UPDATE: New version released 05.12.08.

Any ideas, suggestions, questions or constructive criticisms are welcome.
VMF available upon request.

Here's the Download link.

Version 1.1 [05.12.08]
Fixed an issue with the map fade in.
Added signage to assist the player.
Changed the solution in the last room.

Version 1.0 [05.06.08]
Finished last room at last. Barring any major issues this should be the final release of this map.

Version 1.4 Beta [05.01.08]
Added Chamber_01 Challenge level.
Added auto saves in case of death.
Compiled for LDR and HDR with cubemaps.

Version 1.3 Beta [04.28.08]
Removed some fog effects for improved performance.
Changed solution for the last room's puzzle.
Added cubemaps to water for snazziness.
Changed a few textures.

Version 1.2 Beta [04.20.08]
Added Portal bumpers for smoother game play.
Reworked mechanics on first puzzle.
Added indicator strips for first puzzle.
Removed some unnecessary sounds.
Fixed an issue where the player could not get a new companion cube.

Version 1.1 Beta update [04.18.08]
Fixed some texture issues and changed a few just for kicks.
Door in the "3-switch" room must now be opened by solving puzzle.
Adjusted timing on the 4 platforms.
Added audio hint when player picks up portal gun.

ThinkingWithPortals.com wrote:
The selected File does not exist anymore

404 File Not Found: The File ./pafiledb/uploads/dc33740b40e8e098f6dbdd8b24a33364.bmz does not exist.

reupload and update link please?

Reuploaded the file. Because the file is over 6Mb you have to click on the "download here" link and save the file. you will also have to rename the file to Bizob.bmz, it gets renamed something cryptic by the server.

had hoped to play and finish this before i went to bed. but now its too late (damn that real life always getting in the way) but i'm up the the part with the 4 moving platforms that all move at different speeds and so far man this thing looks amazing. alot of neat concepts and such. but will make a better post after i finish the maps. for now. good night

EDIT: i'm guessing that the room with the portal gun is the last room? if so. then i ~beat~ it looks great just one opinion i want to place here.. the 4 moving platforms is a little tidious... and can be annoying just sitting there... waiting for everything to line up. its a bad pacing problem. i like it. its neat and all. but if you show up at the wrong time you can wait FOREVER for the timing to be right. might want to work on that part a bit. or. if you keep it as is. then maybe put it right after something intense like a turret battle or something. thats what they did in the HL2 maps.. they would hit you with an intense battle... then slow things down with a puzzle.. just an idea.
and as far as how the level looks. man its amazing... very good job on design and "new" look. while staying within the ideas of a test chamber

Thanks for the kind words rellikpd. Yes you're right about the last room. It's unfinished but as it turned out I may leave the solution as is and just dress it up a bit.
As for the 4 moving platforms, I knew that was going to be an issue and am working on tweaking it. I admit, I "noclip" past that part when I'm testing since I know the puzzle is solvable. I thought this would be a good thing to have beta testers for:). I still want to make that section challenging because it precedes the portal gun. I'll have to find a nice balance between challenging and tedious.
I have a fun little thing I plan on adding to that section but not until final release.

another note here... i dont' know what you plan on doing with the room with the 2 moving platforms, 2 fans, companion cube dispenser and the 3 switches... but i like that little room lol i had fun lining up everything and making it so the companion cube landed on the far "right" platform. lol that was pretty unique, i was pretty pissed to later find out i couldn't get said cube lol waits for the final release

rellikpd wrote:
another note here... i dont' know what you plan on doing with the room with the 2 moving platforms, 2 fans, companion cube dispenser and the 3 switches... but i like that little room lol i had fun lining up everything and making it so the companion cube landed on the far "right" platform. lol that was pretty unique, i was pretty pissed to later find out i couldn't get said cube lol waits for the final release

Well that was intended to be fun so I guess mission accomplished. Once you get the cube to land the door that is there (currently open) will open to let you in the first hallway. I just have to figure out how make it trigger when the box STAYS on the platform and not just hit it and bounce off. The companion cube can be retrieved. In fact, it should be needed to complete the map properly. Remember the 2 buttons and door at the begining? Did you get by there some other way?. I'll add a hint to remind the player.

