Portal 2's The Perpetual Testing Initiative

    Quote from Youme

    Yeah it compiles it but his test chamber is ultra small and the bulk of the interest in his lighting is from the projected texture so it's not surprising it only takes a few seconds.Didn't it rebuild the map when it was being published? That's probably a final compile with the others being fast or 'normal'.

    That'd make sense.

    Lighting in Portal 2 is (mostly, as in almost always) a single projected texture and some self illum materials on the side. I'm told Valve doesn't have plans to release this new editor for their other games and I can seriously see why from a purely technical standpoint. Working with instances and a projected texture is one thing, making a TF2 level with this editor is another thing entirely.

    Also, no one in their right mind would ship a level with this new editor, which uses apparently a constant 64 units grid. You simply need to get lower than that if you're going to art up your portal 2 level to a good quality.

    All the same, I think it's probably the single best thing Valve has put out since creating the Mann Co Store. As a tool to build your community, holy crap that is a good move.

    Quote from Furyo

    Also, no one in their right mind would ship a level with this new editor, which uses apparently a constant 64 units grid. You simply need to get lower than that if you're going to art up your portal 2 level to a good quality.

    For me it is far more important that this tool can produce maps which run well and are bug-free. As long as the the visuals are readable and don't interfere with the puzzle experience it's fine by me.

    And yes, it kinda makes sense that they limit the tool to Portal 2. In Portal 2, a map can use two textures and follow the grid religiously without looking that silly.

    Quote from generalvivi

    This is the perfect gateway editor for people to get into design

    here's to hoping that people at autodesk/unity etc. all take heed of how awesome this will be

    Quote from Sentura

    here's to hoping that people at autodesk/unity etc. all take heed of how awesome this will be

    Sketchup is a good gateway-drug into modeling.

    How do you guys generally use that drug..? I mean, SketchUp?

    Just to quickly prototype an environment and get a better feel of its flow and how it "plays"?

    Or you simply jump to the 3D creation software of your choice where you have more freedom to create shapes?

    Bonus question: do you see PeTI stealing some part of your process?

    Quote from Furyo

    Lighting in Portal 2 is (mostly, as in almost always) a single projected texture and some self illum materials on the side. I'm told Valve doesn't have plans to release this new editor for their other games and I can seriously see why from a purely technical standpoint. Working with instances and a projected texture is one thing, making a TF2 level with this editor is another thing entirely.Also, no one in their right mind would ship a level with this new editor, which uses apparently a constant 64 units grid. You simply need to get lower than that if you're going to art up your portal 2 level to a good quality.

    All the same, I think it's probably the single best thing Valve has put out since creating the Mann Co Store. As a tool to build your community, holy crap that is a good move.

    Yeah when i was working with it the 64 grid system was kinda bunk, but at the same time it's meant for just easy to use, fun and quick editing. the editing is like making maps for Unreal Engine 2< with subtractive CSG being the mindset. It's really cool because it won't let you create error setups, for example if you have a setup where say... i don't know what its called, but whatever sploodges out that slick stuff, it has to hit a proper surface and can't be like in a doorway... just really dumbed down, think sims editing style.

    you also don't place any lights yourself, its all automated.

    The limit to the size of the map is that of the Hammer Grid and the engine behind it (number of faces, number of vis leafs etc) and co-op entities are also instances, so I don't imagine this editor should have any issues making those levels too.

    I asked someone at Valve over Steam Friends who confirmed there were no plans (he knew of) to convert this tool to any other game. You guys have to realize that instances are the only reason this thing even works. You could not create levels without this.

    Quote from neozyem

    I wonder if there is a limit on the size of your map? Also does this produce CO-OP levels?

    No co-op support to start with they've said.

    This seems like a really great move. Obviously the kind of artists on MapCore who enjoy pushing a game and engine to its limits are probably going to be less excited than your average dudes who might have some wonderful Portal puzzle ideas but lacks what it takes to turn them into nice, working levels; but it's a great step for keeping the Portal 2 community going and adding a whole other side to the experience.

    And best of all, as generalvivi says it might even get people into level design the same way Valve's earlier games and mods did — which in today's increasingly complicated world of game development is only a good thing.

    This is pretty damn cool. For a long while I have been unable to understand that Valve didn't prioritize their tools higher, as seen with Source which by far has most ineffective work flow of any engine. This new initiative definitely shows that they still care

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