What do you think a multiplayer portal game would be like?

[Krazy Bomb]

Not co-op. Full fledged multiplayer, possibly DM.

I would think that the players would get special "Aperture Science Handheld Destruction Devices" Based off of already known portal weaponry (Turrets, toxins, etc.). I also think there would be a lot of inderect combat gameplay mechanics so that way, it still has puzzle elements.

What do you think it would be like?
:confused:

Edit: I just said death match and weapons to give an idea. It would all be indirect combat, if combat at all. It would be somthing like a race, and certain buttons in other chambers create (deadly) obstacles. (turrets, pits, time limits, etc...)

[Nickez]

Making people fall into spikes by shooting portals at their feet.

[Mr.Pringles]

Making traps with portals.
Like throwing stones through portals that are hidden.

[dj-corny]

Making people understand Portal isn't a "shooter".

[Mr.Pringles]

Ofcourse it isn't,
but a multiplayer first person game doesn't always
have to be a "shooter"..
I would like to see a competitive game like
making some traps of random stuff to dominate the server.
Or "Time-trial Deathrun": complete a random test chamber
in a certain amount of time and be the fastest.
A portal Multiplayer could be really fun.

[Krazy Bomb]

Ofcourse it isn't,
but a multiplayer first person game doesn't always
have to be a "shooter"..
I would like to see a competitive game like
making some traps of random stuff to dominate the server.
Or "Time-trial Deathrun": complete a random test chamber
in a certain amount of time and be the fastest.
A portal Multiplayer could be really fun.

Exactly! thats what I meant. I just said DM to imply killing others, but not directly.

[Vlad211]

Making people understand Portal isn't a "shooter".Finally someone who understands. If you all want a competitive shooter go play Call of Duty or Counter-Strike. We really don't want Valve to take up more time on something that will never work and will always be broken. Even Kim Swift said that it would be bad and she was one of the lead developers working on the game.

[Clord]

I have good idea how this multiplayer thing could work nicely.

If portal gun's shot ball hits directly to other player, they would be teleported to other already in place portal.

Shoot blue ball, it hits enemy, they are teleported to or near yellow portal. Blue portal could even appear under the target what was hitted so target would fall to it. :)

[r2on]

If Valve could make a random map generator, you could race with your enemy, both maps are the same and divided by a glass wall. 1 on 1 battles for the first one who gets to the finish.

[Petchyy]

I'd just quite like to use the Portal gun in HL2DM. Not sure why it would be useful, but would be fun?

[v.dog]

Not co-op. Full fledged multiplayer, possibly DM.

What do you think it would be like?
:confused:"Less fun than you might think" ~Kim Swift.

[Amander]

Guys, the MP part was already announced for Portal 2.

[MADDOGGE]

Finally someone who understands. If you all want a competitive shooter go play Call of Duty or Counter-Strike. We really don't want Valve to take up more time on something that will never work and will always be broken. Even Kim Swift said that it would be bad and she was one of the lead developers working on the game.These MP fiends think every game should be MP and screw SP . Most of the time I get the feeling they wish there wasn't even a thing called SP. I'm personally tired of all the generic clone MP's out there. It's ALL about killing no story nothing but killing. Yes I realize there is a competitive angle in it but any MP can handle that. Every game doesn't need it.

Having said that, a competitive MP something like Mirrors edge is might be fun. Sorta of a MP version of the advanced maps. Doesn't need to be any human killings in any Portal game though.

[ash47]

Hell, if it has two player network coop, then we could easily add DM ourselves, using sourcemod, or maybe something else, but I hear it's not that great, I'd like to see CTF with portals, lolz, that sounds quite good to me, with coop though, I wonder how saving / check points would work...?

[danm36]

Edit: I just said death match and weapons to give an idea. It would all be indirect combat, if combat at all. It would be somthing like a race, and certain buttons in other chambers create (deadly) obstacles. (turrets, pits, time limits, etc...)

I wouldn't mind a portal style two way deathrun (See GMod), where a player has to kill the other player via traps and the like, and vice versa.

[A Noobcake]

LOOOOONG test chamber, symmetrical, glass wall in the middle, 1 on 1 race to the elevator, loser is killed by a deadly neurotoxin.

