Topic: Portal 2

[kraken613]

PC, load times are about 10 seconds or less.

[broodwars]

Only that first loading screen has been truly horrible.  It had to be at least 2 minutes long.  The problem with the loading is that if you played the first Portal, you'll breeze through the first "Act" relatively quickly.  You completely test chambers more quickly equals the game loading more frequently, and it gets annoying fast.

I'm in "Act 2" at the moment, and is it wrong that I'm liking Cave Johnson and the little British robot more than GlaDOS in Portal 2? GlaDOS just isn't that funny this time, especially since the lines I really enjoyed from her in the first game were little incidental ones.  Her dialogue in this one just feels...forced.  The other "characters" feel much more natural this time.

EDIT: Hey, Repulsion Gel!  Chell can finally jump like a proper platforming character!

[Killer_Man_Jaro]

I had a bit of a control issue when I booted up Portal 2 this morning. This is what I sent to Steam Support:

"Today, I launched Portal 2 on my computer for the first time. I am using the Keyboard and Mouse.

I started Single Player, but as soon as I gained control at the beginning, my aim went straight up and started spinning. Movement controls were working, but my aim was stuck looking up at the ceiling spinning in circles, even when I wasn't touching any controls. I tried changing the configuration in the Keyboard/Mouse section of the Options menu, but this made no difference. I restarted my computer and launched the game again, but the problem was still there. I have not had this problem with any other games that I have purchased on my Steam account.

At one point, the game told me how to toggle zoom and the icon on screen said 'JOY6'. This leads me to believe that the game was trying to detect a gamepad or joystick, which makes no sense, as there are no gamepads or joysticks set up or plugged in to my computer. I only have a Keyboard and Mouse set up.

Is this likely to be a problem with the game itself, or is it a problem with my control input? If it is a problem with my control input, could you please advise me on what I could do to fix this problem?

Thank you for any help you can provide."

Anybody have any ideas on what's going on here?

[Ceric]

Only that first loading screen has been truly horrible.  It had to be at least 2 minutes long.  The problem with the loading is that if you played the first Portal, you'll breeze through the first "Act" relatively quickly.  You completely test chambers more quickly equals the game loading more frequently, and it gets annoying fast.

I'm in "Act 2" at the moment, and is it wrong that I'm liking Cave Johnson and the little British robot more than GlaDOS in Portal 2? GlaDOS just isn't that funny this time, especially since the lines I really enjoyed from her in the first game were little incidental ones.  Her dialogue in this one just feels...forced.  The other "characters" feel much more natural this time.

EDIT: Hey, Repulsion Gel!  Chell can finally jump like a proper platforming character!

That might be on purpose.  From what I've read parts of GlaDOS personality have "escaped."
 
A friend of mine had tweeted he had gotten a code from to download the game on Steam for free with the PS3 Version.  Can anyone confirm that?

[Shaymin]

That's a major feature of the PS3 version considering it also comes with PS3 Steam.

[broodwars]

That's a major feature of the PS3 version considering it also comes with PS3 Steam.

Yep, and it's worth noting that you cannot have two players playing the PS3 version and the Steam copy at the same time.

I reached Act 3 last night, and honestly Act 2 was a major chore.  The concept of the various gels was cool and I really enjoyed listening to Cave Johnson, but it was just tedious using the portals to paint all the testing rooms through trial & error and often I got stuck because I couldn't find a wall I could stick a portal on.  Thankfully, Act 3 seems to return to much more pithy challenges.

[FZeroBoyo]

The game's been getting rave reviews from publications and the "Early Contender for Game of the Year" talk. Despite that, some people on Metacritic are just ripping the game apart saying "it's too short" or "I can't believe they're charging us full price for this". Odd complaints, for sure.


I haven't played the first one but maybe I will some day.

[Ceric]

The game's been getting rave reviews from publications and the "Early Contender for Game of the Year" talk. Despite that, some people on Metacritic are just ripping the game apart saying "it's too short" or "I can't believe they're charging us full price for this". Odd complaints, for sure.


I haven't played the first one but maybe I will some day.

From what I've been told the past game was relatively short as well.  We all know there charging full price because they can.  Also the Coop is suppose to be a game of its own.  I honestly thought it was all the robots from the commercials and like.  If I had someone to play with on demand I probably have this game.

[bustin98]

I'll be picking this up soon for the PS3, Ceric... we could work out a schedule to play.

[Killer_Man_Jaro]

Haven't been able to play Portal 2 for some very annoying reasons. After encountering those control issues, I checked the SteamPowered forums and it turns out a lot of people are having the same problem. Apparently, it's trying to recognise a game controller rather than the keyboard and mouse, and there's no option to disable it at the moment. That's a pretty egregious oversight, Valve.

[Stogi]

Was thinking about playing this. Got a question though. Is it an FPS or a puzzle game? Do you actually kill anything?

[broodwars]

Was thinking about playing this. Got a question though. Is it an FPS or a puzzle game? Do you actually kill anything?

It's a First Person puzzle game that uses a gun as your primary means of navigation.   :   No, you never actually "kill" anything, unless you count some of the Turret Robots.

As for the complaints about the first game, honestly I thought the first game was exactly as long as that design could handle.  Unless you bought the standalone version on 360 (or didn't wait for one of the many $5 sales on Steam), you got Portal as part of a package that included several other games so I don't see how you complain about the length.

Portal 2, honestly, comes off to me as too long.  That middle act just drags on for what seems like forever, whereas you by comparison sprint through Act 1 and lightly jog through Act 3.  And unlike the first game, the dialogue just isn't as funny so there's less of a carrot to string you along.  As for the Metacritic reviews, I think Jim Sterling probably hit the truth of that issue right on the head here.

