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Portal 2 developer commentary: Difference between revisions
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Rattman's Den commentary node is encoded as SSTV, containing three presentation slides
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=== Elevator Fatigue === | === Elevator Fatigue === | ||
{{Quotation | Marcus Egan | {{Quotation | Marcus Egan, Laser Platform | ||
| We found that playtesters were getting fatigued at solving so many complex test chambers in a row. So, instead of a routine elevator ride to the next puzzle, we added a long funnel ride with some destruction to give players a short break while reminding them of the facility's state of disrepair. | | We found that playtesters were getting fatigued at solving so many complex test chambers in a row. So, instead of a routine elevator ride to the next puzzle, we added a long funnel ride with some destruction to give players a short break while reminding them of the facility's state of disrepair. | ||
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=== Nonlinear Progression === | === Nonlinear Progression === | ||
{{Quotation | Greg Cherlin | {{Quotation | Greg Cherlin, Laser Catapult | ||
| The original layout of this chamber started out much more linear; essentially a sequence of rooms that the player had to progress through somewhat blindly – not knowing what the next goal might be until they got there. Early versions contained an extra puzzle beyond the reflector cube, but due to the linear path, it took players so long to get to it, that they were confused about which elements were still relevant. This drove us to make the level nonlinear. To make it easier for players to visualize the puzzle, we condensed the overall test space and moved the exit near the start. This helped the players see where they had to go and which objects would help them get there. | | The original layout of this chamber started out much more linear; essentially a sequence of rooms that the player had to progress through somewhat blindly – not knowing what the next goal might be until they got there. Early versions contained an extra puzzle beyond the reflector cube, but due to the linear path, it took players so long to get to it, that they were confused about which elements were still relevant. This drove us to make the level nonlinear. To make it easier for players to visualize the puzzle, we condensed the overall test space and moved the exit near the start. This helped the players see where they had to go and which objects would help them get there. | ||
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=== Rattman’s Den === | === Rattman’s Den === | ||
{{Quotation | Adam Foster, Pull the Rug | {{Quotation | Adam Foster, Pull the Rug | ||
| * | | Portal 2 Announcement ARG | ||
* Created by people working on Portal 2 | |||
* Intended for enthusiastic superfans | |||
* Budget of less than $100 | |||
* Portal updated to include radios, broadcasting mysterious SSTV images | |||
* Certain images contained pieces of an MD5 hash of a phone number | |||
* Phone number led to an old-fashioned BBS | |||
* Estimated time to 'solve': 7 hours | |||
* Actual time to solve: 7 hours 16 minutes | |||
Portal 2 SSTV Images | |||
* Analogue format used in HAM radio | |||
* Watching video of ISS SSTV with SSTV software running, sound from laptop speakers unexpectedly picked up by microphone | |||
* Peculiar squeaking and beeping, degrades in visually interesting ways | |||
* Photos of Valve whiteboards, equipment and anything science-related lying around | |||
* Finding radios in Portal made for fun meta-game - everyone could join in | |||
Aperture Laboratories BBS | |||
* Single analogue phone line in a designer's kitchen (phone systems in Valve office too modern) | |||
* Old PC running Linux, attached to a 2400 bps modem from 1987 (via USB to serial adapter) | |||
* mgetty to handle calls, custom PHP script looping through plot fragments and home-made ANSI-art conversions of Portal 2 artwork | |||
* Transmitted about 20MB of data in total | |||
* Phoneline constantly engaged! | |||
* Several spare modems in case one died - none did | |||
* SSH backdoor for updates and monitoring (possible to watch exactly what people were seeing as they dialed in) | |||
* Combined might of internets is terrifying | |||
}} | |||
== See also == | == See also == | ||