Quote from taco on November 10, 2007, 8:39 pm

Helix_Snake wrote:

You know what? Map making is obviously not my strong suit. I have no idea how I'm supposed to "teach" the player anything, so I'm going to have to give up on this map. I'll keep everything you guys said in mind if I make a new one. Thank you all.

Don't give up on the map just because there are a few issues with it, people are giving you lots of ideas on how to improve it, and most aren't that complicated to implement.

Like you said, this is your first map -and if you listen to the dev. commentary you will here them talking about how their level designs who are being paid tens of thousands of dollars had to go though LOADS of iterations of the maps in portal.

And in all honesty, this map isn't half bad for being your first ever.

Don't give up on this.

Quote from espen180 on November 10, 2007, 8:40 pm

For your first map ever, I'd say this map is great. From what I read, you have incorporated several portal elements and various entity setups which are extremely rare in beginner maps.

Quote from NocturnalGhost on November 10, 2007, 8:42 pm

Lorithad wrote:

NocturnalGhost, the L block dropping from the ceiling is genius. Pure genius.

Lol thanks. I've done something similar im a map i'm working on. It will probably never be finished though, as my mapping skills leave a lot to be desired.

Quote from Player1 on November 10, 2007, 8:49 pm

Player1 wrote:

After the second room I only just had time to think "oh fck" before being "saved by the cake". Is that the end of the level? I couldn't find anywhere else to go.

I just read the the-cake-isn't-the-end comment so I replayed it and found the real ending now.

I really really really liked this bit. If you can get voice work instead of the on-screen text it will truly shine. Your humour seems to match the Portal black-humour quite well

I think the only thing I don't like about this level is the fact you have to leave the original WCC behind. You should make it an objective to rescue that as well! (That and the hidden object in room 2 that I had to read about here to figure out.)

Quote from NocturnalGhost on November 10, 2007, 9:20 pm

Can someone please confirm what the real ending is? I've just put the [spoiler]second companion cube[/spoiler] on the button. Is there any more to the level after that?

Quote from Player1 on November 10, 2007, 9:23 pm

NocturnalGhost wrote:

Can someone please confirm what the real ending is? I've just put the [spoiler]second companion cube[/spoiler] on the button. Is there any more to the level after that?

Yes. It ends for real. There's an elevator and all. You won't be in doubt once it's over.

Quote from Lorithad on November 10, 2007, 9:24 pm

In the download comments, Helix stated that It wasn't over until you were in an elevator. So I'm pretty sure that's the end.

Quote from Yekyaa on November 10, 2007, 9:28 pm

Sounds like a fun map that I need to try when I get home aside from
the current complaints. It is still a WIP though so that's to be expected.
Some things may not make sense, and I hope the designer doesn't give
up on this map as it sounds like it could be a potentially great map.

I wish him luck on this and hope to see this map released with at
least some of the major features intact... looking forward to trying it
out in a few hours.

Quote from NocturnalGhost on November 10, 2007, 10:03 pm

Lorithad wrote:

In the download comments, Helix stated that It wasn't over until you were in an elevator. So I'm pretty sure that's the end.

I finally found it. I really should start reading the comments before downloading

I will finish my views of this map now, where my last part left off.

Getting the cake: You should make it more obvious when you get the cake that your job is to [spoiler]euthanise it[/spoiler]. People would have figured this out eventually, but there will be much frustration beforehand.

After you drop: I enjoyed this part (jumping puzzle to obtain the [spoiler]second WCC[/spoiler]). It took some timing to achieve, and must have taken some work to get the dimensons right for the jump. It was difficult, without being frustrating.

As my last post showed, I had some trouble at the end noticing the [spoiler]loose tile[/spoiler], but that was down to my own stupidity more than anything else, and the fact this is a wip , so I wasn't sure if it had an "end" other than the "you are still trapped" theme.

Also, i'm not sure if you are aware, but you can skip the last jumping puzzle completely, [spoiler]and never bother getting the second wcc, by taking the L-block with you when you fall down the hole, and using that to activate the switch and get through the hole in the wall[/spoiler].

The solution to this would be to [spoiler]euthanise the L-block[/spoiler], but you could always leave it in for the sake of the steps/portals/time challenges.

I have mainly noticed the worst points of your map here, as these are the things you need to work on before release.

Please don't take this as me saying your map sucks, because it doesn't. Some things just need to be made a bit more obvious, to avoid player frustration.