The Zone

by **King Of Nowhere** on Fri Mar 05, 2010 6:28 pm

Portal 2 confirmed by Game Informer cover, due in 2010

The past week's bizarre pair of updates to Portal seemed to point towards an impending announcement of a sequel, and, well, they did. Game Informer has revealed that its April 2010 cover story is none other than ... Portal 2 -- which Valve has given a release window of "this holiday season." The magazine's site teases the 12-page feature, calling the game "a full-fledged, standalone sequel" with "new gameplay mechanics, storyline, and some surprising new twists."

We'd venture a guess that one of those twists has to do with wherever the portal featured in the cover art leads to -- a misty, jungle setting where some sort of seemingly derelict facility stands, overrun with vines. The flip-side of the cover is (cleverly) a view back through this portal into a familiar Aperture Science setting. Finally, the single cover line mentions "the people who are still alive," a potential hint at a reason for venturing into the new setting in the first place.

Portal 2 gets co-op, heading to Xbox 360 and PC

Today's big reveal of Portal 2 as next month's Game Informer cover did lots of us in the maniacal excitement department, but little for us in the hard facts department. But now, between Eurogamer being told by Valve that the game is heading to Xbox 360 and PC, and Game Informer's reveal that the sequel features a "two-player co-op mode [with] its own campaign [featuring] two new playable characters" (not to mention that it's set to release at "full retail price") we're ... well ... we're still kinda hurting for more news. The most important question of the moment, though: Can we have it right now? Please? We know you said this holiday, but what if we say pretty please? With cherries on top?

by **Fried Gold** on Wed May 19, 2010 12:41 pm

Having only got Portal just recently (it's free at the moment) and becoming addicted to it, I would actually consider paying for the new one.

by **Pacino86845** on Wed May 19, 2010 1:08 pm

Portal was terrific. I too wouldn't mind paying for a "bigger," longer sequel. The simplicity of the design and story resulted in a surprisingly rich playing experience. For the sequel I'd love for them to include even more challenging puzzles. I thought the challenge in the first game was good enough, but I want to be TORTURED playing the next one! (in a good way)

by **Fried Gold** on Wed May 19, 2010 1:14 pm

Pacino86845 wrote:Portal was terrific. I too wouldn't mind paying for a "bigger," longer sequel. The simplicity of the design and story resulted in a surprisingly rich playing experience. For the sequel I'd love for them to include even more challenging puzzles. I thought the challenge in the first game was good enough, but I want to be TORTURED playing the next one! (in a good way)

Have you tried the Ren Tests?

by **Pacino86845** on Wed May 19, 2010 1:24 pm

I played it on XBox360, only the maps that came with Orange Box. Don't know if any others are available.

by **King Of Nowhere** on Wed May 19, 2010 1:30 pm

Pacino86845 wrote:I played it on XBox360, only the maps that came with Orange Box. Don't know if any others are available.

the version of portal on the xbox marketplace has extra maps ported from the flash version, but it's not worth paying 1200 points when you already own the game.

by **papalazeru** on Wed May 19, 2010 3:01 pm

Fried Gold wrote:Having only got Portal just recently (it's free at the moment) and becoming addicted to it, I would actually consider paying for the new one.

I knew it was right up your street

Thanks for the Ren Test referral. It was an awesome level.

I've completed Portal 1 twice now and I'm going through it a third time - It's quite extraordinary. There aren't that many games where, because of the quirkiness, the taxing puzzles, and the design of it, it makes you chuckle to yourself.

There are so many fine points to say about Portal and if you own a PC or an Intel based Mac and haven't downloaded Steam for your FREE copy of Portal, then really...Shame on you.

The orange box was a prime example of a gamers company making games for gamers...They thought HL: ep 1 wasn't enough for the price, they thought adding Team Fortress wasn't enough for the price, they threw in Portal. To be honest, the time I've got out of all those games....I would have paid more than the asking price.

Valve never asked, neither for their DLC.

I love them.

Bring on Portal 2. In every way do I expect it to be bigger, badder and so much better.

by **Pacino86845** on Wed May 19, 2010 4:08 pm

Apparently the story takes place hundreds of years in the "future" of the first game... so now we will have portals through space AND time? :shock:

Could definitely be awesome, but the game isn't coming out 'til the end of the year?

Me want NOW!

by **papalazeru** on Wed May 19, 2010 4:57 pm

Pacino86845 wrote:Apparently the story takes place hundreds of years in the "future" of the first game... so now we will have portals through space AND time? Could definitely be awesome, but the game isn't coming out 'til the end of the year? Me want NOW!

Seconded.

I've read some of the information on the game, the portals change depending on the surfaces you apply them too.

That sounds fascinating but at the same time, it makes the game appear much more linear in it's solution. Portal always had that....

1) Walk into a room

2) hmmmm...

