GlaDOS, Aperture and the rest: How does it all tie up?

Those drawings of the Borealis are interesting, used to have to deal with those drawings when I used to work on a ship yard :p The dates on the signed revisions are a little strange, also where it says GLaDOS that space usually depicts the designer of the ship :O and what the hell is Main Fluxor Core :)
 
Combine=flesh/metal.

G-Man= GLaDOS Man.

GLaDOS was "changed" after Borealis disappeared. Subsequent invasion of earth due to GLaDOS. Having access to information stored within the ship's computers for research, etc. lead to the "peversion" of Aperature's portal tech to what it is now. The differences in tech between Combine and Resistance Forces are probably the same differences between Black Mesa's work, and Aperature's.

GLaDOS/G-Man know about Gordon from his time @ Aperature. Eli knew of Aperature because his wife/Alex's Mom was part of Aperature team, and thier relationship facilitated Gordon's move from Aperature to Black Mesa? As the Borealis seems a military-based ship, it would explain Gordon's weapon training, and the choice in using him @ Black Mesa for the experiment.
 
Dr_Crowbar said:
I know which one you are talking about(the one you hear when you enter the shack in the very beginning). Yes, it sounds a bit different from the one in HL2, but upon careful inspection, its still the same voice. And if you listen to GlaDOS, "she" sound nothing like it. But that's just me, I could be wrong.
Click to expand...

Well I could be wrong to. played trough ep2 before portal, and havent heard it since. :)

cadaveca said:
Combine=flesh/metal.

G-Man= GLaDOS Man.

GLaDOS was "changed" after Borealis disappeared. Subsequent invasion of earth due to GLaDOS. Having access to information stored within the ship's computers for research, etc. lead to the "peversion" of Aperature's portal tech to what it is now. The differences in tech between Combine and Resistance Forces are probably the same differences between Black Mesa's work, and Aperature's.

GLaDOS/G-Man know about Gordon from his time @ Aperature. Eli knew of Aperature because his wife/Alex's Mom was part of Aperature team, and thier relationship facilitated Gordon's move from Aperature to Black Mesa? As the Borealis seems a military-based ship, it would explain Gordon's weapon training, and the choice in using him @ Black Mesa for the experiment.
Click to expand...
interesting theory. I belive though that G-man might have alot to do with Borealis, and alot to do with aperture.

A thing a find quite interesting also is that, duruing the "still alive" end credits, when GlaDos sings that she is glad. the D is with caps. GlaD. What could this mean? (its the only place in the lyrics where the last letter is with caps.. hmm..
 
in the end when she capitalizes the "d" in GLaD it's because it's part of her name, it's supposed to be a humorous bug in her programming, as in she doesn't know not to spell it glad, because she is GLaDOS.

Generic Lifeform and Disk Operating System

Oh and how did we find out the main characters name? (i downloaded portal off of steam so if it's in the booklet i didn't know)
 
While it's well established that the GMan get's around and it's certainly not implausible that he's meddled with GLaDOS or Aperture at some point I think if Valve wanted us to surmise that he'd been directly involved in the events depicted in Portal there would have been a big hint.
Also, I'm pretty sure that most of the conjecture that the GMan is GLaDOS is based on the fact that they both begin with G.
 
Well yeah, his name has never been revealed has it? Has he ever been referenced by any name in game at all because I certainly can't recall a time.
 
Nope, never. After HL1, some made connection that he is the administrator, but in HL2 it was made clear that Breen was the one.
 
Well actually both Gman and Chell were directly taken from the filenames used in the game. Neither of those names were ever provided from the actual story.
Gman was used because in HL1 the man standing there with a briefcase and nice blue suit looks like a Government Man (which the term G-man was coined). I think the story of Gman evolved post HL1 and thus there might be some contradictions between the stories (If it's revealed in the HL2 series, believe it over HL).

Also notice in the song with the line:
I am GLaD. I got burned.

Two seperate sentences, thus GLaD is nothing more than a nickname / only way GLaDOS knows how to spell glad.
As for Gman or Freeman working for Aperture Labs pre-Black Mesa I highly doubt. I'm pretty sure Gman works or rather worked for some intergalactic organization thus still falling under the category of a standard Gman.

Here's a thought: Anyone out there a Star Trek fan? Think about the similarities between Gman and the Q. Here's my point: Possibly Gman is part of a race that has become self-actualized (different than self-aware, think the heirarchy of needs...btw no humans reach self-actualization) and gathered insane technology to control time/space (just think Q). This race could possibly be bored and reached the peak of existence and would like a companion species. Humans are very resourceful and resilient, thus making a potential partner in sharing these massive amounts of enlightenment with. In order to fully test the worthyness of the human race Gman is sent to stifle their growth by using the Combine and to see if they are able to get out of this seemingly impossible situation. He constantly throws new challenges and Gordon, representing all of humanity, passes his tests metaphorically proving our worth.

