Forum | Thinking With Portals

#11 · January 16, 2013, 6:04 pm

Quote from Sprowl on January 16, 2013, 6:04 pm
@Lpfreaky90:
Thanks for the vids. They are very helpful especially because of the reason that you're commenting them. I hope you're doing the last three maps as well .
Video 1:
I know that the window in the little room is easily overlooked, but I just can't find out how I can force the player to shoot through it. The last thing I did was adding these stripes that go up to it but that's all I can think of. Maybe I have to do something completely else and recreate that part .
Video 2:
Cheatarrr! I'll definitely fix that.

@Calculator
First Quote
[spoiler]

Calculator wrote:

Somehow, I feel like I'm always cheating to solve a puzzle.
First, I found it quite tough to fling yourself from a wall portal into the portal platform in the hole in the floor to get enough momentum for the fling to the reflection cube.

If I understand you right, then you've done it as intended. It's a normal mechanic in Portal.

Calculator wrote:

When I got the regular cube, there was no immediate indication that you were supposed to paint it. Since this was the first time that I got to use the reflection gel along with a cube, I ended up painting it by accident. If not for the helpful info message showing up about the cube's sides, I probably would not have realized what I did. I understand that this is considered a difficult map, but a short tutorial would be nice.

There is a signage right under the Geldropper. But it seems like you just didn't see it .

Calculator wrote:

I aimed the laser with the reflection cube on the painted right wall, hitting the first and second laser relays. I aimed the laser into the portalable corner beneath the cube spawner and used a portal to reach the third laser relay. Then, I fiddled with the painted cube to aim it at this relay and the laser catcher. I don't know if this was the intended solution, it felt a bit weird to me.

As long as it works, it's intended. I think it's better to use the painted cube right before the portals so you can be more accurate with the laser and hit both targets in a straight line. But it's up to you.[/spoiler]
Second quote
[spoiler]

Calculator wrote:

I got the redirection cube after a lot of fiddling with the painted cube. Basically, I put a portal on the slanted platform to catch the laser and placed a portal next to the laser catcher on the floor. Then, I used the bottom of the painted cube to redirect the laser into the catcher. Again, it felt like I cheated.

A portal near the catcher? Sounds weird, because you have to hold the cube the whole time so the laser can reach the catcher. A hint: there is a grate above the angled panel. Try to redirect the laser up there... .

Calculator wrote:

When I grabbed the redirection cube, the slanted platform jiggled and moved into a different angle. Moreover, it no longer redirects lasers although it appears painted. Is this intended or a bug?

Both is intended. Well actually, the laser should be reflected, but it seems like the engine don't want that to happen.
The gel isn't final and Valve scrapped it. This is one of the bugs that they didn't (and I think won't) fix.[/spoiler]

@Lpfreaky90:
Thanks for the vids. They are very helpful especially because of the reason that you're commenting them. I hope you're doing the last three maps as well :thumbup: .
Video 1:
I know that the window in the little room is easily overlooked, but I just can't find out how I can force the player to shoot through it. The last thing I did was adding these stripes that go up to it but that's all I can think of. Maybe I have to do something completely else and recreate that part :-? .
Video 2:
Cheatarrr! I'll definitely fix that.

@Calculator
First Quote

Spoiler

Calculator wrote:

Somehow, I feel like I'm always cheating to solve a puzzle.
First, I found it quite tough to fling yourself from a wall portal into the portal platform in the hole in the floor to get enough momentum for the fling to the reflection cube.

If I understand you right, then you've done it as intended. It's a normal mechanic in Portal.

Calculator wrote:

When I got the regular cube, there was no immediate indication that you were supposed to paint it. Since this was the first time that I got to use the reflection gel along with a cube, I ended up painting it by accident. If not for the helpful info message showing up about the cube's sides, I probably would not have realized what I did. I understand that this is considered a difficult map, but a short tutorial would be nice.

There is a signage right under the Geldropper. But it seems like you just didn't see it .

Calculator wrote:

I aimed the laser with the reflection cube on the painted right wall, hitting the first and second laser relays. I aimed the laser into the portalable corner beneath the cube spawner and used a portal to reach the third laser relay. Then, I fiddled with the painted cube to aim it at this relay and the laser catcher. I don't know if this was the intended solution, it felt a bit weird to me.

As long as it works, it's intended. I think it's better to use the painted cube right before the portals so you can be more accurate with the laser and hit both targets in a straight line. But it's up to you.

Second quote

Spoiler

Calculator wrote:

I got the redirection cube after a lot of fiddling with the painted cube. Basically, I put a portal on the slanted platform to catch the laser and placed a portal next to the laser catcher on the floor. Then, I used the bottom of the painted cube to redirect the laser into the catcher. Again, it felt like I cheated.

A portal near the catcher? Sounds weird, because you have to hold the cube the whole time so the laser can reach the catcher. A hint: there is a grate above the angled panel. Try to redirect the laser up there... .

