Portal

Posted by: Roger

Portal - 15/10/2007 19:02

Just finished it. How's everyone else getting on?

Posted by: Dignan

Re: Portal - 15/10/2007 19:10

Quote:
Just finished it. How's everyone else getting on?

I really want to play Portal. But seeing as how the normal Half Life 2 game makes me motion sick after five minutes, I think Portal would do horrible things to my stomach.

Is it as good as it looks? I hear it's a fairly short playtime. Are there any particularly insane puzzles?

Posted by: tfabris

Re: Portal - 15/10/2007 19:20

Quote:
Just finished it. How's everyone else getting on?

I finished the normal game the first night (the 10th).

I went through the game with commentary on, the following two nights. Which, by the way, is AWESOME. I totally want to meet Ellen McLain. Vixy and I also spent quite a bit of time playing with GCFscape and listening to the GLaDOS audio files, especially the ones at the end. "It also says you're adopted."

Oh, and the ending song is already extracted, tagged, and in the Jonathan Coulton playlist on my Empeg.

I finished the "Advanced" maps (which get unlocked when you finish the normal maps) last night, including a failure-space solution to one particularly nasty room on the very last map (i.e., a solution that they didn't intend and didn't prevent me from doing, but which seems logical and consistent within the game world).

I have already learned, practiced, and charted out the ending song so that Vixy and I can perform it at the convention in Vancouver we're doing this weekend. We'll probably rehearse the song some tonight. Vixy has been quoting GLaDOS all week and can do the voice perfectly.

We've even been analyzing the song, noting why it's such a quintessential Coulton piece in terms of the key changes, the song structure, and the chord theory. There's a particular note interval that's so VERY coulton, and it's painfully catchy. I wish I could write like that.

Somewhere in there, I also managed to finish Episode 2. Which was also AWESOME.

Posted by: tfabris

Re: Portal - 15/10/2007 19:25

Quote:
But seeing as how the normal Half Life 2 game makes me motion sick after five minutes, I think Portal would do horrible things to my stomach.

It's funny, but for me, motion sickness is a bad headache rather than stomach upset. Oddly, the game that made me motion sick the worst recently was BioShock, whereas Halo3 and the Valve games don't cause that so much.

Anyway, yeah, if HL2 makes you hurl, Portal would probably do so in much quicker fashion due to the constant shifting of gravity reference frame.

Have you ever tried taking motion sickness drugs? Do they help? This game is worth going to all that trouble for.

Quote:
Is it as good as it looks? I hear it's a fairly short playtime. Are there any particularly insane puzzles?

Yes, yes, and yes.

The short playtime is fine for me because the core game is just SO AWESOME in so many ways. There is some replay value as I mentioned above, though.

I think the best part was having Vixy nearby while I was playing. She was totally cracking up (along with me) over everything GLaDOS said.

Posted by: Roger

Re: Portal - 15/10/2007 19:26

Quote:
normal Half Life 2 game makes me motion sick after five minutes, I think Portal would do horrible things to my stomach.

That's fairly likely, then, because there's some extremely freaky physics going on in some of the levels.

Quote:
Is it as good as it looks?

I'm not sure. I enjoyed it, and I think I'll play it through again, but...

Quote:
I hear it's a fairly short playtime.

...it didn't take that long to finish. I played it for about three hours on Thursday, and probably a couple more hours over the weekend, and finished the last bit in about 20 minutes this evening.

It's got some bonus game modes that I'll be investigating at some point.

Quote:
Are there any particularly insane puzzles?

They get more insane as you go on, and they're all pretty good.

Spoiler:
Gurer'f bar jurer va beqre gb whzc npebff n irel jvqr ubevmbagny tnc, lbh unir gb chg n ubyr va gur prvyvat naq va gur sybbe, naq ybbc guebhtu n pbhcyr bs gvzrf gb ohvyq hc rabhtu irybpvgl, naq gura cynpr na rkvg va gur jnyy, nf lbh tb cnfg, va beqre gb syvat lbhefrys npebff gur tnc.

Posted by: tfabris

Re: Portal - 15/10/2007 19:28

By the way, if anyone wants HL2 and Episode 1, I can gift 'em.

Posted by: RobotCaleb

Re: Portal - 15/10/2007 19:38

I found the puzzles lacking, actually.

Only a couple of them took longer than a couple glances to figure out what to do. The doing did take the most effort, but that's to be expected.

