Hands down, best Portal 2 map I've ever played. I am beyond words.

I played this map a few years ago, I played it again today. This is still the longest, most memorable map I have ever played in this game, and among of the best maps.

A very surprising map, one of the best ever played

什么图？！又臭又长？！

I think this is my all-time favorite chamber. This is really excellent work.

super cool stuff！

Amazing Portal experience! Some of the sections require a lot of test and learn but the reward is worth the effort. This is a very long map and highly recommend following instructions on how to save. You owe it to yourself to give this map a try -- and then keep coming back for more. What imagination to put this all together!! Well done.

However there are a few things I enjoyed less: it was sometimes unclear where to go, and I found myself confused at times. Also, there are a few puzzles I clearly didn't solve as intended because it was a bit all over the place. Finally, I don't quite like how you advertise it. "It's the most fun you will ever have in a Portal map" I wouldn't go that far. "This game is crazy fun that any type of gamer will love" I disagree, some people don't like this kind of fast-paced maps. "You basically can’t die" that's just false, I died several times to the laser fields. "no boring laser refracting puzzles, or lame puzzles that have you placing a cube on a button hold open a door" but I like these boring and lame puzzles :(
But still, as a whole it was really good, excellent work.

Okay so I was doubtful before playing this map/game, but now that I've finished it I must admit it was a lot of fun and I'm impressed by how long it was and by the work you put into it. I really like how you have to use and reuse the same elements even in such a big space, especially in the beginning. Some sequences were very cool, with that slow-mo effect. So yeah, I really enjoy it and once again, I admire the amount of work and time you must've spent to make it.
(I need to post another comment to say everything I want to say, sorry)

Wow, you weren't lying when you said it was big. This isn't the type of map I normally play (I tend to prefer smaller, more logical puzzles), but this was a lot of fun. The ending sequence was amazing and must have taken a long time to create. Impressive map. Thumbs up and added to favorites.

Wow! What a gem. If the rating system would let me give TWO thumbs up, I would. If I was a Martian, I'd give it FOUR THUMBS UP! This was truly a wonderful experience.

What a fantastic work. One of best solo map i never seen. Greats thanks
Une map enorme, une conception incroyable. Un grand bravo et merci.

cause crash;-;

Wonderful job

Sin palabras.
Sencillamente genial.
De principio a fin es diversion con mucha logica.
Te lo pasas genial.
Mi enhorabuena al creador.
El mejor mapa que he jugado y jugaré en mucho tiempo.

Muchisimas gracias.

THE LAST PART IS AWESOME!!

艺术一样的作品 5星推荐
Works of Art！ very cooooool!!!!

Thanks for making this. Best I have played and I have played 1000s

This happens to be the best Map I have Ever played in Portal 2. BRAVO....BRAVo....BRAvo....BRavo....Bravo....bravo. But Im sad Its Over. Please Make more.

over 1000 balls were sacrificed in the playing of this map.

REALLY FUN BUT CRAZY LONG IT TOOK ME 3 DAYS TO COMPLEAT IT IS AS LONG AS A CHAPTER IN PORTAL 2 SO SAVE LIKE CRAZY

this is the best portal 2 map (and the longest) I played.

probably the best payoff of any game I've played in recent memory. ATTN GABEN: HIRE THIS MAN.

Pt.1 - https://www.twitch.tv/nockscitney/v/60115500
Pt. 2 - https://www.twitch.tv/nockscitney/v/61359267

I'm also porting them over to my You Tube Channel :)

Epic - There is no other word to day - Deserves a lot more +'ves than it's got. Hope to see more like this in the near future =)

YOWZA

BIG, first of all.

AWSOME, secondly.The puzzles where a good difficulty with very creative texturing.

TRULY, enjoyed every minute of this, I love that it's one big map.

HOWEVER, there where afew lighing flaws in some spots, but other than that FANTASTIC.

Absolutely loved it, I know lots of other people have complimented you on it, but it really is incredible. The amount of work that you had to put into it, the tests were challenging, great ending, the orange room sequence was superb and you tied it all together through the stages. A really really great map, thank you for putting in the effort and making it, I really enjoyed it!

One of the greatest chambers there is, I can only imagine how long this took and it's stunning to think of how this looks in hammer XD. Bravo!

@SkrowFunk, thanks for responding. I wish you good luck on your future mapping adventures

@PInkieShark
Thanks buddy! Really glad you had fun!

To answer the Q, I did break the entity limit dozens of times. I first broke it near the start of work on Part 3. Every time the game crashed, I revisited the map and found things to remove. Puzzles got reworked and replaced to require the fewest possible entities. Fewer triggers, fewer indicator lights, etc. It was an absolute nightmare.

On the other hand, the game is better for it! Every entity in the map has survived dozens of purges. The puzzles were tightened and streamlined, so everything is simple and bare minimum. Every reduction in scope improved the level, and I realized the value of working within constraints. You have to really evaluate what's important and keep only the best of the best content.

Right now I can't add even 1 more entity without a possible crash with a very specific/unlikely test case that I'd rather not share. ;)

This map is probably one of the best portal 2 maps out there.
The unique & challenging puzzles, the use of the slow motion and soundscapes and especially the finale are all amazing.
As a mapper I must wonder:
How did you not break the entity limit, this is basically 4 maps in one yet the engine didn't just give up and die.
11/10

@skrowfunk
Separating your "game" into a mappack would be a great idea, to detail your maps as well and make it gorgeous.

@p0rtalmaster
About my entdata--it's not good! The game was "done" in its first draft after a year, and I spent another year doing lots of re-work to cut entities and tighten the pacing. I tried to publish in December, but I didn't know about global_pti_ents.vmf until it blocked me from publishing. The instance added 179 new entities! It was a depressing realization when I thought I was done, and I had to delete 179 entities from the game. I can’t add even 1 more.

