Quote from xdiesp on June 6, 2011, 8:18 am

Impressive skill display, such abundance of moving parts makes it believable to really be trapped into a machine. Puzzles make intelligent use of space (and none too hard); on paper it may look short, but any experimenting easily pushes it to medium.

Quite dark in places.

Quote from VitaminZed on June 6, 2011, 1:25 pm

Cool, thanks for the solid feedback!

I'll look into adding a bit more lighting for the next revision! The entrance hallway was left a bit dark intentionally to give it a bit of a initial claustrophobic/apprehensive feel but it sounds like that may not have quite worked out so I'll brighten things up a bit there.

Were there any other areas you noted that were disproportionately dim?

This is actually my first released map* so hearing "impressive skill display" is quite a pleasant confidence boost.

* I used to do a bit of mapping for TFC back in the day, but considering that was 12 years ago I'm not sure it still counts.

Quote from xdiesp on June 6, 2011, 8:08 pm

The parts around the starting area were the darkest, but even then others in the shade seemed darker than usual. Others might find it annoying, but to me it's no problem.

Quote from VitaminZed on June 6, 2011, 11:43 pm

Update: v1.1 Released

Quote from Djinndrache on June 7, 2011, 5:53 am

I started playing custom maps and record me playing them. It's neither a perfect run nor do I have to have solved the map in the way it's meant to solve it. I play the maps "blind", that means I've never been in them before and play them for the very first time. I also give a little feedback for the map in the video description.

Maybe you are interested in the fact, that I played your map: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FIKt2tk0zA

Quote from VitaminZed on June 7, 2011, 1:07 pm

Neat! Thanks, that's really helpful.

Perhaps I just have my brightness up higher than the norm, I definitely agree that it looks really dark on your machine. v1.1 has some additional lighting in the Entrance Hallway but I've noted quite a few additional areas from your video that look like they could use some love. I'll tweak it a bit more for the next release (Post-contest of course).

I'll also look into modifying the indicator lights a bit since you noted you were a bit confused by them.

Gameplay Notes:

• [spoiler]I found it pretty interesting that you skipped the 'cube shooter' switch at the beginning of the chamber. I was expecting most players to play with that a bit first before moving onto solving the 'pit' area.

  Probably has to do with the fact that the Gel dispenser is at the end of the hallway as you enter so it caught your eye first. I'll try to tweak that a bit to highlight the switch, may be another lighting issue.[/spoiler]

• [spoiler]Sorry for your trouble with the 'below pit' death and subsequent loads. There are actually a few auto-save checkpoints in the map that might have helped out with that, I wonder if I can make those more obvious when they save.[/spoiler]
• [spoiler]I liked the way you got the cube out of the pit initially. Clever! I'll look into adding some portal bumpers to make that easier since you shot a few times at one point without the portal opening immediately.[/spoiler]
• [spoiler]I'm glad you figured out the 'pit' solution without too much difficulty! That was one of the areas I was a bit concerned about people having some unnecessary trouble with. There are a few portal orientation entities in there to help out and it looks like they worked well.[/spoiler]

Thanks again, really good stuff!

Quote from mazk1985 on June 10, 2011, 12:47 am

Very nice map. great use of moving platforms and nicely twisted puzzles. I found it a bit taxing at first with exactly what to do but once it clicked it was a good challenge until the last bit where i [spoiler]completely forgot about the gel[/spoiler]

[spoiler]Once i coated the pit panels i lined up a portal and jumped into the watered floor. By some fluke i cleared the entire level.[/spoiler] It struck me I could do this from the start and put together a video of my badly done speed run.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6l8uJLN7Yw

Quote from VitaminZed on June 11, 2011, 3:32 pm

Very nicely done!

You definitely figured out one of the [spoiler]two 'ninja' methods of completing the level! I thought it was pretty interesting how you gained momentum to get up to the top apex for the jump, but it was executed well.[/spoiler]

[spoiler]There's one other way (that I know of at least) to subvert the 'full' solution puzzle, but this method is definitely the fastest.[/spoiler]

Thanks for the comments, it's always really interesting to watch how other people take this on.

Quote from Mr. Happy on June 11, 2011, 4:42 pm

I had alot of fun with this one! It was quite tricky and very slick. [spoiler]There are a few bugs, for example, it is possible to get stuck by bouncing accross to the end where the panels come up before the large panels in the middle of the water come up and then you can't go anywhere.[/spoiler]

I really enjoyed flying through the air. [spoiler]One thing that was annoying was if you were at the bottom of the pit to get out you portal to a ceiling and sometimes easily fall into the water, it can get frustrating because you just want OUT! but you have to be careful.[/spoiler]

[spoiler]Why does the clear gel turn off?[/spoiler] It was pretty! And Glados had some good lines. I liked the industrial light in the broken corner.