This is a long map that I have been working on for quite some time. It consists of 6-7 different puzzles. I would rate this map as an 8 or 9 out of 10 for difficulty. This is basically my first map, so I apologize for the lack of aesthetics and special effects.

Feedback and suggestions are appreciated!


edit 11/29/11 -updated
fixed many different bugs and graphics problems.

File Name: sp_underground_hustle_V4.zip
File Size: 8.32 MiB
Click here to download Underground Hustle

I'm all the way at the end. I have
the companion cube... big walls. Do you really want me to paint all the walls blue?

Nevermind... I'm a moron.

Awesome map!

Excellent map for a first map. Took me 20 minutes on the second playthrough.
Some issues I saw along the way. I didn't need to reverse the funnel in order to get the companion cube in the first room. The faithplates don't make any noise. In the room with the blue and red gel, sometimes the gel droppers close and stop the gel flow. I like the angles in this room. The last faithplate that brings you into the next area won't let you send the antique cube back up if you bring it down with you. The fling area was pretty cool. Took me a few tries to get through but fun. The laser puzzle area. If you fizzle a redirection cube in gives you two more giving you an endless supply. I didn't cheat though. I only used the amount given. The area with the three gel droppers. I didn't use the orange gel. The lift and buttons need sound effects. There is a big nodraw area near the turrets. The area where you get the cubes back, The orange funnel can trap you on the ceiling if you go in to grab the companion cube. The button that lowers the wall was difficult to see what it did. Maybe add a check mark near the wall or maybe a flashing light or something to draw your attention. Excellent job. Keep up the good work.4/5

Thanks for the feedback. I'll start working on those changes.

Can you give me some insight as to how you did these sections so I can prevent it?
-"I didn't need to reverse the funnel in order to get the companion cube in the first room."
-"The area with the three gel droppers. I didn't use the orange gel."

Thanks

I fixed all of the problems you mentioned as well as a few others, Benvent. I couldn't figure out a good way to add sound in a way that made sense to the elevator, so it remains silent. I still don't know how you got the cube in the first area without the reverse beam or did the 3 gel area without the orange.

Change the zip file name or the download wont change. IE: ver2 or something

undergrounddemo2areas.zip

Here is a demo file with the two areas in question. I have never done this before, hope it works.

Thanks Andyb, it should be good now.

Thanks for the demos Benvent, I fixed those two problems.

This is a long map that I have been working on for quite some time. It consists of 6-7 different puzzles. I would rate this map as an 8 or 9 out of 10 for difficulty. This is basically my first map, so I apologize for the lack of aesthetics and special effects.

-Updated with V5 to fix a lot of the exploits that Djinndrache found. 12/8/11

Intended Solution:

tk92LZzqZsk

Feedback and suggestions are appreciated!

File Name: sp_underground_hustle_V5.zip
File Size: 8.33?MiB
Underground Hustle

Good job! The changes you made in V4 add to the puzzle. I like the radio on the lift also. 5/5

Thanks. I have learned a ton throughout this map and will start working on my next one within the next week.

Well, if to be fair, the puzzle is clever, but the design is pretty bad. Here's a list of things you can do to improve the map:

The map is unneccesry big.
The textures are misaligning and look bad.
I'd suggest putting doorframes on the doors to make then look like they are in the wall.
Elevators, unless you're supposed to start and end like that.

Don't take this as an insult, it's stuff I didn't like and could be done better next time!
If you need any future help, you can ask me or anyone here in the commuilty

I appreciate the feedback. As I said in the original post, I am not very good at hammer, and not very artistic either. However, I'll do my best to implement those changes in my next map!

