NOTE: For this WIP Version of Blue Portals, You will have to open the the maps be the console with "`". The Final Version will have the Bonus Map Option!

Hello, I've been working on a set of maps called the Blue Portals maps. 00-02 are release here as to make sure that I'm doing everything right..

Here are problems I know that need to be fixed:

--In 00-02 v 1.0--
-Texture does not give off light
-Elevator is placed but it just shakes and makes sounds. It does bot move.
-Cubemaps are perfectly placed but do not show...

-Thanks and have fun!

Link Here

pretty good, kind of small. one thing tho, i dont know if this happened to u, but somehow i got 2 orange portals one time? there was the orange portal opwn connected to the blue on the floor where the cubes were, then i;m not sure what i did, but there was another orange portal unopened. it had the look as if there wasnt a blue one open, but there was and it was connected to the first orange portal. unfortunatly, i havent been able to replicate it yet. shouldve gotten a screeny while i had the chance on the platform in 02,

not sure how, but i managed to replicate it.. You can see the blue portal glow up on the platform to the right, and 2 orange portals, any idea why this happens?

looks nice, im at school atm so i can't dl it but when i get home i will check it out. Bigger pictures would be nice though...

i couldnt find it in the rules, but how do u block out text so i can comment on specific things in the map?

Sandstorm wrote:
pretty good, kind of small. one thing tho, i dont know if this happened to u, but somehow i got 2 orange portals one time? there was the orange portal opwn connected to the blue on the floor where the cubes were, then i;m not sure what i did, but there was another orange portal unopened. it had the look as if there wasnt a blue one open, but there was and it was connected to the first orange portal. unfortunatly, i havent been able to replicate it yet. shouldve gotten a screeny while i had the chance on the platform in 02,

not sure how, but i managed to replicate it.. You can see the blue portal glow up on the platform to the right, and 2 orange portals, any idea why this happens?

To easily reset it, Stand on it again. This is cause by the 4 logic_relays that make one open one close. You see, when I got that error one time and it isin this video, the timing is a little of. The relay to open is around 1.50 delay to open. if there is a portal of the same color in link 0, it will make a new link, 1. I gotta play with numbers again.. thats all.

EDIT: It is: ||||

ty

I do like your utilization of the portal momentum when u have the orange oone in that crouch space, but it doesn't seem real, it seems like u get too much of a boost from just jumping. Also, that part can get kind of tricky to get the jump height. Sometimes I don't get the height, i mainly just have to get lucky. also, after u go thru the fizzler on the first map (00 or 01) after putting the box into the chamber, you can still make a blue portal on the other side of the fizzler to get back into the last room. the orange portal doesnt shut off til the next one starts up. Img not that it matters, nothing to do in taht room at that point, but thought id just tell u lol lotta black

EDIT: Added image

Sandstorm wrote:
ty

I do like your utilization of the portal momentum when u have the orange oone in that crouch space, but it doesn't seem real, it seems like u get too much of a boost from just jumping. Also, that part can get kind of tricky to get the jump height. Sometimes I don't get the height, i mainly just have to get lucky. also, after u go thru the fizzler on the first map (00 or 01) after putting the box into the chamber, you can still make a blue portal on the other side of the fizzler to get back into the last room. the orange portal doesnt shut off til the next one starts up. not that it matters, nothing to do in taht room at that point, but thought id just tell u lol lotta black

Well thats the point. You want to use that portal as a boost. It just takes practice. Now for that fizzler. How? I tested it to make sure you could not. I'm going to see how, don't tell me yet!

