Happy 5th Anniversary (insert confetti)

@Mikeastro Oh man, thanks for encouragment, that means a lot. Your maps are awesome.

@SpL15 You can most definitely be very proud of yourself for solving this map almost completely without help! Even with the small hints you allowed yourself, that is an incredible achievement. I deeply respect your tenacity - amazing work!

Omg, I finally did it. I had to check the walkthrough again unfortunately since I knew what I had to do but couldn't figure out how to and I was getting pretty annoyed. Placing both cubes at the other side of the fizzlers, deleting the one that's on the funnel button, and then use said funnel to place the other cube on the same button isn't something I could have figured out on my own. I knew that out of sight wall was for something, but my mind keep forgetting about it. I guess I will take this as a lesson that every white wall in this kind of puzzle aren't placed arbitrarily . Fortunately the rest of the puzzle I figured it out on my own, so I'm still a little bit proud of myself. Definitely one of the hardest chambers I played.

@SpL15 Very admirable! I wish you the best of luck on your journey - there is no shame in taking tiny peeks, or asking for a small hint :] Hope you will enjoy the remainder of your time here

Man, this map has been eating me alive for a year or two. I had to check a little of the walktrough to be sure I'm actually using the intended solution. Good to know that I'm in the right track. Not giving up yet!

@mentallentil Incredible achievement! Seriously impressive work developing your puzzle solving abilities in such a short period of time. Solving this map really shows your mastery of the game, amazingly done! I wish you the best of luck and of course lots of fun with the continuation of your Portal journey

After writing that first comment, I decided to run through my entire solution to make sure I hadn't cheated anywhere. It took me a solid half hour to execute. Then I tried to sleep but I was itching to check my solution, so I watched the end of the video - I had a perfectly intended solution! I'm saving the rest of the video for tomorrow, it'll be a very enjoyable watch seeing how you guys came up with this devilishly hard map. I've been so tempted to peek at it for months, just to see a good example of the design process. Now I finally can.
When I got into community maps in april or something (coincidentally from a mikeastro video), I managed to rope one of my friends into it too. Sometime before summer, I had solved my first 5/10. He promptly sent me Isotope, and told me to try it. It's been on my mind ever since, but I only just committed before Christmas. I was then busy for a bit, but once I had time again it took me the better part of a week, at least 10 hours overall. Faved!

solved im way too tired to write a proper comment but i will later

Oh my god, this map is massive. It's not what I personally expect from Portal puzzle...

This map just makes you wonder what a 10/10 difficulty map would be like. If you can make one, go right ahead.

What to saw about Isotope that hasn't been already said...

It was a very fun, frustrating, exciting and mindbending journey. I'm happy that this map exists, and I'm happy that I was able to solve it. Given how long it took me, its fair to say that this is about my mental limit.

Several times I wanted to give up, ask for hints, skim through the solution video, but I knew that I couldn't forgive myself had I done that. I came to terms with never solving this map, and just tackling it every now and then to see if I could learn something about the layout.

To find myself suddenly making so many breakthroughs in a row in the last days was beyond expectations. I am glad its over, and I'm also a bit sad that its over.

i have finally recovered from being stuck in Isotope for an ungodly amount of time..
the amount of intelligence and mental discipline it took my high-fried brain to solve this puzzle was insane, but nothing compared to the amount it must have took to create the puzzle !
to my defense, it took me so long because i refused to acknowledge that some moves were in the realm of what was possible in the game.
Now, to fall asleep, i just picture myself back into the room and go step by step solving the puzzle. the mental energy required quickly shuts all brain function down and gets me to sleep. so i guess i got some kind of super power now, theres that..
can you do any harder ?

