They are especially important in cooperative mode, and are used extensively in the maze-like trust puzzles.Īllows the player to see as well as get through using portals. It's very important to remember the difference between giving away the solution and allowing the player to see what they are doing. These help the player understand the mechanics of the puzzle. Not enough portal surfaces makes the puzzle too obvious.Īllow the player to see another part of the puzzle while preventing immediate access. Too many portal surfaces can lead to trial and error gameplay, which is tedious and boring. The best way to frustrate a player is to leave no indication whatsoever of how to solve the puzzle. Remember that a good puzzle should give the player a moment of epiphany without making them feel stupid or frustrating them to the point of giving up. Because placement helpers are invisible, this behavior can be somewhat frustrating for players if a portal surface appears larger but actually only allows portals to be placed in a specific location. The default description of this keyvalue is very misleading: it has nothing to do with portal placement rules, but rather removes the "cooldown" period after using the helper, forcing portals to lock to it no matter what. On the other hand, "force placement" helpers should generally be avoided unless absolutely required. Having to fire portals just right isn't fun. It ensures that portals are placed exactly, so that players don't end up hitting things the designer didn't mean for them to, lasers hit their mark on the first try, and other tedium reducing effects. To that end, the info_placement_helper is a handy tool for proper portal placement. In certain situations (such as the faith plate and tilted panel combination) they can be used to ensure portal use and position during a puzzle. Extended panels help the player understand the puzzle without necessarily giving away the solution, as well as offering hints for tutorial puzzles. It's important to test levels so that vital test material isn't permanently lost, meaning that the player will have to reload in order to finish the puzzle.īesides forming the walls of test chambers, white and extended panels are used to indicate likely portal or gel placements. Unfortunately, the Pneumatic Diversity Vent was cut from Portal 2 as a test element so its appearance is again relegated to providing replacement material for the player. It also helps indicate when one puzzle ends when it is placed next to an exit door. The Emancipation Grid keeps test items from entering another puzzle or part of a puzzle. These can actually be helpful to players in certain situations where it is too difficult to return to an earlier part of the puzzle if the current solution isn't working out.Įmancipation Grid and Pneumatic Diversity Vent Conversely, in cooperative levels it does not take very long to recover from them so they may be liberally applied. In single player these are used to signify major errors, since a re-load is usually required between deaths, and should therefore be relatively easily avoided. What they are isn't as important from a mechanical point of view since they simply form the in-game explanation for how the player gets to the next level. These are the actual entry and exit points for levels. Each of these kinds of doors should be different enough in appearance to prevent confusion among players.įor example, levels in the underground portion of Portal 2 begin and end with push-bar type doors and a variety of doors in between, depending on context.ĭoors should be set up so as to prevent any attempt to wedge test items between them. Finally, doors can be used as a temporary obstacle within a puzzle. Second, to indicate that two puzzles are not related to each other. First, to signify the beginning and end of a level. Others will be one way - in order to return to a previous state the puzzle must past through intermediate states.ĭoors have three purposes. Most will be two-way, meaning the state can be easily reversed. The connections between the nodes are the mechanics. One way of breaking down the mechanics of Portal 2 is to look at each puzzle like an abstract graph, with nodes connecting each state. 1.13 Thermal Discouragement Beam and Catcher.1.4 Emancipation Grid and Pneumatic Diversity Vent.1.3 Crushers, Slime, Pits, and Shredders.
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