Talk:Portal (video game)/Archive 2

message: 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 female narrator 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)
replies: text: UPDATE: Seems that they play their music only when they're promoting their Parkson Grand Sale, expecting lots of customers in the process. Each music piece is separated by their self-promoting ads (It's completely separate, not the voice-overs) and one of them is the music containing the part I mentioned above. I understand that this is all original research but the music only comes during their sale. Is it worth adding it to the article? --Bruin_rrss23 (talk) 14:13, 10 May 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  About the music... 

message: 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)
replies: text: Thats fine, it looks like they backtracked against themselves.--Wiki Fanatic | Talk 14:49, 11 March 2007 (UTC)

text: The FAQ on Valves forums confirms that Portal and Half Life are linked. Alan2here 22:45, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

text: What does "...will no longer cross over to half life 2" mean exactly? It says "It is still noted that Portal exists within the Half-Life universe." So are they saying that the player character in portal will not be in hl2 episode 3? Or is it that there will be no reference to the combine? I am very confused, and would appreciate if you helped me understand what it means :) thanks in advance~ Nophysicalbody 12:56, 7 September 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: I'm of the opinion (particularly given the picture in the talk page below about "FSII",as well as developer comments) that this makes complete sense, although confusing at first. Basically it means that Portal takes place in the Half-Life universe, not a different one. The stories, however, do not meet or otherwise directly influence each other at any time. That picture indicates to me that the Aperture Science Lab is a competing organization to Black Mesa with interests that are in conflict with Black Mesa. Additionally they must have had some excellent government connections, if they known not only OF Black Mesa, but also what their FSII proposal lacked. I would say they are a government defense contractor company. Nerve gas? Get that at Wal-Mart lately? Anyway, in short, Portal and HL are separate games and stories, but the same planet, universe, etc. 75.89.138.192 21:59, 11 October 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Portal has been confirmed as part of the Half Life universe a number of times. Here, for example, is a Gabe Newell interview from the 29th of August, 2007, where he states that they exist in the same game world. (Read the fourth question, by the picture of Portal). Also, Episode 2 makes it too clear that they are linked - you see imagery of what I presume is the area around Mossman's arctic base, on a ship called the "Borealis", which is packed with "Aperture Science" crates, with the very same company logo, too. I don't think there's any reason to believe they aren't linked anymore. Falastur2 22:18, 11 October 2007 (UTC)

text: Agreed, it's implied throuhgout Portal and in parts of Ep 2 that Aperture Science and the Black Mesa employees are aware of one another and in competition. I think Portal occurs some time before the events of the first Half Life game. --poorsodtalk 21:29, 12 October 2007 (UTC)

text: It seems to me that it's the Aperture science facility after the seven hour war. Hence why all the people are gone. --Joey Roe 20:30, 20 October 2007 (UTC)

text: Aperture Science is mentioned in Episode 2, Black Mesa is mentioned in Portal. To say they're unrelated is quite frankly wrong. Rehevkor 16:55, 17 October 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Quite. Not to mention that it would seem that Episode Three will feature Aperture Science heavily. Their plots are quite clearly linked, it's just that the links have not yet been revealed - it's like saying that Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader aren't actually related to each other until The Empire Strikes Back, because the information isn't revealed until then. Vader is still Luke's father in A New Hope, even if you aren't supposed to know yet. Falastur2 23:15, 17 October 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Portal is NOT part of Half Life's storyline 

message: How is that mysterious? It said that an intubation associate will be sent to revive you. It's obviously an intubation kit, extra-large. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Atomicthumbs (talk • contribs) 17:46, 23 April 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  INTUB-XLG 

message: Does anyone else think that she sounds a lttle bit like a weird G-man robot? Or it could just be me... lol --81.179.120.161 14:45, 21 June 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: WOULD YOU LIKE TO PLAY A GAME? --CCFreak2K 18:31, 23 September 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Incidentally, someone added "citation needed" for stating that Ellen McLain provided the voice. A citation isn't needed, as she gives commentary in the director's commentary, as well one of the producers states (in the commentary) that they needed someone flexible, and that Ellen was perfect since she was skilled in mimicry and had operatic experience. She's also listed in the end-game credits.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.36.156.251 (talk) 17:09, 13 October 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: That would be the citation needed, then. --Joey Roe 20:32, 20 October 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  The weird woman voice 

