Quote from Rubrica on August 5, 2011, 6:23 pm

Change log:

V.0.8: Initial version, most work done.
V.0.9: Added a pretty little picture tutorial for the detailing Walls sections.
V.0.9.1: Added a guest tutorial on building Old Aperture maps, donated by ForbiddenDonut.

Hi! I know I said I'd do the music tutorial first, but this is actually, contrary to my initial impressions, easier, and my computer's acting up anyway, making it difficult to access the resources for the music article. So, without further ado, let's begin! The article shall be segregated into sections, each covering a different aesthetic theme. The format for each section shall be as follows:

Name of theme
Chapter #

Summary of Theme - covers what the theme is like, what chambers it's good for, et cetera.

Testing Elements - going by the campaign, what test elements should be used in these maps. Naturally, don't feel constrained by this, but in the actual game, certain themes are only home to certain elements.

In-Depth Tutorials - here, I will post one or two mini-articles on how to do certain things for a theme, to make it look right.

Useful Textures - a list of all the most useful textures for this theme.

The Finer Details - this is where I'll put all the miscellaneous tips and tricks for this theme that don't fit anywhere else.

TL;DR - a brief summary of the points made in each chapter.

So, let us begin!

Pre-GLaDOS destroyed chambers
Chapter 1

This is the first theme players will see, assuming they play single player first. Consequently, it is designed to be very visually striking, and to leave as big an impact as possible on the player. Key features of this theme are prevalent foliage in the form of moss and vines, often broken test elements, rubble, most glass is broken, and everything feels very organic. On that note, however, do not confuse this with being dynamic; while all levels are, to a degree, dynamic, these levels aren't as openly so as others, as the player must get the feeling that everything is dying if not already dead, that this is the end, and that they are in solitude.

Testing Elements - Now, this one's interesting, because in the campaign, these maps are only used for two things: tutorials, in the form of very simple cube and button based testing and momentum puzzles, and plot advancement. However, for such a beautiful theme (though I do have this sort of inherent dislike for it, for some reason), it's a shame to limit yourself to such simple tests, and so I, myself, broaden this slightly; use this theme for simple yet innovative and unique puzzles, or those with brilliant moments of epiphany (colloquially known as aha moments). If you have a new testing element to show off, this sort of striking theme might just ingrain it in the player's mind forever (though if it's just a proof of concept, go for the much easier Clean style).

Useful Textures

Walls - search for 'White wall 002', 'White wall 004', 'black wall 005'.
Floors - nature/blendwhitefloor_dirt01 and _dirt02, metal/blendblackfloormetal_dirt02
Ceilings - just use the clean ones, or the dirt floor tiles. Only use the dirty wall tiles just use the clean ones, or the dirty floor tiles. Only use the dirty wall tiles if you're desperate.

In-Depth Tutorials

Skybox Lighting
[spoiler]Skybox lighting is actually very easy to create, and it's the most prominent source of lighting in this theme. The easy bits come first; go into the Map menu and select map properties. Next, find the key value that says what the skybox texture should be, and change this to sky_white - no folder, no file extension, just that. Next, create a brush where you want the skybox to be; naturally, make sure it seals the map from leaks, as always. Texture this brush with tools/toolsskybox. Now comes the somewhat more difficult part; setting it up to project light. This isn't actually that difficult, but it's a little more so than the previous steps. Create a light_environment entity and place it anywhere inside the map. Now, you could just stop there, but it's bad practice to ever use a perfectly white light, so I like to use the setting Valve uses in their maps. Use these exact key values:

Angles: 0 280 0
Pitch: -80
Brightness: 255 247 217 250
Ambient: 255 247 217 400
Sun spread angle: 5

Leave all other key values as they are. Tada! You now have skybox lighting! However, there is one thing you should note; this light will not, by default, cast very defined shadows from props, such as square beams or, I THINK, foliage, only brushes. To make it cast the shadows of props, you must follow this method of compiling, which I must credit the genius Skotty for.

