TWIN PEAKS is "something of a miracle."
"...like nothing else on television."
"a phenomenon."
"A tangled tale of sex, violence, power, junk food..."
"Like Nothing On Earth"
Portal 2 has 10 chapters – what’s the size in comparison to Portal?
Erik: It’s about 2 and a half times larger in single-player, but the co-op is a separate story with its own completely separate set of puzzles, and that’s about 2 and half times as large as Portal 1 as well. Call it 5 times larger, and that obviously doesn’t include people replaying it and trying new ways to do the puzzles. The co-op offers a lot more replayability just because you’ll see people arguing about how to solve a puzzle, and there are multiple ways – you can do tricky things to solve some of the puzzles. There’s also speed runs and things like that.
The ARG is coming back????
Quote:
Erik: There’s some ancillary stuff outside the game coming up that will answer that.
Quote:
What is there in terms of new features – like how you can see where your portals are through walls now?
Erik: There are some much larger test chambers as you go along where that becomes useful. That’s something we picked up from Left 4 Dead, where you can see the silhouettes of the other players. It just makes things easier. It’s a lot more meaningful when you get the dual portal gun. We tried to keep the central elegant mechanics, we’re not going to give you another gun you have to switch between.
There are a bunch of new characters, other parts of Aperture you haven’t seen before. We’re using a more advanced version of the Source engine with a bunch of upgrades. There are a bunch of new puzzle elements, such as the gels which allow you to change the properties of surfaces.
Chet: There are a lot of player experiences that aren’t puzzles, like the intro ride in the container, that you didn’t really see in Portal 1.
Erik: For pacing purposes as it’s a longer game we’ve introduced some scenes in the interactive Half-Life mode, giving you a break from the puzzle solving. The co-op of course is the biggest new feature. You don’t immediately think that adding a second set of portals changes the dynamic that much, but it really forces you to rethink how you approach a puzzle – both in terms of design and solving.
Quote:
What have you learned from working on the PS3 for the first time?
Chet: It’s been interesting to have a console that we can update frequently. We have Steamworks on the PS3 now of course. It doesn’t matter how many people testing the game you have, the minute it goes out the number of people testing becomes so much greater. We get all this extra feedback and can do updates based on that. We can also do the PC, the PS3 and Mac all in cycle so they can play across those platforms. You can buy the PS3 version and you get a Steam version for the PC for free, people are very excited about that.
Do you think the cross-platform play is going to take off?
Chet: We really hope so. It’s a co-op mode, so it doesn’t matter if someone is better with a mouse and keyboard, you’re still playing on the same team. There’s a fidelity of movement you get over console controllers, but it doesn’t matter here.
Erik: If there ever was a game that lent itself to cross-platform play it’s definitely Portal.
TWIN PEAKS is "something of a miracle."
"...like nothing else on television."
"a phenomenon."
"A tangled tale of sex, violence, power, junk food..."
"Like Nothing On Earth"
I mean for a co-op only game with 2-4 players max I don't mind it since I won't ever use it, but if they're actually gonna start doing it with competitive games then they can fuck off.
The way he reacted kinda makes me think CS2 might be a real game they are working on. Or maybe not.
TWIN PEAKS is "something of a miracle."
"...like nothing else on television."
"a phenomenon."
"A tangled tale of sex, violence, power, junk food..."
"Like Nothing On Earth"
Valve showed off facial recognition software and 10,000 dollar eye-tracking tech. They used the latter to play a short section of Portal 2, where the player uses their eyes to aim the cursor, and their hands to move around the environment. According to Ambinder, “The eye tracker is used to extract eye’s X Y position. This data is updated at 60hz, before being fed back into the game engine.”
“We don’t know how the player is feeling,” said Ambinder. “We’d like to attack that problem. We’d like to figure out player sentiment, and player emotion.” He also hinted at future matchmaking profiles based on player’s emotional responses: “We don’t want to pair passive players with emotional players. It’s something we’re thinking about it, we think it’s worthwhile.”
Valve have been experimenting with varied techniques during the research. “We made a heartbeat measuring mouse – a detect heartbeat mouse – but had to ditch it because every time it moved it would introduce artefacts into the readings. We have a mouse that senses skin conductance, it’s easy to use, pretty cool.”
Valve’s solution is a piece of tech that costs $10 to make, and consists of two metal contacts attached to a strip. They’re fixed to your hand by a bandage, and a USB cable sends data about the current passing between them to your PC. It’s measuring the electric response of your skin, something which varies with stress.
They’ve been using biometrics like this to tweak Left 4 Dead 2: they’ve experimented with an automated AI Director that modified enemy spawns, health and weapon packs based on estimated arousal patterns. According to the surveys post playtest, the use of biofeedback information made Left 4 Dead 2 twice as enjoyable as without.
They’ve even tried using an emotional tracker during games of DOTA 2, their forthcoming arena-based multiplayer action RPG. “People love it when they do something that makes their opponents suffer,” says Mike.
Quote:
But will players go for it? Would you buy a $10 glove that would let you play a version of Left 4 Dead 2 tailored to your emotions? And would you want other players to be able to see that info about you?
