I want to make a lot of puzzles fast with plenty of detail but I keep getting sidetracked when I notice something bland elsewhere. I lose my place and start flying around my map as if just daydreaming ... for a whole five minutes.

What tips does anyone have for being productive?

(Yeah, using visgroups )

This will probably be an interesting thread...

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1673597/1269068825969.jpg

You really gotta try and plan out your puzzle before you start working on it. and save the detailing and nitpicking for when your basicly done.

Got 3 puzzles that I've already planned out, I'll try making simple versions of them

I will usually start a map with a general layout already in my head. I then make a separate "test" map which I use to get the puzzles working. I add them into the main map when the mechanics are what I want. If I get stuck on a puzzle or need more inspiration, I will go back to one of the completed sections and do a little detail. Once I get all the puzzles and mechanics working the way I want, I go back and look for exploits/bugs and alternate solutions to the puzzles. I fix what I don't like, and add more detail as I go.

My maps usually go like such:
First chamber 99% - mechanics totally done, textures done, exploits checked, lighting done, overlays done, props done, animations done.
Second chamber 80% needs lighting/props/overlays
Third chamber 40% needs lighting/props/overlays/textures/exploits/animations

Don't get too caught up in the small details until after your puzzle is complete. If you find yourself just floating around your map in Hammer, take a break and go do something else.

Yeh i found that puzzle ideas pop into my head more often when im doing something completely unrelated to hammer... because with hammer in front of you you think more about the actual building and realizing of the map instead of thinking of the puzzle itself.

I often take 20/30 minute breaks and watch a serie or something. Your brain also needs to rest you know

I thank you both!

I'll just be building some of my maps I have on paper as simply as I can.

i found it very handy to have a piece of paper and a pencil in arms reach
whenever you get a random idea you can just write it down or draw pictures if its a complex idea.
Later when trying to make a new room you can pick/combine those ideas.

If you dont write down the ideas the moment you get them (or else put them to practice in hammer)
You will forget about them by the time you finished your current project, and youll be like "OMG... i had this great idea... where you have to use a button... and a cube... and... and... damn i forgot!"

In the making off portal there are also sketches to be found of very famous testing chambers.

Also when actually "lacking" experience, go out and do other stuff, or play through the official campains of portal 1/2.
When playing im often like, yeah this is nice, but what if this was different, or what if i had to do this puzzle, while being fired at with deadly lasers?
Those ideas you can test out!

be sure though to only keep/test/publish the best/original ideas i guess.

You should never spend time working on aesthetics until your actual puzzle is nearly or fully complete. You are simply wasting your time if you bother with lights, details, or anything beyond absolute basic brushwork, until the map/puzzle's gameplay is complete.

msleeper wrote:
You should never spend time working on aesthetics until your actual puzzle is nearly or fully complete. You are simply wasting your time if you bother with lights, details, or anything beyond absolute basic brushwork, until the map/puzzle's gameplay is complete.

This is what I was try to convey. Puzzles first, and as you start to loose focus, go back to other completed areas for the details.

I... Well... I make Cardboard models of things and arrange them in my room till I get an idea. pokes fingers together

msleeper wrote:
You should never spend time working on aesthetics until your actual puzzle is nearly or fully complete. You are simply wasting your time if you bother with lights, details, or anything beyond absolute basic brushwork, until the map/puzzle's gameplay is complete.

Results from an incomplete puzzle and added complications make the puzzle dificult or impossible to fix. This can cause the project to become a lost cause.