EDIT:No biggy, I thought you got trapped. You can still finish

is the plan to leter give u the orange gun too? or make u reliant on the maps help? since its called blue portal maps i assume its not going to lol

EDIT: haha i did find a way to get back in the room once the portal is closed and the door seals ur not trapped tho.Img u should recognise whats thru the blue portal sometimes having the map generate orange portals allows for some pretty crazy stuff

Sandstorm wrote:
EDIT: haha i did find a way to get back in the room once the portal is closed and the door seals ur not trapped tho.Img u should recognise whats thru the blue portal sometimes having the map generate orange portals allows for some pretty crazy stuff

This is why it is called a WIP

EDIT: Nocliper!

imo, make that floor non portalable(a word?) i just portal before the door seals, so when the next orange is open i can get back. Img

Sandstorm wrote:
imo, make that floor non portalable(a word?) i just portal before the door seals, so when the next orange is open i can get back. Img

I see. Yeah, I will but a nonportalable surface there...

just played it and i liked the idea of the box catcher Img

few things i found

When the second chamber loads, the AI automatically disables, i know this isn't a worry since there isn't any AI, but its just that the text is annoying and some people if they saw that would be like "Holy shit what have i done wrong omg my computer is going to explode" (a bit exaggerated maybe) Img

Also you can place portals around one edge of the test watching window Img1 Img2

I think that the trigger to kill the box should be changed
1. Make the trigger lower so the box is fully in the water when it it deleted
2. Make the water shallow enough for the box to still be above the water so that you can retrieve it instead of it being deleted Img

I know that it is still a WIP, but just a reminder to put in them icons

Also did you know there is a missing texture?

And one final thing the lighting is a bit stuffed up

^ Look at the edge of the fizzler and the bottom of the door edge, it is bright like it should be. ^

^ I take a step back and it darkens heaps. ^

Otherwise it looks great, i hope the final has some voice in it because it feels so lonely not hearing GLaDOS.

ultradude25 wrote:
Also you can place portals around one edge of the test watching window Img1 Img2

That is Portal-vanilla too - it's the way things are supposed to be.

ultradude25 wrote:
just played it and i liked the idea of the box catcher

Thanks! Expect more elements with that..

Quote:
When the second chamber loads, the AI automatically disables, i know this isn't a worry since there isn't any AI, but its just that the text is annoying and some people if they saw that would be like "Holy shit what have i done wrong omg my computer is going to explode" (a bit exaggerated maybe)

Urr.... I don't get that at all. I did get it once when I was working on my level changes. It does not need to be there anyway since the camera is on a nonportable surface

Quote:
Also you can place portals around one edge of the test watching window

As taco said, normal!

Quote:
I think that the trigger to kill the box should be changed
1. Make the trigger lower so the box is fully in the water when it it deleted
2. Make the water shallow enough for the box to still be above the water so that you can retrieve it instead of it being deleted

It shows the box being killed? I'll test/fix it.

Quote:
I know that it is still a WIP, but just a reminder to put in them icons

Thats the model. I can't make anything light up without moding it.

Quote:
Also did you know there is a missing texture?

Did you place the textures from reep_materals to ...portal/portal/materials

Quote:
And one final thing the lighting is a bit stuffed up

Thats color correction or it not being in.

Quote:
Otherwise it looks great, i hope the final has some voice in it because it feels so lonely not hearing GLaDOS.

I'm trying to show the player that shes there with out her bothering you much. We all heard her comments, we all laugh.

use this great tutorial to make your custom chamber signs, it is worth the effort

Mek wrote:
use this great tutorial to make your custom chamber signs, it is worth the effort

I"m using this in my map! It's tedious, but adds a very authentic feel to the maps.

dvlstx wrote:
I"m using this in my map! It's tedious, but adds a very authentic feel to the maps.

Might as well since I plain to use more of those signs without following them.

