Talk:Portal (computer game)

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CVG To-do:

no wai!!!!!!! Really don't it deserves its own article!! --Frostbite

It's too early to make that sort of claim. --Tom Edwards 07:56, 14 July 2006 (UTC)

Contents

[edit] Name - plural or not?

I just moved this page to Portals. But I've almost immediately run across 1UP calling it Portal, singular. I reccommend that there are no further page moves until the exact form of the name is cleared up. --Tom Edwards 15:58, 14 July 2006 (UTC)

Yeah still confused to and I like what you done with it =) --Frostbite
Use the name VALVe uses. After all, they're the developer. Cybesystem 11:01, 21 July 2006 (UTC)
it's called portal (singular) isn't it? Fwed66 11:54, 8 December 2006 (UTC)
Yes. -- Jordi·✆ 16:19, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] ASHPD?

The "Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device" shorts to ASHPD or A. SHPD, which could mean Adrian Shepard?

I heard this from friend, could it mean something? --Forcen 20:05, 18 July 2006 (UTC)
That's a theory so crazy it might just be true! Not worth mentioning the article yet, though. --Tom Edwards 20:22, 18 July 2006 (UTC)
Never heard of that! But if it's true, that's a cool reference. --Gamer007 12:14, 19 July 2006 (UTC)
He also told me that shepard had an Portal/teleport gun in Opposing Force, maby u play as him in portal.
Maby this is the kind of teleportations device that Gman uses in half-life, maby this science center is Gmans employers?--Forcen 13:13, 19 July 2006 (UTC)
Hehe, cool speculations. I like it! --Gamer007 20:36, 19 July 2006 (UTC)
Gman froze shepard down. Now he lost control. Thinking what I'm thinking? Cybesystem 23:55, 19 July 2006 (UTC)
Do we really need to put in this speculation in the main wiki? Someone keeps adding it in. I feel we this rumor should not be put in so I'm removing it for the time being. --Gamer007 00:14, 21 July 2006 (UTC)

Anyway, shepard can't be in this video. I fail to see how the hell an escaping prisoner ended up in some training video -_-' Cybesystem 10:59, 21 July 2006 (UTC)

your evil twin I believe I was the one that originated the Adrian Shephard theory - I was posting it all over forums on the day the existance of the game was announced, a week before the trailer was released. Anyway, I believe that the trailer is just a demonstration of the way the gameplay works, NOT a demonstration of the game's actual environment. I believe the character in the jumpsuit is just a placeholder as well. People have been confused as to how this game can fit into the Half-Life universe... Valve simply have decided not to reveal ANY details of the scenario of the actual game. They are just showing off how the portal gun works. The Apature Laboratories are just a joke they came up with. 23 July 2006
RabidZombieHe isn't a damn convict!! That is a Aperture Science jump suit, which you can tell by looking at the back of it. He isn't a prisoner, and there is NOTHING which prohibits the charecter indeed being Mr. Shepard. Although, there is no proof that he is either. I'd rather the discussion was dropped, as no decisive conclusion can be made as of yet.
Another this is that I REALLY doubt they'll make custom placeholders for the trailer. The combine ball and turret sounds could be, but don't forget the whole point of placeholders. Something to put in thier place, until they make something new. They are not going to waste time (time = money) making stuff then immediatly scrapping it for something else. And where did you get that Apature Science is a joke? Yet more stuff is being made up on the spot. It has been confermed the enviroment is split off levels, like in the trailer, unlike Half Life, which flows nicely inbetween the areas. So I doubt they'd make complex levels and then scrap those as well. --RabidZombie 16:40, 31 July 2006 (UTC)

I did'nt say that it was Sheppard in the video, my idea was that ASHPD is a reference to Adrian Shepard.--Forcen 19:05, 8 August 2006 (UTC)

I think it would be worth noting that Adrian Shepherd did in fact possess a displacer, a portable gun capable of teleporting to seemingly random places. It is a little surprising to note such powerful capabilities were overlooked despite its powerful potential. Giving control of the destination of the teleporting and having unlimited ability to (both presumably gained from integration of technogies of the gravity gun) would make it a natural progression in design. It could be that it would be a reference to the fact that adrian shepherd possessed its only logical predecesor already within the half life universe.71.215.54.186 16:09, 16 September 2006 (UTC)

