Forum | Thinking With Portals

#1 · May 24, 2011, 1:54 pm

It's my first map with Hammer - mostly a momentum puzzle. Please comment: I'm having fun doing this, but I want to get better so don't hold back.

File Name: dontfall.zip
File Size: 1.93 MiB
Click here to download dontfall

#2 · May 24, 2011, 3:38 pm

Was a pretty simple map. I enjoyed it, had a few "gotchas" in there which I liked a lot. For a first map you did great in my opinion.I feel like there was a lot room that went unused. You could have probably accomplished the same elements with a slightly smaller room, but maybe that's what added to the falling feeling.

Spoiler

Only part that took me a minute was what the bottom buttons did for the laser. I don't think there is a need for both buttons.

Look forward to seeing another one.

#3 · May 25, 2011, 12:34 am

Very nice, like RagingVoice only part that gave me pause was the 2 buttons and the laser puzzle, but was pretty simple once I figured it out. All in all, great job, looking forward to seeing more from you.

#4 · May 25, 2011, 4:02 am

Essentially a series of flings, the jumping puzzles themselves aren't offensive at all but the architecture is. Big boxy levels bring you down: if it was set in the high tech behind the scenes of the game, with all the giant spaces, that would be breathtaking.

the hills are alive... with the sound of music

#5 · May 25, 2011, 5:50 am

The lasers were actually the easiest part in my opinion, but i liked those things a lot, because never saw them being used like this before.
However my biggest complain is the darkness after solving the first part

#6 · May 25, 2011, 6:11 am

Thanks for the comments so far. I'm working on making my architecture more believable for my next puzzle, I didn't like the emptyness (or the boxiness) myself. To be honest, by the time I figured out how to use hammer well enough to correct it I was so focused on the next pieces that I just didn't care anymore.

After I play through a few more puzzles that got posted while I was working I'll get back to work myself!

#7 · May 26, 2011, 2:26 am

Quote from Lukavian on May 26, 2011, 2:26 am
I have mostly good things to say about this level. The puzzles were, mostly, unique and different, the "storyline" elements were well-done, and it wasn't instantly obvious what every solution was...but wasn't frustratingly simple once discovered either. Good balance.
criticisms
[spoiler]That said, there were a few things that bothered me. These are all spoilers, so if you haven't played the map yet, don't read them.

1. Lighting. A few sections of lower light are fine. Having no idea where you are or where you're supposed to be going, on the other hand, is just irritating. I was tempted more than once to cheat the lights on just to make sure I knew what I was doing. I know that the lighting was part of the atmosphere, and like I said, it wasn't a big issue in a couple places...it was just a bit overused here. Some kind of guide as to where the walls and floors are would be helpful in the narrow hallways, especially the one near the light bridge that has no apparent purpose.
2. The hallway near the light bridge that has no apparent purpose. Aside from distracting me for a while as I shot portals on the walls trying to figure out the dimensions of the room with no elements in it beyond a pit of death, it seemed to just be there to retain some continuity among previous level elements. Having a small portable-surface wall above the light bridge would work better overall, as I had some trouble getting the portal into the hallway in the first place (partly because I couldn't tell there WAS a hallway...again, lighting criticisms).
3. Your light bridge is off-center. You may want to keep a closer eye on alignments in the future...it's not so much an issue, especially if there's an in-level reason for it to be that way, but when it looks like it was spawned and built that way it just seems sloppy.
4. The very first puzzle can be partly skipped with some good reflexes and aim, if you shoot a portal on the wall, then on the floor, and hit one atop the big pillar while falling. It's a twitch/reflex solution, so it's probably fine left in. Just wasn't sure if you knew it was there. By then using that portal and re-flinging yourself (when coming out of the pillar-top portal, guide in-air movement to go through one on ground level) you can skip one of the turret platforms.
5. You could shrink the initial room down by collapsing a few elements. If you remove the stair-step-like structuring on the puzzle side of the goo pit, then put the angled platform facing the other direction, you could remove the entire side beyond the walkway. This would also ease the player's mind somewhat: when I was first looking at the fling I had to make, I had no way to know if I wouldn't just overshoot and end up in the goo, or back in the main puzzle space again. After doing that, putting a simple portable surface and platform on one wall would allow players to portal from the turret platform of your choice (based on how you designed the walls of each platform) over, drop a portal on the angled surface, return through and then use the elevation to fling up to the walkway.
I hope that made any sense at all. If not, let me know and I can throw together a rough sketch in hammer and email it to you.
6. The laser puzzle. The infamous laser puzzle. This one is only really frustrating because I didn't feel for a while that the solution I was making was the intended solution. I can't immediately come up with a good fix for this, because the only way I can think to make it clear would be to somehow indicate to the player that pressing the button more than once (something almost never done in most puzzles and maps) is helpful to the solution.
Of course, it's possible that I just made a really stupid move and that my solution was unnecessarily more complex than the actual intended...I ended up with the two platforms moving at odds, and having to press the buttons several times to get them to line up again.
At any rate, some indicator that pressing the button multiple times is necessary would help. Perhaps You could convert the manual-press buttons into superbuttons, allowing the player to remove the companion cube in order to stop or start movement of one platform. This would make it less of a "I have no idea what I'm doing, I'll try pressing the buttons again...oh, that's how" issue. And it could do so without introducing more than one new element, the button itself, since the companion cube is already in that room. This would also make further use of the companion cube, adding to puzzle continuity.

