Quote from toncica on March 17, 2013, 12:00 pm

This map has been online for a while. I think it has been doing well. Only yesterday I posted it on TWP and now it has its first negative vote. I'm open to criticism and it would be nice if the down voting person would let me know what's wrong with it.

Quote from Lpfreaky90 on March 17, 2013, 4:22 pm

I didn't rank it yet, but here's my playthrough, I hope it's helpful:
http://youtu.be/U1LtwuRuKSU

Quote from toncica on March 17, 2013, 8:01 pm

Wow, that was unexpected. I'm sorry for the unsatisfying experience. You seemed to be close to get the idea how to get started but it fell apart pretty early when you let the timer intimidate you. And then you chose a path which doesn't allow to acquire the companion cube in time. Very unfortunate.

I've seen some of your videos and therefore I know that you don't suck at playing Portal 2 (your quote from the video) and that you're perfectly capable to solve a test like this. There is little I can do to make it different. Having the timer is almost the whole point of the test.
After some easier tests I wanted to make one which is more challenging again. The people I asked to playtest knew that my tests can be tougher than average but they also trusted me already that I'm not asking for anything crazy or ninja. The feedback was good and so far I thought the map had turned out well. But you, assuming you have not played anything else by me, you have no reason to trust me. Maybe that's one reason why this went the wrong way so quickly.

Quote from Mevious on March 17, 2013, 9:07 pm

toncica wrote:

This map has been online for a while. I think it has been doing well. Only yesterday I posted it on TWP and now it has its first negative vote. I'm open to criticism and it would be nice if the down voting person would let me know what's wrong with it.

Out of curiosity how do you know it got a down vote on the workshop?
Edit: OMG I just noticed the "item stats" tab. nevermind then

Quote from Lpfreaky90 on March 17, 2013, 9:40 pm

toncica wrote:

Wow, that was unexpected. I'm sorry for the unsatisfying experience. You seemed to be close to get the idea how to get started but it fell apart pretty early when you let the timer intimidate you. And then you chose a path which doesn't allow to acquire the companion cube in time. Very unfortunate.

I've seen some of your videos and therefore I know that you don't suck at playing Portal 2 (your quote from the video) and that you're perfectly capable to solve a test like this. There is little I can do to make it different. Having the timer is almost the whole point of the test.
After some easier tests I wanted to make one which is more challenging again. The people I asked to playtest knew that my tests can be tougher than average but they also trusted me already that I'm not asking for anything crazy or ninja. The feedback was good and so far I thought the map had turned out well. But you, assuming you have not played anything else by me, you have no reason to trust me. Maybe that's one reason why this went the wrong way so quickly.

I should specify myself; I suck at quick portal placement. Your map did convince me to grab my backup mouse and return to the store tomorrow to claim the warranty on my main mouse

I played through it again. I now know some parts of the solution. I will eventually figure out how this magic actually works

Anyhow a few things:
[spoiler]Maybe it's a good idea to make the funnel-receiving surface a flip pannel. Place a button on the other side that permanently flips it. That way you force players to make that jump, they'll remember that and use it later on.[/spoiler]

[spoiler]Is that room with ?/! some sort of easter egg or what? It's confusing me, and all that stuff in the funnels cause a bit of lag [/spoiler]

All in all it's better than I thought at first. Thanks for pointing out that the first step was wrong. Finding out that error helped me a lot to actually find things to solve it. I'll give another update once I solved it

Quote from toncica on March 17, 2013, 11:03 pm

Lpfreaky90 wrote:

I played through it again. I now know some parts of the solution. I will eventually figure out how this magic actually works

Anyhow a few things:
[spoiler]Maybe it's a good idea to make the funnel-receiving surface a flip pannel. Place a button on the other side that permanently flips it. That way you force players to make that jump, they'll remember that and use it later on.[/spoiler]

[spoiler]Is that room with ?/! some sort of easter egg or what? It's confusing me, and all that stuff in the funnels cause a bit of lag [/spoiler]

I'm glad to hear that you don't irrevocably hate the map (yet).

[spoiler]Flip panel won't work. I need the portal surfaces to be restricted with a light strip on one side. I don't know if you have been in that situation already, but the reversed funnel is meant to be an obstacle in reaching the exit. Giving the funnel a full portal surface at its end enables the player to sort of ninja his way past the funnel.[/spoiler]

[spoiler]You're not alone with that confusion. I hoped the theme of the map would come across better. Let's say "The Great Cubini" is an act in which a magic trick is performed. You have the lovely assistant (companion cube) who may mysteriously vanish but is vital in helping the main character (standard cube) do the magic. In any show there are tools and devices used to perform the act but those are not meant to be seen by the audience. You would need to go backstage to take a look at it. When going past the permanent fizzlers you enter that backstage area, you're taking a look behind the curtains so to speak. In most maps these mechanics are hidden in segregated rooms, I chose to make it accessible for fun. I considered having something gimmicky happening when the pedestal button is pressed but then I thought it would give the wrong impression that this is actually part of the puzzle. So I went with the ?/! which does absolutely nothing else. All that stuff in the funnels is needed for the map to work but you don't have to care for it or even try to understand what does what.[/spoiler]

Quote from Lpfreaky90 on March 17, 2013, 11:27 pm

toncica wrote:

I'm glad to hear that you don't irrevocably hate the map (yet).

[spoiler]Flip panel won't work.[/spoiler]
-long story in spoiler-

I'm always happy to re-play maps if I couldn't solve them and they don't require ninja actions.

I understand the flip pannel issue; I already figured that [spoiler]the end step will be hard. Maybe you can block it with a panel that is pressed against the white surface?[/spoiler]

[spoiler]For that part I would try to make it more obvious that it is an easter egg. Not something that is required for the puzzle. Remove the button; remove the white surfaces, or choose one of the shapes. If there's no way the player can give input it's less likely players get distracted.[/spoiler]

Quote from toncica on April 6, 2013, 6:12 pm

Lp's devastating video didn't let me rest. I've heard from other people as well that confusion can easily take over in the early stage. While I think the main puzzle is fine a little help might be in order. So now the map starts with a tutorial section to (hopefully) make two things clear before entering the main room.

Btw, any chance to change the title of the topic? The map has been renamed.

Quote from Lpfreaky90 on April 9, 2013, 9:36 pm

toncica wrote:

Btw, any chance to change the title of the topic? The map has been renamed.

Change the subject in your first post