What if, instead of Shepherd being the character, he is the owner of the company? This would explain the coldness and disregard for death shown by whoever created the experiments, wouldn't it? Where did he get the displacer, anyway? Maybe he named the ASHPD after himself. --Thezeus18 03:47, 6 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] HL Universe Setting

Can someone verify that Portal is the 'HL universe', this seems to be unsubstantiated at the moment? Ok, it looks similar, but I can't find any evidence so far that backs up the claim. Monchberter 09:10, 19 July 2006 (UTC)

I think people just want to think that it's set it the HL universe. I doubt it is. --AndrewNeo 14:54, 19 July 2006 (UTC)
The Gamespot announcement says it is, and apparently someone in a message board (I can't remember where, and I agree it's not much to go on) emailed Lombardi and he replied it is in the HL universe. Webrunner 19:13, 19 July 2006 (UTC)
your evil twin Valve's official post on the Steam News page said it was set in the Half-Life universe. It is the only information that Valve have released, apart form the trailer video. As I've stated above, I believe the weird setting in the trailer is just a sort of placeholder to demonstrate the mechanics of portal gameplay. I do not believe it is the actual environment of the game, since it is just a complex of grey blocks, and HL2 is famous for its convincing-looking environments. The game is supposed to be a Half-Life 2 expansion; in which case, if it is like the expansions for Half-Life 1, then it will be set in the same world and situation as Half-life 2 (in fact, probably the same setting as HL2: Episode 2), but with a different main character. The most likely candidate is Adrian Shephard, since unlike Barney Calhoun, we have never learned what happened to Adrian after the end of Opposing Force, and Gabe Newell has stated that they 'haven't forgotten about him', and he is something of a fan-favourite. The next possible candidate is Alyx, although this is somewhat unlikely as she is a great NPC with lots of dialogue and personality; if she was a player character she would become mute just like Gordon, which would be weird. Another possible candidate is Dr Kleiner; since he is a scientist working on teleportation, it makes sense for him to be dependent on an experimental portal device as a weapon, rather than using traditional sorts of guns. I believe Adrian is the best prospect. 23 July 2006

Well, I have found an interview with Kim Sweft (a member of the development team) saying it is set in the Half Life Universe. Maybe that'd be a better source for it in the article? First hand info is always better than second hand. ;) (http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/721/721494p1.html)

"The most likely candidate is Adrian Shephard"? Well, even if the game is in the HL Universe, it doesn't mean they have to reuse the story's characters. Also, if the G-Man wanted Shephard to use the A SHPD, he wouldn't need to create "laboratories" just for training him, he'd just toss him in the field and get a way of giving him the weapon. And the character, who's kinda bald looking at the article's image, seems to old to be Shephard, who's 21, and as he is MALE, he can't be Alyx. We've seen Kleiner's younger look already (check his article) so, unless that man is Kleiner in Black Mesa (unlikely) or some time before it, he doesn't fit. Also, since this game is more a puzzle game than a FPS, I don't believe we'll see fights againts the Combine and/or Xen aliens this time. If the game'll have the setting it shows in the trailer, my guess is that it is a simulation created by the Combine, but of course this is just speculation - and we'd better NOT put speculation on the article.

Maybe it's a younger, balder G-man XD Takua108 08:26, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

Note, the character is now confirmed to be female, which means it could be Alyx (but I seriously doubt it), one of the characters from that, that playstation port thingy, or a new character. My bet's on the new character. --Thezeus18 21:33, 21 December 2006 (UTC)

It has been confirmed that Portal is NOT apart of the Half Life universe. See my posting at the bottom of the page.--Wiki Fanatic | Talk 10:06, 10 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Half-Life 2 References