3)...SHIT! there's a bot...aaaaand I'm dead

I liked the Portal original set up where you put the portal anywhere and basically do the old trial and error scenario. I think there might be a lot less with the new portal, but knowing Valve, they will shock the shit out of us again, as they always do.

As a point of interest...Would it be worth creating just a Steam thread? I know there's a few of us on it and quite a few of us buy games via steam. Is it worth creating the thread?

by **King Of Nowhere** on Wed May 19, 2010 9:44 pm

Probably better with just a Valve thread.

Almost every new pc game comes to steam now, so a Steam thread would be PC thread (although we don't have one right now, so it's either or).

by **Hermanator X** on Thu May 20, 2010 2:43 am

papalazeru wrote:I've read some of the information on the game, the portals change depending on the surfaces you apply them too.

That sounds fascinating but at the same time, it makes the game appear much more linear in it's solution. Portal always had that....

I dunno, to me that sounds like they have just came up with new ways to mince your brain. I wouldnt read a dumbing down into it, until a few more details are in at least.

How is anyone getting on with the challenges? ie completing the levels within the set times and no of moves? Some of them are insanely difficult. But this thread has inspired me to go back to it and try to get them. Very much doubt I will be successful though.

by **Fried Gold** on Thu May 20, 2010 9:05 am

The advanced rooms I'm gradually progressing with. The challenge rooms I'm not very good at - they clearly need repetitive attempts to break them.

New things Portal 2 will have:
- the effects of forces will transfer through portals (i.e. air currents from fans)
- bits of the scenary near a portal will start to bleed through it
- special paints will be part of the puzzles (the paint you apply to a surface changes its properties)
- two player co-op mode

by **King Of Nowhere** on Tue Jun 15, 2010 8:35 pm

by **King Of Nowhere** on Wed Jun 16, 2010 12:00 pm

15 mins of gameplay

by **Hermanator X** on Wed Jun 16, 2010 12:20 pm

Thanks for that KON. The advert is ace. Music is superb. Those gameplay clips are good too. Looks like they are on to a winner.

by **Pacino86845** on Wed Jun 16, 2010 12:43 pm

I watched the teaser and I'm totally psyched already... I fear that watching the gameplay will make my head explode.

by **Hermanator X** on Wed Jun 16, 2010 12:48 pm

Pacino86845 wrote:I watched the teaser and I'm totally psyched already... I fear that watching the gameplay will make my head explode.

Definately.

by **papalazeru** on Wed Jun 16, 2010 4:32 pm

Pacino86845 wrote:I watched the teaser and I'm totally psyched already... I fear that watching the gameplay will make my head explode.

It does make your head explode.

After watching the 15 minute vid. I give up already. It's too hard.

by **Fried Gold** on Wed Jun 16, 2010 6:52 pm

I hope the surveillance module/personality core thing has that voice in the final game.

by **papalazeru** on Wed Jun 16, 2010 6:56 pm

Fried Gold wrote:I hope the surveillance module/personality core thing has that voice in the final game.

So do I, but there's actually a few of the personality cores in the final game. Judging by these 15 minutes, the previous game, and the fact that it was bundled with other Team Fortress 2 and Half Life:Ep 1 (which were the selling points for the orange box), Valve charging full price for this is going to make this game absolutely stunning.

I don't know why Valve done start charging for preorders now to finance the game. I'd snap it up right now.

by **King Psyz** on Wed Jun 16, 2010 8:14 pm

I'm so happy Gabe Newell was Sony's bitch yesterday and PS3 somehow gets the best console version of Portal 2, it's like opposite day for anyone who played Orange Box on PS3...

by **Hermanator X** on Sun Aug 22, 2010 4:23 am

Co Op trailer

As inventive as you would imagine.

by **Fried Gold** on Fri Nov 19, 2010 7:12 pm

Best. Press Release. Evah:

VALVE ANNOUNCES SHORTEST DELAY IN VALVE HISTORY

Valve today announced that Portal 2 — the sequel to the ground-breaking title that won over 30 game of the year awards, despite missing its original ship date — will now be available the week of April 18th, 2011. This two month slip not only marks the shortest delay in Valve’s proud tradition of delays, it represents the approaching convergence of Valve Time and Real Time. Though this convergence spells doom for humanity, it will not affect the new Portal 2 release date.

For more information, please visit http://www.thinkwithportals.com

by **Pacino86845** on Fri Nov 19, 2010 7:38 pm

HAHA I love Valve, but the delay is so friggin' frustrating, I was still of the mind that Portal 2 was coming out over the holidays.

by **King Of Nowhere** on Thu Apr 07, 2011 7:16 pm

One week to go!

by **Pacino86845** on Thu Apr 07, 2011 7:42 pm

Oh baby!

by **King Of Nowhere** on Fri Apr 08, 2011 1:28 pm

Some potato arg related madness.
Valve will be doing a portal web-comic as well. It starts tonight, so i don't have a link for it yet. Disregard that...
Portal 2 Webcomic
IGN are hosting it, part 2 will be up on Monday.

