http://www.thinkwithportals.com en-us Portal 2 Blog RSS

Are you sitting down? If not, you should sit down. Okay, are you sitting down now? Because you should probably actually be lying down for this: As of right this moment, we are giving all current owners of Portal 2 a 75% off Portal 2 coupon. If you're standing back up, dusting yourself off and wondering why you'd want another copy of a game you already own, lie back down real quick because here's the lie-down part: We just added co-op to the Perpetual Testing Initiative.

That's right: Puzzle creators can now design and publish co-op maps, which puzzle players can now greedily consume. Well, as long as they have a co-op partner. Which the 75% off coupon should help them (i.e.: you) find. We've also added a "Quick Play" feature that creates never-ending, auto-generated playlists of the top-rated maps in a variety of categories. It has literally never been easier to figuratively jump in and literally play some Portal.

]]> http://www.thinkwithportals.com/blog.php?id=8663 Thu, 16 Aug 2012 20:33:00 +0000 http://www.thinkwithportals.com/blog.php?id=8663 Thanks to an anonymous tech at NASA, Wheatley is actually going to actual space. This Friday at 10:06 EST, the Japanese HTV-3 resupply craft to the ISS will launch the above panel into space. Though mankind will surely regret giving Wheatley a celestial perch to plot his next move, we here at Valve are mostly just impressed with NASA's bold, unprecedented resupply craft numbering scheme. And please note that when we mentioned an "anonymous tech at NASA" we weren't kidding: NASA in no way officially endorses secretly laser-engraving characters from Portal onto their spacecraft. Believe it or not, they don't even officially endorse Portal 2, despite the fact that it's a really excellent game.

You can watch the launch here beginning at 9:15 EST / 6:15 PST.

http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html]]> http://www.thinkwithportals.com/blog.php?id=8447 Fri, 20 Jul 2012 23:22:00 +0000 http://www.thinkwithportals.com/blog.php?id=8447
In fact, one of the beta testers made so many great maps that we've decided to award him the first ever Aperture Science Employee of the Moment Certificate for his provisional excellence in the field of test chamber construction. Congratulations, Mevious! Enjoy it while it lasts.


Those of you interested in checking out Mevious' terrific maps can get them all at once by subscribing to them at this collection page. Make sure to also Follow Mevious on his Workshop author page so you can keep track of what he makes in the future.

Remember, the next employee of the moment could be YOU! That's right: transient fame and fleeting fortune could be yours. Dethrone the tyrant Mevious! He's been on top for too long. He's getting soft, and you're hungry. Be like Rocky in all the Rocky movies. Except for Rocky I, where he lost (unless you're counting victories of the heart, which won't win you any awards from us). Or Rocky VI, where it was a show fight and didn't count. In fact, just focus on Rocky IV. The last half.

Dun.

Dun dun dun.

Dun dun dahhhhhhh...

]]> http://www.thinkwithportals.com/blog.php?id=7926 Tue, 08 May 2012 20:19:00 +0000 http://www.thinkwithportals.com/blog.php?id=7926 FROM: Cave Johnson

COMPANY MEMORANDUM

Cave Johnson here. Your boss. It's come to my attention that some of you are concerned after receiving my all-staff memo yesterday ("You: Design Test Chambers or You're Fired"). So to put your minds at ease, let me clarify: You are not mentally ill and you did read the memo just fine. It was real. You should be designing test chambers, right now and at all times, or by God I will fire you.

Having said that, let's be honest: Some of you are incapable of designing a test chamber, whatever the motivation. You're only getting marginally better results than a dog would. Worse, actually. A dog designing even a substandard test chamber'd be pretty damned impressive, let's not kid ourselves.

But don't worry, you're not fired yet. It turns out there's an even better job you can do instead of being fired: Getting launched into an infinite series of alternate Earths to evaluate all the test chambers your smarter coworkers are making.

Wait, it gets better: I'll be right there with you. Every step of the way, whether the tests work or not, Cave'll be by your side, facing whatever life-threatening dangers we might run into out there. And even better, I won't actually physically be there. I'll be here, talking into a microphone, from complete and total safety. That way the people who'll be monitoring whether you're still alive won't have to split their focus worrying about me.

