Personality Sphere as a Safety Cube?!
This thread has inspired me to make one of these balls in one of my single player maps, would you mind if I stole your idea?
Well... a bit but, I don't think I should stop you from using it. Go ahead. 
"I hear voices. But I ignore them and I just carry on killing."
Just a quick question though, how much stuff other people came up with do you intend to replicate? I mean, with josepezdj's elevators you already lose a sense of creativity, of ingenuity. And unless you use this personality construct for story purpose, it will also contribute to a creativity-lacking map. (Besides, I think it's safe to say that the rest of us can now expect a lot of how-to questions.)
So, my question is, don't you ever feel like you want to create something YOU made, something YOU came up with? Not trying to offend you, I'm just surprised. I wouldn't want to reuse someone's map design, no matter how good it is. And this sphere is also an aesthetic element, most likely. But that's just my $0,02. 
Maps in Development:
[spoiler]- Penrose 04 (on hold)[/spoiler]
You could also just use an npc_personality_sphere, then SetModel it to your core. Or, the hackier way to do it, is to make a turret, use the Unused model trick to change the model, then have it be Used As Actor. It's really strange, but it gets you a sort of prop_dynamic_physics.
By the way, FourthReaper, I agree with that, but this idea in particular has been used before. I remember one community spotlight (can't remember the name) which involved escorting a personality core through a level to put it into a socket at the end, using tractorbeams and bridges to avoid fizzlers.
But the npc_personality_core doesn't weigh down buttons, I believe.
And it cant be painted. And when I tried it I couldn't pick it up any more
"I hear voices. But I ignore them and I just carry on killing."
And it cant be painted. And when I tried it I couldn't pick it up any more
Strange, that last part. But a turret used as actor (hacky but fine) should be just fine. Really tricky, all this, though.
If you don't need too much interaction I'd just go with the 'prop_dynamic parented to a prop_physics_paintable' idea. 
Maps in Development:
[spoiler]- Penrose 04 (on hold)[/spoiler]
Just a quick question though, how much stuff other people came up with do you intend to replicate? I mean, with josepezdj's elevators you already lose a sense of creativity, of ingenuity. And unless you use this personality construct for story purpose, it will also contribute to a creativity-lacking map. (Besides, I think it's safe to say that the rest of us can now expect a lot of how-to questions.)
So, my question is, don't you ever feel like you want to create something YOU made, something YOU came up with? Not trying to offend you, I'm just surprised. I wouldn't want to reuse someone's map design, no matter how good it is. And this sphere is also an aesthetic element, most likely. But that's just my $0,02.
I like the sound of it, and I meant the concept in general, not a core as a ball specifically.