'To render the shadows of prop_statics like their visual structure is, you need to switch to expert mode in the compiler. Now you have to add some lines in your VRAD setting:
-textureshadows -StaticPropLighting -StaticPropPolys
Textureshadows ->models with textures using alpha channels like fences with metal grid textures will render depending where a translucent part is and where not.
-StaticPropLighting -> Static props will force to render shadows depending to their visual appearence (per Polygon). If you don't use it, it will use the physbox.
-StaticPropPolys -> Static props won't have a constant lighting. Now every polygon will have it's own lighting. This included self shadowing of prop_statics.

Be careful. Now it will create shadows depending where the polygons are. It doesn't check if the texture is translucent or not, so if you use the glass models of the vactubes, they will cast a shadow too!'

If you don't know how to add lines to the compilation settings, either deal with having no shadows from props, or ask me, and I'll be glad to elaborate.[/spoiler]
Realistic Foliage
[spoiler]'To have swaying vegetation in your map you must have an active env_wind entity and your plant models must be prop_static with the Ignore surface normal for computing vertex lighting set to 'yes' or '1'.' So, uh, yeah. I DID just copy that directly from the VDC. However, there is a little more to it than that; it sounds like common sense, but people tend to forget these things. First off, gameplay and aesthetics ARE NOT entirely segregated; when placing foliage (or any prop, for that matter, but especially foliage and sometimes rubble), you must consider the level's puzzle. You don't want to accidentally obscure a portalable wall with vines, thereby making the whole puzzle twice as hard. Secondly, and it infuriates me when people don't do this, place foliage in logical and realistic places. If there's a gaping hole in the ceiling, have the vines hang down from the edge of the hole, not the corner of the room (it is perfectly acceptable to have foliage in corners, nooks and crannies, but it just makes more sense to have it by holes). Also, if you do have vines by a hole, don't make the newbie mistake of having the vines start at ceiling level; have them start at skybox level, so that they're not hanging from mid-air, or at least make sure the player can't see that they are, if you do.[/spoiler]
The Finer Details - something I notice a lot of people forget in these maps is that they use the default observation room instances - and because these add light, they either overpower the room with light by adding a skybox, or they just don't destroy the ceiling at all. I'd recommend using these instances for prehub observation rooms:

observation_room_02_256x128_1off.vmf
observation_room_64x128_1off.vmf
observation_room_64x128_2off.vmf
observation_room_64x128_3off.vmf
observation_room_128x128_1off.vmf
observation_room_128x128_notbroken_off.vmf
observation_room_192x128_1off.vmf
observation_room_256x128_1off.vmf
observation_room_256x128_2off.vmf

Another thing is that security cameras should be present, but inactive, to add to that sense of solitude. To do this, just go into the flags tab and turn off the autostart flag. Finally, if you are going to use panels, use the rusty versions, and, if preferable, make them malfunction. On the note of malfunctioning, this is a good way to create interesting destroyed puzzles; create an easy puzzle, and then, via the use of something like a broken panel, though it could be something else, break the chamber, and give it an alternate, more interesting solution. An interesting video of a proof-of-concept of this is available from someone called Entrophoria, a person who it's a real shame we don't have here on the forums. Take a look:

Improvisation
[spoiler]GNIdLOrhbos[/spoiler]
Interesting, no?

TL;DR - Foliage, rubble, broken glass and test elements, malfunctioning panels, no lights from observations room, use skybox lighting, turn off security cameras, good if you're making simple yet innovative puzzles.

Post-GLaDOS hub destroyed chambers
Chapter 2

I'm quite fond of this theme; it has all of the good bits of the destroyed maps with added GLaDOS, everyone's favourite homicidal computer. Plus, it gradually begins to get cleaner, and as a person with OCPD, that soothes me. Key components of this theme are active security cameras and now-working observation rooms; wildlife can no longer be heard as much and the ceilings are intact, as the player has moved deeper into the facility. Naturally, panels are very much present, and they emphasise the effect that the facility is coming to it's senses again after a long sleep, and that it's sentient.

Testing Elements - going by the campaign, Aerial Faith Plates, Thermal Discouragement Beams and Hard Light Surfaces. However, that's a lot to go with, so I'll say this; don't try and cram everything in. I've seen a lot of people do this with their first maps, and while it was sort of okay in the first days of the SDK when everyone was just beginning to learn how to make maps, it's less so now. Also, there seems to be a trend lately where all laser puzzles have to be in this theme; don't constrict yourself like this! I find that laser puzzles work better in clean maps, but I'll talk about that later.

