there is a spot to place a portal. Take a look from there...[/spoiler]

Oh goody. Thanks a bunch!

Edit: [spoiler]Got the third book, and raised the planetarium (whatever that does). Also triggered the orange portal and released the purple plate from the wall. I left the book in the red room, assuming that orange portal is a shortcut.

I'm all but certain the last secret is on top of the structure in the energy ball room. Using that fling that sends you over the cleanser, while shooting a portal on the inclines facing the structure, and onto that landing strip-looking platform from before, i've almost made it several times. The furthest i've made it is on top of the small outcrop of the second-to-last button.( http://steamcommunity.com/id/breakingspell/screenshot/578926032569463737 )[/spoiler]

Am i doing it right?

Edit 2: Gave up, and noclipped over to it.
[spoiler]As for the color combination, i based it on both the room order, and the number of vases in each room (not vase cases). I got it as follows, in room order, with vase count.

Violet=2 Yellow=0 Green=0 blue-ish=1 Orange=3 Red=4

Putting this in any coherent combination (room order, vase count with green and yellow as guesses), does nothing. I see no orbs, do i have to backtrack to recieve them?

I just noticed in the room immediately before the lift to the color buttons, each color is laid out, with a vase on top of the ones that i've noticed do have vases, with the green and yellow $ signs lacking one. Just like my initial count[/spoiler]

And is there any significance to this room i just found (noclipped at first, but there is a legit way to get in here). http://steamcommunity.com/id/breakingsp ... 2569718787

stubUg wrote: In any case my question now is [spoiler]after getting the four books and opening the door I get the piece of cake award, must it be taken somewhere?[/spoiler].

Well, stubUg, the puzzles have to end at some point, and you're there. So, [spoiler]no, there is nothing to do with the award or anything in the next room, except look at them and take them wherever you want.[/spoiler]Breakingspell: [spoiler]Counting the vases[/spoiler] is an interesting idea, and I might have done something like that if I wanted a puzzle that 1% of players would figure out. But [spoiler]the order should be a little more obvious if you just search those rooms thoroughly. The orbs are the things in the display cases at the end.[/spoiler]

Ah, you know, i have always taken the most difficult route when solving something ^_^ Thanks for the tip!

Sword of Apollo wrote: Well, stubUg, the puzzles have to end at some point, and you're there. So, [spoiler]no, there is nothing to do with the award or anything in the next room, except look at them and take them wherever you want.[/spoiler]

Ok, I am almost sorry. I have enjoyed the overall hidden but logical design. At first out of frustration, I tried crazy solutions at some points. But as I progressed I realized every intended solution was reasonably hinted and logical. The intrincate plot made me think there might be something else to do [spoiler]with the big books in the last room nice song there, may I ask you the title/artist?, the gold and platinum bars or the logo tiles I brought from the secret areas. Maybe restoring full power to the energy unit in the last room Big books or gaining access off the wide window at the back of the greek puzzle room[/spoiler]. I reckon I was almost expecting a fractal secret-level structure!. But you are right, all good things come to an end.Great job!pd, [spoiler]was there a way to make the plates properly fit into the greek mask holder?[/spoiler]

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stubUg wrote: Ok, I am almost sorry. I have enjoyed the overall hidden but logical design. At first out of frustration, I tried crazy solutions at some points. But as I progressed I realized every intended solution was reasonably hinted and logical. The intrincate plot made me think there might be something else to do [spoiler]with the big books in the last room (nice song there, may I ask you the title/artist?), the gold and platinum bars or the logo tiles I brought from the secret areas. Maybe restoring full power to the energy unit in the last room (Big books) or gaining access off the wide window at the back of the greek puzzle room[/spoiler].

