Quote from Valthiel on October 1, 2011, 5:54 pm

Awesome Map!!!

Edit: [spoiler]After watching the speed run on youtube, I noticed that you changed the last part of the last map; I mean the glas wall infront of the last pressure switch. It still is possible to stand on the swith and jump to the side, shooting a portal behind that door before it closes. Not a big deal at all, but I thought I let you know[/spoiler]

Quote from xdiesp on October 2, 2011, 8:34 am

About time it got spotlighted! "Try Anything Twice" is like the alpha and the omega of P1 modding. I'm not even exaggerating that much: sure, the scene didn't lack in genius projects but such an herculean endeavor to encompass so much for so long happens only once in a lifetime. Do yourself a favor and play it.

Quote from Will T. on October 2, 2011, 12:41 pm

Haven't yet had a chance to finish this one due to outside factors, but I'm currently at chamber 4.

There were a lot of times in here when I forgot this was a Portal 1 map pack and not Portal 2. This is the first set of custom Portal 1 maps where I can honestly say I've enjoyed it thoroughly (tried plenty of others, all of them broken in some way). Very polished, excellent use of existing puzzle elements in new ways (still can't believe no Valve map in either game has relied on the Edgeless Safety Cube's rolling capabilities as part of the solution) and a great new element in the [spoiler]multi-colored lasers[/spoiler]. The best part is, absolutely zero of that bizarre reliance on engine glitches or stupid hidden exploits found in 97% of other Portal 1 maps!

Fun all the way through - difficult for one map, near impossible for 5 in a row. Well done sir.

Quote from HMW on October 2, 2011, 4:49 pm

Thanks for all those kind comments guys! When I uploaded the first version containing chamber 5, I was a bit afraid that everyone would have moved on to Portal 2, and that my work wouldn't get much attention. I certainly wouldn't have thought that it would become a spotlight! That's totally sweet

And of course this happens just when I decide to take a short break from the forums because of other things needing my time... So thanks, Mevious, for filling in for me in the meantime
(By the way, [spoiler]the fling solution is the intended one.[/spoiler])

ddeo wrote:

Also, you motivated me to start studying and making something in Hammer editor too.

Cool! I'm inspiring people
Mapping is a lot of fun (except for some occasional moments), and learning it is fun too, as long as you don't try to reach for the stars right away. (As mentioned in plenty of other places on this site, the Valve mapping wiki is your friend.)

Valthiel wrote:

[spoiler]It still is possible to stand on the swith and jump to the side, shooting a portal behind that door before it closes. Not a big deal at all, but I thought I let you know[/spoiler]

Oh I'm ok with that. I put the extra wall in only to 'slightly discourage' that solution. It's not much of an exploit since you still need to get [spoiler]an untriggered cube into the room to hold down the other button. (This is essentially just a checkpoint; the real puzzle is in the previous room.)[/spoiler]

Quote from quatrus on October 3, 2011, 8:40 pm

HMW - Really great to see that you finished the map set. Number 5 is a fitting masterpiece capstone for the other four. I had to remember how to run a portal 1 map. Then what a treat this map is...consistent with your mapping, no gimmicks just complex puzzles. Maybe just a bit too complex - not sure if guidance would have helped reduce frustration - maybe? ...Still I got to the end.... The posted run(s) should help anyone who is really stuck....
a 5 rating? -- should be a 7 of 5!... this truly is a portal community spotlight map. thank you for persevering with P-1.!!

Quote from NeatNit on October 6, 2011, 9:31 pm

Wow! Seriously, the concept is amazing. The new elements based on existing elements, very cool. The fact that you made it work 5 times, unbelievable!

I am stuck, though.

Not sure which chamber it is. 4 or 5, I think. It's the one that starts with an [spoiler]energy ball puzzle[/spoiler].
Stuck-getting
[spoiler]The energy ball presses the energy button making the door open, I go in, push the button, get out, use portals to make the energy ball hit button I, as the ball leaves the portal I place the second portal in front of button II so it'll hit it later, and go catch the elevator. I go up the elevator, when the energy ball presses button II the bridge goes into place and I walk past. There I made the energy ball enter the reciever thingy, which I have no idea what it did, and no new energy balls are made. I fall back down to the floor, with no way to get back up.[/spoiler]
From here, I see no way to continue.

I'm pretty much done for today, so I'll try again tomorrow, but I don't think I can get past this without help.

Edit: It's tomorrow. I played it a bit, found what I was missing (I hate not seeing small white walls) and am now in chamber 5. Quite stuck, but I think I'll get through this one. I'll post here if not.

I LOVE those speedy things. Too bad they're scripted

Quote from HMW on October 7, 2011, 9:30 am

EDIT: I see you figured that out already; congrats

Let me know if you need any more help

ANOTHER EDIT: The "speedy things" are 100% map-entity based. Check the source VMF if you want to see how they work

Quote from NeatNit on October 7, 2011, 12:21 pm

I suppose this can be called a spoiler
[spoiler]Sometimes I go through a portal at ludicrous speed and spawn on the other side, no speed or anything. In layman's terms - speedy thing goes in, speedless thing comes out. This didn't happen in places where the speed was useful (like for getting through the square pipe things to the test chambers), which is why I was sure they're scripted. I don't know anything about mapping and not even sure if "scripted" is the right word - I meant that it only works where you hard-coded it to work and not dynamically anywhere.[/spoiler]

Cheating and more stuck-getting
[spoiler]I reached a room where there's a pipe with a ball inside it that holds down a button. There's a button that can rotate the pipe, causing the ball to fall to the other side and let go of the button. You know the rest of the place
I've gotten myself stuck inside a cage above the chamber, and I think this is intended. From here I can do all sorts of things: I can drop a cube down to the conveyor belt (but not myself), I can use a very cool pusher thingamabob using portals and I can basically push from any white wall (YOU ARE GENIUS), and I can place portals on most of the chamber. I needed to get the cube on a button so that I can get out of this limited position. I could not figure out how to continue, as I can only have one cube at a time so I can't have another cube holding down the button to make the first cube fall down to the button. Eventually I resorted to 'cheating' and using physics to fling the box to the button with portals. This allowed me to go out to the chamber again by placing one portal there and another portal where the cubes spawn, but I am still quite stuck. I can't continue, but I can 'cheat' again and go back to a button which makes a lift go down. I can hold the button down, and when the lift is all the way down jump through a portal and stand on it platformer-style. I can even go here with the cube if I want, I am still stuck.[/spoiler]

I'm not sure if giving it another try will help me... Did I break the game somehow or am I just missing something?

Quote from KennKong on October 9, 2011, 8:52 pm

I try to refrain from "me too" posts; only commenting if I find a bug or have a suggestion . But these maps are just too fantastic to sit idly by without heaping praise on their maker .

It took me three days to get through all of these, and I didn't get stuck even once. Considering how I stumbled around, that's amazing! Sure, I used some quick saves to avoid having to use the resets, but only after using the reset once.

I handicap myself by playing with a controller instead of a mouse, so the pointy-shooty bits can give me trouble. However, the only puzzle I noclipped past was [spoiler]punting the explodocube off the conveyor belt[/spoiler]. While an extra second or two might have helped, the real sticking point for me was hitting [spoiler]the portal on the piston[/spoiler]. It was hard to hit just standing there, let alone under time pressure.

I look forward to playing these maps again and again. Sheer genius!!!

EDIT 10/9/2011: In the fifth chamber, there are gaps in the glass floor of the main chamber that you can see through but not shoot through. I wouldn't have spent as much time looking down if those panels were flush with their surroundings.