Just a thought, I don't really support my own theory much, but it has crossed my mind.

On a completely side note: if you go to the Aperture Science website and login using cjohnson:tier3 and then type in PLAY PORTAL it takes you to a youtube video that was taken down...anyone seen this? What was it? Possibly the trailor?

Also, on the site the timeline shows that CJohnson dies before the testing was even conceived....why is his login information written on the wall? Probably nothing more than easter egg, just wondering.
 
==*WARNING: CRAZY THEORY AHEAD*==
Perhaps we're over-complicating "Still Alive", after all, what's the main point GLaDOS keeps pushing? That things are still alive.

Lets take this in perspective, as it it obvious that GLaDOS is still alive after Chell destroys the main body(As heard by "Still Alive"), but could it also apply to the "current"(AKA HL2 time) time? I'm not saying anything about when Portal takes place but what I'm trying to say is that "Still Alive" could just be Valve's way of saying GLaDOS is still alive in the HL2 timeline.

Then again, it could apply to Chell too so who knows?
 
Victor,

I got the same thing when I tried "Play Portal". I can't figure out what the video was though. Can't decypher a name or a user or anything. I'm going to log back in and ask it to play Global Thermonuclear War.

Everyone else,

Did anyone actually look up what an Ice Inhibitor is? Everyone thinks that it is part of an ice breaking ship. But this Wiki entry explains what FSII means. Is it a real entry?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuel_System_Icing_Inhibitor
 
I deffintly think we will see GlaDos and Chell in ep 3 or later portal/hl games
 
I'm not so convinced. As part of making the HL series the team have constructed a huge amount of background, revealing Portal as being in the same universe may just be a good way of tweeking players interest and getting us ready to see other parts of the same world. It would seem that whatever the Borialis was designed to do was at least related to the portal technology. Which makes sense as it's all very well to make that great gadget but you have to consider what practical purpose it may serve. Just because there is a relationship between the two parts doesn't mean that we'll be seeing either Chell or GLaDOS.
 
I was wondering whether Aperture didn't get their Portal test subjects from among the crew of the Borealis...
 
GLaDOS' name appears in one of the blueprints that flash on screen when the Borealis is first mentioned, so there's a good chance that we'll be seeing her. Not sure about Chell, but I'd at least like to get a clue about what's happened to her.
 
Crash Happy said:
I'm not so convinced. As part of making the HL series the team have constructed a huge amount of background, revealing Portal as being in the same universe may just be a good way of tweeking players interest and getting us ready to see other parts of the same world. It would seem that whatever the Borialis was designed to do was at least related to the portal technology. Which makes sense as it's all very well to make that great gadget but you have to consider what practical purpose it may serve. Just because there is a relationship between the two parts doesn't mean that we'll be seeing either Chell or GLaDOS.
Click to expand...
I tend to agree, but the 'fuel systems icing inhibitor' origins of GlaDOS and the snowy environs of the Borealis make me wonder.
 
Laivasse said:
I tend to agree, but the 'fuel systems icing inhibitor' origins of GlaDOS and the snowy environs of the Borealis make me wonder.
Click to expand...

Well maybe the borealis has a engine room where Gordon turns on the engine to turn on whatevers on that ship.. but also without knowing it....... GlaDos
 
Wouldn't be surprised if GLaDOS and the Combine voice were related.

Think about it:
Similar voice, omnipresent, seems to run everything. Alot of similarities. Might be something the combine adapted.
 
Hehe. Maybe GLaDOS was invented keep the fuel lines on the Borealis free of ice.
 
My own theories of timelines etc.
portal6.jpg


Notice the date on that? September 1983.
This leads me to believe that:
(People obviously went mad)
But also interestingly that the part of the facility concentrating on the Portals was closed at that point and abandoned because if someone went mad in the early parts of tests and they could see this, the damage would be undone and the person removed.

Thats one theory, the other theory could be just that other peole broke in different parts of the test chambers and found that calendar.

Another question would be, does CJohnson know G-Man, it seems so likely that he is also involved with aperture, if you read aperturescience website and some of his exploits it seems entirely plausible G-Man was providing knowledge and or calling the shots.