Also, I think it's harder to pull off a good underground look vs. advanced testing room. Would anyone else agree with me on that?

nice map, 5/5 from me,dunno about last solution is it supposed to be with the light bridge from 1st part or not, that's how i solved it

You made a great effort at a first map. However, I think I got off track from the first chamber, when I went sideways off the flippers in chamber 2 to get into the lasers area. I think somewhere in the first chamber I was supposed to get the cube over to the activator for the plate? Anyway, I got off the intended track but ended up getting through everything and back to the second laser bridge room (got there by no clipping as the flipper didn't seem to have enough power to get me all the way to the yellow arrows exit through the fizzler screen??).
In the second laser bridge room, I ended up on the wrong side of the laser going into the floor and could not get around it to get to the upper scaffold (noclipped through it - sorry) - I tried to place a portal while in flight a couple times but gave up on that after a few tries - landed and walked around to the laser bridge.
Guess I need a walkthrough on this one to see the intended path.... Thanks for mapping.

Took me ~68 minutes on a blind run. Apart from one room I really like this map. I just think the room with the 3 gels and the elevator which can be moved is horrible difficult (not sure what was to do after red gel activated; I had several ideas but nothing worked out and I ended up stuck in that area for a long time. Maybe some hint on this step would help the players. I think I exploited it in the end by using unintended ways)

I'll try to get the video of my blind run rendered and uploaded by Monday.

Excellent map!!! Although I did need 2 full hours to do it. =P

svenofix wrote:
Excellent map!!! Although I did need 2 full hours to do it. =P

I approve of this. Awesome skype session with shared screen :p Found out that I used way less intended solutions than I thought - as usual ^^

Thanks for mapping !
The difficulty is good for me and I don't really mind about the design quality. The map is beautyfull enough

I'm stuck in the room 3 and I just want to know is the fact I can put a portal here is intended :

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/11/undergroundhustleroom3.jpg/

Furthermore, I couldn't figure out how I can pass through the fizzler door after the two yellow arrows door. The flipper really needs a power mushroom... And I can't get gel back from room 2. Need help :p

Anyway, thanks again for mapping !

Thanks a bunch for the feedback everyone!!

radeftw wrote:
nice map, 5/5 from me,dunno about last solution is it supposed to be with the light bridge from 1st part or not, that's how i solved it

The last part wasn't really supposed to be very difficult. There are many ways of solving it, but I should have a video of the intended solution up later today.

quatrus wrote:
You made a great effort at a first map. However, I think I got off track from the first chamber, when I went sideways off the flippers in chamber 2 to get into the lasers area. I think somewhere in the first chamber I was supposed to get the cube over to the activator for the plate?

Sorry, I don't really understand what you're saying here. If you can make a demo or take a screenshot that would help.

quatrus wrote:
Anyway, I got off the intended track but ended up getting through everything and back to the second laser bridge room (got there by no clipping as the flipper didn't seem to have enough power to get me all the way to the yellow arrows exit through the fizzler screen??).

That flipper's power is working as intended, there is a way.

quatrus wrote:
In the second laser bridge room, I ended up on the wrong side of the laser going into the floor and could not get around it to get to the upper scaffold (noclipped through it - sorry) - I tried to place a portal while in flight a couple times but gave up on that after a few tries - landed and walked around to the laser bridge.
Guess I need a walkthrough on this one to see the intended path.... Thanks for mapping.

There shouldn't be any situation in the entire level that you have to noclip or die to get yourself out of. I will post a video of the intended solution later today.

Djinndrache wrote:
Took me ~68 minutes on a blind run. Apart from one room I really like this map. I just think the room with the 3 gels and the elevator which can be moved is horrible difficult (not sure what was to do after red gel activated; I had several ideas but nothing worked out and I ended up stuck in that area for a long time. Maybe some hint on this step would help the players. I think I exploited it in the end by using unintended ways)

Yeah, looking back on it, I agree. I should've tried to put more hints on where you're trying to go in that area. I should have a video of the intended solution up later today though!

Djinndrache wrote:
I'll try to get the video of my blind run rendered and uploaded by Monday.

Great, I'd love to see how other people solved it!