So there you have it. Everyone's useful in the Perpetual Testing Initiative. Except Peter Jenkins, which brings me to the point of this memo: Pete, you're fired.

Alright, that should wrap it up. Everybody except Pete get back to work when this sentence finishes... now.

]]> http://www.thinkwithportals.com/blog.php?id=7921 Mon, 07 May 2012 23:59:00 +0000 http://www.thinkwithportals.com/blog.php?id=7921
The gaming press have chimed in on our new free Puzzle Maker, available May 8th, and the verdict is unanimous: It is NOT complicated to make your very own Portal test chambers. "Easy to use," says IGN's Charles Onyette. "Satisfying and easy," adds 1UP's Chris Pereira. "Possibly the easiest level editor known to man," claims NOW Gamer's Adam Barnes.

Wow! Is our Puzzle Maker really this easy to use, or are these guys just bald-faced liars? Let's find out, and try to make a playable map in only FIVE STEPS.

Here's the basic map template you start with. Note: This is not step one. On the left, you can select from any of the puzzle elements from Portal 2.



Okay, now we're at Step One. If you have a friend helping you count, tell them to start now. Let's choose a big red button and place it somewhere on the map.



Step Two: Connect the button to the door.



Oh, man, we're already up to two steps. We better get moving. Seriously, we might have over-promised on this.

Step Three: Surprise! We're throwing this step away. That's how confident we are.

Step Four: Now we're looking at this picture of Gabe someone made in the Puzzle Maker.



Step Five: Now we're going to rebuild our map to see it in action.



Seconds later, it works! We did it. The gaming press are not liars.*

Here we are solving the puzzle:



So we built a test chamber: Now what? It's time to publish it to the Steam Workshop. You can share your puzzle with everyone, or just share it with friends, or even keep it private until you think it's ready.


This is obviously a very, very, very, simple map. But don't worry: the Puzzle Maker is as powerful as it is easy to use. You'll be designing complex brain-busters in no time, trust us. In fact, you don't even have to trust us.

The Perpetual Testing Initiative's still in beta, and people have already been hard at work making great science.





* About this specifically. ]]> http://www.thinkwithportals.com/blog.php?id=7914 Sat, 05 May 2012 01:10:00 +0000 http://www.thinkwithportals.com/blog.php?id=7914
Now we're introducing the Perpetual Testing Initiative (PeTI), which combines a powerful, easy-to-use Puzzle Maker with full Steam Workshop integration, and will be available free for the PC and Mac on May 8th.



The Steam Workshop

There are already hundreds of incredible Portal 2 puzzles in the wild, but chances are you haven't played them. They're hard to find, hard to install, and hard to manage. We're changing that. Now that we're adding the Steam Workshop to Portal 2, you'll be able to browse a virtually endless stream of community-crafted puzzles, then install and play them with just one click from any web browser. Play the most popular maps in the world, or just what your friend created last night.

The Puzzle Maker

With the Puzzle Maker, you can create test chambers of all shapes and sizes. It's incredibly easy to use — jump right in and start making cool stuff. When you're happy with your work, publish it to the Workshop for your friends. or even the whole world, to play. Get feedback, gain followers, and build collections of puzzles to break people's brains. You're the designer now; let's see what you can dream up.

Make sure to check back next week for more information on the Perpetual Testing Initiative!

]]> http://www.thinkwithportals.com/blog.php?id=7853 Fri, 27 Apr 2012 19:51:00 +0000 http://www.thinkwithportals.com/blog.php?id=7853
The Steam Workshop, which lets users publish and download custom mods, is now available for Skyrim. To celebrate, Valve and Bethesda have teamed up to bring you a mod called "Fall of the Space Core, Vol. 1", which'll let the aggressively space-centric little robot tag along on your adventures in Tamriel.

Also, since Skyrim was the only major release of 2011 without Nolan North in it, you should consider this mod a patch to fix that problem. You can now feel free to include Skyrim in the "Nolan North" section of your video game library, which is to say, your video game library.

