A few years ago, after I played Portal 2 for the first time, they added a coop mode to the game, giving me a completely new game to enjoy. I played with my friends and got challenged in ways that portal never challenged me before. It was great.
I stopped playing the game for a while before discovering that they added a level editor to the game. I started making levels and experimentating. It was nice and the editor was easy to use. I was already designing small games on my own but I had no access to tools as powerful and easy to use as Portal 2 editor mode.
But I needed players. So I asked my friend who did the coop mode with me to play. And we agreed it'd be more fun if I could watch him play, so he shared his screen for me on skype.
It was my first playtest session.
And it went well.. For me ! The level was full of traps and false solutions to puzzles. He kept going in the wrong way and I was joking about it. I can't say if the level was bad or not, it's too old and I can't remember. It was probably a bit frustrating for my friend. But everything went the way I wanted it to and with me being here, he had a lot of fun. And for me it was an incredible experience to watch him fail and discover solutions and finally beat my level.
I felt like Glados.
I was guiding him all the way, but kept the solutions for myself. I was watching him go into my traps and puzzle-jokes. I was making him my funny subject to observe in order to make aperture science a better place, with better design for next levels. Trying to iterate on what I saw. Taking notes. I felt like glados making fun of shell, while loving her a lot, keeping her away from success while wanting her to win and beat the game. I had fun.
I think I had more fun being glados than being shell.
I think Portal 2's editor mode is not only a very good editor, it's actually a very good game. A better game than Portal 2.
It's incredibly clever to create an editor for portal 2, because actually portal 2 has everything to do with game making. When you solve puzzles in portal 2 you're not solving a puzzle made by a level designer. You're solving a puzzle made by Glados. The game design of Portal is, most of the time, diegetic.
To make a level editor accessible means that people are able to take control of another side of the game, and become glados themselves. They can have fun making the level but mostly, they can have fun knowing how people will play it. Have fun watching them. Have fun guiding them with they're voice.
Portal 2's level editor is one of the best game experience of my life.
