DanJW

Cigol, I think you underestimate the gameplay. The technology behind what they've done is immense. Modelling the portal interactions... most designers wouldn't even be able to get their head around what was needed, let alone start programming it. It is a huge stage forward in simulation. Then they took that and made a perfectly balanced puzzle game from it. Sure it's light and short (like a fairy cake perhaps) but we shouldn't hold that against it. To do so would be to go along with the propaganda that demands "heavyweight" games.

OK, I still love Portal and everything, but the challenges are driving me absolutely insane They're just so frustrating. I could look up the solutions but that would completely defeat the point. ~Ahhhhg

Hehe, good advice, although fairly basic. Anyone read Z-Day? (the kind-of-sequal to the Zombie Survival Guide). I played a bit of Dead Rising for the first time the other day. The beginning fly-over bit was excellent I thought, but the main gameplay wasn't as fun as I'd anticipated. Then I couldn't finish the photographer-guy mission, even though I'd done exactly what it told me to do, which annoyed me somehwat. Meh. Hopefully Left 4 Dead will fulfill my zombie needs, or perhaps Zombie Master will metamorphose into an actually good mod soon.

http://www.eurogamer.net/tv_video.php?playlist_id=5424

I love the idea of bringing heavy metal album covers to life, so I'm not too worried at this point. The X-treme-ness is no doubt tongue-in-cheek, even if sierra themselves don't realise it.

Yup, the TF2 medic is well balanced. Teams with no medics usually suffer for it. Also even though the syringe gun is weak, their bonesaw is a pretty nifty melee weapon. Still it would be nice to see the readdition of either the infection or hullucination mechanic (drug grenades were my favourite in Quake Team Fortress, what with the phantom sounds and explosions all around you).

Like shooting and other players?

Aye, it would be great to see you all on the server of The Bearded Clan. I will post the server address closer to the time, probably on the Idle Thumbs steam group rather than here.

I know what you mean Toblix, the end is somehow very poignant. Possibly because it seems not only to be about the experiment in the fiction of the game, but the creation of the game itself I realised something that made the cake even funnier. While I was at uni I took part in a couple of psychology experiments run by undergrads. Since they cannot afford to pay participants they often provide other, somewhat underwhelming incentives.... such as cake. Oh, I found some more stuff on the aperture science website. Type HELP for a list of commands (most of which do nothing). also type THECAKEISALIE for a secret note from another "employee".

Normal is too easy to be honest, and the AI is also much more interesting on Hard mode. Most FPS (oh yes, and TPS) games and many action games benefit from being played on hard, if only to make the good ones last longer.

Yeah, the hunters are the toughest enemies so far. Aggressive, agile, and with a mean weapon. I was talking to bob and he said "they're not that tough, just use a double-shotgun blast at point-blank!. It transpired he was playing on Normal Mode. So, in Episode 3

Hehe Rowing with another man? Where did they get the oars?

We know

I finished the advanced maps with only a little bit of swearing. the challenges though... they're going to keep me busy for a long time, I can tell. I think the clip that Toblix is quoting seems to infer that Portal is the first "portal" brand game, thereby implying that there may be more. So yes, there may be more to come. One possibility that occurred to me is if they started messing with time, such as portals that could be set up to the past. Developing such a system though would be even more mindmelting than playing it.

Wow, that last fight is tough.By far the hardest battle in HL2 so far. The game was great. Although the first half I felt was going over old ground a bit too much - please please let that be the last of radioactive zombie-infested swamps Luckily once the car was obtained the pace really picked up.

I've done half the advanced maps, but not tried the challenges yet. I just finished playing through again with dev commentary as well.

Do you mean the one that mentions BLack Mesa? You can get a full history of Aperture Science at the secret website mentioned above. Type "list" to see the files available, then "notes" for the potted history. Basically:

Yeah, I noticed a bit that had the classic "corridor full of pneumatic people-squashing devices". Ordinarily in an FPS you would have to time it right to get through without being crushed. I almost attempted it before thinking "duh, portal gun"

I still consider Sonic to be a mute, cute hedgehog foremost. The more human they try to make him the more of a douchebag he becomes. But as an only slightly anthropormorphised animal he is much more likeable. I've never even considered Mario haveing a real personality or anything to say. He's the quintessential "sprite" to me, merely a representation of your position in the game world.

Me too, that was more laugh-out-louds than I've had in a long long time, from game or film. I want to play the end again so I can hear more of the monologue, since it was often cut short by my "activities". also:

I have HL2 to give away castorp. Ep1 already taken.

Well, I dont think the spy is automatically unmasked by shooting them. Either they'll panic and shoot back, revealing themselves, or they'll die. Or not die and you'll be none the wiser. But so far I have the least life expectancy as a spy.

Heh, that isn't always as effecive as people think. A few times now people have shot my spy while I was disguised. But if I ignore it and pretend to be doing something they often assume I'm safe and I'll still have half my life left. Then I destroy their carefully constructred turret installation.

Heh, the Demoman video was good, but the engineer vid is still my favourite too. Especially when he stops playing the guitar and smiles as the missiles hit their target. My favourite class is the Heavy. I've managed over 15 minutes without dying, and a kill streak of 16 (19 points). And it feels so good to mow down the entire opposing team in a matter of seconds when you manage to sneak up behind them in narrow areas. The heavies' laughter perfectly matches my own. I've been trying to diversify a bit lately, but I often end up switching back to heavy if my team starts falling apart - he's such an important lynchpin, you can rally a devastating counterassault around him and bring the game back from the brink.