It was a great game, though.

I'd like to see more momentum based puzzles. I'm hoping the community maps take off soon. I've only seen a couple of user maps so far and they all suck. It won't be long before they get better, though. [/hope]

I'm loving TF2, though.

TF2
Portal
HL2:EP2
I missed 11 grubs.

The Gordon Propelled Rocket was cool, but kind of a misnomer, I think. Maybe Grenade Propelled Gordon
I have to work more at killing a hunter with its flechettes. I tried just a couple times, but it didn't appear that I could pick them up with the Zero Point Energy Manipulator. *shrug*

Posted by: frog51

Re: Portal - 15/10/2007 19:39

Just discovered this was out yesterday -awesome!
Spoiler:
Tbg cnfg yriry 19 naq nz fghpx va gung svany punzore jvgu TynQBF. Nsgre qebccvat gur onyy qbja gur qvfcbfny puhgr V unir gevrq rirelguvat gb qrfgebl vg, ohg ab wbl. Zl nffhzcgvba jnf gung V trg gur ebpxrg ynhapure gb gnetrg zr, qbqtr naq yrg gur ebpxrg tb guebhtu n cbegny gb xvyy vg - ohg gung xrrcf ba abg jbexvat.

Am I on the right lines? All hints accepted...

oh, and did someone say HL2 Episode 2 is out? I must have been out of touch too long. Gah!

Edit: De-spoiled
--_l0ser

Posted by: Roger

Re: Portal - 15/10/2007 19:42

Quote:
Am I on the right lines? All hints accepted...

Yes, you're on the right lines:

Spoiler:
Lbh trg gur ebpxrg ynhapure gb uvg TYnQBF (ol bcravat na rkvg ng gur hccre yriry, naq na ragenapr ng gur ybjre yriry -- fgnaq va sebag bs gur ragenapr naq gura qbqtr), naq na beo snyyf bss. Lbh gura chg vg va gur sheanpr. Lbh unir gb ercrng guvf sbe rnpu bs frireny beof.

Posted by: Roger

Re: Portal - 15/10/2007 19:46

Quote:
By the way, if anyone wants HL2 and Episode 1, I can gift 'em.

Er, me too, if somebody uses Tony's gifts. Er.

Posted by: Waterman981

Re: Portal - 15/10/2007 19:47

I just finished going through with commentary mode on. I loved it! I put "Still Alive" on my empeg on Friday and have listened to it far to many times.

I really can't wait to see how they integrate Portal with Half-Life in the future.

Here's my Portal stats. Has anyone gotten the Long Jump? If so how?

MAJOR HL2:EP2 SPOILER!
Spoiler:
Qvq nalbar ryfr trg zvfgl rlrq jvgu gur fubpxvat raqvat gb RC2? Ubj nobhg jura Nylk tbg uheg?

Posted by: tfabris

Re: Portal - 15/10/2007 19:50

Spoiler:
Gurl npghnyyl jrag gb terng cnvaf gb znxr fher gung lbh xarj ubj gb qb gur ebpxrg-erqverpgvba zrpunavp fubegyl orsber ernpuvat gur svany obff. Lbh pna'g ernpu gur svany obff yriry jvgubhg univat unq gb erqverpg ng yrnfg bar ebpxrg guebhtu n cbegny, fb V'z fhecevfrq gung nalbar unf gebhoyr jvgu gung bar.

Jung tbg zr jnf gung bar bs gur fcurerf raqf hc va n uneq-gb-frr cynpr. Gur bar gung raqf hc ba gur furys nobir TYnQBF. Va snpg, jura gur fcurer jrag gurer, V jngpurq vg tb sylvat bss va n pbzcyrgryl qvssrerag qverpgvba, naq vg arire ybbxrq yvxr vg jrag hc gurer. Va snpg, vg ybbxrq yvxr vg tyvgpurq bhg bs gur yriry trbzrgel naq qvfnccrnerq.

V xabj gurer vf n snvag ivfhny phr cbvagvat gb vg, ohg V qvqa'g abgvpr gung phr ba gur cevbe fcurer, fb vg qvqa'g uryc zr. Vg gbbx zr n ybat gvzr gb svaq gur fcurer. Fb ybat, va snpg, gung V ena bhg bs arhebgbkva gvzr, naq unq gb erybnq sebz na rneyvre fnirq tnzr gb or noyr gb pbzcyrgr gur svany obff.