Are the references to the gun turrets sounding the same and the Combine balls appearing in the trailer really nessicary? I'm sure they were just there as placeholders (at least the combine balls, anyway, as sounds are more likely to be re-used) until the game's done. --AndrewNeo 14:54, 19 July 2006 (UTC)

We'll probably have to wait and see. HL2 did reuse some music (and I think sound effects too) from HL1. If this is true, it would most likely link towards the "HL Universe Setting" just 1 topic up. --Gamer007 20:41, 19 July 2006 (UTC)
Personal opinion, but... I can't see them giving the gravity gun and the turrets a pretty white lick of paint if they were just placeholders. I'd leave them as they were. Also, it's not just a Combine ball, it also drops into one of those funky ball-grabbers from Episode One. --AiusEpsi 00:05, 21 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Graphical Improvements

"Graphical improvements to the Source Engine are also easily identified in the Portal teaser trailer, most notable of which are enhanced motion blur and depth of field effects."

These same effects can be seen in Valve promotional videos as far back as the one they made for "Day of Defeat: Prelude to Victory." Their presence doesn't mean they'll be in the final product: a bit-tech article from December '05 explains, "Motion Blur and Depth of field will have to wait until hardware catches up, as current hardware is only capable of rendering each frame in the trailer in two seconds." --66.36.130.54 23:11, 19 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Some Thoughts

The splash screen states it's a very safe and healthy training env. One VERY big lie. The player could be crushed in the begining for example. Or be set to loop through the portal for an unlimited amount of time. Also, the voice states if you fail, the test will be terminated. Do you think what I think? Terminate test subject would I prefer.

Also, this appers to be a training video for a company. In one sequense (model of player falling to the ground) the text says that falling from heights can be fatal and is not recomended by Aperture, Inc. Any thoughts? Cybesystem 00:12, 20 July 2006 (UTC)

Dude, this takes place inside the Half-Life universe. The same universe where you are kindly told to report any time at which you feel you are exposed to hazardous chemicals, just as your train is passing over a huge pool of them. Do I have to go on about the safety and comfort present in Black Mesa? ^^ --King Nintendoid 17:21, 20 July 2006 (UTC)
Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. The voice eerily reminds me of the Black Mesa voice (even though I know it's not the same), telling you "serious" safety warnings with a definite satirical edge to them. Takua108 08:29, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] ASHPD for Garry's Mod

Well, that was quick. Download here. --Tom Edwards 14:20, 21 July 2006 (UTC)

That's just a cheep rippoff. VALVe have upgraded the engine for portal, Gmod can never really use it. Also, the portals are smaller then them in the portal game. Finally, you never walk through the portals in gmod , they only teleport you. Cybesystem 13:04, 31 July 2006 (UTC)
well DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUHHHH. its better than nothing. unless you want to create a new mod and edit the source.. source code and impliment such things while we wait for the real game? Marge4 01:33, 29 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Observations

Hey all, just sat down totally confused by the portal trailer

I managed to observe the following things in it, hope it helps you out with this page

Aperture Laboratories

Orientation Video no. 1 A SAFE AND HEALTHY WORK ENVIRONMENT

Aperture Science Enrichment Center ASEC

Apeture Science Handheld Portal Device ASHPD (Adrian Shephard maybe?)

Set on Earth - Door sign

There is a hole in the sky, through which things can fly (emphasis on sky)

Looks like gravity gun

Turrets act similar to those of combine, same noise

Character uses the gun as a graivty gun

Looks like a training environment - similar to the training in original HL games

Enrichment Center

'Highly motivated Test Subject'

'This next test is impossible'

Similar music to HL games, but evil

'Can carry out tests enduring the most extreme pain'

Everything feels 'futuristic'

Text mentions a legal team, saying that jumping off fataly high ledges is not reccomended.

'Highly motivated Test Subject' Aren't there numerous references to the player's being a test subject in the original HL2? When you go through the portal as Shepherd and see Freeman you get the message "Evaluation terminated: Subject attempted to create a temporal paradox." --Thezeus18 03:55, 6 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] small analysis of mine

Hey all, just tried to post this on the steam forums, but its being dumb as hell. (larsenm5)

Hey all

Here is my theory on Portal: I just sort of thought 'what if' for a while, and it seems to make

sense to me

Here are few observations I made whilst watching the trailer. I assume what is in the trailer

will make it into the final game. I posted these observations on wikipedia earlier. I also

believe Portal to be part of the Half Life Universe.

