Portal Alternate Map Names
In early February 2018, it was discovered that the entity names of many objects within the Portal map files could be used to trace back earlier map layouts. This page hosts the data and offers an explanation for how it was obtained.
Overview
Within the released Portal .vmf
s, many of the entities contained pre or post-fixes that referenced the map name.
The odd thing was, as discovered by Half-Alive, that many of the "map names" placed there were using obsolete versions of the layout with different names and often chamber placements. This offers a strong insight into both how chambers were named and how the chambers used to be arranged.
Locating Names
Locating the names is done in two ways:
- Checking targetnames of various entities around the map
- Checking the names of visgroups
By figuring out the pattern of "map references" in one particular map, it can then be deduced what this map was in that particular era of map organization.
Data
The currently-collected information about map series references.
Order: rm##
These are ordered in favor of the rm## series, which also (save one map) lines up with the lvl## series.
Map | rm | lab | intro | lvl | chamber |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
a00 | 1 | 1 | 00,01 | ||
a01 | 2,2a | 2 | 02,03 | ||
a02 | 2,3 | 3 | 3 | 04,05 | |
a04 | 5 | 5 | 08 | ||
a03 | 6 | 4 | 06,07 | ||
a05 | 5-a | 5 | 5-a | 09 | |
a06 | 5a | 5a | 5a | 10 | |
a07 | 6 | 6 | 11,12 | ||
a08 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 13 | |
a09 | 7a | 7a | 14 | ||
a10 | 7b | 7b | 7b | 15 | |
a13 | 8 | 5 | 17 | ||
a15 | 8 | 2 | 19 | ||
a11 | 3 | 16 | |||
lab_lvl3a | 3a | ||||
a14 | 8 | 4 | 18 | ||
escape 00 | 4a |
Order: a##
These are ordered in favor of the a## series, the farthest left column.
Map | rm | lab | intro | lvl | chamber |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
a00 | 1 | 1 | 00,01 | ||
a01 | 2,2a | 2 | 02,03 | ||
a02 | 2,3 | 3 | 3 | 04,05 | |
a03 | 6 | 4 | 06,07 | ||
a04 | 5 | 5 | 08 | ||
a05 | 5-a | 5 | 5-a | 09 | |
a06 | 5a | 5a | 5a | 10 | |
a07 | 6 | 6 | 11,12 | ||
a08 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 13 | |
a09 | 7a | 7a | 14 | ||
a10 | 7b | 7b | 7b | 15 | |
a11 | 3 | 16 | |||
a13 | 8 | 5 | 17 | ||
a14 | 8 | 4 | 18 | ||
a15 | 8 | 2 | 19 | ||
lab_lvl3a | 3a | ||||
escape 00 | 4a |