what got me started on this was wanting to work more with triggers, relays all that crap. So I thought up something that would envolve tons and tons of them, in a very limited space... theres many many triggers and relays to be made...

this is the first puzzle or 'game' of the map, you are given both a Companion cube and a companion sphere, right now the cube is hidden because it doesn't work yet.

in the left corner, with the brightest light, are 2 raised brushes forming a small box, drop the sphere into it to start the game (im going to make it a button, or something later on, it just shows where the trigger is.)

things to note:
-the computer doesn't know how to play yet, you get to play yourself
-there is no victory condition

this map at this stage is mostly show and tell
download-> dload.php?action=file&file_id=81
mirror -> http://www.box.net/shared/ssyp9ra7gr

anyways... try and figure out what it is...

before reading this -> Tic-Tac-Toe

you will be presented with a cube and a sphere, sphere always goes first

you make your choice by placing the according shape in a bin, the other is destroyed or something

if you chose box, then anytime there is a sphere in the dropper, the computer will choose where to drop it, and you will lose if the computer gets 3 in a row, or if no one gets 3 in a row.

obviously sphere will be the easiest to win, making it hard to win with cube but winning with cube will ease things later in the level

I have a TON of triggers relays and other such entities left to add to have the computer make his move based on what has been done already

EDIT: I'm also having you have to 'win' back your portal gun, as it was taken away during your encarceration. if you win with the ball you get a blue portal gun, win with a box you get orange. later in the level both halves are available through puzzles so you can get the complete gun

Maybe tic-tac-toe isn't such a good idea though, seeing as it's unwinnable if played perfectly by both sides... You'll have to make the computer play less than optimal...

I know that if the computer plays perfectly going first its impossible to win, but if you dont know that you'll be stuck you have to choose to go first or second, if you go first you can win, second you will lose, unless I make the computer less than ideal.

Ive also thought about making a rubik's cube puzzle... might be too hard for people though... (I can solve them)

Artesia wrote:
I know that if the computer plays perfectly going first its impossible to win, but if you dont know that you'll be stuck you have to choose to go first or second, if you go first you can win, second you will lose, unless I make the computer less than ideal.

It doesn't matter who goes first though. If both sides play perfectly it will always be a draw...

But doing a "less than perfect" computer opponent will probably be a lot easier than doing a perfect one, especially if you're doing it all using just the input/output system.

A rubiks cube should be easier to create to be honest (since you won't need a computer opponent) and imo a lot more fun

I was thinking that if you do plan to give the player different portal guns depending on if they play Sphere or Cube, you might want to indicate that somewhere in the map itself. Maybe you could change Cube's color in the game to orange rather than red. Then it would be Sphere = blue, Cube = orange. At least a bit of a hint there. Just an idea, take it or leave it.

It just seemed very...slow.

Idealy, It would be great if portals could be involved somehow.
when I first thought about how portals could make a difference, i thought of this:

Give the player the blue portal only gun.
Create a glass chamber in a corner, that it is impossible for the player to get into (but can still see into). At the top of the chamber, there would be a cube/sphere dispenser. When the player activates the puzzle (however you choose to do that), an orange portal appears below the dispencer.
Then the player places the blue portal on where he wants his cube/sphere to drop. A button would control when the dispencer releases it's cube/sphere.
though some way of making it so the player can't retrieve the cube/sphere would need to be devised. And there would need to be some sort of way to prevent the player from putting a portal where there has already been one. AND you'd need a way to prevent the player from screwing with the computer's choices.

There are a lot of problems with using portals for this kind of puzzle. So I understand why you did what you did. Still, it would be nice to not have to rely on so many buttons.

It's a wonderful concept, and I commend your efforts on it.
And also, A rubriks cube would be an amazing feat. However, it would be something i'd never be able to solve. ...Stupid rubriks cubes.

On another note: Awesome.

on a side note, the other day when I made the post about bouncelight, I realized that hammer makes me forget my 3d knowledge, although easily regained... I need to work in max a bit more

so im not gonna worry about this map for a bit, after all it started as a "I wonder if I could" lol

I want to have them all glass, sadly they didn't write the engine for things like this so I had to figure something out to make the lights show :s

Artesia wrote:
originally there were 3 buttons, one left to right for each direction, and a drop button... but so many lights started causing problems... Originally all the partitions were glass, I decided to add metal panes to block the light and solve those problems... which caused the problem that the player had to run around the game board, having to run around to get back to the button remembering where to move the dropper was annoying, so I added copies of the buttons around the rest of the game board.

I think it would be better if you simply made 9 ceiling tiles above the game board where you could then place a portal to drop your box as you please. When a tile is occupied you would retract the corresponding ceiling tile to make that place unportable.

It would make it feel more Portal-like, but of course might ruin your plan to make this game the deciding factor between whether you get the blue or orange portal gun afterwards... Unless you can take the gun away from the player again?

all in all, I wanted it to be more like... "cool a portal level... wait... what? tic-tac-toe wtf?!" and I rather like the system I have for moving the box dropper back and forth

as it is now, im not really working on this or anything really, kinda lost motivation for the time being...

Artesia wrote:
as it is now, im not really working on this or anything really, kinda lost motivation for the time being...

What a slacker. You make such good stuff though