Posted by: Roger

Re: Portal - 15/10/2007 19:54

Quote:
Spoiler:
Jung tbg zr jnf gung bar bs gur fcurerf raqf hc va n uneq-gb-frr cynpr. Gur bar gung raqf hc ba gur furys nobir TYnQBF.

Yeah, I had the same problem. One of the guys at work finished it over the weekend, and he told me how to do that part today.

Posted by: drakino

Re: Portal - 15/10/2007 19:55

Quote:
It's funny, but for me, motion sickness is a bad headache rather than stomach upset. Oddly, the game that made me motion sick the worst recently was BioShock, whereas Halo3 and the Valve games don't cause that so much.

This is the same reaction I have, and I had to stop in the middle of Portal due to the headache. The FOV tends to be what triggers it quicker, and Valve keeps the FOV at 90 on 4:3 screens and expands it higher on widescreen. Where as Bioshock I think did 75 at all view points, 16:9, 16:10 and 4:3, resulting in the big backlash about improper widescreen support.

I liked Portal quite a bit, and hope they expand it. From what I gather from interviews and the commentary, Valve put it out there to test the reactions of it first, and will expand on the concept if it proves to be popular. I'm not sure how much value it will add to have additional maps added after the fact, since for me at least a big part of the game wasn't just the puzzles, but also how the environment and story were done. Portal 2 would be a definite buy for me if they made another complete adventure in a similar way.

Quote:
Vixy and I also spent quite a bit of time playing with GCFscape and listening to the GLaDOS audio files

Yeah, that was the first thing I did after beating it too. I have the soundtrack on my iPhone, and will be putting it on the CarPC and empeg at work soon. Did you by chance catch the name of the composer for the rest of the soundtrack? I'd like it to say something other then Valve.

Oh, and also, it looks like their audio engineer made a small mistake in one of the tracks. You can clearly make out the standard Outlook new mail sound. It's funny how that sound still triggers something in me, even though I haven't personally run Outlook for a while now. I had to rewind the track to see if that was indeed the source of the sound, as part of me just thought it was a phantom noise at first.

Quote:
By the way, if anyone wants HL2 and Episode 1, I can gift 'em.

I'm betting there are going to be a ton of people out there like this. While the bundle was cool for EP2, Portal and TF2, I don't see a lot of people making use of the gifting, since anyone interested in HL2 at this point will likely just go the Orange Box route themselves. Personally I held off on EP1 though, and still am waiting to play Half Life 2 until they are done with the episodic content. Once EP3 wraps it up, then I'll play the base game and the episodes in one go through.

I'm also not going to preorder again. While $45 seemed a decent deal, and was fun for the early TF2 access, Frys ended up having the Orange Box priced at $35 on release day. They also had EP1 cheeper then Steam as well when that came out.

Posted by: RobotCaleb

Re: Portal - 15/10/2007 19:56

Quote:
"It also says you're adopted."

Spoiler:
V ybirq gur "Erzrzore jura V jnf nyy gelvat gb zheqre lbh" ovg. Pna'g erzrzore rknpgyl ubj vg jrag, ohg vg znqr zr yby.

Posted by: tfabris

Re: Portal - 15/10/2007 19:57

Quote:
MAJOR HL2:EP2 SPOILER!

Spoiler:
V qvqa'g trg zvfgl rlrq ng Nylk trggvat uheg. Gurl uvagrq vg jnf tbvat gb unccra va gur genvyre ynfg lrne, fb V jnfa'g fhecevfrq. V jnf n yvggyr rzbgvbanyyl pbaarpgrq gb ure sngure (naq ure eryngvbafuvc jvgu ure sngure), fb frrvat uvz qvr jnf n irel fyvtug ovg bs n thg-jerapure, ohg vg jnf sberfunqbjrq gbb zhpu, fb V xarj vg jnf pbzvat naq vg jnfa'g gung ovt bs n guvat gb zr.

Obgu bs gubfr vafgnaprf fhssrerq sebz gur ceboyrz bs arrqvat gb vzzbovyvmr Tbeqba fb gung ur jnf urycyrff. V qba'g yvxr vg jura Unys-yvsr qbrf gung. Vg gnxrf zr bhg bs gur tnzr naq znxrf zr fgbc fhfcraqvat qvforyvrs, guhf qvzvavfuvat gur birenyy vzcnpg. V'q engure unir n fvghngvba jurer vg frrzf yvxr V'z svtugvat jryy, ohg ab znggre ubj jryy V sbhtug, V pbhyqa'g fnir gurz.

