Portal 2

[Jimboxy]

From the cats over at 1up:

Last year's surprise hit Portal became known for a lot of things: inventive puzzles, its geek-hit ending theme song, and a humorous plot starring the homicidal artificial intelligence GLaDOS. We've heard that Portal 2 is on the way, but details about how it will pick up from the plot of the first game have been totally absent. A new rumor is circulating that could shed light on it.Kotaku reports that a tipster found a casting call on subscriber-only site Breakdown Express, detailing a role for the upcoming game. Be warned that if this rumor pans out, the description spoils what look to be major plot details: "[CAVE JOHNSON (ECCENTRIC DEAD BILLIONAIRE)] Cave Johnson is a character for a new game in the Portal series from Valve software. Portal is a dark comedy; the role will require comedic timing, with occasional dramatic moments. Age: early 60s. He is founder and CEO of a successful applied science company, a self-made billionaire who's learned to trust his gut and doesn't sweat the detailsis [sic] a big picture thinker. He might not know how science works, but he knows how people work. Used to getting what he wants. Extroverted, enthusiastic and opinionated. High energy: life is an adventure he's happy to be on. A born salesman, a leader, an evangelist. People trust him, even when his plans are clearly dangerous. Speaks with a slight Southern/Western accent (natural, not too broad). He uses a warm, homespun delivery to put people at their ease. he doesn't accept the responsibility that comes with his power. Either he doesn't see or chooses not to see the ramifications of his actions. Goes from sidekick to principle antagonist. Sarts [sic] to lose his grip on his humanity as the story progresses. As he isolates himself from the people around him, he loses touch with reality."So he's dead, but starts as a sidekick? Your guess is as good as ours, folks. Whether this means GLaDOS will be gone altogether or simply a role in addition to this one is impossible to tell, but if this Howard Hughes-esque figure replaces GLaDOS altogether, Valve may have some sad gamers on their hands.

|rce sou|

[Hendo]

Gameplay sounds different enough, if he's going round with you, like a co-op partner.

Can't wait!

[Jimboxy]

well, consider me erect. I can't wait for this. Portal is in my top 10 all time games. I even played it through with the developer commentary..

[Hendo]

I tried some of the extra challenges and I only did a few, they're bloody hard.

I started going through the commentary but I had to put Portal down and go through the rest of the Box.

If there has ever been a game that blew my mind, it was Portal!

[Jimboxy]

i think its perfection. Simple as, no other game i've ever played has managed to get all the elements of its parts as right as portal. The only other game that comes to mind if Shadow of the colossus, but there were parts of the game i found frustrating. Portal will be a game i'll come back to and play though time and time again.

[David]

Awesomeness.

Besides, if Glados is in Portal 2, they won't have an audition for it, I'd imagine Ellen McLain will get the job without a seconds thought.

[DANGERMAN]

Bizzump

Portal Update Released

March 1, 2010, 2:33 pm - Valve - Product Update

Updates to Portal have been released. The updates will be applied automatically when your Steam client is restarted.

Portal

Changed radio transmission frequency to comply with federal and state spectrum management regulations

Apparently (I cant test thanks to my computer problems) the result of this is that there's now radios dotted around Portal, it's a bit vague but it seems you have to collect them. People are taking this as a hint that either Portal 2 or Episode 3 will be at GDC

Quick Edit:

<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="

name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="

type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

EXCITE!!!!

Further edits: Apparently Episode 2 downloads an update too, make of that what you will (could just be a standard update, Steams constantly downloading shit)

[retroed]

From Steam forums.

Finally decoded them all.

Valve loves us.

#1-Dinosaur 1

I-N-T-E-R-I-O-R

T-R-A-N-S-M-I-S-S-I-O-N

A-C-T-I-V-E

E-X-T-E-R-N-A-L

D-A-T-A

L-I-N-E

A-C-T-I-V-E

M-E-S-S-A-G-E

D-I-G-E-S-T

A-C-T-I-V-E

#2-Dinosaur 5

9-E-J-0-7-D-3-7-2-B-B-6-8-2-6-B-D-8-1-D-3-5-4-2-A-4-1-9-D-6

(Which sanitysama says is "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog")

#3-Dinosaur 12

S-Y-S-T-E-M

D-A-T-A

D-U-M-P

A-C-T-I-V-E

U-S-E-R

B-A-C-K-U-P

A-C-T-I-V-E

P-A-S-S-W-O-R-D

B-A-C-K-U-P

A-C-T-I-V-E

#4-Dinosaur 17

B-E-E-P

B-E-E-E-E-P

B-E-E-P

B-E-E-P

B-E-E-E-E-P

B-E-E-E-E-P

B-E-E-E-E-P

B-E-E-P

B-E-E-E-E-P

B-E-E-P

B-E-E-P

And if you turn all those Beeps into individual morse code it spells LOL.

[David]

WANT. Although didn't the main designer of the first leave Valve?

[Craymen Edge]

Stopped reading the first post at the mention of spoilers. I'd rather discover all that for myself as I play.

WANT. Although didn't the main designer of the first leave Valve?