Aperture Laboratories Don't think it means too much, could just be another research facility like Black Mesa

Orientation Video no. 1 A SAFE AND HEALTHY WORK ENVIRONMENT etc

Aperture Science Enrichment Center ASEC etc

Apeture Science Handheld Portal Device ASHPD (Adrian Shephard maybe? - I REALLY hope Shepard is in this)

Set on Earth - Door sign looks kinda 'earthy'

There is a hole in the sky, through which things can fly (emphasis on sky) Could mean a lot of things, but I think its important - why mention it? Why emphasise sky? Why is something so stupid like that a motto?

Looks like gravity gun It does. It Really does.

Turrets act similar to those of combine, same noise Also of similar style to combine - white and sleek

Character uses the gun as a graivty gun If you notice sometimes he picks stuff up with it

Looks like a training environment - similar to the training in original HL game Well it does!

Enrichment Center I'm not sure I want to know what that means

'Highly motivated Test Subject' Now this is interesting, it could be because the test subject is going to die if they do not figure out the challenges. Why would someone go to the bother of this kind of test? Seriously.

It's not like people test cream-cakes in the same manner is it? I think the test subject is the

person, NOT the gun.

'This next test is impossible' Might just be there to make the trailer more interesting. Could be a reference as to completing

one of these tasks is impossible without the gun.

Similar music to HL games, but evil It does sound very similar, also sounds haunting. This could be because they are just using the

same composer, but I think its cos its set in the HL universe.

The Voice Ok, whats with the synthesised voice? One of two reasons spring to mind: It's not a video for

humans, its a translation. The second, no-one wanted to reveal an identity because its 'super-

secret' or something.

'Can carry out tests enduring the most extreme pain' Eek. Again re-inforces the person as the test subject

Everything feels 'futuristic' I'm not sure it is set in the future however, but everything is very sparse and clean-edged.

Also notice how there are windows with light coming in? Everything seems very cold and white.

Text mentions a legal team, saying that jumping off fataly high ledges is not reccomended. Well of course its not reccomened, but someone performing experiments like this caring what a

legal team says?

Ok, so a couple of questions spring to mind. Namely wtf.

1) Where is this place? I think its definatly set on Earth. I think it is a government job. Teleportation existed at the

lambda complex, but I do not think it is set there. My personal opinion is that it is part of

that arctic base that Judith Mossman was seen in. If my memory serves me correctly, in the game

she states that they found something there, people in the background looked like humans, hunter

came in, horrible mess.

2) When is it? With the release of portal alongside HL:EP2 I think the events happen either before or during

HLEP2. This can be reinforced by valves release of half life expansions: the games are set in

the same time. Taking this further you could also speculate that the Gman might get involved,

either by placing someone in this facility, or by rescuing them at the last moment.

3) Wtf? This seems like a pretty random storyline to a game. There really was not enough information

given to explain what the hell is going on in the way of backstory. My view is that it will be

explained in one of the HL Episodes. I think the game is just expanding on a cool idea in the

game, hopefully we will see this gun in action in one of the episodes! (WILD speculation)

4) Who is it? I strongly think that it is Adrian Shepard. I started thinking about this theory before I even

knew about the ASHPD thing. It does seem to make sense, bringing him back into the universe. He

was put in stasis by the gman which seemed to seal it for me that he will be coming back. Why

would the gman bother otherwise? I dont really have enough info to carry on this train of

thought.