BooN wrote:
Thanks for mapping !
The difficulty is good for me and I don't really mind about the design quality. The map is beautyfull enough

I'm stuck in the room 3 and I just want to know is the fact I can put a portal here is intended :

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/11/undergroundhustleroom3.jpg/

No, that isn't intended, but I don't think it makes too big of a difference. You still have to kind of know the intended solution even with that.

BooN wrote:
Furthermore, I couldn't figure out how I can pass through the fizzler door after the two yellow arrows door. The flipper really needs a power mushroom... And I can't get gel back from room 2. Need help :p

Anyway, thanks again for mapping !

That flipper is working as intended and you have the right idea! I'll try and get a video of the intended solution up later today.

I put the intendid solution in the original post.

Thx for the video !

I didn't see the air vent ^^' But I've found another angle :

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/840/undergroundhustleroom3.jpg/
You can add a wall to prevent players from using this angle. Or not... as you wish, it's your map ^^

I didn't use the cube for this room. I just pushed the button and jumped on the flipper. There is enough time to pass before the block is correctly placed.

At this moment I'm in room 5, and I'm stuck... again... ^^

I just watched your solution video. I did the 3 gel room differently. I missed the hole in the wall for the fling jump. I was wondering what that area was for.
I can't wait to watch Djinndrache's video on how he did that section.

Thanks for the intended solution walkthrough, I missed a lot in the first room by my sideway move off the flipper to the cube drop tube structure in the second room. After performing the first room correctly, I managed the rest with no problem. Nice map.
Some sound would be fun and maybe some guidance would help in your next one....Thanks for creating.

Djinndrache wrote:
I'll try to get the video of my blind run rendered and uploaded by Monday.

Told you, you'd get a huge Full-HD video of this long run. There you go:

C1QAnOP8fyE
(Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1QAnOP8fyE)

Thanks for the video. Could you tell that some of the ways you did some areas were different than the intended solution due the the lack of use of some elements? Also, what program do you use to record that run through and what software did you use (if any) before uploading to youtube?

Vixul wrote:
Thanks for the video. Could you tell that some of the ways you did some areas were different than the intended solution due the the lack of use of some elements? Also, what program do you use to record that run through and what software did you use (if any) before uploading to youtube?

I'm almost always using unintended ways, my viewers should be used to that I just look for a way to get through

I record all my videos with Fraps, and edit them with either Sony Vegas or Adobe Premiere. Back in time I only used Vegas, but I'm going more and more with Premiere in the last time.
Usually I still use the old Vegas for Portal videos, haven't found perfect rendering settings for Portal videos on Premiere yet. None of the named softwares are freeware though, sorry

While this map was fun to play, I think that it should have been clearer that you were supposed to go back to the first gel room after getting the first box. I had simply assumed that there was no use for the bottom area after I had already gotten past it.

eat911 wrote:
While this map was fun to play, I think that it should have been clearer that you were supposed to go back to the first gel room after getting the first box. I had simply assumed that there was no use for the bottom area after I had already gotten past it.

Tip for all maps: When you haven't passed through an emancipation grid which splits the parts of a map.. keep in mind what elements (gels, funnel, bridge,...) you can get from the rooms before.

Djinndrache wrote:
Vixul wrote:

Thanks for the video. Could you tell that some of the ways you did some areas were different than the intended solution due the the lack of use of some elements? Also, what program do you use to record that run through and what software did you use (if any) before uploading to youtube?

I'm almost always using unintended ways, my viewers should be used to that I just look for a way to get through

I record all my videos with Fraps, and edit them with either Sony Vegas or Adobe Premiere. Back in time I only used Vegas, but I'm going more and more with Premiere in the last time.
Usually I still use the old Vegas for Portal videos, haven't found perfect rendering settings for Portal videos on Premiere yet. None of the named softwares are freeware though, sorry

Excellent. I have fraps, vegas, and premiere as well. So as far as vegas or premiere goes, how do I combine my fraps clips into one without losing resolution quality?