message: Is this section of quotes from the trailers really necessary?
:Someone has already transwikied it to WikiQuotes. --Bruin_rrss23 (talk) 07:10, 4 August 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Seems that it got deleted from Wikiquotes... unlike WP there's no deletion log so I can't find the reason why they deleted it. --Bruin_rrss23 (talk) 09:26, 4 September 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Video Quotes 

message: What if these labratories have something to do with the Gman's 'employers'? It makes sense if you think about it, because as mentioned up there (^) somewhere, the combine can't teleport on earth. Gman is seemingly always teleporting to places. It would explain why the digitalised voice sounds so alien (and talks strangly like the Gman), and goes on and on about legailities and things. There is a mention of a 'legal team', and Gman seems to be quite buisness- oriented. And the Gman doesn't seem that caring about humans dying~ And neither does Aperture 'Labratories'. It explains quite alot when you think about it. There are other points, but I had this idea while eating dinner, and I forgot 'em :P. I personally think that Gman's employers are much more likely to be in control of these "tests" than the combine or the earth's government.
Thanks again- Nophysicalbody (Nophysicalbody 10:07, 18 September 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  A New Theory... 

message: Post them on my talk page instead. I am making a section for people to post however many theories without being harassed by users who are fed up with them. Muffin Man 23 13:55, 19 September 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  For people who are fed up with the theorys 

message: On the trailer for the game, the portals seem to look pretty cool. Whereas on gameplay vids I have seen the portals have looked different. Which of these portals will feature in the game?
Joepeake 10:36, 26 September 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  The Portals In The Game 

message: The article is misleading in the way it says Typing that at any time after login/after the questionnaire, YOU CANT ENTER IT AFTER THE QUESTIONNAIRE!!! Anyway... I jumped to the wrong conclusion with THECAKEISALIE. It is telling you to press return if a supervisor walks by YOU! Not on the small video it plays. I have also noticed that you can press any button to get to the spreadsheet, but you can also press any button to get back to the conversation and video... Strange. Also typing a question mark is the same as typing help, and if you type INTERROGATE without anything after it displays a message about needing more than one parameter. Muffin Man 23 10:45, 26 September 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  THECAKEISALIE 

message: Why shouldn't we add the information about the sound files found in the GCFs? I think it would be interesting for readers. --87.110.43.102 18:04, 2 October 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Soundtrack 

message: Portal and HL2 EP2 are now offered for preload, maybe worth putting into the article too?  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.29.3.12 (talk) 15:18, 5 October 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: If I'm not mistaken however, preloading is only available for people who have pre-purchased The Orange Box and not for people who only wish to preload portal, therefore I believe this reference should be reworded as this is a article for portal and not for The Orange Box. If I am mistaken feel free to revert my edit (and maybe tell me how to preload separately, as I would like to know). Doctoroxenbriery 01:03, 7 October 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Preload 

message: The Orange Box guide contains a lot of plot information, could we update the article to use that info? 172.167.194.198 14:14, 8 October 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Which Orange Box guide? If it's from a Steam website, we can cite it; if it's from a handbook then it would have to be worded a little more carefully, but it should be usable. Falastur2 15:34, 8 October 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  The Guide 

message: I don't recall the name of the lead char being mentioned anywhere ingame. If this info is pulled out of the content files, it should be removed as unsourced. -- 84.133.173.242 18:16, 10 October 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: "Chell" is the name in the credits. Bartleby 22:30, 10 October 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Lead character name 

message: Obviously it needs to be cleaned up a bit as it seems to have been done in a hurry (numerous typos, point of view changes, etc), but more importantly the concept of "rampancy" is both incorrect and not applicable. Rampancy is a term to describe a sentient and somewhat insane AI, coined by Bungie to apply to a very specific process in the game Marathon. It has implications in the game Halo, but the process described is not rampancy and in fact has very little to do with rampancy. The AI Cortana in the the Halo franchise was given an estimated 7 years to live (7 being "Bungie's number") before "thinking herself to death". This has no relevancy at all to Portal nor to the concept of rampancy (which itself, has no relevancy to Portal). I'd fix it myself but I'm new-ish to Wikipedia and am hesitant to violate standards. :) Viserys89 22:39, 10 October 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Story section (RE: Rampancy) 

message: I have put an "update-section" tag on the story section. The game has been released (in fact I have played through it once). Some of the information can be updated to reflect what actually transpire in the game. For example, there is a slideshow in the game that tells what Aperture is. The slide show clearly shows Aperture and Black Mesa are competitors. --Voidvector 22:52, 10 October 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Story section update 