Mike Ambinder is the author of 12 scientific articles/book chapters and has a PhD in experimental psychology as well as a B.A. in computer science and psycology. He joined Valve in 2008 and has worked on a variety of the studio's games, including Portal 2, Alien Swarm, both Left 4 Deads and Team Fortress 2.
Quote:
Currently, Valve is looking into the use of physiological signals to:
- dynamically adjust gameplay based upon the arousal of the player
- create gameplay elements that directly depend upon player emotional state
- investigate alternative methods of player control
- quantify response to gameplay while playtesting
- examine potential uses in matchmaking/social gameplay experiences.
In particular, this talk will cover
- how Valve is incorporating actual measurements of player arousal into the algorithms governing the AI Director in Left 4 Dead 2
- how we created a mod of Alien Swarm that dynamically adjusts difficulty based upon the player’s SCL response
- and how we are using eye movements as replacements for a mouse and gamepad in Portal 2.
Click the link for more!
TWIN PEAKS is "something of a miracle."
"...like nothing else on television."
"a phenomenon."
"A tangled tale of sex, violence, power, junk food..."
"Like Nothing On Earth"
The way he reacted kinda makes me think CS2 might be a real game they are working on. Or maybe not.
I stopped gaming 1.5-2 years ago. The only game that may make me come back, buy a new pc and spend some of my valuable time gaming, is CS2. Let's hope they release it someday (before my reflexes become shittier )
Ἢ τὰν ἢ ἐπὶ τᾶς - Μολὼν λαβέ
Today is a gift. That's why it's called the present.
TWIN PEAKS is "something of a miracle."
"...like nothing else on television."
"a phenomenon."
"A tangled tale of sex, violence, power, junk food..."
"Like Nothing On Earth"
Top Music Act Contributes to Highly Anticipated Game Sequel
March 11, 2011 -- Valve, creator of best-selling game franchises (such as Half-Life, Portal, Left 4 Dead, and Counter-Strike) and leading technologies (such as Steam and Source), today announced an original song by popular recording artist The National will be included in its upcoming game, Portal 2, when it is released the worldwide the week of April 18.
Portal 2 is the highly anticipated sequel to the title that earned over 30 Game of the Year Awards in 2007. The sequel adds new characters, game mechanics, and multiplayer co-op to the award-winning formula that made the original a global phenomenon in gaming.
"The inclusion of the original song, Still Alive, in the first Portal game was part of what made the game special," said Chet Faliszek, writer at Valve. "For Portal 2, we wanted to extend the use of music. When Bug Music mentioned to us that The National might be interested, we jumped at the opportunity to work with them."
"After I met with Valve and learned about the intricacies and story line of the first Portal game, I knew The National's music would fit beautifully in the sequel." said Julia Betley, Bug MusicManager. "The National's raw and emotive music evokes the same visceral reactions from its listeners that Portal does from its players. It was exciting and a privilege to bring together two exceedingly talented creative teams to create something special for Portal 2."
Portal 2 is due for release worldwide the week of April 18 for Playstation 3, Xbox 360, PC and Mac. Visit thinkwithportals.com for more info.
About The National
High Violet' is The National's most acclaimed and fastest-selling album to date. Released in May 2010, it debuted at #3 on the Billboard Top 200, and prompted the New York Times to claim "The National is in a league of its own." The band has toured non-stop since the album's release, with highlights that include sold out shows at Radio City Music Hall and Brooklyn's Prospect Park; a concert at the Brooklyn Academy of Music to benefit the Red Hot Organization, with accompanying live webcast on Youtube and Vevo directed by D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus; and mainstage performances at Bonnaroo, Sasquatch, and Lollapalooza, where they "seduced everyone" according to USA Today.
TWIN PEAKS is "something of a miracle."
"...like nothing else on television."
"a phenomenon."
"A tangled tale of sex, violence, power, junk food..."
"Like Nothing On Earth"
TWIN PEAKS is "something of a miracle."
"...like nothing else on television."
"a phenomenon."
"A tangled tale of sex, violence, power, junk food..."
"Like Nothing On Earth"
wow , didnt expect they would use someone actually famous , it's all good as long as they dont go along the CoD route (Sam Worthington really fucked it up with his slipping accent) , professionally trained voice actors are always better than normal ones , not that they did a bad job
hope they'll use Robin Williams in the next Half-Life game
wow , didnt expect they would use someone actually famous , it's all good as long as they dont go along the CoD route (Sam Worthington really fucked it up with his slipping accent) , professionally trained voice actors are always better than normal ones , not that they did a bad job
hope they'll use Robin Williams in the next Half-Life game
Stephen Merchant, who plays Wheatley, isn't at least somewhat famous?
Also from PAX: new gameplay and the introduction of Cave Johnson at 07:20 ->
I'm sure the trailer will be released at some point on Steam..
The visuals look completely overhauled.. and the new painting colors bring new concepts to the gameplay.. can't wait!!!
TWIN PEAKS is "something of a miracle."
"...like nothing else on television."
"a phenomenon."
"A tangled tale of sex, violence, power, junk food..."
