This guide will explain how to use the Portal 2 Puzzle Builder to design a map. It will walk you each step of the process and give you some tips to help make your map a success.

To begin creating your puzzle navigate to the main menu of Portal 2 and choose "Community Test Chambers". You can then click on "Create Test Chambers" to begin.

If you would like to create a cooperative puzzle you can do so by going to "File" within the puzzle builder and checking the box.

It's a good idea to familiarize yourself with how to navigate the Portal 2 puzzle builder before you begin following this guide. You can view the key bindings and some tips Valve has laid out in the links below.

At any point you can access this information by clicking on "Help" within the puzzle builder.

• Controls
  
• Official Tips & Hints
  
• Portal 2 Wiki
  
• Puzzle Editor FAQ

The puzzle builder has a lot of objects which can be placed in your map. Below you can find an explanation of each one.


Pedestal Buttons can be linked to an object to form a trigger. The player can click on the button and it will activate the function that it is connected to. You can add a timer to your button through the properties menu.




Buttons have three variants which can be activated by weight, spheres and cubes. Each can be linked to an object to form a trigger. You can pick which type of button to use by selecting the corresponding icon on the toolbar or modifying an existing placement through the properties menu.




Whenever a Cube or Sphere is placed a dropper will come with it. If the player loses the cube the dropper will replace it. The properties menu allows you to change the object type and the dropper settings. You can even disable the dropper if you'd like.




Whenever the player walks through a Tractor Beam they will float through the beam it emits. The blue beam pushes the player forward, away from the receptacle, and the orange beam pulls the player in towards it. The properties menu allows you to start the beam in reversed mode or completely off.




If a player walks onto a Faith Plate it will cause them to get bounced into the air. When you place a Faith Plate within the editor it will also create a bullseye and a yellow ball. The Bullseye is where the player will ultimately land, and the yellow ball is the trajectory the player will travel.




Players and objects will not pass through the surface of Light Bridges. Within the properties menu you're given the option to start the bridge enabled or disabled.






Stairs can either start enabled or disabled through the properties menu. When enabled the player can walk up and down them.





Fizzlers destroy any objects which pass through them such as cubes or turrets. If a player walks through a Fizzler any previously placed portals will also be destroyed. You can increase and decrease the size of the Fizzler using the arrows that appear when the object is selected.




Glass panels can be placed in your level which the player cannot break. You can increase and decrease the size of the panel by using the arrows that appear when the object is selected. You can change the barrier type to grating within the properties menu which will allow players to place a portal on the other side.



Piston Platforms will move up and down whenever the player stands on it. If it is connected to a trigger then the trigger must be activated before it will begin to move. You can adjust the height of the platform using the arrows that appear when the object is selected.



Track Platforms move on rails. You can adjust the pathing using the arrows that appear when the object is selected. The properties menu allow you to set the rail to oscillate and you can set the platform to start active or disabled.



Laser Emitters & Catchers are designed to go together. Once the laser emitter hits the catcher you can have it trigger a function such as opening a door, or enabling a set of stairs.



Laser Relays are used in conjunction with a Laser Catcher. You can connect a relay to a catcher which will result in the player needing to activate both objects before the trigger will work.



You can adjust the surface type of an Angled Panel through the properties menu. You can make the surface so it allows portals, or you can change it to glass. You can also choose if you want the panel to be automatically deployed or not.




Flip Panels must be connected to a trigger. Once you have activated the trigger the panel will flip around revealing a surface capable of allowing Portals.




Turrets will attack the player on sight if they run within their field of vision. You can adjust the field of vision by moving the cone when the object is selected.





If the player steps in Deadly Goo they will be instantly killed.





Light Strips are purely cosmetic and provide your map with additional light. You can place four of them on a single square and they can be placed horizontally or vertically.




There are four types of Gels. Blue will cause the player to bounce, orange will give the player increased speed, white will allow the player to create a portal on any surface and clear will remove any existing gels from a surface. Whenever Gel is placed a dropper will come with it which will steadily drop gel from its dispenser. The properties menu allows you to change the flow, and you can disable the dropper if you'd like.



Observation Rooms are purely cosmetic and provide your map with additional light. Every map will start off with an observation room which cannot be removed.

Once you've familiarized yourself with the available objects you can try connecting them together. Open up the puzzle builder and and place a Pedestal Button, a Cube Dropper and a Cube Button.



Right click on the Pedestal Button and select "Connect to".