The first bring your daughter to work day would of been around 2004. Before Black Mesa, Chell would be around 10-15 and then Portal would be set around 10-15 years after that. Plus if the other "participants" had gone mad post GLaDOS being implemented why would they be using a 20 year old calendar?

The Combine already know about the Borealis. Hence why they went after Mossman, they're probably already there by the time we get there in ep 3.

Hence...the phrases...
"If the site is where we think it is... I should be no more than....." - Mossman
^ They're close and being followed.

"If the combine catch her, they'll tear out everything she knows..." - Eli
^ Its purpose and location, Mossman went ahead because she was hoping to use it against the Combine.

Possible else to think about GLaDOS detected the Portal Storms and sensed the incoming threat and portaled the ship into the polar extremities to protect itself from whatever was coming or the portal Storms.

Also, GLaDOS would have access to the outside world, they have a radio afterall :D I bet she can access, monitor it if she wants.
 
I have to admit I don't quite follow you so take what I say with that in mind.
The problem I see with trying to guess dates based on that screenie is that firstly, if the person was really that mad then would they really still care about whether the date was correct or not?
Secondly, Since we can reasonably assume that the base was abandoned at the time of the damage the calander must pre-date that abandonment.
 
Laivasse said:
I tend to agree, but the 'fuel systems icing inhibitor' origins of GlaDOS and the snowy environs of the Borealis make me wonder.
Click to expand...

No no, GLaDOS was planned very early on, pretty much right after Cave Johnson's disastrous plan to distribute mercury poisoned shower curtains and his subsequent insanity and death (Speaking of which, does anybody else find it interesting that mercury is a deadly neurotoxin and Cave is the spiritual father of GLaDOS?)

Anyway AS.com has the DOS part of GLaDOS definitely in development by mid-80's and the GL part a decade later. GLaDOS is at the heart of the Aperture strategy. She is certainly not a fancy fuel system ice inhibitor.

The FSII slide is just a case study, showing how even for something as mundane as FSII, Aperture could propose the inexpensive utilization of GLaDOS over Black Mesa's more traditional solution (which is presumably just the development of some extra fancy liquid to mix into the fuel).

Aperture was bidding on every DoD contract they could find -- witness the other slide showing that they were proposing funding in vast excess of what Black Mesa was trying for. Black Mesa got precisely what they requested, where Aperture got nothing.

Actually come to think of it, perhaps that massive rejection pushed GLaDOS (clearly not the most emotionally stable entity) over the edge and made her kill everybody off...
 
I'd take the game experience over AS.com. Shower curtains? Pinch of salt required.

Much of it is clearly written as a joke. If you're determined to fit it into game canon, why not say that GlaDOS has gotten to it and rewritten the history in her dementia.
 
Laivasse said:
Pinch of salt required.
Click to expand...
A pinch is barely cautious enough. You could dry out a lake with the ammount of salt that website has to be taken with
Laivasse said:
If you're determined to fit it into game canon, why not say that GlaDOS has gotten to it and rewritten the history in her dementia.
Click to expand...
Or better still, the one person we know to have the login in the game world was a Companion Cube obsessed wall scrawler. Perhaps he did it.
 
Aye, good points. Either way it's clearly a big mistake to treat the whole shower curtains/Crazy Cave J. history with the same seriousness that you would, say, a speech from Gman.
 
Hrm, yeah, that's a good point. I'm new here and Portal is more interesting to me than the rest of the storyline, but I understand your wariness in letting questionable information near the canon.

My comments on the slides stand, though.

Personally I suspect the AS.com stuff is actually reasonably accurate, i.e. that Aperture was an company with an insane CEO that dealt in mundane small-scale (shower curtain) ineptitude for twenty years until somehow, simultaneous with his mercury poisoning, Cave somehow acquired this portal technology that he doesn't seem to understand at all.

But I'll keep it squarely in the domain of wild hypothesis. :)
 
perhaps the crazy wall scribbler is Cjohnson? perhaps GLaDOS forced him into the test area, and falsified reports that he had passed from mercury poisoning, and she essentially took over the company from their, what? he got his companion cube to keep him company
 
Could Mossman be a former employee of Aperture Science?
She seems to have personal knowledge about the Borealis - how else could she find it? For that matter, why didn't she tell anyone she was going - unless this was some kind of personal responsibility of hers...

For that matter, there's a damn good reason why the Combine are after the Borealis - the Combine haven't mastered local portal technology!

For there to be a literal boatload of working teleportation equipment on board, I'd bet that that was one one of the main reasons why the vessel 'disappeared' - it was hidden to prevent the Combine from totally dominating Earth (or even the universe, if Mossman meant that the entire race of Combine haven't got 'portal guns').

