"Slime" wrote:
> Anyone else playing Portal? I bet almost everyone here would enjoy it.
> It's a short game but it's really good. $20 on Steam.

I'd like to play it, but unfortunately the motherboard of my computer is 
sent to repair, and the laptop I'm using in the mean time can't handle 3D 
graphics at all. Maybe later.

However, I've played Narbacular Drop a year or two ago. It's free and I 
highly recommend it!
http://www.nuclearmonkeysoftware.com/

AFAIK, the people who made Narbacular Drop were the ones later hired by 
Valve to help make Portal, and it's very easy to see the that technology and 
gameplay is the same. Narbacular Drop is more children friendly and more 
primitive graphics wise, but the portals and resulting gameplay is almost 
exactly the same as in Portal as far as I can see, although perhaps not as 
adrenaline intensive.

So if you think the puzzles in Portal look interesting, but aren't prepared 
to pay the $20, give Narbacular Drop a try for free for starters! Or if you 
beat Portal and would like more of the gameplay set in a different universe 
(and see what Portal started out as originally) also try out Narbacular 
Drop!

Rune

Post a reply to this message

On Wed, 17 Oct 2007 18:15:43 +0200, Rune wrote:
> AFAIK, the people who made Narbacular Drop were the ones later hired by 
> Valve to help make Portal, and it's very easy to see the that technology and 
> gameplay is the same. Narbacular Drop is more children friendly and more 
> primitive graphics wise, but the portals and resulting gameplay is almost 
> exactly the same as in Portal as far as I can see, although perhaps not as 
> adrenaline intensive.

The same team indeed worked on it.

As for adrenaline intensivity, Portal is actually quite relaxing,
although the instructor voice in it is quite perplexing.

Also, comparing the graphics between
  http://www.nuclearmonkeysoftware.com/narbaculardrop.html
and
  http://bisqwit.iki.fi/kala/snap/portal/
I'd say Portal is less gloomy :)


But one thing that is in Narbacular Drop that would have been
great in Portal would be if you were able to create portals
through portals...

-- 
Joel Yliluoma - http://bisqwit.iki.fi/
: comprehension = 1 / (2 ^ precision)

Post a reply to this message

Joel Yliluoma <bis### [at] ikifi> wrote:
> Speaking of gun turrets, there was this one stage where turrets
> could actually be placed on a button where a storage cube was
> supposed to be placed, and hold the button down.

  There are a few levels which can be passed differently than originally
intended. Valve found these only in beta-testing and left some of them
be (because they required some ingenuity at that point in the game).

> Then there were two or three hidden rooms with bean cans and lots
> of text. Those were interesting.

  The best one is the one where the walls are full of stuff about the
companion cube.

> **SPOILERS BELOW**

  Taking a turret also rewards with funny lines.

-- 
                                                          - Warp

Post a reply to this message

For some reason I didn't find the puzzles too difficult. Some of them
required some thinking, but I would estimate that even the hardest ones
I solved in like 5-10 minutes.

  I haven't tried the challenge levels yet, though. Those ought to be
much harder, I suppose.

  One of the coolest things was double-flinging (or whatever it was
called). It's quite easy after a few tries, and sends you flying quite
far...

-- 
                                                          - Warp

Post a reply to this message

Warp wrote:
>   For some reason I didn't find the puzzles too difficult. Some of them
> required some thinking, but I would estimate that even the hardest ones
> I solved in like 5-10 minutes.
> 
>   I haven't tried the challenge levels yet, though. Those ought to be
> much harder, I suppose.
> 
>   One of the coolest things was double-flinging (or whatever it was
> called). It's quite easy after a few tries, and sends you flying quite
> far...

...and this proves it. Warp is a drastically better gamer than me. :-}

(I *still* can't do the double-fling very well. Indeed, I'm still having 
trouble with a single-fling. It's just very hard to hit the portal...)

Some of the puzzles were really frustratingly hard, and took absolutely 
forever. Replaying the same 3 seconds of game for 20 minutes isn't my 
idea of great entertainment.

I've now cracked 4 of the advanced puzzles. The other two appear to be 
impossible...

Post a reply to this message

Orchid XP v7 <voi### [at] devnull> wrote:
> (I *still* can't do the double-fling very well. Indeed, I'm still having 
> trouble with a single-fling. It's just very hard to hit the portal...)

  You are probably doing it wrongly and that's why it's so difficult.

