The crouch/jump manuever
Ok... I've been playing the contest maps, and there have been some maps I could only do a specific jump by doing the crouch/jump maneuver.
It's not ever needed in Portal, even in the challenge maps that I can remember. So... is it a legit maneuver to expect in a map? Is it an exploit of the game system? Is it intentional on the map makers part to make us use that maneuver (or am I just not good at jumping)?
I'm seriously thinking of not voting for any map that made me use that maneuver in the January '08 contest and I would like feedback from other mappers/players.
Jumping + crouching is totally legit as far as I am concerned - it is a very basic technique.
And depending on the map, (such as my own 'Tunneling Chamber 01' or Hurricaaane's 'Logic Portals [04]') even techniques that many players do not consider "legit" (eg. tunneling, trajectory flings) can be justified.
Honestly though I never used the crouch/jump until I started to download custom maps, so I have trouble with the idea of it being a "basic" technique.
Is it used in any other Valve/Havok games?
Both half-life and half-life 2 require it's use.
um. in HL1 there was a section that had some stairs blocked by boxes, the ONLY way to get past them into the ~secret?~ ammo/resupply area was with a crouch jump.
i know this is a little old, but it is legit valve.
now to require it without some training (since NONE of the orrig. portal maps had crouch jump training) is not fluent with the "portal" scheme but, as in logic portals 4, he TRAINS the player on an "new" technic before using it. so every logic portal map after 4 could require angular flings without training the player and that would fallow the portal scheme.
Ok. I remember now the "long jump" maneuver used in Half Life. The crouch and then jump to get the long jump. I honestly thought it was a technique specific to the environment suit, not a general maneuver.
So it's rather amusing Valve allowed it to be available in Portal.
Now that I can agree with. If you train a player to use it in your level, then expect it later that works. At least if it's a training level. heh...
Thanks. This clarifies the issue for me.
If a map "trained" me to use jump-crouch, I'd probably be insulted - it's that basic.
um well. firstly jump-crouch is not necessary ANYWHERE in portals, and not even used, now it can be used to bypass/speed things up but its not necessary in ANYWAY, furthermore you have to consider that PORTALS may be the VERY FIRST FPS/valve game that a person has played, in which case if they aren't trained in something its not basic, and lastly you think being trained to crouch-jump is insulting? so. when you were playing portals, and walked by that wall and the game TOLD you to "shift to crouch" were you so insulted that you uninstalled it? no. but the game developers relize that not everyone knows an even MORE basic technic as simply CROUCHING let alone crouch-jumping.
By training I meant a series of puzzles to teach me - the 'press ctrl to crouch' is already in portal. That's all the teaching a player needs.
I'm with Taco on this one. Jump+crouching is basically native to the world of Half-Life. It was in the first game (yes you could jump and then crouch in midair to land on a higher ledge than you could reach with only normal jumping) and it was kept as a feature in Half-Life 2. Portal takes place in the same reality as the Half-Life story line and so they gave it the same "basic" list of moves.
And another thing. I've played a few custom Portal maps (Logic Portals 04 for example) that would tell you to crouch if you got very close to making a fling that can only be done while crouched. If this isn't jump crouch training then I don't know what is. It teaches you that you can crouch in midair, unlike most games.
Why was the jump+crouch not trained in Portal, I don't know, maybe it was so second nature to the Valve play-testers that it never occured to anyone to teach it. Then again, I can't specifically remember it being taught in Half-Life 1 or 2.