Useful Textures - see Pre-GLaDOS hub destroyed chambers list.

In-Depth Tutorials

Making the Level Feel Alive
[spoiler]So, now that the facility is back online again, it is vital that it feels alive, even sentient. Now, there are two parts to this, which I classify as miscellaneous dynamic elements, and panels, because panels are so awesome they deserve a category of their own. Seriously, I'd marry a panel if I could. Therefore, I'm going to cover them first; however, I've done enough copying and pasting in these tutorials already, so I'm going to link you to a page that describes how to create panels far better than I ever could; Panels at the VDC.

One thing I would say is don't use the non-glass 128x128 panels often, because they can look a little bit odd, and the brush attached to them has to be a bit irregularly sized to fit in the frame. I also can't think of a single point in the campaign where the glass 64x64 panels are used, but feel free to use them anyway, because they're too adorable not to.

Another note for the 64x64 panels, the non-glass ones this time, is that when you place them they will, on a large-ish grid size, be recessed two units into the wall. THIS IS NORMAL. A common mistake is moving them so they are flush with the Walls, and THEN adding the brush. All this means is that the panel will actually stick out from the wall; this is incredibly annoying. On that note, ALL PANELS MUST BE TWO UNITS THICK. Please. I've seen otherwise perfectly wonderful maps use panels that are actually 64, yes, 64, units thick, and it makes me weep.

Finally, a note specific to this theme; search for animations with 'wake' or 'powerup' in their name in the model browser. These are animations specifically tailored for this point in the game, and really give the sense that the facility is coming back to its senses.

Well now, that took a long time, but we're not done yet. We've still got those miscellaneous dynamic elements to cover; let's begin with the elements relevant to this theme. One clever little trick is using a trigger_look to trigger a relay, either when the player looks at it or when a certain amount of time has passed. This relay should enable the motion of a func_physbox attached to a phys_hinge (with, unsurprisingly, an input of EnableMotion), then, about two and a half seconds later, send the hinge an input of Break. This is brilliant for making panels fall of the ceiling into toxic slime pools, which is good for two things. First, it looks very pretty, and adds a dynamic element to your map. Second, however, it can be used in a large chamber to draw the players gaze and attention to a certain area, one that they might not have otherwise noticed straight away, perhaps giving them some guidance on where to go, so they can begin with a goal. One can also perform this trick with wall panels; just don't use a hinge, but use a small phys_explosion behind the panel to knock it off the wall about a tenth of a second after its motion is enabled. I believe there are instances for this included by default, however it's nice to learn how to do these things oneself.

One instance that I would recommend using, however, is destruction/destruction_ambience.vmf. This has a variety of entities in it; I won't go into too much detail, just that it uses a func_tracktrain on a large square path to simulate explosion sounds and shakes coming from different directions at random intervals.[/spoiler]
The Finer Details - please, please use GLaDOS. Seriously; a map without dialogue is twice as boring as one that has it. That said, however, go for the unique quotes; we've heard the 'here come the test results' line millions of times, but how often do you hear 'like an eagle, piloting a blimp'? Even better, go for some of the cut lines that can still be found in the game's files! For a list of GLaDOS lines, see here.

Next up, the geometry should be a lot clearer than in the previous theme; very thing should be a bit blockier, and a lot more of the panels are black, also. This is really what, visually, distinguishes the previous theme from this one. However, don't just place white surfaces where the player should place portals; many players dislike this because it makes the puzzle too easy. Don't hesitate to make whole walls white, just so long as black and white are in about equal proportion. If you want, add subtle visual indicator to where portals should be placed.

Finally, and I have no idea why this is, feel free to make the chambers enormous, with wide expanses of toxic slime. While in every other theme it is a newbie's error to make the rooms too big, there's something about this theme that makes it perfectly acceptable. Remember the 'I didn't see the deer today' chamber, or the one with the garbage quote? Both enormous. Maybe it's the fact that the player does more flings in these chambers. Who knows? There just seems to be a negative correlation with the cleanliness of a chamber and it's size.

