Tap to unmute
How I made the world's Trippiest Portal 2 map
Embed
- Published on Mar 13, 2026
- In 2022, I released The Intruder, a Portal 2 map which made rounds in the Portal 2 community. 3 years later, I've decided to revisit the project to discuss the development process in a new playthrough/developer commentary.
Make sure to play the map before watching! It can be found on the steam workshop: steamcommunity... 
Gaming
You greatly underestimated the recognisability of the enderman death sound effect
fr i caught that immediately
Also caught that! 21:11
yeah lol
Listening on my terrible phone speaker and also recognized it lol
Same.
21:20
The cube disappearing in the elevator right as the lights flicker is almost like a happy accident lol. Fits the vibe of the map
I thought it was intentional.
Cubes are your companions. It is very disturbing for a friend to vanish without warning in times of darkness.
21:07 idk if its actually a stock effect that minecraft also happens to use or not but hearing that is like a dogwhistle for me that invokes the feeling of like "hello mr enderman!!! I need pearls come here!!"
no same lol it almost killed the vibe but the torment i felt trying to solve the third chamber immediately brought me back lmao
IIRC it was made for a minecraft fan game first, then Notch used it for the actual game
I dont think this is the right use of the phrase of dogwhistle 😭
@GlumpularI think they mean a literal dog whistle, that grabs the attention of a dog immediatly
@slumpchoggimagine using it as a dog furry
cube disappearing in the elevator as the light flickers actually makes it really creepy
15:44 I love the broom closet ending
I find this concerning...
the broom closet ending was my favorite!
Ha I get it (the naratter even says I hope your friends find that consering)
Stanley parable refferance?!?!?
@Cloud67TRNo shit!?
I find it hilarious that, after watching this, I appear to have done the unintended solutions in every area you mentioned one.
Hell yeah! This was a _very_ memorable tournament map for obvious reasons. It also had decent speed tech (outside of the "cutscenes"), though I don't imagine that's something a mapper ever really plans for.
ong
Wait, this was played in a tournament?? Where can I find this?
@Igriumdude portal runner still gave you no response??)
29:32 Oh wait damn that’s me, that’s awesome. I didn’t expect to appear in this video lol but I love how I turned away right as it vanished. I kind of regret not having my microphone on, also thanks for showing that clip of mine in your video!! :D
legendary youtube pull
Horror using a jumpscare to scare you is like a comedian tickling you to make you laugh.
Yeah
Horror is a lot more effective using ambience, atmosphere, and tone, than relying on jumpscares
Literally the problem with 99% of Minecraft horror mods
exactly
@Igrium Its funny because as I was playing that section I kept expecting the hl2 stalker scream from all the gmod horror maps I've played, I was pleasantly surprised when it didn't happen. Props, super awesome map.
34:57 Obsidian called, they want their ending slide room back.
Exactly what I was thinking
“and so the courier who had cheated death inside the cemetery outside of goodsprings cheated death once again and the Mojave was forever changed” 🔥🗣️🗣️
Hey, if it works, it works,
27:11 you should add a wet floor sign *in* the water, that way people can see that it isn't that deep and figure out that it's safe easier
that's a genius idea
“Wet floor” well, no shit it’s wet
I would probably still think it's goo and portal across it
Is a floor truly wet if it's waterproof with water touching it?
Holy shit I remember watching a playthrough of this on RUclips at one point and it blew my mind I can't believe how well the algorithm did to recommend me this video this quickly. I don't usually watch a lot of portal content so it's insane how fast I got recommended this and I need to make sure the algorithm knows it knows what to do right now.
cute profile picture ❤
That flingfail would be immaculate in a ragebait troll level lmao
Oh Stanley...
i'd argue the disappearing elevator cube actually adds to the creepiness, lol
The muffled voices damn near exactly what I hear on a good day, being schizophrenic. Usually from vents, empty rooms, or specifically keyholes.
