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Portal 2: Desolation is giving the classic puzzle game a graphics overhaul

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Re: Portal 2: Desolation is giving the classic puzzle game a graphics overhaul

#11

Post by thot_experiment »

smoldesu wrote: post #2

This is really cool! Not to detract from how awesome it is that Valve lets fans do this to their games without fear of legal repurcussions, but I've always been impressed by how little Valve games require visual overhauls. Even Half Life is stylized in such a way that it really doesn't need any changes, with it's bright cartoony color palette and angular space-age laboratory designs. I recently played through Black M…

I don't disagree. I will say that I deeply wish Valve enforced the guidelines more fiercely with the community created items. The original games (I mostly play DotA 2, but some TF2 as well) were essentially aesthetically perfect and I really wish there was a way for me to turn cosmetics off entirely.

In particular, this document is a fucking masterclass, I've learned more about making good visual choices from that FAQ than I have from any other single resource. I just wish it were law, not just guidelines.

[Dota 2 Workshop - Character Art Guide](https://help.steampowered.com/en/faqs/view/0688-7692-4D5A-19...)

P.S. Don't play DotA 2, but it's also the deepest multiplayer game ever made, except maybe Go, and I'll be playing it till the day I die.

Re: Portal 2: Desolation is giving the classic puzzle game a graphics overhaul

#12

Post by ss108 »

thot_experiment wrote: post #11
smoldesu wrote: post #2

This is really cool! Not to detract from how awesome it is that Valve lets fans do this to their games without fear of legal repurcussions, but I've always been impressed by how little Valve games require visual overhauls. Even Half Life is stylized in such a way that it really doesn't need any changes, with it's bright cartoony color palette and angular space-age laboratory designs. I recently played through Black M…

I don't disagree. I will say that I deeply wish Valve enforced the guidelines more fiercely with the community created items. The original games (I mostly play DotA 2, but some TF2 as well) were essentially aesthetically perfect and I really wish there was a way for me to turn cosmetics off entirely. In particular, this document is a fucking masterclass, I've learned more about making good visual choices from that FA…

Recent Dota 2 quitter checking-in

Re: Portal 2: Desolation is giving the classic puzzle game a graphics overhaul

#14

Post by smoldesu »

ss108 wrote: post #12
thot_experiment wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't disagree. I will say that I deeply wish Valve enforced the guidelines more fiercely with the community created items. The original games (I mostly play DotA 2, but some TF2 as well) were essentially aesthetically perfect and I really wish there was a way for me to turn cosmetics off entirely. In particular, this document is a fucking masterclass, I've learned more about making good visual choices from that FA…

Recent Dota 2 quitter checking-in

I bet you could make a killing on Etsy selling MOBA abstinence coins a-la Alcoholics Anonymous sobriety chips. There's a nice sizable market of League of Legends players who could probably use one.

Re: Portal 2: Desolation is giving the classic puzzle game a graphics overhaul

#15

Post by pram »

One of my favorite gaming moments ever is the transition from the old test shafts back into the enrichment center (which leads to the finale)

The area is like a bunch of platforms supported by gigantic springs. It made me stop and appreciate how mysterious, thoughtful, and interesting the entire environment was. I really just wanted to explore more of the depths after experiencing it.

Re: Portal 2: Desolation is giving the classic puzzle game a graphics overhaul

#16

Post by l-p »

thot_experiment wrote: post #9

If anyone needs a fix of Portal related content and hasn't yet played Portal: Prelude I can't recommend it highly enough. It's been a while (10+ years, oof I'm old now) since I've played it so take my gushing with a grain of salt, but I recall it being well written, not enough to rival Portal, but perhaps enough to rival Portal 2. The puzzles however were the most fun of any portal based game I'd ever played.

My lame claim to fame.

I was the one who suggested making it a prequel and have scientists watching you and from behind the windows (tough I'm pretty sure Nyko forgot by the time he completed the mod). Odd seeing this mentioned here.

I still have a toe in the Source modding community and I'm watching Desolation with great interest. An absurd amount of effort went into this, augmenting the engine, the editor, inflicting vgui upon themselves…

Source is _not_ a flexible and cooperative engine, lots of hardcoded stuff, necessary workarounds, complicated workflows, but there's still a modding and mapping community and my only wish is for our Lord and Savior Gabe Newell to release the sources of Source (1), GoldSrc, and the tooling around them. So much could be done. I should mail him, iosource needs to happen.

Re: Portal 2: Desolation is giving the classic puzzle game a graphics overhaul

#17

Post by hkt »

There is some extraordinary work that goes on in the modding community. A personal favourite in a similar vein is Portal Reloaded:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1255980/Portal_Reloaded/

Portal, also with time travel. The puzzles are excellent and the environments are gorgeous. I remain dumbfounded that efforts like these come from people who are volunteering their time.

Re: Portal 2: Desolation is giving the classic puzzle game a graphics overhaul

#18

Post by fartcannon »

Valve is great. Especially in comparison to some other game companies. Were this a Nintendo project, the devs would risk at best a Cease and Desist. The vibe I get from Nintendo is that they would probably flog their fan-game devs if they could legally get away with it.

Let's see if Bethesda, under Microsoft, maintains their support of mods.

Re: Portal 2: Desolation is giving the classic puzzle game a graphics overhaul

#19

Post by Jasper_ »

pram wrote: post #15

One of my favorite gaming moments ever is the transition from the old test shafts back into the enrichment center (which leads to the finale) The area is like a bunch of platforms supported by gigantic springs. It made me stop and appreciate how mysterious, thoughtful, and interesting the entire environment was. I really just wanted to explore more of the depths after experiencing it.

"Act 3" of Portal 2 is perhaps surprising only by how short it is! I think it sticks in people's heads as the largest part of Portal 2, but it's only 8 levels (2 intro levels, 2 for Blue Gel puzzles, 1 transition, 2 for Orange Gel, 1 finale). By comparison, the wrecked facility afterwards with Wheatley is almost double, at 15 levels.

sp_a3_03 (the intro to the underground area) and sp_a3_end (the climb you mention, with the new facility hoisted on top of the springs) remain some of my favorite examples of excellent level design in video games.

If you're curious, you can see the level here if you want to study how it works in a bit more detail https://noclip.website/#Portal2/sp_a3_end;ShareData=AY[=[9qH...

Re: Portal 2: Desolation is giving the classic puzzle game a graphics overhaul

#20

Post by willis936 »

thot_experiment wrote: post #9

If anyone needs a fix of Portal related content and hasn't yet played Portal: Prelude I can't recommend it highly enough. It's been a while (10+ years, oof I'm old now) since I've played it so take my gushing with a grain of salt, but I recall it being well written, not enough to rival Portal, but perhaps enough to rival Portal 2. The puzzles however were the most fun of any portal based game I'd ever played.

It really pushed the tools in terms of puzzle challenges. It threw out a lot of soft rules and let players expand their reasoning. I remember some puzzles requiring the player to fly through a complex series of portals that would look like complete chaos from a 3rd person perspective observer.
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