TL;DR - active cameras, working observation rooms, no broken ceilings, less nature sounds, less foliage, more dynamic and alive, panels are now working, use AFPs, lasers and HLSes, clearer geometry, more black panels but in roughly equal proportion to white, don't be afraid to go enormous, recommended for map packs as they can get progressively cleaner and also for advanced mappers due to the high amount of dynamic elements.

GLaDOS clean chambers
Chapter 3

This is a theme very, very briefly seen in Chapter 3; technically, only chambers 21 and 20 (the one with the federal regulations speech) are properly clean, however 18 and 19 look pretty spiffy too. This is, personally, my favourite theme, for two reasons; one, it's gorgeous, and two, it's very easy; therefore, I would recommend using this theme for your first maps. The clean textures, blocky structures and lack of complex visual effects make this very newbie-friendly, however don't be tricked; making a spotlight-worthy map is just as time consuming in Clean as it is in other themes.

Testing Elements - well, Clean chambers are possibly the most abstract of al the chambers, as there's very little to suggest any plot, so you can throw consistency out of the window. However, I personally find that laser puzzles work very well in Clean (see below for a tutorial on building a good one), as do Hard Light Surface ones - however, if you want to use Excursion Funnels, I'd recommend going for either a Wheatley Clean or Wheatley Destroyed map, due to their size; clean maps should be quite smallish.

Useful Textures

Walls - search for 'White wall 003', 'black wall 004', 'black wall 003', 'black wall 001' and my personal favourite, 'black wall 002'.
Floors - (these are all in the tile/ folder) White_floor_tile002a, white_floor_tile002b, white_floor_tile002c, white_floor_tile004a, white_floor_tile004b, White_floor_tile004c, and all the textures found searching for 'black floor' apart from metal/blendblackfloormetal_dirt02.
Ceilings - just search for 'White ceiling' or 'black ceiling'.

In-Depth Tutorials

Detailing Your Chamber
[spoiler]With textures that some may find bland and, sometimes, very, very small chambers, it's important to make these interesting and pretty. This can be accomplished in a number of ways; firstly, I'll cover walls. In Portal 1, metal Walls were detailed by adding holes for lights and jutting panels out, but with the clean, smooth aesthetics of Portal 2, this just looks chaotic and ugly. However, the same principle can sort of apply; first off, pick a black wall texture for your wall that's just big enough not to be distractingly small. It must fit on your walls without tiling errors; if you have a small section of wall that stops this from being possible, clip the wall so that the section is separate from the others and apply this same technique to it independently, later. Now, have you chosen your wall textures? Good. Now choose a wall texture in which the panels are double the size, and apply it to the wall. For this tutorial, we'll assume your original texture had 64x64 panels, now referred to as 64 panels. You would then apply the 128 panel texture to your wall. Don't worry if it's misaligned, we'll sort that out in a minute. Now, clip like crazy; to elaborate on that, I want you to clip the wall as many times as you like, always at right angles, at a grid size of half your original tile size; in our case, 32. Once you're done, begin texturing the wall so that there are no misaligned textures, and there's a fairly decent variety of tile sizes. If you have to do some more clipping so that textures fit, feel free to. Eventually, you should end up with something like the bottom right of this image:

Click to enlarge!

And there you have it; a much more interesting wall, wouldn't you agree? One tip I credit to damagepy is that you can sometimes rotate the textures 90 degrees; there are faintly visible corrugations along the surface of the tiles, and rotating these makes the wall even more interesting. One final note, however, is that you really shouldn't go over the top with these techniques; don't do it on EVERY wall, and don't do it on walls that the player won't see for long, or ones that are mostly obscured; similarly, REALLY small spaces like a tunnel the player falls down or is flung through don't have to be textures like this (I'd just recommend using the smallest tile texture for that anyway).

By the way, you can do this for white walls as well; however, I wouldn't necessarily recommend it, except in places where it will subtly help guide the player's portal placement, e.g., having a wall of 128x128 panels, then a small square of 64x128 panels.