I'm glad you enjoyed the map. On music: [spoiler]The credits are dynamic, so if you finish the map after picking up the radio, they will tell you the song and artist. But, for the record, it is The Chase F9 Mix by Hungry Lucy, available free on Jamendo.com.[/spoiler]On having more puzzles: The thing about puzzles in a game level is that for every puzzle the game designer includes, the player will naturally expect some kind of payoff for solving it. This can be progress through the level, or something else; but a puzzle without a payoff leads to players feeling shorted. As much as I might have liked to include [spoiler]a grand, last puzzle in the final secret room, I would also have had to include a significant payoff along with it. For this map, I had a bit of a difficult time thinking of good, satisfying payoffs that would be practical for me, as a lone mapmaker, to implement. Really, that room is, itself, meant as a payoff for the puzzles in the secrets, especially the Greek Vault puzzle, which was meant to be the grand, final, overarching puzzle. The form that that room takes, placed where it is, with its unique models, textures and look, was the best idea I could come up with that would be practical for me.If I had made one final, grand puzzle in that last room, or involving the award, what kind of payoff would you, stubUg, like to have seen? This is a serious question--I genuinely want to know.[/spoiler]



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stubUg wrote:

Thanks! Please rate the map if you havent already.[spoiler]Yes, you can fit all 4 plates perfectly and snugly, if you place them correctly. The best way to do it is to work each plate on the pedestal until you have it upright, with your grip on the side opposite the keyed corner. You should be looking at the plate edge-on. When you have the first 3 plates in the holder, grab and position them to get as much space on one side as you can, then take the fourth plate and push it forcefully into that space. The plates should jostle, then settle down. If necessary, a few close grab-release moves can get all 4 to settle down just about perfectly.[/spoiler]


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breakingspell wrote:

No problem. Please dont forget to rate the map when youre done.

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Sword of Apollo wrote: breakingspell wrote: Ah, you know, i have always taken the most difficult route when solving something ^_^ Thanks for the tip!

No problem. Please don't forget to rate the map when you're done.

Heh, well although i'm still stuck on the color-sequence room, i surely gave the entire map a 5/5!

Can someone just post a video of the intended solution to the map?

katamari wrote: Can someone just post a video of the intended solution to the map?

Funny you should ask that just now. I have been working on the official walkthrough video for Take-Off 1.7 this last weekend, and here it is: [SPOILERS, of course]:Official Walkthrough[spoiler]RXn_wofKZiU[/spoiler]

One of better maps I've played in Portal. I've finished it without cheats, but I haven't touched the challanges. I've played it while ago, but I do remember I've had some problems with one of the last puzzles, where it was meant to jump to press the button, which was opening room/tunel with lights near the ceiling. 5/5 not only because it's a great map, but it also shows the potential of what Portal can be (and every map should be). I was really proud of myself after I've finished the hard puzzles and I simply love this feeling. Thanks again for this great map!

ddeo wrote: [snip] 5/5 not only because it's a great map, but it also shows the potential of what Portal can be (and every map should be). I was really proud of myself after I've finished the hard puzzles and I simply love this feeling. Thanks again for this great map!

Thanks, I'm glad you liked it. And that feeling in the player of being proud of oneself for getting through hard puzzles was what I was going for, of course.

5/5
Best Portal custom map I've ever played!
The secret rooms and items reminded me of Tomb Raider
the only problem that I'm having is that the file [spoiler]earth_gold.vtf[/spoiler] is missing :-/
I've downloaded the Zip file twice now and nothing.
Would it be too much to ask you to upload the aforementioned file?
Thanks in advance and looking forward to your future work!

I don't understand the greek puzzle room... What am I missing...

Thanks, kurtisss. I'm glad you like my map so much.

Have you seen any black and purple checker patterns on any objects? If not, don't worry about the "missing" file. That vtf is packed in one of the bsp's. If you DO see any black and purple checker patterns, I don't know what to tell you, since I've tested the latest upload, and I have no problem. The only thing I could say is to check that you're not trying to play this map in Portal 2. If you're in Portal 1, and the problem occurs, then tell me what OS you're using, I guess.

@Nintendofan9797: I'll send you a private message regarding your issue in a little while.
[EDIT: You're going to have to unblock private messages in the control panel if you want help from me. Board preferences > Edit global settings]

Oh then there is no problem since no black and purple checker patterns have been seen from this side " title="Thumbs up" />
Thanks a bunch!
I was just worried about having some bug eating my files lol.
But thanks for the reply and for helping me get rid of my doubts.
Regarding the puzzles, I think I might have found an unintended solution when I [spoiler]placed the high energy pellet in the receptacle(?) with the aid of the blue book I found in the big room with the pedestals[/spoiler] so that might help in the portals challenge.