Vixul wrote:
Excellent. I have fraps, vegas, and premiere as well. So as far as vegas or premiere goes, how do I combine my fraps clips into one without losing resolution quality?

Fraps gives you tons of huge movie files. Just drag them into the timeline of Vegas/Premiere and render it with the rendering settings which fit your needs.

The map does indeed not look very good. But I couldn't care less about it. I am in for the puzzle fun. And the puzzles in this map were mostly superb.
Overall this map probably took me about 2 hours and it was quite challenging, but nothing was frustrating.
The only thing that annoyed me a tiny little bit was the space used, and this already bugged me in "Portal 2". I don't mind vast rooms if it is necessary for a puzzle, but most maps would do better with smaller rooms. This map would have.
All in all it's still 4/5 from me because of the excellent puzzles. I hope you will release more maps, as I enjoyed it very much!

BTW, after having played through the map, I watched the playthrough and noticed that I didn't do everything as intended: In the first gel room I was able to fling myself onto a wall-lamp skipping a part of the puzzle. In the room with the moonstone-gel I skipped parts of the puzzle by covering a lot more than was intended in white colour and then had no need for the propulsion gel at all.

I started this map in v4, and was somewhat at a loss of what to do in the 3 gel room. I came back to finish, and saw that you had v5, so I restarted from the beginning. I enjoyed solving the puzzles, but in many cases I doubt that I was using the intended solutions.
Probably not intended
In the room with blue and orange gel, if you fling out of the high panel before spraying blue gel, you will land on the light. You can then place a portal in the middle of the pool, and walk along the light and jump back to the gel room.
In the three gel room, I really don't know how you intended for the player to get out, but when you have all three gels, there are infinite unintended solutions. I put blue gel on the platform with the pivoting panel, jumped on top of the elevator, then to a light, and then down to the grid by the faith plate.Once you are approaching the exit, I didn't see any need for the button closest to the exit. I got to the exit room the same way I did with the first cube.
This was an ambitious effort, and there's a lot more good to it than not. There are a lot of lessons to be learned from the many small problems in this map that I'm sure will lead to a much better map in the future. Except for the three gel room, this is a map well worth playing. Despite its many flaws, I give this one 4/5.

This is the 2nd of the two large Gel rooms. A faith plate in the center will catapult you to the railing above. However, it is almost impossible unless you notice a tiny little grate in the wall.

Since Djinndrache's video ends up using a non-intended solution for this section, I figured I would add this part. This was a masterpiece of a puzzle. Long, and complex . . yet the file size is only 8.5M

iVYbXDZmmos

Vixul wrote:
I put the intendid solution in the original post.

I don`t mean to sound stupid but, where is the "original post"?
Apparently some people saw your vid, but I have been searching the board for over an hour and have not found a link to your "intendid solution".
Thanx.

P.S. I know I just registered (cause I'm Super Lazy & Anti-Social!) But I've had nearly 1200 hours playtime in SP since April & I've been visiting TWP for years, yet I'm much better at navigating through "Portal" than these boards.

Edit: Call me Mr. Observant. I swore I checked there several times. I really enjoy longer maps that require more thinking than super ninja and/or shooting skills.
Thank you for your kind response and a great map.

The 'Original Post' is just the first post in this topic that I made. In other words, the first post that you see when you clicked on "view topic".

Here is a direct link to the video though:

tk92LZzqZsk

PCdoc wrote:
This is the 2nd of the two large Gel rooms. A faith plate in the center will catapult you to the railing above. However, it is almost impossible unless you notice a tiny little grate in the wall.

Since Djinndrache's video ends up using a non-intended solution for this section, I figured I would add this part. This was a masterpiece of a puzzle. Long, and complex . . yet the file size is only 8.5M

iVYbXDZmmos

Yeah, That entire room had many flaws, but I kind of gave up and just submitted the map because I wanted to finish it so bad. To fix that area would've required some major reconstruction. I learned a lot from it though and won't be making those mistakes on my next map! Thanks for the feedback!