Posted by: RobotCaleb

Re: Portal - 15/10/2007 19:59

Quote:
I'm betting there are going to be a ton of people out there like this. While the bundle was cool for EP2, Portal and TF2, I don't see a lot of people making use of the gifting, since anyone interested in HL2 at this point will likely just go the Orange Box route themselves.

I have noone to gift it to because everyone I know that is interested already has Orange Box and has gifts to give themselves. JM is the only person I would have thought to give it to but she got such a kick out of watching me play TF2 that she made me buy Orange Box for her so she could play TF2 as well.

Posted by: RobotCaleb

Re: Portal - 15/10/2007 20:08

Quote:
Quote:
MAJOR HL2:EP2 SPOILER!

Tony's spoiiled text should be here. it was screwing with the forum by having two spoilers in one post, for some reason.

Spoiler:
Gubfr Nqivfbef gung cvaarq Nylk naq Tbeqba naq Ryv ernyyl perrc zr bhg. V pna'g jnvg gb fgneg svtugvat gurz. Znlor jvgu fubgf sverq guebhtu cbegnyf?

Posted by: frog51

Re: Portal - 15/10/2007 20:11

thanks Roger - I had tried that many times but hadn't seen any results. I will try in different places.

Posted by: tfabris

Re: Portal - 15/10/2007 20:18

Quote:
thanks Roger - I had tried that many times but hadn't seen any results. I will try in different places.

Spoiler:
Gur gevpx vf gung gur terra ynfre fubjf lbh jurer vg'f tbaan ynaq. Lbh zhfg cbfvgvba gur cbegnyf fb gur ynfre, naq guhf gur ebpxrg, fznpxf evtug vagb gur prageny TYnQBF nezngher jvgu nyy gur rlr fcurerf. Cneg bs gur gevpx vf abgvpvat gung gur ynfre gnxrf gvzr gb ybpx bagb lbh, fb lbh unir gb ubyq fgvyy ybat rabhtu, naq or fgnaqvat va gur evtug cbfvgvba, sbe gur ynfre gb or nvzrq pbeerpgyl. Snpvat NJNL sebz gur ebpxrg ynhapure naq ybbxvat vagb gur CBEGNY nf gur ebpxrg ynhapurf vf gur xrl urer. Lbh fubhyq or noyr gb frr gur ynfre genpx evtug bagb TYnQBF naq gura trg oybpxrq ol lbhe obql. Jura gur orrc bs gur ybpxba fbhaq unccraf, bayl GURA qb lbh zbir bhg bs gur jnl bs gur ebpxrg.

Posted by: tfabris

Re: Portal - 15/10/2007 20:20

Yeah, there are some tantalizing hints that Aperture Science's products will somehow be involved in Episode 3...

Posted by: Tim

Re: Portal - 15/10/2007 20:30

I am kind of stuck on 16. I think I know how to do it, I just haven't been able to execute my thoughts yet. TF2 (and a beta) are taking up waaaaay too much of my time. TF2 is amazing.

Posted by: frog51

Re: Portal - 15/10/2007 20:52

Yeah - I was just aiming at all the wrong places. Once I knew how to do it it took just under 2 minutes... now for the challenges:-)

Posted by: FireFox31

Re: Portal - 16/10/2007 01:08

Oh, they finally released Portal?! I was addicted to the team's original product, Narbacular Drop well over a year ago. Promised myself I'd buy a new computer just to play Portal.

If the game was easy, then don't worry. The Narbacular Drop forum regulars will surely create many challenging Portal maps for you all (if there's a Portal editor). Kim can't create them all herself.

Posted by: Roger

Re: Portal - 16/10/2007 05:07

Spoiler:
Vs lbh ybbx ng gur ebpxrg gheerg, gurer'f fbzr ungpuvat ba gur sybbe. Lbh pna hfr guvf nf n thvqr gb cynpr gur ragel cbegny ba gur jnyy ba gung fvqr bs gur unyy, fb gung vg'f svevat fgenvtug. Vs lbh cynpr gur rkvg cbegny rknpgyl prageny nobir gur qbbe lbh pnzr va guebhtu, vg fubhyq uvg gur nezngher rirel gvzr. Nf Gbal fnlf, ybbx guebhtu gur cbegny gb qbhoyr-purpx. Nyfb, qba'g fgnaq va sebag bs gur cbegny hagvy gur gheerg vf fpnaavat gbjneqf lbh, bgurejvfr vg'yy fcbg lbh guebhtu gur rkvg cbegny svefg, naq sver va gur jebat qverpgvba.

