This video has done far better than I anticipated. Unfortunately, I'm on vacation for about a week and won't be able to produce a follow up until I get back. Expect the follow up in about 2 weeks. In the meantime, there is another game design video on my channel from a couple weeks back. That one's more focused on storytelling, you may enjoy that one?
"You didn't really beat Portal. Portal let you win." I mean that's Valve games in a nutshell. They even work it into the stories of their games: G-man manipulating events to let Gordon win, Left4Dead being framed as a movie series so we know for a fact everyone's going to survive to be in the next movie (i.e. level), and Doug Rattmann manipulating GlaDOS's testing parameters ahead of time so Chell has a hope of winning
I was wondering how long I'd have to wait for a comment that mentions the Half-Life games. I've actually got a couple theories of my own about the Half-Life / Portal universe
@@itsgeegra Theory 1: G-man was seeding resources to both Black Mesa and Aperture and exchanging discoveries between them. He was trying to promote teleportation in human science to a. Cause the discovery of Xen and the eventual Combine invasion and b. Give humans an advantage over the Combine in the form of local teleportation. Evidence: Cave Johnson accuses Black Mesa of stealing tech. The HEV suit recharger appears in the Lab Rat comic. The Portal gun and Gravity gun look very similar and can both pick up objects in almost the same way. Theory 2: The Combine investigated both Black Mesa and Aperture to recreate human local teleportation tech. Since G-man nuked Black Mesa, the Combine tried to break into Aperture but were stopped by GLaDOS. After Portal 1, the Combine reconstructed GLaDOS to retrieve information about the Borealis. Evidence: GLaDOS claims she is the only thing protecting Chell from "them", referencing the Combine. GLaDOS is in pieces at the end of the first game but is almost entirely intact at the beginning of the second, and looks very different.
Actually companion cube DOES teach you something, kinda shoved in sure, the emergency intelligence incinerator, the devs even mention how they wanted to plant a seed of what that is before glados
What the heck man? This video is great, it's crazy underrated. If I didn't see the views I totally would have thought it came from someone big. (Also, the lighting video would be *great* to see))
Started watching this because I thought it was gonna be about some kind of mod or scripted robot or something that plays the game on its own. Kept watching because it was an incredibly professional look at the design of the game. Only realized halfway through, when I went to check the description upon realizing I misunderstood the point of the video, that this was from a (no offense intended) tiny channel. Holy cow, I'm so glad this got recommended to me! And I'm pumped you're getting a surge in viewership, you deserve it! I've got some more of your stuff added to my watch list now, and I'm subscribing :D
I'm actually researching game design for a university project. I was searching for videos on lighting as a guide for players and was surprised to not find much. Currently I'm debating between two topics for the next video. Either I'll make the lighting video next, or I'll make "How games make you feel powerful"
Watching my mother play portal was interesting and frustrating at parts because of how many of these teaching moments and hints in the levels she missed. it almost felt like she was fighting against the game design by just overwhelming herself and not engaging in what the chambers were laying out. For example, she just couldn't complete chamber 6. I tried to make her think through the things in the chamber and what she could do, but for some reason, she just didn't get it. she's not even that old. I think later on in the game, she found having to control where two portals were too difficult and overwhelming, especially because of her difficulties with navigating and realizing the depth of 3D video game environments. When it came to having to use multiple skills to get through big chambers with multiple puzzles, it was just too much for her, which was a shame. When I finally got her to the GLaDOS fight. She ended up running out the clock, trying to get the first rocket to hit GLaDOS. Her main mistake was just putting the first portal on an awkward part of a wall, resulting in the rocket coming out at a weird angle and completely missing time and time again. She never realised her mistake and just kept trying to correct the second portal
That was a really well made video, and I can't wait for more! I'd never thought about really subtle things, such as lighting, in game design before, so I'll definitely make sure to use it in my own projects. Again, really well made, mate. Enjoyed it :)
Thanks for pointing out the small details! Been studying level/game design recently, so this was very helpful towards how to tell the player something without actually being direct/breaking the 4th wall about it, again, thanks so much!
Just found your channel through this video. The algorithm loves this format of content, and it's like comfort food for a lot of RUclips viewers. But I also love your other content that's not as popular, keep having fun and sharing! I definitely subscribed.
