sp_suspended

Not sure what to think satch.

I don't like the turrets. There's no warning to let you know they're around the corner when you first enter the chamber. I'm not even sure they're necessary at all tbh.

As for the puzzle, it was okay. I'm not sure what could be done to improve it really, I just don't find the whole concept of it particularly interesting.

Also, brush with the button/wall needed to light bridge down to cube room has a missing surface, must be nodrawed.

I guess I ran out of creative ideas. It's pretty hard to come up with innovative puzzles.

The "nodraw" texture was intentional. I know it looks strange, but it draws the player's attention to the button that might be missed. The theme of the map is sort of Dali-like, so I figure a see-through cube wouldn't be out of place.

I just came up with an idea last night and early this morning (I have been trying to come up with new ideas constantly).

I'll implemented it this weekend. I have to work all day today.

Not half bad. However, the map does have its faults.

++The Turrets - I don't care what other playtesters say. They gave the map its awesomeness. It was the map's way of dragging itself out, letting the player know that once they're gone, he can really start.

++The Puzzle Factors - Having the suspension field lead up to a lazer was a good idea. It was fun getting to think with it, having the laser hit a wall.

++Thinking - The map wasn't too long nor too short to figure out. Still, it was a bit difficult, which made the map seem more puzzling.

--Direction? - The map didn't really have any direction. I couldn't find the button in the map to release the redirection cube after a thorough search, and it was hard to find what to do next.

--Block? - Part of the block was see-through. I don't see why you would need to direct people with that: IT'S A GIANT BLOCK FROM THE CEILING.

4/5, you should work on it a bit more.

Ok, Turrets, made it challenging, liked them. Again, wall textures, the ones you used are among the most hated in the game. Everyone already complained about the block with the button. The Box with the Reflectocube, Why portal 1 textures? I Liked how you had to use the cube and the Gravity Field to reach the goal. And last but not least, your elevators. I don't know if you care, but the Ring model on the bottom of the floor, if you set that model's 'Disable Shadows' to 'Yes' The floor wont be all black. But I thought it was nice and challenging. Good map. the shadows in the elevator are valves fault, but because of some other Faulty textures. 4/5. and If you want to draw attention to that button. Add an End_Sprite and color it red, and place it on the button. When you press the button the Env_Sprite can get an input to fade or kill.

I think you guys will like the updated version.

I'll try to work on it tonight. I've worked hard all day seeing patients.

Updated version done and uploaded.

Feel free to play it again, it should provide more of a challenge.

[EDIT]: According to feedback from other playtesters, the updated version seems to be extremely difficult. It certainly is possible to solve, but you must be a genius if you can solve the puzzle without cheating.

It took me days to come up with this puzzle.

First of all, you forgot an s on "Congratulation".

Now about the map itself.

- Lighting.
Why so dark? I could hardly see anything. You need to work on that. This really ruined the experience.

- Architecture.
I didn't like the floating cubes that the turrets were positioned on. They didn't seem right to me, would have been better it the cubes were actually touching the ground.
Furthermore, perhaps this was partly to the non-existent lighting, but the map itself seemed very boring and bland. It was too big.

+/- Ambient
While this did add some liveliness to the map, it lacked visual confirmation. There was sound, but what was emitting it? Even a small visual hint would do. Now it seemed like corner of the cube I was in, was somehow producing it.

The puzzle:
I felt it was very straightforward.
A few things to note though (from a players perspective):
- I expected there to be a permanent way of blocking the beam.
- A cube for blocking would have been more appropriate than a turret

Didn't feel the turrets were adding something to the puzzle itself. I'd suggest removing them completely. Avoiding them should be fun, or challenging. This was just annoying.

Although this one puzzle made the level quite straightforward, that doesn't mean it's bad. Compose it with other (new) puzzles to make the level not so straightforward. You could, for example, add more puzzles that would lead to the player's desired destination, or "unlock" other puzzles.

It's all up to your imagination.

I think a lot of players do not think that using the turret to block the laser was all that straightforward. In fact, many told me that they never thought of doing that.

Did you have to reverse the funnel? That was part of the puzzle. I know you can do it without standing on the button to reverse it, but you have to risk burning the turret prematurely.

I think using a cube to block the laser would be too obvious. Using the turret is a brand new way of solving a problem. You first deactivate the turrets, and just when you thought you're done with them, you actually get to carry out revenge by burning them and actually using them to help you obtain the cube.

Nope, didn't reverse it. Throwing the turret into the funnel gave me enough time to place a portal.
Although it's good to have a few ways to complete a puzzle, perhaps you should block the player from doing what I did. This would add more to the thinking process.

I never blocked any lasers. Once the turrets where down, I stuffed them together in the corner.

Ninja'd

Wanted to say that I totally forgot about funnel reversing once I found a way to finish it. Just went and threw one inside.

Dimbark played an earlier version of this map. Download the play the updated version. In the new version, it's impossible to solve the puzzle without using the deactivated turrets.

I added a block to hinder the players who attempt to "run and shoot" through the fizzler (emancipation grid). Did you play a version without a big block? The latest version of the map should make that virtually impossible, unless you have super-human reflexes.

You know you're playing the latest version if the map contains indicator lights. Earlier versions of the map did not have the indicator lights.

I'll change this map some more, after reviewing your feedback.

I'll make getting rid of the turrets more fun and less annoying.

I'll brighten the map so it's not dark and gloomy.

I'll add an "s" to congratulation so it's not bugging any grammar police.

. . . as soon as I get home from the emergency room. I'm working tonight.

inhale
doublepost...

God damn, Satchmo. That took me aaaages. It only took me a few minutes to try to use the turrets once I figured it out, but just noticing that one of the lasers powered the imancipation grille took me so, so long. I feel very stupid.

Recorded a playthrough while I was playing it, though, so you'll get to laugh at my idiocy

Editing now. (Yes, editing. It took that long!)

Thanks. I'll appreciate the video. It can give me feedback on how to improve the map.

I added indicator lights to the emancipation fizzler because early playtesters did not figure out that the laser powered the fizzler.

Thanks! That video was great.

[EDIT]: When I watched your video, I realize that you may be playing an earlier version of the map. You got back up to the upper level to get rid of the last turret by jumping through a portal. It wasn't what I intended. If you want to try the latest version, that should be impossible (at least for me when I playtested it).

I downloaded it about an hour before I made my original comment, so I'm fairly sure it was the latest version at the time

You are right. I stand corrected.

You just managed to figure out how to evade that turret by standing on the other turret platform and jumping off.

If you just jumped out of the portal without standing on the platform, you would have been killed.

Smart move!

[EDIT]: Based on what Archie found, I've modified the map a bit to fix that "glitch".

Another playtester playing through this map.