Looking For Some Helpful People

[Ceraisian Alchemist]

(I posted this in another part of the forums, but I was suggested by a helpful user about the Portal discussion part, so I'm reposting the thread from its initial location. If you manage to see the other one, please ask the mods to take the other one down. Thanks.)

Hey everyone! I've been working on my 4th Portal 2 map (which I just released not even 5 minutes ago). But now I've LITERALLY run out of ideas for puzzles! I've tried everything I can possibly do; do something else, brainstorm ideas, playing other people's maps, and bounce ideas off of friends. (Unfortunately most of my immediate friends don't play Portal, so it's kind of hard for them to have an opinion.) So I'm looking for someone(s) who know enough about the game (or who even make maps themselves) to maybe bouce some ideas off of them or get some ideas from or even to critique my maps. (Some of my first maps are a little rough, but I think I've gotten better since then.) I'm also looking for people who can possibly teach me how to use Hammer World Editor as I hope to make better maps in the future.

Hope to hear from you guys soon! Thanks!

[Ceraisian Alchemist]

Bump.

[Pants]

I do suggest learning how to use the authoring tools. they make map building more complicated than the PTI maps can do, and therefore better. Why not focus on scenery as a means for idea building.

this video and others from this guy really helped me learn the basics: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VyoitE17Wc

he uses the basic source sdk, but what you will learn will be mostly applicable.

Now some specific portal things:
First off It's still a good idea to make your map in portal with the tools there to get the bulk of the easy stuff done. Then load your map into portal 2 authoring tools. To do this you will need to enter in the in game command console: puzzlemaker_export <name> The name is what ever the name of the map is. This will allow you to easily load the map in the authoring tools

Lastly when you are done with editing in the authoring tools you will need to publish your map which isn't as easy as a single click now. If you go to your portal files and find the bin folder. Down the list in the bin folder there is a application called p2map_publish. Running that will allow you to publish the .vmf file that the authoring tools generated.

[Ceraisian Alchemist]

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย DT.Pants:

I do suggest learning how to use the authoring tools. they make map building more complicated than the PTI maps can do, and therefore better. Why not focus on scenery as a means for idea building.

this video and others from this guy really helped me learn the basics: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VyoitE17Wc

he uses the basic source sdk, but what you will learn will be mostly applicable.

Now some specific portal things:
First off It's still a good idea to make your map in portal with the tools there to get the bulk of the easy stuff done. Then load your map into portal 2 authoring tools. To do this you will need to enter in the in game command console: puzzlemaker_export <name> The name is what ever the name of the map is. This will allow you to easily load the map in the authoring tools

Lastly when you are done with editing in the authoring tools you will need to publish your map which isn't as easy as a single click now. If you go to your portal files and find the bin folder. Down the list in the bin folder there is a application called p2map_publish. Running that will allow you to publish the .vmf file that the authoring tools generated.:p2cube:

Thanks. I've been looking into it. I'm still a little stuck on ideas for puzzle building.

[Trunchbull]

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย DT.Pants:

First off It's still a good idea to make your map in portal with the tools there to get the bulk of the easy stuff done. Then load your map into portal 2 authoring tools.

Holy Jesus, I didn't know you could do this. I wouldn't have spent hours learning how to close a damn leak.

Though, I wouldn't suggest going headstrong with creating a map strictly from the easier map tools and just transfering it into Hammer. Leaks are a slag to find and fix; if you don't know how to fix them, your life is going to be miserable trying to figure out how to fix them if you're coming in from Portal 2's community map builder. Try learning a bit about Hammer itself before you try to import some map with the map builder. It may seem like a lot of work, but it will benefit you greatly in the long run, and you'll open yourself to more options in map designing after you've constructed your basic layout.

[Pants]

if im not mistaken if you have a leak, it will tell you where in the compiling log as the coordinates of the gridding. usually it seems leaks are most often the result of poor noise mapping or skybox tinkering (at least in my attempts).