message: At one of the walls ingame the username "cjohnson" and the password "tier3" was scribbled. I typed this into that viral page and it actually worked. No idea if this was known already, but since the page was decompiled already, anway. So, yeah, I thought I just throw this in. 87.234.30.210 11:01, 11 October 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Cave Johnson appears to be the late CEO of Aperture Science, according to that history you mentioned. Also, the account is an admin account. If you try interrogating someone, it now gives an error saying "[unknown employee]" instead of telling you that you aren't  authorised to discipline people. I'm looking to see if there's any employees you can interrogate, but...I don't know any employee names. I've tried the obvious - Johnson himself, Chell, GLaDOS, etc, but none of them work. It may be that there are no employees that you can use here, I really don't know. Falastur2 17:33, 11 October 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Sniffing in the history of the of the article I found parts mentioning this about the site already, but also not giving any information about the interrogation part. So I guess besides the NOTES part there really isn't much to it. THECAKEISALIE and the application also work as usual.80.139.147.224 22:38, 11 October 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: When one is logged in as Johnson, they can retrieve their application code/UUID at any time. typing IP will give it to you. You also have access to some other features  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.18.240.159 (talk) 06:18, 12 October 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Another thing I would like to add here: Everything that is going on in the webpage is done with flash, and as far as I can notice, the page never reloads or anything, meaning that all this data (and perhaps more) should be viewable with a decent hex editor. I haven't tried this but I will. --ReCover 17:08, 16 October 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Hold on a minute. After a crawl through the flash file I didn't find anything readable so this gave me a hint that the data was fetched through flash. And after a quick look with Firebug I saw that there are many http requests being issued to aperturescience.com. The uri's are pretty funny as well, I'll see if I can dig something up. --ReCover 17:16, 16 October 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Okay, I tried to open the flash file with a SWF decompiler. To my surprise, I was displayed the source code of the document, it its entirety. According to what I could see, the http requests do not have any real meaning since all the text and logic are provided in the source code (maybe valve use it to track activity?). I suggest everyone interested to take a look of their own. --ReCover 17:44, 16 October 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Login and Password found ingame

message: Should this game be First-person adventure since there is hardly any shooting (in the traditional sense) at all. In addition, the game is more about solving puzzles, which is more like an adventure game. --Voidvector 19:01, 11 October 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: I think that Portal would be categorised as an FPS-Puzzle game in the game industry...though I'm no expert, and I'm certainly not in the industry... Falastur2 21:09, 11 October 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: In this case, I'd agree with the industry. The genre seems fine as is, "first-person shooter" isn't just for Doom style games. Rehevkor 21:15, 11 October 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Genre 

message: Per WP:NFCC#9 I am removing all the screenshots from this talk page.  Please be aware that non-free media is not allowed outside of the main article space.  I am replacing them with :Image:Placeholder.png  Thanks, --Phirazo 16:58, 12 October 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Sorry about the images I posted, I'm kinda new to wikipedia standards. What if the image is hosted somewhere else, but the link is posted here? Avatarian86 18:13, 12 October 2007 (UTC)

text: In all honesty, I'm not sure.  In my opinion, it probably should be okay, but I can't find any rules about it.  --Phirazo 06:22, 13 October 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Non-free images in talk 

message: Anyone who has played HL2 will understand this, and playing the game I know how it actually goes, but there is a comment that the Portal Gun can "grab"  objects like the Gravity Gun. This is NOT true. It may look like it from screenshots but objects floating in front of the gun are actually being held by the player (No hands driving vehicles or picking up objects with the E key in any Source Engine game.) I would request someone else to fix this as I'm new to Wikis and would rather not mess up the entire page. 
165.170.128.66 18:10, 12 October 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: I disagree. The gun is still in use when you're carrying something (after you get it, of course), the standard "Gravity gun carrying something" animation is essentially there, and it ends when you drop the item. I agree that you never actually see her hands when she's just carrying a box before she gets the gun, but afterwards, the gun is still involved. Avatarian86 18:16, 12 October 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Yep. It's very clearly the portal gun holding the item when you play the game. Rehevkor 18:20, 12 October 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: I suppose it's just there to explain how you can pick up objects while having both hands on the gun. Webrunner 18:56, 12 October 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: If you listen closely, you can even hear that throbbing "hum" sound that the gravity gun makes when the portal gun is holding an object.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 198.82.90.141 (talk) 21:09, 12 October 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: And you can see energy jumping between the points sticking out over the nozzle bit of the gun, in the same way that the grav gun does. See this video of the companion cube - watch the tip of the gun when the cube is picked up (you only need watch for about 15 seconds). It just clearly has none of the power of the gravgun - it can't shoot objects, basically, only drop them again.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by Falastur2 (talk • contribs) 23:04, 12 October 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: The visual feedback  is there, and it seems that you use the portal gun to pick up objects. But you pick up objects in the same manner _before_ you are able to get the portal gun. Furthermore, in order to pick up items, you press the use key, not the primary or secondary fire key (or whatever are they labeled in Portal). On the other hand, in HL2 when you use your "hands" to pick up object, you current weapon drops instantly, a move that does not happen in Portal... You draw the conclusion. But in my opinion, as you are able to pick up items before the portal gun is available using the very same manner, the portal gun is not used to carry objects. Kkmic 23:05, 13 October 2007 (UTC)

