Might just be me, but I was almost never lost or confused in these areas. I rather liked how one had to backtrack in a few spots to get a source of gel, it allowed you to see an old location from a different perspective and made the facility seem a lot more "real". Stringing hallway after hallway in front of the player with no diversion from the eminent path is just as bad as backtracking constantly, and I think those chapters struck a really nice balance. Being led around by the nose all the time is something I hate in FPSes, being encouraged to frequently twist and turn and explore, that engages me far better.derFeef said:
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Portal 2 |OT| Sleep. Spuds. Science.
- Thread starter The Librarian
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sonicmj1 said:
I guess you make a good and convincing case. Still, that doesn't seem to stop everyone else from calling these games "FPS." I also thought it didn't make that much sense from a gameplay perspective, but when you think about it, perspective does have a huge impact on the overall direction of a game.
bucknuticus
Member
So my game has been stuttering, pc version. I've messed around with all kinds of settings, the audio will stutter and on a few occasions it has really bad frame drops. I have a good computer so that can't be it, anyone know solutions?
vazel said:
The VA is freshest in most people's minds, but the sound design in general is FANTASTIC. It's typical Valve... familiar sounds, understated music, but it reaches a crescendo when the things you do with the environment start causing shifts in the soundtrack, as well. I first started noticing it with the
Propulsion Gel.
Beat it last night, but still have co-op to go through.
My biggest complaint is the loading issues. I feel if this was any other game Gaf would be all over its nuts and deem it inexcusable. Not sure why Valve isn't getting some serious flak for this. Loading screens are numerous, lengthy, and plenty take you right out of the experience. Some sections of the game are literally 10 seconds of you just following a straight path laid out before you "chase scene", and then it cuts off any suspense that can build up with a loading screen right in the middle of it to load up the next section.
I felt the game was also very easy. Almost too easy. When they were first showing it off I was excited to see that it might finally have some super complex puzzles, but I worked through everything in minutes without issues of any kind. When a game is this short and this easy it can really take away from what's good within the package. Another thing I found odd was the puzzles as you went didn't necessarily get harder, once you got through the main gel puzzles the game seemed to give up entirely on challenging you and it'd throw in rooms that were literally 30 seconds to solve in ease. I wish the game could have maintained its momentum and kept building up to the ending.
The rest of the game was superb though. Gameplay, soundtrack, design, voice acting, story, and one of the best endings to a game in a good long while. The PS3/PC connection ideas are genius though---that deserves the most praise and I hope more developers start to follow suit with this idea in the future.
Now if my buddy would get online so we can do more co-op I could maybe find that the more challenging things are within the co-op perhaps, but I doubt it. Good game, but the hype train is a little too much for what you actually get.
My biggest complaint is the loading issues. I feel if this was any other game Gaf would be all over its nuts and deem it inexcusable. Not sure why Valve isn't getting some serious flak for this. Loading screens are numerous, lengthy, and plenty take you right out of the experience. Some sections of the game are literally 10 seconds of you just following a straight path laid out before you "chase scene", and then it cuts off any suspense that can build up with a loading screen right in the middle of it to load up the next section.
I felt the game was also very easy. Almost too easy. When they were first showing it off I was excited to see that it might finally have some super complex puzzles, but I worked through everything in minutes without issues of any kind. When a game is this short and this easy it can really take away from what's good within the package. Another thing I found odd was the puzzles as you went didn't necessarily get harder, once you got through the main gel puzzles the game seemed to give up entirely on challenging you and it'd throw in rooms that were literally 30 seconds to solve in ease. I wish the game could have maintained its momentum and kept building up to the ending.
The rest of the game was superb though. Gameplay, soundtrack, design, voice acting, story, and one of the best endings to a game in a good long while. The PS3/PC connection ideas are genius though---that deserves the most praise and I hope more developers start to follow suit with this idea in the future.
Now if my buddy would get online so we can do more co-op I could maybe find that the more challenging things are within the co-op perhaps, but I doubt it. Good game, but the hype train is a little too much for what you actually get.
lazybones18
Banned
Finally played the game for a while. Loving GlaDOS's sarcasm and insults. She just can't move on 
Currently at the start of Chap. 3
Currently at the start of Chap. 3
Beat it, loved it. I wouldn't call it a top 5 or top 10 of all-time experience, or even GOTY (it's a big year), but it's still a very, very great and memorable game.
I don't really have anything to add that others haven't covered: 1) Valve are literally the best storytellers making games. 2) Portal 2 is probably the most genuinely funny game I've ever played. 3) I found P2 overall to be disappointingly easy.
Still, Valve is basically putting on a level/puzzle design clinic with every single product they release. Puzzles build on previous concepts in elegant ways. Puzzles continually take previously-establish concepts but throw them at players in new ways. Puzzles are NEVER over-designed, ensuring that players can never bark up the wrong tree for too long.
