Portal 2 Criticism
It's a great chamber, don't get me wrong. But there were no indication at all that you would automatically jump when you stepped on the blue gel, while running on the orange gel. I think I found it out by accident when I forgot to jump.
I do admit that showcasing this effect in a good way might have been tricky on Valves part though...
THAT is exactly the best part, mate! Sometimes Valve wants you to learn the basics and they use indicators and easy chambers... but the best is when after those basic concepts, they simply drop you in the middle of that kind of chamber knowing that forcedly you will learn the next level of the puzzle element! There were no other option than run along the orange gel line and accidentally discover that. Do you think any player did assume that part? None of us. Everyone found it accidentaly... and I loved that and that's why I clearly remember this chamber and the feeling.
That reminds me of HMW's Sendificate and how you learn the basics but then you must apply the rules to higher levels of reasoning! I think that little detail is one of the best things that puzzles have 
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Aperture Curtains? Seriously? Overall, I found the underground level w/ the elevator that goes up those tower of stairs, w/ all the intercoms and
No more Combine balls and rocket turrets. 
Cool lighting. I prefer warm Lighting. Reminds me more of portal 1.
Why is GLaDOS all glitchy in Portal 1 but not in 2? doesn't make sense, especially since she would be more glitchy in 2, because shes broken.
Companion cube is really weird now, too pale, doesn't stick out on the symbol parts (circular).
too randomly sarcastic at times, GLaDOS doesn't even talk about the tests sometimes.
Aperture Science: We do our science asbestos we can!
I would kind of agree that the single player campaign lacked challenge, and at times it felt that the scripted events were overshadowing the gameplay somewhat. I also agree with CamBen that the 'transition' levels at the start of The Fall (when you first get to Old Aperture) are a little annoying - too much walking around looking for the distant portal surface, not enough thinking. I do love the look of those parts, though, and I'm a huge Cave Johnson fan, so it kind of balances out.
The co-op campaign didn't have the strong story of single player, but in terms of pure gameplay I thought it was much better. Absolutely stellar, in fact.
My maps: Double Bill / Jam / Oval Window / Gymnasium / Gymnasium Part 2 / Minimalism (collection) / Resolution
All feedback welcome!
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Shower Curtains have been part of Aperture's backstory since the original Portal.
The Thermal Discouragement Beams (lasers) are essentially the same puzzle mechanic as the combine balls except that
- They're easier to adjust; you don't have to start all over again if you fuck up
- There's no time pressure forced on the player
- They don't instakill the player if he/she accidentally bumps into it
The balls were specifically replaced because they introduced too many gameplay issues. There really is no reason (other than nostalgia) to want the ball launchers back in the game (though many people have put them back in anyway).
Not sure what you're getting at here; both games use a mix of cool and warm lighting depending on the scene. There's certainly a lot of warm lighting in underground (old aperture).
I'd excuse this under artistic license because throughout most of Portal, GLaDOS is trying to maintain the illusion that she is just a harmless computer system with no axe to grind. When you first play the game, it just seems you're in a long-abandonded science facility with no one left in it but yourself and a computer playing pre-recorded messages. As the game progresses, the player slowly begins to realize that the computer is not only highly intelligent to the point of self-awareness, but actually quite deliberately malicious towards the player. The static-like glitches in GLaDOS' voice during the bulk of Portal helps sustain this illusion. Once the veil around GLaDOS is pulled back, the glitching pretty much stops (except when you start killing her of course).
Similarly, when GLaDOS is awoken in Portal 2, the player already knows who and what she is so there's no sense in pretending.
I totally disagree. The combine balls allow for puzzles that are impossible to reproduce with the discouragement beam or any other Portal 2 mechanic. There is no comparison in my mind. That being said, I agree with all the problems that combine balls have, and it was a good decision to remove them.
Portal 1: Portal Pro, Resurrection, Dyad, Rexaura
Portal 2: [Coop] Electrophobia, [PTI] EotM Collection, [SP] Aperture Halloween
I totally disagree. The combine balls allow for puzzles that are impossible to reproduce with the discouragement beam or any other Portal 2 mechanic. There is no comparison in my mind. That being said, I agree with all the problems that combine balls have, and it was a good decision to remove them.
Well, what I was getting at is that while the ball launchers introduce a different gameplay style, the increase in variety (which I wouldn't consider significant) does not (in my opinion) offset the numerous gameplay issues associated with the mechanic in the first place. So yeah, it lets you do things that lasers cant do, but it isn't worth the trouble as far as I'm concerned.
That being said, I'm not going to downvote a map that properly executes a combine ball puzzle; I just think that people should be focusing on other mechanics instead, and that removing them was a good thing.
I find things that are insta-death are annoying. Some people missed combine balls but I never looked back.
Valve is a game company, and their beta testing is broader. Who thinks they might know a bit better? 
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It might be more interesting if, instead, touching the player fizzled the combine ball. 
Or better yet, if it didn't clip against the player at all, or pushed the player away like a laser.
The only real complaint I have is the "test chamber" where you start to use the Conversion Gel. Before that the Conversion Gel had no other sort of explanation so I spent forever not realizing that there were two giant pillars and that the Gel could be used to "climb" up it with Portals. Valve just kind of threw the player into a full fledged Conversion Gel chamber without any sort of tutorial level. (The part before it doesn't count IMO because of the fact it placed itself and was only used once) All the other test elements got tutorial levels so that the basic concept of how the gel could be used got into the player's head.
One more final small complaint. There was a lack of Conversion Gel in the campaign at all. I understand it's difficult to use in test chambers, seeing as how they can break chambers real easily, but other than the one underground level it was really only used during transitions between chambers, no real puzzles were built with them after chapter 7. Which was disappointing because that's one of my favorite elements to use.
Other than that, the game is perfect.
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My Maps/Projects:
[spoiler]Maps:
RBC 1 RBC 2
Blue Walls
Converting Propulsion
One Week Creation
Secondary Fire
Flings Speed Patience
Ongoing Projects:
Alive & Kicking: Chamber 18 Secondary Fire[/spoiler]