]]> http://www.thinkwithportals.com/blog.php?id=7296 Tue, 07 Feb 2012 18:29:00 +0000 http://www.thinkwithportals.com/blog.php?id=7296


Speaking of not winning, guess who didn't win Destructoid's Game of the Year. If you guessed Portal 2, we hope you didn't actually call your local sports book and put any money on that guess, because we won! WE'RE #1! Unless you're reading E-Online, in which case, WE'RE BACK TO #2!

Look, we understand that awards season is a turbulent emotional hell ride. But you know what would probably make you feel better? Buying things. It just feels good. With that in mind, we've put a bunch of Portal 2 merchandise on sale. For example, this incredible 1970s-style Portal 2 movie poster is 50% off! And if you're planning to go out to eat for the holidays, you should know that many restaurants now require shirts, something this 50% off "Wheatley Laboratories" tee is 100% guaranteed to be. Frankly, there's figuratively literally too much Portal 2 stuff on sale to list in one blog post, but you can check it all out here. If you order forty bucks worth of stuff, we'll throw in a FREE Aperture Lanyard. Just add it to your cart and then enter the code "COMBUSTIBLELANYARD" at the checkout.

And just so you don't think all we're trying to do is sell you stuff, here's a sentence where we don't try to sell you anything. Now that that's over, J!nx has some excellent Portal gear, including the world's only Portal-themed baby onesies. Between now and December 22nd, you can get ten bucks off a thirty-five dollar order by entering the code "MILKANDCOOKIES" when you checkout.

If you have enough shirts and/or no babies, ThinkGeek has some crazy Portal 2 inspired non-clothing products like an actual, working PotatOS science kit, a Wheatley LED flashlight, and an honest-to-God talking Cave Johnson Portrait. Until December 22nd, you can get five bucks off a thirty dollar order or ten bucks off a fifty dollar order by entering the code "YOUSAVED SCIENCE" at the checkout.

Finally, do you like Portal 2? If the answer to that question is "no", then, man, did you make a wrong turn somewhere on the Internet. For everyone else, how would you like to celebrate those warm feelings every time you move your mouse? Because now that's possible with SteelSeries' new Portal 2 mousepad. It won't be available to order until tomorrow. But from then until December 26th, you'll be able to buy it for 15% off by using the code "SSP215".

]]> http://www.thinkwithportals.com/blog.php?id=7060 Tue, 20 Dec 2011 23:38:00 +0000 http://www.thinkwithportals.com/blog.php?id=7060
In our last blog post, we announced that both the VGA and X-Play awards had nominated Portal 2 for Game of the Year. How'd things turn out? Well, you'll be happy to learn, we just barely lost both of them, helping cement our frankly historic dominance of the Second Best Game of the Year category. And the good news doesn't end there: We also grabbed the number two spot in Paste Magazine's first annual GOTY list, while clawing our way to a dramatic second place victory on C-Net. Just so you don't think we're getting cocky, though, the Associated Press and MSN UK put us at the top of their respective lists. You can't not win them all.

To celebrate all this runner-uppering, for the next twenty-four hours, Portal 2 is 75% off on Steam. If you're paying in US dollars, that means you can buy Portal 2 right now for seven dollars and fifty cents! If you're paying in non-US dollars, you'll have to boot up a spreadsheet and do the math yourself, but we guarantee the result will be just as startling.

And if you already own Portal 2, might we suggest you buy a few copies to give away as gifts? No? Well, unless you somehow skipped the last couple sentences, too late - it's suggested. Good luck getting the idea out of your head. You may as well buy some copies before it drives you insane. Sure, it's the second best gift you can give this season, but at a price you'd expect from the seventeenth or eighteenth best gift. Plus, let's say you give someone the number one game of the year. How are you going to top that next year? You'll have to buy them a car. Be smart about this.

]]> http://www.thinkwithportals.com/blog.php?id=7046 Mon, 19 Dec 2011 19:37:00 +0000 http://www.thinkwithportals.com/blog.php?id=7046
Luckily, it looks like we're off to a good start. Portal 2 has been nominated for eleven awards in X-Play's Best of 2011 Awards, including Game of the Year.