You should know, though, that detailed walls do not mean a detailed chamber; I'm pretty much exhausted at the moment, but come back soon and I'll have more on how to detail your chamber.[/spoiler]
[Bigspolier=Making a Good Laser Puzzle]I find that laser puzzles work fantastically in clean maps, so why not write a tutorial on how to build them? Laser puzzles, when done badly, can ruin a map, and there's a large community of people here who I know loathe laser puzzles, so making it work is a necessity. The one main thing I've seen that can ruin a laser puzzle is the laser puzzle.By that, I mean that if the puzzle itself is too complex, it's just not going to work; it will frustrate the player and they may not even bother finishing the map. One thing that makes a laser puzzle too difficult is having to have lasers come out of ceiling or floor portals at odd angles; the brain isn't suited well to thinking with portals, so things like this are cruel to it. I would generally advise that you stay away from ceiling or floor lasers altogether, however, done well, they can make a puzzle very interesting.

Another thing that can make a laser puzzle too difficult is something I, and xdiesp, who I believe coined the term, like to call multilasers. This is where a laser has to come out of a portal at an angle so that it goes into another portal, causing the same laser to go through two portals. As aforementioned, the average human brain really cannot cope that well with thinking with portals, so this causes the same problem as above. However, again, don't stray away from multilasers entirely; if the idea is clever enough, it's a good way to give the player one of those oh-so-rare 'aha moments'. I'd say the general limit for multilasers is two portals; if the laser has to go any farther than that, the puzzle is too difficult.

The walls in a laser puzzle are also vitally important, or more specifically, what colour they are. I would recommend, to begin with, just making the entire room white. This forces the player to think about where they place their portals and redirection cubes. However, before you release the map, think about any alternate solutions, and try and subtly block them with black walls. Leave some in, because it's nice to feel like you've outsmarted the map creator, but too many and the puzzle becomes too easy. Don't add too many black walls, though, or it becomes blindingly obvious how to solve the puzzle. Finally, don't make the little patches of black you add too intrusive; make them look like they're just there for detailing.

Finally, if using a laser catcher in a wall, add little black panels to the side of the catcher as can be seen in sp_a2_triple_laser (which is, in my opinion, everything a good laser puzzle should be), so that the catcher can't be activated from the side. You may also want to add some black on the ceiling do that it can't be activated from the top.[/bigspoiler]
The Finer Details - One common newbie mistake is being fooled by the blockiness of these levels into making your room one large box; don't. Overly big rooms are the downfall of any good or bad mapper - in fact, I'd recommend making your Clean maps very small, almost to the extent of being claustrophobic. The exception to this is in co-op, for some reason; they just have to be big in co-op. Also, make them interesting; for example, don't just make that ledge over your fling pit flat; jut it out a bit (while still remaining cubic), dare to make things a bit asymmetrical.

TL;DR - very easy, good for first-timers, can be developed further, little to suggest a plot so most test elements can be used, except funnels, which should go in a Wheatley map, should be smallish, detailed walls, but not too detailed, cannot be too boxy, should almost be claustrophobic but not quite, except in co-op, dare to make things asymmetrical.

Behind-the-Scenes
Chapters 5 and 9, partially in 8

This isn't really one of my more preferred themes; it serves really only for plot advancement, so the scope for puzzles is somewhat limited here. Sure, there's the old 'portal over to that wall behind me' to traverse long distances and stretch out dialogue, but making actual puzzles out of this theme without making it feel contrived is kind of difficult. You'll see it done more successfully in co-op maps usually, due to the fact that the plot isn't quite as important, and so things can be a little contrived; in the single-player campaign, the player must feel immersed, so it doesn't really work. Therefore, I'd recommend using this theme only if you're experimenting with co-op maps. The exception to this is if you're making a full-blown mod, maybe even with a story; as aforementioned, these can make nice interludes, and the sheer multitude of destruction sequences available for the catwalks are brilliant for action scenes.

Testing Elements - as I said, this is very much a theme for plot advancement, so the scope for puzzles is very limited. The only good puzzles I've seen in this theme tend to revolve around momentum, and they do tend to work best in co-op. There's really not much else to say here, except this; if you're using Pneumatic Diversity Vents, you may wish to have a go with this theme. I'm not sure what it is, but they CAN work here.

Useful Textures - just search for 'bts', there are plenty of good textures there.