[KillerPopcorn]

Cube Apocalypse

A game mode where you must crush your opponents to death using only portals and companion cubes.
Alternatively, when you get three kills in a row, you have the ability to disguise yourself as one of the companion cubes and stab your opponents.

[Moose Muscles]

I think it would be like.... extreme aggravation

[Abraham Lincoln]

Two Classes:


The Scout: Has a Portal gun like normal Portal. If you hold down both mouse-buttons, it charges up like Half-Life's Tau Cannon and can be used to send enemies flying or even assassinate them if you hit them from behind. And, like the Tau Cannon, it has an ammo capacity.
The Engineer: Primary weapon is an Aperture Sentry. You don't deploy it, you just toss it on the ground, and can use it as a weapon otherwise (when holding it it doesn't aim on its own). Secondary weapon is a hack tool, which you can use to hack enemy sentries to be on your own team, or even open up special wall panels that give ammo and health.


Yes, I have thought about this way too much.

[The Free Man]

What do I think a multiplayer Portal game would be like?

The answer is simple: bad.

To make it more complicated. A "full-fledged" multiplayer "like deathmatch" would be: extremely bad.

However, a small-scale competition themed race sort of thing might be viable, but not as fun as people likely think it would be; and that could just be done in single-player, hell you could just add a leaderboard to the advanced chambers or challenge maps.

[reameesh]

A multiplayer Portal game would be... AWESOME!

[Mr. Lardass]

MP would rock. SP only has so low replayability. But please, no focus om shooting to kill and all those other worn out game mechanics. There are a million such games out there allready.

Coop would rock.

Racing could be nice. Perhaps a horse shoe shape so that you can alter the map to create obstacles for as the other player has to traverse an area you've already passed. Or even circular for several laps. Activating or redirecting a sentry gun perhaps.

CTF might actually work. Perhaps a rapid reduction of accuracy over distance would be useful in that case so it's difficult to do precise long range teleporting. Maybe the portal gun functioning as a stun gun so as to cause dropping the flag. Or the player dropping the flag briefly after teleporting. Or just not allowing the flag bearer to be teleported several times in quick succession. Setting up sentry guns might be ok.

[Triple-X]

I have several ideas:
1. Each player has a set of portals, both can go through any of them.
2. One portal per player, incorporates extreme coordination.
3. Each player has one color (blue or orange), and both of one's portals link to the other two.
4. One player has the full portal gun, whilst the other has a turret for eliminating nearby threats.
5. One player can shoot portals, but can't go through them. The other, vice-versa.

In terms of the gameplay itself, there should be different modes of it, but not Deathmatch, unless with Portal idea number 4, where teams of two would pair up, or two full teams of one "class". Another mode would be Co-op story, which is as the name implies. One more idea would be a race between two players, who have to get through a maze/extremely large Test Chamber first. They are separated by an indestructible glass wall. The maps would be either randomly generated, or would be choosable, but would update. More ideas coming soon.

[v.dog]

CTF might actually work. Perhaps a rapid reduction of accuracy over distance would be useful in that case so it's difficult to do precise long range teleporting. Maybe the portal gun functioning as a stun gun so as to cause dropping the flag. Or the player dropping the flag briefly after teleporting. Or just not allowing the flag bearer to be teleported several times in quick succession. Setting up sentry guns might be ok.I've played Portal CTF using the Unreal mod. it's not fun. You always end up with a portal or two linking each base directly resulting in combat only taking place in the small area aroundthe flag.

And a Portal isn't a teleporter, it's a hole- things simply pass freely though it.

[BoViking]

I've played Portal CTF using the Unreal mod. it's not fun. You always end up with a portal or two linking each base directly resulting in combat only taking place in the small area aroundthe flag.

And a Portal isn't a teleporter, it's a hole- things simply pass freely though it.

I guess it's fun in your mind, in theory, but it's not in-game. Oh well.

[beheader792]

Or what if you COULD do coop, imagine being in a room with three or four people were you could jump from one set of portals to the other. that sounds like fun. :P

[Chezzy]

I think if it was going to be deathmatch it would have to be melee combat only. If you had guns you could just shoot eachother and never use the portals. But if you only had a melee weapon, you could use the portal gun to get around the enemy, jump down on them from above and engage in melee combat :D And of course you could use environmental things like weighted storage cubes and turrets to fight them.