We bet you're thinking that eleven nominations sounds like a lot. First, it is. But second, we're up for twelve nominations at this year's VGAs, which will air live on Spike TV Saturday, December 10th (8pm EST). If you have a spare minute and an opinion about Portal 2, you can vote for us in their Reader Poll.

Now you're probably thinking, "Wow, you guys are nominated for a lot of stuff, but you haven't actually won anything." Well, how about this? You just made us cry. Congratulations, big man. Maybe you should swagger over to Macworld to see who got their Editor's Choice award? Or a little magazine called TIME, where we didn't technically "win" anything, but came in a very respectable second place for Game of the Year.

Could TIME Magazine's Second Favorite Person of the Year Award be far behind? We're feeling pretty confident.

]]> http://www.thinkwithportals.com/blog.php?id=6961 Fri, 09 Dec 2011 00:23:00 +0000 http://www.thinkwithportals.com/blog.php?id=6961
We're going to fix all of that. The next major update to Portal 2 will make it far simpler (and more fun) to create and distribute your own Portal 2 puzzles.

The simplified puzzle creator will let players easily carve out their creations in a straightforward but powerful way. They'll then be able to immediately upload those levels to their Steam Cloud and share them with other players online. We're also building a community site to host all of these player-created puzzles. The site will allow players to quickly find new puzzles and add them to their game, ready to play, with a single click. Players will then be able to rate the puzzles they've played, leave comments for puzzle creators, and follow creators they like.

We're positive there are a ton of great puzzle designers just waiting for the right tools, and we're working hard to tap into all that creativity. We'll keep you posted as we continue to make progress with the update. For now, here are some screenshots of the puzzle creator to get the ideas flowing.

   
]]> http://www.thinkwithportals.com/blog.php?id=6632 Thu, 27 Oct 2011 22:44:00 +0000 http://www.thinkwithportals.com/blog.php?id=6632
Portal 2's "Peer Review" DLC is live and available everywhere, and to celebrate, some friends have decided they want to give you things.

First up is Dark Horse, who will be publishing "Valve Presents", a collection of comics from the Portal 2, Left 4 Dead, and Team Fortress 2 universes. Their contest? Recreate your favorite scene from any Valve comic in-game as machinima. If, like us, you not only don't possess the skill sets to do any of that, you don't possess the skill sets to know what any of the words in that last sentence meant, we've got two words for you: sock puppets. What can you win? Signed copies of "Valve Presents". Plus, the first place winner will also receive an original Michael Avon Oeming drawing. If all of this sounds like a complicated way to get a copy of a book, you can also just go to Amazon and give them pieces of paper for one.

On Jinx's blog you can post a link to your self-created Portal 2 art and win one of ten signed Portal 2 1970s Action Movie Posters and a $150 J!NX Gift Certificate. We're going to hazard a guess that screenshots aren't art, so be prepared to do some actual work (or at least put a Photoshop filter on your screenshot).

Steel Series needs some help picking out a Portal 2 mousepad. You can help them by visiting their site. Ten random participants will get a prize package made up of Steel Series peripherals. The Grand Prize winner, also chosen at random, will win a large format "Aperture's Requiem" Portal 2 print.

So there you go. As with all third party contests, we urge you to visit the sites linked above to learn more about each contest. We have no idea what the actual rules or legal requirements are for this stuff, and assume no responsibility if you accidentally get a keyboard lodged in your forehead while making machinima.

]]> http://www.thinkwithportals.com/blog.php?id=6451 Fri, 07 Oct 2011 00:11:00 +0000 http://www.thinkwithportals.com/blog.php?id=6451
An all-new co-op adventure starring Atlas, P-Body and GLaDOS, the free DLC "Peer Review" takes place an unknown period of time after the events of Portal 2. You and your co-op science partner are once again awoken and assembled for a dangerous new mission. Did we say "dangerous"? We meant routine. Everything's fine. That slight note of terror you're hearing in GLaDOS's voice is probably just an audio calibration error. Anyway, on with your suicide mission. And when we say "suicide mission" we mean it would be suicide not to take this mission. Because it's so safe. Everything's fine.