Another theory is that it could just be another random person. Owing to the orange clothing it

may well be a prisoner of some sort - I just don't know

5) How did that gun come to be? I think its part gravity gun. It looks like one, and acts as one in parts of the trailer. Alyx,

in HL2, mentions that the gravity gun was a piece of tech developed at black mesa for handling

dangerous materials (I think). This leads to more questions, namely how'd it end up here? I have

not got a clue i'm afraid. All i can think of is that this test facility is part of black mesa

(which I dont think), the place is set in the future (which I also dont think) or that this

place is alien, and the gravity gun was given to the humans by someone (which I really dont

think)

That's about it for my theory. I'm not an expert and I'm not an intelligence officer, but im

pretty convinced about a few things in there. This is the first theory I have written on

anything half-life mainly because I am so desperate to try and figure out the story behind the

whole universe! I'm angry at your valve, why do you keep me so confused :(

Regards,

Matthew Larsen

[edit] 2 things

I'd like to point out two things.

1: I believe that in the trailer the facility is intentionaly spelt 'Aperture Labratories'

2: The Portal Gun is seen being used to grab things similar to the Gravity Gun in the trailer

Should these be included in the article?--Rim-Fire 23:45, 22 July 2006 (UTC)

2. There is no evidence that the gun can "suck" objects, nor "shooting", only catching. Or? Cybesystem 13:02, 31 July 2006 (UTC)

1. So it is. A whimsical reference to "lab rat"?--Thezeus18 03:57, 6 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] The Displacer

In HL: Opposing Force, Adrian could acquire an item called Displacer that would shoot teleportation balls that would teleport enemies away before exploding. The secondary-fire would teleport Adrian(the player) to Xen (if on Earth) or to Earth(if in Xen). The item was clearly a Black Mesa prototype as schematics of the weapon can be seen in some levels as well as you can see a scientist (not the one you get the item from) in an inaccssible Xen area (one you go to with secondary fire) who apparently used the weapon.

Long story short, the reference to the Portal opening devices reminded me the displacer even before the Adrian Shephard's name thing. Anyone think there can be a further connection with OpFor?

I think that the displacer in OpFor was a convenient (and tricksy) plot/game device. As Narbacular Drop came out afterwards, and unrelated to HL, i can only see that this is a slightly convoluted explanation, feasible as it is, we must remember that Portal was (probably) not originally planned, for Shephard or not. It's a matter of reshaping a sqaure peg into a round hole.

Oh, and before anyone asks, the Displacer was originally just a homage to the Doom BFG. Monchberter 22:16, 26 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Stop you'r therories

Stop all of your therories about "Portal = HL universe". Yes, it has been confirmed. But just because it's in the HL universe, it does NOT have to be shepard. Again, yes the portalguns name is close to his name, but think again. How did Adrian, a member of the military, get into a corp. training video? It might just be a scientist.

We know almost nothing about this portal game. Set the therories on pause untill the game has comed out. I know VALVe has some thoughts with this game. They won't tell us now. If MY therory is right, they won't untill EP3.

Connect the stories if you want. Analyse how much you want. But don't edit the article untill we all know for shore. And don't even bother to post them in this discussion because we all have diffrent therories.

Thank you, I hope.. see you again when EP2 is out.

Cybesystem 13:01, 31 July 2006 (UTC)

Don't forget: It's definately not Shepard as the lead character was revealed to be female. -- Andrew McM 18:33, 9 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Portals from ASHPD == G-Man's portals?

I was just reading the G-Man (Half-Life) page, which talks about the G-Man using portals to leave areas (specifically here). I can't remember offhand, but does anyone know if the portals close? If so (ie. they are not permanent 'teleporter' devices, such as those in DOOM) it could be similar 'technology' to the game here. Just something to think about... –Dvandersluis 17:08, 10 August 2006 (UTC)

The HL1 portals look nothing like the ones used in the trailer for Portal, though. HL1 portals are glowing orbs with no way to see through. Some close after being used (such as the G-Man's), others remain and have both an entrance and exit portal, forming close-range teleports. -- Jordi·✆ 08:59, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Story

I think the story section should be cut down, or at least modified to imply that nothing is actually known about the story, other than the fact that it is based in the Half Life world.

There is no reason to believe that the demo follows the exact storyline of the game (at the very least, there could be a change of announcer) and for all anybody knows Valve could have made a major change in the story line, e.g. it's not longer a training simulation but a test of skill etc.

