Portal Snippet on CVG

[Ennui]

CVG brings us news from the GDC's Independent Games Summit, in the form of a few words from Kim Smith, head of the Portal development team. She tells us about one of the core philosophies behind the creation of Portal and its spiritual predecessor Narbtacular Drop:

"We wanted our game to have the Nintendo factor ... We wanted to create one piece of gameplay that could be used for a whole bunch of different things ... So for example Mario jumps, but with that jump people can do a whole bunch of other things; he can jump on enemies, he can break blocks, he can collect power ups. We wanted the same thing in Narbacular drop too - we wanted portals to be used not just to run away, but to be used for a whole bunch of other things."

[br]Check out the original article, which also promises more tangible information in the form of a hands-on playtest of Portal tomorrow morning.

 

[Asuka]

Man i cant ****ING WAIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[99.vikram]

Meh...















OMWTFBBQ I can't wait either!!!!!!!!!11!11!!!!1!

 

[Mr-Fusion]

"valve will box and release the brains of dead sheep"

Raziel: "MAN THAT'S GOING TO BE AWESOME!!!!"

 

[Mahalis]

a hands-on playtest of Portal tomorrow morning

Damn. For a second there, my brain rearranged that into "demo of Portal on Steam tomorrow" and I was the happiest person on the planet. :E

 

[Jintor]

ARGH SO WAS I!

Curse ye, Mahalis! You've spoiled my dreams!

 

[eAi]

"valve will box and release the brains of dead sheep"

Raziel: "MAN THAT'S GOING TO BE AWESOME!!!!"

What about over Steam?

 

[Murray_H]

....a few words from Kim Smith, head of the Portal development team. She tells us....

This game is going to be shit.

 

[Benefactor]

I suppose you can make a better game?

 

[Atomic_Piggy]

This game is going to be shit.

What, becuase a woman's in charge? WTF is wrong with you?

This game looks great.

 

[kupocake]

game-informer claims to have 'exclusive direct feed videos'.

This game is going to be shit.

Sarcasm detected in the vicinity of Murray H. (Now really boys, this shouldn't have to be pointed out.)

You learn more about what Aperture Science is by playing Episode Two than by playing Portal. However, you find out more about who you are in the Half-Life universe while you’re playing Portal.

I guess this measure is in place so that those who can't stick it out through Portal don't miss something really critical in the Half-Life story.

 

[Narvi]

This game is going to be shit.

Your sarcasm fails, as it just makes people angry. :smoking:

 

[Stigmata]

This game is going to be shit.

****ing LOL

 

[kupocake]

The new vids on game-informer are quite cool.

"Unbelieveable. You, SUBJECT NAME HERE must be the pride of SUBJECT HOMETOWN HERE."

You also get to see into some of the observation rooms, and it seems like no-one is about. The incompleteness of the above quote perhaps means that you're all alone in Portal land.

Also, it doesn't look like they've changed the model for the player character yet. Still the bloke in the jumpsuit despite the repeated assertions that we'll get to play as a girl for Portal.

edit: So, the blue and orange bars either side of the crosshair indicate whether a portal can be fired at the surface you're pointing at. Also:

However, the experience won’t be as long as a fully fleshed-out game, and the team explained that it would most likely take the average gamer 4-6 hours to get through the 25-30 levels

25-30 levels? Strangely, the notices in each level still talk about only 19 levels.

"The enrichment centre is required to remind you that you will be baked, and then there will be cake".

 

[Asknoone]

Looks really quite awesome.

 

[Polaris]

game-informer claims to have 'exclusive direct feed videos'.
I guess this measure is in place so that those who can't stick it out through Portal don't miss something really critical in the Half-Life story.

Thanks kupo, this is totally awesome! New (third) portal effect is beautiful and game environment looks more interesting and interactive than before.
I'm just really mad about Portal!

 

[ríomhaire]

Also, it doesn't look like they've changed the model for the player character yet. Still the bloke in the jumpsuit despite the repeated assertions that we'll get to play as a girl for Portal.

Repeated assertions by people who have never been to Valve Software. A slip of the tongue is the only evidence we have as opposed to the player model actually being male.
Idea:
Perhaps you can choose your gender in the game? Thus the reason why she said she (she always chooses female) yet we've seen male in the videos. Note that she said she, and immediatly corrected herself to use a gender-neutral description.

 

[Murray_H]

I suppose you can make a better game?

What, becuase a woman's in charge? WTF is wrong with you?

This game looks great.

Even Kim Smith got it...

Your sarcasm fails, as it just makes people angry. :smoking:

OH NO I FAILED!