The Chamberlock is the room at the end of each Test Chamber that contains an elevator leading to the next one. The Chamberlock is the most common fixed-end goal of any test chamber, and its entrance is always covered by a Material Emancipation Grill to vaporize any unauthorized objects that pass through and remove any previously-placed portals. Chamberlocks appear in most levels of both Portal and Portal 2.
Chamberlocks in Portal are some of the smallest rooms in the game. For the most part, the chamberlock is a white, circular room with slatted walls. In the center is an elevator, which the player walks into in order to continue to the next chamber.
Portal 2
Portal 2 brought several changes to the design of the chamberlock. Unlike the chamberlocks in Portal the chamberlocks in Portal 2 are a great deal larger than their previous rendition, with the player being able to move freely around the central elevator. The elevator itself has undergone a change, with the player movement inside it much more restricted and with glass walls. A completely new addition to the chamberlock is the display-capable walls, which display video that often involves procedures for apocalyptic circumstances. Sometimes these displays correspond with the announcer's voice lines.
Note that not all chamberlocks in Portal 2 are the same, as the chamberlocks of the older aperture science facilities were similar in size and construction to those of Portal.
Gallery
Chamberlock
The view of a Chamberlock as seen from the elevator in Portal 2.
The Chamberlock as it appears in Portal.
The Emergency Intelligence Incinerator is a chute that leads directly to a series of furnaces deep within the Aperture Science Facility. Incinerators appear infrequently, but appear in specific locations during both Portal and Portal 2. Incinerators play a key role during Portal and appear only twice, and also appear briefly in Portal 2 early on in the game.
The purpose of the Incinerator is to safely and efficiency dispose of Aperture Science technology by providing easy access to the furnaces. In Portal, the player is forced to incinerate their Companion Cube in order to progress to the next test. During the final stages of the game, the player must pick up Personality Cores dislodged from GLaDOS and place them in the Incinerator in order to defeat her.
During Portal 2, a ruined Emergency Intelligence Incinerator can be spotted inside GLaDOS' old chamber, the area in which she is reactivated. After GLaDOS is reawakened, she drops the player into the Incinerator, which affords them with the opportunity to examine the furnaces first-hand.
The Aperture Science Material Emancipation Grill (also known as Emancipation Grills or fizzlers,) are shimmering, semi-transparent particle fields that appear in the Aperture Science testing facilities. Emancipation Grills disintegrate any object and blocks any portal that passes through, while allowing the player and the Handheld Portal Device to pass without issue.
The primary function of the Emancipation Grill is to vaporize any unauthorized equipment that passes through it while allowing test subjects and the Handheld Portal Device to pass through. When something is vaporized, the object turns black, hovers in mid-air, and disintegrates, emitting small flames and sparks. In Portal 2, this is accompanied with a loud sound when the object comes in contact with the Grill. The Emancipation Grill will glow brightly in Portal 2 as objects approach it to warn the player that it will vaporize the object once they come into contact. Portals also cannot pass through the Grill.
The Emancipation Grill also causes the Handheld Portal Device to shake, signaling that it has "rebooted", and that any portals that have been placed have now been removed. This functions to give the player a clean slate upon starting a new test. It also prevents players from navigating the Aperture Science testing facilities quickly by using portals.
An unforeseen consequence of repeated use of the Emancipation Grill has shown to emancipate teeth, tooth enamel, crowns, fillings, and ear canals.
In Portal 2, Emancipation Grills appear more solid in nature compared to Portal. They are light blue in coloring and have a shimmering water-like appearance. In the developer commentary, it was noted that they look this way to appear more "safe" to players, while still showing that there is a barrier to inanimate objects.
Gallery
Material Emancipation Grill
Emancipation Grill in Portal
A larger Emancipation Grill, used in a test chamber inPortal 2
Preservation of Mass Break the rules in Test Chamber 07
An Unstationary Scaffold is a platform that, when activated, moves horizontally back and forth along a beam of blue light. It is used to access previously unreachable places and to bridge gaps over deadly substances or pitfalls.
Development
In the developer commentary of Portal, players learn that originally, the scaffold moved along a solid track, but playtesters found that they could cheat a level by walking along the track. Then, the developers made the rail 'electrified', so that contact with it would kill the player. This seemed harsh to playtesters, and made use of the scaffolds more difficult, as a slight slip could kill the player. The developers then moved on to the current design, where the scaffold is supported on a beam of light.
