A Good Article for Puzzle Designers
http://www.brainygamer.com/the_brainy_g ... truth.html
This is an article which I think every Portal level designer should read, particularly those who introduce new puzzle mechanics in their maps.
For those who don't know Jonathan Blow he is the designer of "Braid" which is, in my opinion, a competitor for Portal/Portal 2 as one of the best puzzle games.
Portal 1: Portal Pro, Resurrection, Dyad, Rexaura
Portal 2: [Coop] Electrophobia, [PTI] EotM Collection, [SP] Aperture Halloween
Great article!
Please do not Private Message me for assistance. Post a thread if you have questions or concerns.
If you need to contact the staff privately, contact the Global Moderators via Discord.
I agree, Braid was phenomenal, and Jonathan Blow is an interesting guy to listen to about game design in general.
I'm just wondering what he means by "truth". It's level design...
[spoiler][SP] Alternate[/spoiler]
I hate to be negative about stuff like this, but he should have simplified parts 4 through 7; I don't understand what the heck is typed. Essays, articles, etc. should be easy enough for a 12 year old to understand. Complex and fancy words are a turn off to a person reading the article, essay, etc.
And part 6 seems to be just re-stating parts 1 and 2!
Please don't bother to explain this to me...
My Work
[spoiler]Maps:
Revenge of the Angry Turrets
Capture the Cube [Co-op]
Capture the Cube 2 [Co-op]
TPWEGTH Sample Map
Aperture Aquatic Testing Center
Aperture Aquatic Testing Center 2
Aperture Time Testing Center
ML's Halloween Trick - 1000 downloads!
ML's Halloween Treat
ML's Combination - 1000 downloads!
ML's Jailbreak Labyrinth
ML's Tricky Teamwork [Co-op]
WIP:
"Capture the Cube 3"
Workshop Maps Link: http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198008890579/myworkshopfiles/[/spoiler]
He probably means the Platonic Form of truth.
He probably means for people not to use world portals in their maps.
Hah, part of me wishes Valve had read this actually. Particularly the parts on Completeness and Compatibility of Mechanics. What I felt Portal 2 was lacking, after introducing puzzles based on each of the mechanics, was some climatic mixture of everything the player had learnt so far into one or a few end chambers. Co-op did this a bit better, but in single player I guess they preferred just to spontaneously catapult you into the finale.
Lagger, the middle points are basically about how developers should test their games to figure out how "neatly" mechanics fit together, and what their limitations are - or create "boundaries" if there are too many problems. For example, a clear limitation in the Portal games is that you can't place portals on moving surfaces (except in one instance but it was rather constricted).
Well, that's okay. Thanks for clearing that up for me. Still, the article could've had some parts to be defined a bit more simply. Also, like I said/typed earlier, that part 6 re-states parts 1 and 2; to me, that is kind of a waste of space.
My Work
[spoiler]Maps:
Revenge of the Angry Turrets
Capture the Cube [Co-op]
Capture the Cube 2 [Co-op]
TPWEGTH Sample Map
Aperture Aquatic Testing Center
Aperture Aquatic Testing Center 2
Aperture Time Testing Center
ML's Halloween Trick - 1000 downloads!
ML's Halloween Treat
ML's Combination - 1000 downloads!
ML's Jailbreak Labyrinth
ML's Tricky Teamwork [Co-op]
WIP:
"Capture the Cube 3"
Workshop Maps Link: http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198008890579/myworkshopfiles/[/spoiler]
Or, here's a better idea. 12 year olds shouldn't be trying to make maps or puzzle games.
Please do not Private Message me for assistance. Post a thread if you have questions or concerns.
If you need to contact the staff privately, contact the Global Moderators via Discord.