Posted by: Schido

Re: Portal - 16/10/2007 07:35

I want to play both ep2 and portal, but i really don't like their prices.

Portal and ep2 separate just as expensive as that orange box, with hl2, and ep1? Which i paid top money for too? Is that a way too say thank you to the loyal fans or something?
[/rant mode off]

I wouldn't know anyone that i would give hl2 and ep1 too either.

Posted by: furtive

Re: Portal - 16/10/2007 08:37

Quote:
By the way, if anyone wants HL2 and Episode 1, I can gift 'em.

I've got Ep1 but would love HL2.

Posted by: Dignan

Re: Portal - 16/10/2007 10:37

Quote:
By the way, if anyone wants HL2 and Episode 1, I can gift 'em.

Wait, so you're saying that you can give someone Half Life 2 and Episode 1 for free? If so, would someone be willing to send one my way? I'm not sure how it works, though. I wanted to give my best man Half Life 2, but I wasn't sure if my copy would transfer to him with all that steam stuff.

Does he need to sign up for a steam account before he could get the game from one of you?

Posted by: Roger

Re: Portal - 16/10/2007 12:40

Quote:
Wait, so you're saying that you can give someone Half Life 2 and Episode 1 for free?

Looks like it.

Quote:
Does he need to sign up for a steam account before he could get the game from one of you?

Yes. We'll need to know his SteamID to do so, most likely.

Posted by: tman

Re: Portal - 16/10/2007 13:32

They need to be in your Steam friends list for you to gift it. It took a loooooooooong time but I actually found a friend who doesn't already have HL2 and would actually want it.

Posted by: tfabris

Re: Portal - 16/10/2007 17:07

Quote:
I've got Ep1 but would love HL2.

That's so very odd! I can't imagine buying Ep1 without having already owned and played HL2. What's the story behind that?

If you're on my Steam friends list, I'll gift it the next time I'm back at the computer.

Edit I see you're in the community so it's all good. Probably Wednesday night (US Pacific time) you'll see it.

Posted by: Dignan

Re: Portal - 16/10/2007 17:48

How do you get a gift to give?

Posted by: tfabris

Re: Portal - 16/10/2007 18:14

Quote:
How do you get a gift to give?

It's explained at my link, and from sub-links therein.

It happens because I (like many others) already bought HL2+Ep1, and now I bought Orange Box, so now I own two copies of HL2+Ep1.

So in the "My Games" menu on steam, next to those two games, is a gift button.

Posted by: tman

Re: Portal - 16/10/2007 19:08

Took me ages to work out the momentum one

Spoiler:
V jnf ybbcvat nebhaq naq gelvat gb fubbg gur jnyy nf vg syrj cnfg. Zhpu rnfvre gb fubbg gur rkvg hc uvtu, whzc guebhtu naq gura chg nabgure cbegny jurer lbh ynaq.

Posted by: drakino

Re: Portal - 16/10/2007 19:10

Actually, Tony, if you want to save yours, I only have HL2 to gift, as I never bought EP1 till the Orange Box. That way if you gift yours to someone, they get both HL2 and EP1.

Posted by: tfabris

Re: Portal - 16/10/2007 19:37

Quote:
Actually, Tony, if you want to save yours, I only have HL2 to gift, as I never bought EP1 till the Orange Box. That way if you gift yours to someone, they get both HL2 and EP1.

Okay, deal.

Furtive, you're getting HL2 from Drakino.

Posted by: frog51

Re: Portal - 16/10/2007 20:05

Sadly I saw the Orange Box thing very late - so bought Portal. I guess I'll buy Orange Box now so will have HL2, HL2ep1 and Portal to gift.

Anyone need some games?

Oh - And I spotted Stalker - shadow of Chernobyl as well. Gonna have to buy that too. Just joined the empeg group so will have to get some games on!

Posted by: tman

Re: Portal - 16/10/2007 21:59

Quote:
Sadly I saw the Orange Box thing very late - so bought Portal. I guess I'll buy Orange Box now so will have HL2, HL2ep1 and Portal to gift.

