How it works now, anyway? do it unload all textures, models, etc,… then load everything again from a clean state? if that is the case, a simple optimization would be to make the map loader only load was is truly new… and unloading what no more needs.
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I have tried to confirm the “double geometry” comment, but I can’t. I can’t manage to load a Portal 2 level in Hammer or Quark… I tried to decompile a map and load again in Hammer, but hammer die. I don’t trust checking that in-game. So, please forget I made that comment. (I have learned the lesson too, to not repeat what other people say withouth veryfing it myself first).
I do wish they could find a way to keep voice active when a new level is loading though. In Portal 2 and L4D as well, when you finish a level and a new one is loading is prime time for a little smack talk.
While Portal 2 was an amazing game, it didn’t quite satiate my desire for challenging portal puzzles! I found this site which has a collection of the best Portal (1) mods available:
The easiest way to get them is with their Desura client which is free. I tried finding the mods and installing them manually but got lost, gave up and just used their client. Much easier.
There are a couple good mods in there, but Portal Pro and Portal Prelude in particular are more about ninja skills than puzzling. That does make them harder, but it doesn’t make them good puzzle games.
Blue portals is worth a look. You only get one Portal, but it actually has some fairly wicked puzzles instead of relying on hand-eye coordination.
I have tried a lot of Portal levels. Most are okay. Even the higher quality user-made stuff that went into the the Portal: Still Alive release just weren’t as good as the official levels.
Of course, it’s been a while, so maybe the mapping scene got better?
That’s interesting because the description for Portal Pro is “Portal Pro is a set of test chambers focusing on solving puzzles locally rather than using complex fling techniques. The goal here is that the solutions are hard to come up with but easy to actually do.”
I’ve been playing that one. I’ve only done 5 or 6 levels so far and they have been great! Even though as of now I can only create one portal the levels are pretty darn challenging so far. I’m currently stumped in one of the levels and had to quit.
DLC #1 is coming this summer, and it’s free on all platforms. Single and multi-player.
Nice to see that Portal 2 is a faster seller than even the successful Left 4 Dead games. There’s hope for non-violent games yet. (Well, non-violent other than the AIs constantly threatening to kill you…)
It did, I was just playing through it the other day on the challenge levels, and getting shot up by turrets over and over (trying to get them to destroy each other…)