Was it hidden by the G-Man, perhaps? That could explain his connection with AS, and why he is seemingly leading Gordon towards the Borealis (in the vision in Episode 2 - one of the rooms looks like where Mossman went).

Ultimately, everything in the Half-Life series revolves around portal technology - so I really like my idea. :p

*Edit* Also, assuming that the Combine were responsible for the Xen invasion of Black Mesa, could Half-Life 1 have been merely an attempt by the Combine to seize reliable teleportation technology?
This would explain why the G-Man caused the Resonance Cascade - he knew/hoped that Gordon and the army would be able to liberate Xen from the Combine - which is important, since the Combine seemed to be using the Xenians for their innate biological ability to...teleport!
 
CJohnson, as in Chell Johnson maybe? Wouldn't test subjects need access to the system?

Mossman could've been employed by Aperture at one point. There doesn't seem to be too many of these facilities (Aperture and BM are all we're aware of) and it's known she was seeking employment at BMRF. If she didn't get in there it wouldn't be unthinkable for her to go somewhere else that fit her needs.
 
I think Aperture Science and GLaDOS and possibly even the local portal technology is being retrofitted into the backstory. I don't think it was planned all along. I am hoping and praying that the Portal world and the Half Life world will merge, but I wouldn't look for too many clues in the older stuff.
 
I'm pretty certain that the web site is just a fun easter egg, same goes with the song I think. That might be wrong but I'm not willing to base too much on the information provided in either just yet. Honestly at this point I think it's all so open that only Portal something something and maybe possibly Ep3 will provide any proper information.
 
Planeforger said:
For there to be a literal boatload of working teleportation equipment on board, I'd bet that that was one one of the main reasons why the vessel 'disappeared' - it was hidden to prevent the Combine from totally dominating Earth (or even the universe, if Mossman meant that the entire race of Combine haven't got 'portal guns').
Click to expand...
On the other hand, Aperture Science already f***ed up with GLaDOS. The incident with that AI along with Eli's grave misgivings suggest that the Borealis disappearence was yet another accident caused by Aperture scientists.

Also, assuming that the Combine were responsible for the Xen invasion of Black Mesa, could Half-Life 1 have been merely an attempt by the Combine to seize reliable teleportation technology?
Click to expand...
We would have saw Universial Union forces at Black Mesa if this was the case. What purpose does infesting the BMRF with anti-Combine aliens serve in gaining local teleportation technology?

This would explain why the G-Man caused the Resonance Cascade - he knew/hoped that Gordon and the army would be able to liberate Xen from the Combine - which is important, since the Combine seemed to be using the Xenians for their innate biological ability to...teleport!
Click to expand...
The Combine never controled Xen at all; read the Marc Laidlaw Vault sticky at the top of this specific forum.
 
Ok, fair enough...but it's certainly not far-fetched that the Combine want/need the local teleportation technology on the Borealis, and there's a very good chance that Mossman is connected to Aperture Science (she's an expert on teleportation, but she didn't work at Black Mesa...).
 
Zellski said:
I think Aperture Science and GLaDOS and possibly even the local portal technology is being retrofitted into the backstory. I don't think it was planned all along. I am hoping and praying that the Portal world and the Half Life world will merge, but I wouldn't look for too many clues in the older stuff.
Click to expand...


Also in The developer commentary for Portal, its said that instead of just making a excuse for putting Portal into the HL univers they tried to fit Portal into the storyline.
 
monkeyclass said:
Also in The developer commentary for Portal, its said that instead of just making a excuse for putting Portal into the HL univers they tried to fit Portal into the storyline.
Click to expand...
Yea, and it's def gonna be interesting to see how it turns out, and what direction it will take the story in=)
 
Another thought.

I believe it was mentioned in Episode 2 that no one knows what caused the Borealis to suddenly go on arctic vacation with the dry dock. Also, The blueprints state that GLaDOS had a connection to the ship, whether it was a full fledged GLaDOS unit or something else. Is it possible the Borealis went poof because of GLaDOS? Perhaps after she went AWOL, she didn't want anyone using what ever was on board. The best way to do that was to activate some of the technology/experiments/what have you in order to protect something she feared or needed and send the entire ship where no one would easily find it. The ship might hold a secondary GLaDOS that while being the same, would be individual. Which would make sense of her saying she was "Still Alive". Just in the backup or secondary.
 
Food for thought: How did Aperture Science know about the HEV suit?
 
Because not all research carried out in Black Mesa was super-dooper secret.
 
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