text: You're not comparing like for like there, this has nothing to do with holding weapons in HL2. We're talking about comparing the gravity gun to the portal gun - in neither case does the gun "drop instantly". The Portal gun DEFINITELY can pick things up - the animation of the Portal gun shows this clearly when you pick something up. Thekoyaanisqatsi 21:39, 14 October 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Alright, alright, no need to get ANGRY about it. I didn't realize the animation of the gun when an object was "grabbed." It just seemed odd to me as a gamer that a key would enact something on the gun rather then another option such as physically picking it up. 69.207.138.94 22:08, 14 October 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: It is also good to note that in HL2 you also pick up objects without hands prior to attaining the gravity gun, and after the gravity gun makes a similar electrical effect. ZeikJT 07:16, 27 October 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Portal Gun Can't Grab Items 

message: Who did the soundtrack? I want to say Kelly Bailey, since he's Valve's primary composer, but I can't be sure. dethtoll 00:48, 13 October 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Composer 

message: I re-added the timeline, as I felt it was an important part of the page, and no reason was given for its removal. It was there one minute, then gone the next. Ghostalker 06:40, 13 October 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: The timeline is too excessive for being a work of fiction - the article needs to focus on the real-world notability by secondary sources of the game, and while it is important to summarize the plot and note that this takes place at Aperture Science, the full history of AS from a primary source is not appropriate - at least at this time.  There's possible, but not current, indication that AS may reappear.--MASEM 12:13, 13 October 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Timeline 

message: The last shot doesn't always show the Weighted Companion Cube. Here's proof. JAF1970 03:13, 14 October 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Look closer. It's in there. -Aknorals 03:51, 14 October 2007 (UTC)

text: I think you mean the new menu that appears after the credit? The companion cube appears if you wait for a while, the camera will pan towards the right, revealing the cube. 165.21.83.240 13:39, 14 October 2007 (UTC)

text: (SPOILER)If you have seen a ending video without the cube, they have noclipped the cube out onto the surface where chell faints/dies.82.46.22.136 17:13, 28 October 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Last image 

message: I'm not sure, but what's the significance of the final credits using the first four characters of GLaDOS to spell glad? It doesn't have much meaning without the OS in the name. Could it have enough significance to be included in the article? 165.21.83.240 13:18, 14 October 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: The significance is just that those letters appear in GLaDOS's name. We know that GLaDOS stands for Genetic Lifeform and Disk Operating System. To imply that GLaD is actually an acronym makes GLaD "Genetic Lifeform and Disk" - which seems a bit...well, I can't see it concealing a hidden message. I think it's just GLaDOS toying around with her name. Falastur2 16:03, 14 October 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  GLaD <==> GLaDOS 

message: An anon IP is attempting to add in a portal map site.  I will point out that by external link guidelines, fan sites have to meet a high level of scrutiny before they can be added to external links.  The Portalmaps.net site, while likely the first site to offer extra portal maps, does not yet meet the requirements - mainly because its too early to tell what the community will consider the "authoritative" site for portal maps.  It doesn't offer anything new at this point to the understanding of what Portal is - remember, we're an encyclopedia, not a link directory. --MASEM 17:14, 14 October 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Is there any kind of link directory set up? Not that we should set one up here, but it'd be awesome to get some kind of listing. Avatarian86 00:42, 15 October 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Fan site additions 

message: Add  to your user page to add it.
--MASEM 23:06, 14 October 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Woo hoo... I like this!165.21.83.240 23:09, 14 October 2007 (UTC)

text: Thanks! This is great. Sp!ke 02:44, 15 October 2007 (UTC)

text: (no, not trying to have userbox fights here) Be aware that non-free images (including fair use logos like Portal's) are explicitly forbidden within userboxes.  (Which is why I created the one above when I happened to find the cake image off the WP Commons.)--MASEM 14:13, 15 October 2007 (UTC)

text: I made this one some days ago   Chandlertalk 02:43, 21 October 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Use as you will... 