"Peer Review" is being rolled out across all regions on Steam, Xbox LIVE and PSN as we speak. The free DLC is available to all owners of Portal 2 for download on PS3 and Xbox 360, and will be automatically downloaded via Steam on PC and Mac.

And if you're not an owner of Portal 2, don't sweat it, we've made it easier to become one: To celebrate the release of the free DLC, Portal 2 is on sale for 50% off on Steam through Thursday. ]]> http://www.thinkwithportals.com/blog.php?id=6430 Tue, 04 Oct 2011 17:35:00 +0000 http://www.thinkwithportals.com/blog.php?id=6430
Anyway, the third and final volume of Songs to Test by is now available to download. We're not sure how many times the last two volumes were downloaded--five times, maybe, or six, if we had to guess--but according to the number currently being sky-written by a plane outside Valve's windows it was actually two million. Make it two million and one now.

Oh yeah, by the way, before we forget, the first Portal 2 DLC, "Peer Review" will be out next Wednesday. For free.


Visit the music site

]]> http://www.thinkwithportals.com/blog.php?id=6409 Fri, 30 Sep 2011 18:30:00 +0000 http://www.thinkwithportals.com/blog.php?id=6409
The Portal 2 Music Video Contest for The National's Exile Vilify is over. Everyone who made a video is a winner, but here are the real winners.]]> http://www.thinkwithportals.com/blog.php?id=6031 Tue, 09 Aug 2011 17:16:00 +0000 http://www.thinkwithportals.com/blog.php?id=6031
Visit the music site

]]> http://www.thinkwithportals.com/blog.php?id=5773 Fri, 01 Jul 2011 20:48:00 +0000 http://www.thinkwithportals.com/blog.php?id=5773
The Summer Mapping Initiative has been completed and thinkingwithportals.com has selected the winners. There were 280 entries that took the 13 Judges over 140 hours to play.

Patent Pending was the overall winner with Infinifling grabbing second place. The voting was so close, we added an honorable mention for Edifice.

Since we all know that the appreciation of your fellow man is not a real prize, they will all also be receiving the following:

Jinx Portal 2 Gear

Gels and a Shirt from Think Geek.

Gear from Glitch

More Shirts than you can wear in a week, enough Posters to wallpaper your cell, and more from Valve.

Not pictured because we haven't even released them yet - the winners will also receive a Wheatley Laboratories Glow in the Dark T-shirt and the super cool 70s Portal 2 poster signed by the entire team.

Right now we know what you're thinking, "I'm an idiot. That's a ton of cool stuff! I should have entered that contest!"

First. You're right. Second, don't worry you still have a chance. This prize package pales in comparison to what Valve and The National have for the winners of the Portal 2 Music Video contest. Check the rules here and then get to work! You still have time to make your video, so no excuses - your wardrobe needs it.


In case you're not sure how to check out the winning maps, here are the instructions:

1) Download the map file from ThinkingWithPortals.com.
2) Open up the .ZIP file after it has downloaded.
3) Find the location of your Portal 2 installation on Steam. This is most typically found under:
Windows PC users: C:\Program Files\Valve\Steam\steamapps\common\portal 2\maps.
Mac users: ~/Library/Application Support/Steam/SteamApps/common/Portal 2/portal2/maps
Note that your installation location may vary, depending on your initial install directory.
4) Copy the .BSP file located in the downloaded file to the directory above.
5) Start Portal 2
6) In the game's main menu, select "Options->Keyboard and Mouse"
7) Set Allow Developer Console to Enabled
8) Press the tilde (~) key to access the console
9) Type map "mapname here"
10) Solve the puzzle!
]]> http://www.thinkwithportals.com/blog.php?id=5742 Mon, 27 Jun 2011 20:37:00 +0000 http://www.thinkwithportals.com/blog.php?id=5742

Visit the video contest site

]]> http://www.thinkwithportals.com/blog.php?id=5671 Wed, 15 Jun 2011 23:04:00 +0000 http://www.thinkwithportals.com/blog.php?id=5671
Whether you're a mega-science corporation with decades of test experience, or a young start-up liberating your first test subject from non-testing with a chloroform-soaked rag, Aperture guarantees results. Wake up your test subject, open the chamber door, and press play--let Aperture's patent-pending rhythmic compliance enhancers do the rest.