When taking a course on game development we were taught to introduce new mechanics slowly in a sort of playful/testing way before freely using them in the game. Portal, as you pointed out, does that exceptionally well. Great video! Love how you pointed out all the ways Portal introduces its mechanics. I'm gonna show this one to the teacher of that class I mentioned. It's really useful!
Something I find interesting is that on Test Chamber 9 in Portal 1, the elevator arrives after you go through the exit door, as opposed to already being there when you start in every other test chamber in the first game, excluding #19 of course. This foreshadows that the player will have to go down the shaft. I remember noticing that when I first played Portal, and recalling it when I redid Test Chamber 9 during the escape sequence. Additionally, you can also hear a single thump, which you later learn is from the piston slamming into a wall before being muted when the elevator arrives.
Awesome video, you've gained a subscriber! I first played Portal when I was little, so I don't remember my first playthrough, but I watched my father play it for the first time recently and I noticed many of these things. I also speedrun the game now, and some of these mechanics cause issues during the speedrun. Especially the waiting time in Chamber 2, it's roughly 20 seconds iirc and there's no way to skip it in the category I play. The one critique of the video I have is the audio level, it was super quiet. Aside from that, the video is amazing! Keep doing what you're doing!
this got randomly recommended to me and i was really shocked when i saw the view count on this and your subscriber count. Really underrated stuff man, keep it up!
love this! game design fascinates me so much, i love hearing about how it all comes together. congrats on the algorithm choosing you, i'm about to check out more of your stuff!
@7:51 There is no checker pattern because that's not the intended solution. You aren't meant to double fling to get the cube here because the game hasn't taught that trick yet. Instead, the intended solution is to place a portal at the bottom of the retracting staircase and use that to fling to the cube. Also, in the developer commentary they mentioned that they scaled back the hints in the later part of the game as a way of taking the training wheels off. The checkered floor only comes back in the next chamber because they are teaching a new trick.
You glossed over the idea that chamber 17 teaches you about incinerators. Sure it's not a puzzle element that's being taught, but it is still conditioning the player for a later part of the game
Absolutely loved this video man, really great content, might help a bit to bring up the levels on your microphone, had a tough time hearing ya. Look forward to more and you’ve definitely earned a subscription!
Even nowadays most tutorials are either walls of text, arrows and images or a fully scripted environment which could pretty much be a glorified cutscene
Here at around 875 views and 118 subs Going to be interesting to see how fast those numbers change because I expect both of those to get higher real quick
I'm pretty sure the one chamber without checkered floor was specifically made that way, because it needed to know the player could figure out where to get enough velocity, without outright telling them. The other chamber that did have it, was trying to teach a different lesson. Also, no, you are NOT required to learn about using a cube as a sheild from turrets, I'm not sure where you got that.
The one criticism I can give of this analysis is that I disagree with the sentiment the Companion Cube level didn't teach you anything for the future levels. Not only did it have that "Practice" sequence at the end for the boss fight(as described by Dev commentary) but it also teaches you, or I suppose reinforces after the turret maze, that there are many different functions of the cubes and that they're NOT just for pressing buttons. This is the first time you're given not one but two different options regarding boxes and pellets. Not to mention the mini-puzzle with the buttons and how you can interact with the cube-pressed buttons in more ways than one. Other than that, this was a very interesting analysis, and...yeah it's a bit clickbaitey but I liked it. Nice job!
Valve has the best approach to game design compared to any other company I also love your calm voice and detailed approach to the analysis. I was wondering if increasing the volume would be possible for future videos though? I hope I'm not being too picky
God damn people are forgetful as fuck, in chamber 1, you have to go through an orange portal in order to get the cube, then go back through the blue portal and through the orange to place the cube on the button, then go back through the blue portal again then go through the orange to reach the exit. You go through the orange portal 3 times while going through the blue portal only 2 times. Bruh
This video has done far better than I anticipated. Unfortunately, I'm on vacation for about a week and won't be able to produce a follow up until I get back. Expect the follow up in about 2 weeks.
In the meantime, there is another game design video on my channel from a couple weeks back. That one's more focused on storytelling, you may enjoy that one?