"Like Nothing On Earth"
Those of you here to test the repulsion gel, follow the blue line. Those of you who volunteered to be injected with praying mantis DNA, I have good news, and bad news. The bad news: we have postponed the test indefinitely. The good news: we have a much better test for you! Fighting an army of mantis men! Pick up a rifle and follow the orange line!
TWIN PEAKS is "something of a miracle."
"...like nothing else on television."
"a phenomenon."
"A tangled tale of sex, violence, power, junk food..."
"Like Nothing On Earth"
http://kotaku.com/#!5781121
Valve Plans To Bridge Portal And Portal 2 With A Surprise, Keep Gordon Freeman Out Of It
Quote:
"We're actually going to release something that we're not talking about yet that will give a little bit of the story of the interim time," Erik Wolpaw, one of the writers on Portal 2 told me at PAX East today. "We're doing that before release."
A machinima video?
A prequel demo?
A graphic novel?
A new song?
A new ARG?
What is it VAAAAAAAAAAAALVE???
Quote:
The Portal and Half-Life games co-exist, but they won't crossover too much, Wolpaw said. "We tried to keep as light a touch about it as we did in Portal 1. Fans of Half-Life will notice some things, but if you haven't played Half-Life they'll just kind of pass right by you. You're not going to see Gordon tromping through the facility." He likened it to how the X-Files had an overarching plot but then also standalone episodes that were a little looser. "Aperture Science is kind of this fun-house of science, this bubble in the otherwise serious Half-Life universe."
TWIN PEAKS is "something of a miracle."
"...like nothing else on television."
"a phenomenon."
"A tangled tale of sex, violence, power, junk food..."
"Like Nothing On Earth"
TWIN PEAKS is "something of a miracle."
"...like nothing else on television."
"a phenomenon."
"A tangled tale of sex, violence, power, junk food..."
"Like Nothing On Earth"
Really looking forward to this; imagine the community maps we'll get this time around, some of the community maps for the original were already amazing
The Portal 2 team also recently announced that there would be a bridge between Portal 1 and Portal 2, which happens several years down the road in the storyline. Not much is known about the bridge at this time, and Weier wasn’t about to spill the beans. “We’re going to do a little bit more with [the bridge between Portal and Portal 2] between now and when we launch,” said Weier. “We kind of want to fill that in a little bit in an interesting way, but we’re not quite ready to talk about it yet.”
Quote:
Weier was incredibly excited to discuss the part that music plays in Portal 2. “We just announced something pretty cool,” said Weier. “We worked with [the National] to put a song into Portal 2. We’re not quite talking about how we’re doing it yet. We’re being very mysterious today, but it was another cool way to introduce music into the game. Jonathan Coulton is still doing the end song, which is another excellent thing we can embed in there. Today we showed off some other cool stuff we’ve been doing. Cave Johnson was announced as being voiced by J.K. Simmons, and we showed a little bit in [the PAX East demo] some of the interactive movies we have in there. [...] We wanted to make music a big part of the game, like it was for the first game, but we wanted to do it in a surprising way. One of the things we did, if you watched [the PAX East demo] was that as you bounce on the Repulsion Gel, the music actually changes and kind of dynamically moves with the player. That was a really intentional choice we made. We can track your velocity, we can track when you bounce, and, additionally, where you are. So if you move, the music is changing and shifting based on what you’re doing in a dynamic way, so you can almost play it like an instrument. I think that’s going to be this cool thing that players find.”
Dynamic music, loved the music director in L4D1/2, and it seems they have taken the concept one step further
Quote:
One huge rumor going around right now is that Portal 2 is going to have some type of connection with the much-desired, yet unannounced Half Life: Episode Three. Unfortunately, Weier was unable to comment, but he did have this to say: “I can’t talk about that, it’s too spoiler-ish.” Take from that what you will. Portal 2 will be released on April 18th and is easily one of our most anticipated titles of the year!
TWIN PEAKS is "something of a miracle."
"...like nothing else on television."
"a phenomenon."
"A tangled tale of sex, violence, power, junk food..."
"Like Nothing On Earth"
I have ONE important question about this game....
Will it have zombies in it?
Cause it's a no-go if there are no zombies in it, it must have zombies in it.
TWIN PEAKS is "something of a miracle."
"...like nothing else on television."
"a phenomenon."
"A tangled tale of sex, violence, power, junk food..."
"Like Nothing On Earth"
Also from PAX: new gameplay and the introduction of Cave Johnson at 07:20 ->
Shorter video, but with much better quality:
The crowd at PAX can be heard chuckling
edit apparently only the press could see the video, so it's the journos that are laughing
TWIN PEAKS is "something of a miracle."
"...like nothing else on television."
"a phenomenon."
"A tangled tale of sex, violence, power, junk food..."
"Like Nothing On Earth"
From PAX 2010 (so pretty old) co-op demo played by a hot chick:
I see GLaDOS comments before and after each test, just like she did in Portal 1, so despite being an online mode, naturally driven by the gameplay instead of the plot, she seems to have a big role in it.
TWIN PEAKS is "something of a miracle."
"...like nothing else on television."
"a phenomenon."
"A tangled tale of sex, violence, power, junk food..."
"Like Nothing On Earth"
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