It's just a very thoughtfully designed product.
My fear is that it might simply not be possible to make Portal puzzles more difficult than they already are. Obviously they can be more difficult in terms of dexterity/timing. But I mean in terms of brain-bending. If you don't rely on manual dexterity, or other unfun shenanigans (making puzzles very very large, requiring players to remember elements in another room they can no longer see), I would imagine that devising difficult puzzles is very hard.
I can't imagine how challenging it is to make a test chamber where all the parts - walls, blocks, turrets, - are laid out in full view of the player. And yet it still takes a huge effort to solve.
I don't really have anything to add that others haven't covered: 1) Valve are literally the best storytellers making games. 2) Portal 2 is probably the most genuinely funny game I've ever played. 3) I found P2 overall to be disappointingly easy.
Still, Valve is basically putting on a level/puzzle design clinic with every single product they release. Puzzles build on previous concepts in elegant ways. Puzzles continually take previously-establish concepts but throw them at players in new ways. Puzzles are NEVER over-designed, ensuring that players can never bark up the wrong tree for too long.
It's just a very thoughtfully designed product.
My fear is that it might simply not be possible to make Portal puzzles more difficult than they already are. Obviously they can be more difficult in terms of dexterity/timing. But I mean in terms of brain-bending. If you don't rely on manual dexterity, or other unfun shenanigans (making puzzles very very large, requiring players to remember elements in another room they can no longer see), I would imagine that devising difficult puzzles is very hard.
I can't imagine how challenging it is to make a test chamber where all the parts - walls, blocks, turrets, - are laid out in full view of the player. And yet it still takes a huge effort to solve.
GDJustin said:
People who keep saying this need to understand the reach of the game. The whole dev commentary is basically them talking about how the rooms were harder and testers were getting confused and frustrated. The difficulty was perfectly fine. It gave you the feeling of accomplishing something, while at the same time never making you frustrated or blame game design. They test this stuff a fucking lot to make this balance. Was it easy for me ? probably, but i can fairly understand how other people might actually find it difficult. Rewarding ? hell fucking yes.
SalsaShark said:
I never felt rewarded at all. I just felt I was being hand held throughout the experience. I would've much rather had a room where I scratch my head for 20 minutes and get upset, then finally solve it, because THEN I'd feel I overcame a big obstacle.
I think Valve just chickened out on making the game even remotely hard, because they didn't want to get flack from reviewers or pushing away the casual market.
This games difficulty is a cake walk----no pun intended.
zlatko said:
Or you know, youd be like "FUCKIN FINALLY I DIDNT SAW THAT LEDGE OVER THERE, UGH".
That's basically what they were avoiding.
They obviously chose a broader, easier path instead of making it just for the "hardcorez", but for me it works out in the end, too bad that it doesnt for you i guess :/
It never was about the actual difficulty of the puzzles for me, but rather how cleverly they are put together. The "Ahá!" moment if you will.
MurkyZebra2417
Member
I found the difficulty very good, some rooms took 20+ minutes for me and I felt very rewarded after solving them. Also there were no cheap/unlogic solutions to the puzzles.
jj350 said:
I see. I can understand the environmental detail comment, although being a big PS360 gamer myself I'd have to say that the more dilapidated areas of ApSci are up there with the best on the aforementioned platforms in this regard. The attention to detail, as I'm sure you would agree, is arguably without peer.
At least you explained yourself. That's more than what most do.
SalsaShark said:
Dude these were my impressions. When I state my opinion regarding the game's difficulty, there's no need to swoop in and say that I'm wrong, and to state an opinion as fact. ("The difficulty is fine.")
There's probably gamers out there saying "Portal 2 was pretty ace but it was too hard and I got stuck and gave up on it."
That's not me. MY feedback is that I found the game too easy. I was literally never stuck stuck - not even once. Some later puzzles had nice "aha!" moments, but most of the time puzzle solutions were self-evident. Since every object and portal wall will be used in solving a puzzle, there's usually only light "puzzle solving" to be done.
I'm sure the Portal: Prelude team will come up with a terrible little story of their own and some abhorrently-designed test chambers to feign increased difficulty. You know, like their first effort.
I would also expect advanced chambers to be Valve's first piece of DLC. (Downloadable Content, not Downloadable Crap like the Store items.)
I would also expect advanced chambers to be Valve's first piece of DLC. (Downloadable Content, not Downloadable Crap like the Store items.)
Jangaroo said:
Well, the issue is as I stated above. Valve is in a little bit of a "damned if they do, damned if they don't" situation with puzzle design.
