Portal Levels
Role: Level Designer
Team: Solo Project
Time Spent: ~1 Month
Program: Portal 2 Level Editor
Overview: A string of five puzzles designed in a linear order that expand and evolve around a consistent set of mechanics. It explores the skill theme of momentum, testing the player's ability to find unique ways to launch themself across large gaps in a variety of ways.
My Process
I used Level 1 to introduce the core themes of the puzzle series – that being aerial momentum and item management. The player must launch across the room and obtain a cube, which they then hold onto while flinging themself toward a switch. The two themes are at their simplest here, and the lack of a death condition makes the level a safe learning environment. This introduction also enables the player to internalize seeing portal-able tilted panels as a means of flight. I wanted to ensure the player would understand these concepts before going further.
Level 1
Level 2
Level 2 builds upon the themes, implementing them in more involved ways. With the fundamentals of flight down, I wanted to create a level where the player has to be more careful about timing and environmental awareness. Upon initially launching themself, the player ends up in a straight unstoppable shot toward the end of the level where they have to shoot portals while airborne to keep going. I ensured that the full path is visible from the very beginning – allowing observant players to be at an advantage. As for the transportation theme, I put a cube off to the side to teach the player about launching cubes manually even when they are not holding them.
For Level 3, I focused on developing the timing and cube-launching elements introduced in Level 2. It starts out with a portion where you have to time a jump in order to catch a falling cube, ensuring that the player is more precise in their movements. I then evolved the cube-launching concept by forcing the player to fling a cube along a separate path from their own. I also focused on giving this level more of a puzzle feel, as it has multiple solutions that are not plain sight – marking an increase in my playtesters' clear times that led to many iterations.
Level 3
In level 4, I elevated the difficulty by introducing a new type of challenge that complements the prior mechanics – that being excursion funnels. I believed they would be an effective tool as they allowed me to elevate the types of puzzles possible with aerial momentum, creating a new location to launch for while also allowing the player to slow down and think midair. In order to teach the player about them, I introduced them using the same setup as Level 1 before incorporating cube transportation in the latter half.
Level 4
Level 5
Finally, I chose to design Level 5 as the culmination of all previous concepts. It incorporates the tilted launch panels from Levels 2-3, and combines them with Level 4's excursion funnel to evolve upon the types of challenges the player must transport their cube through. This time, the player has to shoot portals from the ceiling while hovering through a funnel, enabling them to drop the cube and exit the funnel with proper timing to finish the job. My core focus on this project was interconnectivity, so I put a lot of thought into how I could bring back every prior concept in a new, remixed, and complementary way.