14 people have downloaded the maps, And I only got two people with feedback. :/

Just did a quick playthough while taking notes (some of these things have been mentioned before, some haven't):
• I understand that this is a WIP, but your map distribution is HORRIBLE. If you release your projects set up properly from the start, (ie. bonus map script) every time you update the maps, the new version would just over-write the old ones. Distributing your map like this is a pain - it almost detoured me from playing it.
• When you start you map, you get "node graph out of date" - another casualty of sloppy distribution.
• You have light glows on texture lights. They look ugly/distracting.
• The chambers seem to have too much light for the number of light sources: you should add strip lighting.
• No cubemaps.
• Indicator strip corner overlays are used incorrectly in many places. They should ONLY be used at corners (hence the name).
• Stairs are floating - they need pistons.
• Stair pit needs pipes and wires.
• There is a missing floor decal (as pointed out before - yes, i have the materials in the right place).
• Chamber 01 uses a physics exploit as a puzzle solving method. It is sloppy/inconsistent.
• In Chamber 01 there is a large bit of recessed wall lighting that the player can't jump into - it seems to be covered with glass? This is bad. If you don't want the player jumping there, make the recessed area smaller instead.
• You need to compile with the parameter '-StaticPropPolys' to improve shadows, esp. around the elevators.
• Chamber 02: having the words "A.I. Disabled" on the screen needs to be fixed.
• Chamber 02: putting the box in the catcher should open a door, not disable the button and create a new orange portal. The current method seems broken/lame.
• Needs GLaDOS.

Hope that helps.

taco wrote:
Just did a quick playthough while taking notes (some of these things have been mentioned before, some haven't):
• I understand that this is a WIP, but your map distribution is HORRIBLE. If you release your projects set up properly from the start, (ie. bonus map script) every time you update the maps, the new version would just over-write the old ones. Distributing your map like this is a pain - it almost detoured me from playing it.

This is why I released it has a WIP. To learn to fix this and future maps.

Quote:
• When you start you map, you get "node graph out of date" - another casualty of sloppy distribution.

Yeah, how do you remove it then? I thought it was normal since I played maps that had it too.

Quote:
• You have light glows on texture lights. They look ugly/distracting.

Ok, I liked them, but then again they are everywhere in 01. I'll remove plenty!

Quote:
• The chambers seem to have too much light for the number of light sources: you should add strip lighting.

Yes, I agree. I was having trouble with my strips and at the end they looked sloppy (i.e light was coming from the top then the wall.)

Quote:
• No cubemaps.

Hold the phone. I did put cubemaps in my maps, I said in the intro that they are properly placed as what the Valve wiki said to put them (16 units from each brush.)

Quote:
• Indicator strip corner overlays are used incorrectly in many places. They should ONLY be used at corners (hence the name).

Easy fix...

Quote:
• Stairs are floating - they need pistons.
• Stair pit needs pipes and wires.

As for this WIP, I realy did not pay much attention to extras. I will put them in. Plus 00-01 was my first maps (not ever made) and I was not really sure where to take it.

Quote:
• There is a missing floor decal (as pointed out before - yes, i have the materials in the right place).

In my portal folder, I have my files in ..\portal\portal\materials\reep. Try putting into \portal\portal\materials\reep_materials. dumb the file in to the material folder. EDIT: Try this. rename the folder 'reep' and put it in .. \portal\portal\materials.

Quote:
• Chamber 01 uses a physics exploit as a puzzle solving method. It is sloppy/inconsistent.

Well.. Now I don't have to worry on my texture...

Quote:
• In Chamber 01 there is a large bit of recessed wall lighting that the player can't jump into - it seems to be covered with glass? This is bad. If you don't want the player jumping there, make the recessed area smaller instead.

Where is that?

Quote:
• You need to compile with the parameter '-StaticPropPolys' to improve shadows, esp. around the elevators.

I'll give it a go.

Quote:
• Chamber 02: having the words "A.I. Disabled" on the screen needs to be fixed.

Everyone is having that problem but me. It is useless anyhow. I'll delete the actor and that should fix it.

Quote:
• Chamber 02: putting the box in the catcher should open a door, not disable the button and create a new orange portal. The current method seems broken/lame.

I'll put a door on the water side of the exit room. Besides, it can cause bugs.

Quote:
• Needs GLaDOS.

I read all over here that people is getting sick of overused GLaDOS lines and you want it in? Thats funny to me.

Quote:
Hope that helps.

It does very much. Thank you.

reepblue wrote:
• No cubemaps.

Hold the phone. I did put cubemaps in my maps, I said in the intro that they are properly placed as what the Valve wiki said to put them (16 units from each brush.)

Did you build the cubemaps in the game? Run the "buildcubemaps" command in the console in both HDR and LDR mode (switch using mat_hdr_level 0 or 2)