message: What is up with the bring your daughter day thing? Its mentioned once by GLaDOS as not very informative comment. But in the promotional website, it seems to be more significant as its the last thing mentioned in the memo in cjohnson's account. Maybe something happened that day?165.21.83.240 23:21, 14 October 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Maybe it's, you know, just a joke? Xihr 00:19, 15 October 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: It says on the web site that GLaDOS was brought online during the "Bring your daughter to work day", and that "In some ways, the initial test goes well". Personally, I think this is the time that GLaDOS released the deadly nerve gas. That would certainly fit with the "In some ways, it went well" thing. Avatarian86 00:48, 15 October 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: I thought at first that it was why Chell was there, but then GLaDOS talks about her personnel file at the end, so I'm not sure. -Berym 01:15, 15 October 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: "Well done!  Remember: The Aperture Science Bring Your Daughter to Work Day is the perfect time to have her tested."Diwen 01:27, 15 October 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Remember that her father has been dead for some 14-ish years before bring-your-daughter-to-work day. Why would a daughter attend such an event when she was probably too young to even remember her father, let alone his place of work and know enough about this day in order to go it? Falastur2 13:47, 15 October 2007 (UTC)

text: Didn't the intro to HalfLife 1 say something about "Bring your daughter to work" day ?, I'll install it again and check. -Switchable 09:03, 15 October 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Just played the tram ride again to save you the trouble. It mentions the Hazard Course Decathlon, asks you to invite friends or family members to take jobs at the facility, and reminds you to get regular chemical screenings, but there's nothing about any bring-your-daughter-to-work day. And give the top-secret nature of much of the compound, it would probably be a bit of a risky thing to do anyway... I'm not entirely sure that I believe that bit of the website, like Xihr said. It's probably a joke. Falastur2 13:47, 15 October 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Yea, game finally installed late last night. Also noticed the "Friends and Family" thing, must have been that. -Switchable 07:50, 16 October 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Bring-Your-Daughter-Day 

message: There is a glitch allowing you to use the half life guns in the game. Should this be posted? Link287 01:35, 15 October 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: By 'glitch' do you mean something other than 'use the console to set sv_cheats to 1 and then enter impulse 101'? Diwen 01:55, 15 October 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Kind of more or less than actually using the weapons causes glitches such as a crow bar appearing as though its piercing her abdomen Link287 03:08, 15 October 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Gun Glitch 

message: I took a screenshot of Chell from the very front with as high resolution as possible and added it to the article to replace the older screenshot we had. Sp!ke 02:32, 15 October 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Updated character portrait with a more high-resolutioin photo. 

message: Should it be added that the game is (suppousdly) highly moddable and mod-friendly(custom made maps and the like).  AnoreX 22:45, 15 October 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Maybe a paragraph or two about the ability to Script challenges, and add map-packs whould be a good thing. Though mods aren't really a new thing in the Source-engine, the scripted challenges are specific to Portal. -Switchable 12:27, 16 October 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Moddable 

message: Very minor - but in the soundtrack it should be noted that the actual filename of the song "You're Not a Good Person" has the "you're" spelt as "your", improperly.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.70.0.212 (talk) 02:19, 17 October 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Misspelling in filename 

message: It seems as if there is some speculation about the possibility of Adrian Shepherd returning in a future game, due to the name of the portal gun ("Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device" or ASHPD for short...) Anyway, it seems that there may be another 'easter egg' hidden message: the keyboard models lying around in portal have several keys colored yellow, assuming the keyboards are QWERTY keyboards the highlighted letters are ASDERHNIP.
These can be made to spell (with some duplication of letters) "Adrian Shepherd".
I first saw this in a discussion on the Facepunch Studios forums , but can't find the thread there anywhere! The info I have used came from http://boards.ign.com/teh_vestibule/b5296/152273556/p1/ 82.18.132.162 18:18, 17 October 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Talk about original research, and tenuous OR at that. Xihr 01:00, 18 October 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Adrian Shepherd message. 

