This is the second installment of the Remmiz Test Chamber series. This one is a bit harder than the first and contains some more advanced Portal techniques. Included is both a challenge and regular version of the map.

Download (v1.0)

EDIT: Release. Thanks for the help guys!

downloaded, going to play it later.

Its pretty good.

The pillar room is brilliant, took me a few minutes to work it out and once I had it felt good very nice puzzle.

The fling room isn't too hard to figure out but tricky to do.

The door with a 2 timer !!!! I wen't through the portal and didn't see the box dropper and got hit by a box and died. The second button has some of the indicator strips that don't change colour. Other than that, another excelent puzzle (only took me 4 minutes-ish to figure out and do)

Also, I played through the first one again, and you need to link the two maps so when you finish map 1 it goes straight to map 2

Alright.

Chamber #1:
Descent puzzle, although I pissed my off when the orb missed because my portal was at a bad angle. Use a func_portal_orientation on the Downward facing surface.

Chamber #2
Confusing. At first it wasn't clear to me what those switches did. Your signs need to be clearer here. Also, in the official maps, the switch is used for time-limit purposes. Therefore, you need to invest in player training before you let them try out this chamber.

Chamber #3
This fligh is overly frustrating and awkward. If you place a portal on an angled surface and the other portal on the floor, falling into the portal, you can get stuck inside the angled surfaces. This kept happening to me and caused me to reload many times. Also, it was pretty awkward getting the right speed in order to proceed. Either completely change this room or remove it.

Chamber #4
The best out of the four rooms. An enjoyable experience where the apparatus does what you expect it to do and the puzzle isn't overly hard or frustrating. I see no need to change this room.

Challenge: Portals
Managed 21. Seems like reasonable portal values. Haven't tried the other two, mostly because your floors are metal everywhere (Like I should be placing blame here?!) and most of your puzzles involve at least some waiting. I also have no wish to attempt to race against the clock doing that horrible fling.

Yeah in the first room not sure if its how its suppose to go but I just bounched the ball off the curved strut and it eventually landed into the catcher.

In the 2nd room better signs I think would make it more understandable, give the player a better sense of direction, or perhaps adding a button to the other side of the 1st floor to close the doors there instead.

The fling room was way too easy, you can make it harder with ease, maybe higher and longer...

The last room was pretty good no complaints the time is just right.

the fling room is easy, just put a portal on the 2nd, then jump from it down placing a portal, then I will fly to the wall then down. Another portal and then I can just fly like that endlessly, gaining speed then placing a portal on the first (lowest) one. I also got stuck several times, but I have noclip bind on a key. I made a playerclip brush on top of the angled surfaces on my maps to get stuck less often

didnt really like this map. The art is flawless, it really reminds me of one of the official maps, but imo the puzzles are boring and too easy to figure out. Plus i'm starting to grow tired of these "divided-by-rooms" maps. Why dont you create a big level where you have to use elements from the first puzzles to also resolve the last ones? Take that Sidewinder map for example: the way you have to find another way into the first room to get that cube at the end is absolutely awesome. You first find this seemingly unimportant window and quickly disregard it, only to find out you need to get through it at the end, using a rocket from a rocket launcher that's way far into the map In that one, you really have to think outside of the "rooms". I hope you can accomplish something similar in your later maps because clearly the talent is there. I dont mean to be harsh, but thats what i think: the graphics were flawless, but the puzzles... far from it
I hope for your next map.

My next map is planned to be a Companion Cube one and it will work a bit like you are saying. You go through a couple room without the Companion Cube and once you get it, you start from the beginning and the puzzles are completely different now that you have the CC.

And thanks for all the comments/criticism. This is why people do betas, right?

Remmiz wrote:
My next map is planned to be a Companion Cube one and it will work a bit like you are saying. You go through a couple room without the Companion Cube and once you get it, you start from the beginning and the puzzles are completely different now that you have the CC.

that would be awesome! I really like the concept. I offer myself to help you betatest it if you want

Just finished your map. first time gave me some trouble... but I enjoyed it none-the-less

Working on the challenges

Portals: 15
Steps: 96
Time: 1:29

I'm probably overlooking the obvious (since no one else seems to be challenged), but the last puzzle has me stumped. The lift seems to rise way too fast.

Ummm. yeah, you're doing something wrong. the lift rises when you step on it, as long as the cube is still on the button

Rivid31 wrote:
Just finished your map. first time gave me some trouble... but I enjoyed it none-the-less

Working on the challenges

Portals: 15
Steps: 96
Time: 1:29

15 Portals? You have to tell me how you did this one

Rivid31 wrote:
Ummm. yeah, you're doing something wrong. the lift rises when you step on it, as long as the cube is still on the button

D'oh!
Yup, too simple for this genius.