The Victory Lift is game mechanic introduced in Portal, first appearing in Test Chamber 06. It also makes frequent appearances in Portal 2. The Victory Lift is a simple platform that rises when it is activated by the player.
Function
The primary function of the Victory Lift is to allow the player access to areas that would otherwise be inaccessible. Victory Lifts are traditionally activated when the corresponding Button is activated by the player, and will rise when the player stands on them. Some Victory Lifts do not require the player to activate them, and these platforms are usually activated upon completion of a Test Chamber. Victory Lifts will usually (but not always) descend when a player has disembarked the lift.
Trivia
There are only 2 Victory Lifts in Portal to be used as puzzle elements.
The Aperture Science Aerial Faith Plate is a mechanism introduced in Portal 2. This device launches players over a gap or to a specific destination at a set velocity and height. It can be used in conjunction with portals, and the Plate's ability to preserve the velocity of the user makes it an effective means of travel to far or otherwise inaccessible places.
Aerial Faith Plates can also launch any object that is placed on them. Their mechanism is designed so that the player is launched either directly upward, forward or backward in motion. There is only one occasion in which an Aerial Faith Plate launches you sideways, which is during the final chapters of the game whenWheatley plans to kill you.
In Portal 2 - Education Version, the Aerial Faith Plate can generate an impulse with a specific amount of force (1-99N) and in a precise direction (0-90°).
Pturretdactyl Use an Aerial Faith Plate to launch a turret
The Crusher is introduced in Portal 2, and is a derivative of Aperture Science's Panel technology. Crushers are an environmental hazard present in several test environments. If a test subject makes contact with a Crusher, they will be forced into the nearest hard surface and killed instantly. Crushers appear as large grey panels with a number of steel spikes firmly attached to them.
Any object, including the player, will be perforated instantly upon contact with a Crusher. When active, a loud crunching noise is emitted in order to warn the player that they are approaching a Crusher, thereby allowing the player to avoid them.
In Co-op mode, if the player comes in contact with a Crusher while floating in an Excursion Funnel, the damage caused will be periodic until the player moves away or dies.
Trivia
Crushers were originally intended to appear in Portal, but were removed in the early stages of game development due to the additional complexity Valve added to test chambers.[citation needed]
Panels are the fundamental building blocks of Aperture Science Test Chambers. Panels can be placed anywhere, and can be used to form walls, floors, ceilings or evenCrushers. Because the orientation, angle and height of Panels can be adjusted as needed, they can be reconfigured in order to create a near-infinite number of variations. Due to their range of uses and large number of possible permutations, Panels are an ideal choice for constructing test chambers, and allow those in charge to create new chambers with new obstacles and hazards on-the-fly.
Overview
Panels are capable of aiding or impeding the player's completion of the task at hand depending upon their placement. Non-static Panels in test chambers are usually activated through the use of Buttons, which will either add or remove panels to or from the player's path. For example, a series of Panels can be used to create a new walkway or staircase, provide a surface upon which a Portal can be placed, or to provide a barrier to prevent the loss of critical items such as Weighted Storage Cubes. Panels can be used effectively in virtually every test, making them very useful for trapping a Test Subject or shielding the player from a hazard. This mechanic becomes much more crucial during Co-op, as Panels are often present in order to block one partner from crashing into a hazard, or are used to prevent the duo from easily accessing a certain area.
The Excursion Funnel is a game mechanic introduced in Portal 2. The mechanism creates a wide beam of blue light that the player may enter or exit at any time. It seems to defy the laws of gravity, allowing any who enter to become weightless and travel along the path of the Funnel. Anyone or anything caught inside the Funnel travels in the direction that the Funnel is flowing, unless the Funnel is made to reverse, which is usually accomplished through the activation of a button.
Excursion Funnels can pass through portals and can cross vast distances, and can therefore can be used to solve puzzles in which Funnels may not initially appear to be useful.
Excursion Funnels can also act as a mode of transportation for the player or objects across large gaps, as well as Gels. Gels caught in the Excursion Funnel will slowly follow the direction of the Funnel until the substance collides with a wall or until the Funnel suddenly disappears, making funnels useful for coating large areas in a short amount of time.