[>X2<]

CSS with one portal gun per team, portals only work on vertical surfaces that are big enough. That could get interesting.

[nibbler234]

Not co-op. Full fledged multiplayer, possibly DM.

I would think that the players would get special "Aperture Science Handheld Destruction Devices" Based off of already known portal weaponry (Turrets, toxins, etc.). I also think there would be a lot of inderect combat gameplay mechanics so that way, it still has puzzle elements.

What do you think it would be like?
:confused:

Edit: I just said death match and weapons to give an idea. It would all be indirect combat, if combat at all. It would be somthing like a race, and certain buttons in other chambers create (deadly) obstacles. (turrets, pits, time limits, etc...)

Death match and weapons is the WORST idea I've ever heard! (No offense, please read my reasoning because I don't want to get banned)

Portal is a simple game, and it was meant to stay that way. It's so confusing with weapons shooting through portals. Also sometimes you might get killed through a portal and that will frustrate players.

Most importantly of all reasons, Portal stood out of all FPS games because it had no violence. Everyone loved the idea because it was so new and interesting. If they added weapons, I and many others would hate it.

[AboveEnemyLines]

well a game based around setting traps in varied, expansive but not too open environments for enemies would be fun

but otherwise.... ehhhhhhh i guess

[AboveEnemyLines]

Most importantly of all reasons, Portal stood out of all FPS games because it had no violence. Everyone loved the idea because it was so new and interesting. If they added weapons, I and many others would hate it.

i didnt love it because of no violence...

i thought we all liked portal because it was a clever puzzle game with an interesting but simple system and excelent black humour.

If games sold because of no violence, Barbie horse adventures would be doing a lot better than it is now.

and dont call portal a shooter.

[Francis_4_Dead]

Shoot portal on someone.
Shoot portal on another person.

Black hole with gibbed body parts and flying blood.

and dont call portal a shooter.

Portal is an FPS. Portal is an FPS mixed with Puzzle.
FPSP

[p0rtalplayer]

Shoot portal on someone.
Shoot portal on another person.

Black hole with gibbed body parts and flying blood.



Portal is an FPS. Portal is an FPS mixed with Puzzle.
FPSP

yeah, a ♥♥♥♥ing play station portable

i hate it when people try to introduce weapons other than the portalgun to portal. it just doesn't work.

[Francis_4_Dead]

yeah, a ♥♥♥♥ing play station portable

i hate it when people try to introduce weapons other than the portalgun to portal. it just doesn't work.

I don't know what you're talking about. If it's the FPSP thing, that stood for First Person Shooter Puzzler.
If it's my idea of this *Deathmatch* for Portal, then don't get mad. Of course we won't see any new guns on Portal. It's co-op, not Deathmatch. And any other guns doesn't make Portal Portal anymore.

My idea, if you will, is more like a "101 things to do with a portal gun!" post; sarcasm intended on my idea.

[youknow]

Thread title made me facepalm.

[nrnoble]

These MP fiends think every game should be MP and screw SP . Most of the time I get the feeling they wish there wasn't even a thing called SP. I'm personally tired of all the generic clone MP's out there. It's ALL about killing no story nothing but killing. Yes I realize there is a competitive angle in it but any MP can handle that. Every game doesn't need it.

Adding to this. A significant difference between good game designers and naive gamers is that designers know that a good game is constrained to a limited\small set of game mechanics that can be combined in a variety\creative ways. Naive gamers tend to want everything in every game because they perceive placing 'limitations' on a game as limiting the fun. Ie Portal would be more fun if had all the other Hl2 weapons, Portal would be more fun it had MP, Portal would be more fun if it had zombies and other NPCs you could kill, etc, etc. If they got what they wanted, nearly every game would just be GMOD with different maps. GMOD is great, and having one great GMOD is all that is needed.

