Hey guys! I have a problem with my Portal game while playing some external games. This problem happened a few times before and I couldn't solve it until I reinstalled the whole Portal game. The game simply doesn't continue from the last saved point when I die. When I click a save point manually again nothing happens. So I have to start the map all over from the beginning every time I die. This problem only happens with external bonus maps, the regular Portal game works fine. And the problem is not with the maps themselves because they work fine again after I reinstall Portal. I don't want to reinstall the whole game every time this problem occurs. I posted this problem in many forums including steam forums but nobody was able to help me. I would appreciate it if you give me any idea on how to solve this problem. Reinstalling the whole game takes a whole day of my time with my slow connection. Thanks in advance.

Are you using quicksaves or are you pressing esc then saving?

Also, can you give us a few details about your computer? Operating system, background programs etc.

Hey, Whysopro. I press Esc and then save. When I check the "save" file in Portal files I can see the save point created there. But it doesn't work. When I check the console for an error log after trying to resume from a saved point it says "save file missing or invalid" or something like that. I have Windows Vista, Service Pack 2 of course. I don't usually run any other program while playing Portal.

Well, for me, occasionally some maps just won't save properly and I'll have to restart the map. It's only on certain maps and may be related to the map file name.

But if your problem is with all bonus maps, then I don't know what to tell you.

Do you have any special setup for your save directory? Because what I am visualizing here, is that, you save, then the game says it's invalid...or missing. I think the missing part is what's happening.

It seems to me that files are getting misplaced somehow. Can you do a quick test for me?

1)Start a campaign map, then save the game.
2)Take note of the name of the save file that just got created.
3)Browse to your <steamname>/portal/save directory and check if that save file exists.
4)Now, start a bonus map, and once again save the game.
5)Take note, browse to your save folder and then check if THAT file is there.

Post your results. =)

Hello WhysoPro. I'm not sure about what you exactly mean by "campaign" and "bonus" maps. My problem is with the external, third party maps which are made by Portal fans, not the regular Portal game. Anyway, I tried to do what you said:

1)I started a map named "Collimation" and then saved my progress after a while.
2)I couldn't read the whole name of the save file because there were three dots at the end. Here it is:
"Collimation/maps/mapaday/collim..."
3)I browsed <steamname>/Portal/save directory and saw 5 files created there with that saving action. Here are their names:
a)collimation.hl1
b)collimation.hl2
c)collimation.hl3
d)half-life-001.sav
e)half-life-001.tga
4)I started an advanced map from bonus maps of the regular Portal game. And saved my progress after a while. The name of the save point is "Test Chamber 18".
5) I browsed the save file and here are the 5 files created there:
a)half-life-002.sav
b)half-life-002.tga
c)testchmb_a_14_advanced.hl1
d)testchmb_a_14_advanced.hl2
e)testchmb_a_14_advanced.hl3

Then when I tried to resume the game from the saved point of the advanced map it worked fine. But it doesn't resume from the saved point of the external map Collimation.

I didn't mess with any game settings as I'm not a professional and don't know what to do.

By the way if you have an instant messenger it would be much easier and faster to communicate and solve the problem. my msn address is : [email protected]

I'm getting impatient to be able to play those Portal maps. Portal is the best game I know and no other game can replace it for me right now. Thanks.

Okay so it's not a directory issue or any files going in the wrong place. Somehow your game can't read it's own creation. o_0

I will do a bit of googling today.

Well, I already tried google with no hope but I'll be waiting for your results anyway as you are a professional.

Lol! I am a professional? This is quite the moment!

I am no where near a professional. I just try to help as much as possible.

Well, it's written "Test Supervisor" under your avatar; that's why I assumed so. Anyway aren't there anybody else around here to help me? Are we alone in this so called official Portal 2 forum?

Okay I did googling and like you......I found nothing ._.

It looks like you will just have to beat custom test chambers in one go.

"Collimation/maps/mapaday/collim..."

that part is confusing me. it may be due to how your maps are installed?

my collimation is installed in maps/mapaday/collimation.bsp, if your's isn't there that may be part of the problem.

p0rtalplayer wrote:
"Collimation/maps/mapaday/collim..."

that part is confusing me. it may be due to how your maps are installed?

my collimation is installed in maps/mapaday/collimation.bsp, if your's isn't there that may be part of the problem.

P0rtalplayer's right, I think this may be the problem. Anyway, first, welcome to ThinkingWithPortals! It's not actually the official Portal 2 mapping community/forum, but it's one of the two main Portal forums out there. Second, "campaign" maps normally refers to maps in the actual game (i.e. maps in the storyline), whereas "bonus" maps is here referring to any custom/community-made maps. Finally, the rank under the usernames on the sides is just an indication of post count; "New Employee" is the lowest, "Test Supervisor" is the next highest, etc. I'm not sure how many ranks there are or what they are.

Even though this is slightly off-topic, the known ranks are:

Personality core
Glados Module
Loves Cake
Test Supervisor
Superior Participant
Test Participant
New Employee

Back on topic, like the others said, it is probably something to do with where you installed the maps.

Thank you all for your replies. Being impatient for an answer I left my computer running last night and reinstalled both steam and portal. Then in the morning I saw your answers and extracted the .bsp files into the maps folder and played the map like that. It worked fine but I'm not sure if the problem was solved because of the re-installation or because of the place where I put the map. So, what's the ideal way to install a custom map? Can someone give me a standard and detailed way that works for all maps? Thank you.

Maps should just simply, and undoubtedly go, in the portal/portal/maps folder. All respective materials, models, or sounds should go in...their respective folders.

Usually if you get a map with custom content in it, they just assume the materials/models/sound folders are self explanatory.

Now, the same problem happened with a .bmz map I downloaded from here, Thinkwithportals.com. It's full name is contest2010_Jthm_temprising_contest.bmz

I save my progress but it doesn't resume from the saved point when I die. Nothing happens when I click the save point manually. I did everything right, putting the .bmz file right into the maps folder and then clicking "import bonus maps" and stuff. What's going on? I only yesterday reinstalled Portal. Please help me guys. I'm full of frustration.

I really don't know what to say. That's just retarded.

kataruna wrote:
Now, the same problem happened with a .bmz map I downloaded from here, Thinkwithportals.com. It's full name is contest2010_Jthm_temprising_contest.bmz

I had this exact problem with this map as well. Don't be distraught, I think you fixed the problem by changing where you put maps. As for "temprising", it could be a bad bmz or something but if you go to the thread for that map, you'll see that other people complained about the same problem. It's not your fault, it's just a bad coincidence.