In-Depth Tutorials

Catwalks and their Destruction
[spoiler]Coming soon, because I'm way too tired from writing all of these to do it right now, and this is one that requires a bit more research.[/spoiler]
The Finer Details - there are a number of models designed for this section of the game, in the form of cables, vents and, of course, catwalks, and I recommend you use these. They dontnhave to be anything captivating or dynamic, but a wall with cables makes a lot more sense than one without; there are, by the way, instances for detailed cable Walls and such things; I believe they are in the 'bts/' folder, but I can't remember if that even exists. Also, I would very much recommend you use some of the BTS overlays, such as numbers, 'Turret Manufacturing', et cetera.

TL;DR - only really good for plot-advancement in mods or mappacks, the exception being co-op maps, usually uses momentum puzzles, can work with vent puzzles, catwalks are a must, and their destruction is even better, use relevant overlays and detail props.

Old Aperture
Chapters 6 and 7

Oooooh boy. This is one of the most complex themes in the game, along with destroyed. I'm not a fan, but then, that's the reason; I'm not experienced enough to make a map in this theme, because it's really hard, but I won't get into that until later. Key elements of this theme would be the enormous enrichment spheres - of course, it's not like the whole world in 1950 was enclosed by these, but the majority of your test chambers are, well, test chambers; the only bits that are really outside of the main testing course serve as plot-advancing puzzles. I wouldn't recommend mapping for this theme unless you've got some real experience in Hammer, for reasons I'll discuss soon.

Testing Elements - the obvious one is gels, as that's pretty much the only testing element you'll see in chapters six and seven. However, there are some simply delightful old-Aperture style Aerial Faith Plates made by Marlovious, available here. I haven't used these, but I've seen them used, and they're brilliant. Also, due to the enormous size of the Enrichment Spheres, combined with the interesting momentum dynamics the gels add, this theme is great for making momentum puzzles; if you've got wasted space at the end of your map, add a giant gel fling ending at the elevator.

Useful Textures - search for 'underground', there is a MULTITUDE of textures available to use.

In-Depth Tutorials

Making your Chamber Feel Alive - Redux

Part One - Cables and Ropes
[spoiler]There are a multitude of tutorials that can be written on Old Aperture, and I'll be adding more in the future, but this seems like the best place to start as it covers the most. Due to the fact that the old test chambers aren't as clinical and removed as the new ones, the level has to feel a lot more alive.

The first way of doing this involves the return of our old friend, miscellaneous dynamic elements. There are a number of these that can be used, and I will go through them all. First off, we have cables; though they don't sound like much, these can sway and bob, especially if there's a shake or if they're attached at one end to a moving object. These do have a reason for being there; as power cables. Subsequently, I would only recommend using them as these, for example, if a button on a platform is a long way away from it's affected test element and using indicator lights would look messy. I can think of one other use for ropes, but I'll cover that in a moment. For now, I'm just going to get straight on with it and tell you how to make cables. First, create a move_rope entity at one end of the circuit, and set its next keyframe to whatever you want. Set its slack to 32, subdivision to 16, breakable to whatever you want (if yes, then set collide with world to yes as well) and rope material to either cable or cable_lit.

Next, create a keyframe_rope on the other end of the circuit, and name it whatever you set as the next keyframe for the move_rope. That's it, done; now just mess around with the key values for slack and stuff until it looks right; every time you click apply, the Hammer view should update so you don't have to compile each time to see what looks right. To make them shake at any point, create an env_shake as usual and tick it's Ropes flag. You could use this with a VERY low shake (make sure to disable the don't shake view flag as well) to make the cables constantly bobble, adding some life to them.

I mentioned before that I could think of one other use for cables, and that is this; to hold things up. Remember that level in the campaign where you had to paint the box to break the glass cage it was in? Well, the box was suspended by cables. I can't remember if the cage swung at all as a physics object, but I'm going to teach you how to make one that does. Combined with some key values for the force required to break the cables, you could make some interesting puzzles out of this. First, create your cage in mid-air out of brushes (no props or other entities, brush or point, yet). Now, tie them all to a func_physbox. You may wish to mess around with the settings so as to make it consistent. Name the physbox. Now, add any other entities to be part of the cage, such as window frames, and parent them to the physbox. Now, set up the cables, going upwards from the cage. Parent the move_ropes to the physbox also. Now, we're going to add an entity that will actually constrain the cage by the ropes; meet your new buddy, phys_lengthconstraint. Create one at the origin of each move_rope, and set all their key values as follows:

Name: rope_N_constraint (n is a number from one to the number of ropes you have)
Entity 1: physbox_name
Entity 2: name of corresponding move_rope
Constraint system manager: rope_constraint
Force limit: 9999999 (I chose this because a., it's high enough to be invincible and b., it's the number the announcer says at the beginning of the campaign. )
Torque limit: 9999999
Additional length: 32
Attached object 2 point: whatever the origin of the corresponding keyframe_rope is (you may have to open your vmf file up in Notepad and search for it to find this)

Leave all other key values as they are.