You can only gift HL2 and Ep1 according to the website.

Posted by: Dignan

Re: Portal - 16/10/2007 23:40

Well crap. Looks like I can't use my old Steam account. It's been over a year since I logged into it, and I forgot my password. I've now gone through the password reset process about 12 times. I have the account name right, because I'm receiving the emails instructing me how to change the password. It gives me a security code, but it also says I have to answer a "secret question" that I guess I filled out when I signed up. Unfortunately, that question was "who was your childhood hero?"

What the hell? I have do idea what I entered for that, and I've tried everything I can think of, from parents to superheros, but nothing works. And I guess I'd have to enter it exactly right or it wouldn't register properly. What a stupid system. I really don't want to make a new account name...

Posted by: drakino

Re: Portal - 17/10/2007 14:51

Quote:
Quote:
Actually, Tony, if you want to save yours, I only have HL2 to gift, as I never bought EP1 till the Orange Box. That way if you gift yours to someone, they get both HL2 and EP1.

Okay, deal. Furtive, you're getting HL2 from Drakino.

Furtive, it looks like you need to accept my friend request before I can send it. Once you do, I'll send the game off to you, and it should show up in your Steam "Not Installed" list.

Posted by: tfabris

Re: Portal - 17/10/2007 19:26

Quote:
You can only gift HL2 and Ep1 according to the website.

Which is really kind of silly. You'd think if they put the mechanism in there for two games, they'd do it for all of them. Odd.

Posted by: tman

Re: Portal - 18/10/2007 12:08

There are videos on YouTube of people doing the speed runs. Some of them are crazy! Just over a minute to complete a test chamber in some of them. I don't think I could ever aim and fire the portals that quick...

Posted by: tfabris

Re: Portal - 18/10/2007 15:15

One of those speed runs did something I was always afraid to try. I'll have to try it next time I play it: Peek part way though a pair of portals and shoot your next portal from that point.

It seems to make you fall out of whatever portal you were peeking through, but if you set things up right you can blow another hole after you fall...

Posted by: tfabris

Re: Portal - 18/10/2007 15:22

Wow this one is even more amazing http://youtube.com/watch?v=oOejahbmw2c

Posted by: RobotCaleb

Re: Portal - 18/10/2007 15:35

I've done it. It does push you, but if you're not sticking out too far it won't knock you off. I had to use that technique to beat some of the custom maps I've found.

Posted by: tman

Re: Portal - 18/10/2007 16:03

Quote:
Wow this one is even more amazing http://youtube.com/watch?v=oOejahbmw2c

Pfft. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HX48SV9dsxs is even faster! 58 seconds!

Posted by: wfaulk

Re: Portal - 18/10/2007 16:13

This game makes my brain hurt.

Posted by: tfabris

Re: Portal - 18/10/2007 18:04

Quote:
Quote:
Wow this one is even more amazing http://youtube.com/watch?v=oOejahbmw2c

Pfft. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HX48SV9dsxs is even faster! 58 seconds!

That's just the standard difficulty level. The ones I was linking were for the advanced difficulty, where you couldn't do certain things the 58-second guy uses, and the sentry guns are much more active and deadly.

Posted by: tfabris

Re: Portal - 18/10/2007 18:49

Quote:
Peek part way though a pair of portals and shoot your next portal from that point.

Ah, this video shows the awesome way of doing it.

You peek through the portal, shoot another portal as you're peeking through, and (here's the key) as portal the "bullet" is flying through the air towards the wall, back out of the portal again before it hits. Thus advancing your destination portal each time without ever needing to leave your starting point.

Posted by: drakino

Re: Portal - 18/10/2007 18:51

Quote:
It seems to make you fall out of whatever portal you were peeking through, but if you set things up right you can blow another hole after you fall...

The developer commentary talked about this on one of the early levels. They didn't want the portals to kill the player or destroy objects, so they sometimes gently push the player or object out of the way if it is closing.

Posted by: RobotCaleb

Re: Portal - 18/10/2007 20:45

That's one way of doing it but, as I said, it's not necessary. You can remain in the portal.

Posted by: tfabris

Re: Portal - 24/10/2007 17:21

Updates:

I'm trying to get gold medals in all of the challenges. Goodness, some of them are tough. But do-able.