@Hovering Harry Impressive solution! If you keep at it you'll get it eventually

One day, I will make a test chamber so hard that you will find it medium difficulty. Still haven't solved it properly, this is what I did: https://youtu.be/CY_J1locgxc

@Towelie Clegana Yooooooooo HUGE achievement!!! Fantastic work :D :D :D Such an inspiring performance, huge respect
@Mr Fab Same goes to you my friend

FINALLY GOT YA BEACH ! YOU TOOK YEARS OF MY LIFE STUCK IN THIS ROOM BUT I GOT YA ! THESE MOVES WERE CRAZY SHADDY BUT I GOT YA !

my life's greatest accomplishment right there. even if it took years.

After 2 years of having this map in the corner of my mind, I can finally say that I beat Isotope and that I'm free

Excellent puzzle, great music, good design and super hard logic, a lengendary map

You two did an amazing job Favorited !

Other than dying or using noclip, of course.

nice map, I haven't managed to solve it yet. Nonetheless I have to point sth out. When I enter 1 grating and then place a portal into the one with a shorter room to be in. There's no way to come back (other than dying) apparently. Or maybe i haven't seen it.

Forgot to comment yesterday. Loved it, and in return, it didn't break me... uploading a solution to my youtube right now, will add and edit in a detailed description of my thoughts to both by the end of today.

God damn, this is a bitch of a map. About 3 hours played so far and lots of help from the YouTube video and I've only now gotten the funnel reversed. My brain cant handle this tonight...

@Rubix Thanks for playing! Great work solving half of this monster. Glad you liked it :D

Fenomanal! 10/10 One of the best chambers ever! I had alot of fun solving this even tho 50% of the solve was from your tutorial on youtube but still it was a very good and fun expirience. How did you come up with this??? It took me 1:30 hours to solve it.

@NafriUkgnet As it turns out, it's even easier to complete with noclip! Glad you liked the music

This is my video of me completing the chamber. I wonder if this is actually intended btw but hope this be answer sooner. Here it is : https://youtu.be/4_a03iyuCRE

Good song. I like it. Kinda sounds like "Around the World" by Daft Punk for some reason.

too easy all you need to do is funnel fly

this isn't a puzzle, this is a labyrinth!

the puzzle is fine and i like it alot (even tho im not done yet) i was just stating that it does require some ability to perform actions quickly. i would have increased the length of the platform (you have to land on) a little bit, but its no big deal. i figured that its best to strafe, over turning my camera and aiming there. i also agree that more signage would defeat the purpose. even you mentioning "- Pay close attention to the signage indicating which of the three cubes auto-respawns." makes me shake my head in disapproval. i was blocked a long while on the part where i had to jump into a portal to exit back up into the beam to get the cube, because i tried it once and it failed, leading me into thinking that wasnt possible. (sad, i know) Now, i can get 2 cubes by the exit or 3 cubes on the beam button and im starting to "foresee" how this puzzle my end ima get it one day

@skosh Thanks for playing! Even with a cube toss here and there, it is still quite difficult to complete the map, so you can definitely still be proud of that. I'm happy to hear that you enjoyed the process of solving it
@可砸 What an achievement! Excellent work solving this true monster of a puzzle! Your solution was really perfect; indeed, your video had a very nice ending xD It is very admirable that you kept at it for so long - for more than a year(!) - and it paid off in the end! I really appreciate your trust in the map to spend so much time on it - it really means a lot to the both of us. So... thanks a lot for playing

The CC's second sacrifice was unexpected .I thought that everything has been tried, at least in the areas with the most activity,but I ignored the exit area,it wasn't part of my plan.Unfortunately it will never happen if you don't consider them in advance.To be honest,I didn't realize that respawn consciously,all my focus was on the interchanges...I think that was the hardest part.Although I had a mindset that was holding the cube past the lightbridge, I realized how wrong it was at last.It was probably luck that I found the right way...

This is a huge project, I still can't imagine your creative process, thank you for your effort,although you can record it in a video, but there is no exact word to describe your effort..fine..epic map!
nice ending

Isotope had a great story and it was absolutely fantastic,you guys genius creation deserved the highest admiration!