When inside an Excursion Funnel in the single player campaign, soothing music plays, possibly to relate the tactile sensation of being weightless in a funnel. All other sound is blocked out or significantly dampened.
Because of the fine print in the early Portal 2 trailers, many people have come to believe that the funnel is made of liquid asbestos. This theory is supported by the liquid ambiance one hears while traversing a funnel, but is refuted by the fact that the funnel does not exhibit any other liquid qualities and does not refract light in the way clear gel or water does.
Gallery
Excursion Funnel
An Excursion Funnel in the forward direction
An Excursion Funnel in the reverse direction
The promotional image in the E3 Demo
Related achievements
Portal 2
Tunnel of Funnel Master the Excursion Funnel
A Hard-Light Bridge (simply known as a Light Bridge,) is a semi-translucent solid made from natural sunlight beamed in from the surface. It can act as a bridge for the player, a shield against turrets and other hazards, or even a wall for more complex puzzles the player encounters later on. The bridges span an infinite length or until stopped by another solid, meaning the player won't have to worry about the length of the bridge being a problem. Although the bridge is made of light, if one portion of the bridge is stopped by a solid object the rest will not continue as a beam of light normally would.
Hard-Light Bridges can also be covered in Mobility Gels, allowing the player to use the gels in places where it normally would just fall through. Gels placed on Hard-Light Bridges are not permanent and disappears the moment the bridge dissipates or moves to a different location.
.Turretsserve as one of the main testing obstacles in thePortalseries. Armed with almost unlimited ammunition and deadly accuracy, they will attempt to kill test subjects on sight.
Sentry Turrets are miniature tripod robots that appear in every game in the Portal series. They are seen as incapable of independent movement, but can open each side of their chassis (their 'arms') horizontally in order to reveal two gatling guns. The central part of the chassis holds their red eye, which emits a targeting laser. Almost all of the space within the Turret is devoted to storing the ridiculously stacked ammo, explaining the nearly infinite supply of ammo when firing.
When test subjects are out of sight from the Turret's presence, they will maintain a standby state and will remain motionless with their guns retracted. Moving into their angle of sight however, will cause Turrets to deploy their guns shortly after greeting the unlucky individual before opening fire. They will continue to fire until the target is dead or moves out of sight. If the latter occurs, Turrets will briefly search for the test subject (as indicated by the movement of the targeting laser), after which they will revert to a standby state.
Turrets can be avoided, disabled or destroyed in a number of ways. The most common method is knocking them over, causing them to flail and fire wildly before deactivating. This can be done by picking them up and dropping them, or using any object to tip them over. Additionally, the Discouragement Beamss or Emancipation Grills can be used to completely destroy them.
In Portal, Turrets will shoot the glass when the player is on the other side. In Portal 2, however, Turrets will only follow the player behind glass.
Rocket Turret
The Rocket Turret is a unique enemy seen at the end of Portal. It appears as a raw personality core outfitted with a rocket launcher. Upon activation, it will slowly lock onto Chell and emits a sound before firing a rocket. Unlike Sentry turrets, it cannot be disabled or destroyed by the player. It plays a vital role in the battle with GLaDOS, as rockets need to be sent through portals in order to hit her, causing personality cores to detach from her.
Rockets can also be redirected by Chell to shatter the observation windows throughout the offices of the Enrichment Center.
Rocket Turrets used to play a major role in Portal 2, but was later cut.
Defective Turrets, referred to as "Crap Turrets" by Wheatley, are incomplete, sometimes ammo-less versions of the Sentry Turrets introduced in Portal 2. Unlike normal Sentry Turrets, Defective Turrets have a more humorous and sarcastic dialogue, and speak in a masculine, less robotic voice.
They are harmless to Chell, many times making comments such as "If anyone asks, I killed you". Their voice lines seem to imply they are blind, but they are still aware of Chell's presence.They are first encountered in the chapter, The Escape.
In the game's co-op campaign, the Defective Turrets appear as obstacles for Atlas and P-body throughout the Mobility Gels testing course. These Turrets appear to be as fully functional as regular Sentry Turrets and possesses the innocent and feminine voice tones as they should. The only difference from regular Turrets is that they have been defaced. One Defective Turret in the final test chamber of this test course has been evidently reconfigured by someone, as instead of serving as a typical testing obstacle, before dying it reveals that it "needs to protect the humans".