message: are you guys sure the weapon/tool has the ability to pick up items?
i played the first few tests, and i was able to pick up the items manualy  without even having the gun yet
and afterwards i used the same buttons to pick up items like boxes later on.
so i dont think picking up the items like boxes, is an ability of the weapon/tool,
rather something chell does herself. Like any human beeing would pick up a box. 81.244.204.179 12:10, 18 October 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: The Portal Gun clearly shows a reaction to items that are picked up in the same way as the gravgun does - energy jumps between the nodes on the end of the gun. See this video for reference - just look about 20 seconds in when the Companion Cube is grabbed. But obviously you can't throw anything with the portal gun. As said in a previous comment in this very talk page (check out Portal Gun Can't Grab Items), I agree with Webrunner that it is merely a premeditated answer to the question "how can you grab things when both hands are on the portal gun" that many pedantic gamers (myself included) might otherwise have asked Valve. Falastur2 14:51, 18 October 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Gameplay section : gun abilities 

message: It used to list what each one represented. I kinda liked that. It made GLaDOS almost seem like she had depth and wasn't just totally insane.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.51.140.4 (talk) 00:22, 18 October 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: I vote for that as well if anyone's waiting for more people to agree to actually do it. DrunkCat 13:59, 22 October 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: I don't believe this is necessary.  Yes, its a great game and all, but remember we are writing the article to be understood by anyone, not just those that played the game.  It is necessary to identify GLaDOS, it is not necessary or appropriate to provide a breakdown of her personality makeup in the literal sense - because in the end, this is a FPS/puzzle game that's 2hours long and has less plot than most movies yet we're almost overkill on it already. --MASEM 14:06, 22 October 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: About GLaDOS' modules

message: Did anyone else notice how similar the voice ordering the combine sounded just like GLaDOS? I know that they're from the same voice actress but the voice sounded exactly the same. Would that mean that the combine actually used GLaDOS sphere modules for themselves? And they themselves are the ones who put the Morality Sphere in her(You try surviving a Deadly Neuro Toxin; not even the water did)? And kept Chell from them by putting her in that detention room deep in the Portal testing facility?
: They sound similar because they're both voiced by the same voice actress, Ellen McLain.  It doesn't indicate anything other than that. Xihr 21:04, 18 October 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: That's something that can only be properly answered by the release of Episode Three (and perhaps not even then). Personally I believe that the use of Ellen McLain for both voices is a coincidence, but noone really knows for sure, except Valve, and they aren't telling. Falastur2 18:53, 18 October 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: She's also the British Super villain Assistant-style announcer voice in TF2.  Valve seems to like her to do voiceovers. Webrunner 15:41, 19 October 2007 (UTC)

text: That's what I thought but I started worrying when I couldn't find anything, or anyone mentioning the smiliarity in speaking manner and voice tone. =\ I figured they put in the morality chip to subdue GLaDOS and then just take what they needed.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by DrunkCat (talk • contribs) 17:27, 22 October 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  GLaDOS Voice in HL2 Ep2 

message: The article mentions secret rooms, but neither explains where they are, and does not link to any website that does explain. This seems to be an oversight that could stand to be corrected Hi There 02:23, 21 October 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Secrets and guides can be mentioned, but how and where to find them are the realm of game guides, which WP is not.  --MASEM 02:27, 21 October 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Yes but a link to a place that has the how and where would seem to be called for. Hi There 02:31, 21 October 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: The "Secret rooms" mentioned are probably the ones where all the "THE CAKE IS A LIE", "HELP" text, pictures and taken down security cameras are. Chandlertalk 02:37, 21 October 2007 (UTC)
replies: text:  Yes.  "Secret rooms" is really a misnomer; the player is intended to find them.  Where they are located is game guide/walkthrough material, not suitable for an encyclopedia entry.  I'll adjust the wording. Xihr 02:42, 21 October 2007 (UTC)
replies: text:  Okay, I see what it is now. Sorry for the misunderstanding, I thought the secret rooms were something along the lines of Easter Eggs, and not a regular part of the game that was used to insert a kind of backstory into it. Hi There 03:07, 21 October 2007 (UTC)
replies: text:  Yes, the language wasn't clear.  They're not areas you have to go through to complete the game -- at least the ones early on -- but they're hard to completely miss (I missed the first one on my first play through).  But they're definitely nothing like Easter eggs or true "secret" areas as is meant by the usual use of the term applied to gaming. Xihr 09:01, 21 October 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Secret Rooms - Where Are They?