For a minute there I thought it was an auditory hallucination of mine untill you started to talk about it, which scared tf out of me for a second. Not because you talked about it but when videos do that it usually means I'm on the express train to psychosis town, and that would mean my meds gas stopped working.
Either way, very well done with the audio.
I would love to know what my mumblers are talking about too!
Jesus that's terrifying
Here it is, everyone. We found Doug Rattmann.
@gamerboi64729 XD
so, you could say your experience is close to having tinnitus, but way more confusing? I have tinnitus and I constantly hear a high pitched noise in my left ear, ND it's genuinely unhelpful when there's a real sound just like that in my environment and especially if I need to locate it
imagine there's actually a person whispering nearby, a condition like that would make it a nightmare trying to locate them
I feel so bad this is the first I’m hearing of this map!
Same here, but I'm really glad I paused the video and played it without getting spoiled on anything. It genuinely has really solid puzzles that had me scratching my head a bit.
@QuintessentialWalrus same!
this is really impressive mapwork, good job! :0
Completely unrelated comment incoming
It's always deeply jarring to me when I see someone who uses the exact same handle on youtube that they do on another site I regularly see them on. Like I'm straight up one of your mutuals but you'll never know which because every internet handle I have is drastically different from every other.
I also follow Meow Moment and this was a jumpscare wtf
@metafire800 thats scary... tumblr clout isnt supposed to leave the site or so im told
I love the wall bursting sequence
ngl, I was kinda unfazed by the horror elements, but the editor style chamber was a highlight, it was very well done!
yeah i was enjoying it as an atmospheric set piece, didn't really think of it as horror
This is the kind of Level Design content that RUclips is lacking
For real, I desperately need more people to do director's commentaries on the custom video game levels they make.
7:40 I think the speed mod might actually be used right after you shoot at the moon in the finale. There is a slowdown in-between shooting at the moon and the placement of the portal on the moon that is similar to the effect you used. Can't say with 100% certainty though cause I don't know how to look into the files.
At that point, the player can't move at all and the camera is locked via point_viewcontrol, so a speedmod would have no effect.
Keep in mind that a speedmod only effects the player's movement speed; the rest of the game is unaffected. The delay in the moon shot was just a cinematic choice baked into the cutscene.
Imagine this map was in a speedrun tournament 🥲
great video. The ending voice log #25 was a clever addition
dang, this video needs more people to see it.
This was one of my favorite maps I've ever seen and I'm really happy today I got to see some behind the scenes on how it was made
It is not a super horror map , it is just ominous.
Easily the most impressive workshop submission I've seen on Portal 2
massive homepage pull.
i did play this map too, idk how i got recommended ig but whatever, i like it, also hammer.
Very thoughtful dev commentary, did a great job going through the thought process of the design without overexplaining the story
Also, to my knowledge, screenoverlays should still work in Portal 2? Or at least, they still work in maps I’ve made with them. Not sure why it’s broken for you
I may not have played the map but holy hell was that really impressive and surprising to see executed in the source engine, especially that custom made break away of the room, I LOVED that!
I rarely see any videos in regards to Hammer mapping/map making in Source games in general, so seeing something this in-depth with this much effort is a sight for sore eyes! Absolutely astonishing work dude, keep up the good work, this is a diamond in the rough :-D I'm excited to see the map you mentioned you were drafting in another comment, hope to see more from you!
4:39 nooo it's funyyyyyy
Yea I like that it flings u into the water tbh
Let the player fail horribly. I'm glad there's not baby guards that keep you only doing correct things
i have never heard of this map before but wow it's so cool. i love to see this kinda meta/unexepected stuff in games!
I did not expect this to be such a underviewed video lol.. I got jumpscared by that lmao
34:58 ah yes, the New Vegas approach to prerendered cutscenes: stuff the player in a box and play a texture on one of the surfaces.
If it works, it works!
It reminded me of new vegas too lol
this is making me want to get back into mapping again
enderman death sound fried me lmao
the way you talk reminds me of how davey wreden talks in the beginners guide
The wizardry and attention to detail on display is just phenomenal!