I don't even remember where I was trapped a year ago, but I also tried intermittently, and the results were not very good until I brought out the laser cube .At the same time, I realized that the feasibility of manipulating the funnel direction through the *(funnel button) ,then came the first video...

That was the beginning of all nightmares...I spent another week staying where I was,and without any substantial progress...well you guys did push me out a bit.I also considered the sequence of the cubes very carefully,but what moved me was just exchanged them again and again...

Thank you for this wonderful puzzle. It has given me quite a few hours (more than I care to admit) of head-scratching fun. I admit that I cheated by tossing the red cube out thru the top of the enclosure . Also, my finale was a lot simpler I just put the reflector cube on top of the blue cube on the elevator button . Although I was disappointed when your video revealed my lack of ingenuity, I still had a great time

Hey, would you like to get this puzzle hammerized? If you are intersted, let me know and I'll dm you.

@Daddy Sparky420
You're right, the lack of clear intermediate goals is actually one of the most difficult aspects of this map. However adding signs to indicate how to solve it would defeat the point of the puzzle. It's rated 9/10 difficulty for a reason. My advice would be to focus on one goal at a time. Getting all 3 cubes is a good place to start. In case you're still stuck (because even getting all cubes isn't easy by any feast) you could watch the beginning of the solution video to get sent on the right track. Or you can even ask for hints here, in the comments!

@Towelie Clegane
Fair enough, there are several steps in this map that require timing. We made it so that most players should have little to no problem executing those moves, but I guess some people can still have some issues. Sorry about that, but we can't really do much. Any game involves a bit of movement skill to some extent, and I believe this map is largely on the easy side regarding execution difficulty for most players.

The issue in this map is i can't even tell what the goal is where to go ect what's supposed to be my next move to progress i can't tell it's too confusing you should add more signs and make the map more clear it looks like a great map when you understand what's the goal that's the biggest downside in this map

Just getting the laser cube is a move that requires some rush.
Now using the elevator is clearly a thing where you have to rush.
The upper platform with a button on the ceiling ? i can miss the ledge 12 times in a row

@Towelie Clegane I don't think I am lying. There is no tight timing in the following sense: you should never feel very rushed to execute any of the moves and you should be able to execute the whole intended solution on your first try with relative ease. If any of the moves you did so far do not satisfy both of these rules, you have probably made things harder for yourself than they needed to be. If you feel confident your current position means some progress was made, you could tentatively take a peek at the beginning of the solution video to see if you did things 'right' so far if you would really want to know, but you would need to exercise caution while doing so of course.

it is. the hardest map ever. Mikes lying tho, it does require alot of tight timing. im progressing currently. got the pink cube to the blue funnel button. if thats progress anyway...

This is most perplexing map EVER! I tried to be open and to think literally of all permutations and each time I arrive at impasse?! Also right chamber is paradoxical, you would have to get there first to get there. I can't absolutely figure out how to get laser cube to the mid!!! I don't know what I Am not seeing LOL! Because it is relatively small map. There are not that many things that is the strange thing. I tried to go step by step and think what I can do here, but I didn't find anything new since like first 1 hour playing LOOOL so weird! Also end of the map is INSANE! How to solve end without using one cube falling from another on the button seems impossible!!! LOL you wasn't kidding when you said this can take months to solve!!! I have feeling I could spend my whole life trying to solve it and I wouldn't see anything new since 1 hour :D This must be hardest map EVER LOL! I don't know literally how to solve it, unless I would poses magic!

@Aneonen Thank you so much! Excellent work solving this monster. I'm very happy to hear that you enjoyed solving the puzzle, and the video as well! The slightly alternate path that is described in your video is alright to me; the general flow of the logic is not really impeded and the logic is quite similar to the intended route. I understand your concerns with respect with that one move - it's crazy how too much knowledge of the game will cause you to disregard logically viable setups :P Once again, fantastic work solving this one. Congrats

(2/2)

The only move which felt a bit off was the one which required the inclusion of redirection-cube 'jolting'; I dismissed it for a little while since I had assumed that the well-documented bizarre behavior of that cube would impede me. I normalized it pretty quickly though, since it is an intuitive interaction, and I am very much in favor of using a little muscle to force the game to behave.

