If we learned one thing from "Portal 2," it's that designing mind-bogglingly difficult challenge rooms and then having people solve them feels really, really good. Until today, players have had to scratch their creative itches with the boring ol' map creator from the original "Portal." But no more! Valve unleashed the "Portal 2" authoring tools to the world, letting folks create insanely complex challenges with bouncy ooze, floaty tubes and, of course, portals.
One of the reasons "Portal 2" is such an entertaining experience is that it's never frustratingly difficult. It's hard, sure, and some of the puzzles may leave you scratching your head for an hour, but invariably you'll figure it out and feel smarter because of it.
Unlike Valve, amateur map creators don't playtest the crap out of their designs, so you're likely going to be able to find plenty of maps that are much more difficult than what was in the main game. The authoring tools allow map creators to design singleplayer and multiplayer challenge rooms, but it goes even further than that. Using the tools, designers can create new models, add new music and even toss in new character skins, in case you always wondered what "Portal" would feel like if Chell was wearing a purple jumpsuit instead of an orange one. (I'm guessing it's a magical experience.)
Valve has already announced their plans for the first "Portal 2" DLC pack, coming this summer, but it'll be interesting to see whether future DLC packs will include some of the fan-made maps designed with these tools. Imagine it: You could be stumping not just three guys on a message board, but the entire world. Think of the power!