Frankenturrets are bizarre Sentry Turret-Weighted Storage Cube hybrids in the single-player campaign of Portal 2. Created by Wheatley in order to complete test chambers when he had no available test subjects, they are first introduced in the chapter, The Itch.
Frankenturrets do not speak, and instead emit incomprehensible chirping sounds. They generally serve as Wheatley's replacement for Storage Cubes once Chell is available as his test subject. Their only difference from normal cubes being that Frankenturrets will hop around aimlessly when it is not placed on a button. When picked up by Chell, they retract their legs inside the cube. If they fall over on their sides or upside down, they will wave their legs trying to get up.
Prima Donna Turret
The Prima Donna Turret (meaning First Woman in Italian, a title given to the lead singer, the diva, in an opera), referred by the game files as the Turret Wife, is a bigger and wider Turret featured at the end of Portal 2's single-player campaign during the Turret Opera, after GLaDOS finally allows Chell her freedom of leaving the Enrichment Center. As its name implies, the Prima Donna Turret provides the lead vocals for the Turret Opera.
Apart from the ending, a Prima Donna Turret can also be found in the chapter The Return, at the end of Test Chamber 11; briefly seen in an elevator just as Chell enters the Chamberlock. It can also be found below the Rattmann's den in the same chapter during Test Chamber 16, where it is observing a turret quartet.
The Animal King Turret is a unique type of turret in the single-player campaign of Portal 2 that is only used in an Aperture Science slideshow to represent an "Animal King Takeover" in the chapter, The Courtesy Call. The Turret is considerably colossal in comparison to its Sentry Turret brethren, and appears to operate the 'arms' on its side in exactly the same way.
It can be distinguished from ordinary Turrets by its immense size, crown and leopard skin-detailed chassis. In the context of the slideshow, the Animal King Turret is used as an example of an entity or a form of organization capable of taking control of Earth which "...refuses to, or is incapable of listening to reason".
The Animal King Turret appears only once in the entire game, during the single-player ending sequence when Chell is being brought up to the surface by GLaDOS after defeating Wheatley. It appears to be producing the lower bass tones of the Turret Opera.
Hover Turret
The Hover Turret is an unused Turret found within the game files of Portal 2. It uses the model of the Curiosity Core. It emits a laser, similar to the other types of Turrets, that is coloured light-blue and able to burn the player similar to the burn of the Thermal Discouragement Beam, however unlike the Thermal Discouragement Beam it's laser does not provide a barrier for the player's movement, nor does it interact with game mechanics. The Hover Turret can be spawned within Portal 2 via the cheat command ent_create npc_hover_turret.
Turrets are introduced as testing hazards to Chell during the entirety of Test Chamber 16. Following this, they continue to appear throughout the remaining test chambers and eventually, during Chell's escape.
Turrets reprise their role as testing hazards to Chell and to Atlas and P-body for the game's co-op campaign, and they appear fairly early in the game. Distinct versions of the Turrets are introduced, including the Defective Turrets and Animal King Turret.
When GLaDOS attempts to kill Wheatley with a paradox in the beginning of Chapter 8: The Itch, every Frankenturret is fried, humorously implying that they are smarter than Wheatley.
The shipping box for the Turrets states that one of the blue painted Turrets was bought on January 25, 2010 by a person with an unreadable name. The reference to Michael Jackson can be seen on the box.[citation needed]
Related achievements
Portal
Friendly Fire Knock down a turret with another turret.
Portal: Still Alive
A Feeling Like Floating Dissolve a turret.
Is Anyone There? Complete the game without ever taking a bullet.
Saw That One Coming Cause a rocket sentry to destroy its own rocket when the rocket has been redirected back towards it.
The Camera Adds 10 Pounds Knock a turret over with a security camera.
Portal 2
No Hard Feelings Save a turret from redemption
Pturretdactyl Use an Aerial Faith Plate to launch a turret
The Thermal Discouragement Beam (referred by GLaDOS as "deadly laser,") is a Test Chamber mechanic introduced in Portal 2.