  Double-flinging is pretty easy. First find a place where you can do it:
Basically a vertical surface at a high altitude, with a floor below it
(both surfaces should obviously allow portals). Create eg. a red portal
on the vertical surface, and then the blue portal anywhere you like, eg.
a wall nearby. Step through the blue portal and you will obviously start
falling down. As you fall down, aim directly down and shoot a new blue
portal shortly before you hit the ground. -> Fling!

  I think that many people haven't realized this "shoot a new portal
while you are falling" basic technique, which is why they find it so
hard.

-- 
                                                          - Warp

Post a reply to this message

Warp wrote:
> Orchid XP v7 <voi### [at] devnull> wrote:
>> (I *still* can't do the double-fling very well. Indeed, I'm still having 
>> trouble with a single-fling. It's just very hard to hit the portal...)
> 
>   You are probably doing it wrongly and that's why it's so difficult.
> 
>   Double-flinging is pretty easy. First find a place where you can do it:
> Basically a vertical surface at a high altitude, with a floor below it
> (both surfaces should obviously allow portals). Create eg. a red portal
> on the vertical surface, and then the blue portal anywhere you like, eg.
> a wall nearby. Step through the blue portal and you will obviously start
> falling down. As you fall down, aim directly down and shoot a new blue
> portal shortly before you hit the ground. -> Fling!
> 
>   I think that many people haven't realized this "shoot a new portal
> while you are falling" basic technique, which is why they find it so
> hard.

The main problem is walking through one portal, falling out of the 
other, rotating cat-style while in free fall, trying to figure out where 
the hell you are and which way you're facing, and... oh wait, I'm on the 
ground again. :-S

I think the game would probably be helped if all the walls *weren't* 
identical. It's quite disorienting enough walking through random portals 
without being easily able to see where you're going / where you just 
came from. ;-)

PS. In the time between writing my last post and writing this one, I 
re-completed the game with comentary turned on. (Or rather, I 
recompleted the second half of it. I did the first half yesterday.) The 
commentary is almost overwhelmingly dense at the start, and 
dissapointingly sparse towards the end.

Interesting note: The final battle seemed *massively* easier this time. 
Maybe because I know what I'm actually trying to do this time round...

Post a reply to this message

PS. Do you have HL2:EP2? I can't complete [what is probably] the final 
battle. It's just too hard.

The Hunters are virtually indescructible, and you only have about 20 
seconds to kill 7 of them, make 3 failed attempts at using the Magnesson 
Device and bring down the Strider. Oh, did I mention? THERE ARE FIVE OF 
THEM! Five Striders, each with seven Hunters. You have 20 seconds to 
kill them all.

I recall the G-Man's words: "A battle you have No Hope of winning..."

Post a reply to this message

> PS. Do you have HL2:EP2? I can't complete [what is probably] the final
> battle. It's just too hard.

I found it very difficult also. The trick seems to be taking out as many
hunters as you can before working on the striders, since the hunters destroy
the magnessons. You definitely have more than 20 seconds though if you
handle them one at a time. Taking down the hunters is the hardest part; you
can accumulate explosives ahead of time (bring them to the beginning of the
area, the choke point that all striders will have to pass through). You can
also take any hunter out with the alternate fire of the combine pulse rifle
(don't miss! quicksave ahead of time) or a couple rockets. When you run out
of those and explosives, try running them over with your car. When all else
fails use the shotgun.

If you drive around, and you should at first to make use of the items in the
more distant buildings, use the magnesson holder on the back of your car.
Later I found that I spent most of my time at the main entrance so you want
to conserve the items there.

If at any point a strider is getting too close, start using magnessons on it
even if there are still hunters around. If you've taken out enough of the
hunters you can sometimes get the strider anyway.

I wasn't happy with the way they try to humiliate you if you lose.

 - Slime
 [ http://www.slimeland.com/ ]

Post a reply to this message

>   For some reason I didn't find the puzzles too difficult. Some of them
> required some thinking, but I would estimate that even the hardest ones
> I solved in like 5-10 minutes.

That doesn't surprise me given your programming background.

>   I haven't tried the challenge levels yet, though. Those ought to be
> much harder, I suppose.

They are definitely more of a challenge. The "least portals" ones are all
worth doing. I also found the "least time" challenges fun, but the "least
steps" not so much. Also, be sure to do the advanced levels if you haven't
yet. Those are easier than the challenges but harder than the game.

 - Slime
 [ http://www.slimeland.com/ ]

Post a reply to this message