Portal Spoilers

[eldaec]

If that's the case, how would the clones know about what awaits them at the end of the tests and write those messages for Chell? Is it that previous clones were more mentally unstable and affected by the situation than the one you play?

I choose to believe that the some clones reached the cake preparation facility, but never found a way either out of the building or into the GLaDOS chamber.

[pxib]

You can't enter the correct ID# into apply.exe

It's CASE SENSITIVE.

[Ookii]

After seeing the SA picture I was going to call Rule 34, but it's already been done folks:

[Quinton]

From http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v325/Ledneh/?action=view&current=portal.jpg:



Think that's my favorite piece of fan art so far...

- Q

[stark]

You can't enter the correct ID# into apply.exe

It's CASE SENSITIVE.

Also, while the original ID blinks it changes a random character every time (which is probably why it blinks).  If you try to write it down, it will be a different ID by the time you finish.

[LK]

You can't enter the correct ID# into apply.exe

It's CASE SENSITIVE.

Edit: Stark beat me to it.

[NiX]

I was googling for the Portal website on a friends laptop and came up with this. The logo looks kinda familiar.

[LK]

That fan-art is wallpaper material.  Too bad it's small.

[Miasma]

I saw this:



Maybe a child's rendering of the computer?

[NiX]

You can't enter the correct ID# into apply.exe

It's CASE SENSITIVE.

What did everyone get when they tried to put the ID in?

[Morfiend]

You can't enter the correct ID# into apply.exe

It's CASE SENSITIVE.

What did everyone get when they tried to put the ID in?

I took a screen shot of the ID, it still told me I was wrong and to wait for a Crisis Response Team.

[NiX]

I took a screen shot of the ID, it still told me I was wrong and to wait for a Crisis Response Team.

So I did figure something out. The trick isn't in actually doing the application. It's in finding the flashing letters. If you add them all up you get "Thecakeisalie" which you enter as your UIN. Which brings up this...

[Rishathra]

Another hint that the player is possibly a clone happens right at the beginning of the game, when you wake up in the relaxation vault.  GLaDOS says "Welcome.. again.. to the Aperture Science and Enrichment Center."

[Prospero]

She might have also just said welcome when you first came to the center. She does seem nothing if not polite.

[Comstar]

If you wait to hear everything she says as you destroy her, she clearly says she's deleting your backups: ergo: she has copies of your memory that get put into a clone. The drawings on the walls were done by you on previous escape attempts.

[Quinton]

If you wait to hear everything she says as you destroy her, she clearly says she's deleting your backups: ergo: she has copies of your memory that get put into a clone. The drawings on the walls were done by you on previous escape attempts.

While that's possible, I'm not ready to say that that *must* be the situation.  GLaDOS is pretty unreliable -- might be some truth down there somewhere, but she is pretty psychotic and very clearly willing to lie about any number of things.  It could be the messages and drawings were the results of other test subjects (volunteers? employees? unfortunate daughters of Aperture Science Employees?) being subjected to the Enrichment Program.

- Q

[pxib]

If you wait to hear everything she says as you destroy her, she clearly says she's deleting your backups: ergo: she has copies of your memory that get put into a clone.

...and the catalytic cracking unit makes shoes for orphans.

Please rub your face all over that raw sewage container then assume the party escort submission position. Surely GLaDOS has entirely stopped enhancing the truth... she would never make absurdist, empty threats based on computer terminology.

[Quinton]

If you wait to hear everything she says as you destroy her, she clearly says she's deleting your backups: ergo: she has copies of your memory that get put into a clone.

...and the catalytic cracking unit makes shoes for orphans.

And *you* destroyed it.  Nice work, hero.

- Q

[Comstar]

If you wait to hear everything she says as you destroy her, she clearly says she's deleting your backups: ergo: she has copies of your memory that get put into a clone.

...and the catalytic cracking unit makes shoes for orphans.

And *you* destroyed it.  Nice work, hero.