Yes. Basic common sense should have People already know this but it's a Clean explanation for others.. Noice 😊😋
And Subbed 🍺 🐨 🇦🇺 🪃
"You didn't really beat Portal. Portal let you win."
I mean that's Valve games in a nutshell. They even work it into the stories of their games: G-man manipulating events to let Gordon win, Left4Dead being framed as a movie series so we know for a fact everyone's going to survive to be in the next movie (i.e. level), and Doug Rattmann manipulating GlaDOS's testing parameters ahead of time so Chell has a hope of winning
I was wondering how long I'd have to wait for a comment that mentions the Half-Life games.
I've actually got a couple theories of my own about the Half-Life / Portal universe
The enemy just didn't roll a random crit so they let me win the match :^)
@@redline841 i rolled a random crit on the enemy team and we won
@@sudologic please elaborate, I love a fresh theory on the series
@@itsgeegra
Theory 1: G-man was seeding resources to both Black Mesa and Aperture and exchanging discoveries between them. He was trying to promote teleportation in human science to a. Cause the discovery of Xen and the eventual Combine invasion and b. Give humans an advantage over the Combine in the form of local teleportation.
Evidence: Cave Johnson accuses Black Mesa of stealing tech. The HEV suit recharger appears in the Lab Rat comic. The Portal gun and Gravity gun look very similar and can both pick up objects in almost the same way.
Theory 2: The Combine investigated both Black Mesa and Aperture to recreate human local teleportation tech. Since G-man nuked Black Mesa, the Combine tried to break into Aperture but were stopped by GLaDOS. After Portal 1, the Combine reconstructed GLaDOS to retrieve information about the Borealis.
Evidence: GLaDOS claims she is the only thing protecting Chell from "them", referencing the Combine. GLaDOS is in pieces at the end of the first game but is almost entirely intact at the beginning of the second, and looks very different.
Actually companion cube DOES teach you something, kinda shoved in sure, the emergency intelligence incinerator, the devs even mention how they wanted to plant a seed of what that is before glados
You're right! How could I have missed that?
@@sudologic lmao, you even showed it in the video!
Did you just shove that Aperture science thing we don't know what does into an Aperture science emergency incinerator?
What the heck man? This video is great, it's crazy underrated. If I didn't see the views I totally would have thought it came from someone big. (Also, the lighting video would be *great* to see))
Yeah I thought the exact same thing lmao. Well done 💕
I mean you can make a case that _every_ game that effectively teaches the player a game mechanic of some kind "lets them win"
Started watching this because I thought it was gonna be about some kind of mod or scripted robot or something that plays the game on its own.
Kept watching because it was an incredibly professional look at the design of the game. Only realized halfway through, when I went to check the description upon realizing I misunderstood the point of the video, that this was from a (no offense intended) tiny channel. Holy cow, I'm so glad this got recommended to me! And I'm pumped you're getting a surge in viewership, you deserve it! I've got some more of your stuff added to my watch list now, and I'm subscribing :D
crazy how underated this is, i love the idea that fighting guides the player, I never noticed it before but when you pointed it out I saw it
I'm actually researching game design for a university project. I was searching for videos on lighting as a guide for players and was surprised to not find much. Currently I'm debating between two topics for the next video. Either I'll make the lighting video next, or I'll make "How games make you feel powerful"
Watching my mother play portal was interesting and frustrating at parts because of how many of these teaching moments and hints in the levels she missed. it almost felt like she was fighting against the game design by just overwhelming herself and not engaging in what the chambers were laying out. For example, she just couldn't complete chamber 6. I tried to make her think through the things in the chamber and what she could do, but for some reason, she just didn't get it. she's not even that old. I think later on in the game, she found having to control where two portals were too difficult and overwhelming, especially because of her difficulties with navigating and realizing the depth of 3D video game environments. When it came to having to use multiple skills to get through big chambers with multiple puzzles, it was just too much for her, which was a shame. When I finally got her to the GLaDOS fight. She ended up running out the clock, trying to get the first rocket to hit GLaDOS. Her main mistake was just putting the first portal on an awkward part of a wall, resulting in the rocket coming out at a weird angle and completely missing time and time again. She never realised her mistake and just kept trying to correct the second portal
That was a really well made video, and I can't wait for more! I'd never thought about really subtle things, such as lighting, in game design before, so I'll definitely make sure to use it in my own projects. Again, really well made, mate. Enjoyed it :)
Thanks for pointing out the small details! Been studying level/game design recently, so this was very helpful towards how to tell the player something without actually being direct/breaking the 4th wall about it, again, thanks so much!
