Portal 2 Puzzle Creation
Entering the realm of Portal 2
This was a very exciting project for me! I was given the task to create 4 levels within the Portal 2 Editor and explore a theme throughout them. And it was such a fun time!
I started with thinking what features of Portal 2 I wanted to use, and how to guide the player where I wanted them to go. I decided to keep the words “show them the goal” in mind while creating and iterating on the puzzles, and growing that idea through each progressing level.
Where to begin?
My first step in this project was to choose a theme, and as a Portal 2 fan myself, I felt spoiled (if not a big overwhelmed) for choice on what to use.
With that, I decided to just dive right in and see what tools and ideas came to be naturally when learning how to use the level creator.
This is what I started with:
A square room, a view of the exit right away, and laser. From there, I worked backwards to solve how to get towards the beginning, adding in the light bridge and a bit more danger with the water.
With the introduction of the basic mechanics I wanted to use completed, I started working on my second level, which was to use the idea of evolution and expansion to increase the steps and thought needed to complete the room.
I wanted to use many of the elements in the first room to keep a consistent theme and feeling going. My favorite things to carry over tended to be the glass walls, and then the lasers for solving the puzzle.
I also used this level to introduce the fizzler walls, which added a challenge and required the player to backtrack a little, instead of having a fully linear experience. This helps keep the level and puzzles a bit more engaging, based on the playtesting feedback I later received!
Video from a playtesting participant!
And finally, the last level.
Video from a playtesting participant
Moving into my third level, I wanted to continue the theme of backtracking, along with the use of the fizzlers. I also did a twist on the glass walls, by creating a floor to keep in line with my design goal of showing the player their final goal.
I also used this level to introduce things I wanted to include in my plans for the final level, including the laser wall, which will destroy the player and restart the level if the player comes in contact with it. I also included the use of multiple cubes requires to solve the puzzle, since this will become important in the last level of the series.
This was comprised of four different puzzles that combine together into one level.
For the first part of the level, I used the glass floor again to show the player where to start. This part is relatively simple, and has complexity similar to the first and second levels.
Once this is completed, it deactivates the laser wall and moves on to the second portion, where the player has to retrieve the reflection cube they just used and redirect a laser to deactivate another laser wall.
From there, the player continues across a glass bridge and moves into an area that continues to use reflection and laser redirection, but reintroduces fizzler walls and using portals to backtrack and retrieve cubes to complete puzzles step by step, as the first part of the room introduced.
Water is also introduced once again, with an eventual light bridge, bringing back all the different elements the player has been and used throughout the different levels that have gotten them to this point.
In Retrospect…
Video from a playtesting participant!
This project was a good step into puzzle design and practicing different level design concepts, such as evolutions, expansions, and “show not tell”.
I think that looking back over the project, I would spend more time testing and polishing the puzzles to create a better feeling with the difficulty curve, and break out of that cube-shaped mentality that I see in my earlier puzzles, and taking these notes with me into my future level creations.