Now, create a phys_constraintsystem and call it rope_constraint. This ensures that there is no unexplainable jiggling. Now, compile and you're done! Portal above the cage and stand on it, or push against it on the floor, and you'll see that it moves. I did some further research and found that Valve do use physics for their hanging cage, but they only use one entity; this method, though much more time consuming, is much more realistic.[/spoiler]
Guest Tutorial - On The Architecture of Old Aperture, by ForbiddenDonut
[spoiler]Credit for this amazing tutorial goes to ForbiddenDonut, and I advise you thank him by checking out his Old Aperture map, Loud Pipes. It will most likely teach you a lot of things.

A major component when designing an Old Aperture-themed map is capitalizing on the exterior portions of your map. The enrichment spheres are meant to give an ominous impression, full of damaged structures and deteriorated walkways. A successful Old Aperture map looks daunting - although it has survived the test of time, it has received scars and has potential for danger. Take for example this picture from Valve's map in Portal 2 (sp_a3_jump_intro):

http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/54177 ... 2120F7A83/

The map is almost completely revealed at the start of the course, exposing all of the brittle supports and winding pipes. However, the feeling of anticipation is built as the player wonders what incredible events occur in the upcoming structures. Valve's maps are designed like soundstages on a Hollywood movie lot to detach the player from the realities of Chell's dire situation and enter the world of Aperture Science in its 1950's heyday.
In this next picture, taken from one of my Old Aperture maps, I attempted to recreate that same feeling:

http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/54177 ... 6F9F4A356/

By raising the next chamber up, I've given the building a dominating presence in my map - this is a place that the player will ultimately have to make his climb to the exit. No matter what kind of map you are working on, designing it with a vertical perspective is a good idea as it makes gravity its own puzzle element and gives the player the sense of progress. I'd also like to take the time to note how important lighting is in Old Aperture maps. Unlike its clean counterpart, Old Aperture should have plenty of variance between dark and light to display the importance of certain areas and elements. There's a lot of extra space in the spheres, so designers need to use light to show where the player should and shouldn't need to go.

Since much of the exterior work is built to make the player anticipate the upcoming chambers (unless you specifically designed a puzzle to work outdoors in Old Aperture, which has its own upsides and downsides), making the interiors is equally important. Here is an example from the same Valve map:

http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/54177 ... D153227DB/

The important element in this map, and throughout the Old Aperture section of the game, is the function over cosmetic point of view. These "sets" aren't designed to impress people with their state-of-art architecture or beautiful design, but rather to supply as a testing stage that can be easily built. From this picture alone, we can see the bare bones of the structure are visible: the building's framework lining the ceiling, the air conditioning system riding up the wall, metal and wood supports holding up corners and edges and left-over paint work.
Here is my map again, trying to recreate that same feeling:

http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/54177 ... 324CDF62A/

If you use many different wall materials, it gives the impression that the builders of these sets were using whatever they could get their hands on: wood, metal, grating, sometimes nothing. Again, we see the left over paint work, which could have been used to tell the builders where to orient the test structure and is now left to hint the player. For the inside of the structure, I used a mixture of self-designed florescent lighting along with the "cold" light instances to give the section a more isolated, forgotten feeling in comparison's to the exterior's warmer, ominous glow. Again, it is important to highlight the pinnacle testing items.[/spoiler]
The Finer Details - please, please don't be anachronistic! It's infuriating in any medium, but especially games. By this, I mean using testing elements that weren't present in this time period; one often overlooked example of this is panels. You must be creative in designing a chamber that does not use ANY moving surfaces APART from paths along rails and very crude rotation around ONE axis. If using a test element that wasn't used in Old Aperture in the campaign, at least try and make it look a little bit like it was. For example, when using hard light surfaces, protrude them from a wall a little bit and add a brush behind it, and attach this to the wall via arms. This is what the campaign does when using light surfaces in BTS maps, so it doesn't look too shabby in Old Aperture maps.

