I just want to post a little note to all the newbie puzzle creators, let players NEVER cut corners! (Well that's a.. Uhh corner cutting machine, we obviously cut them there. ) What I'm talking about is never let your players do something there not supposed to do. For instance,allowing a player to put a box on a button and get to the exit before they are supposed to put a box on a button and make a laser go into a laser receiver, vice versa, etc. etc. Just wanted to let the newbies know! Cheers <3 And happy Sunday <3

I've got no idea what you're attempting to say:
Playtest your maps? That's a brilliant tip.

Arctiq wrote:
For instance,allowing a player to put a box on a button and get to the exit before they are supposed to put a box on a button and make a laser go into a laser receiver, vice versa, etc. etc. Just wanted to let the newbies know! Cheers <3 And happy Sunday <3

Well, duh.

Are you saying this because you've played a lot of maps that have this issue? Or are you just stating the obvious?

Kaleido wrote:
Are you saying this because you've played a lot of maps that have this issue? Or are you just stating the obvious?

Is it too much to assume both?

msleeper wrote:
Kaleido wrote:

Are you saying this because you've played a lot of maps that have this issue? Or are you just stating the obvious?

Is it too much to assume both?

I've been staying away from the PTI for the most part besides a few maps made by regulars on here that also have made Hammer maps... I have no idea how bad it is in there

I'm assuming the signal-to-noise ratio is very high. I do very much like how easy it is to put together 90% of a map, though. My guess is that the best PTI maps will be built in the puzzle creator, but finished in Hammer.

Captain obvious, your work here is done...

I found the maps posted here in the PTI download category to be pretty good so far. The "show recent maps" button in the workshop is something else. There you often get way to huge hallways or easily skipable puzzles.

I thoroughly playtest any maps I make before releasing them to make sure my intended solutions work, that I iron out as many exploits as possible and I listen to feedback. I see no harm in trying maps just because they're PTI creations I have actually played some pretty decent PTI maps, and hell if you don't like one just exit to your main menu and stop playing it.

May someone check my new map for any shortcuts or abuseable glitches/bugs?

**
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=72155403**

It is not soo easy, so see it as a challenge!

Example:
Idp4I2imzbY
It was my first map :p

Logic wrote:
Captain obvious, your work here is done...

Grammar (and punctuation) Nazi to the rescue!

This is something I don't get: WHY is it so bad to have alternate solutions?

Yes, if you can get through half the level in one fell swoop that's an exploit, but if you did something either harder or just as hard as the original solution, why condemn it? I've never seen why there must be only one solution. Multiple solutions extend a map's longevity.

Groxkiller585 wrote:
This is something I don't get: WHY is it so bad to have alternate solutions?

Yes, if you can get through half the level in one fell swoop that's an exploit, but if you did something either harder or just as hard as the original solution, why condemn it? I've never seen why there must be only one solution. Multiple solutions extend a map's longevity.

While theoretically there?s nothing wrong with multiple solutions most of them completely skip a part of your level.
Also sometimes an alternative solution allows a much simpler solution instead of the clever trick you designed.

These two cases are the things that I try to prevent as much as I can. If there?s a somewhat similar solution that more or less uses the same technique it?s fine by me and I do not try to block it.
But that?s just my two cents.

lpfreaky90 wrote:
Groxkiller585 wrote:

This is something I don't get: WHY is it so bad to have alternate solutions?

Yes, if you can get through half the level in one fell swoop that's an exploit, but if you did something either harder or just as hard as the original solution, why condemn it? I've never seen why there must be only one solution. Multiple solutions extend a map's longevity.

While theoretically there?s nothing wrong with multiple solutions most of them completely skip a part of your level.
Also sometimes an alternative solution allows a much simpler solution instead of the clever trick you designed.

These two cases are the things that I try to prevent as much as I can. If there?s a somewhat similar solution that more or less uses the same technique it?s fine by me and I do not try to block it.
But that?s just my two cents.

Which is my point: So long as it isn't breaking too much, then I don't see why the alt solutions must be purged. Some people i've seen are outright condemning maps they play that have multiple solutions that are NOT exploits purely because they have alt solutions...

There are two main reasons I can see for eliminating an alternate solution.

1. It completely bypasses part or all of the puzzle
2. It makes the puzzle easier than what the maker intended

The funny thing about making a test is: You are designing a test, as you make it and change things, you do so with YOUR solution in mind. Turned out that despite what I thought was a one-way one-solution game, there is a way to solve my first map without using the goo-hall I made to get the cube to another room, thereby never using a laser-catcher. I found this out by accident after playing it the bajillionth time and doing the wrong (according to my self-imposed solution) thing. It required only slightly less work, and still felt like a valid solution, even though you missed the bit of foreshadowing in that hall. So I kept it.

It would be as easy as adding a button and linking it to a dropper to fix the problem, but it was good. A bug in my second test, however, that allowed the player to skip the majority of the second half of the map, however, was not left.

The designer is probably not going to be the first person to spot those kinds of problems, and as shown here, they can be for the better or for the worse. But unless the mapper is completely single-sighted or just not really trying, they probably won't leave gigantic obvious ways to skip parts of the map.

shad0w440 wrote:
Example:
Idp4I2imzbY
It was my first map :p

oh please, don't make me laugh
watch as i "solve" this :p
fQelvaqFNlY
i actually feel guilty about this
you put all that efford in such a big map, for me not to ever use it..

this is what we need to prevent!

That map is too big anyways.