The Beam is fired in a straight line from an immovable device built into the wall or ceiling of a Test Chamber. Each Beam is usually coupled with one Receptacle, and multiple Beams with multiple Receptacles may be present within a single Test Chamber. Directing the Beam into the Receptacle will activate certain mechanics that are crucial in reaching the chamber exit. The Beam can also be used in conjunction with Relays, which are small nodes built into the floor of some Test Chambers. Relays are activated when the Thermal Discouragement Beam passes through them, and multiple Relays must often be activated using a single Beam. Once all Relays are activated, specific Test Chamber mechanics will be triggered, similarly to the activation of a Receptacle.
Thermal Discouragement Beams can be angled in certain directions with the use of the Discouragement Redirection Cube and portals. Additionally, the beam holds the ability to travel through transparent objects such as glass. Turrets will explode after a few seconds of contact. Touching the beam will push the player away, as well as deal a small amount of damage. Prolonged exposure will result in death.
The Weighted Storage Cube was first introduced in Portal, and remains prevalent in Portal 2. In Portal 2 however, the cube is given a blue ring in the center instead of a blue cross, and can turn yellow when placed upon a Super Button.
The Weighted Companion Cube was first introduced in Portal, and remains prevalent in Portal 2. Similar to the Weighted Storage Cube, the Companion Cube possesses a different design in Portal 2. The Cube functions in the same way as a Weighted Storage Cube, being differentiated to encourage test subjects to feel attached to the Cube. A feature to the new Companion Cube in Portal 2 is that it is able to sing.
Edgeless Safety Cube
The Edgeless Safety Cube was officially introduced in Portal 2, where it is used only in the co-op campaign. However, it also appears once in the single-player campaign as garbage. The entire name is given out of irony, however it still retains the coloring scheme and patterns present in the designs of the other cubes.
The Edgeless Safety Cube did have an appearance in a Portal Challenge Map, however it was unnamed and also did not have an accompanying receptacle, thus is not widely considered to have its first appearence until Portal 2.
The Discouragement Redirection Cube was introduced in Portal 2. Its main purpose is to redirect the Thermal Discouragement Beam to other places or through portals if necessary. However, the cube has a second use as a Weighted Storage Cube, as it can be used to activate the Heavy-Duty Super Button.
Scalable Cube
The Scalable Cube is exclusively featured in the Portal 2 Sixense DLC test chambers. The only way to scale the Cube is with the Razer Hydra Controllers, a feature supported by thePortal Gun in the DLC. The size of the Cube changes simultaneously with its mass. The Scalable Cube can be used to build bridges between gaps or to crush Turrets.
Contraption Cube
The Contraption Cube is exclusively featured in the Portal 2 - Education VersionPuzzle Creator. It has adjustable mass, friction and elasticity. The minimum mass is 1kg, maximum mass is 85kg. There are 5 levels for friction: frictionless, slippery, normal, sticky and very sticky. There are also 5 levels for elasticity: no rebound, slight rebound, normal, bouncy, very bouncy. The default feature is 40kg, frictionless and no rebound. Different feature will have different outlook.
Frankenturrets are bizarre Sentry Turret-Weighted Storage Cube hybrids created by Wheatley in order to complete test chambers when he had no test subjects. They are present in the single-player chapters, The Itch and The Part Where He Kills You.
Frankenturrets do not speak, and instead emits incomprehensible chirping sounds. They act as Wheatley's replacement for Storage Cubes, their only difference being that Frankenturrets will hop around aimlessly while not placed on a button. When picked up by Chell, they retract their legs inside their cubes. If they fall over on their sides or upside down, they will wave their legs trying to get up.
The Heavy Duty Super Button is a receptacle that can be triggered by the weights of player characters, Weighted Storage Cubes, Edgeless Safety Cubes, and Frankenturrets. The button was introduced in Portal and remained prevalent in Portal 2.
An older prototype variant from the 50-70s era of the Super Buttons can be seen in the Portal 2 single-player chapters The Fall and The Reunion.
Weighted Storage Cube Receptacle
Weighted Storage Cube Receptacles, as obvious by its name, serves as a receptacle only for the Weighted Storage Cubes. This receptacle is only present in the co-op campaign ofPortal 2.