I never got around to adding details to the game. There are a lot of gorgeous maps out there that are impressive to look at, but often aren't very fun. I also wanted one single map because switching between levels diminishes a player's immersion and limits the satisfaction of exploration.

You're right that this is an ugly game. I realized long ago it was never going to be pretty, so I had to go above and beyond with the fun-value to justify the lack of aesthetics.

Thanks for your feedback, I truly appreciate it!

@p0rtalmaster
I'm really glad you spoke up about the custom soundscapes. I've been googling about using custom soundscapes in the steam workshop, but I haven't had any luck finding the answer! It's hard to tell what the problem is, because the soundscapes work properly when playing from the stand-alone bsp file. I'll get that fixed this week.

I also didn't learn about logic_timescale until really late in development. I recall testing it out but found an odd behavior with it, but I can't exactly remember what it was. I was getting burnt out on the project so I decided to leave it with host_timescale commands.

@DeathWish808 "How long did this take you and how many playtesters did you have?"
I spent a little over two years making this, but the bulk of the work gets done during the winter. I had three different playtesters who each made two runs through the game. The rest of the testing was done by me on lonely nights whenever my wife was away on business travel.

Wow !! And Wow !! Again, this has got to be the most awesome and originnal levels ever created :) Thanks for all the extreme hard work you must have put into to this level. 10 out of 10 :)

@p0rtalmaster

Yes, also, don't entirely focus on the puzzle and puzzle elements while working in Hammer!! If you want to create something divide your work into halves, detail + puzzle, don't make it too big, else the map will have a wonderful puzzle with overall ugliness, it's not what we want.
Splendid map.

Last thing I'll say for now: you shouldn't need to enable sv_cheats just to use the host_timescale command. Besides, there's another entity, logic_timescale that you can use and work into Hammer.

From the console: " Setting invalid soundscape, The_Ball_Pit.Part4_EndGameSilence, as the active soundscape. There is probably no script entry matching this name. BUG THIS! " The solution: you need to embed a modified version of the soundscapes_manifest.txt into your map.

Well, I am relieved to see that you used soundscapes; they just need to be working :P

...and I just finished the map. I was super-amazed by the ending My only question is, how's the entdata in your map? Can your map take on a few more details such as I mentioned below? Also lighting, as some areas were confusingly dark.

In summary: very, very cool concepts and decent puzzles (although I felt railroaded through them to be honest). Detail work though is severely lacking.

So far not bad, but...

I'm a bit annoyed at the texture abuse (wall textures on the floor) and some soundscapes (try something like room03.race_02 , which is great for large areas). If this map had more detail in Hammer (e.g. button bases, glass frames and sides for all those laserfields) it would get a sure upvote from me!

But I'm sure what this map could use at some point or another is a bit of music.

wow that was a pretty amazing map. i almost quit at the orange gel test but just slowed down and got it.thanks you death wish for your blind run,without you i wouldnt have finished. great job!!

holy shit!! Awesome, amazing, stupendous, mind blowing. You must have hundreds of hours in the construction of this map. For anyone who truly loves portal, loves solving complex puzzles this is the Game for you. I say Game because this should be a stand alone game not just a map.
I've played a lot of custom maps, and this now ranks in my top 5, easy!!
Great job man!!
BTW, #1 in best ending ever!!!

I played this map on my birthday, and it turned out to be a great gift to enjoy with my favorite game! I have played the spectrum of easy "hampster cages" to real mindbenders made by Portal 2 workshop prodigies. I don't usually write reviews, but I consider this one a real Portal 2 masterpiece. It played well without the need to bend my mind (as is my usual preference in Portal 2 custom maps); it just hit me "right in the feels" as a real work of art. I really like the "semi open world" atmosphere it provides by linking nearly all local map sectors to the entire environment, and that, consistent with the maps authentically-titled theme.

I played it the recommended way by downloading the map manually to utilize the customizations. The "Rube Goldberg" devices with soundtracks included (especially at the end) were really nice surprises.

All I have left to write besides that is: BEST. MAP. "EVAR!"

Thank you so much; Please make more.

BEST

(Also forgot to mention the fantastic work with the soundtrack in the end ...)

Fantastic adventure of portal 2! Those slow motions maneuvers are really awesome for the puzzles involved; that speed gel room is just fantastic; great work!

@DeathWish808
Nope, can't deny the effort put into it, but I often think about if effort was put into the wrong places when it comes to some maps. I don't have a difinitive answer for that for this map though because I haven't played it.

Ah, the gamepad thing. I actually disagree with SkrowFunk in his description because all the precise stuff is done during host_timescale .5~ so you don't have to be ninja. Anyone who is used to a gamepad wouldn't have a problem.

@wgs - Valid points for sure and when someone told me during the stream it said 3 hours then I had some apprehension. Both maps I played was 1hr 40mins and that includes a lot of my rambling and responding to people and such. You'll probably be able to do it within 60-75~ minutes. Yeah, normally I'm only up for maybe an hour of maps at a time, but this one was just too fun for me.

And yes, there are things I didn't particularly like as well as some flaws, but my vote and review are based on the overall experience I had.

AND YES, it definitely will not be for everyone, but damn if you can't appreciate all the effort put into this. Insane


@SkrowFunk - How long did this take you and how many playtesters did you have?

Also I use a gamepad to play Portal 2 in general because WASD and mouse means I'll need to lean on my laptop, which I don't want. For the PC version of Portal 2, the gamepad is an afterthought for most people.