Valve has a well above average track record of designing games that get high ratings among gamers, and there is no reason to doubt Portal 2 won't continue the trend. And as much as Gabe Newell gets trashed\hated for some of his opinions, he is the evil mastermind behind Valve's success. :)

[Reviz]

For multi-player Portal should be a racing game. :D

[nrnoble]

For multi-player Portal should be a racing game. :D


It already is, unoffocially.... ;)

[Reviz]

It already is, unoffocially.... ;)Well Valve need to make it official. :)

[nrnoble]

With leader boards and everything. Why are the XBL players so special and us poor PC users just get dirt. What are we, trailer trash..... ';)

[TDE LilDev1ant]

I think that we could take some multiplayer elements and use them, like CTF, etc. But I think it would be nicer if Valve just kept making new test chambers for us, like new DL content every 2 weeks or something along those lines, where it would be on a leaderboard for fastest times...

[ypertatos]

I have good idea how this multiplayer thing could work nicely.

If portal gun's shot ball hits directly to other player, they would be teleported to other already in place portal.

Shoot blue ball, it hits enemy, they are teleported to or near yellow portal. Blue portal could even appear under the target what was hitted so target would fall to it. :)

If you played the original, you'd know that a beam shot out of the device kills you ( try it on the spinning device )

That's why you

Do not look directly at the operational end of the device

[davlyn_20]

It would be nice to race or do somekind of puzzle, but portal doens't fit in multiplayer shooting style.

[darkgriffin1986]

I'd rather have a playground, with no real goal, where multiplayer groups can just do crazy stuff with their portals.

In reality though, any PvP Portal game is not going to be much fun.

Think of it like playing Chess with a chess master, only he doesn't tell you his moves, and every 3 turns you swap teams. It at first sounds like a good challenging addition to the chess game, but in reality it just makes getting outsmarted by the master more frustrating because a new chess player has NO HOPE of understanding WHY they are losing the game now.

I think most puzzle games MP in general is limited to either Co-op play, frusterating "time trial" modes(really, time trials arn't fun at all once the leaderboard is filled with non-casual gamers, just try getting a good world record on Trackmania sometime to see what I mean), or the old "limited portals to solve the puzzle" mechanic. The last might actually be an interesting, albeit limited way, of comparing "portal scores".

Portal itself is very much about solving the puzzles, not quickly doing things. All the use of "speed" in the puzzle solutions in the original portal had valid, predictable reasons you got killed(such as opening a portal to a turrent's line of sight). The few times the game truly was timed, such as the famous platform going into the fire, the designers gave you plenty of extra time to spend thinking your way out of it.

Any multiplayer DM type gameplay, even puzzle or obstical based, is just going to deteriate into a race where only the truest hard core players are having any fun, becuase they know the "solutions" already, and thus they can murder/beat the players who are new and need to actually think through things.

Valve is doing a very smart thing, limiting the MP mode to a Co-op gameplay. It's one of the few gameplay types that will actually be fun for all involved, as you succeed or fail at using your combined intellect together.

Portal simply isn't chess or a shooter. It's soul lies in clever puzzles that require time and thinking to solve. The day it becomes more about being fastest at shooting through levels is the day that soul dies, and with it, the very thing that makes portal special.

[ThatoneJeff]

(Player 2 joined co-op)
Player 1: Dude why are you lagging so much?
Player 2: I'm using an Intel Extreme Graphics Card
(Player 1 has left the game.)

[Inimical_rize]

It's threads like these that kill games...

*Sits back to watch the flambate and demise of a good game*

[nrnoble]

Portal itself is very much about solving the puzzles, not quickly doing things. All the use of "speed" in the puzzle solutions in the original portal had valid, predictable reasons you got killed(such as opening a portal to a turrent's line of sight). The few times the game truly was timed, such as the famous platform going into the fire, the designers gave you plenty of extra time to spend thinking your way out of it.


You make some good observations. You need to take your thinking to the next level and look at the game a bit closer. The game is about solving chamber puzzles, but also doing it efficiently and with advanced skill. Let's look at Chamber-07 as just one example. This chamber demonstrates that the map designers were thinking beyond one basic solution even when the player only can shot only the portal portal; all chambers after Chamber-03 have multiple solutions that require lateral thinking (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lateral_thinking) and advanced gaming skills. If you are only find one, you are over looking at least 2 others. All chambers have a basic, intermediate, and advanced solutions.

