Thunderdome 2015 » Printable Version of Topic

Forum: Games
Topic: Valve's "Portal."
started by: GORDON

Posted by GORDON on Jul. 19 2006,20:02

There's some mind stretching stuff in this demo.

< http://www.xboxyde.com/stream_2793_en.html >

Posted by TPRJones on Jul. 19 2006,20:17

Very cool stuff.

I played < Narbacular Drop > up to level four tonight, which is pretty cool. It's the school project that is the direct predecessor of Portal (same guys made it, and it lead to them being hired to make a better version of the same concept). It crashed out on me, but I plan to play more when I get back from DC.

Posted by Leisher on Jul. 20 2006,09:58

Portal looks very cool. The gun looks like a modified gravity gun from Half-Life 2.

Posted by Vince on Jul. 21 2006,19:05

Neat! Bit of a mind fuck.

Posted by Leisher on Jul. 21 2006,22:04

I heard Portal takes place in the Half-Life continuity. Interesting.

Posted by TPRJones on Oct. 30 2007,10:31

Absolutely the best game I have ever played. Excellent dark humor, very interesting game mechanics, the perfect balance between mind and twitch puzzles.

Only problem is it's way too short. Need more. But what is there is fairly replayable (play 2nd time for commentary, 3rd time for harder versions of the levels, 4th to 6th times for special challenges such as fastest time, least steps, and fewest portals, and 7th time with cheat codes to really screw with the levels).

I expect that when people start making their own maps we're going to see some bad-ass stuff. (There was mention of this in the commentaries, and I noticed in the console screen when entering cheat codes that there's a command structure set up to handle multiplayer sessions)

Posted by Leisher on Oct. 30 2007,13:00

Now HERE is an argument about greed on Valve's part.

I own HL2 and HL2:ep1, but to get Portal, TF2, and HL2:ep2, I need to buy this box, with things I already own, for $50 or pay MORE for the three things I need online via Steam.

See, that's horseshit. Fuck Valve in the ass for that move. I'm going to wait until Ep 3 hits. Although, I am interested in seeing Portal.

Posted by Leisher on Dec. 23 2007,23:12

QUOTE

Wow! I was wrong, wrong, wrong. As stated in another thread, Valve allows you to give your duplicate games away to friends and such. Pretty cool.

And to put this thread back on track, Portal is phenomenal.

As TPR said, it's very short, but hilarious. I will be playing through it again for the commentary and the bonus maps.

You've really got to pay attention when you're playing to get the full effect. Turn off all distractions and listen. Also keep an eye out for...well, just keep your eyes open.

Best. Ending. Ever.

This is one that not only will you play, but you could probably lasso your significant other into playing because it appeals to anyone. Only the finale requires typical "FPS skills" and truthfully it isn't that hard.

I'd like to dock it more as it's sooooo short, but damn does this game have personality. It also has close to perfect gameplay.

I miss my companion cube.

9 out of 10.

Posted by Leisher on Dec. 24 2007,12:20

< Happy Holidays from Aperture Science. >

Much funnier after you've played the game.

Posted by Leisher on Dec. 28 2007,11:09

Penny Arcade's first < "We're right" award of 2007. >

Posted by Leisher on Feb. 18 2008,06:51

Voted Game of the Year by the publication formerly known as Computer Gaming World.

Posted by Leisher on Apr. 17 2008,19:26

Someone goofed at GDC and leaked that Portal 2 was in development.

Posted by TPRJones on Apr. 17 2008,23:22

OOoooo!

Posted by GORDON on May 25 2008,17:18

Tied for Homeworld for best credit-sequence EVER.

I loved the polite and almost apologetic sentry guns tht tried to kill you.

Except for the audio-skipping loops/lockups every 45 seconds on my particular PC, I'd call this one of the best games ever.

< https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=5034-EIPV-6426 >

Posted by WSGrundy on Mar. 04 2010,10:22

Several updates over the last few days have led to some new in game hints about portal 2 and there is a new/extended ending which is suppose to give some hints to part 2. It has been a while since I played it so I think I will go back and see the new ending since I forget about many of the puzzles.

