Announcer

2013-07-20T04:57:55Z

Frungi: /* Trivia */ sp per the game’s credits

{{quotation|'''The Announcer'''|If you are a non-employee who has discovered this facility amid the ruins of civilization, welcome! And remember: Testing is the future, and the future starts with ''you''.|sound=Announcer_prehub17.wav}}

'''The Announcer''' is a minor character in ''[[Portal 2]]'', who has masculine programming and is [[Voice actors|voiced]] by Joe Michaels.

After the destruction of [[GLaDOS]] at the end of ''[[Portal]]'', the Announcer appears to have taken over the [[Aperture Science]] facility in her absence as a back-up system, maintaining primary functions and stasis chambers. He continues this duty until the events of ''Portal 2'', where he is most present in the beginning of the game, guiding [[Chell]] in test chambers through automated messages before she and [[Wheatley]] accidentally reactivate GLaDOS. After that, most major functions and decisions return to the main AI and the Announcer slinks back into minor managerial and production procedures.

He is a personality designed to work in extreme and low power conditions to keep research and testing going even during "circumstances of potentially apocalyptic significance” so “science can still be done.” Although, unlike many robots and AI in Aperture such as GLaDOS, [[Cores]], or even [[Turrets]], the Announcer does not have a physical presence and displays no hints of sentience. Instead, he rather is or is a part of the basic system of Aperture, his lines similar to computer alerts and triggered in the same fashion (such as deleting a file, indicating problems with the reactor core, etc.) He shows no acknowledgement to the Combine Invasion outside the facility, no ability to record results from a test, no recognition of Chell being the one who destroyed GLaDOS, no desire to change tests within the facility or create new inventions, or ability to realize that the faulty turret used to sabotage the turret production line was flawed. He can, however, read files, detect life and the overall condition of the facility, operate the sprinkler system, as well as override the main AI in situations like stalemate procedures.

Indicated by his presence behind the scenes of Aperture especially concerning the production of Turrets, the Announcer maintains many ancillary functions that the main AI doesn’t overlook but can utilize, and continues to make sure that miniscule problems are taken care of and that the main AI knows of any major problems occurring within Aperture.

== See also ==
* [[Announcer voice lines]]

== Trivia ==
* Several unused [[Glados lines#Alternate GLaDOS Announcer lines|voice lines]] indicate that at some point during development of ''Portal 2'', the Announcer's job was to be filled by GLaDOS herself, before ultimately being replaced by Joe Michaels' rendition of the script.

{{CharactersNav}}

Gels

2013-04-02T21:57:06Z

Frungi: /* Conversion Gel */ “enables to be able”?

[[File:Bounce.png|right|135px|Don't get covered by the gel.]]

{{Quotation|'''Cave Johnson'''|We haven't entirely nailed down what element it is yet, but I'll tell you this: It's a lively one, and it does NOT like the human skeleton.|sound=Cave_Johnson_fifties_second_test_complete02.wav}}

'''Gels''' are a gameplay [[Mechanics|mechanic]] officially introduced in ''[[Portal 2]]''. They are paint-like liquids that impart different effects when applied to [[surfaces]] and objects.

== Gels ==
=== Repulsion Gel ===
{{main|Repulsion Gel}}

This gel is a light blue substance that provides repelling abilities. Any objects like the [[Storage Cube]]s and [[Turrets]] that hits a surface coated with the Repulsion Gel, will either bounce away from the gel splat or bounce erratically on its own upon being coated with it. Due to the effect, the height from which a test subject falls before landing on a gel-covered surface affects the height of a jump. Test subjects can also use the Gel to move back and forth between two parallel surface rather than merely be propelled up and down.

=== Propulsion Gel ===
{{main|Propulsion Gel}}

The Propulsion Gel is a light orange substance that greatly increases object velocity and reduces the friction of objects moving on the surface(s) it is applied to. Any objects covered in this gel have their friction reduced, causing them to slide around across the floor easily.

=== Conversion Gel ===
{{main|Conversion Gel}}

A portal-conducting white substance {{spoiler text|made from ground moon rocks}}. It enables test subjects to fire [[portals]] onto [[surfaces]] previously incapable of conducting portals.

