So, as anyone in the chat knows, I've been working on a series of Portal 2 maps. I'm really starting to like editing in Source, and it's been fun thus far. Naturally this project is quite big, but I've already made significant progress. That said, encouragement is something I'm really looking for right now, and suggestions/comments/criticism! So I quickly whipped up a WIP video of what I've been doing.

Sorry, don't know how to play this video :(
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpufIThOj20

This video goes through the very first couple of chambers that I've made (these will be at the beginning). I'm keeping the storyline mostly a secret, but obviously it still stars Chell. This story takes place immediately after the events of Portal 2.

As noted in the video itself, this is a WIP and as such I have not started the detail and polish phase for these chambers. These chambers were simply the first to have completed working puzzle elements. I hope to incorporate new ways of using the existing puzzle elements for most chambers.

Thanks for any comments!

I'd rather encourage you to make source maps for games like TF2 or L4D2 but thats just being selfish I guess. It looks like a good start. I like the 'Start' room mostly because it is more detailed texture-wise.

If you try to imitate portal 2 (as with the voice overs), you will fail.

/points at thread title

CM, that looks pretty good! I've never played the Portal games, so I can't offer much else.

I kinda agree with the above posts. It's a good start and really would like to see more. Not complete enough for any criticism besides what you don't already know.

Thats the beauty of doing a Portal mod, all his voice acting can be text-to-speech engines.

SHOWCASE FORUM, BELIEVE IN IT.

I have absolutely no plans to imitate any existing voice characters, however as demonstrated voice will be featured in places. I am terrible with accents, and I definitely couldn't pull off GLaDOS

I meant, the style. You can't make it feel like it's really a sequel, you don't have the budget. Why engage in an enterprise with guaranteed failure?

I can tell a story without having to meet the same production values of the original. And that's all I am trying to accomplish here. That, and some fun puzzles to solve.

Besides, much of the development work is already done:

1. I have the usage of all their textures and models. That means I don't need to make my own.
2. Much of the complex elements (elevator shafts, emancipation fields, etc) Valve supplies as instances, meaning I don't need to recreate them.
3. By following standard style guides, pulling off something that looks and feels like a Portal 2 map isn't horribly time consuming. Valve even supplies a test map of sorts, that demonstrates most of the major puzzle elements like a proper map. This is great, because if there is something you like, you can copy it right out of that map (lights and environment sounds are particularly useful in this regard).
4. Much of what made Portal 2 special was the feel of it being "alive". The whole vast structure. This isn't hard to pull off, since it is quickly possible to reuse the existing animations. And there are SO MANY animations that reusing them isn't even noticeable. Seriously, one of the panel arms has at least 200 animations.
5. Many test chambers in Portal 2 actually aren't terribly complicated to begin with. Most of the work went into scripting complex events and narration (like the factory levels). Since I won't be doing any of that, it's a much reduced workload.

Finally, I am all about efficiency. I am not going to try and make this perfect, I am going to make it enjoyable. That's all my goal is. If I get bored with it, the brilliance is, I can just cut it short and release fewer chambers. There's no real downside. And it's a learning experience, as I teach myself Hammer/Source editing as I go.

Any other remarks?

Fun is all that matters. I like to map co-op maps for Unreal 1 still knowing nobody else will ever play them, but hey, gotta let the artist in you come out some way

You must lead an incredibly depressing life with that mindset.

He's a mailman.

Yes, that totally explains it. Years of running from dogs and futilely fantasizing that a lonely housewife will invite him in for coffee have embittered him.