I revisited this map after getting stuck a year ago.
I did manage to get into the top area this time, and even handled the Energy Ball properly.

However, there are a couple of parts that I never would have gotten without the walkthrough:

1) the part where you get a [spoiler]new sphere to act as a stepping stone to escape and then set up a vertical drop and fling to the Button. I knew I had to fling up there[/spoiler] but could not find a way - that was very insidious.

2) the [spoiler]double-fling[/spoiler] to the final top button. In a million years I would never have tried that. I spent a long time trying too.

I love the timed [spoiler]fling to the Exit door[/spoiler] - took me 50 tries but I finally made it.
I also loved the Disney ride to the hellhole.

In the final hellhole with the high-speed sled, I kept wondering why I was not [spoiler]sailing upward when the sled slammed into the end and I had placed a Portal there. Finally I realized you have to jump upward about 2 inches. I think that should have been made to be flush with the flooring so no jump is required.[/spoiler] It would have that extra smoothness and cool factor that way.

One final thought - seeing the 5 parts I assumed there was 5 maps, interconnected. I finished what I thought was Level 1 and then assumed Level 2 would start. Nothing happened so I tried to start it manually - but it failed to start that way. I could not run it as a Bonus Map - tried to but it does not show up in my lists of Bonus maps. So I tried to import it but there was no BMZ file.

This was an excellent, long and difficult map which I thoroughly enjoyed.

kurtisss wrote: Regarding the puzzles, I think I might have found an unintended solution when I [spoiler]placed the high energy pellet in the receptacle(?) with the aid of the blue book I found in the big room with the pedestals[/spoiler] so that might help in the portals challenge.

That unintended solution [spoiler]was only introduced with the latest update to v.1.7.1 as a side-effect of my adding a little extra convenience for the player, and it uses an object clearly foreign to the main puzzle in the level. Anyone trying to get a Gold in Minimum Portals is hereby notified that using that object in that way is cheating. There is another way to get the Gold that doesnt involve that object. " title="Wink" /> The challenge is to figure out the REAL way that was possible in v.1.7.[/spoiler]

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PCdoc wrote:

I would have hoped that it wouldn't have taken that many tries. Were you playing on the latest version of the map? I reduced the difficulty on that a while back.



PCdoc wrote:

Thanks for the suggestion, but your suggested setup was the first thing I tried with that puzzle. [spoiler]Imagine what your confusion would have been like if you had placed a portal flush with your feet, and still didnt go through--because thats what happened when I tested your suggested design. The game engine simply wont let that happen: you must jump either way, and if the portal is too low and you jump, your momentum will tend not to be straight up on the other side, and you tend to fall into the sludge. So I created a buffer at the bottom, so that the lowest possible position of the portal is the right position to jump into the portal.[/spoiler]

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PCdoc wrote:

Remember how I said in the level description that there is more to this level than meets the eye? And that is is brimming with big secrets? " title="Wink" /> You might want to take another look at the readme in the .zip.

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PCdoc wrote:

Thanks, I'm glad you liked it.

Well, I dusted off Portal and decided to do another run of all the custom maps i had on it. Of course, i beat the main course of this map fairly easily, but I'm once again stuck on that colored puzzle! I give, what's the secret to the order of the colors in the room with the six colored buttons? I'm going to laugh at how easy it was, i bet.

And of course, now i'm laughing my ass off at [spoiler]seeing the little numbers and not thinking,[/spoiler]

What a great map. Finally finished the puzzle, [spoiler]and the last room, overlooking the observatory[/spoiler], was a great way to finish it. Once again, 10/5!

Hi! Wonderful map, very much was pleasant to me. Though nerves spoiled at the end). By the way, I solved its some puzzles a little in a different way. The last button on the center in general in a different way - yours way I didn't guess.
I added video with the main differences in walk-through: http://youtu.be/y26EqTwz8AA
Good luck!

Here's a video walkthrough I did of the secret areas in Take-Off.
Needless to say, big SPOILER alert, since it gives away everything.


[spoiler]N9Wp3U5TVsk[/spoiler]