Level Designer

Portal 2 Level
Portal Level Editor

Create a level that could be inserted into the middle of the game Portal 2 that challenges players knowledge of mechanics after first teaching and testing them. Ensure that it was within the 5-7 minute completion time rate.

Process Work

Research

The research phase consisted of playing through several levels in Portal 2 to get a hands on experience as to how the game teaches and tests players with various mechanics. Following this going through the wiki on Portal 2 for in depth breakdowns on every mechanic in the game and assessing which could be paired for my level.

Design

Teach, Test and Challenge was the core method I kept in mind when designing this level. The intention was that players have already played through some of the base levels and had a handle on how the game typically ran.

I designed so the golden path was easy to follow with the end in sight almost every step of the way.

Gray-Box Prototype

When constructing the gray box map I ensured that teach, test and challenge remained at the forefront of my design.

For teach I first allowed the players to see and easily interact with the mechanic. Test I produced a slightly less obvious approach to the same mechanics and for challenge I gave the player mixed mechanics that players would need to combine to solve the final puzzle.

Playtesting

Two iterations of playtesting were ran to determine if the teach, test and challenge method was apparent.

During the playtest I conducted live questioning as well as a form feedback and made adjustments and refinements based on the results.

Map Overview

Here you can see a detailed overview of the Portal 2 map from the back view. The golden path always the most obvious and player directed to ensure that players can always orient themselves towards the end goal.

Mechanics

Using mechanics such as the 'Vital Apparatus Vent' to spawn cubes for the player.
'Weighted Storage Cube Receptacle' to act as a trigger when a cube is placed upon it opening a new area or revealing another puzzle.
'Glass walls' to show the player future parts of the puzzle without allowing immediate interaction with it.
'Launchers' for getting from point A to B either player or cubes.
'Light indicators' for path leading and connecting button to tasks.
'Limited Walls' to allow portals to spawn to gain entry to hard to reach platforms.