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Think about it: If that thing is important, why don't I know about it?
— GLaDOS on unused content.
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Much like any video game, the Portal series contains a large amount of unused content that was cut from development due to a series of reasons either given or disclosed. Below is a list of characters and other unique mechanics that were unfortunate enough to be put on the chopping block.
Portal
Mechanics
Portal 2
Characters
- Betty - A small robot who, prior to testing, would absolve Aperture Science of liabilities.
- Mel - One of two playable human test subjects during development on the co-op campaign.
Mechanics
| Pneumatic Diversity Vent
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This type of mechanic was first introduced in a demo of the same name, displaying its abilities to pull objects at a high force. This mechanic is kept as a traveling system around the tube networks, but is unused for gameplay in the release for unknown reasons.
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| Hover Turret
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The Hover Turret may have been intended for Portal 2, and its primary attack is a blue laser beam that brings a similar injury effect as the Thermal Discouragement Beam. No concept arts have been pinpointed to this turret variant, but a screenshot from the The Final Hours of Portal 2 reveals a group of personality cores on a ceiling railing that appear to be "hovering" versions of the Rocket Turret. Further tie in to this can be found in unused textures for the Pneumatic Diversity Vent's passive monitoring screens, showing a personality core with rockets inside to be dubbed as the Hover Turret. It can be spawned in-game, albeit without a proper model and AI.
Spawn code: ent_create npc_hover_turret
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| Adhesion Gel
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This mechanic was mentioned to allow players to stick to wherever the gel was placed. It was cut from the game when play-testers complained of motion sickness.
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| Reflection Gel
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The Reflection Gel replaced the Adhesion Gel in the Authoring Tools after Portal 2 received the Peer Review update. It was to act similarly to the Discouragement Redirection Cube, in that it could reflect Thermal Discouragement Beams. It remains unused for unknown reasons.
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| Futbol
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The "futbol" was a gameplay mechanic that explodes on contact and is the original multiplayer gamemode for Portal 2; which was to carry the device around with portals and to frag other players by dropping these into their presence. The "futbols" also appear to have a dispenser model found in the game's files. The texturing of the "futbols" and its dispensers are similar to the texturing styles of Portal, indicating that this gamemode was cut very early in Portal 2's development. In the game's release, the "futbol" codes have been reused to create the Bombs in the single-player finale.
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| F-Stop
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This mechanic was originally intended to be the primary handheld testing element for a prequel to Portal. The developers very much praised the concept but after the prequel itself received negative feedback from playtesters as they were expecting a sequel with the Portal Gun, the F-Stop project was canceled and it was decided to keep the mechanic disclosed to reserve for another potential game.
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| Mannequins
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The mannequins were used as a testing element for the F-Stop, similar as to how the Turrets were for the Portal Gun. According to the The Final Hours of Portal 2, the mannequins appear to be sentient robots that would later rise against Aperture Science in the prequel to Portal. Along with the prequel and F-Stop mechanic, the dummies were ultimately cut. A deactivated male crash dummy was kept in the release of Portal 2, used as a target for the Turrets' firing range.
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| Rocket Turret
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An enemy featured in Portal, the Rocket Turret was apparently to make a reappearance in Portal 2, as evidenced by files found the "scripts" folder of Portal 2's directory files. It can be spawned in-game, albeit without a proper model, missing sounds and somewhat broken AI.
Spawn code: ent_create npc_rocket_turret
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| Android
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In the "scripts" folder of Portal 2, a file called "npc_sounds_android" can be found. The file references sounds that were not shipped with the game, nor does attempting to spawn the npc yield any results.
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| Chicken
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Not much is revealed of the chicken, but concept arts released revealed that a giant chicken may have been a boss for either the prequel to Portal or early stages of Portal 2. Minor evidence of the chicken's leftover files are in the "scripts" folder of Portal 2's directory files.
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| Zombie
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In the "scripts" folder of Portal 2, a file called "npc_sounds_zombie_aperture" can be found. The file references sounds that were not shipped with the game, nor does attempting to spawn the npc yield any results.
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Gallery
Trivia
- Prior to the the March 3, 2010 patch for Portal the Party Escort Bot was considered to be cut content; it was added back into the game to fulfill its original purpose of "collect[ing] Chell after she escapes the fiery death that GLaDOS had prepared for her."
