I am new to puzzle creating and I have questions, plz help
And it seems that Valve originally intended for there to be something like that, given the unused menu scripts in DLC2.
Guys, you know that most frustrating thing about all this, is that even if you spent tens of hours building a very nice puzzle, NO ONE WANTS TO PLAY IT, NO ONE APPRECIATES IT...
after releasing 3 puzzles totally (about 14 chambers in total); and seeing all that view rate, I simply DON'T want to continue on my 4th puzzle anymore...
While I spend hours building/constructing brainy stuff, some retarded/idiotic puzzles like a roller coaster (you can build it in 30 mins) simply get thousands of views and a 5-star rating!!!
Maybe as portal2tenacious said, people are idiots...well...
I completely understand this and it is very true; that is why I made this map as a joke: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/f ... d=81265044. It actually got to the front page for about a day which was hilarious! However not all crappy maps get to the front page and some people actually appreciate good work. The 12 Angry Tests are a good example.
If your puzzle is intuitive it will get a better rank overall. The impatient portal 'nubs'/idiots can get lost if all I care.
EDIT: I do produce quality work if anyone doubts my hammer abilities. Just so you know.
If your puzzle is intuitive it will get a better rank overall. The impatient portal 'nubs'/idiots can get lost if all I care.
of course, not all front-page maps are craps, but since there is simply no one overlooking the front page, trash goes on it, and good works get buried -.-
what do you mean intuitive? can you explain??
PS: I also played the 12 Angry Test, I would love to know how did the author advertise? How do many people know about it?? pre-release pict? videos? seems to be a lot hard work
12 Angry Tests was released before the Portal 2 Workshop existed. It was popular back then.
Then it is pretty obvious, he has no competition back then...
Well, it's also a fantastic mappack with a shedload of effort gone into it. You talked earlier about spending hours on a map, but how long do you think CaretCaret must have spent on that? Not to mention the experience and talent needed to produce such a work in the first place. He has loads more subscribers than you because his maps are much better than yours, and the only dignified response you can make to that is to knuckle down and start making better maps.
I can understand the frustration of releasing a map and getting absolutely no feedback, but you have to give a reason for people to want to play your maps; work hard on your stuff, be part of a community, give others feedback on their maps, actually take the time to listen to what people say and, most importantly, use what you learn to make better maps.
Besides all of which. It isn't a numbers game. I don't really care if I get 50 or 10,000 subsrcibers, as long as someone out there plays and enjoys it. It's not like we get paid for this shit anyway. Look at this map:
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=74979153
23 subscribers total, but out of that 8 people actually gave me feedback, and the general consensus was either a) it's good or b) it's too hard, both being pleasing responses. That makes me a lot happier than having 642 subscribers for Jam and a discussion page that looks like this.
My maps: Double Bill / Jam / Oval Window / Gymnasium / Gymnasium Part 2 / Minimalism (collection) / Resolution
All feedback welcome!
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No, there were a lot of good maps, but 12 angry tests kinda set the standard for good maps. Make em clever, make em pretty, and make em pop out of nowhere.
His test were really popular because TWPers put videos and playthroughs up on youtube. Everyone thought it was so cool. Then caretcaret was one of the first to get hammer maps on the workshop, so he kinda got the freshest input. Such a good map pack.
Nonsense. There were many well made maps back then. 12 Angry Tests was featured on TWP, as portal2tenacious said. Hence the popularity.
after releasing 3 puzzles totally (about 14 chambers in total); and seeing all that view rate, I simply DON'T want to continue on my 4th puzzle anymore...
While I spend hours building/constructing brainy stuff, some retarded/idiotic puzzles like a roller coaster (you can build it in 30 mins) simply get thousands of views and a 5-star rating!!!
Maybe as portal2tenacious said, people are idiots...well...
Well, call me an idiot, but I also liked the simple map more than the complicated one. Here's why:
Your simple map isn't much of a puzzle, but having all those balls bouncing around and snatching them out of the air is fun! In the same way that it can be satisfying to try to cover a whole map with portal paint, aimlessly bounce around on faith plates, or take out turrets in amusing ways. It's a kind of fun that has nothing to do with puzzle solving, but it's still fun!
The main problem with your harder map, I think, is that it looks too complicated for most people. First of all, the collage of complex looking screenshots along with the long description text will turn off a lot of potential players, who will assume that this map is way beyond their abilities. The gameplay is actually not that bad, but the first impression ruins it. What I would do, is zoom the editor view in to frame one of the sub-sections of the map before publishing it, so you get that as the main image. Then add some in-game screenshots of interesting sections.
detailed review of harder map
The small one with the blue and red paint + funnel is pretty okay. The main 'puzzle' here is not the test itself, but realising that after you got the first cube out, you need to get the other one also, which becomes possible after you get access to the portal paint room. This is a clever idea.
The little hallway where you are launched up, deactivate the laser field and then get followed by a cube is a very enjoyable, surprising moment!
The portal paint room is tedious. I know I said earlier that it can be fun to splatter the stuff everywhere, but if you're required to do that just to get to some place high up the wall, that suddenly seems like a lot of work for a relatively small result.
The remaining two rooms have a problem that is common among beginner maps: the lack of direction. Throwing a bunch of random looking stuff in a room and leaving the player to figure out what to do, is more a game of trial and error than a high-quality puzzle. It becomes even more annoying if guessing wrong gets you dunked or shot at repeatedly. Solving these didn't give me a feeling of "Wow, that was a really clever test and I solved it!" but rather "I wonder if I'm supposed to do it this way...". All of the sub-tests have some of this, but it's especially true in those two rooms.
Also, as you note in the map desciption, there are a couple of ways players can get into an unwinnable situation. This is bad game design, and putting a warning in the description is no excuse. A Portal map shouldn't need a manual.
All in all, for a beginning map maker this is not a bad start, but there's still lots of room for improvement.
One commenter on your thread posted a link to this article with mapping tips. While I definitely don't agree with the snarky tone of that comment, that article is worth checking out!
And lastly, as others have said, don't be disheartened by a lack of attention. The process of creating something that is your own, is a lot of fun by itself. (If that is not the case for you, then you might as well stop doing it.)
The publicity is a nice bonus when it happens. And if you keep learning and keep making better and better maps, you will eventually get that publicity!
(By the way, you could easily turn the principle of that simple map into an actual puzzle! Make some looping path where the player has to make balls go around and pick them up at different places. If implemented correctly, I think it would be a winner.)
Other Portal 2 maps: Medusa Glare
Portal 1 maps: Try Anything Twice | Manic Mechanic