The Storage Cube must be placed securely inside the receptacle in order for test subjects to proceed. Although its appearance is similar to the Super Button, it cannot be activated by the weight of test subjects or any other objects being placed upon it.
The Edgeless Safety Cube Receptacle is a receptacle for the Edgeless Safety Cube, introduced in Portal 2. The Cube must be placed securely inside the receptacle in order for the player to proceed.
Edgeless Safety Cubes and their receptacles only appear as testing elements in the game's cooperative campaign.
A Weighted Storage Cube covered in Propulsion Gel.
The Scalable Cube.
The Heavy Duty Super-Colliding Super Button is a game mechanic used throughout the Portal series. It is used within Test Chambers, and is activated when either a player or Weighted Storage Cube is placed upon it.
Buttons are present in the virtually all test chambers and, when activated, trigger a variety of effects. Buttons can either control the flow of Excursion Funnels, open and close hatches, release Weighted Storage Cubes, or even open and close the gate leading to the exit. It's up to the player to figure out how and when to use the button, or buttons, in order to proceed.
Trivia
In Portal Test Chamber 16, turrets can activate a button. This is the only occurrence of this.
Gallery
Heavy Duty Super-Colliding Super Button
Portal floor button
Portal 2 floor button
An active Portal 2 floor button
An old Aperture floor button from Portal 2
Gels are a gameplay mechanic officially introduced in Portal 2. They are paint-like liquids that impart different effects when applied to surfaces and objects.
This gel is a light blue substance that provides repelling abilities. Any objects like the Storage Cubes and Turrets that hits a surface coated with the Repulsion Gel, will either bounce away from the gel splat or bounce erratically on its own upon being coated with it. Due to the effect, the height from which a test subject falls before landing on a gel-covered surface affects the height of a jump. Test subjects can also use the Gel to move back and forth between two parallel surface rather than merely be propelled up and down.
The Propulsion Gel is a light orange substance that greatly increases object velocity and reduces the friction of objects moving on the surface(s) it is applied to. Any objects covered in this gel have their friction reduced, causing them to slide around across the floor easily.
A portal-conducting white substance made from ground moon rocks. It enables test subjects to be able to fire portals onto surfaces previously incapable of conducting portals.
Cleansing Gel
This gel may appear to be regular water with an ability to wash away other types of gels off of surfaces and any objects that have been coated. It has no special properties in regard of the gameplay, and as such, does not affect any surfaces other than ones covered in other gels.
Slime
Slime or Sewage was found only in Portal during Chell's escape, and is not often considered a gel due to the fact it has no emitter, is not used to solve chambers, and Chell cannot "paint" with it like with the official gels introduced in Portal 2. Regardless, it does have some properties similar to some gels in Portal 2, such as the slippery effect of running on Propulsion Gel and an adhesion effect that keeps Chell somewhat stuck on the surface.
The purple "sticky" or "adhesion" gel was found on accident in the Portal 2 authoring tools. It turns out that the purple gel was initially going to behave like the blue stick paint in Tag: The Power of Paint, the game off of which Portal 2's gel mechanics are based. The adhesion gel would have been in the game along with the repulsion, propulsion, and conversion gels in Portal 2 now. But some play testers got too disoriented when they had to think with portals while walking on walls and ceilings, so Valve ended up removing the gel before it was completed.
The Reflection Gel replaced the Adhesion Gel in the authoring tools after Portal 2 major update of their first DLC. The gel uses the Conversion Gel texture when hits the floors, and causes the Thermal Discouragement Beam to reflect, similar to the Discouragement Redirection Cube. When this gel hits the player it shows the screen effect of the Propulsion Gel.
Related achievements
Vertically Unchallenged Master the Repulsion Gel
White Out Complete the first Conversion Gel test
Stranger Than Friction Master the Propulsion Gel
Schrodinger's Catch Catch a blue-painted box before it touches the ground
Gallery
Gels
Repulsion Gel spraying out of its tube in the 50s-70s layouts of Aperture.
A fourth gel, "Adhesion Gel", was also borrowed from TAG and was tested within Portal 2. It would have allowed players to "stick to a surface so you can walk up a wall like Fred Astaire in Royal Wedding"[1]; however, it was removed early on during development due to making play-testers motion-sick.[2] Its emitter is still in the game's files, however, but does not have any sticky properties or a texture.[3]
Repulsion Gel was Aperture Science's first attempt at creating dietetic pudding substitute.