message: A friend mentioned a Portal mod for Counter Strike is in the works. Is this thing done by Valve or fans, and is this true? If so and can be referenced with a credible source it should be mentioned in the article. Cheers, Rothery 05:08, 22 October 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: If there is a mod in the making, Valve won't be the ones making it. They don't mod their own stuff, just make it moddable for the community. Plus it would cut into their planned sequel/follow-up, and it's pretty unlike a company to cut away their own profits by releasing free content like that. Falastur2 13:03, 22 October 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Technically, they've only released a few full games, while the rest are mods, or 'expansions,' upon the games they've already made. Half-life got blue shift, opposing force, and the early counter strike, hl2 engine spawned most of the rest... granted, there is a good deal of extra coding with each expansion, but they're still arguably "mods" for existing games. they just dont marked them as so. There are some third-party mods that are almost as good as the valve ones.  oh, i should mention something about the topic starter, shouldnt i? lol. Well, if it's true that there is a portal css mod, i'd put it under a section of portal-inspired things, and call it something like "counter strike mod inspired by portal". NuVanDibe 06:01, 26 October 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Well kind of, yes, but Valve didn't make Blue Shift and OpForce themselves, they hired a third party, a tactic which I believe (though I could easily be wrong) that Valve have since abandoned. Counter-Strike on the other hand started out as a mod developed by fans, with no professional association to Valve at all, and became so popular and successful that Valve bought the rights to it (I think they also hired the makers of CS, just like they hired the makers of Narbacular Drop to make Portal). Falastur2 17:35, 26 October 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: CS mod?

message: Did anyone find any cultural references in this game? I could only find the spoof of Emily Dickinson's Because I could not stop for Death in the graffiti. It read: 
"Because I could not stop for Death, He kindly stopped for me. The cube had food and maybe ammo. And immortality."
 
I don't know if that's enough to make a whole section but I was wondering if anyone has found anything else. Please be gentle, this is my first time posting.
--Ghettoburger 20:11, 23 October 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: It certainly doesn't warrant its own sections, unless there are many cultural references and it is a crucial element of the story, which it surely doesn't seem to be.  Furthermore, it borders on original research. Xihr 22:24, 23 October 2007 (UTC)
replies: text:  I don't think cultural references would have to be crucial to the story. After all, they're just references. This is an encyclopedia, not an analysis essay. Also, I agree that while some cultural references found would be iffy, the phrase, "Because I could not stop for Death, He kindly stopped for me." is an extremely famous line from a equally famous poem. Call it what you will, but there's a point where "original research" will begin to invalidate some fact.  NuVanDibe 06:01, 26 October 2007 (UTC)
replies: text:  It is not remotely possible to include every fact about a subject in Wikipedia; in fact, that would completely miss the point of an encyclopedia.  That a fact about an article's subject is true does not mean it's mandatory to be included.  On the contrary, the point is to include the most relevant facts to give the reader a broad understanding of the subject.  A single reference to a poem in griffiti is completely irrelevant to that understanding.  Such facts could be relevant if the purpose of existence of the subject was to bring together multiple cultural references in a unique way, but that is not what Portal is at all.  The graffiti that reads "The cake is a lie" is far more relevant than this throwaway cultural reference.  Providing the reference without interpreting what it means in the context of the game would be irrelevant; providing that context without reliable, third-party resources would be original research. Xihr 06:10, 26 October 2007 (UTC)
replies: text:  Then perhaps you'll consider this fact: that poem was part of a much larger collection of graffiti which depicted a man (or woman)'s attachment to the Companion Cube and his/her subsequent descent into madness as they accepted the reality it had to be destroyed, and then finally destroyed it. "Because I could not stop for death," although a cultural reference, could also be used to point out how GLADoS treats the test subjects. NuVanDibe 16:13, 26 October 2007 (UTC)
replies: text:  You don't need to analyze that grafitti to realize how GLaDOS treats her test subjects. --DrunkCat 18:38, 26 October 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Cultural References? 