What I will say, is that in some of these rooms, the amount of space you used wasn't far from the necessary amount. Having the last room be too short, vertically, would allow some sections to be skipped by using terminal velocity to fling yourself higher than intended. The very first room could almost definitely be made les tall, by adjusting the angled platform levels and walkway levels a bit, even without switching them around like I was suggesting above.

You have a solid command of lighting and level flow, and I look forward to seeing more maps from you. I'm only being picky because it's a great way to learn...having another pair of eyes all but dismantling your map [/spoiler]

I have mostly good things to say about this level. The puzzles were, mostly, unique and different, the "storyline" elements were well-done, and it wasn't instantly obvious what every solution was...but wasn't frustratingly simple once discovered either. Good balance.
criticisms

Spoiler

That said, there were a few things that bothered me. These are all spoilers, so if you haven't played the map yet, don't read them.

1. Lighting. A few sections of lower light are fine. Having no idea where you are or where you're supposed to be going, on the other hand, is just irritating. I was tempted more than once to cheat the lights on just to make sure I knew what I was doing. I know that the lighting was part of the atmosphere, and like I said, it wasn't a big issue in a couple places...it was just a bit overused here. Some kind of guide as to where the walls and floors are would be helpful in the narrow hallways, especially the one near the light bridge that has no apparent purpose.
2. The hallway near the light bridge that has no apparent purpose. Aside from distracting me for a while as I shot portals on the walls trying to figure out the dimensions of the room with no elements in it beyond a pit of death, it seemed to just be there to retain some continuity among previous level elements. Having a small portable-surface wall above the light bridge would work better overall, as I had some trouble getting the portal into the hallway in the first place (partly because I couldn't tell there WAS a hallway...again, lighting criticisms).
3. Your light bridge is off-center. You may want to keep a closer eye on alignments in the future...it's not so much an issue, especially if there's an in-level reason for it to be that way, but when it looks like it was spawned and built that way it just seems sloppy.
4. The very first puzzle can be partly skipped with some good reflexes and aim, if you shoot a portal on the wall, then on the floor, and hit one atop the big pillar while falling. It's a twitch/reflex solution, so it's probably fine left in. Just wasn't sure if you knew it was there. By then using that portal and re-flinging yourself (when coming out of the pillar-top portal, guide in-air movement to go through one on ground level) you can skip one of the turret platforms.
5. You could shrink the initial room down by collapsing a few elements. If you remove the stair-step-like structuring on the puzzle side of the goo pit, then put the angled platform facing the other direction, you could remove the entire side beyond the walkway. This would also ease the player's mind somewhat: when I was first looking at the fling I had to make, I had no way to know if I wouldn't just overshoot and end up in the goo, or back in the main puzzle space again. After doing that, putting a simple portable surface and platform on one wall would allow players to portal from the turret platform of your choice (based on how you designed the walls of each platform) over, drop a portal on the angled surface, return through and then use the elevation to fling up to the walkway.
I hope that made any sense at all. If not, let me know and I can throw together a rough sketch in hammer and email it to you.
6. The laser puzzle. The infamous laser puzzle. This one is only really frustrating because I didn't feel for a while that the solution I was making was the intended solution. I can't immediately come up with a good fix for this, because the only way I can think to make it clear would be to somehow indicate to the player that pressing the button more than once (something almost never done in most puzzles and maps) is helpful to the solution.
Of course, it's possible that I just made a really stupid move and that my solution was unnecessarily more complex than the actual intended...I ended up with the two platforms moving at odds, and having to press the buttons several times to get them to line up again.
At any rate, some indicator that pressing the button multiple times is necessary would help. Perhaps You could convert the manual-press buttons into superbuttons, allowing the player to remove the companion cube in order to stop or start movement of one platform. This would make it less of a "I have no idea what I'm doing, I'll try pressing the buttons again...oh, that's how" issue. And it could do so without introducing more than one new element, the button itself, since the companion cube is already in that room. This would also make further use of the companion cube, adding to puzzle continuity.

What I will say, is that in some of these rooms, the amount of space you used wasn't far from the necessary amount. Having the last room be too short, vertically, would allow some sections to be skipped by using terminal velocity to fling yourself higher than intended. The very first room could almost definitely be made les tall, by adjusting the angled platform levels and walkway levels a bit, even without switching them around like I was suggesting above.

You have a solid command of lighting and level flow, and I look forward to seeing more maps from you. I'm only being picky because it's a great way to learn...having another pair of eyes all but dismantling your map

#8 · July 22, 2011, 8:26 am

I'm playing custom maps and record my first time of playing them. So the run is not perfect and may not use only intended ways, but maybe it can let you see how other people may understand the map or you could just enjoy someone playing this map for entertainment.
Anyways, here is the recording:

75qZokojukc
(Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75qZokojukc)

Also note the video description for more feedback and my signature for additional project information.

[SP] dontfall