Portal 2's Summer Mapping Initiative contest winners revealed, released into the wild

Valve has selected the winners of its Summer Mapping Initiative contest; a Portal 2 level-design competition in which over 280 amateurAperture Sciencearchitects vied for an opportunity to be showered with unique Portal 2 gifts and see theirhomemadecreationsreleased as Valve-sanctioned DLC for PC or Mac.


Above: Patent Pending looks

In the end, three maps were chosento receivegrand prize honors. They include'Patent Pending', a 30-minute tour dephysics-bending force created by Tom 'ebola' Chiu,which features a complex arrangement of aerial faith plates, excursion funnels, hard light surfaces and discouragement beams. The other two winning mapsinclude'Infinifling',a “chamber filled with redirections (we had to have some) and mechanics built on prevailing mid-air portaling techniques” constructed by MrTwoVideoCards; and 'Edifice', a medium difficulty mapdone up in thedestroyed chamber style by Omnicoder.

All three winners have been rewarded with Portal 2 prize packs comprised of replica Aperture Science gels, a signed Portal 2 poster from the game's developers, and other Portal 2 goodies. Their maps, along with those designed by a slew of runner-ups, can be downloaded to PCs and Macs followings the steps atThinkingWithPortals.com.

PS3 and Xbox 360 owners won't have to wait very long for free maps of their own either, as Valve previously announced it would be releasing new levels, leaderboards and otherPortal 2enhancementsin afree DLC pack,due for all systems this summer.

Jun 29, 2011


Make-your-own-portal-puzzle contest on now until June 6th




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Matt Bradford wrote news and features here at GamesRadar+ until 2016. Since then he's gone on to work with the Guinness World Records, acting as writer and researcher for the annual Gamer's Edition series of books, and has worked as an editor, technical writer, and voice actor. Matt is now a freelance journalist and editor, generating copy across a multitude of industries.