Once the blue square appears drag your cursor over to the Cube Dropper and click on it.



The button is now connected to the cube dropper. If you're not fond of the link line going from the button all the way to the dropper on the ceiling you can right click on the Pedestal Button again and adjust the "Connection visibility" setting.

You will also need to set the Cube Dropper so it doesn't automatically drop the first cube. To do this right click on the Cube Dropper and uncheck "Auto-drop first cube".



Now that we have made the connection, whenever a player clicks on the button the cube will drop from the ceiling. The button is now a trigger which activates a function.

The next step is to connect our Cube Button to the exit door. Right click on the Cube Button and click on "Connect to". This time select the exit door.



Our short puzzle is now complete. Go to "File" and choose "Save" and then "Rebuild".



When the game is done building your puzzle you will spawn in the game world. To return to the puzzle builder at any time click the tab key on your keyboard.

Below is a video of how mine turned out.


You are not limited to a single trigger per object. If you right click on an object which is already connected to something you can add more connections by clicking "Connect to" again. If at any point you want to remove a connection you can use the "remove connections" menu.

In the example below I've added two additional Cube Droppers and two more Cube Buttons. I've connected the Pedestal Button to each of the Cube Droppers.



When you click on the Pedestal Button now it will drop a cube from all three of the droppers instead of just one.

I've also connected all three of the Cube Buttons to the door. The door will no longer open until all of the triggers have be activated.



Below is a video of how everything works now.

Coming up with a good puzzle design can be difficult to do. Players often enjoy puzzles which are difficult but satisfying to solve. If you make things way too obvious it will lose the sense of satisfaction, and if you make things too difficult it will become tedious.

In the video below I will be designing a test chamber which I drew on paper first. I will place everything where it needs to go and connect all of my objects. In the next section I will playtest my puzzle with commentary and advise you on the mistakes I've made and what changes need to be done.

When you're done creating the test chamber, the next thing to do is begin play testing it.

You're looking for ways which somebody can break your puzzle and solve it by skipping certain elements within it. In the video below I will give you some ideas of things you will need to look out for whilst doing this.

When you're done creating and playtesting your puzzle the next thing to do is publish it to the Steam Workshop.

The preview image that the Steam Workshop will use will be the current camera angle within the puzzle builder. Adjust the position of the camera to where you want it to be before continuing.



Once you're satisfied with the camera angle go to "File" and then click on "Publish". The game will then begin compiling the most recent version of the map.



When the map has finished compiling it will give you a popup box which will allow you to type in a name for your map and a description. You can also adjust the visibility setting.

Fill in all of the information, read and accept the terms and conditions, and click "Publish Test Chamber".



Once the map has been uploaded you'll be taken to the workshop page for your map. At any point you can edit the title or description, add media to the workshop page or add co-authors. This can be done via the "Owner Controls" box on the right side of the page.



If you have closed the workshop page and you'd like to get back to it you can do so by clicking here or by clicking on the workshop link located on your Steam profile.

If you've already published your map to the Steam Workshop you can still make changes. If the map has active subscribers the latest version will be downloaded the next time they start Portal 2.

To make changes all you need to do is open up the puzzle builder and navigate to the "Create Test Chambers menu". Load your map by choosing "Edit" from the menu when you have your map selected.



Once you're done making changes go to "File" and click "Publish" within the editor. This will bring up the same "Publish To Workshop" page that you saw in the last section, except this time everything is already filled out. Accept the Steam Workshop Contribution Agreement and click on "Publish Test Chamber".

If you'd like to export your map to Valve's Hammer Editor you can do so. You can read more on how to make changes to your map in Hammer here.

Open the map in the puzzle builder that you'd like to export and bring up the developer console. If you don't have the developer console enabled you can enable it though the game settings. Within the console type in the following command.


The mapname field can be replaced with whatever you'd like. Once you type in the command you should get feedback from the console similar to this.


You'll notice that the console gave me the directory of where it saved the VMF to. VMF stands for Valve Map File, or Valve Map Format. Navigate to the directory, in my example this will be the following.


You should then see the VMF file there. You can load this file in Hammer and make any cosmetic or function changes as you please. Keep in mind that you cannot import a map back to the Puzzle Builder once it has been modified in Hammer.

If you have any questions or comments regarding this guide please feel free to leave a comment below.



You can also check out all of my other Steam Guides here.



If you'd like to play the map I created in this guide you can do so by visiting the link below.

http://gtm.steamproxy.vip/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=137036610