- Q

Did she lie to you...in that room?

[eldaec]

It doesn't count if she's lying FOR SCIENCE.

[Murgos]

Portal is win.  Pure win.

Best 4 hour game I ever played.

[LK]

I might have been wrong about it being Chell Johnson, it is definitely Chell, but the Wikipedia page was updated to remove all references to her being Chell Johnson, so I have no leg to stand on.

[Quinton]

I might have been wrong about it being Chell Johnson, it is definitely Chell, but the Wikipedia page was updated to remove all references to her being Chell Johnson, so I have no leg to stand on.

The character is certainly Chell (see the Credits, etc), and Chell Johnson seems like a reasonable guess (given the CEO's name, bring your daughter to work (and have her tested!) day, etc), but I don't think there's been any confirmation of this in-game or otherwise...

I'm assuming it got nuked from wikipedia for being "speculation" or "original research" or whatnot.

- Q

[bhodi]

I got through all the advanced maps with no problem, but these challenge maps are bullshit. I can't get more than a silver for number of steps on the first map. Just from the elevator to the first portal and then from the last to the exit totally fucks me by eating my 10 steps. I did mange to get gold for the other two challenges on the first map, but I have no idea how you can only use 2 portals on the second. I pretty much refuse to play pachinko by directing the orbs with the boxes and praying they bounce correctly 10 times, so looks like I'm not going to be beating several of the others any time soon.

[LK]

14 is ridiculously easy to get 2 portals in.  Take a look at your objective and figure out if you need to do anything special to get there.

[bhodi]

14 is ridiculously easy to get 2 portals in.  Take a look at your objective and figure out if you need to do anything special to get there.

Got it. Duh. I was thinking too hard.

I almost got 18, but I'm tired of playing "How many bullets can I eat before it kills me?" with the quicksave/quickload during each step of the process in the room with the turrets. Since you don't have the ability to kill any of them, it's just a crap shoot getting past them. I have all 3 gold on 14 now, but still can't figure out the number of steps one on 13. Still not going to play bounce-the-ball games on the rest.

Of course, then again, prospero got golds on all of them. Must.. compete...

[Cpt_Jigglypuff]

I took a screen shot of the ID, it still told me I was wrong and to wait for a Crisis Response Team.

So I did figure something out. The trick isn't in actually doing the application. It's in finding the flashing letters. If you add them all up you get "Thecakeisalie" which you enter as your UIN. Which brings up this...

you can enter 'thecakeisalie' at any point after you login... it's not your UIN(+L)

also, if you press return (or any other button) during that screen, it takes you to some sort of invoice for flour, thumbtacks and a giant tub for an outrageous amount of money.

anyone figure out the UIN(+L) yet?

EDIT:

the bit about GLaDOS lying that you guys keep talking about... when she counts down to not lying anymore, she cuts off before she gets to one.... so she can lie whenever without lying about not lying... @_@

[Quinton]

the bit about GLaDOS lying that you guys keep talking about... when she counts down to not lying anymore, she cuts off before she gets to one.... so she can lie whenever without lying about not lying... @_@

Given her track record, even if she *didn't* cut out before finishing the countdown, I wouldn't be likely to trust her.  My money is on "she means well but is completely insane, so the results are highly non-optimal."  On the plus side, at least she had that morality module keeping her (somewhat) in check until somebody went and chucked it in the incinerator.

- Q

[LK]

Eh, the fact that there's an incinerator in that room along with only one defensive turret screams Game Reality rather than Real Reality, so I take things that happen very lightly in that world.

[schild]

That incinerator was there for convenience. You know, all her friends she invited to the party. HER FRIENDS. I bet she gets a lot of replacement parts. Those things can't be too light. And really, without a portal gun, how many people make it there anyway?

[eldaec]

"she means well but is completely insane, so the results are highly non-optimal." 

When you say non-optimal, that depends on your own personal value structure.