Basic Chamber-07 solution (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdPnycYr5C8) This how nearly everyone solves it the first time the play portal. It is obvious and easy to do.

Moderate Chamber-07 solution (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TE82HsPuN0U). This solution is more efficient and take some practice. It is also more fun. Most people don't notice that the chamber can be solved this way.

Skilled Chamber-07 solution (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TE82HsPuN0U). This solution is modifying the moderate solution so that can be done quickly. This takes much more skill and practice

Portal Master Chamber-07 Solution (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0N0KGMakZM). This solution is the most advanced and very difficult to do.

[nrnoble]

Portal itself is very much about solving the puzzles, not quickly doing things. All the use of "speed" in the puzzle solutions in the original portal had valid, predictable reasons you got killed(such as opening a portal to a turrent's line of sight). The few times the game truly was timed, such as the famous platform going into the fire, the designers gave you plenty of extra time to spend thinking your way out of it.

You make some good observations. You can to take your thinking to the next level and look at the game a bit closer. The game is not only about solving chamber puzzles, but also doing it efficiently and with advanced skill.


Let's look at Chamber-07 as just one example. This chamber demonstrates that Valve's map designers were thinking beyond one basic solution early in the game even when the player only has the ability to shoot only the blue portal; all chambers after Chamber-03 have multiple solutions that require lateral thinking (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lateral_thinking) and advanced gaming skills. If you only find one solution in any chamber, you are over looking at least 2 other better solutions. All chambers have a basic, intermediate, and advanced solutions. Many people who play portal, only find the basic solution because it does not occure to them that there are better ways to solve the puzzle.
Basic Chamber-07 solution (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdPnycYr5C8) This how nearly everyone solves it the first time the play portal. It is obvious and easy to do.
Intermediate Chamber-07 solution (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TE82HsPuN0U). This solution is more efficient and requires some practice. It is also more fun. Most people don't notice that the chamber can be solved this way. It can be done in stages, no need to rush.
Intermediate skilled Chamber-07 solution (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrcddvRc_Pc). This solution is modifying the previous solution so that can be done quickly. This takes greater skill and practice.
Portal Master Chamber-07 Solution (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0N0KGMakZM). This solution is the most advanced and very difficult to do. Only a few players are able to do this. If you can do this way, you can consider yourself one of the better Portal players.

[freekkiller7]

It would be with racing?

Mario portal kart?

[P1X3L]

I hope it's Coop, and not competetive.

[v.dog]

Co-op has been confirmed (http://gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2010/03/05/Portal-2-For-Two.aspx), P1X3L. Don't Panic™.

[termikxs]

Haha I can imagine it right now.

"Okay, I will jump now, you will open portal under me, and i will knock the turret. Ok, 3,2,1 go!"

"Hooly ♥♥♥♥, holy ♥♥♥♥ OPEN THE PORTAL UNDER ME, OPEN IT!!!!!!"
Seconds later.
"Ok. Im dead."
Ragequit.

[darkgriffin1986]

You make some good observations. You can to take your thinking to the next level and look at the game a bit closer. The game is not only about solving chamber puzzles, but also doing it efficiently and with advanced skill.


Let's look at Chamber-07 as just one example. This chamber demonstrates that Valve's map designers were thinking beyond one basic solution early in the game even when the player only has the ability to shoot only the blue portal; all chambers after Chamber-03 have multiple solutions that require lateral thinking (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lateral_thinking) and advanced gaming skills. If you only find one solution in any chamber, you are over looking at least 2 other better solutions. All chambers have a basic, intermediate, and advanced solutions. Many people who play portal, only find the basic solution because it does not occure to them that there are better ways to solve the puzzle.
Basic Chamber-07 solution (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdPnycYr5C8) This how nearly everyone solves it the first time the play portal. It is obvious and easy to do.
Intermediate Chamber-07 solution (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TE82HsPuN0U). This solution is more efficient and requires some practice. It is also more fun. Most people don't notice that the chamber can be solved this way. It can be done in stages, no need to rush.
Intermediate skilled Chamber-07 solution (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrcddvRc_Pc). This solution is modifying the previous solution so that can be done quickly. This takes greater skill and practice.
Portal Master Chamber-07 Solution (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0N0KGMakZM). This solution is the most advanced and very difficult to do. Only a few players are able to do this. If you can do this way, you can consider yourself one of the better Portal players.

