Aesthetic Showcase [Version 2]
The flash Version has already a 3D remake for Portal. You can take a look at it here. As you can see, the developers did use the design of the generic Portal chambers. It's solid, looks good and it just works.
You on the other hand are trying to recreate the overall look of the original flash version. And this won't work well because...
...the Flash Version is 2D. But you are working in 3D. The FV is still a flash game that needs to be fast in its loading time and small in its actual size, which means that the look is very simplistic (at least to simplify the graphics is one way to do that). There aren't any shadows or differences in the textures: it's just black and white with some simple images (camera, light, cube, etc) to recreate the Portal chambers in general, but not at all. And because everything is flat, there is not much space to put even more things into the maps.
Now you've chosen to recreate this "simple" 2D platformer in a huge 3D engine. Say hello to shadows, bumpmaps, details and complexity in general! Whatever you do or create, it won't look in any way as the Flash Version. You have a new dimension that wants to be filled with excitement stuff! As long as you don't do that, your maps are going to look boring. There is no reason why you shouldn't take advantage of the things the Source Engine, and Portal 2, offers you.
Then why trying to do so with the style of the Flash Version? Try new things and create your own awesome style! You can still keep it simple as long as it is part of your styleguide - and as long as it has its reason to be that way.
An advise from me: don't try to copy the style of the Flash Version because it won't end up well. It's to simplistic to use in a 3D environment. Instead you can follow the first remake and use the Style of the main game - in this case Portal 2. Or just take the puzzle and throw them in an completely new environment (outside ?). Or play around with art styles in general.
I hope that helps you 
.
light panels, not light entities
add metal even if its not needed
you are allowed to break walls
I don't really know much about lighting, I mostly just use the light entity in the tests I make. So I don't really know what you mean by light panels.
The things you see all over the walls in Portal 2. 
The easiest instance to use is p2editor/light_strip.vmf, others will require cutting holes in the walls.
EDIT: Cross-post, and Sprowl is completely right on this.
You on the other hand are trying to recreate the overall look of the original flash version. And this won't work well because...
...the Flash Version is 2D. But you are working in 3D. The FV is still a flash game that needs to be fast in its loading time and small in its actual size, which means that the look is very simplistic (at least to simplify the graphics is one way to do that). There aren't any shadows or differences in the textures: it's just black and white with some simple images (camera, light, cube, etc) to recreate the Portal chambers in general, but not at all. And because everything is flat, there is not much space to put even more things into the maps.
Now you've chosen to recreate this "simple" 2D platformer in a huge 3D engine. Say hello to shadows, bumpmaps, details and complexity in general! Whatever you do or create, it won't look in any way as the Flash Version. You have a new dimension that wants to be filled with excitement stuff! As long as you don't do that, your maps are going to look boring. There is no reason why you shouldn't take advantage of the things the Source Engine, and Portal 2, offers you.
Then why trying to do so with the style of the Flash Version? Try new things and create your own awesome style! You can still keep it simple as long as it is part of your styleguide - and as long as it has its reason to be that way.
An advise from me: don't try to copy the style of the Flash Version because it won't end up well. It's to simplistic to use in a 3D environment. Instead you can follow the first remake and use the Style of the main game - in this case Portal 2. Or just take the puzzle and throw them in an completely new environment (outside ?). Or play around with art styles in general.
I hope that helps you 🙂 .
I am aware that there is already a Map-Pack for this, and the point of this mod is to also fix any problems the original had. In the original flash version Map-Pack, all tests 36+ weren't fun at all. This is because they were pretty much mazes. All the holes in the walls proved to be annoying, as the player could not see the entire course, unlike in the flash version. I plan on fixing that- but you'll have to see how I do later- I also plan on fixing several other minor things, like making the turrets so they can become revived after being reoriented (and I already figured out how to do that). Also, you had to have Half-Life 2 to play the original Map-Pack, so I want to fix that too.
And there was a lot of puzzle improvisation too, where the first maps were all merged together into one map along with a mass & velocity test. I am aware that it is impossible to perfectly replicate the flash version into Hammer and make it look pretty, as all the maps in the flash version are either under scaled or over scaled to fit the screen size. But I still want to make the maps so that they are all incredibly recognizable as remakes of the flash version, while delivering a unique and beautiful aesthetic design. So I am very legit right now about not breaking anything from the flash version. Like introducing black panels in areas the player interacts with, when there aren't supposed to be any. BTS- I can't break anything there. Improvising: As long as it's cosmetic and only effects how the test looks and not how it's played, that's okay too.
And I'm not trying to copy the style of P:TFV, the other reason for this mod is to experiment with design until I'm satisfied with the feel of it, and then to apply that to the other mod I'm working on. Observe the before-and-after of the other mod:
Before I worked on this P:TFV Mod: http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/57897 ... 22CCFC09C/
After working on this P:TFV Mod after a while: http://cloud-2.steampowered.com/ugc/595 ... 9357F24B2/
It's still a work-in-progress, I know. But it's getting there.
And please don't tell me how I shouldn't be diverting my attention to two mods at once, I was aware when I started doing it that it would complicate my life a lot more.
One of those Surface Division Fields that Fourth Reaper made. I'm not actually planning on using that texture when the mod is done.
The easiest instance to use is p2editor/light_strip.vmf, others will require cutting holes in the walls.