Visit the music site

]]> http://www.thinkwithportals.com/blog.php?id=5527 Wed, 25 May 2011 17:47:00 +0000 http://www.thinkwithportals.com/blog.php?id=5527
But now, for the first time, thinkingwithportals.com is giving you the opportunity to make it true. Show them that not only are you like GLaDOS, you're better than GLaDOS, by designing your own diabolical test chamber.

From now until June 6th, thinkingwithportals.com is accepting entries for their Summer Mapping Initiative. Test chambers will be judged on their puzzle complexity, visual appeal and tonal fidelity (50s design, contemporary design, etc.), so steeple those scheming-fingers, write some nasty passive-aggressive insults on index cards for easy reference, and show GLaDOS how it's done.



]]> http://www.thinkwithportals.com/blog.php?id=5539 Tue, 24 May 2011 18:50:00 +0000 http://www.thinkwithportals.com/blog.php?id=5539 If you don't own Apple's dedicated "Portal 2 - The Final Hours" reading device, you're in luck. It's now available on the PC and Kindle. The PC version features interactive elements, exclusive photos, insider movies, timelines, and more. The Kindle version, on the other hand, is handsomely bound, assuming you bought a leather carrying case for it. You read that right - the PC version is now available on Steam.

PC Version
iPad Version
Kindle Version
]]> http://www.thinkwithportals.com/blog.php?id=5496 Wed, 18 May 2011 21:06:00 +0000 http://www.thinkwithportals.com/blog.php?id=5496
Today we're opening up the beta of the Portal 2 Authoring Tools to everyone! It's available as a free download for all owners of the PC version of Portal 2 and can be found under the "Tools" tab in Steam.

The Portal 2 Authoring Tools include versions of the same tools we used to make Portal 2. They'll allow you to create your own singleplayer and co-op maps, new character skins, 3D models, sound effects, and music.

Here's what's included:
- Updated version of Hammer, the Source level editor
- Updated Faceposer
- Example maps and instances to help build new maps
- Updated suite of command-line compiling utilities

If you want to get started on the beta, we suggest joining two mailing lists:
Portal 2 List
General Source List

This is beta software, so if you have any problems or issues, please send them to the p2mapper email list.

Get out there and show us what devious puzzles you've all been brainstorming! ]]> http://www.thinkwithportals.com/blog.php?id=5443 Tue, 10 May 2011 21:21:00 +0000 http://www.thinkwithportals.com/blog.php?id=5443
It's also being called "one of the best games of this generation" by 1up.com, "one of the best games ever made" by Destructoid, and "as good as entertainment gets" by the Boston Herald. Still not convinced? What if we said all that stuff again, but with a pumping soundtrack?



]]> http://www.thinkwithportals.com/blog.php?id=5391 Fri, 29 Apr 2011 19:04:00 +0000 http://www.thinkwithportals.com/blog.php?id=5391
Upon rediscovery of the document last month, Aperture scientists felt the results were "inconclusive." A further round of testing has been requested. And you can help!

]]> http://www.thinkwithportals.com/blog.php?id=5312 Fri, 15 Apr 2011 23:15:00 +0000 http://www.thinkwithportals.com/blog.php?id=5312 Potato Sack games to expedite the launch of Portal 2. Your efforts will be tracked on the official GLaDOS@home page.

The Potato Sack games are all great, and each one has also received a massive Portal-themed update. So why not get a taste of Portal 2 now while you help launch it?


There's also still time to collect all 36 potatoes. Anyone accomplishing this feat by the time Portal 2 launches will receive a very special, non-hat-based reward.

]]> http://www.thinkwithportals.com/blog.php?id=5307 Fri, 15 Apr 2011 16:08:00 +0000 http://www.thinkwithportals.com/blog.php?id=5307