Some player starts to cry when they see maps with style/atmosphere that not present in the original portal game, like angled surfaces, a destroyed room after a clean one, or never seen game mechanics and puzzle solutions. My first P2 map (that was mainly a testmap to try out every method and style before the official SDK) received some of these too, even my 2nd one where I had to follow one specific style (wheatley clean style) because of the contest.

Now I planning to do a halfly outdoor map, like an ancient maya ruins or other destroyed castle-ish map, with a huge hole above a (collapsed) cave where the sun shine in, lots vegetation, a map in a deep valley with lots small "dirt mountain", trees, small puddles, ruin remains, like a very small un'goro in WoW So basically maps where you cant climb or fling up or out, but maybe will use a huge skybox or a 3d-skybox so the player can see far up-ahead. So no portal story, maybe a totally different one, including some time travel to the future during the map. NO portal storyline. IF you wonder what puzzles can be in a halfly-open map, u'll see.

But if just a few likes this style, maybe I'll drop the idea and will just make normal chambers with big bombarded ceilings... I really like maps with lots green, for example the first 3 map in portal 2.

BTW here is the map in case u wanna try it. Just a testroom for timetravel where you can run and look around, nothing else
You can run aroun in both room, nothing else.

This would make a great mod.

Be careful. Skyboxes are broken in Portal 2. So are displacements. Stuff falls through them. Skyboxes misload and cover everything. 3d ones glitch through portals.

FelixGriffin wrote:
Be careful. Skyboxes are broken in Portal 2. So are displacements. Stuff falls through them. Skyboxes misload and cover everything. 3d ones glitch through portals.

The original portal had the same problem too, but it turned out good.

Ok, then without skyboxes. Displacements are ok, since rocks and grass are not portable, and just need to leave at least 96-128 unit distence between them and the portalsurface, or just use invisible-textured blocks near them.

DaMaGepy wrote:
BTW here is my mapeditor testroom for timetravel, plus pic1, pic2. You can run aroun in both room, nothing else.

Thats awesome, I like that alot.

Have you done any playable maps with that in, or is that what your working on?

The outdoor map sounds like it could be good but I love your time portal and it is the kind of map I have wanted to see more of since Time Arch back in the summer mapping initiative.

its just a room where I wanted to test how a portal should look ingame. I will use it in my next map after an "escape" part where you break out from a "prison" without a gun (as a robot) and while the facility collapses and explosions/debris everywhere u find a lab (a modified smaller version of this testroom), activate the portal and travel ahead in time, and then without a portal gun at the beginning, solving puzzles (mainly fixing rooms by for example picking up indicator stripes from the floor and "placing" them where they fell off, putting the red button thing on the button base, etc... later with the portalgun, some ancient ruin in caves with collapsed ceiling, maybe one extra timetravel further to the future, where the portal is in a hi-tech base now...
but these are just concepts, and definetely not in the portal universe and with not portal-style maps... and hopefully ppl will not cry why there is a cave-style texture in an outdoor area or some wrecked car etc.

bmaster2000 wrote:
The outdoor map sounds like it could be good but I love your time portal and it is the kind of map I have wanted to see more of since Time Arch back in the summer mapping initiative.

The ideas I wanna include in my #3 map are those I drawed on paper 2 day after portal 2 launch, and some of them are even from my portal1 maping 4 year ago (they still can be done in P2). I did not checked custom maps in the last 3 month, so I dont know if anyone used any of my ideas yet, but I dont really care, I include them anyway

ps: updated the testroom with hdr

I would play this, it would be nice to see something different. theres a lot you could do with this.

I love that

Ah, someone mentioned a map "time arch", just checked it, the creator came up with the similar effect, when the portal emerges from the floor. Trust me, I never played that map!
Mine is hidden because the scientists wanted to hide it, and it can be activated from a sealed nearby rom (will be that way in the official map) and in the future I also plan a "fixing puzzle, where it stuck halfway because of a panel, that needs to be activated first. Basically a map where you also need to fix the puzzles (like a maintanence worker) before u can start actually solving the room...

PS: if anyone tries the testroom, when u activate the portal (2nd button) u also experience a lag/hang in framerate and a small lag in the music?

DaMaGepy wrote:
PS: if anyone tries the testroom, when u activate the portal (2nd button) u also experience a lag/hang in framerate and a small lag in the music?

Yes, I get that.

Only the first time I do it though after starting portal. If I just restart the map, it doesnt do it a 2nd time.

So is the time traveling device going to be a portal or a machine made from props? I made a time traveling map once (Aperture Time Testing Center) in case your interested in ideas.

MasterLagger wrote:
So is the time traveling device going to be a portal or a machine made from props?

check the map at the end of my first post (small letters)

it will not be used for puzzles that require traveling back and forth, just mainly for transitions, traveling further ahead in time multiple times.

Anyway, the main question was about outdoor areas and maps with mixed style or with style not present in the official portal maps...

I'm going to help!

So it's a StarGate rip-off. JK, JK. That is actually a lot better looking compared to the one I made. Too bad it's not entirely puzzle related. BTW Is the Time Device showing the area you travel to? I'm looking at the rest of the room and it seems that the Time Device is showing a "future-ish" area.

Everything I saw from you so far looks visually very pleasing. Your maps are top notch. Why don't you just do what you feel comfortable with?!
If you go with those who 'hate' this or that, you pretty much end up with a portal gun alone.
Mapping is about creativity. It needs innovative ideas to break repetitiveness and boredom. Slavishly adhering to themes and styles and preaching the Ten Commandments of dos and don'ts won't change that.
I have no doubt that most of us will enjoy the maps you come up with.
Keep it up!

MasterLagger wrote:
So it's a StarGate rip-off.

Wellm I tought that portals should be round and not rectangular, and this one was the only model that looked nice. And yes, it shows the future, and from that future room, the portal will break the link and after re-activation (solving some puzzle), you will travel further to the future, to an even more destroyed version of the room. then the most of the map will play at that timeline, and at the end a third timetravel to the future, where a civilization probably found the gate and built a hi-tech base around it, thats where the map will end (if the map will be too big, I'll maybe break this part into another map #4
But as I said, the gate is just a tool for transitions, will not be used to solving puzzles traveling thru it between times. The gate will be deactivated after a while after you entered it.

This is going to turn out great