You could use two triggers. One that starts disabled and one that when triggered starts a logic_timer which when it finishes counting will activate the second trigger. If this trigger fires than the cube stayed on. If not than it fell off. This would all be parented to the platform so that it moved along with it.

lol i'm retarded i didn't know there was a way to actually get the cube so i never actually beat the map. but i went back and did so now.
just fyi there are several places there you have HOM (hall of mirror) errors. there is one in the area right between the crushing pistons and the 4 platform area (in that hallway with the several falling stairs) and in the wall facing next to the elevator.. as if you were to walk into the elevator, turn around and look up (but not straight up)
i'm not sure how these are caused in Hammer (hl2) but in other games its usually caused by a lack of texture.

if i get time later today i'll take some screen shots to show you, but for now i got to goto work

Yikes! Well I gotta get rid of those HOM errors. Thanks for pointing those out. I found the one by the elevator, somehow that got untextured on me. If you could post screenies of the others I'd REALLY appreciate it. I can't seem to find them in game or in Hammer.

nightfire: Thanks for the suggestion I'm going to try to implement it tonight if these HOMs don't drive me insane.

yeah i didn't get time today, i'll try to get to it tomarow for surely

No probs. check out he new version. I'd like to know if you think the platforms are too easy now?

bizob wrote:
No probs. check out he new version. I'd like to know if you think the platforms are too easy now?

actually no. i don't think its too easy now. it LOOKS like it should be easier. and it LOOKS like its gimped, but actually thats kinda cool cuz it tricks you. you think "this should be easy" but there is still really only one way to have the platforms moving in order for it to work. and you have to be a really fast and acurate jumper... where in the way it was before... if you waited long enough it was pretty much just a walk in the park (if that park was a poisonous pit with platforms over it) i like it.
and also a note here: although your glados voices are well placed. i'm pretty much tired of hearing that bitch :-/ just a personal opinion. the "good job" and such are ok. but the whole "blah blah blah long winded speach" are annoying the 57th time you've heard them..

also. i had something weird happen. not sure how. but i managed to get the cube to land on the platform.. but by the time i got the portal gun and got into the cube room, it had fallen off.. lol so i was screwed.. had to restart it. only happened once, i think it was close enough to the edge that as long as the platform was standing still it sat there, but as soon as i reactivated the platform it fell off.

and here's your HOMs they are both in the hallway leading to the 4 platforms room, and you only see them after the steps go down

Thanks for the screenies I think I fixed all the HOMs. I have some "func_portal_bumper"s for when the stairs are down that were set to "tools/nodraw" which should have been set to "tools/invisible".

Glad you like the platform change. I'm not sure that will be the final change there but I'm leaving it alone for now so I can focus on other stuff.

I replayed the map and although the GlaDos voices dont't bother me I did realize it may be because I kinda don't pay attention to them anymore. Plus as a (wanna-be)mapper I think there's a tendency to overdue the voices. I tend to think that my map is the first map the player has played since s/he finished Portal. I have to remind myself that most people will have played several hundred maps before mine and don't need to be spoon fed even if it is funny stuff (the first 56 times that is). ALL that being said, I toned down the voices.

The platform/box/door thing needs fine tuning. It's possible to get the door to open after the box bounces off the platform twice or more, which is not as intended. And then there's your problem. I need to find a way to sort of "catch" the box and make sure it can't fall off. I have to rethink the whole trigger process for that. Can you guess why I didn't implement that part till beta?

i made a video on your map, it's very dark and bad quality but.. it's the only one i have:

http://it.youtube.com/watch?v=BTGzF6wJh1I

infernet89 wrote:
i made a video on your map, it's very dark and bad quality but.. it's the only one i have:
http://it.youtube.com/watch?v=BTGzF6wJh1I

Thanks for posting the video. It was fun to see you solve things a little different then I planned. I wanted to give the player more than one way to solve most puzzles. Sorry you had to sit through that boring part waiting for the platforms to line up, that part has been improved a great deal since that release. New release should be up tonight or tomorrow.

Any thoughts, problems or ideas?

@ infernet: wow you could have done ALOT better... i've seen you mutilate "hard" maps..

@ bizob: btw. is the name of this map a LotR reference? :-/

rellikpd wrote:
@ bizob: btw. is the name of this map a LotR reference? :-/

Not consciously. I do like Tolkien though. I was wondering when someone would ask about that . The name came to me when just after I started on the map, because you have to basically to go the end of the map and come back again to finish.

Edit: Beta 1.2 is up now.

yeah. well its a pretty sweet coinsidence.. cuz. as you said. you pretty much have to do that. and for those in the know it brings a chuckle

Uploaded new version, Beta 1.3 (link above). I think this ones almost ready to put to bed. It is completely playable now and I think I covered all the essentials (like being able to get another CC if you lose the first one, not getting trapped, etc) but you never know. I hope it's as much fun to play as it was to create.

I'm actually pretty pleased with how this came out, especially now that I added cubemaps for the water. I did play around with cubemaps in other locations but it just didn't fit the "feel" I was going for (or things got out of control and looked __real __goofy). I may add a few cubemaps to the first room and elevator areas to make it look a little nicer. I'm still not 100% comfortable with cubemaps yet.

I would like to come up with a better delivery system for the portalgun but I can't seem to think of anything. I've been playing around with ideas for a week now and I'm stumped for the moment. If anyone's got any suggestions I'm open.