how the fuck did you even make a map this hard

A friend and I first played this map when we started our bachelors in compsci and math, 5 years ago. We were playing different Portal 2 maps, which we could solve in an afternoon. Then we came across this map. It proved to be more challenging than the others. We spent some days working it out without success, and we jokingly decided that we wouldn't allow ourselves to finish our degree until we had cleared the level. During these past 5 years we tried on and off to solve it, but always got stuck in the same places. At some point we modeled the level in Google Jamboard, and then had to migrate these notes to Freeform after Google killed it.
At the time of writing, we are both a week away from finishing our degrees. And we have finally managed to clear the level. We're both elated with the experience. Thank you very much for making this level DrFauli, we have great memories working it out. We'll be trying your other puzzles, but this time without our degrees on the line xD

My math major puzzle partner considered changing majors from how defeated we felt after our third week of being stuck.
About 3 months and countless hours spent actually trying different progressions and we finally got it. If i had to guess I'd say about 30 hours.
(Jig)Saw would be proud. I'm gonna make people who don't even really care about Portal 2 play it just for this level.
Keep up the good work. And/or tell us any other games you've worked your magic on. *Gasp* Is it possible this is your magnum opus!?

Hey I found a minor bug in this map. Doesn't affect the puzzle too much but thought you might want to know.

Took us about 3 hours divided by 2 days to complete. I'm sure that's the hardest map i've ever played. Congratulatios, that's just insane

Love your work from the few maps I've played, great & hardcore puzzle

Played with the person commenting below (after they tried a few it over many years with different friends) and our duo finally finished it. Really cool map

Really loved the way you had to use portals in Room 4

This is my favourite puzzle in any game. Absolutely loved it.

Took us 10 hours, literally more than my workday. 10/10 Would do again

ez

This is the best and the most hardest map ever. We are really enjoy this map. The map isn't very wide but it took us almost 2 hours to solve, haha. Good job bro

10/10, took us 4 days to figure out. Almost like every day we got used to solving these puzzles little better... So far hardest map I played. Nothing but cubes and portals and yet its so hard. Amazing work DrFauli.

Hardest map ever, took us like 5/6 hours to complete, worth it

holy fuck this was the hardest map ive ever played

yikes cringe

You can't be serious XD @Rock Gang
I guess you got the wrong map - you can even see it on the screenshot...!

I honestly can't believe that somebody would upload a goo level with the goo tag and not even include a single fluid ounce of goo. Really ruined my night. Downvoted.

Took about 2 and a half hours, loved the map

After completing this map, other maps seem baby level

you are probably a sociopath or something..

Getting Over It w/ Dr. Fauli

Holy cow. Your levels are always the hardest and most fun, but i think this one takes the cake. Took us so long to solve

hardest map ever! still had fun solving it

This was probably the hardest map we've ever played! Almost like Impetuosity!

We liked the pure "portal-ness" of this map - no funnels, bridges, gels... just portals, few cubes and buttons, and your brain :) The fact that the work each player does is balanced is also great. More maps should be like this.

Considering the fact that coming up with such a map is IMO 3 times harder than solving it... DrFauli... you're a genius.

Excellent!

Nice one. Though don't understand why the top button opens the last door. It is sort of confusing.

@Santa
One does not simply place random portals... xD
(especially not when in a Brainteaser)

Bug report https://youtu.be/zZ8QMl0Y0WA
(Didn't anybody before us see or encounter that???)

Ohne den Bug zu nutzen war's aber auch in zumindest 80min erledigt. Nicht der härteste Brainteaser, aber voll i.O. und der Reihe würdig. Optisch sehr gelungen, inhaltlich sowieso. Fair das mit den Markierungen von 1-5. Daumen hoch natürlich :-)

123

Reality really started breaking down on the third day. Everything I knew about portals, nay, the world was shattered by this map. You are a mad man sir, and I salute you.

Two things: 1) great map, and 2) you bastard

Made it in two hours with my bud... Absolute horror...

TL:DR, This map is a new and fresh take on puzzle solving within Portal 2, everything you thought you knew you might aswell forget it, it contains mind bending, methods of puzzle solving and it's one of the hardest maps anyone will ever play.

Difficulty: Hard Core

tl;dr ... hehe :o
Interesting way to give feedback, ... made me giggle a few times. :-)

There is no casual in this map, that part is quite true and I do agree.
I am glad you kept going, instead of giving up and in the end you
got it solved and can be proud of that - well done!

I do hope that other people will take your warning seriously.
Playing a brainteaser map in your work break = bad idea. :-D

cheers

1/4: Yes, To the people: I started off my day casually as anyone else does, I got up, brushed my teeth and went to work. 4 hours into my work day I decided I was due a break. I wanted to play some casual portal 2 with my portal buddy (take note of the word casual for later). All was going well for the first I would say 2 - 3 seconds and then we where faced with a bridge. We had no idea why this bridge was there, it did seem out of place and we where wondering how we could use it to our advantage. And then it hit me, it wasn't to be used to our advantage, oh no, it was used purely to our disadvantage. Folks if you thought GLaDOS was hard, or wheatley, you haven't met a vertical bridge with the soul purpose of making your life a living hell.