The High Energy Pellet is a puzzle mechanic introduced in Portal. It is a fast moving energy ball, fired by an emitter built into a Test Chamber surface and usually accompanied by a receptacle that catches it. Players direct the ball into the receptacle in order to activate lifts or devices before it dissipates and explodes. The ball is extremely volatile, and as such instantly vaporizes Chell on contact. Turrets, however, will be knocked over by it. The High Energy Pellet emitter makes a cameo in Chamber 7 of Portal 2, being lifted out and being replaced by a Thermal Discouragement Beam emitter.
The High Energy Pellet was a common puzzle mechanic in Portal. It first appeared in Portal Test Chamber 06 and made recurrent appearances throughout the game. Test Chamber 19 features two versions of the High Energy Pellet, the standard yellow High Energy Pellet as well as a green High Energy Pellet. As the green one does not dissipate and explode, it is sometimes colloquially known as the Super High Energy Pellet.
Portal 2
The High Energy Pellet does not make an appearance in Portal 2; however, it's emitter and receptacle do. These appear in Chamber 1 of Portal 2's second chapter, which is identical to Test Chamber 06 of Portal (albeit run down and degraded). However, this similarity is removed when GLaDOS replaces the items with those of the Thermal Discouragement Beam. They are also present in Chamber 7 of Portal 2's first chapter, as this chamber is simply a run-down version of Portal's Test Chamber 07.
Gallery
High Energy Pellet
The High Energy Pellet in Portal.
High Energy Pellet launcher.
High Energy Pellet catcher.
The alternative version of the High Energy Pellet as seen in Portal test chamber 19.
An Energy Pellet launcher and catcher in Portal 2's Chamber 7.
Artwork found in the Portal 2 ARG, of a destroyed Energy Pellet launcher.
A High Energy Pellet about to hit a Test Subject on an Aperture Science propaganda poster, titled "Courage is Not the Absence of Fear".
Trivia
The Energy Pellet uses the Combine Energy Ball model from the Half-Life series.
The Pellet "refreshes" every time it passes through linked portals, meaning the player could keep the ball bouncing until they've discovered the solution to the current chamber.
The Goo,[1] also known as Toxic Water, Acid, and Hazard Liquid, is a common environmental hazard in both Portal and Portal 2.
Overview
Goo is usually present within testing chambers in order to provide a penalty for failure, and to ensure that test subjects are precise with their movements and positioning of their portals.
Objects that have fallen into the goo are irretrievable. In such cases where testing elements like the cubes are needed to solve a test, a replacement will be issued immediately if the first one was dropped into the goo. On some occasions during Portal 2, objects in the goo can be heard fizzling immediately after falling in.
Appearance-wise in Portal, the goo appears as a mixture of red, green, and brown-colored liquid with a swirled appearance. Any contact with the goo will result in continuous damage that would eventually result in killing Chell within a few seconds upon contact. As of Portal 2, the goo appears to be mainly brown, often with smoke swirling around its presence like in Portal.
Pistons are a hazard present in Portal, though are also sometimes required to be used as more of a game mechanic to continue through the chamber.
Portal
Portal did not feature pistons until late in the game, during Chell's escape. In Portal, pistons serve primarily as a hazard, as a player who is caught between a piston and a wall will be crushed and killed. That said, there are times where Pistons are instrumental to a player's success, such as providing a bridge in Escape 1 or propelling the player through a portal in Escape 2.
Two types of piston are present in Portal, a cylindrical piston and a rectangular piston. The rectangular pistons are only seen once and are used to elevate Chell in order to for her to create a portal on an otherwise unreachable surface.
Portal 2
Pistons do not make as many appearances Portal 2 as they did in Portal. Often their purposes are fulfilled through crushers where the pistons would be hazards and panels where the pistons assisted the player's progress. The only instance of pistons is found during the first Conversion Gel test. Their main lack of appearance is likely due to the progression of the game, as Chell does not pass through the bowels of modern aperture science to the extent of her passage in Portal, and the older aperture science facilities likely did not function in the same manner as modern aperture science.