Valve released the demo to introduce the concept of the game, and unless it is explicitly stated that the demo is of an actual in-game scenario, you should at least add some kind of statement to warn the reader that there has been no hard evidence whatsoever about the story. Something along the lines of "If the content of the demo Valve has released is to be believed to be representative of actual scenarios in the game..." would add a lot of credibility to this article.  freshofftheufoΓΛĿЌ  02:19, 14 August 2006 (UTC)


The gameplay video shown at the Leipzig Games Convention has the same computerized voice, and mentions that the player is going through tests, and that he/she will be missed when it is over. On a side note, the "missed" is said after a pause in a slightly different tone, leading me to believe that the player might be "terminated" at the end of the testing. --24cell 02:53, 25 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Leipzig Games Convention 2006

There is a video on portal from GC. Is it allowed to be posted here even though it's from Youtube? Or is it just official vids allowed to be posted on wikis. --Gamer007 23:24, 23 August 2006 (UTC)

It is a source, not necessarily a reliable one, but still a source. As such I have added it to the external links. Should a better official one be posted, or someone decides it shouldn't be posted, feel free to remove it. --24cell 02:31, 25 August 2006 (UTC)

Based on the computer-voice quote from the end of this video, I added a suggestion that "the player may eventually have to escape from the facility," which was soon removed. Anyone else agree, or can explain why such an idea should not appear in the article?

Because it's purely speculation - not to say that it's wrong, because nobody knows.

[edit] 3 Theories

Maybe its Mossman Proyect??? or Maybe its some type of test to evaluate a human physicaly and psicologicaly by the Combine..... Or maybe the G-man its trying to make Adrian an equal....... Thats the training.

Don't post theories. Post information about the game.

[edit] www.aperturescience.com

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Everything you manage to get from the website, please put it here, so that the relevant information can be later included in the main article.

Here's something, from the website. It appears to be a command-line sort of thing, and after trying a buncha UNIX and MS-DOS commands and failing, I finally typed "help." Here's what showed up:

If this is an actual plea for help in response to a hazardous material spill, an explosion, a fire on your person, radiation poisoning, a choking gas of unknown origin, eye trauma resulting from the use of an emergency eye wash station on floors three, four, or eleven, an animal malfunction, or any other injurious experimental equipment failure, please remain at your workstation. A Crisis Response Team has already been mobilized to deliberate on a response to your crisis.

If you need help accessing the system, please refer to your User Handbook.

It still seems to be a work-in-progress, for when I first clicked the link from the Wikipedia page, I got a MySQL error above the Flash app (it was in black, though, so you couldn't see it). Now it's gone. Hmm...I'll try some more stuff and report it here if I remember :P Takua108 22:57, 8 September 2006 (UTC)

After logging in (any username, password should be obvious ;-) ) and filling out the entire application, you eventually get a "camera feed" of a certain room… and that's where the Flash app now ends. -- Jordi·✆ 03:58, 9 September 2006 (UTC)

Also: after logging in, if you type help, it now gives you a list of options. -- Andrew McM 18:29, 9 September 2006 (UTC)

Please see Wikipedia:What Wikipedia is not. --Ortzinator 05:17, 10 September 2006 (UTC)

  • In case you missed it, try Username as username and Password as password. Then try dir and apply. Interesting stuff, though this is all confusing as hell. I hate viral advertising. :) - mixvio 20:42, 20 September 2006 (UTC)

I think that the section on the website should be altered, at least with the addition of 'spoiler' warnings. The website is an ARG, the content is supposed to be discovered, not described, so I think spoiler tags are necessary.

  • Agreed (especially when you read what I add below). I added the spoiler tags. Jean15paul 16:44, 31 October 2006 (UTC)

aperturescience.com Hacked Don't follow this link if you don't want the entire content of the site revealed to you. AndrewNeo hacked the aperturescience.com site, and documented all of the inputs and outputs. You can see the results here: http://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/User:AndrewNeo/Analyzing_ApertureScience.com Jean15paul 16:44, 31 October 2006 (UTC)

  • I didn't hack the site, I just decompiled the flash file <.< --AndrewNeo 18:46, 10 January 2007 (UTC)
Spoilers end here.

