Quote from mironos on July 17, 2011, 10:19 pm

Overall, this was a great map that I gave a 5. The last chamber was definitely stronger and more natural than the first. I liked the first, too, but the challenge, both mentally and physically, of the last was terrific. And I loved the [spoiler]fake exit. I had a feeling something was up when I saw the button w/ only a light bridge between me and death, but that there was a whole other chamber behind the alternate route was a really big payoff![/spoiler]

I think another sign you've got a winner here is people comparing notes in thread about how the solved the final chamber. Seems like everybody took a different route...including me. Here's what I did:

[spoiler]1. Hit the push button. Let the reflecto cube fall, portaled the target wall and the right-hand wall, stepped part way through, grabbed the companion cube as it fell.
2. Engaged funnel w/ comp. cube.
3. {tried some things that didn't work}
4. Portaled the top panel and the left-side panel so funnel was coming back toward me from the ref. cube side.
5. Hit the push button. Ref. Cube dropped into the funnel, headed toward me.
6. Ran backward toward target wall.
7. Portaled left-side pillar floor when ref. cube was over it. Ref. cube now going vertical.
8. Quickly moved other portal (the one accepting the funnel) to the right-side panel.
9. Allowed ref. cube to fall through first portal to fling out of second and onto the right-side button.
10. As soon as ref. cube fell through first portal, moved first portal to target wall, and collected comp. cube as it was falling, just as in step 1.
11. Put comp. cube on floor button to active funnel again.[/spoiler]

Final note -- in the first chamber, I was able to [spoiler]fling the monster cube through the grating on the wall where the funnels come out of. I could not walk through the grate, though.[/spoiler]

Quote from ChickenMobile on July 17, 2011, 10:36 pm

I made a quick walkthrough if anyone is interested looking. Some of the bits were cut out cause they were unecessary.
AVJdiTFz-us

Quote from Rand0mNumbers on July 17, 2011, 11:05 pm

I liked this map for the mostpart.

That blocking brush was rather annoying in the first chamber. If you don't want the player up there, perhaps you could lower the ceiling for half of the room.

For the fake exit, the brush got stuck in the wall and I had to repeatedly hit the exit button to get it out. The sparks didn't stop when it popped out either. Maybe you could parent the brush to a func_movelinear or put it on a tracktrain. When the button is pressed, whatever you parented it to moves it out quick and then clears its parent, thus giving the illusion of being "thrown" out of the wall (or dumped out of the wall if you don't want it to carry the momentum).

I solved the last puzzle in a similar manner to chickenmobile. Though I didn't care for having to stand on the edge of the button to see what was going on. Perhaps its just me.

Quote from Metafrank on July 18, 2011, 5:33 am

Alright, loading up Ver 1.2 now.
I have never been able to reproduce the problem where the wall piece didn't blow out properly after pressing the button, so if anyone who had the problem could test whether it's solved now, I'd be very thankful.

EDIT: Directly on to 1.3. Tinkered around with light map settings and added a lot of no draws in places I didn't think about in my mapping noob times (Which would be 2 days ago).
Seriously, while I thought I had learned much when building this map, I learned even more after releasing it here and getting feedback by this great community. Thanks guys!

Also: Is there a way to create a brush that only blocks players and physics objects but let an excursion funnel ray through?

Quote from quatrus on July 18, 2011, 1:22 pm

Nice complex puzzle with cubes at last chamber....Well done.

Quote from aignac on July 18, 2011, 6:53 pm

Very good map!
Thanks for made it. This is my new favourite custom map.

My way:
http://www.multiupload.com/W7H67NO0PE

Quote from xdiesp on July 19, 2011, 7:36 am

I've checked the updated version: well done with the improvements! I can't still see the fizzlers at the ball maze, but I could see the emitters perfectly. Imho those stone pillars who hold the cube buttons at the last part would look better if they were like the steel mesh structures you've got in the sky.

Quote from baivulcho on July 19, 2011, 9:22 am

Simply beautiful! I just loved the map, and the turrets song made it absolutely perfect, almost like you are playing the game. Interactive maps are so much better than the ordinary ones! I am impressed by the work you've done and am looking forward to play the next map! ))

Quote from Metafrank on July 19, 2011, 1:58 pm

Alright, v1.4.
Improved fizzler visibility in the spere room and redesigned the pillars as xdiesp proposed.
There is also a .dem file of how I played it.

Unless somebody discovers a bug that might end life as we know it, this is probably the final version.

Thanks for all your help, guys.