Something interesting... I'm pretty sure there's a way to do Challenge 13 with ZERO portals. First, watch this. Then, understand that the first two portals he used were unnecessary: It's possible to jump off the button just right and be able to barely grab the cube from below without using any portals (illustrated here, I was able to replicate it after a few tries). Edit: Now that I think about it, I'm not sure how one would get up to the ledge without a portal. Maybe it can't be done.

Another fun one is the "use the camera to jam the door open trick" shown here. I discovered that trick very early on (I alluded to having done it in my very first post on this thread). But this guy takes it a step further and succesfully flings the security camera into the doorway from a distance, whereas I had to carefully balance the camera against the door seam then hop up to the button.

Finally, Vixy and I have come to a conclusion about the game's setting and how it fits into the HL2 universe. Take the following quote from GLaDOS at the end:

Quote:
Are you trying to escape? *warped laughter* Things have changed since you last left the building. Whats going on out there is going to make you wish you were back in here. I have an infinite capacity for knowledge, and even I'm not sure what's going on outside. All I know is that I'm the only thing standing between us and them. Unless you have the parts to build a new supercomputer, this place isn't going to be safe much longer. Nice job on that, by the way.

Clearly, you were in the stasis chamber during the Black Mesa incident, and GLaDOS has been managing to keep the various Xen baddies out of Aperture labs the whole time.

Vixy realized this morning that certain lines in the Coulton song hint to this as well:

"When I look out there it makes me glad I'm not you."
...
"While you're dying, I'll be still alive."

Can't wait until Episode 3.

Posted by: tman

Re: Portal - 24/10/2007 19:06

Quote:
Unless you have the parts to build a new supercomputer, this place isn't going to be safe much longer. Nice job on that, by the way.

Safe being relative here

Stuck inside with a psychotic rampaging AI that gassed the rest of the facility...

Quote:
Clearly, you were in the stasis chamber during the Black Mesa incident, and GLaDOS has been managing to keep the various Xen baddies out of Aperture labs the whole time.

I'd guess at sometime between HL1 and HL2. The shot where you wake up after blowing up GLaDOS shows it be fairly normal looking. No sign of combine or a massive citadel in the background.

Posted by: frog51

Re: Portal - 25/10/2007 20:55

that would work, time-wise...judging by the contents of the transmission Alyx has in ep2...

Posted by: tfabris

Re: Portal - 25/10/2007 22:02

Holy cow.

Posted by: frog51

Re: Portal - 28/10/2007 17:49

that just isn't normal. I mean I'm still having trouble trying to throw stuff, let alone have that sort of accuracy in firing!

Posted by: SuperQ

Re: Portal - 30/10/2007 04:45

The Cake is a LIE!

Great game, TF2 is amazing.. Everything I loved about the original Quakeworld TF that I played WAAAAAY too much of.

Posted by: tman

Re: Portal - 10/11/2007 11:57

Plush Weighted Companion Cube fuzzy dice?

Posted by: wfaulk

Re: Portal - 18/01/2008 00:36

Originally Posted By: tfabris

By the way, if anyone wants HL2 and Episode 1, I can gift 'em.

I realize that it's been ages, but I'll take Ep 1 if anyone still has it for gifting.

Posted by: frog51

Re: Portal - 18/01/2008 06:45

I have Ep1 spare - where do you want it sent?

Posted by: wfaulk

Re: Portal - 18/01/2008 13:30

My Steam ID is wfaulk. I assume that's all it needs.

Posted by: frog51

Re: Portal - 18/01/2008 17:51

looks like it needs an email address - is the one in your profile current? PM me and let me know either way.

p.s. There are now some great home built maps on portalmaps.com

I would definitely recommend AB_Test, ren_test2, Chamber 21, 22 and 23, HetzchaseNailway, SS_OrangeBox and the Station series

Some of the others are fun but trivial - these have some decent challenge

Posted by: wfaulk

Re: Portal - 18/01/2008 18:16

Yeah. That address is fine. Although it looks like you can do it by adding me as a friend, too. Whichever is easiest for you is fine by me, I suppose.

Posted by: frog51

Re: Portal - 18/01/2008 18:20

On its way to you.

I Hope you enjoy it.

Posted by: wfaulk

Re: Portal - 18/01/2008 18:23

Cool. Got it. Thanks.

Posted by: Tim

Re: Portal - 21/01/2008 12:55

Has anybody been able to successfully order from the Valve store? I know at least four people who've tried to order stuff (mostly the Companion Cube Plushie) without any luck.