[edit] Flashing Letters?

On aperturescience.com, I noticed that, in the text of each question, one letter seems to be flashing. Could somebody investigate this?

When you add all of the letters together in the order they appear it reads thecakeisalie or the cake is a lie. Once you have logged in, if you type thecakeisalie, a message reguarding a lockdown at the enrichment center appears along with video footage of a "relaxation vault" which doesn't appear to have any doors. A person that was lucky enough to play Portal during a tour of Valve's studios confirmed that the player begins in the relaxation vault and portals that let you out of the vault are placed. He also confirmed that cake actually played a part in Portal.

That vault is the same footage you get after completing the "survey". Asides from the flashing letters in the questions, there are also some kind of images flashing in the earlier parts of the questionnaire, but they flash away too fast for me to register. -- Jordi·✆ 11:19, 11 September 2006 (UTC)
I also witnessed some flashing image. It appeared on page 41 for a third time, and it looked somewhat like the Xfire Messenger IM window. Can anyone else confirm this?

[edit] Female lead character

In an interview it was revealed that the lead character of Portal was female: http://www.1up.com/do/previewPage?pager.offset=1&cId=3153489 Thereby it is not A. Shepherd you control. This also means that the page needs updating. I know it's in conflict with previous video footage, but, eh, Valve are free to change their minds. -- Andrew McM 18:36, 9 September 2006 (UTC)

Um, is the lead character necessarily the player character? --Thezeus18 04:08, 6 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Exite Mod

On what basis is Exite Mod "The first Portal mod created with Source Engine"? The mod wasn't started until just recently. --Ortzinator 05:17, 10 September 2006 (UTC)

Because they started inspired by Prey, not by Portal. They coded portals in actual HL2 Source SDK before Portal was announced. TheQuartz (Strider Mod developer) said that they get the portal gun idea to create their hand-made portals, but Exite started before Portal. The "inspired by Portal" notation isn't correct. Changed.

If the mod isn't based on Portal, what is it doing here? Let it be linked from List of Half-Life 2 mods. Removing. -- Jordi·✆ 23:14, 12 September 2006 (UTC)
The mod is using the portal gun idea, that's it, like Garry's mod modification. Added. Why you remove it?
I gave the reasons above. This article is about an as-yet unreleased singleplayer game which will use a Portal gun concept. Your mod is based on Prey, and therefore it makes more sense to add it to the Prey article. Since it uses the Source engine and is dependent on HL2, it could also go in the list of HL2 mods. It does not belong in this article. I won't remove it again as I don't feel like further discussing this or getting in a revert war with an anon. -- Jordi·✆ 23:23, 12 September 2006 (UTC)
I'm not from the strider mod team, but i can't wait to see Exite in action (look www.garrysmod.org and facepunch forums). Your notation is correct because developers said "They were inspired by Prey and Portal". (I didn't read this, sorry -> http://www.stridermod.com/2006/08/exite.html ). Sorry for the discussion, please don't remove the link , it's my fault.
Whether Excite was technically inspired by Prey or Portal is unclear. I suspect that it was inspired by Portal and Prey was just mentioned to avoid "PREY DID IT FIRST" comments. Excite certainly does resemble Portal more closely and it is the HL2 community that is salivating over it, hoping that it will satisfy their craving for Portal before it is released.
All in all, I think what inspired Excite is irrelevant. It is obviously related to Portal and should stay. --Ortzinator 15:45, 13 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] LOST

The Orientaion Video digrams remind of lost possibly a reference to the show or justa coincidence since is a orientaion video--Halokiller27 02:01, 16 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Probably Not Combine-Related

Remember, during Half-Life 2 Dr. Mossman explicitly stated that the Combine do NOT have the ability to teleport within Earth. They can tunnel here through Xen, but are then dependant on local transportation. This portal gun technology couldn't possibly be theirs.

[edit] Sentance rewrite

don't worry about the questions they are for laughs as far as I can tell!

