Where to start?
Hello,
I want to make my own portal map, but I simply don't know where to start. I searched around a lot for a beginning guide of some sort, but I haven't found one yet. The only beginning guide I found was a guide for the source SDK tool, so I installed that program only to later discover (on this site) that it was a tool only for mod making, and that you couldn't make a mode for portal yet. That's why I'm asking you for help; where should I start?
I do know some basic C++ programming (very basic), but is advance knowledge in a program language actually needed for map-making in portal?
Thanks for reading
If you just want to make maps for Portal, you need to download the Source SDK in Steam. Not to be confused with the Source SDK Base, which is for programming and not mapping.
The mapping tool is called Hammer. Honestly, your best bet would be to browse the Tutorials of other sites such as Interlopers.net or Halfwit-2.com, as they have much better resources for people who are brand new to mapping.
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I want to make my own portal map, but I simply don't know where to start. I searched around a lot for a beginning guide of some sort, but I haven't found one yet. The only beginning guide I found was a guide for the source SDK tool, so I installed that program only to later discover (on this site) that it was a tool only for mod making, and that you couldn't make a mode for portal yet. That's why I'm asking you for help; where should I start?
I do know some basic C++ programming (very basic), but is advance knowledge in a program language actually needed for map-making in portal?
Thanks for reading
Well, some of that is misphrased, since you can certainly make maps for Portal right now. . . and you dont need any C++ code to do it. Some aspects of the SDK you just dont need to get involved in yet. 
Although I find that having a programming mindset goes a long way towards helping you understand all how these components ftr together, IMO.
Basically, you need to learn to use Hammer and understand whats in it. Start very small, and do simple tutorials/experiment awhile until you get used to it. DONT jump into making a large portal map right away! I'd even stay away from the harder models (energy ball catcher, cube button with double-doors, moving platforms, etc) until you've mastered the simpler constructs (goo, emancipation grill/fizzler, the simple up/down door opened by the standing switch, etc)
Once you get a handle on it, start downloading people maps and VMEXing them so you can look at them in hammer to see how they did things. From there, the sky is the limit.
Pay special attention to the tutorial sites, etc listing in this link below:
http://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Your_First_Map
mapping-tips-and-useful-links-t468.html
Ok, thanks for the information
Edit: hmm, that smiley looks more evil then happy