Portal Challenge Script

For more info on Bonus Maps, BNS files, and BMZ files see Bonus Maps

← Portal Level Design

Extraction of challenges.bns

Extract the original file using Crowbar or GCFScape. GCFScape is easier to use and less cluttered. We will extract the file to have a reference to making our own. If you want to make it by scratch you can skip the extraction.

Crowbar Method:

• Launch Crowbar

• Click the Unpack tab at the top

• Click the Browse button on the Packages line to the right
• Navigate to Steam/steamapps/common/Portal/portal then select portal_pak_dir.vpk as the file

• Click the Browse button on the Output to line to the right
• Navigate to Steam/steamapps/common/Portal/portal/scripts then select challenges as the folder

• Navigate in Crowbar to <root>/scripts/challenges and select challenges.bns
• Click the Unpack button near the bottom, next to Skip Current

• Open the extracted file with your preferred text editor

GCFScape Method:

• Launch GCFScape

• Click File then Open
• Navigate to Steam/steamapps/common/Portal/portal then select portal_pak_dir.vpk as the file

• Navigate in GCFScape to root/scripts/challenges
• Right-Click challenges.bns and Click Extract
• Navigate to Steam/steamapps/common/Portal/portal/scripts/challenges and extract it there

• Open the extracted file with your preferred text editor

Note:This is not required to make a .bns file. They can be made by renaming a .txt file. We will use the challenges.bns as a reference.

Inside the file

• When you open the challenges.bns file you can see scripts similar to this one:

"#Bonus_Map_TC13Challenges"
{
	"map"		"testchmb_a_08"
	"chapter"	"chapter5.cfg"	[$X360]
	"image"		"bonusmaps/testchmb_a_08_challenges"
	"comment"	"#Bonus_Map_ChallengesComment"
	"lock"		"0"

	"challenges"
	{
		"#Bonus_Map_ChallengePortals"
		{
			"comment"	"#Bonus_Map_LeastPortalsComment"

			"bronze"	"9"
			"silver"	"5"
			"gold"		"4"
		}
		"#Bonus_Map_ChallengeSteps"
		{
			"comment"	"#Bonus_Map_LeastStepsComment"

			"bronze"	"30"
			"silver"	"20"
			"gold"		"10"
		}
		"#Bonus_Map_ChallengeTime"
		{
			"comment"	"#Bonus_Map_LeastTimeComment"

			"bronze"	"40"
			"silver"	"30"
			"gold"		"19"
		}
	}
}

"#Bonus_Map_TC13Challenges"

This piece of code denotes the name of the map. This is linked to the portal_LANGUAGE.txt file in the game's resources folder.

Note:This feature is language specific, and unless you plan to make your map multilingual, you can simply insert text instead of "#Bonus_Map_TC13Challenges".

map

This is the name of the map without the bsp extension, the one which you put in the game's maps folder.

chapter

This line refers to the chapter the map belongs to. You can find these chapter files in your VPK file. Simply create a new chapter with any name and a cfg extension. Add a line for each map in your chapter in to the file in this format:

map your_map_name

Now, put this cfg file into the steam\steamapps\common\portal\portal\cfg folder.

image

This is the thumbnail of the map, which is in fact a material. The root path for this is steam\steamapps\common\portal\portal\materials\VGUI.

comment

A language based description of your map. Again, unless you want to make the map multilingual, just replace it with text.

lock

A boolean variable, which specifies if the map is locked or not until you complete the game. A standalone map should leave this value at 0 or the map will always be locked and unplayable. If it is part of a series of maps to be played in order, and not the first map, it can be unlocked via a point_bonusmaps_accessor.

Challenge types

You will also have to set the criteria of your map for

• Portals
• Steps
• Time

There are three similar sections at the end of each map. This one below is for portals. For steps or time, replace the "Portals" in each string with Steps or Time, accordingly.

		"#Bonus_Map_ChallengePortals"
		{
			"comment"	"#Bonus_Map_LeastPortalsComment"

			"bronze"	"9"
			"silver"	"5"
			"gold"		"4"
		}

The first line, again, is a language-based string variable. You don't have to change it here. The following three lines specify the amount of Portals, Steps, or Time needed for each medal.

Adding your own challenge

Adding your own challenge is an easy, 2-to-3-step task.

• Make your map(s) and put them in Steam/SteamApps/common/portal/portal/maps
• This is an optional step as you can reuse an old image, or create your own. If you created your own image, put it into the Steam/SteamApps/common/portal/portal/materials/VGUI directory or one of its subdirectories (recommended).
• Finally, create a new .bns file in the Steam/SteamApps/common/portal/portal/scripts/challenges folder and edit it with or without the help of this tutorial.

See also

• Portal Level Creation