This really doesn't sound like the wording that should be used in an encyclopedia. Can someone else rewrite this sentance? I would do it but i'm really hopeless at editing - Mickiscoole 11:42, 27 September 2006 (UTC)

I removed it all as it has little hope of becoming encyclopedic, but the rest of the section needs to be looked at. --Ortzinator 14:49, 27 September 2006 (UTC)
Someone's been re-adding those commands every once in a while. Seems to be using Wikipedia as a 'sratchpad' for their investigations, or as a fansite. — Saxifrage ✎ 15:47, 27 September 2006 (UTC)
Sentence. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 87.196.36.73 (talk) 16:26, 11 February 2007 (UTC).

[edit] Portal Physics

Should there be a section about the portal physics, describing the various situation that come up with the portal trailers and some implied ones/existing strategies in other portal oriented games (e.g. narbacular drop, exite, or the two way portal SWEP)? Moshe Gordon 08:48, 30 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Prey Ripoff

I really don't think that the section under Criticism alleging ripping off Prey should be there. There is no citation, it's based off a game that predates Prey (and the original programmers are working on this title as well). Just seems like stupid fanboy speculation rather than informed criticism. Suggest removal unless a citation is made.

I removed it. Planetary 14:45, 5 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Spoilers

Is it really nessecary? A person incorrectly placed the spoiler warning, and I fixed it, but I'm not sure if it's needed, since there is no actual story. Conundrumer 21:20, 5 November 2006 (UTC)

Well we really dont know if there will be a story or not....i assume there will

[edit] About the music...

If you watch the beginning of Gameplay Demo 4 of HL2: Episode 2 then the Portal trailer (the ending part of the first "real-world" example where the player goes through the portals and escapes certain death), listen to the music. Part of the music that you hear in the Portal trailer seems to be a remixed version of part of the music in the Gameplay Demo.

Here's another part , this time it seems to bridge the gap between real-life and the game universe. I was in Parkson listening to their "soothing music" they play between their self-promoting advertisements and I heard a (very) familiar sounding part in one of them. The "familiar sounding part" is the one in the Portal trailer where the computer demonstrates that things can go through portals. I have to say it's true. Quite intriguing, isn't it? Other than that, most of the music in the trailer are all unique.

Obviously, this is all original research especially the second one but I think there is some value to adding them into the article. Any comments on this? --Bruin_rrss23 (talk) 14:30, 31 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Portal is NOT part of Half Life's storyline

Portal has just been confirmed not to take place in the Half Life storyline. I have updated the article to reflect this. The references are linked to in the article, but I'll post them here as well: http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=13075
http://planethalflife.gamespy.com/fullstory.php?id=115496
I have quoted the relevant part of the Planet Half Life article below:
GDC: 2007, Kim Swift, in a conference with fellow game professionals announced Valve's decision that Portal will no longer cross over to Half-Life 2. Considered to be too distracting to the ongoing narrative, the Portal gun will now exist in a self contained world where existing objects and their interactions can be designed specifically for the game. Rumors surrounding the device's name, "Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device" suggested the return of another Half-Life character, Adrian Shephard. The star of Opposing Force, expansion pack to Half-Life by Gearbox Software met a similar fate as Gordon Freeman. Though the sequel to Half-Life continues Gordon's story, the whereabouts and condition of Adrian is still relatively unknown.
--Wiki Fanatic | Talk 10:05, 10 March 2007 (UTC)

If you go to the GameSpy article now, it seems to have been changed:
GDC: 2007. Kim Swift, in a conference with fellow game professionals went into detail about Valve's decision to hold Portal's game separate from the action in Half-Life 2. It is still noted that Portal exists within the Half-Life universe.
I have reverted this article to the state before Wiki Fanatic changed it. --Jeep Barnett 1:30, 10 March 2007

Thats fine, it looks like they backtracked against themselves.--Wiki Fanatic | Talk 14:49, 11 March 2007 (UTC)
The FAQ on Valves forums conferms that Portal and Half Life are linked. Alan2here 22:45, 18 March 2007 (UTC)
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