Yep. Kim Swift was one of the student team who made Narbacular Drop and then got snapped up by Valve. She left to join Airtight Games (makers of Dark Void).

Not too worried though, what made Portal so great was the way they applied the valve magic to the great game concept. The talented writers, artists etc. are still there.

[Hendo]

It gets better.

-- WARNING: UNDISCOVERED CORRUPTION IN ERROR CORRECTION ( ABEND 143 )

---- BEGIN RECORD 'C:\05083881.801\04186850.542' (1751 BYTES) ----

CONFIDENTIAL

October 17th, 1976

Re: Human Enrichment & Testing Initiative, Resource Acquisitions

1. "Low Risk" Human Resource Acquisitions

a. Hoboes and Tramps

Lives spent wandering aimlessly, cowering before authority, and drinking

concussive amounts of home-distilled potato alcohol make hoboes the perfect

Human Enrichment test subjects. The hobo questions nothing, will follow orders

if fed, and, like all hoboes, has a restless, wandering heart. (Note: The

wandering heart of the hobo should not be confused with Drifting Heart

Syndrome, which several transients contracted during testing.)

b. Child Orphans and Foundlings

Deep-rooted abandonment issues leave most orphans highly susceptible to

shame-based psychology (for a complete list of opportune moments to obliterate

the esteem of test subjects, please consult Training Video #89-D, "You'd

Perform This Test Better if You Had Parents"). Recent advances in the use of

scorn, flattery used in an ironic context and naked contempt as motivational

tools have yielded similarly profitable results.

c. Psychiatric Patients

Past experience shows these fellows are simply not shy at all about carrying

on, disrupting tests and defecating just about anywhere that pleases them.

Frankly, itís off-putting, and small wonder why Aperture-brand mental

institutions are being phased out in favor of more orphanages.

d. Seniors

Frail, brittle hands make holding science devices difficult. Most were born

before the advent of science, and can become confused and disoriented when

asked to participate in relatively simple tests (teleportation, invisibility,

adjusting esteem levels of orphan children).

---- RECORD ENDS ----

-- CAUTION: ANOMALOUS EMOTIONAL RESPONSE DETECTED ( #980 )

-- WARNING: UNDISCOVERED CORRUPTION IN ERROR CORRECTION ( ABEND 898 )

---- BEGIN RECORD 'C:\09394469.756\07583916.313' (371 BYTES) ----

MEMORANDUMS: Filed under CJohnson: 188454-G

&&^521762 jsow remind you that Aperture Science is built on three pillars.

Pillar one: Science without results is just witchcraft. Pillar two: Get

results or you're fired. Pillar three: if you suspect a coworker of bein' a

witch, report them immediately. I cannot stress that enough. Witchcraft will

not be tolerated.

---- RECORD ENDS ----

-- WARNING: UNDISCOVERED CORRUPTION IN ERROR CORRECTION ( ABEND 132 )

Filed under CJohnson

A lot of you have been raising concerens of the so called "dangers" of what

we're all doing here. The beancounters (wut) told me to tell you that as of

today, testing will no longer be as mandatory, or as dangerous. That's not

gonna happen. And here's the reason:

Science isnt about why, it's about why not. You ask 'why is so much of our

science dangerous?' I say, Why not marry safe science if you love it so much.

In fact why not invet a special safetey door that won't hit you in the butt on

your way out cause you are fired.

Plus, in the event of your death, I personally guarentee that, thanks to the

form you were required to sign this morning, your family will not suffer the

indignities of a long and costly legal battle against Aperture Science. Trust me,

I am rich, and it is a burden I would not wish on anyone.

-- CAUTION: UNEXPECTED DISCONNECTION EXPECTED ( #838 )

---- BEGIN RECORD 'C:\07533945.935\09823219.940' (570 BYTES) ----

MEMORANDUMS: Filed under CJohnson: 1564029-G

&&*&)90 &^@^@% &@!%@$%@!&@^ ((#(kjkjsdsajdlkdjsk ^@%% and do not 2612%^54talk

to me about casualty rates. The bean counters told me I couldn't fire a man

just for bein in a wheelchair. Did it anyway! Ramps are expensive. Or when

they said I couldn't practice beekeeping in the office. They should have told

that to the honey that won first place in the state finals! &43$$$ $#@^^&@*&^

Hell, they even said I couldn't cheat death. You know where I'd be if I

followed the rules? Dead! Dead, and honey prize-less!

---- RECORD ENDS ----

-- CAUTION: ANOMALOUS EMOTIONAL RESPONSE DETECTED ( #654 )

---- BEGIN RECORD 'C:\02622005.965\06615262.757' (863 BYTES) ----

MEMORANDUMS: Filed under CJohnson: 1085839-G

This one's important, folks, so no skimmin'. Cave Johnson here, your boss and

founder of Aperture Science, the best damn applied sciences company on Earth.

How good is the science here? Get a load of this: as of this morning, I am dead!

Now, yer probably askin' yourself, "Cave, come on now, how is this possible?

Are you some manner of Dracula? Or Frankenstein? Or dependin' on yer cultural

heritage, a Blackula or Latin Frankenstein?"