Posted by Leisher on Mar. 04 2010,10:58

I am on the final guy in Titan Quest, and once I beat him, I'll be moving back to Portal to see the new stuff.

Posted by Leisher on Mar. 08 2010,06:42

QUOTE

Where'd you get this info too? I'm just curious because I've been on the Steam Forums and there's no mention of this that I've noticed.

Posted by TPRJones on Mar. 08 2010,07:12

Pretty much everywhere else on the web. I've been following it on Shacknews myself, because that's what Google Reader decided I would like.

Example story: < http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/62622 >

Posted by Leisher on Mar. 08 2010,07:26

Awesome. I didn't want to run through it now, and then find out that the updates weren't there yet.

Posted by TPRJones on Mar. 08 2010,08:36

Apparently the changes in game are easy to miss. There's only one thing you'll see through normal play, the rest you have to search for and probably wouldn't notice without advance warning of where to look or what to do. Even then you'll need outside sources to make sense of anything new you experience.

These aren't just easter eggs, their data mining exercises. Except the one change that's noticable (yet very brief and still easy to miss if you don't remember the original).

Posted by Leisher on Mar. 08 2010,08:40

QUOTE

There's only one thing you'll see through normal play, the rest you have to search for and probably wouldn't notice without advance warning of where to look or what to do. Even then you'll need outside sources to make sense of anything new you experience.

That sounds an awful lot like playing "Braid".

Posted by GORDON on Mar. 10 2010,13:05

The radios on every map... is that new?

Posted by TPRJones on Mar. 10 2010,13:20

Yup.

Carry one around with you a bit on each map. See if anything interesting happens.

Posted by WSGrundy on Mar. 10 2010,14:34

Morse code is involved also isn't it. I haven't started playing yet but I thought I read that.

Posted by TPRJones on Mar. 10 2010,14:58

Yes. But I didn't want to give too much away if they weren't going and reading the linked stuff.

There's more than that, though. Valve got a bit creative with this one.

Posted by Leisher on Mar. 28 2010,19:02

< Translated. >

WARNING: That link has spoilers, although I cannot believe they went this far to hide some grainy photos...

Posted by GORDON on Mar. 28 2010,19:07

What was translated, the morse code?

Posted by Leisher on Mar. 28 2010,19:57

Apparently it was SSTV.

Posted by GORDON on Mar. 28 2010,21:03

What is a SSTV?

Posted by Cakedaddy on Mar. 28 2010,21:06

I wonder if Portal 2 is all done and ready for release, but they are waiting for people to solve the puzzle and then act like they started 'whatever' through their hacking stuff.

From what I've gathered over about two minutes of reading is that the morse code was a BBS number, and the BBS would transmit the SSTV signal that was decoded into the pictures with number and formula looking things. Figure out what they mean and they lead to the next clue. Or, maybe. . . we are all playing portal 2 right now. . .

Posted by TPRJones on Mar. 28 2010,22:19

GORDON: SSTV = Slow Scan TeleVision, an old ham-radio way to transmit images

Cakedaddy: The SSTV was embedded in the sounds of the game itself, specifically the "dinasour" sounds now played when you take a radio into that thing at the end of each level that destroys the stuff you carry.

That third image ("Dinasour 6") looks a lot like someone is playing Dwarf Fortress.

Posted by Leisher on Mar. 29 2010,12:37

By the way, I played through this again last night for the 5th or so time. It's still a blast, and if you haven't played it yet, you need to do so.

Posted by WSGrundy on Jun. 15 2010,15:15

Posted by GORDON on Jun. 15 2010,16:52

Wow, I got a little chill when I heard that voice, again.

Reminds me of Command and Conquer... 2? When you launch the game, get the really awesome intro stuff, then the computer says, "Welcome Back, Commander."

Oooo, chills just remembering that.