Just woke to some great videos. @Jacu, that was awesome. Just as good as the intended solution. I was almost there, but I thought you needed to jump on at least one cube to press the spark button through the roof portal. Brilliant!

So far, every single player has come up with a different method for performing the stack. Here's another one I found for stacking the cubes directly to their final place:
STACK
tESmfTeqEts
@Shakky: I used to do a lot of my design work with pencil and paper and I still used that for parts of this map, but the most popular parts were designed in-game by just playing around a lot.The idea with the angles for activating the ramp sensor came to me while pre-testing Xtreger's first map. In that case I used a cube, and marKiu also found a variation of that while playing that map. Just playing around, I accidentally found that you could do it without a cube as well. I wanted to disguise the fact that there would be no cube, so I added a fizzler sensor for the ramp room which was meant to be impossible to hit. Xtreger found a way to open it of course, but it didn't lead to a solution, so I kept it in for camouflage value. Later, I found a way to use it when transitioning to the second room, but that was worked out right at the end.

@sicklebrick: Very interesting video. Yours is the simplest method yet for lighting the second laser, but if course it's not available in the challenge version. There's definitely a machine theme in the last room. There's a lot of potential to make some truly evil puzzles with that setup but as I said, I was trying not to make it too hard!

I finally made it into the funnel room. The laser angled down from near the ceiling keeps turning off after a while. The puzzle looks like Encode turned sideways, but I'll never get it set up in time if that laser is going to keep going out. Is this intended? Because I'll give up now if it is.

EDIT: I think I know what's going on. I had the same problem with Xtreger's map Dispersed. Every time you interrupt a laser beam that has been redirected through a cube, the cube bounces a little. You bounce it enough times, and eventually it will lose its aim. Fortunately, in this room, you can just nudge the cube back on center if it starts to get off target.

Yeah it's a bug in the game engine I'm afraid KennKong. I did take some steps to reduce it, but couldn't eliminate it. As you say, quicksave often and you might need to occasionally go back over to re-center the cube's aim.

grayarea wrote:
The idea with the angles for activating the ramp sensor came to me while pre-testing Xtreger's first map. In that case I used a cube, and marKiu also found a variation of that while playing that map. Just playing around, I accidentally found that you could do it without a cube as well. I wanted to disguise the fact that there would be no cube, so I added a fizzler sensor for the ramp room which was meant to be impossible to hit. Xtreger found a way to open it of course, but it didn't lead to a solution, so I kept it in for camouflage value.

Crap crap crap crap crap crap. I knew I recognized that from somewhere and that the deactivate-fizzler-receiver was just a red herring. I kept thinking that it led somewhere because with the same angle you can activate the laser power-up receiver from behind the fizzler. Even though it didn't seem to buy you anything, like a fool, I spent hours trying to make something work with that.

Nice to see you back, grayarea! Test subjects abound. Etc.

grayarea wrote:
So far, every single player has come up with a different method for performing the stack. Here's another one I found for stacking the cubes directly to their final place:

Haha, that's the coolest one. I loaded the map just to give it a try >.<

It's pretty cool how there seems to be a few variations on everything, but no real map breakers

Hi, grayarea. Awesome diffucult map. I can't beat it. But that's not the point.
I've managed to activate the light bridge by unintended way due to one bug. The laser beam
can pass trough the fizzler model.

I hope it'll help you improve your map.

Thanks greykarel. You're in good company. I got into mapping after failing to solve all the difficult maps, starting with Jonatan's Seven Gates and onwards. It's making an honest attempt that matters, I think.
I probably wont change this map again, but I will fix my fizzlers for the next map so cheers for the bug report.
@RogerL: thanks for playing again. I guess I can't use the "dummy fizzler sensor" trick too many more times. It certainly is an effective way of creating doubt and misdirection.

That's brilliant how you activated the laser again after going up, Jacu!
I got up there by briefly activating the ramp in the same way as you did... But in the initial version it wasn't possible to reach the spark button once you'd got up. After spending a lot of time on that I had to resort to the standard method.

Woo-hoo! I finally made it! The only part I couldn't get on my own was getting the first cube upstairs. Between your map "Encode", and Xtreger's map "Dispersed", I was all schooled up for the last room.

I'm not in the mood for searching through the hours of blind run recordings to find it now, but I had yet another method of stacking the cubes, a hybrid of marKiu's and your's (solution video). I put the bottom cube by a portal in the wall, then put the other on top by reaching through the floor. I tried reaching through the wall, but I couldn't get the cube over the other one without bumping it out of the way.

I watched your solution to the final gauntlet, but I never made it through in one pass without stopping the funnel. Even though you didn't do it that way, it is easy to stop the funnel on both the way in and the way out, to give yourself plenty of time to walk through the first fizzler in each direction. Compared to the mad dash to the door of "Encode", this was a walk in the park.

Playing with a controller was never even the slightest handicap in this. I think you found the right balance of puzzle vs. execution difficulty this time. Even after a solid month of trying, I wasn't able to climb the "Big Top". I wore out the F7 key on this, but I wasn't repeating the same move over and over. I made slow progress, but I don't think I repeated any one move more than ten times.

Your best work yet, in my opinion. The Gray Lord of Difficulty reigns again. 5/5.

P.S. I tried playing this on my rebuilt PC. The new video is marginally capable of running Portal 2, but the lag is terrible. I haven't cranked the video settings down as far they go yet, but it still looks like no mouse for me.

Wow this was still a very difficult laser puzzle. Even with the walkthroughs it was still tough to execute....
thanks for putting so much work into the map....

Finally...

Im in the Last Room with 5 cubes...
WTB Amnesia-like "item-rotating"

I spent to much time after bringen the First cube up at rather stupid "solutions".
If you receive the Laser at the Placementhelper and than set your other Portal slightly left and above you can use that to deactive the Fizzler to Room2 while carrying the Cube through the Fizzler. Doesn't help you the slightest, only if you want to waste time. g

Im still eager to solve it before the DL2 is out.

Just solved challenge version, but before posting it I need to ask again, cause you didn't answered me:
can I use this portals?

Jacu, I'm really sorry I missed your question. Yes you can use those ones, just not the horizontal one in the center.

KennKong and quatrus: thanks a lot. I'm glad you enjoyed it and I'm already thinking about number 5.

grayarea wrote:
Jacu, I'm really sorry I missed your question. Yes you can use those ones, just not the horizontal one in the center.

KennKong and quatrus: thanks a lot. I'm glad you enjoyed it and I'm already thinking about number 5.

Ok, so my solution is correct. Will make a vid this evening.
Please, make number 5 a bit harder ^^

grayarea wrote:
Yes you can use those ones, just not the horizontal one in the center.

Hehe, first time around I basically did the challenge version then >.< Facepalmed when I saw you use the sideways one as a window...

What a gem of a map! Thank you Grayarea.

I have been away from Portal some time so I missed this when it was fresh but better late than never.

I haven't solved part 2 but couldn't wait go look see how other had solved the first part, bringing the ignition to the second room, and it turns out I solved it in a completely different way than intended:

6Q3F_ju9sL8

Brilliant and totally different! Happily skirting around barriers that were meant to be impossible.
One thing I found with this map is that when people managed to do things they weren't supposed to do, it didn't always lead to an easy solution or to a dead-end. It lead to a place where even more tricky moves are required as in your video. Nice work!

Haha, really fiddly solution.. but awesome!