Yes, I see that now. Thanks for the very informative post with the fancy links and all. :)

I'm just saying any sort of racing mode will degenrate into the players who memorized the Master Solution, leaving less skilled players in the dark as far as having any fun. (I am one of these "less skilled players", I can only pull of solution 1 and 2 myself, because I am way too slow to be of any competence in solution 3 and 4. Actually, I din't even think of them till I saw the video today and I've played the game 3 times already. x_x )

So any multiplayer that uses such "advanced solutions" to punish the other players is going to degenerate into all the lesser skilled players screaming "Hey, cheater!", or more politely, simply being confused to hell and back why they lost every single race they've tried today several minuites before they even anticipated the opponent could finish.

It will work in Co-op, because in Co-op you are rewarding the players. IE: It's to everyone's benifit if someone thinks "outside the box" to solve the puzzle, since all players profit from faster/better solutions.

But turn those against each other, and you have a nightmarish game mode only true hard core players can ever hope to enjoy. This is why there will(assuming Valve keeps being smart like they always are) never be any portal PvP, and shouldn't be.

It's not like other shooters where you go "hey, that was a great shot, you got me fair and square". Because any vs mode would reward outthinking instead of outshooting your opponent, your opponent often would have no clue what they just lost to, and that leaves the only fun to be had in being the winner of the match. And beating people at a game they don't understand isn't much fun for the winner either, so it's a lose-lose situation. You can only go "Hey I powned the newb" so many times before you get tired of the fact they are standing there doing nothing letting you shoot them(relatively speaking).

[nrnoble]

Realistically, I don't think there is much to be concerned about. Valve has announced they are not making a MP (or PvP) version of Portal. From Valve's perspective they have no need to do so because they already have Counter Strike, Team Fortress, and L4D as their MP games. There is no need for them to expand further by trying to retro-fit Portal and the Half Life 2 series into some kind of MP game. Portal especially because the concept of the game does not work well as a MP game. Valve would be more likely to add a Portal gun to the next version of Team Fortress, but that's extremely doubtful.

It is possible Valve might add leader boards where players with the best times, least portals, least steps, are ranked. Such as least time to complete the entire game. This could be considered to be a race, but people aren't racing at the same time, they play the game solo, and if their time is good enough to make the leader board, their name is added. This how Portal leader boards work on Xbox Live.

Overall, Valve has a long track record of making great games. Despite fans wanting crazy things thrown into every new game, Valve knows better than to give fans everything they request because fans are not game designers. Good game designers know it is better to limit a game to a few game mechanics that can be combined to do many interesting\creative things. If fans had their way on most issues, all game would very similar because they all include the same weapons, same NPCs, same MP games, etc, etc. Valve does a good job of keeping each franchise unique\different from the rest.

[MISTA MUSSAKA]

Remove the lack of fall damage.
Put random objects throughout a chamber.
Put sentries.
Give everyone a portal gun.

The game would basically be 95% based off your reaction time to throw a portal to save yourself, it would be less repetitive than games like CS:S though, so I could imagine it to be fun.

[Adam802]

It would be very caotic...but fun also

[Bungle]

If Valve could make a random map generator, you could race with your enemy, both maps are the same and divided by a glass wall. 1 on 1 battles for the first one who gets to the finish.

Agreed. It could be a puzzle/race game - think Tomb Raider meets Mirror's Edge in a competitive multiplayer. Valve keeps re-writing the rules of online shooters. Might as well continue the tradition (although I'd like a traditional Counter-Strike 2 at some point).

[EviLDeAthMaN]

Portal MMO Style

A huge open world to explore, traversable only using portals

Group up with people to challenge certain area's only able to be cleared using group portal solutions. Vast and wonderful areas, worth going to and through.

Upgradable equipment. Many varieties of portal guns that perform differently
Many different types of portals that have different characteristics,
some examples:
range, surface compatibility, small portals, big portals, multiple portals, portals that lead to alternate dimensions or areas.
They could do a lot with the idea

Currency, trading, and centralized area's, a Good PVP system.

skills and various abilities.

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