GLaDOS appears to be motivated solely by 'doing science'. Strictly from the point of view of 'doing science' for the benefit of 'everyone who is still alive' it could be argued that GLaDOS is behaving rationally.

[Murgos]

"she means well but is completely insane, so the results are highly non-optimal." 

When you say non-optimal, that depends on your own personal value structure.

GLaDOS appears to be motivated solely by 'doing science'. Strictly from the point of view of 'doing science' for the benefit of 'everyone who is still alive' it could be argued that GLaDOS is behaving rationally.

The morality/impact of the story in this game is top-notch.  I managed to avoid spoilers before it came out, other than that the widget is a portal gun of course, so I thought the whole thing was really just going to be a tech demo in a do the trials veneer.  The growing danger of the tasks combined with the 'take your daughter to work and have her tested.' thing that culminates in the machine gun level was excellent for the, 'holy shit this thing is crazy' factor.  The 'You will be baked and then there will be cake.' line stuffed in with all the other inanities and the growing weirdness was awesome for when they broke down the wall with "The cake is a lie." and the behind the scenes stuff.

From the science & morals question it's great high concept Sci-fi.  If humanity is in danger of extinction due to an overwhelming external threat is it morally OK to test humans to destruction in order to develop a weapon capable of saving humanity?  Is it OK to clone one human again and again and subject him/her to a nearly endless hell (a really horrific thought) to prove theory and 'do science' under those circumstances?

Just great, intelligent stuff.

[Fabricated]

I don't get where the clone stuff is coming from.

[schild]

I don't get where the clone stuff is coming from.

I wrote this on another site where people were having trouble with that:

1. Presumably, there's more than one AI. That's to say GladOS is an OS.

2. You are Chell, the daughter of Cave Johnson. It is, indeed, bring your daughter to work day.

3. You are a clone, very much so. A clone of Chell. Think Resident Evil 3 - the MOVIE. Ok, this isn't about the movie, it just makes the plot easy to comprehend.

4. The obstacle course you're running through has been run through by past clones. There's a reason the computer at the end says she's going to erase all of your past memories and such. It's because they keep cloning you with different variations to get through the obstacle course. The theory is that it can pick which memories you keep.

Also, all the writing on the walls was done by previous incarnations of yourself. As you get further along, watch the drawings. One of the clones even saw the computer itself (the squid). Anyway, it's all pretty apparent and doesn't require much (ANY?) theorizing. Clones and animals are really the only way a facility like this could be run.

Finally, ignore the android shit. It's innocuous and only occurs on a level meant to train combat droids. Oh, and 99% of the game is a lie. The cake, however, is not - obviously.

5. You are the first revision with the knee replacement. Yes, it's a knee replacement - read the little clipboards.

6. Chickens can not get through the obstacle course.

7. There is cake.

8. BONUS SPOILER PROTIP: 8. Play HL2: Episode 2. It ties into Aperture and reveals knowledge by your scientist pals that they know Aperture has portal technology. And it also explains why Black Mesa is competing (Protip 2: Their portal technology FAILED, LOL).

9. If you watch the credits of Portal (the best thing ever, for the most part), you'll see thanks to X for her face, she plays Chell, it says her name right there. As such, the aperturescience website login of CJohnson could be Chell (if you're thinking about it from the filling out of the application angle) or Cave Johnson, if you're just into typing "thecakeisalie." Cave Johnson being the, well, you should really just read NOTES.EXE on the aperture science website.

1. Chell was the first test subject.
2. There are tons of clipboards around with things from Chickens to other Humans that failed.
3. This means that your run through the game is not the first run through - not to mention lines like "You destroyed your companion cube faster than any previous test subject to date." Etc.
4. In the credits of the song it thanks the woman who lends her face to Chell.

Some of it's guesstimation, some of it isn't. But it all sort of lines up. I'm going to play through it again and write an article about the game.

[Fabricated]

I see nothing in that to suggest she's a clone.