Nice map. I was able to complete pretty much everything with ease, except for the ball catcher.
I'm pretty sure I know what i'm supposed to do, I just couldn't get it done in time. I ended up relying on luck, when the orb went random on me.

15 portals:

||Room 1 [2 portals]: One where the ball hits the wall, one on the side of the launcher model, if you place them just right, the orb will bounce into the catcher.

Room 2 [4 portals]: Jump out to the left from the entrance on to the small block coming out from the wall. From here, shoot a portal into the hallway with the button that opens the top doors. Jump down to more blocks sticking out near the button that opens the bottom doors. Place a portal on the wall in here. Open the top doors, and portal back up to the beginning. One final portal puts you across to the exit.

Room 3 [4 portals]: This room I don't think I ever used the intended solution, and thus don't know if this is the fewest number of portals you need but.... Shoot the blue portal on the platform second highest up. Place the orange portal directly in front of the third highest, on the ground under the exit hallway. Slowly fall into the orange, and stay on the 2nd highest platform. Walk up to the top of this platform, and place the blue portal on the highest platform. Jump into the orange portal. As you come back around, as you're falling into the orange for the 2nd time, shoot the blue portal on the ground. This will make you hop between orange and blue, when you come flying up out of orange, move in the air to the exit hallway.

Room 4 [5 portals]: Blue by the switch, orange in front of the door that the switch opens. Hit the switch, shoot blue through the door. Shoot orange by the button, place the cube on the button. Go back so you're under the box dropper, and shoot orange by the second switch. Hit the switch and run to the exit!||

Rivid31 wrote:
15 portals:

Room 3 [4 portals]: This room I don't think I ever used the intended solution, and thus don't know if this is the fewest number of portals you need but.... Shoot the blue portal on the platform second highest up. Place the orange portal directly in front of the third highest, on the ground under the exit hallway. Slowly fall into the orange, and stay on the 2nd highest platform. Walk up to the top of this platform, and place the blue portal on the highest platform. Jump into the orange portal. As you come back around, as you're falling into the orange for the 2nd time, shoot the blue portal on the ground. This will make you hop between orange and blue, when you come flying up out of orange, move in the air to the exit hallway.

Nice, I didn't think of staying on the second platform then just shooting onto the third. Good thinking!

Rivid31 wrote:
Room 4 [5 portals]: Blue by the switch, orange in front of the door that the switch opens. Hit the switch, shoot blue through the door. Shoot orange by the button, place the cube on the button. Go back so you're under the box dropper, and shoot orange by the second switch. Hit the switch and run to the exit!

With the use of portal chaining(or whatever its called) you could use one less portal in Room 4: Blue by the switch. Orange in front of the door that the switch opens. Hit the switch, pop out, shoot orange through the door, pop back through and end up with a portal link between the box dropper and the switch.
Now place the box on top of the switch and you'll be able to jump up on the wall that separates the switch from the button. Drop the box on the button and jump back down from the wall on the switch side. Go back through portal to the box dropper, shoot blue portal over to the second switch, you know what to do from there.

Updated to .92 Beta. Changes:
- Changed some textures around to accommodate for less steps- Made platforms in 3rd room open once you enter anywhere in the room- Updated challenge requirements as well as combining the two .bns files- Some other minor stuff

I enjoyed most of the puzzles on this map, except for the second one, which is seriously lacking in player feedback.

I spent a couple minutes just exploring the places I could get through portaling, then hit the obvious switch on the lower level. ||Two doors opened, leading to... a hallway on the other side, that I could get to before. A tiny room inside the pillar with a portalable floor, but, not much else. No LOS from inside this room. No extra LOS apparent from the opposite hall. So the lower switch did something, but at no visible advantage towards progress.

I eventually figured out that I could hop onto the tiny protrusions along the outer wall in order to get portal LOS to the other hall at the bottom with a switch. I felt a small sense of accomplishment when I got in there, but, then I pressed the switch. Nothing happened, except an activation noise. I pressed it again, and again nothing happened. I went back to the other halls to look around, and nothing visible had changed. No extra doors were open. So as far as I, the player experiencing the map, was concerned, the switch did nothing.

At that point I noclipped up to the third visible switch. Same result. No indication at all that pressing the switch does anything except make a noise. Concluding that the puzzle was broken, I noclipped on to the next part.||

Also, I did room 3 similarly to how Rivid described it. I actually found it enjoyable that way.