Axiom

Cave here, with a little reassurance to all test subjects: if you think you see something writhing around at the bottom of the enrichment sphere, don’t worry, it’s only a shark. Yup! Just when you thought it was unsafe to go back in the chamber, we found a way to get rid of all the radioactive kelp! Three cheers for the food chain, and four cheers for the educational poster in my office that taught me what that is.

So, that’s the kelp dealt with! Testing can resume. Only problem now is the parasitic leeches leeching on the shark’s blood. He can smell ‘em alright but the poor bastard’s got no hands to swipe ‘em off! Well, not yet. We don’t know what kind of horrific mutations those kelp cause when ingested but I’ll tell you this: when it comes to radiation, all bets are off.

Except for all the bets that are still on in our Science Casino! We’ve got sweepstakes on the fate of the shark, and guess what? I’m putting it all on red. Red as in blood, blood as in leeches. I don’t care if he grows eight heads and starts his own carpentry business, that hammerhead’s becoming a damn nuisance! Call me a sucker if you want but I’m all in on team leech. Cave Johnson, less bankrupt by the minute; we’re done here.

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• Mystical Λva: * Dang, has it been a while. Hey again! I’ve been busy lately, both with working on this map and working on Portal: Revolution, hence my long absence.

Anyways, welcome to Axiom! My biggest and most ambitious map to date. This is a Hammerization of Axiom by Demon Arisen. Which has been in on/off development since May of last year. That’s just over a year! Crazy.

I won’t hold you up any longer, you’ve got several decades to explore, several puzzles to solve, and a few secrets to find too~

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• Demon Arisen: * It’s been my absolute pleasure to see the talented Ava construct this beautifully detailed hammerisation over many months. Axiom is one of my proudest achievements as a designer, and a fan favourite; with four monoportal chambers focused on mobility gels, it was begging to be recreated in Old Aperture style, and Ava has more than done it justice. The sheer scale and ambition on display here is incredible to see - it’s hard to believe it all fits in one map! It’s always a treat to see one of my puzzles given a Hammer makeover, many thanks to Ava for her commitment and collaboration - I’m biased, but I’m sure you’ll agree this is her best work to date. Gorgeous stuff.

Oh, and I couldn’t resist doing a bit of writing to mark the occasion, so please enjoy the five hidden posters brought to life by my good friend MisterLambda, giving insight into the troubled times of Cave Johnson’s Aperture in the 1970s (if you can find them!)

If you’ve already played Axiom, I hope you enjoy seeing it anew here. And if you haven’t… good luck!

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Credits:

• Original puzzle by Demon Arisen
• Hammerization by Mystical Λva

Thumbnail

• Thumbnail by mika

Models

• Parallax Old Aperture indicator lights by Oktocentillion
• Better Old Aperture spheres by ARES Agent 228
• Old Aperture Adhesion Gel dropper by >:FrozenDragon:<

Textures

• Custom Old Aperture Portal Gun sign by Critfish
• No-border Old Aperture textures by Critfish
• Additional Old Aperture signage from BEE2.4
• Framework texture by Allison Ghost (AKA Valla-Chan)
• Cave Johnson posters by MisterLambda

Misc.

• Cave description and Cave poster writing by Demon Arisen
• Map feedback by totes maggots (Madeye)
• Old Aperture advice by Critfish

Playtesting

• Demon Arisen
• MisterLambda
• evelyncarnate
• Critfish
• evely_one

This map is comfortable to play on a controller