I'll admit, I had to watch this video to figure out how to solve the second two puzzles, at least two parts of it that I was stumped by, but this was really good. good job!
Finally some map maker explaining the whole process! Thank you so much! I've always been interested in close behind the scenes!
Your work is insane. Even just for that you deserve attention
the wither death sound in one of the sequences lmao
OMG THIS MAP I REMEMBER IT! Dude this map is so damn good, you did an amazing job, i loved playing it!
manically underviewed video, awesome project and analysis
a decade later, bro got hired by aperture. now it is he who tests
8:03 since the half life 2 series and portal 2 were both made using the source 2 engine it makes sense that player_speedmod would be there regardless; functions made for an engine by its creator would be packaged with the engine at the discretion of the creator, and they released the SDK toolkit with the express purpose of making source 2 a widely-accessible, easy to pick up game engine for the early 2000s.
20:04 From what I've seen, making the second version similar to the first version is probably a good thing. It gives the player time to contemplate what just happened
Quality work. The time and effort you've put into this truly shows. At the point where you pull up Blender to do animations for Source really made it that much better. Most people would just have done the simplest method they could think of and losing that excitement when you see something unconventional in such an old engine.
I remember having similar ideas when working in GoldSrc back in the day. Things were more rudimentary and technical limitations meant that you really had to think outside box if you wanted to achieve something that seemed impossible; like in Condition Zero with their destructive buildings, or maps like de_dust_2020 that take those extra steps to make and old dog do new tricks.
Thanks for the exploration :)
My guess is that thee player is the interloper, and that the cuts in time/space are distortions between worlds in which the interloper in being trapped.
This was a very very cool watch, you have a lot of skills 👀
a Vortigaunt did show up form me during that cut seen for me?
I also saw it when I played it for the first time today. I admittedly don't have any Portal 2 mods installed beyond custom maps so maybe that's the reason why.
"Which happened during playtesting" - holy shit, just being able to casually mention that already tells that this is way more professional than most people create maps. If you are having playtestS (the S even, so it is not just your brother checking it out), where in some of them some unusual things happen! (another sign that it has to be many playtests with a diverse selection of people), then you are really in to make something good and high quality.
Thanks! On the Thinking with Portals discord, there's actually a whole channel dedicated to finding playtesters. If you need some, there's plenty of people there who would love to help.
absolute cinema
I think I need to reinstall portal 2 and play some custom maps, now that it's been a decade for people to make them.
Huh! That was really cool, thanks so much for sharing!
This just shows that playtesters WILL find any possible way to break things
I can't wait to play Portal 2 again and check this out...
Wow, what a solid work, i love it ;3
I`m so inspired at the moment
just got this randomly recommended so took the time to play it before watching, was awesome!
It was at the end of the second chamber that I went, wait... am... am *I* the intruder???
I only discovered this map through this video, and man was it awesome. Your map reignited a feeling I had years ago when I was young and first discovered how awesome custom maps (after replaying the campaign a million times). I hope you make more peak like this
the tricks you did to make the player assume things about how the level was made remind me a lot of the myhouse wad. and also how you make them return to the same area repeatedly with uncanny differences etc. very cool!
22:20 odd, the overlay worked for me, maybe my portal 2 is outdated but it worked just fine for me.
Amazing map! Great to see all the behind the scenes work
IIRC, that line comes around the time we meet the second Cave Johnson and the two of them find two universes made of money.
Absolutely insane
33:00 “simple python script”
The description says three years since 2022 but its been four years. The video is great tho
I have never touched the community maps in portal 2 and still you got me to watch the full video. Amazing work on explaining the strength and flaws on your map too, maybe I should convince my friends to play this map while I sit muted in vc.
cool breakdown.
It is such a specific design, but anything that breaks the 4th wall and starts to involve the process/editor/whatever as playable has got to be an automatic favourite~
I'll have to redownload Portal 2 for the first time in like ten years and try it myself just for the experience.