Those are the exact things I'm trying to stay way from then. There is, believe it or not, there is a story to this mod. In a way this is a prelude to my other mod while also being a prelude to the Portal: Prelude. This takes place before GLaDOS, but does not share any traits with the Portal: Prelude at all, not even sharing the traits of having scientists talk to you. I'm trying to stay away from Portal: Prelude as much as I can, but is very difficult because the Portal: Prelude even uses some assets and levels from P:TFV!
But hardly any levels are used, just a few.
Alright, wait. Right now I am under the opinion that everyone thinks that the style I have is... crap. Is that really so?
Personally I dont see much need for a PTFV to Portal 2 remake.
The flash version tests were levels which trained and tested certain feats and techniques, when the creators made the actual levels, they designed them for the medium for which they were being distributed on. in the case of the 2d, they were limited to.... 2d
But when they decided to teach these same techniques in Portal, they created new custom content to fit the medium they were distributing on.... Portal.
you shouldn't take 2d level designs and plaster them into a 3d environment, because thats not what they were designed for.
Personally I really enjoyed PTFV mappack.
A note about story. the actual flash version does have GLaDOS, not her voice, but it has text on the screen.
the mappack created by "We Create Stuff" was quite aesthetically pleasing, especially for the Portal 1 style.
While it would be nice to have a Portal 2 port of this mappack, it sounds like you're trying to take something already highly regarded and rework it as a promotional tool for your own mods.
I would tell you to try to focus on one mod at a time because otherwise it is unlikely either will get done... the odds already say that you wont even finish one of your mods.
I've been working on Portal 2: Back-Stock for about 18 months now, its maybe 70% done now. For a long time it was my only mod, I have however diverged my attention to other projects for a time. for about 4 months I worked on the BEEMOD, and luckily that was a small enough project to actually finish. I spent some time on a Half-Life 2 puzzle mod called Aevitas, which I've had to put on the shelf, because I realized I didn't have time to do that and Back-Stock. I did a small amount of work for the WibiData mod, getting the coop to work in the mod and stuff; that all took less than a week though.
As for detailing, AnotherBadPun(Chris) does a fantastic job with texture/prop/light detailing in maps, I wish I had a before picture of this chamber from Back-Stock before he hit it... but look at it and see what makes it look purdy, shadows, props, HDR!...delicious
http://www.moddb.com/mods/back-stock/im ... o#imagebox
It's not crap, it's just pretty bland. Variation in textures, some models make your map feel a lot more alive. In the portal 2 game you won't see entire rooms with just one texture for example. Mix it up, spice it up, make it more interesting for the eye!
It's not crap, it's just pretty bland. Variation in textures, some models make your map feel a lot more alive. In the portal 2 game you won't see entire rooms with just one texture for example. Mix it up, spice it up, make it more interesting for the eye!
Okay, so what I've conducted so far is:
A: Chris is friggin' awesome at level design.
B: I should probably try to replicate some of his design.
C: People by the name of "Chris" tend to be very good at aesthetic design (Colossal at rHetorical is named Chris too).
D: I should improvise with these tests, use prop_dynamics for tubes and panels, that sort of crap.
E: No one really expects me to get any of these done.
F: I wouldn't be surprised myself.
G: I should skip to the juicy stuff, all those fun chambers. Or perhaps just spice the levels I have so far up with puzzle elements.
H: I need to learn how to create nice lighting effects. Anyone know any good tutorials for that? 'Cause I've just got my light and spotlight entities.
I: I'm pretty sure everyone here also thinks that I'm less than dirt. That hurts.
The flash version tests were levels which trained and tested certain feats and techniques, when the creators made the actual levels, they designed them for the medium for which they were being distributed on. in the case of the 2d, they were limited to.... 2d
But when they decided to teach these same techniques in Portal, they created new custom content to fit the medium they were distributing on.... Portal.
you shouldn't take 2d level designs and plaster them into a 3d environment, because thats not what they were designed for.
Personally I really enjoyed PTFV mappack.
A note about story. the actual flash version does have GLaDOS, not her voice, but it has text on the screen.
the mappack created by "We Create Stuff" was quite aesthetically pleasing, especially for the Portal 1 style.
While it would be nice to have a Portal 2 port of this mappack, it sounds like you're trying to take something already highly regarded and rework it as a promotional tool for your own mods.
I would tell you to try to focus on one mod at a time because otherwise it is unlikely either will get done... the odds already say that you wont even finish one of your mods.
I've been working on Portal 2: Back-Stock for about 18 months now, its maybe 70% done now. For a long time it was my only mod, I have however diverged my attention to other projects for a time. for about 4 months I worked on the BEEMOD, and luckily that was a small enough project to actually finish. I spent some time on a Half-Life 2 puzzle mod called Aevitas, which I've had to put on the shelf, because I realized I didn't have time to do that and Back-Stock. I did a small amount of work for the WibiData mod, getting the coop to work in the mod and stuff; that all took less than a week though.
As for detailing, AnotherBadPun(Chris) does a fantastic job with texture/prop/light detailing in maps, I wish I had a before picture of this chamber from Back-Stock before he hit it... but look at it and see what makes it look purdy, shadows, props, HDR!...delicious
http://www.moddb.com/mods/back-stock/im ... o#imagebox
Just to be clear this is just an initiative for me to get better at using Hammer, it's not like I think I'm some kind of "expert" at this stuff. I don't expect this mod to really be that big of a deal.
On the subject of that delicious picture: I would like to know to know how Chris does that! What props does he use for the platforms holding up the platforms? And what are the entities he uses to capture that lighting?