Posted by: tfabris

Re: Portal - 21/01/2008 14:31

The plushie cube sold out pretty much the day they put it up. Have they re-upped since then?

/me checks... Nope, doesn't even show as an available item for me. Darn, I wanted one!

Posted by: Tim

Re: Portal - 21/01/2008 16:34

It wasn't just that, though being sold out makes sense. I've tried ordering the soundtrack and just couldn't make the checkout work.

Posted by: Waterman981

Re: Portal - 21/01/2008 18:09

Speaking of the Weighted Companion Cube...

Posted by: frog51

Re: Portal - 22/01/2008 09:12

I tried to order the Aperture Labs parking permits and successfully went through checkout and payment... however the next day Valve realised I was in the UK and they hadn't charged the correct shipping (which came to about twice the cost of the permits) so they cancelled everything.

Posted by: frog51

Re: Portal - 22/01/2008 09:15

Oooh - I like that cube. My son made one of the paper WCCs (can't find the link to the pdf template just now) and it was damn fiddly. I'll have to take a pic - he's bored with it now so it sits next to my Nogunarmy necromancer on my router.

Posted by: Dignan

Re: Portal - 12/06/2010 14:03

Crap. I tried the Steam demo for Zombie Driver, and even that drove me to 15 minutes on the couch! Grr.

But I blame the game creators on that one. The default camera behavior is to rotate the entire screen with the car. Given how much you turn in that game, I think it was a terrible choice. I tried the other camera choices and they were both terrible too. I sort of expected to have a GTA1/2-esque camera, which was stationary top-down.

Damn, this is really impacting my ability to enjoy gaming...

Posted by: tman

Re: Portal - 12/06/2010 14:15

Originally Posted By: Dignan

I sort of expected to have a GTA1/2-esque camera, which was stationary top-down.

Unlikely you'll find that particular type of camera positioning in games now. Everything has pretty much gone 3D and you'll have the from above but back a bit angle.

Not unless some indie game company comes out with something anyway.

Originally Posted By: Dignan

Damn, this is really impacting my ability to enjoy gaming...

Bejeweled? :P

I get motion sickness if I'm not careful when playing FPS games but generally it takes a while to kick in so just having breaks is enough for me. Not sure what else to suggest for you really...

Posted by: Dignan

Re: Portal - 12/06/2010 14:34

Originally Posted By: tman

Originally Posted By: Dignan

I sort of expected to have a GTA1/2-esque camera, which was stationary top-down.

No no, I'm not complaining about the angle. I'm complaining about the movement and rotation. What I want is a way to lock the camera to north. It can be angled to whatever they want (or they could let me control that), I just want the damn camera to stop moving! And after reading a few reviews, it sounds like I wan't alone on this particular game. There's a demo version on Steam, if you want to try it out.

Quote:

Originally Posted By: Dignan

Damn, this is really impacting my ability to enjoy gaming...

Well, the only real suggestion for me is...well...your joke suggestion

I've been playing a lot more casual games lately (Zuma, PvZ (which I love, but I've finished), etc.).

But mostly, I'm perfectly fine if the "camera" is either stationary, or moves in two dimensions.

I've finally resigned to the fact that I can't play FPS games. Not even for a couple minutes.

Oh well, I had a BLAST playing Plants vs Zombies. But those games don't come along very often these days.

You know what I'd love? Scribblenauts on the PC. I don't have a DS, but that game looks like fun...

Posted by: msaeger

Re: Portal - 12/06/2010 14:42

Originally Posted By: Dignan

I do not have your problem but I never play first person perspective games just because I don't really like them. I like to see the character I guess. There are a ton of games that are not first person so just ignore the first person ones.

Posted by: tanstaafl.

Re: Portal - 12/06/2010 15:43

Originally Posted By: Dignan

I've finally resigned to the fact that I can't play FPS games.

No doubt you've already done something like this, but on the off chance...

A Google search for "How to avoid motion sickness in FPS game" brought up nearly 20,000 hits. Maybe there's something there that could help?

I'm fortunate in that I don't get motion sickness under any circumstances, but my FPS experience is pretty limited. I am one of the half dozen people in the world who still play DOOM, believe it or not. In terms of playability (not too difficult but still hard enough to be fun) and balance of the weapons (shotgun vs rocket launcher is perfect!) it is the most enjoyable game I have played.

tanstaafl.