Also love how this is the second map I know of to do something trippy and include editor stuff in a map that I found this year... With the other one being a L4D2 campaign called "An Alternative Perspective". It has changed now, but it used to have info_player_starts with guns shooting at you while you literally broke the skybox. The author scrapped this whole part, but I can't really complain to much when the rest of the campaign is pushing the limits of what the L4D2 version of source can even do.
An Alternative Perspective still has info_player_start enemies, they're just hidden in easter eggs. They explode into missing texture particles when they die lol
@QuintessentialWalrus Yeah you are right. I forgot about the little secret areas~
this is my jam
The fact you know how to wrangle the Source Engine _at all,_ let alone to the degree _you did,_ is incredibly impressive to me. My experience, little as it is, with the Source Engine is literally like trying to push a brick wall - I tried making for a mod Portal 2 years ago, and I got as far as forward-porting the Portal 1 cube model, and that ended up crashing the game as soon as it entered the camera's view frustum, which made me realize I was in over my head (or, in hindsight, too impatient) with this. XD
Incredible breakdown of an incredible piece of game design art. Very inspiring!
Having worked with GoldSrc in particular in the past, I can understand the frustration. It's a good look into how tools are created internally the industry, even despite them being released to the public; that was not their primary purpose and a lot of it is driven by creating the games, not the engine. They have specific requirements and will do last-minute changes to just make it work for their use-case.
Valve at least made an attempt for Source by providing various tools and SDKs in a package. But they were neither consistent nor intuitive to setup or use. It's worth noting that tools we take for granted today (Unreal Engine, Unity, etc.) didn't exist at that time and people were used to these quirks and still managed to create amazing work.
A lot of tools were created by the community to fix the shortcomings; new map compilers, editors, plug-ins, etc. All driven by the love of the art in creating content.
I actually like the thing that if you portals to the place where the cube drops and do not block the laser, the cube annihilates itself. It’s an interesting situation
little less than halfway through the video and have decided i'm just gonna go play the damn thing because you have hooked me. will get back to ya.
glad to see i got the "hardest part" on the final map first try! was completely unsure if that was the solution lol. I also completely cheesed the second map by strafing around the corner onto the platform for the normal cube while holding the reflective cube and flinging onto the other side. it basically skipped the entire previous cube catches from before, whoops. was absolutely blown away by the map and enjoyed the explanation on the complex scenes after seeing them like the multiverse collapse scene. great vid!
I went into the map completely blind because the title of this video showed up and got my attention, the invisible wall on the second iteration caught me out so good call on that one. I immediately got the sorta allusion to the Portal Stories: Mel elevator, too. Side note, appreciated the lack of reliance on jumpscares. I got cheeky with the generator segment and just used the lower part of the railing to clim up to a portalable surface, then saw the cubes and realised I was MASSIVELY overthinking it, and I didn't realise the concrete was portalable. The portable juggling stumped me for a bit even though I got the cube catch initially, BUT it felt super satisfying to nail it
Criminally underviewed video, commenting to boost that engagement. Keep it up :)
The amount of assets that are just left lying around in portal is insane, I wonder if other games have this much stuff in em lolol
Just finished the map, came here to say it was great! I loved the last iteration of the chamber. I sort of expected cheap tricks, but actually it was a collection of fun twists!
Hey I've played this map! It was actually for a weekly Portal 2 tournament!
And because of that, I played the map using a Gel Gun (it's a whole thing I do)
I loved seeing the room get torn apart and spun around you.
Seeing the video thing be a model with a texture was pretty cool (Actually had to adjust the vmt path for it lol)
I actually didn't catch on to the fact it's the puzzlemaker in the last chamber, so I learned something today lol
Player_speedmods are actually used twice in the campaign! One during the Long Fall and the second for the ending Glados sequence.
Valve not properly updating entities/things from previous versions is one of my biggest annoyances (map_background why???)