No sir! It's science. Thanks to our diligent Aperture engineers, I am writin' memos

to you today, literally, from beyond the grave! Furthermore I'd like to inform

everybody wearing a blue shirt today that you are fired...

---- RECORD ENDS ----

-- WARNING: NO ERROR DETECTED

[Craymen Edge]

New ending to Portal:

<object width="425" height="305"><embed src="http://media.xfire.com/swf/embedplayer.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="305" flashvars="videoid=2393cf"></embed></object>

[Hendo]

Finally!

Valve, creators of best-selling game franchises (such as Left 4 Dead, Counter-Strike and Half-Life) and leading technologies (such as Steam and Source), today announced Portal 2 for shipment this coming holiday season.

This month's cover story for Game Informer:

Valve is known for making quality first-person shooters: The Half-Life series redefined how players think about the FPS genre, while titles like Team Fortress and Left 4 Dead took team-oriented multiplayer action to a whole new level. But among Valve's stable of popular shooters, one game stands alone: the mind-bending puzzler, Portal. A small-scale experiment that was squeezed into 2007's The Orange Box alongside some powerful heavyweights, the love Portal received from fans was beyond anything Valve could have imagined, winning it a full-fledged, standalone sequel. Our 12-page cover story gives you the first details on Portal 2's new gameplay mechanics, storyline, and some surprising new twists.

There are two versions of the cover this issue – the second one reverses the portals. Here's what it looks like:

Equal inside and outside areas then?

[HandsomeDead]

Yip, more Portal. Maybe they are planning to bundle it with Episode 3?...

[retroed]

Looks like Portal 2 is going to feature co-op. This could be interesting.

http://g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/703016/GameStop-Reveals-Major-Portal-2-Feature----Co-Op-.html

[Cyberpunk]

This is great news. Portal is up there in my top ten of all time. Love this game to bits. Can;t wait for part 2. I might replay portal 1 now.

Oh shit. Sorry, I've just had a accident. lol

[Hendo]

Oh dear lord, it's time to change the pants.

Portal 2 features a separate two-player co-operative campaign, playable over the internet, and new gameplay features include physics-changing paint.

That's according to various reports and scans that have popped up since Friday's confirmation that Portal 2 is due out this year on PC and Xbox 360. According to Game Informer's latest preview, it's also heading to Mac.

A GameStop product page filled in some of the blanks. "Portal 2 introduces a cast of dynamic new characters, a host of fresh puzzle elements, and a much larger set of devious test chambers," it explained.

"Players will explore never-before-seen areas of the Aperture Science Labs and be reunited with GLaDOS, the occasionally murderous computer companion who guided them through the original game."

That's not all, either. Although it has subsequently been edited, the page previously confirmed co-op. "The game's two-player co-operative mode features its own entirely separate campaign with a unique story, test chambers, and two new player characters," it said.

"This new mode forces players to reconsider everything they thought they knew about portals. Success will require them to not just act co-operatively, but to think co-operatively."

Those details are confirmed in the full Game Informer preview, seen by Eurogamer, which reveals that the co-op campaign stars a paid of bipedal robots (one derived from a GLaDOS-style "personality core", the other from a turret).

Co-op will work online or in local split-screen, and includes various options to assist with communication, including a picture-in-picture mode.

The main single-player campaign will take place hundreds of years after the original Portal, although you still control main character Chell.

On the story side, the recent changes to the first game's end sequence hint at narrative continuity, confirmed in the preview, and Portal 2 will also absorb other details that may have seemed throwaway at the time, like the rows of GLaDOS-style personality cores illuminating the room with the cake during the last scene of the first game.

These cores were individual AIs, some of whom now play secondary characters you encounter in various contexts.

Although your gun will continue to fire just two portals, physical forces will now bleed between them. For example, a portal positioned below a powerful suction tube will maintain that suction across the portal threshold, affecting objects on the other side. There's also a tractor beam.

Perhaps most interestingly, there's even a range of paints that change surface friction and behaviour, which you can distribute through careful portal use. For example, you can paint the floor orange to increase the speed you move over it.

You will also get to see more behind the scenes of the Aperture Science facility. It sounds as though time hasn't been kind to the labs, and of course the further away from the shop floor you get the greater the chance of finding out more of what's going on in the story.

Finally, the preview confirms that Portal 2 will be significantly longer than its predecessor. Despite all the acclaim it attracted, Valve feels it was taking a chance on the original, whereas this time it is more sure of itself.

As marketing director Doug Lombardi puts it in Game Informer, "Portal was a testbed. Portal 2 is a game."

[Craymen Edge]

Perhaps most interestingly, there's even a range of paints that change surface friction and behaviour, which you can distribute through careful portal use. For example, you can paint the floor orange to increase the speed you move over it.

If anyone's interested to see how that's going to work, have a look around for a download of Tag: The Power of Paint.

Valve hired the guys who made it a few months back.

[Pikman]

OH EM GEE!!!!

[hinn888]

Co - op and paint puzzles? I can see our heads exploding.