Alfred Löfving
A level and gameplay design portfolio
A level and gameplay design portfolio
Preparing the Flight is a level I designed using Portal 2’s in-game editor. It was created over the span of two months, with approximately 40 hours dedicated to actual level design and additional time for playtesting. My primary goal was to create a solid, linear design with few alternative solutions, making the level feel like it could seamlessly fit into the game’s campaign.
The level is intended for players already familiar with Portal 2’s mechanics. It was tested by many people with varying levels of experience, providing valuable feedback that helped me refine and secure the level’s linear design.
If you own Portal 2 you can add the level to your Steam library.
The level was playtested through direct observation of players as well as through the online Portal 2 communities. The lead level designer of Portal Stories: Mel, Anna Mieke, also playtested it before its final iteration. She provided a very helpful video playthrough with live comments and invaluable criticism that greatly improved the quality of my final design.
The critical path does not contain any shortcuts, but it does offer small variations in solving certain puzzles. Playtesting proved immensely useful in this regard, as testers found their own ways of playing the level, allowing me to identify which paths and solutions to keep. The difficulty level is exactly where I wanted it: players with little experience in Portal 2 needed only some assistance, while those more familiar with the game required none at all.
The first room of the level contains three glass cubes, a laser beam, and a turret robot that the player must disable to advance. This puzzle can be solved in two ways: the first solution involves using all three glass cubes to redirect the laser to a white surface on which a portal can be placed, then using the portals in combination with the laser to burn the robot.
The second solution is to use only two of the cubes to direct the laser to the white surface, then use portals and the third cube to correct the skewed angle of the laser.
In the second room, the player needs a so-called “companion cube” to activate an orange gel dispenser. It can be obtained in a third room right next to it. An unlimited supply of cubes can be dropped from a dispenser, but they fall into a tractor beam that pushes them into disintegrating fields.
The solution is to step on floor buttons to temporarily turn off the fields, timing it with the cube’s flight through the air. Once the cube hits the white wall, the player can use portals to redirect the tractor beam, pushing the cube back to the other side and onto a ledge.
To finally get hold of the cube, the player must first temporarily disable another disintegration field by pressing a button, then use a portal to redirect the tractor beam, which releases the cube and drops it onto a trampoline.
Early playtesters discovered methods of cheating by keeping one portal where the tractor beam hits the white surface and then leaving the room. This short puzzle prevents that by ensuring that the player can only keep the cube and exit the room by passing through a disintegration field, which destroys both cubes and any currently placed portals.
Returning to the second room, the player activates the orange gel dispenser. In this area, there are several surfaces available for experimenting with portals, but only one of them leads the player closer to the exit: an area high up in the ceiling.
This area up by the ceiling consists of a long ledge. Surrounding it are white surfaces where players can apply orange gel to create a long line. This orange gel allows players to build up speed, utilizing momentum to “fling” themselves into new areas using portals. This mechanic is thoroughly explored in the game’s main campaign, serving as a familiar reminder to players.
The fling mechanic enables players to soar through the air to reach another section of the room. By using the angled panel visible from the ledge, now covered with orange gel, players can access a platform previously out of reach.
The platform leads the player to a floor button that dispenses large drops of blue gel while the player remains standing on it. Using portals, players can manipulate the blue gel to propel themselves in a similar manner to how they used the angled panel.
I decided to make the blue gel dispenser release these large drops as a visual cue, symbolizing the next step for players: using the blue gel’s bouncy properties to reach another new area.
Using the ledge covered in orange gel from earlier, the player can fling themselves once more. This time, propelled by the blue gel, they bounce further than the platform they reached initially, hurtling towards a trampoline mounted on the wall.
With the height gained from the trampoline, the player must swiftly pivot and place a portal on the opposite side of a previously obscured wall. The trampoline not only propels the player high enough to accomplish this task but also propels them back towards the angled panel, allowing them to return to where they placed their other portal.
If players are unable to execute this maneuver, they can utilize any other white surface to transport themselves over the wall.
The final puzzle requires the use of the companion cube to activate a white wall panel near the ceiling. At this point, the cube is still powering the orange gel dispenser, prompting players to retrieve it while ensuring one portal remains in the final area to facilitate their return over the large wall they previously crossed.
During playtesting, some participants retrieved the cube, returned to the area with the blue gel, spread it on the floor in the final section, and then stepped through a portal on the white wall panel to bounce up to the exit.
Other playtesters opted not to utilize the blue gel and instead returned the cube to the orange gel dispenser after uncovering the white wall panel. They proceeded to coat the floor in the final area with the orange gel, retrieved the cube to open the white wall panel, and then made their way to the exit.
I decided to keep both solutions to allow players to choose whichever method they discover first, enabling a sense of creativity and satisfaction as they complete the level.