On the one hand, what makes their puzzles BRILLIANT is that they are never, ever over-designed. Want to make Portal 2 puzzles much more difficult to solve? Include portal walls that aren't used. Include two gels when you only need to use one.
Portal 2 never resorts to this. At least not to an egregious degree. Each puzzle in the game is very lean.
This is a good thing. But a side-effect of this is that many puzzles pretty much solve themselves. You get halfway through it, and you don't actually have to think through the rest. You see you have one switch left, one box left. Boom - the puzzle solves itself. Players just have to look at what they haven't used yet. A specific late-game example:
You enter the room and there's three turret bots off to the right side, behind some glass. Across a gap in front of you is bounce gel.
I got halfway through this puzzle (got the bounce gel in the air) and the rest of the puzzle solved itself, before I even had to really use my brain to think about if the solution was going to work or not. The only thing the player CAN do when the gel is in the air is step on the switch, reversing it. After that, the only other thing the player can do is have the gel hover over the turrets, since they haven't used those portal walls yet. Puzzle "solved" by solving itself.
I got halfway through this puzzle (got the bounce gel in the air) and the rest of the puzzle solved itself, before I even had to really use my brain to think about if the solution was going to work or not. The only thing the player CAN do when the gel is in the air is step on the switch, reversing it. After that, the only other thing the player can do is have the gel hover over the turrets, since they haven't used those portal walls yet. Puzzle "solved" by solving itself.
It's not a huge deal. I'm not some puzzle savant that breezed through the whole game. It's just as I said above. I'm not sure you really can make truly brain bending, Braid-calibur puzzles with the portal gun. The solutions to all but the most clever puzzles telegraph themselves.
JaseC said:I like the way you think. And that's not just because G-Man is staring into my soul.
Valve said that the "ninja reflex" puzzles were a very common complaint.
Really? Even in the pc version or was this something that pertained to console controllers?
ChackanKun
Member
Cant wait to get home and spend the freaking night playing this thing!
EatChildren
Currently polling second in Australia's federal election (first in the Gold Coast), this feral may one day be your Bogan King.
Chinner said:
GaryOS
Corky said:
They didn't specify, but I imagine it was universal. Given Valve were more generous with the player model and the matter of clipping the portal (a welcome improvement), I don't think the "ninja reflex" puzzles would've been cause for much ire this time around.
Phantom Limbs
Banned
GDJustin said:
Haha you are like the only person that found THAT puzzle to solve itself. Everyone I know, including myself got stumped on that one for a good amount of time.
A bit disappointed with the style of the puzzles so far. Most rooms seem to be very restricting in that there are only a few obvious panels which I can place portals on, the rest of the wallspace being un-portalable. This might get rid of the annoyance of not putting a portal in quite the right place and messing up a jump, but it just makes the game far too restricting. There seems to be little variation in the way that I can solve a puzzle; most seem to only have one solution, so I don't really see myself replaying the whole game anytime soon. There is also little opportunity for leaping around everywhere in a large area freely with momentum because the large areas are either completely linear, or only have very specific and obvious places in which you can place portals. I wish there was some kind of sandbox mode with lots of objects to play around with and tricky geometry to navigate.
And there's no challenge maps? I suppose they would have to be made from the ground up though because there aren't really many alternate (and quicker) solutions to the puzzles i've seen
, but it's such a shame there isn't some kind of mode like the time trials in Mirror's Edge, or the first Portal for that matter.
And there's no challenge maps? I suppose they would have to be made from the ground up though because there aren't really many alternate (and quicker) solutions to the puzzles i've seen
I'm up to chapter 5
nismogrendel
Member
Phantom Limbs said:
Same here, it was the only puzzle I had to youtube. I don't mind cheating on that one room, it was more important for me to beat the game quickly and see the ending spoiler free.
zombieshavebrains
I have not used cocaine
SalsaShark said:
That's actually what happened to me quite a bit. Because of the expanse of the facility you had to look at everything from different angles and move around to see that one spot you could shot a portal.
Wow. Really enjoying the game right now. I'm at the part
Going to take a break for a bit, get some sleep & try & finish the rest of the game later today.
where I've got potato-powered GLaDOS & I'm solving Wheatley's tests. I'm at test chamber 11 right now. I gotta say that I thought that the various "versions" of Aperature Science below the "present" version were amazing. With those, you were able to see the evolution of Aperture Science. And the revelation the GLaDOS is the personality/brain of Cave Johnson's assistant (Carolyn I think her name was)? Fucking AMAZING. What Valve has done is make me FEEL for GLaDOS. I honestly never thought that would happen. Man, this game is awesome.
Buckethead
Banned
Finishing some stuff with Red Dead then I think I'll be able to play/complete/obsess over Portal 2 in time for LA Noire.
Can't wait.
Can't wait.