Thanks!

Also, I wouldn't recommend too many fizzlers, because logically, some of them would be destroyed along with the rest of the test, since they run all along the walls.

What I mean is:

Theoretically, there aren't any puzzles in BTS areas - because they are behind the scenes and not actual test chambers and thus not even supposed to be seen by the test subject. The puzzles and their solutions seem to be there only due to lucky circustances: a conveyor belt here, a broken red paint tube there that spits out paint behind the scenes, a portalable surface above the conveyor belt - and now the red paint helps the player to outrun the conveyor belt speed and reach a new area.

The tough part is to get this illusion of purposeless into the map while at the same time hint at the puzzle elements good enough for the player to notice.

You played our Halloween map the other day. Maybe you remember the part with the turret that fires on the press of a button. Theoretically there is no puzzle in this room. It only becomes a solvable puzzle because the test subject with his/her portalgun walks in.

Cheers!

for both it needs to make sense the player can access an room where they're not supposed to be in.
For example: a door that leads to bts is possible; but then the player should find a key, or the door could be left open, but inside there should be something like "Remember to lock the door" or a schematic that shows who should close the door what day; with some unchecked boxes for example.

Another way to get into those rooms is by portalling out of a test chamber; in a hidden panel; something that broke; or something similiar. Observation rooms with a broken window do a very good job.

In the bts area itself I like puzzles with doors that lock and appear to be only solvable with two players; but thanks to the portalgun can be solved by one. If possible I would stay away from as many normal test elements that don't make sense in a (secured) office area. So buttons are fine; but funnels aren't.

In the offices I like small easter eggs; like in the coop maps from dlc 1; where there is a turret on one of the chairs. And of course; desks should have stuff on it. A computer or a typewriter, a mug, some boxes with papers. Just mess around until it looks realistic.

As for textures; try to stay away from the normal test chamber ones; but make sure the surfaces have correct portalablility if that's even a word

Some things to keep in mind: offices often have a lot of things in it. Some models NEED to be physics or dynamics; therefore larger rooms could become rather expensive to render. To prevent errors; add some 90 degree angles in your complex and add diagonal hint/skips. This should prevent problems.

Hope that helped:)

Oh, and how about the "open-space" area? The one with all the tubes.

ChickenMobile wrote:
What makes a good BTS map? Your creativity and uniqueness!
Think about what Aperture would do and you build it.

Thanks Chicken! That helped!

portal2tenacious wrote:
I like the idea used in the coop campaign to deliver edgeless safety cubes through broken tubes. Or the part where the button delivered bombs by redirecting tubes. Finding original ways to add elements is great, and you can make equivalents to buttons like the laser that you block with the ball.

Thanks! But in the co-op campaign, the ball was somehow "accepted/taken away from the player" once the player goes near the laser with the ball. Any idea on how to do that?

Try using this method

mapping-help/cube-auto-snap-to-button-t7525.html

What do you guys think? All feedbacks appreciated!

protoborg wrote:
Impressive use of the "open spaces" as you put it. I love how you have a missing section of tube directly above a destroyed section of walkway. Although, the ring at the ends oft he pipes on either side of the gap looks a little too much like "oh this section was supposed to be missing". You need to make it look as though the section simply fell off. Otherwise, it pulls the player out of the moment. Also, the huge screen in your office area is rather out of place. That graphic is used in the coop levels and doesn't really fit with a BTS map. Otherwise, it looks very good.

Thanks!
The idea of having those rings at the ends of that broken section is to act like "Oh, this section is missing. We need to replace this as soon as possible", where they put rings on the ends of the tube, following a somewhat "safety procedure", to prevent any malfunction as they get it replaced. Also, I plan to include a sign reading "Due to a tube malfunction, item transporting may be slow", with only one or two cubes flowing in each line of tubes.

The huge screen is often found in the office area, and the office area is part of BTS, as seen in the end of the coop courses, so I don't think its out of place

If you be interested in make a closed bts space, this map it's a good example of it =)

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/f ... d=79654128

epotolito wrote:
If you be interested in make a closed bts space, this map it's a good example of it =)

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/f ... d=79654128

Yeah, I played it before, the map is awesome and its a good example of a closed BTS area. What I needed previously was the open BTS space, but its okay. I'm done with my BTS map already. Thanks anyway

greykarel wrote:
Hey, that's realy impressive open bts area you've built. Though I have one remark: looking at your fog I can see lighter parts in corners of skybox. Apparently, you've enclosed your map in a big cube and use texture toolsblack_noportal for its inner sides, right? That's not the way it should be. Use skybox texture instead and in map properties set skybox texture name to sky_black. This will make your fog look much better. Check two picturs below to see the difference.

Thanks, but I have my skybox texture name to sky_white because I have an overgrown chamber together with the BTS area. Do I change it to sky_black? >_<

RectorRocks wrote:
Thanks, but I have my skybox texture name to sky_white because I have an overgrown chamber together with the BTS area. Do I change it to sky_black? >_<

Then you have 2 options:
You can change the skybox ingame via a command (I didn't test it but it sounds awesome). You have to create the white light manually though, but that shouldn't be a problem.

OR

You use a white texture for your destroyed parts of the map which creates light. You can also add some light-entites if the light of the texture isn't enough (or you scale it and make it smaller - this makes your texture emit more light).

RectorRocks wrote:
I have an overgrown chamber together with the BTS area.

It's rather wierd to have that combination in one map. Overgrown chambers are suppoused to be near the surface, while foggy bts area somewhere deep under the ground. So be careful with transition in order not make it too sharp.

As for the skybox type. You can toggle it in game. It's realy awesome and easy. Go to map properties and set sky type you want to start with (let's say sky_white). Also there set a name for your map. Then somewhere in transition area create a trigger_multiple with output OnStartTouch >> name in map properties >> AddOutput >> Skyname sky_black. Also you can enable the fog here.

The overgrown chamber is accessed from a broken observatory room window, which means you're already in the BTS areas when you first see the overgrown chamber. Also, the overgrown chamber doesn't play a big part in the map, you can't solve the puzzle and open the exit door in the overgrown chamber, because the mechanics are turned off. After you did what you need to do in the chamber, you go back through the broken observatory room window and continue through the BTS areas. See my ThinkingWithPortals Map Showcasing Thread post if you don't get it.

Is it still weird that I have an overgrown chamber together with the BTS area in the map?