2/4: After we passed the spawn protection (I would like to point out the spawn protection is not for you, it's for the map to keep it safe from you) The dark ambient music started to play. We looked at each-other and realized we made a huge mistake by assuming we where going to have fun.. We started to do the usual stuff, placed random portals here and there for a while and got to every place we had to get too. We assumed we knew what we where doing... We where so, so wrong...

3/4: We knew we had to get into the small room with the button and the same person in there had to have instant access to the room up top over the bridge to let the other person over it... After about an hour it was time for me to get back to work, I decided I wasn't going to be defeated by a portal 2 map, so I didn't go back to work, I kept playing. 2 more hours passed. This map made me question who I was, If I was smart enough to play video games, if this is what mental pain really was, and if I wanted to continue on in life or just end it here... We decided to end it there.. (I didn't kill myself fyi)

4/4: The following day we came back to defeat it, armed with new tactics. We knew what had to do, where we had to go. We had solved some of it but most of it was still unsolved. Another hour had passed and again, more of who I was as a person had dissolved.. I had turned to paper. I drew detailed blueprints of every room, every panel in every room, and page by page we started to see a pattern... After 5 hours and 34 minutes we had completed it.... Rather than quiting my job to become a full-time portal 2 expert, I could happily return to my job, knowing I was not defeated by this map. And then my routine started again. I started off my day casually as anyone else does, I got up, brushed my teeth and went to work

I would rate this map: 10/10 would question reality and have a full existential crisis again.

Well done and congratulations on solving this brainteaser. :-)
I do hope, that you managed to enjoy the challenge and had some great moments.

Any feedback on the puzzle you want to share?

5 hours to solve, we got it in the end after 2 days of crying and bleeding from our brains

5 hours and solved or still going? :D

5 hours....

This map has been updated:
• new design with custom antlines, signages and better grating texture
• a few lighting optimizations
• made 2 rooms a bit bigger to allow easier overview

Glad that you liked the map. :-)
There might come more brainteaser maps in the future.
At the moment I am focusing on reworking my old map-series and adding a few casual maps.

My coop partner and I enjoyed this map. Just four simple looking side rooms, but hard enough that it took us 3 hours to solve. Do you intend to continue your brainteaser series?

Valve kann doch garnicht bis 3 zählen... ^^

Ich bin weiterhin damit beschäftigt meine alten Maps zu überarbeiten und die Fehler
und Problemchen darin auszubessern. ...ja, auch ich musste erst Fehler machen um
dann als Mapper besser werden zu können. ^^

Bei dieser Gelegenheit bastel ich neue Maps, aktualisiere die alten und passe das
gameplay der Maps an meinen aktuellen "Standard" an. :-)
Steckt also viel Erfahrung mit in den neueren Maps.

Schön wenn das alles bei den Spielern so positiv aufgenommen wird. :-)

Ja. Die Rätsel, die ohne großartig viel Schnickschnack auskommen und hauptsächlich auf geschickte Portalplatzierung setzen, gefallen mir/uns am besten - viel besser als etliche Sprungpassagen, Wirbelwinde oder ähnliches. Hat natürlich auch manchmal seinen Reiz.

Großes Lob nochmal! Valve sollte Dich für die Portal 3-Entwicklung anheuern ;) Selten so durchdachte Maps gesehen. Weiterhin ist uns aufgefallen, dass Du die verfügbaren Elemente (insbesondere blaue Wände) viel geistreicher einbaust als andere Modder. Ebenso die Tatsache, dass sich vieles in den selben Räumlichkeiten abspielt, d.h. die gleichen Elemente werden während des Spielverlaufs erneut, aber auf eine andere Weise genutzt, statt dass die "neuen Rätsel" in weiteren Räumen ohne Zusammenhang angehangen werden. Ich bin beeindruckt von diesem hervorragenden Konstruktionsstil.

Danke für dein Feedback. :-)
Schön das euch die Map gefallen hat.
Toll das Ihr euch 3 Stunden lang mit der Lösung beschäftigt habt. ;-)

Bei den Brainteaser-Liebhabern scheint die Map gut anzukommen.
Habe diesmal versucht es sehr simpel zu halten und die Map übersichtlich aufzubauen.
Puzzle ist trotzdem schön komplex und die Lösung beinhaltet kein unnötiges Herumlaufen.

Absolut umwerfende Map! Wir haben etwa 3 Stunden gebraucht. Ich würde mich fast soweit aus dem Fenster lehnen zu sagen, dass es Deine bisher beste Arbeit ist. Reiht sich perfekt und nahtlos an die Vorgänger an! Würde mich über weitere Teile freuen!

Thanks for the feedback and thanks for trying to solve it for a long period of time. :-)

These brainteaser maps are like a game of chess, where you have to think a few
steps ahead to win against your opponent. In this case the opponent has build a
complex puzzle, that you have to solve - step by step and by thinking far enough
ahead or at least try to plan your route and the possible portals and player positions.

If you enjoyed the complexity of the map, but you felt like you still can't solve it,
you might consider to have a look at the map for a few minutes a day and see what
new you can learn each day. Don't get frustrated by the map, but rather try to solve
it step by step, figuring out a new piece day by day and then just relax and wait a day.

Anyway - thanks for letting me know what you think. :-)