Calculator wrote:

When I grabbed the redirection cube, the slanted platform jiggled and moved into a different angle. Moreover, it no longer redirects lasers although it appears painted. Is this intended or a bug?

Both is intended. Well actually, the laser should be reflected, but it seems like the engine don't want that to happen.
The gel isn't final and Valve scrapped it. This is one of the bugs that they didn't (and I think won't) fix.

Workshoppage

#12 · January 16, 2013, 6:51 pm

Quote from Calculator on January 16, 2013, 6:51 pm
Sprowl wrote:

If I understand you right, then you've done it as intended. It's a normal mechanic in Portal.

Fair enough. I'll blame it on the difficulty level then.

Sprowl wrote:

There is a signage right under the Geldropper. But it seems like you just didn't see it .

Yeah, I noticed that early on, but I thought it meant that it was a water dispenser and it would clean the cube. I didn't give it a second thought, it makes more sense now.

Sprowl wrote:

As long as it works, it's intended. I think it's better to use the painted cube right before the portals so you can be more accurate with the laser and hit both targets in a straight line. But it's up to you.

Close enough!

Sprowl wrote:

A portal near the catcher? Sounds weird, because you have to hold the cube the whole time so the laser can reach the catcher. A hint: there is a grate above the angled panel. Try to redirect the laser up there... .

I would hold the cube in mid air for a short amount of time, then place it down and jump on top of it to see how far the platform went so far. Rinse and repeat. Now that you mention it, that grate with the slanted platform would have been damn useful.

Sprowl wrote:

Both is intended. Well actually, the laser should be reflected, but it seems like the engine don't want that to happen.
The gel isn't final and Valve scrapped it. This is one of the bugs that they didn't (and I think won't) fix.

So if I understand correctly, I don't need the reflection on the slanted panel for this part? I'll give this another try tomorrow. [spoiler]Just a quick guess: does this part involve the grated platform above the slanted panel? I had some weird ideas of placing the painted cube there to aim the laser from the relay to laser catcher #3, but I think it would be very ugly.[/spoiler]

I realize that you have to jump through a lot of hoops to get this inherently buggy gel to behave somewhat decently, and I truly admire that you've been able to get an actual working map out of it.

Sprowl wrote:

If I understand you right, then you've done it as intended. It's a normal mechanic in Portal.

Fair enough. I'll blame it on the difficulty level then.

Sprowl wrote:

There is a signage right under the Geldropper. But it seems like you just didn't see it

.

Yeah, I noticed that early on, but I thought it meant that it was a water dispenser and it would clean the cube. I didn't give it a second thought, it makes more sense now.

Sprowl wrote:

As long as it works, it's intended. I think it's better to use the painted cube right before the portals so you can be more accurate with the laser and hit both targets in a straight line. But it's up to you.

Close enough!

Sprowl wrote:

A portal near the catcher? Sounds weird, because you have to hold the cube the whole time so the laser can reach the catcher. A hint: there is a grate above the angled panel. Try to redirect the laser up there...

.

I would hold the cube in mid air for a short amount of time, then place it down and jump on top of it to see how far the platform went so far. Rinse and repeat. Now that you mention it, that grate with the slanted platform would have been damn useful.

Sprowl wrote:

Both is intended. Well actually, the laser should be reflected, but it seems like the engine don't want that to happen.
The gel isn't final and Valve scrapped it. This is one of the bugs that they didn't (and I think won't) fix.

So if I understand correctly, I don't need the reflection on the slanted panel for this part? I'll give this another try tomorrow.

Spoiler

Just a quick guess: does this part involve the grated platform above the slanted panel? I had some weird ideas of placing the painted cube there to aim the laser from the relay to laser catcher #3, but I think it would be very ugly.

I realize that you have to jump through a lot of hoops to get this inherently buggy gel to behave somewhat decently, and I truly admire that you've been able to get an actual working map out of it.

#13 · January 16, 2013, 6:56 pm

In the 2nd map I got stuck for a while . . saved it - with reflecting gel all over the place and both cubes intact. I was NOT TRAPPED.

But when I restarted it - now every time it says "You have Trapped yourself - congratulations - the Exit Door is now Open".

What in the world ? I tried moving the cubes around - re-saving - and restarting . . . to no avail. That exit is now a stuck as a portable surface. Any way to fix this without restarting the entire level ? I guess basically I am just pointing out a bug more than needing to get you to fix this for me right away.

I finally just started over and this time I was able to get the cube to reflect the laser. Apparently I did not have enough Gel on it the first time. That was a cool chamber.

Thanks

#14 · January 16, 2013, 8:13 pm

Calculator wrote:

So if I understand correctly, I don't need the reflection on the slanted panel for this part? I'll give this another try tomorrow.

Spoiler

Just a quick guess: does this part involve the grated platform above the slanted panel? I had some weird ideas of placing the painted cube there to aim the laser from the relay to laser catcher #3, but I think it would be very ugly.

