Quote from Xtreger on August 2, 2012, 10:43 am

Based on screenshots, this seems pretty damn impressive! I'm especially amazed by the rendition of the twisted corridor. Will give this a try...

Quote from Tailgunner on August 5, 2012, 6:42 am

I'm stuck with the darn laser puzzle. Any hints?

Quote from RectorRocks on August 5, 2012, 7:47 am

Tailgunner wrote:

I'm stuck with the darn laser puzzle. Any hints?

Me too! Dx

Quote from El Farmerino on August 5, 2012, 10:04 am

I solved the laser puzzle - it's basically a matter of making a square, of sorts; you'll need to place the cube through a portal.

I found 4 cubes, but if you have the patience to get the ball out of the room with the jigsaw puzzle you're a better man than I...

Quote from narsqrd on August 5, 2012, 2:24 pm

Are you having trouble with the first or second laser puzzle? (the easier* one or the harder one? =P)

Solution to laser room 1:
[spoiler]http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/832/2012080500001.jpg/[/spoiler]

For laser room 2, I originally had a really crazy solution in mind:
[spoiler]The idea was that 1 laser would enter the portal on the ground, and hit the receiver on the wall. The other 2 lasers would be redirected into the portal on the wall to hit the two receivers on the ceiling
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/21 ... 00003.jpg/[/spoiler]

However, in my own testing, I found a simpler and faster solution:
[spoiler]if you knock one of the cubes on its back, so that it redirects upwards, you could point it straight at one receiver on the ceiling. Then another cube could redirect to the wall receiver and the last laser could be portalled
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/40 ... 00002.jpg/[/spoiler]

There may be other solutions to laser room 2, but these are the ones I found and the second is the one I use myself

If someone could point me in the direction of a good free video capturing program I could record a full run-through

Quote from narsqrd on August 5, 2012, 2:35 pm

El Farmerino wrote:

I solved the laser puzzle - it's basically a matter of making a square, of sorts; you'll need to place the cube through a portal.

I found 4 cubes, but if you have the patience to get the ball out of the room with the jigsaw puzzle you're a better man than I...

I don't think there is any need to take the sphere out of the green ghost's room (i think that's what you're talking about). But don't let me stop you from finding creative or innovative solutions

Here are the relevant object totals:
[spoiler]5 "key" cubes; these are the normal blue cubes. Note: these are the only cubes that will fit into the "lock" mechanisms to open doors

1 "boss key" cube; this is the pink companion cube -- the cube button in the basement next to the exit door will actually open to any cube, but this is the only one left at that point in the puzzle (unless you use some noclip trickery)

3 spheres; one of them is in a room with a fizzler at the entrance, effectively isolating it from other puzzles

3 reflector cubes; these are fizzled upon their respective laser puzzle's completion[/spoiler]

Quote from narsqrd on August 5, 2012, 3:03 pm

(sort-of spoiler map discussion ahead. No actual solutions to puzzles, but discussion of mechanics)

Frankly my biggest concerns were the tractor-beamable blocks, both in the room left of the center room (two blocks 128x128) and in the green ghost's room.

First they were objects that you don't find in the standard game, so the player would have to recognize their tractor-beamability, though after figuring that out it would be semi-straightforward (though admittedly the green blocks can be finicky, and basically if you're trying too hard it might be best to start the room over)

The second problem was that if you place your tractor beam wrong you can get the blocks stuck, especially with the big 128x128's in their narrow hallways. I had considered adding a reset button to this room, as well as the green ghost room, which would kill the blocks and respawn them in their original positions.
The trouble with that was that first the func_physbox that is the basis of those blocks doesn't have a dissolve animation, so actually firing a "kill" input would make them disappear into thin air, and that detracted from the immersion/aesthetic.
The second problem was that there are more to those blocks than just func_physbox's. The bigger blocks are a physbox, a portallable func_brush on top, and a portal cleanser to make them solid to "bullets" (a long story that I won't enter into depth here). The green blocks are a whole mess of monitors, the physbox, and triggers that recognize adjacent blocks. I don't know if those can all be put into a point_template that could then be used to respawn each block, but admittedly I haven't tried

If enough people say that it's a problem I could try adding the reset buttons, but the dissolve animation could still be a problem and I don't have a work-around in mind

Quote from PCdoc on August 5, 2012, 7:03 pm

I thought I had completed all the preliminary tasks in the lower floors - including the "easy laser" which was far, far from easy. So I finally got the cube from that Laser room - my reflector cube was destroyed automatically. And went back to the main center area hoping to see some of the 4 sets of floor light strips and those 4 lamp posts light up. NOTHING !! Major bummer.

Also - in that easy laser room I could see another room above but no portable surfaces to get up there and no floor surface to beam up.

So I ventured further. I used the funnel and [spoiler]took my new cube up to the upper area above the funnel halls, where the 2 turrets are. Killed turrets, then dropped in cube. New Door opened - went in - shot floor portal - flung up, pressed button - NEW Cube receptacle appeared, but now I have no cube !!! Roamed around endlessly and never found another cube.[/spoiler]

So I am stuck - a man wandering around in a desert looking for water but no oasis ever appeared.
.
Overall a ton of work went into this and it has a nice "castle" feel. There are so many useless portable surfaces and so many rooms and hallways that it is just too much to comprehend. Basically a huge maze with many dead ends. I love the exploring. But it became a real chore after a while to find things and to remember where to get other things. Also there is no real feeling that I was getting any closer to an actual solution. I found myself getting disheartened and then losing interest due to the apparent impossibility of this monumental undertaking. It seems that so far no ones has completed it, which says a lot.

It was actually very frustrating when all that initial work did not turn on a single set of lights in the main room's floor. I assume once they are all lit that vertical lift will activate ? Not sure. I would recommend reworking this into a concise map - or break it into several maps so that the person sees their progress and does not have to search around so much.

Quote from narsqrd on August 6, 2012, 8:10 am

PCdoc wrote:

And went back to the main center area hoping to see some of the 4 sets of floor light strips and those 4 lamp posts light up. NOTHING !! Major bummer. ... there is no real feeling that I was getting any closer to an actual solution

I can understand that feeling, and I've updated the map to help alleviate that. I've added some indicator panels to the center room that will help clarify some of the progression, though the moments when you turn on the colored lamps should become apparent once you're there.

PCdoc wrote:

There are so many useless portable surfaces

that's part of the point hehe

PCdoc wrote:

I would recommend reworking this into a concise map - or break it into several maps so that the person sees their progress and does not have to search around so much.

That's the one thing I don't want to do. I want to keep with the spirit of the place as one big thing that you have to work through, I'd rather not change the structure of the building. I might make certain parts easier or provide hints here or there, but I don't intend to break it up