The Vital Apparatus Vent is the final component in the tube networks that delivers objects when activated, either by buttons or automatic replenishing.
In the Portal series, test subjects can shoot a portal underneath the vent so that the dropped object's momentum may be used to launch it. In the event of when the object delivered by the vent is destroyed in any way (incinerated, dropped in goo etc.), the vent will deliver a replacement of the object. In most cases, when activated a second time the object previously delivered will be fizzled.
he Aperture Science Pneumatic Diversity Vent is the primary component of the tubes in the Portal series. Although the component itself was not present in the first Portal, this component is the only means of supplying pneumatic pressures to push products throughout the Aperture Science computer-aided Enrichment Center, and opposite to the Vital Apparatus Vent.
As the second part of its name suggests, the Pneumatic Diversity Vent's purpose is also to redirect various products to a different location of the Enrichment Center if it were needed there.
The pneumatic pressures providing the suctions in the tubes have existed since Portal, and has remained prevalent throughout Portal 2. The Pneumatic Diversity Vents are the source of the powerful vacuums in tubes, and will therefore suck up any object(s) near it to provide continuous transportation if other Pneumatic Diversity Vent components are nearby. It is never demonstrated just how powerful the suction truly is in Portal 2, however in an early E3 2010 footage when the components were a testing mechanic, these components were originally able to remove various panels from their positions.
These components have transported a wide range of Aperture products such as Cubes (including Weighted Cubes and Edgeless Cubes), Turrets, elevators from a Chamberlock-specific Tube network (straight direction Tubes only), and other such objects to various locations they are needed.
There have been cases where Chell would board a tube to be transported with the help of the pneumatic pressures. In Portal, after Chell had escaped from her testing tracks, she boards a damaged tube, but is unexpectedly pulled back into a Test Chamber by GLaDOS. In Portal 2, she had used it again in a Tube riding scene from the chapter The Escape, in which both Chell and Wheatley had been sucked up through the Transportation Tubes via pneumatic pulls and were rapidly traveling around the facility. Although this was not a part of Wheatley's plans to confront GLaDOS, he realized that the pneumatic pulls have a chance of bringing them to her chamber.
As part of the Peer Review DLC for Portal 2, the Pneumatic Diversity Vents also serves as an entrance to the extra courses found in the Hub.
GLaDOS appears to be the only source of operating the pneumatic pulls in the tubes. This is proven in Portal after Chell boards into the tubes; the cubes are directed elsewhere, yet Chell was brought another direction. Her power over these Vents are also demonstrated in Portal 2, near a catwalk scene where the Oracle Turret can be found; unveiling entire tubes to have been completely non-functional after the destruction of GLaDOS.
Demostration
Pre-release
Gallery
E3 Demo Promotional image.
The Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device (also known as the Portal Gun, ASHPoD or ASHPD) is the experimental tool designed to place two portalsthat objects can pass through. This is the primary tool players are equipped with to complete Test Chambers.
The Handheld Portal Device is designed to create and place portals on any white surface that is immobile, flat and large enough. When the device is fired, a colored projectile will be emitted from the barrel. If the projectile strikes a valid surface, a portal of the corresponding color will be formed. If a portal of the other color is already placed, these two portals will be linked. If a portal of the same color is already placed, it will be closed and the new one will be used instead, limiting the player to the use of only two portals at a time. Nothing will happen if a portal is shot at an enemy or other object. The glass chamber and a light on the top of the device will glow with the color of the previously placed portal.
The Handheld Portal Device also has the ability to pick up and manipulate objects directly in front of it in the same manner as the Gravity Gun from the Half-Life series. While holding an object, pressing the primary fire key will push the object forward very slightly, while the secondary fire key will drop the object.
Portal 2
The Handheld Portal Device in Portal 2 behaves somewhat differently to its Portal counterpart. The key differences include new object handling sounds and animations, new sounds for firing portals and faster placement of portals by default. In addition, the Portal Device supports new animations and particle effects for moving portals and stretching objects[1]; while it is possible to enable free rotation of objects via the use of a console command, the remaining functionality is only accessible through the use of a Razer Hydra controller, which allows for the greater degree of control of objects. The Portal Device in Portal 2also lacks the ability to slightly launch/drop objects using the primary and secondary fire keys respectively.
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