I'm hoping for the announcement of a pre-install.
Valve have done it for a lot of games in the past, so it's not unlikely.

by **King Of Nowhere** on Tue Apr 12, 2011 1:57 pm

Also, parts 1 and two of the comic are now up on thinkwithportals.com

by **King Of Nowhere** on Thu Apr 14, 2011 8:10 pm

If the ARG is anything to go by, portal 2 will be released (on steam) in just under 16 hours

by **TheButcher** on Sat Apr 16, 2011 9:56 pm

From CA:
Read the Entirety of Mike Oeming's 26-Page 'Portal 2: Lab Rat' Comic

by **King Of Nowhere** on Tue Apr 19, 2011 3:42 am

Butcher, i already linked the whole comic, 5 days ago

anyway...

IT'S FUCKING OUT!
A lot of us worked hard on the arg to bring you this (about 8 hours early), so you all better bloody enjoy it

by **Pacino86845** on Tue Apr 19, 2011 8:46 am

I don't know what the arg is, but congratulations nonetheless!

And also, thank you!

However I'm not sure how soon I'll be playing this. First I think I'll read a couple of reviews to see if it's worth owning or just renting for a week.

by **Fried Gold** on Tue Apr 19, 2011 9:10 am

Pacino86845 wrote:However I'm not sure how soon I'll be playing this. First I think I'll read a couple of reviews to see if it's worth owning or just renting for a week.

Are you farkin serious?

by **Pacino86845** on Tue Apr 19, 2011 11:35 am

That's a good point!

by **King Of Nowhere** on Fri Apr 22, 2011 5:07 pm

On the second day (of the week), Valve said "let there be Portal 2": and there was Portal 2
And Gamers played Portal 2, and it was good: Gabe divided by zero & reverse Valve time happened

by **tapehead** on Fri Apr 22, 2011 9:32 pm

I haven't gamed much for several years, but Portal 2 marketing and the encouragement of a few friends tempted me into getting Steam (on my imac) and Portal, which I have played through once over two long nights (best game sonce GTA 3, or maybe Half Life). I'm hooked and will be getting Portal 2 really quickly. Is anyone playing the co-op? it looks amazing on that trailer and I'm excited by the idea that Steam will allow PS3, Xbox and pc/mac gamers to play together. If you have tried this, post your thoughts (this is new right? there aren't other games you can do this with are there?)

by **King Of Nowhere** on Sat Apr 23, 2011 6:29 am

Yeah, Fried Gold & i completed the co-op the other day, it's good fun.
Probably a whole lot easier if you & your partner are using mics though, as sometimes you're falling through the air & only have a window of three seconds to type out your idea.

Post your Steam ID in the online gaming mega-list thread & buy Team Fortress 2 next time it's on sale, it's the best war themed hat simulator ever!

by **tapehead** on Sat Apr 23, 2011 10:47 am

King Of Nowhere wrote:the best war themed hat simulator ever!

hmmm?

by **papalazeru** on Sat Apr 23, 2011 10:50 am

tapehead wrote:
King Of Nowhere wrote:the best war themed hat simulator ever!

hmmm?

Very funny Kon.

I am looking forward to playing this when I get home. I'm going to dedicate an entire day to playing through it.

by **Fried Gold** on Sat Apr 23, 2011 11:07 am

King Of Nowhere wrote:Yeah, Fried Gold & i completed the co-op the other day, it's good fun.
Probably a whole lot easier if you & your partner are using mics though, as sometimes you're falling through the air & only have a window of three seconds to type out your idea.

Also playing the co-op through with more than one person gets you a bonus acheivement, so we all need to tag team on it.

by **King Of Nowhere** on Sat Apr 23, 2011 11:31 am

papalazeru wrote:
tapehead wrote:
King Of Nowhere wrote:the best war themed hat simulator ever!

hmmm?

You know the marketplace in Portal 2?
TF2 has one as well, full of glorious hats.

by **Fried Gold** on Sun Apr 24, 2011 2:07 pm

Portal 2 wasn't going to include portals

Games testers saved the day and told Valve to take back them lemons. Also looks like we might get another game called F-Stop.

The app is Ipad-only, so hopefully someone will rip it and upload it somewhere as it looks like a interesting read.

by **Fried Gold** on Tue May 17, 2011 12:00 pm

by **King Of Nowhere** on Tue May 17, 2011 12:33 pm

So Hawking believes the Resonance Cascade will happen?
I guess it's time to grab a crowbar

by **papalazeru** on Tue May 17, 2011 4:05 pm

Einstein and Rosen-crantz are dead.

you see what I did there?

by **King Of Nowhere** on Wed May 18, 2011 12:03 pm

Portal 2: The Final Hours is now available on steam.
It's quite good, but doesn't go into as much as you wish it did. I've never read an "interactive magazine" (or whatever the fuck it's supposed to be) before, but it works surprisingly well for being a ported ipad app.