=== Cleansing Gel ===
This gel may appear to be regular water with an ability to wash away other types of gels off of surfaces and any objects that have been coated. It has no special properties in regard of the gameplay, and as such, does not affect any surfaces other than ones covered in other gels.

=== Slime ===
'''Slime''' or '''Sewage''' was found only in ''[[Portal]]'' during [[Chell]]'s escape, and is not often considered a gel due to the fact it has no emitter, is not used to solve chambers, and Chell cannot "paint" with it like with the official gels introduced in ''Portal 2''. Regardless, it does have some properties similar to some gels in ''Portal 2'', such as the slippery effect of running on Propulsion Gel and an adhesion effect that keeps Chell somewhat stuck on the surface.

== Unused gels ==
=== Adhesion Gel ===
{{main|Adhesion Gel}}

The purple "sticky" or "adhesion" gel was found on accident in the Portal 2 authoring tools. It turns out that the purple gel was initially going to behave like the blue stick paint in Tag: The Power of Paint, the game off of which Portal 2's gel mechanics are based. The adhesion gel would have been in the game along with the repulsion, propulsion, and conversion gels in Portal 2 now. But some play testers got too disoriented when they had to think with portals while walking on walls and ceilings, so Valve ended up removing the gel before it was completed.

=== Reflection Gel ===
{{main|Reflection Gel}}
The Reflection Gel replaced the [[Adhesion Gel]] in the authoring tools after Portal 2 major update of their first DLC. The gel uses the Conversion Gel texture when hits the floors, and causes the [[Thermal Discouragement Beam]] to reflect, similar to the [[Discouragement Redirection Cube]]. When this gel hits the player it shows the screen effect of the [[Propulsion Gel]].

== Related achievements ==
{{Achievement table
| 1 = {{Show achievement|Portal 2|Vertically Unchallenged}}
{{Show achievement|Portal 2|White Out}}
| 2 = {{Show achievement|Portal 2|Stranger Than Friction}}
{{Show achievement|Portal 2|Schrodinger's Catch}}
}}

== Gallery ==
{{Gallery
|title = Gels
|height = 150
|width = 150
|lines = 3
|File:Repulsion Gel.png|Repulsion Gel spraying out of its tube in the 50s-70s layouts of [[Aperture Science|Aperture]].
|File:Propulsion Gel.png|Propulsion Gel, ditto.
|File:Conversion Gel.png|Conversion Gel, ditto.
|File:Water.png|Cleansing Gel, ditto.
|File:Repulsion Gel Cube.png|A [[Weighted Storage Cube]] covered in Repulsion Gel.
|File:Propulsion Gel Cube.png|Ditto, covered in Propulsion Gel.
|File:Propulsion Gel Turret.png|A [[Turrets#Sentry Turret|turret]] covered in Propulsion Gel.
|File:Repulsion Gel Turret.png|Ditto, in Repulsion Gel.
}}

== Trivia ==
* The gel mechanic is a borrowed concept from ''[[TAG: The Power of Paint]]''.

** A fourth gel, "[[Adhesion Gel]]", was also borrowed from ''TAG'' and was tested within ''Portal 2''. It would have allowed players to "stick to a surface so you can walk up a wall like Fred Astaire in ''Royal Wedding''"<ref>Chapter 8, page 2 of ''[[Portal 2 - The Final Hours]]''.</ref>; however, it was removed early on during development due to making play-testers motion-sick.<ref>Chapter 8, page 4 of ''Portal 2 - The Final Hours''.</ref> Its emitter is still in the game's files, however, but does not have any sticky properties or a texture.<ref>Sticky gel in-game test [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-A1s67wK2Q]</ref>

* Repulsion Gel was [[Aperture Science]]'s first attempt at creating dietetic pudding substitute.

== See also ==
* [[Mechanics]]

== References ==
<references/>

{{MechanicsNav}}
[[Category:Mechanics]]

Portal Wiki - User contributions [en]

Announcer

Gels