Spoiler

Actually, there is no real need to put gel on the panel, because the laser hits only unportable surfaces after that. But, lasers can trigger gelblobs to explode which is needed for the floor right before the panel.
And before you are trying to activate the third catcher through the grate, you should still take a look at the angled panel...

.

Calculator wrote:

I realize that you have to jump through a lot of hoops to get this inherently buggy gel to behave somewhat decently, and I truly admire that you've been able to get an actual working map out of it.

Ya it's somehow buggy, but the mechanics with the gel do work on their own quite well. Only the painted cube got me stuck for a while :lol: .

@PCDoc:
Wow, that sounds really weird. I don't have any idea what could have cause that. This message should only be activated when the player is in the main chamber but left a cube near the exit and he can't get back. I see what I can do but I can't promise anything :-? .

Workshoppage

#15 · January 16, 2013, 11:01 pm

Sprowl: how about a button to just respawn the cube. Fixes that issue and part of my unintended solution.

Get Portal Stories: Mel now!

#16 · January 17, 2013, 7:52 am

Hey Sprowl. Very very Nice job on the map, dude.

Just a quick thing to put in your list of updates - well that is, if you plan on making updates.

I used the cube to reflect in the 2nd map but it took several soakings. But in the 3rd map no matter how much reflector gel I soak the cube in - it will not reflect. Is this a bug ?
I would recommend, that just as with blue and orange gel - that when the gel hits the cube it coats it well. In this map the gel only coats about 30% of the cube, making you unsure if it will reflect or not.
ADDENDUM: I found that there is one side of the cube that reflects and one that does not. And on that side that reflects it only reflects on specific areas. I have not yet tested the other 4 sides.

Gel Coloring - as you play and get to the levels with reflector gel, it is dark brown. Looks like someone with diarrhea took a dump all over the place - LOL. But then when you save it - quit - and come back in with the F7 key, the brown stuff changes to light gray which is ever so much more appealing.

The main thing is that this thing rocks !! Thanks man.

#17 · January 17, 2013, 8:46 am

Lpfreaky90 wrote:

Sprowl: how about a button to just respawn the cube. Fixes that issue and part of my unintended solution.

A normal cube dropper probably wouldn't work with the gel-cube-script, but you could use a point_teleport to bring it to the dropper.

Falsi sumus crusto!

#18 · January 17, 2013, 9:02 am

Lpfreaky90 wrote:

Sprowl: how about a button to just respawn the cube. Fixes that issue and part of my unintended solution.

I like the fact that there is no cubedropper in the chamber. I'll try to avoid them as long as possible, but you're right that they would solve the problem quite easily.

FelixGriffin wrote:

A normal cube dropper probably wouldn't work with the gel-cube-script, but you could use a point_teleport to bring it to the dropper.

That's what I do in map 3

lifeson99 wrote:

Just a quick thing to put in your list of updates - well that is, if you plan on making updates.

Of course I want to update the maps, but first I want to collect the bugs

lifeson99 wrote:

I used the cube to reflect in the 2nd map but it took several soakings. But in the 3rd map no matter how much reflector gel I soak the cube in - it will not reflect. Is this a bug ?
I would recommend, that just as with blue and orange gel - that when the gel hits the cube it coats it well. In this map the gel only coats about 30% of the cube, making you unsure if it will reflect or not.

Sometimes, the cube just don't want to reflect the gel, regardlsss of the map. It's weird... . Just reload the map and try it again.

lifeson99 wrote:

Also I noticed that as you play and get to the levels with reflector gel, that it looks like a slurry from the county sewer. Kinda as if someone with diarrhea took a dump all over the place. But then when you save it - quit - and come back in the next day with the F7 key to Reload last Save, the brown stuff changes to light gray which is ever so much more appealing to look at.But that's nothing big.

The fog changes every time you enter or leave a chamber. The "sewer-look" is exactly what I was looking for for the paths between the chambers .
But the fog should stay as it is even if you're reloading the map. It seems to be that reloading the maps can break quite a lot of stuff :-?

Workshoppage

#19 · January 17, 2013, 6:24 pm

Your maps are amazing, however I am having some technical issues. Don't know if it is a bug in the program or if it is with my system...but I'm seeing a lot of blue ERROR messages in the games, that are causing the maps not to work properly. For example, in one of the first maps, there is a lazer that is suppose to bounce of an angled panel (I saw how it was suppose to look in your screen shots), but instead of the panel there is the word ERROR. As a result, there is no panel so I could not finish this map.
In the next map, there is a Blue ERROR next to the lazer receptor on the ceiling and a Blue ERROR where the laser hits the floor. My guess is that these also have some significants that is not allowing me to finish this map, even though I figured out that I needed to cover the cube in reflection gel and was able to get the reflection cube as well. Again, I will probably not be able to finish this map either.
Any suggestions on how to clear these error signs out?

#20 · January 17, 2013, 6:30 pm

It sounds like something has gone wrong with your game files. Try validating them.

Falsi sumus crusto!

[SP] Cleanup!