I certainly enjoyed playing the map, as well as looking around in Hammer. (Love how the puzzlemaker makes everything into cube brushes, even the goo)
Overall, Good Map! (I also LOVE these kind of videos)
My biggest white whale grievance with Valve not updating old entities: env_global.
It still works in almost every Source game even though it's not in Hammer by default for most titles. However, one of the most useful things about it -- storing a math_counter number between levels so you can transfer data from one map to another -- is non-functional in all official Source games because of a TYPO in the source code that Valve never fixed.
You can work around it, but it's a huge pain in the ass that (in my experience at least) significantly raises the entity count.
How is it used during the ending glados sequence? I assumed that was a viewcontrol.
When the moon portal detector gets triggered, the ending relay activates it with ModifySpeed 0 and then in the relay to setup the ending camera (oh you're alright), it also sets the speed to 0.
It has it's flags set to suppress jumping, ducking, use and attack.
In a dev map for it, a speedmod doesn't exist and it just teleports you into the elevator with you still being able to move around.
@QuintessentialWalrusmaybe p2ce can fix it
5:37 is a great example of, if you ever do dilapidated chambers, where to put broken tiles.
one of the things that i dislike in dilapidated chambers is when a piece of broken equipment or a fallen panel is used as part of the solution IN SUCH A WAY that were the chamber restored tonits original glory, it would be unsolvable.
here, you could have broken panels here, so the player can't use them and need to use the harder intended aolution, whereas in the priginal, thebsolution people evidently went with anyway becomes the intended one.
Of all the maps I have seen over the years this one is the only one I can remember. It's unique, creative and very fun to play. Definetely caught me off guard!
Also didn't know that my audio actually did record. Whoops.
Wait you thought your video had no sound? Your playthrough was the most entertaining to watch!
@IgriumI forgot it was only the game audio that was missing. You got me good!
"a little over a year" *three years ago*
Just beat it, Best frickin Portal 2 Map I've seen
I'd also like to point out at 27:35 that players can jump onto the stair railing, then jump onto the generators to get across without needing to turn the power off. You didn't mention it in the video, but you might already be aware of this.
That was what I ended up doing (well, I jumped onto the rail then into a portal on the wall next to the blocked off bit) in my blind run because I didn't notice the companion cubes before going in there.
Imo, I think it's just really hard to avoid people playing a level differently without completely isolating the gameplay. I think that the extra portal-able walls you mention @ 4:22 are not a bad thing because it works in the favor of it being a puzzle. Some people might try to fling the cube, and realize that, no, they have to solve it some other way, and I think that's neat.
Crazy good
Mate this deserves way more attention, you are plenty skilled and honestly, please do go more in-depth into the technical details which you struggled with so others can learn too!
15:44 Nice to know good mappers play good games XD
23:42 A way to fix that might have been to do the cutscene if the player makes it through the exit door, which makes it also a fun easter egg! Idk, just a thought.
Idk how but i got the cube through that wall np
Very neat video, shocked to see how few views it has!
bro i literally replayed this map a few days ago
Ah yea Portal 2 map Creaction mode that was my fivorite part of this game
I love breakdowns like these. I dont play portal fan maps but I sat and watched this whole video because it was interesting and I am a filmmaker, and you are doing very similar things. I loved the breakdown and I also really appreciated the criticism you had towards past mistakes, this is a really engaging BTS!
Thanks! No project is perfect, and it's always important to acknowledge your mistakes, otherwise you'll never improve!
portal but the portal gun was laced
fun map thanks for making it
seeing map 3 in this video was a surprise because my Beemod install made that section all Old Aperture puzzlemaker assets lol. didn't even realize it wasn't supposed to be like that until now
That first room was so much less than I thought it was. I re-used the bridge from the laser after putting the second cube on the button, went all the way back down, and then left the cube on the white strip of the elevated ground for the launcher thing later. Turns out that was even more component re-use than was intended :3