Laser Intro

Laser Intro

• Previous Map Incinerator
• File Name sp_a2_laser_intro
• Appearance The Cold Boot
• Native to Challenge Mode Not by default
• World Record loading...
• Least Portals loading...
• Next Map Laser Stairs

Overview

Laser Intro is a remake of Chamber 06 from the original Portal, where the energy sphere is replaced by the Portal 2 mechanic of the Laser and Laser Receptacle. The map is straightforward, but there are small improvements to be made to finish the level quickly.

General Route

The entrance door does not open fast enough for you to hop straight through it. Once you get to the door, be up against it before it opens. You don't want to hop through the door, but rather circle jump once the door is open.

As soon as you go through the door, a trigger is activated that will move the left wall, and fizzle any portals placed. You have approximately the length of two hops to get far enough into the room, and place two portals.

The Portal Shot

A good circle jump through the door will give you enough speed to simply hop once more, and be far enough into the room to be able to shoot a portal under you. This means that you will not need to strafe during your second hop, and you can instead take more time to aim the portal on the far left wall, as close to the back of the chamber as possible. This is the most common way to shoot the portal in the chamber, however, there will be a backup strategy in Full Game Specific if you are struggling with this one during your runs.

After you have the portal placed on the wall, and are far enough into the chamber, you want to place a portal under you. The angle is slightly lenient, but it's important to not enter the portal too high up for risk of hitting your head. It's even more important to stick to the left side of the portal, so that once you're through, you don't have to strafe over quickly, or potentially be too far out to land in the lip. Once you're onto the lip, you can walk, or hop through the door, to the end of the chamber.

Challenge Mode Specific

World Record run by Zypeh

The main difference in strategy for Challenge Mode, other than movement optimizations such as stair hops in the first chamber, is to reportal when going through your portal on the floor. You cannot reportal off the left wall, as the portal will not actually land. You will need to flick over to the right wall in order to do so. If done correctly, and at the correct jump angle into the portal (you want to be almost hitting your head, but not quite), and on the far left of the portal, you should land quickly in the wall, and jumping will not be possible. Spamming your strafe keys, and walking through the door is the fastest way to get to the end.

As this map is not natively available in challenge mode, and requires you to enter the elevator, runners will set up near the bottom of the stairs to the elevator, and jump into the elevator once the vertical part of the elevator shaft preventing you from entering has begun to move. Watching a video on the Challenge Mode Leaderboards can help you understand the timing better.

Full Game Specific

Example in a Full Game run by Can't Even

Portal Shot Backup

If you are struggling to hit the portal shot on the left wall before you enter the chamber, you can stand behind the door, and once it opens, aim, and shoot the portal (make sure not to walk through the door, as that will activate the trigger, and fizzle your portal). Once you have this portal shot, it's a good idea to make a quick-save in case you make any mistakes for the rest of the map. If you miss the trick and don't have a quick save, it will take approximately 5 seconds for the panel to be portalable again (after you see the wall fall forward quickly, then come to a rest).

Full Game Dialogue

There are no dialogue cues or Elevator Cues for this map.