TL;DR - very hard to map for, big Enrichment spheres, gels usually used, old-style AFPs by Marlovious can also be used, giant flings at the end of a chamber work well, use cables for power and suspended elements if it fits, don't be anachronistic.

Wheatley Clean Chambers
Chapter 8

This is a very neglected theme, mainly due to the fact that it's not around for long before it's replaced with those stunning Wheatley destroyed levels. Being a clean theme, I'm very fond of this one, though perhaps less so than GLaDOS clean chambers. Key elements of this theme are big rooms, very clean walls, a more frequent use of glass walls (both as structural and testing elements) and cold lights. An interesting note is that, compared with the later, destroyed, Wheatley chambers, this theme tends to use white panels much more than black.

Testing Elements - this is where excursion funnels are first introduced in the campaign, and so it makes the most sense to use these. The large chambers allow for easy manoeuvring, whilst the white walls, contrary to the norm, can make it more difficult to solve the puzzle as it is ambiguous where to place the funnel. I make this sound a bit like a bad thing; it's not. As with good laser puzzles, the player shouldn't be mollycoddled and shown the correct solution easily, so this ambiguity is good. Gels may also be used, due to the fact that the player, in the campaign, has reconnected the gel pumps to the surface. If using gels, I please ask that you use the MODERN gel droppers; you have no idea how jarring it is to be in a gorgeous, immaculately clean chamber and then that rusty lump of metal producing out of the ceiling. I realise the campaign does this occasionally, but it's not always a case of monkey see, monkey do, okay?

Useful Textures - see GLaDOS Clean Chambers texture list.

In-Depth Tutorials

None as of yet. Suggestions are welcome!

The Finer Details - there isn't really much to say here that wasn't covered in the section for GLaDOS Clean Chambers. However, there is one thing I should mention; just because this is a Wheatley map, you don't have to include Wheatley. This is the category I like to include most Clean maps I see in, because they tend to adhere to the features of this theme. However, if you do try to include Wheatley, do two things; firstly, make sure you include the studio instance found in the 'monitors/' folder with your map, or the Wheatley screens won't have anything to show. Also, you can send the studio inputs to make Wheatley zoom in and out, or enter and exit the monitor. Also, try and use good animations for him when he's talking; send '@sphere' and input of SetAnimation to do this. Secondly, try and use quotes that haven't been used much before; as with GLaDOS, though to a lesser extent, some lines have been overused to the point where they're no longer as funny. Try and use quotes that were meant for a different context in an interesting way; for example, GLaDOS' 'Don't press that button. You don't know what you're doing.' line is good for guiding the player towards a button, whilst being amusing.

TL;DR - big rooms, clean walls, more glass walls as structural elements and puzzle elements, cold lights, more white panels than black, excursion funnels usually used, gel can be used, but make sure not to use outdated gel droppers, don't necessarily have to include Wheatley (can just be generic Clean style), if you do include him, do it well with unique lines and well-timed animations.

Wheatley Destroyed Chambers
Chapter 8, partially in 9

I'm really tired right now, but I want to finally get version 0.8 of this out, so this will be coming soon. While you're waiting, why not read the list below of all the other 'coming soon' stuff you're missing out on die to my lethargy?

COMING SOON

The Wheatley Destroyed Chambers section, more tutorials, including 'Catwalks and their Destruction' and 'Making your Chamber Feel Alive - Redux', nicer formatting, general anecdotes section, more images, more awesomeness.

How can you help this guide?

So, thanks for reading this (if you read all of it, I'm very impressed), but you probably noticed that it needs some tweaking. For one thing, I haven't actually tried mapping in all of these styles, and so my knowledge of them might be a little bit lacking. If I've made any mistakes or have neglected to include something, tell me, please! Also, if you've written a tutorial that you think would fit with this post, I can add a link to it below - or alternatively, if you're feeling very kind, you can ask me to actually include it as an in-depth tutorial either in a specific theme or in the general anecdotes section.