Quote from El Farmerino on November 1, 2011, 8:25 am

Generally liked this map a lot - had me stumped on a couple of occasions, but never long enough to be irritating. I didn't care much for the timed running bit at the start, though - seemed a bit unnecessary, though it wasn't much of a problem.

One thing I did find quite irksome was [spoiler]after sending the cube over to the button on the top level, I sent myself over by dropping through a portal in the ceiling and quickly placing a portal in the funnel. This worked, eventually, but I had to come out of the portal upside down and found it really difficult to aim with the game trying to turn me the right way up at the same time. Not sure if I was simply doing it wrong, but it kind of annoyed me.[/spoiler]

Other than that, though, great job, and a good mix of lateral thinking and reflex work.

Quote from NuclearDuckie on November 1, 2011, 9:07 am

Not a fan of the mapping style - not much of a colour scheme; most platforms are just flat brushes; overly pigmented lighting in some areas - but the puzzle was both gratifying and interesting to figure out. My favourite two qualities in a puzzle!

Mind you, there were a lot of instances where I felt like I had exploited something with a strange type of fling; landed on the edge of some platform, or something else that generally indicates an unpolished map. While the tower structure gave a pretty general impression of how to do things, often I felt like I had tried something multiple times, and I'm not sure how many of these times were following any sort of intended method. I don't even remember using the backwards funnel switch at all. However, if you don't mind a slight sense of chaos and open-ness to a puzzle, this one is pretty worth it in the end. Speaking of which, loved the ending, even if it was hard to time right.

Only thing I would particularly like to see improved is the signage linking buttons to their effects. Oftentimes it seemed a button would have multiple effects on the room, some permanent and some temporary, so something to specify this more clearly would be appreciated. Don't the "X"s usually only go at one end of the indicators?

Quote from Djinndrache on November 1, 2011, 12:00 pm

Just awesome!

The blind run on this map took me more than 20 minutes. Video will follow the next days.

Quote from Senf on November 1, 2011, 3:33 pm

Good map.
I also didn't [spoiler]need the backward funnel or the portable surfaces that appear with pressing that button[/spoiler] and needed round about ten minutes; but it was fun to play. [spoiler]Especially the ending was fun. Flinging at its best.[/spoiler]
Well done.

Quote from KillerBeeGees on November 1, 2011, 4:54 pm

Farmerino: Was the timing too tight on the running for you, or is that just not something that appeals to you as a puzzle element? [spoiler]It's hard to get a time (in this case 5 seconds) that lets you get up to the first platform, then gives you time to get back to the button and over to the box, all without letting you get up to the funnel... a tough balance to strike. I think it is maybe a little too tight for the first two ramps.[/spoiler]

Re: spoilered irksomeness [spoiler]If you are on the foldout platform in the high corner and place the portal on the ceiling ahead of you and the wall behind, then walk through the portal backwards and looking down, you'll be looking right at yourself - and fall through properly oriented to shoot right at it. I'm pretty impressed that you got it while flipping![/spoiler]

NuclearDuckie: It doesn't really conform to any Portal aesthetic, but I kinda like the clean, colorful look. Do you have advice on improving that look, or is it just not something that appeals to you at all? Admittedly there are some really big walls of single texture, which may be better broken up by the Wheatley black tiles of different shapes, but I found the ridged effect for such big texture areas really distracting. Tried to break up the biggest one with that Aperture sign. I definitely wondered how much was too much on the colored lights, but took some of them pretty far...

If you'd care to elaborate on the platforms you accessed, I'd really love to clean that up. I tried to get around, but I probably don't have the nimblest fingers around. Also, about the backwards funnel, it certainly has intended uses, but after you said it wasn't necessary it became apparent how to get around using it... Thank you, this is some of the most important feedback, I think.

I tried pretty hard to come up with a way to make those signs clear. I think maybe the problem is having buttons have varied effects... The checks at the beginning of the indicator light string are supposed to indicate that it will be permanent once activated. Once the check by a laser or button switches on, it and the lights leading to its action should stay on through the rest of the level. I also want it to be pretty clear which buttons do what in a room with that many buttons... a challenge, certainly.

Djinndrache: Thanks for the kind words! If that's a video of the blind run I'll be really excited to see it. Especially considering the unintended routes already discussed...

Senf: Glad you liked it! [spoiler]Hopefully I can force you to use that funnel direction button soon enough...[/spoiler]

Quote from John11 on November 1, 2011, 7:16 pm

I've been doing least portal runs of custom maps. Here's a 6 portal run of this map with two major exploits you might want to fix in future versions:
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Quote from KillerBeeGees on November 1, 2011, 8:02 pm

John11: This is f'ing rad. Obviously I didn't check to see if that big sign material could be portaled... gonna fix that right up. I just found two other exploits that needed cleaning up, so this is a big help. Hope you'll be around in a few versions to break it again.

Quote from El Farmerino on November 2, 2011, 10:54 am

Re: the timed running section - a bit of both, really, though I guess if I didn't fail at it so much I wouldn't have really minded at all. As for the other thing - that's my bad. Seems so obvious now you've pointed it out, which is exactly the kind of thing you want from this game.

John11, that vid is awesome. I especially loved the way you handled the last bit - if I was KillerBeeGees I'd probably just leave that in for the ninja crowd.

Quote from John11 on November 3, 2011, 6:25 pm

Guess what? I can still do it in 6 portals!
It's not an exploit that anyone would realistically use though I don't think. So, there's probably no need to fix it unless you just want to thwart my least portal attempts
I'll have a new video up shortly.

EDIT:
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