[Ceric]

55 Bucks for Portal 2... hmmm... Thats more than I thought.

[bustin98]

This week Kmart is offering $60 in gaming coupons when you spend $120 on games, and a $15 coupon if you spend $40. Also, $10 off $20 point cards for both PSN and XBox Live.

[Morari]

The Kmart around here hasn't carried PC games in years...

[broodwars]

Well, I finished the Singleplayer Campaign, and yeah...the first and last 3rds of the game are by far the best parts of it.  Even the reintroduction of the gels in the last 3rd was pretty fun to use, though I still got tripped up in a few sections.  I'm hoping with that ending that Valve has pretty definitively said that there will be no more Portal games, because I don't see how this concept can be spun into a 3rd game.

[Ceric]

Alright I just start the fourth chapter in Single player.  I'm on the first level trying to find the refractor cube while getting shot.  So far not so good.  Enjoy the game well enough so far.

[Killer_Man_Jaro]

Thankfully, the first patch was sent out yesterday (amazed that something so obvious got past QA), so I was able to devote some quality time to the game. Currently, I'm at the start of Chapter 6. I'll give my overall thoughts once I've finished single player, but right now, the feeling is very good. I might even be inclined to put in a similar space as Mario Galaxy 2, in terms of it being a great refinement of the old elements and a deluge of new ones, and while it may be harder for it to create the awe and wonder of the original, you can see it's a better game quite clearly. Suffice to say, there have been several "Aha!" moments and one instance of "Oh, that's so cool" - yes, I said it out loud, and yes, I felt silly afterwards.

In the meantime, if any of you want to try out some co-operative puzzles, hit me up on Steam - RockyRoad15 - and we can sort something out. 

[Ceric]

Thankfully, the first patch was sent out yesterday (amazed that something so obvious got past QA), so I was able to devote some quality time to the game. Currently, I'm at the start of Chapter 6. I'll give my overall thoughts once I've finished single player, but right now, the feeling is very good. I might even be inclined to put in a similar space as Mario Galaxy 2, in terms of it being a great refinement of the old elements and a deluge of new ones, and while it may be harder for it to create the awe and wonder of the original, you can see it's a better game quite clearly. Suffice to say, there have been several "Aha!" moments and one instance of "Oh, that's so cool" - yes, I said it out loud, and yes, I felt silly afterwards.

In the meantime, if any of you want to try out some co-operative puzzles, hit me up on Steam - RockyRoad15 - and we can sort something out. 

I thought I was doing good getting to chapter 4 the first night and here you blow me away with Chapter 6.  Probably helped to had played the original.

[Killer_Man_Jaro]

I thought I was doing good getting to chapter 4 the first night and here you blow me away with Chapter 6.  Probably helped to had played the original.

Yeah, playing the original helped to intuit the puzzles in the first couple of chapters. It's a gentle difficulty curve, plus I wasn't getting disorientated like I did when I played Portal back then.

Speaking of which, I sent that spare copy I had of the first Portal to your Steam account. Sorry about the delay.

[Ceric]

I thought I was doing good getting to chapter 4 the first night and here you blow me away with Chapter 6.  Probably helped to had played the original.

Yeah, playing the original helped to intuit the puzzles in the first couple of chapters. It's a gentle difficulty curve, plus I wasn't getting disorientated like I did when I played Portal back then.

Speaking of which, I sent that spare copy I had of the first Portal to your Steam account. Sorry about the delay.

Sweet.

[jrlibrarian]

Friday after school, my friend and I sat down and powered through co-op in one sitting. There was only one part where we considered cheating (Excursion Funnel Chamber 2), but other than that it was a really enjoyable experience. I'm just getting to the gel part of the single-player campaign, and should finish it up here soon.

[broodwars]

Friday after school, my friend and I sat down and powered through co-op in one sitting. There was only one part where we considered cheating (Excursion Funnel Chamber 2), but other than that it was a really enjoyable experience. I'm just getting to the gel part of the single-player campaign, and should finish it up here soon.

My best friend has been over here for my B-Day, and we've gotten to just about the same point in local Split-Screen Co-op (which works extremely well and I highly recommend).  We've really been enjoying the Co-op as well.  One thing you guys hunting for trophies should know, though: playing split-screen, despite me being player 1 I've had to have my friend do most of the trophy-related tasks because for some reason the game doesn't care what I do as player 1.  It's pretty annoying.  Co-op is also extremely vague about when it's saving your progress.

On the upside, the Co-op campaign actually has the "real" GlaDOS we've come to love: sarcastic and witty, rather than the bitter and constantly-insulting version in the singleplayer campaign.

[Ceric]

Friday after school, my friend and I sat down and powered through co-op in one sitting. There was only one part where we considered cheating (Excursion Funnel Chamber 2), but other than that it was a really enjoyable experience. I'm just getting to the gel part of the single-player campaign, and should finish it up here soon.

My best friend has been over here for my B-Day, and we've gotten to just about the same point in local Split-Screen Co-op (which works extremely well and I highly recommend).  We've really been enjoying the Co-op as well.  One thing you guys hunting for trophies should know, though: playing split-screen, despite me being player 1 I've had to have my friend do most of the trophy-related tasks because for some reason the game doesn't care what I do as player 1.  It's pretty annoying.  Co-op is also extremely vague about when it's saving your progress.

On the upside, the Co-op campaign actually has the "real" GlaDOS we've come to love: sarcastic and witty, rather than the bitter and constantly-insulting version in the singleplayer campaign.

Darn you all gloating on having people to co-op with.

[KDR_11k]

I beat the SP campaign with 7 hours of game time according to Steam, never laughed about the jokes but it was still decent. Wheatley was the best character by far. The underground stuff gave me a Rapture (Bioshock) vibe.