Hello !

(I'm french so you may find mistakes in my english...)

First of all, great job for your first map...i'm still improving my first one before uploading it, and the hardest for me is the DESIGN... actually for your underground map i find it pretty good...

If you still want to improve it, i wanted to show you the unintended way i solved it : a huge shortcut, that now allows me to finish it in less than 8 minutes without running...
On the video you'll notice 2 things :
- the shortcut at 04:50''
- the alternative way i finished it without the blue funnel. This alternative way is not faster so does not need to be disabled (from my point of view)

SydpcWs6924

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SydpcWs6924)

Don't stop mapping !

Sylvain

Excellent map. If I was being picky I'd say that I didn't really like the bits with well-hidden portal surfaces behind grates, but overall I had a blast with this.

I finished the second gel room using only the white gel (I didn't even find the room where you turn on the other two - after turning on the faith plate, I just rode the lift to the top then made a jump through the floor and out the surface behind the fizzler to fling myself up to the movable panel button. From there I could just place a portal on the panel and jump back through the one I came out of to fling myself to the faith plate). I also just went back through the first room at the end as I was a little tired and it seemed easier...

Loved the first couple of rooms and especially how you got the cube back at the top of the map too, as well as how it generally all fitted together. Thanks for the map!

Great Map!

Took me ages to complete, but was well worth it. First room was probably the hardest for me, though the 3 gels room took a long time as well. Speaking of, I solved this room in a totally different way that you intended (and I think different from anyone else) and I'm really glad because your video made it look really hard and I saved tons of time! I only used the gray portal gel because I couldn't find the freaking switch for the blue. I can't believe it was right beside me the whole time, lol! I hit the switch to pull down the wall, then shot portal gel through it at a hard angle which splattered on the righthand wall, then I just rode the lift up and flung myself across direct to where the switch to turn on the faithplate was. I'd upload a screenshot if I wasn't such a n00b. It's my first post in the forum, but by no means my first custom map. If you tell me how I can do that I'll be happy to provide. Also, in the final room with the massive vertical walls, I just used blue gel to bounce back and forth to the top while holding my companion cube, but I think some others have used this unintended method as well. I think unintended solutions are awesome and one of the things that makes Portal such a unique and amazing game. Don't feel the need to change them, I just though you might want to know.

In any case, I joined up just to say how awesome your map was. I love the really hard maps based on real puzzle solving, not just acrobatics and quick shooting. Keep up the good work. Can't wait to play your next.

It took me quite a while to get through this map, perhaps because I did not use most of your intended solution. I did not visit some areas of the map at all. Toward the end, I was scratching my head trying to figure out to get into them. After I finished the map and watched some of your "intended solutions" video, I realized that I should have been through those areas already, so I decided to stop watching and write this post.

I killed the turret in the first room without needing the funnel. Based on your video, my solution was not intended. I put my portal on the wall to the left of far end of the funnel and dropped onto the light bridge. Apparently, I was too far away for the turret to see me -- it didn't fire -- so I just refired behind the turret, reset my portal in the wall behind me, then walked through and grabbed the turret from behind.

I got the "box" cube to the exit from the room where I found it. I did not have to go into any other rooms. Sorry, I can't remember exactly how I managed it, but it wasn't terribly difficult. I think I managed to get a view of the portal surface facing away from the exit door, then use the faith plate to kick me (holding the cube) up through the ceiling and out through that portal surface, then just dropped the cube onto one of the buttons.

I never got into any of the laser rooms, the room with the vertical light bridge, or the "super-tall zig-zag" area leading to the exit. I got into that maze, but ended up not using it as part of the solution.

After plowing through the "3-gel" room (which I reached by walking through the fizzler from the ceiling area), I didn't even see why it was there. It seemed to me as if it was just a "well, you walked far enough to get stuck in here, now you have to work your way back" situation. While I was in there, I did not need the red gel at all. I also managed to fling/yo-yo/bounce my way up and stand on the rims of the gel droppers, although that didn't really help.