message: Throughout the web, wikipedia, and common dialog the portals are referred to as blue and orange.  However, on commentary and within the game cache files, the portals are labeled blue and red.  I think both should be mentioned in the article, but to what extent?  Additionally, if you look at the red/orange portal, the core of it is red and fades to orange the further from the center you get.  Maotx 13:51, 24 October 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Are you sure about that? Becuase I can clearly remember that the commentary nodes always mentioned "Blue" and "Orange" portals. Ex. "We wanted the player to realize that both the Orange and Blue portals can act as an Exit and an Entrance". --DrunkCat 15:22, 24 October 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: I was quite sure of it, but I will have to confirm the commentary when I get home later.  The audio files are indeed labeled red and blue.  Maotx 15:33, 24 October 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: In what way are you suggesting to add the information? If you mean to simply say that the commentary differs from the game description, with the best of intentions, I'm not sure that it's worth adding, but if there is something that relevant to the colour which needs adding, then I'm all for it. For what it's worth, by the way, I've played through in commentary mode, and I don't recall any mention of the colour red either, but then I could easily have forgotten. Falastur2 17:16, 24 October 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Not that it's actually relevant, but if you play with the subtitles on, the game tells you about each portal opening sound - and calls them 'red' and 'blue'. - some random passer-by  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 63.209.233.147 (talk) 07:59, 26 October 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: That is what I was thinking of!  I had subtitles on while playing the commentary. Thanks. Maotx 23:13, 26 October 2007 (UTC)

text: I suggest changing all the orange descriptions of the color of the portal to the color red instead. No need to go overboard with it and discuss the huge confusion, but I believe the developers intended for it to be a red portal, as labeled in the audio files and subtitles and as identified by the inner color of the portal itself. Maotx 23:13, 26 October 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: They quite possibly did mean that, but the portals according to the actual game are orange. At the end of the day, this is an article about the contents of the game, and while mentioning the orange/red confusion could perhaps be added as a bit of background info, we have to describe the game as it is, not as it was meant to be. Falastur2 23:23, 26 October 2007 (UTC)

text: Just as a side note, GLaDOS is labeled under "aperture_ai" in the GCF as well. Doesn't mean she's named, story/plot/game-wise Aperture_AI. --DrunkCat 18:08, 24 October 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: No, but the naming serves as an accurate description. Maotx 23:13, 26 October 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Color of Portals 

message: Most of the world's FM radios will not tune to a frequency that low.  In fact, the only country where it would be a valid FM station is Japan. 204.108.8.5 20:01, 24 October 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Maybe that AS Facility was based in Japan. :D! Very good info. --DrunkCat 20:27, 24 October 2007 (UTC)
replies: text:  Or the FM radio band could work differently in the Half Life universe. Or they could have specially-built, Aperture Science radios that can tune 85.2. Or Valve could have just wanted to use a fake frequency, similar to "555" numbers in television shows and movies. In any event, it's all just speculation. :) —Daniel Vandersluis(talk) 19:25, 26 October 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  85.2 FM 

message: http://portal.wecreatestuff.com/ Here's a link to it. I thought that was pretty amazing/cool and since it can't be in the article (I think) I'm putting it here. --DrunkCat 22:21, 24 October 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Flash verision of Portal 

message: Since Aperture Science has appeared in Half Life 2: Episode Two and no doubt will feature in Episode Three (based on ending of Episode Two, seems to be based on the Borealis) it is no longer really only specific to portal, thus would suggest separating into Aperture Science Inc. Thoughts?
Stuskiv 18:09, 25 October 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: We're already had it split; by itself it does not have enough notability to stand alone as its own article (all about Aperture Science is only in-universe information).  If/when it appears in Ep three and more details about it are understood, it may warrant its own article, but again, we need to wait. --MASEM 18:14, 25 October 2007 (UTC)

text: Don't split it. As far as we know, Aperture Science was just a passing topic in Ep2. So for now, it's heavily dealt with in Portal. When Episode 3 comes out and they become shared then it'll probably be good to split. --DrunkCat 18:41, 25 October 2007 (UTC)

text: Don't split; Wikipedia has too many articles about non-notable bits of fiction. 75.23.152.145  —Preceding comment was added at 10:02, 27 October 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Split Aperture Science into separate article 

message: Between me and some other editors today, the article got a big re-write.  Most of the speculation and preview talk is gone.  The entire Trailer and Aperture Science Website sections got deleted.  If you think these need to be in there, add them in or talk about it here.  Peace.  Tyro 08:44, 11 October 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: I doubt the trailer needs a section, or perhaps even a mention, but I think there is scope for the inclusion of the section about the website. I mean, the whole thing tied in well with the game, it was a pretty big publicity stunt (among gamers, anyway), and it was out of character for Valve, meaning it is unique, at least as far as Valve games go. I think including information about it would add to the article. Falastur2 15:10, 11 October 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Removed sections