I've uploaded a beta version of my November contest map to the WIP section. It's pretty late so I'm going to just refer you to the description of the file... and ignore screenshots for the night. I'll add them tomorrow evening.

http://forums.thinking.withportals.com/dload.php?action=file&file_id=118

Some nice stuff there, and some messed-up stuff. Liked the start and how you get out of the 1st room. Then the bad stuff started. . . .but I also want to say I really like the last rooms fling+ last-minute cube-grab to get it up to the button

My problems:

||When I first got to the cube in the fire, it wasnt there. It only appeared after I died trying to pass the pipes. Once I had it, things went easier. Nice use of the cube, by the way.

When I got to the next room, I put the cube on the high button and opened the door. I had no way to get the cube down that I could see, so I went through the doors and the door closed behind me. People less paranoid than me would have been left with the cube left behind with no portal to get it; not cool. I DID have a portal, but it did me no real good; I couldnt get the cube down. I finally noclipped it down, so I suspect you are going to get a LOT of problems from people who do the same thing.

With the cube I was able to solve the energy-ball puzzle next to the door; but not before I pushed the button and run through the door, locking me inside with no way to portal out. noclip again. . . .

Once I DID use the energy ball to solve that one, I never got another ball to solve the other energy ball puzzle. The lift never went up, but I saw the angled wall move to point at the opening. . .but there was no way to use it to fling up there for me since the original door to that room as closed; presumably I could have used the height in the other room to fling up there. Oviously I messd something up; did a puzzle out of order or something? Summary: noclip for me and my cube to get out of there. . .

. .and now I am in the last room, which worked fine.||

Yeah, I ended up having to Leave the companion cube up on the high button that required the step fling. Also, if you stand on that button, the indicator strip lights up, but the door doesn't open. The cube is required to be there.

I had some pretty big problems with the orb puzzle. It was very...chaotic. I couldn't reproduce a sure fire way of getting the orb to where it needed to be. And because of that, I ended up just quitting.

Theres no need to noclip anywhere.... and I thought I put a button in that small hallway with the orb catcher so if you did go in there you wouldn't be stuck.

That orb catcher in that small hallway is the 2nd orb catcher to be solved, with the aid of the cube and when you solve it, it turns off the timer to launch more balls. In the other room there is an orb catcher that will re-open the door back to your cube, and you're supposed to solve this one first. I realize that this is a puzzle without the companion cube, but it's a puzzle to get back your precious companion cube so I left it in there. I was going to put voices in that kind of explained things more, but haven't done it yet.

I'll fix the trigger on that button so it opens the door for the client as well.

Flinging with a cube in-hand = unenjoyable.

volt wrote:
Flinging with a cube in-hand = unenjoyable.

After reading this thread and realizing that you have to do the platform orb catcher first before you do the one at the end of the locked hallway, I was able to do both of them without too much trouble. I knew how to do them, it was just a matter of getting the angles right on the first one, and the timing right on the second one. I would suggest inserting the "dot" signs to indicate to the player which order to do them in.

I think the last room definitely needs to be revamped, because as people have been saying, flinging with the cube is not fun, and in this room it's nearly impossible. For a while I thought I could fling the cube on its own, but its terminal velocity is too low to make it to the platform with the button.

One small suggestion I have for the room with the button on the tall platform just before the energy pellet room would be to have a broken "entrance" somewhere. The way you come in is through the wall, which isn't the "real" entrance, so it would make sense if there was a false door somewhere, indicating that's how you should have come in, if things didn't break in the first room forcing you to come in the back way.

Edit: I felt it was also worth mentioning that I love the way you initially obtain the cube. Now I get the map name.