Still talking when there’s Science to do

I recently had the pleasure of playing Portal for the first time. It’s precisely the kind of puzzle-game I like: progressively more challenging levels that require innovation, and even after you’ve solved a level, there’s often further cleverness to be employed in finding faster or more efficient ways to solve it. I blazed through the first 13 levels in about an hour and a half, and felt a little disappointed when I learned that there were only 19 total. But then I got to level 14, which was the first time that the goal itself had to be divined, not just the way to achieve the goal. And other players’ comments about the levels getting exponentially harder are now starting to make sense. :)

I’ve been fascinated by the process of adjusting to “physics” in a world where you have a teleportation gun. You can open one portal in a nearby wall, and another at a far-off wall, then walk through them to avoid the gaping chasm that lies between. But you can also open a portal beneath your own feet to avoid having to walk to portal 1, or open a portal under some object to make it drop in front of you (instead of having to walk through the portals to retrieve it). And then some crazy stuff starts happening when you pair portals together and bounce between them — or open one in the roof and one in the floor and fall forever between them — or look through a portal and see your own profile from across the room. Mind-bending fun!

Lack a PS3? You can play the flash version, which retains many of the same mechanics but provides a 2D side view rather than a first-person 3D view. The puzzles are different, too.

Portal was first released nearly 3 years ago… and Portal 2 isn’t due until February, 2011. It will feature a two-player cooperative mode! As with so many types of media, I’m glad that my slow adoption rate means I don’t have to suffer through years of waiting. (It may take me a while to solve the last five levels!) Now if only I could finish season 1 of Battlestar Galactica, or season 3 of The West Wing, and catch up with the present!

7 Comments
2 of 5 people learned something from this entry.

  1. jim said,

    October 18, 2010 at 8:56 am

    (Learned something new!)

    Looks interesting – how does Steam behave on the Mac? (Can you shut off all of the chat/ad stuff?)

    Amazon seems to think Portal 2 (on Windows) is available December 31.

  2. Kiri said,

    October 18, 2010 at 9:00 am

    Looks interesting – how does Steam behave on the Mac? (Can you shut off all of the chat/ad stuff?)

    I haven’t tried it on the Mac, but I’ll let you know if I do!

    Amazon seems to think Portal 2 (on Windows) is available December 31.

    Hm, maybe they’ve got Santa’s elves working overtime :)

  3. jim said,

    October 18, 2010 at 9:18 am

    Hm, maybe they’ve got Santa’s elves working overtime :)

    Oh, more than most people realize. :-8

  4. Scott said,

    October 18, 2010 at 11:01 am

    (Knew it already.)

    I never played the original 3D game, but I did love the flash 2D version.

    We’d love to have you over some time for the next round of Battlestar action.

  5. Tyestin said,

    October 18, 2010 at 11:42 am

    (Knew it already.)

    A fun article on Portal physics: http://www.shamusyoung.com/twentysidedtale/?p=1394

  6. Susan said,

    October 18, 2010 at 12:49 pm

    (Learned something new!)

    Ha! I’ve been wanting to play this game for a while, but when I was paying attention, it was only available on PC. Apparently the “Orange Box” was released for PS3 quite a while ago. And is now apparently sold out — Amazon doesn’t have any copies itself ;). We’re eagerly awaiting Portal 2 because my far-and-away favorite kind of game is the cooperative kind!

  7. Henry Segerman said,

    October 18, 2010 at 4:35 pm

    (Knew it already.)

    I’ve been known to say that Portal is one of the major cultural events of the past few years. But then maybe I’m biased because it’s stealthily bringing ideas from my subject (topology, and Portal is really about Euclidean orbifolds) into the mainstream!

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