I was able to kill the long row of turrets by pushing the button to drop the grille to expose the faith plate, then standing on the grille as it rose back up instead of walking past the grille onto the faith plate and letting it kick me past the turrets. I was then able to hop over into the room, hug the wall on the right, then slip in and grab the first turret, which knocked the rest of them over. I'm not sure if that was intended (I have not watched your entire video yet). I suppose, now that I look back on it, it may not have been necessary to kill those turrets at all.

After I worked my way back out of the 3-gel room to the ceiling, I realized that I had overlooked the first cube after I hit the button to expose the pulling funnel. Had I not overlooked that, I would not have had to enter the 3-gel area at all! I just grabbed the cube, dropped into the 2-gel room, then flung/bounced/faith-plated back to the exit room from there.

Appparently, this map is very easy to exploit. I have no "ninja skills" at all, yet I still managed to complete the map without ever getting to several portions of it. One of the things that really bugged me about the map was so many faith plates with no clear indications of their targets. A lot of it seemed to be "let's just bounce the player around in wacky ways" without any real need for that. Too many "Save the game, then jump on the plate and see what happens" situations for my taste.

I have to hand it to you for the size and (intended) complexity of this map, but it needs a lot of work to eliminate exploits. Because of that, 3/5 from me.

Ok, I retraced my steps and got through it even quicker. Didn't have to do the 3-gel room at all.

After geting through the first (funnel/lightbridge) and second (2-gel) rooms as intended, you're standing on the platform outside the exit. Here's the rest of the exploit, step by step. Sorry, I don't have the ability to record video yet, but this shouldn't be hard for anyone to follow if they want to try it.


1. Fire red in slanted portal surface on the exit platform. You will not have to move your red portal again unless you refire it somewhere else accidentally.
2. Fire blue portal in the far end of the portal surface in the ceiling over the platform with the button.
3. Go through red portal, drop out of the ceiling and land next to the button.
4. Push the button to get the cube.
5. Go get the cube and carry it over to the other corner.
6. Fire blue in portal surface at the bottom of the wall. (Since you did not push any of the other buttons in the chamber below the cube button, this panel has not flipped over to hide the portal surface.)
7. Carry cube through portal to exit platform.
8. Set cube down on the floor to the right of the exit door.
9. Jump on top of the cube, then jump on top of the door frame.
10. Stand above the center of the door and look over the wall to your right. You can see the corner of the ceiling just past the long glass wall on the left. Fire your blue portal there.
11. Walk through your red portal and drop through the ceiling onto the green-lit floor.
12. Walk over to the button by the arm.
13. Push button to lift panel from ceiling and turn on pulling funnel.
14. Wait for the funnel to pull the cube up and grab it as it goes by. If you miss it, just push the button again. The cube will drop onto the top of the closing panel when the funnel turns off.

Note: The first time I did this map, I didn't notice that the funnel had pulled the cube up from the first room. I went exploring instead, walked through the fizzler and down the catwalks into the 3-gel room. Since the fizzler clobbered my portals, I then had to solve that room to get back to the this point. Took quite a while since I had not reached that room by the intended path! I had to take the cube and drop into the 2-gel room to get back to the exit instead of using the rest of this exploit.

15. Fire blue portal in the wall to the left of the arm.
16. Grab the cube and go through your portal back to exit platform.
17. Put both cubes on buttons, then walk out the exit.

I honestly did not realize this was such a massive exploit until I watched your intended solution video. I had seen at least one of the other areas (e.g, the "fling-a-palooza" room with the vertical light bridge) while exploring and spent some time scratching my head trying to figure out how to get into them.

What I found as bugs (first one mentioned was fixed, my video was uploaded 12-4-11, the last update was 12-8-11):

o7DoMuASCG4