Try looking at some of the dev photos of _Portal But It's OSHA Compliant,_ or for that matter, open up an _INFRA_ map (the devs released the VMFs a while ago). As a LittleBigPlanet 1 veteran, I've technically seen worse (LBP2 added logic chips so you don't have to do piston logic gates anymore), but you at least have the benefit of seeing the _wire connections_ between logic points... in Source Engine, it's a total mystery.
@@WackoMcGoose as somone who has opened the infra maps because i cheated a few of the puzzles, yes. (I mainly cheated the rising water puzzle because I was playing it remotely at the time with a full .5 second delay.)
0:24 - This map is such a classic! 1:40 - What happened to your crosshair? If it was visible, this part would probably be a lot easier 2:17 - Solved it back in 2022, with less than 12 minutes 😎 3:17 - Being made in 2012, I _have_ to assume this was made _entirely_ using Hammer logic and no scripting. Which is extremely impressive, but also might explain the list of bugs 😅 6:43 - Preeeetty sure this is your lack of crosshair coming back to bite you. The arrows are two separate buttons for rotating each direction, and if you point dead center at a button and press E, it works as intended. My guess is that your lack of crosshair makes it so that you don't know exactly towards which button you're looking, so you end up pressing the clockwise and counterclockwise buttons alternating Nice showcase! Bit sad you didn't solve it, but I can understand it being a pain to work with. It's _almost_ tempting to recreate this map using scripting - would make it significantly more reliable and consistent - but I like this as a testament to just how far you could push the Source engine even way back in 2012 :)
what an absolute classic - this is one of the maps that got me into mapping. that said, i've never actually solved it because the antline puzzle is weird and kind of rubbish, but the thaumaturgy itself - chef's kiss
arrows seem to indicate which direction it can be turned. point at the arrow you want to turn it-- and turn it. Yellow lines appear to indicate CORRECT rotation. I would suggest starting with a tile RIGHT NEXT TO the end of the starting position yellow tiles and expand from there
The cube doesn't have the connections to power. Those are floating around waiting to connect to the panels. Also, the reason the panels don't obey you is because you are not pointing to the arrows, which are buttons, when you press "E". The panel is glitching trying to figure out where you are pointing.
It does involve connecting the start with the X - it is a bit difficult but doable by rotating the line areas - I have a screen shot showing the cube with yellow lines showing beginning to the X (Or thought I did...)
As many have pointed out thus far, you have to aim your crosshair at either of the two rotation buttons to correctly rotate any given tile. Given the janky nature of this over-a-decade-old map however, I don't blame anyone for getting frustrated at this, as it does seem to be occasionally inconsistent with its inputs. I believe one of the optimal ways to solve this puzzle is to work it backwards, essentially starting at the end, as that's a trick I myself commonly use to solve complex tests by simply solving it backwards (usually just in my head). It can often provide a hint as to what your next step could be, and then act on it. If someone were to remake this map in today's time, it would most certainly function a lot better, considering how much the modding community has learned in the past two decades.
heres how i solved it: you always go forward, if you can turn, try not to, always know where your goal is and go to in when you can. the cube rotations are because of pesky gravity
Oh boy time for some Friday tomfoolery yay and a puzzle that is left unsolved that may be a first or a first in a while nm I guess this was a complicated comment to write
spoiler alert for anyone that wants to solve it themselves! you need to connect the line between the start and the X, and all walls that have either the start, the line or the X have to be visible, meaning, it cant be the wall you walk through. turn the cube around until both the X and the start are visible. they are facing each other, so none of them can be on the back wall. from there, you just need to build a path that avoids the invisible wall you walk through. remember that the arrows are pointing in different directions, if you want to turn the line to the left, click the arrow that turns left, and the same for right. turn the cube left and right if you need to reach ceilings, but make sure the back wall stays the back wall, it will be easier this way, less confusing. thats it, goodluck :)
DO NOT compare this brilliant fella to a Wheatley's dum unexisting arse however, i might add, he *does* sound like some sort of intelligence sphere, and often, listhening to him while I'm working, it sounds like he just some unknown core with a weirdly specific job, that he has NO ACCESS whatsoever, and somehow got himself locked in the perpetual testing initiative, and just goes on about his day, solving tests to not become (even more) insane (than he, admittedl, already is)
