Quote from Idolon on August 14, 2011, 6:18 pm

Still, the carve tool is much faster/easier to make rectangular holes with, and should be kept in Hammer for that reason. Carving anything other than rectangular holes, however, is suicide.

Quote from ForbiddenDonut on August 18, 2011, 7:02 pm

Thanks Idolon for that interesting article - perhaps that is the reason the tool has been left in (although I prefer my clipping tool just because I'm much more efficient with it and enjoy its control over brushes).

Also, thanks to whoever fixed the rating for my map. It's much easier to see where my map actually stands without a surplus 150 votes from one person

Quote from Haggis on August 19, 2011, 8:59 am

Really enjoyed playing this map. It looked great and played really well. The first room had me stumped for ages, really devious puzzle(well for me anyway). Keep up the good work.

Quote from azure on August 19, 2011, 4:40 pm

A fun little Old-Apeture Map.
Puzzle wise, it was fairly easy, though I did get stuck trying to figure out that I needed to [spoiler]use the repulsion gel to bounce to the light bridge in room 2[/spoiler]. Otherwise, there is another alternate route [spoiler]in room two, which is to do a double fling when coming out of the top portal surface near the end, which causes you to barely hit the edge of the angled panel on the second time through and pops you up right to the exit. The distance and arc was so perfect I assumed it was the solution[/spoiler]. Otherwise, I managed to get [spoiler]through the third room with no troubles (including carrying the cube and throwing it through the laser grill), though I did notice an fps drop in the room with the paint tubes[/spoiler].
Aesthetically, it looks great with well executed visuals. The "New" Aperture props did stick out a bit, but without a better alternative, the issues they cause aren't worth fixing. I did like the old-style laser grills, even if the texture doesn't fit perfectly. The only thing I wasn't a fan of (and it's really more personal taste than a real issue) was the long paint tubes in the second room.
Overall, very enjoyable!

Oh, just remembered, not really an issue, but some clip brushes to the supports, etc. that hold the structures up would keep players from getting "stuck" down there and having to jump into the water of their own accord.

Quote from ForbiddenDonut on August 19, 2011, 5:35 pm

Haggis - Thank you for the comment. I'm glad you enjoyed playing it!

Azure - Thank you for this thorough review - it really does help. I'm not quite sure I understand what you mean by the exploit - was it that when you did the normal solution [spoiler](flinging out of the portable surface on top of the laser field tower to the tilted midsection and then to the caged area)[/spoiler] it took you all the way to the end? If it was, it's a very delicate issue. What the problem is that the tilted surface has a bit of a "chaos theory" physics mechanic depending on exactly where you hit it. For some players, they hit it too high and it flung them into the water just before the cage. For others, although much more rarely, it took them to the end. I'm going to lay a stronger info_placement_portal there to help prevent that exploit and hopefully give the players that are having a rougher time there a chance.

If this isn't what you're talking about, let's chat about it so I can get it fixed.

Yeah. I really wish they designed a box-button for the Old Aperture theme. If I had more time (I'm a college student), I would hop into Maya and design my own one. Maybe for a future map.

I assume you mean the paint tubes that deliver the water and blue gel. Bah. I like them - all twisty and such. I'll take a look at them and see if there's anything I can do.

And I do have a ton of clip brushes there, but I remembered that I recently redid some of the supports to stop an exploit with the blue gel and box. I'll make sure those are covered. Was there any place in particular that you wanted me to check out for you?

Thanks again for playing!

Quote from azure on August 20, 2011, 12:05 am

Hrmm...
It would seem that after 30+ attempts I am unable to replicate it, despite being able to do it twice in a row with no problems earlier today. The just of it was:
[spoiler]1. set the puzzle up as usual, box on the button, gel on the platform, portal on the surface above the laser grills 2. Infinite bounce off the gel and place a portal on the floor 3. as you go through the portal, place a portal (the one that you had on the floor) on the platform 4. while flinging, go back through the portal. you will come out slightly faster 5. hit the very top edge of the panel and get flung perfectly to the exit.[/spoiler]

Quote from ForbiddenDonut on August 20, 2011, 2:25 am

Answer is simple then: make the platform unportable. When I originally designed the puzzle, I had different plans for that platform - that's why it is portable now. An easy fix. Thank you, azure. A very interesting exploit!

Also, sorry you had to try 30 attempts at it. Like I said, that blue gel and its chaos theory physics effects! Regardless, I thank you for your help.

Quote from KennKong on September 22, 2011, 7:07 am

I loved the Cave Johnson era in the game; it's nice that you have done a map that does that style justice.

As some other posters have commented, having the blue gel button in the second room had me trying all sorts of ways to bounce the cube out of the room. I even found one that worked, but I seriously doubted it was the intended solution.

What frustrated me was that I tried the intended solution first [spoiler]speed gel through the angled panel and throw the cube[/spoiler] but I kept stopping in mid-air, making me think there was a player_clip there. After coming back to that method after many experiments with the repel gel, I finally figured out it was because I was holding the cube too low and it was banging the edge of the portal. I just needed to hold the cube above my line of sight, and it worked like a charm.

On the final long jump to the exit, I kept falling short, even if I crouched. What was strange was that I didn't fall in the water. I landed on a fallen walkway, then had to jump into the water (or load the last save, of course.) I know why I was missing the jump, I just think it would make more sense that you just fall into the water and die.

Because some of the puzzles are a little hit or miss (i.e. you attempt the intended solution, but it doesn't always work) I give it just a 4/5.

P.S. Lightbridges aren't Old Aperture style, are they? Even if they aren't, I don't particularly care, but if this were a contest requiring some aesthetic conformance to particular OEM styles, I don't think this would pass muster.

EDIT: while working my way from the oldest maps to the newest, I found this one unrated, even though I was sure, from the unforgettable title, that I had played it before. Enough time had passed that I had to relearn some of the solution, and I really enjoyed playing it. I still give it 4/5.

Quote from ForbiddenDonut on September 23, 2011, 2:40 am

KennKong,

As I have noted, the intended solution for the second room [spoiler]is to gel the middle platform and bounce over to the light bridge source while having it run through the portals to catch the box.[/spoiler] I would not intentionally design a puzzle with such a painful random element with the gel.

I'm planning to redesign that third room. Too many people can't seem to get that part done correctly, so I'm going to gut elements and try to make it more obvious.

The last part... [spoiler]you are sure you used the blue gel at the end of the orange gel ramp? You're supposed to use the orange gel and tip the end with the blue gel (found next to the orange gel). I've never had a problem making it with that combination - in fact, most of the time, I get shot right into the actual elevator.[/spoiler]
And I didn't intentionally align the walkway and the exit... it's funny how those things happen to come out.

I'll let you know when I make improvements.

Best,
-FD

P.S. Oh, and I don't care for the whole "elements don't fit in this style" debate. We found light bridges in the underground co-op, which is where most of the map's inspirations come from. There is going to be a point where portal puzzles are going to be done to death if we don't try and utilize testing elements in new environments.