I will add a second thanks for the attached video - receiving some insight on large-puzzle creation was quite nice.

Finally, I took a slightly different path than the one shown in the description's video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjTAHkgRzjs
I didn't see it after skimming through a couple other player's recordings, but it still might be redundant or trivially avoidable.

(1/2)

As has been said many times already, excellent puzzle! I usually like to highlight one or two aspects of a puzzle/solution that were particularly appealing, but this is one of the rare cases where there are too many to only provide a few. I will note that I really enjoyed how subtle many of the micro-goals were, (i.e. observably fixed points in the solution), and thus how much mental work was necessary to determine my next plan of action after reaching each one. Working out how I could reach the end condition once sufficiently close to it (in particular, realizing that I did not need to burden myself with perfect portal preservation ) was thrilling. The fact that there was very little one-use structure was also impressive.

@Towelie Clegane Good questions:
- Turns it blue; there is signage next to the button that indicates this.
- Of course all the elements are used in the solutions; no red herrings.
- I'm not entirely sure which 'water' you are referring to, as there are multiple goo pits, but in any case: yes, you can and must visit all areas of the map to solve it, and you cannot get stuck.
- The solution is easy to execute. At a few points it requires very rudimentary timing, but without too much effort you should be able to do everything first try.
- The solution does not require anything obscure. All interactions to be considered to solve the map are (from the top of my head) standard. All completely logical.
Good luck :]

The beam is turned off or turns blue by the button ?
Are there elements that are not used by the solution ?
Is there a way to come back from the other side of the water, or is this side only interactable with, without having to physically go there on the ground. (like maybe an elevator or or portal i cant yet see) ?
Is the solution easy to execute ?
Does the solution requires knowledge other than what you learn from playing the single player game ?

I don't get it, I tried to think literally about all permutations and imagine all possible things you could do, still nothing... You said it is logical and clean. But doesn't it come to some know how trick? I saw one map, which used portal on wall through which you peek to create 2nd portal on other wall and then when you go backwards you come through that 2nd portal, which would be otherwise unaccessible around corner! I don't see anything new since like 1 hour, that is the crazy thing! There aren't even that many of things!

reallyyyyy??? All 3 moves are uninteded? aaaaaaaa I can't see anything new since like 1 hour LOOOOL This must be really brilliant map, a masterpiece! It is so weird. I see all other moves and that 1 which solves it I always don't see! I don't know what I could be missing. I tried to think about all permutations already! I figured it out, but I guess that is unintended solution also! I used 1st move to get blue cube to end of the map and to disable blue wall. Then I went from there back to the room with hole in the ground. Then re-spawned laser cube and took it with help of blue bridges to the end. Now I had blue and laser cube on top each other, I put laser cube on top of blue cube. Then I used button to destroy it. Laser cube jumped on button and I got onto elevator in time xDD I guess I will keep looking, don't want to spoil this map! I can't even begin to imagine what it can be LOL I can't even imagine how else I would solve the end, without using this glitch!

@Lorne Malvo
If I understood your comments correctly, then yes all the moves you described are unintended. The cube going through the fence is a known bug called the grating glitch. The intended solution contains nothing of the sort, only moves with very little or no execution difficulty. However, the correct logical sequence is indeed incredibly complex, we really got carried away on this one and created a monstrosity of a puzzle!
You are right that you need the blue funnel to activate the elevator, which means you have to access that area using another method first. Using noclip and F6/F7 to quicksave/quickload is indeed recommended, the solution is already long enough! Anyway I'm happy you are checking out and enjoying this map. It's definitely among the hardest ones on the entire workshop. Don't hesitate to ask for hints if need be, or alternatively you can watch part of the solution video linked in the description :)