Dear ThinkingWithPortals community,

What is your consensus on backtracking in custom Portal maps? Good? Bad? Reasons?

Well, like most things it all depends on how well its done.

Many chambers require some backtracking to some extent, and for pretty much all the maps posted here it has worked out well enough. If backtracking is needed in the map, I'd hope there was something new in the areas where you are returning to, or a specific need to go back to previous rooms in order to advance in the current puzzle.

Good:
Returning to a previous chamber, with a new way to solve the same chamber, or to complete solving the chamber (maybe you have a cube now, or some platform is different...)
Needing to return to a previous chamber to complete a later chamber (maybe theres a high ledge you need to fling yourself in a later chamber, or just some portable wall)

Bad:
Advance 4 chambers ahead, then a door opens back at the beginning that you simply need to run to with no extra puzzle solving in-between.
Making a person solve the same chamber many times for whatever reason in the exact same way, especially a puzzle that could result in death (I can deal with solving some deadly puzzle twice, but I don't want to solve some hard puzzle that kills me often more than that in one run-through)

All that said, in general, I'm fine with backtracking, and even enjoy it sometimes just try and make sure it adds something to the map (puzzle-wise)

I did this in my puzzle, for a fling method, but I kept it short, and didn't have the player backtrack a major distance.

The goal was to get over a gap but had no where to gain momentum, so the player needed to go to a previous area to fall down a pit and place a portal to gain momentum.

In total iots always fun, but only if done correctly, and not utterly confusing.

generally i think backtracking is bad, as i have the opinion on "once a rooms past, you've done that puzzle."

However, i do accept that backtracking one room generally ok, as that generally can be included to involve the puzzle.

Generally i think so too, lol.

Long meaningless backtracking is BAD!
But it would be cool to have a map with the same starting and ending elevator, as long as there's a major change in the map on the way back, say rotating everything 180 degrees making every puzzle on the way back upside-down.

Back tracking is great, if used correctly. I let the valve developer wiki do my arguement for me:

http://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki ... _design%29

That's not quite the kind of backtrack mentioned here, though... I get a feeling this thread is more like, three rooms into the chamber you find you're completely stuck with no way to proceed until you realize that what you need is way back in room 1 which you completed 20 minutes ago.

Korjagun wrote:
That's not quite the kind of backtrack mentioned here, though... I get a feeling this thread is more like, three rooms into the chamber you find you're completely stuck with no way to proceed until you realize that what you need is way back in room 1 which you completed 20 minutes ago.

wel actually I think that this:> Duffedwaffe wrote:

What is your consensus on backtracking in custom Portal maps? Good? Bad? Reasons?

is pretty open.

but going back to a chamber you did 20 minutes ago is probably not a good idea unless you weave it in well and it suprises the player that they end up back there rather then having them clueless as to what to do so they backtrack to see if they missed something

Agreed, the question as stated is a bit fuzzy, but I don't generally think of situations like "The path you want to follow is currently locked, so go over there to unlock it" as backtracking.

Well for the bridge section in HL2 there is an entirely new map file for the 'over there' bit so that one certainly seemed very backtracky even though it was, in essence 'go over there to pass through here'
What I was saying is a lengthy section like that would be ok but one where you have to just retrace your steps for 5 minutes isnt cool.

Right now I have a hallway of puzzles set up in a row of doors, and at the end of the hallway there's a rocket turret, which you need to use a rocket from at an earlier part in the level.

Duffedwaffe wrote:
Right now I have a hallway of puzzles set up in a row of doors, and at the end of the hallway there's a rocket turret, which you need to use a rocket from at an earlier part in the level.

unless the hallway is longer than 2500 units(or is fiendishly tricky to navigate) thats porbably fine

youme wrote:
Back tracking is great, if used correctly. I let the valve developer wiki do my arguement for me:

http://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki ... _design%29

This however doest really work well with Portal, due to many things, but the puzzle factor can, so a bounce might work great in a portal map.

Backtracking is okay, but it matters on the amount of it, and the continuance of the area, where adding more is just giving life to an already old area. Things should only be tracked towards momentarily. For things like momentum in a case, or perhaps a left behind cube, but the cube shouldn't be an entire game in itself.

Bounce's and arena's work great in portal, just how well they are made, and thats it really to it.

MrTwoVideoCards wrote:
This however doest really work well with Portal, due to many things, but the puzzle factor can, so a bounce might work great in a portal map.

The most evident way of implementing "bounce" in a Portal map would be to have a puzzle that requires a box to complete, but to get a box in the first place, you have to solve another puzzle to get access to the box dropper. Chamber 23's first puzzle is essentially this.

Yeah, thats the premise, flip a switch to turn on a far away elevator. Portal is filled with this, as even tiny bounce's are included, like needing to press a button for something. The bounce's in portal are so minor you really dont notice that they are bounce's.

More often than not back-tracking in Portal is as easy as stepping into a...well, I'm really not at liberty to say. Hopefully it will all make sense in the due coarse of portals.

Adair wrote:
More often than not back-tracking in Portal is as easy as stepping into a...well, I'm really not at liberty to say. Hopefully it will all make sense in the due coarse of portals.