"Congratulations, you played yourself"
Portal is the best tutorial ever made
Loved this! You’re a really small channel but this is some S tier content fr
This becomes obvious as soon as you try out player made chambers. It's night and day
Just found your channel through this video. The algorithm loves this format of content, and it's like comfort food for a lot of RUclips viewers. But I also love your other content that's not as popular, keep having fun and sharing! I definitely subscribed.
This was a great video! You deserve all the recognition you are getting!
When taking a course on game development we were taught to introduce new mechanics slowly in a sort of playful/testing way before freely using them in the game. Portal, as you pointed out, does that exceptionally well.
Great video! Love how you pointed out all the ways Portal introduces its mechanics. I'm gonna show this one to the teacher of that class I mentioned. It's really useful!
Something I find interesting is that on Test Chamber 9 in Portal 1, the elevator arrives after you go through the exit door, as opposed to already being there when you start in every other test chamber in the first game, excluding #19 of course. This foreshadows that the player will have to go down the shaft. I remember noticing that when I first played Portal, and recalling it when I redid Test Chamber 9 during the escape sequence.
Additionally, you can also hear a single thump, which you later learn is from the piston slamming into a wall before being muted when the elevator arrives.
Awesome video, you've gained a subscriber! I first played Portal when I was little, so I don't remember my first playthrough, but I watched my father play it for the first time recently and I noticed many of these things. I also speedrun the game now, and some of these mechanics cause issues during the speedrun. Especially the waiting time in Chamber 2, it's roughly 20 seconds iirc and there's no way to skip it in the category I play.
The one critique of the video I have is the audio level, it was super quiet. Aside from that, the video is amazing! Keep doing what you're doing!
What a great breakdown of how the game design is structured to help you learn! Awesome work! I'm checking our that dev commentary now.
I have fully converted my algorithm to give me only obscure video essays about portal
edit: also nice video, i liked this one alot
You’re incredibly underrated, you even put captions on your vids. I’m subbing and would love a Portal 2 version of this.
This video is really well made, I thought it was one of those videos with around 100k likes. Good job, keep making videos!
congrats on 100 subs!!
this got randomly recommended to me and i was really shocked when i saw the view count on this and your subscriber count. Really underrated stuff man, keep it up!
An amazing video about my favorite game. thank you man, hope you'll get the attention you deserve
A solid analysis, and a good use of 12 minutes!
love this! game design fascinates me so much, i love hearing about how it all comes together. congrats on the algorithm choosing you, i'm about to check out more of your stuff!
I think a video comparing portal 1 and 2 is a great idea!
Really hope this blows up, was a legit fascinating watch, please talk more game design in the future, this was a total jam
i never realised how similar portal is to quantum conundrum
Perhaps I should play that on a stream sometime..?
Googled Quantum Conundrum. John de Lancie is in this? He was Q on Star Trek! Now I have to play it.
It's very similar because Quantum Conundrum was designed by Kim Swift, the lead designer on Portal. (but not Portal 2)
I am the universe waking up, looking back at itself
10:44 you got 10 and 11 backwards, chambers 1, 2 and 11 are about Rotating portals, and chambers 10 and 12 are about momentum
I was really suprised when i saw how small your channel was the video was great man
Amazing video for a small creator, definitely subbing! Great content, keep it up.
Oh, that's why I have hard time in Portal 2 community maps.
@7:51 There is no checker pattern because that's not the intended solution. You aren't meant to double fling to get the cube here because the game hasn't taught that trick yet. Instead, the intended solution is to place a portal at the bottom of the retracting staircase and use that to fling to the cube. Also, in the developer commentary they mentioned that they scaled back the hints in the later part of the game as a way of taking the training wheels off. The checkered floor only comes back in the next chamber because they are teaching a new trick.
love your video man, keep it up
You glossed over the idea that chamber 17 teaches you about incinerators. Sure it's not a puzzle element that's being taught, but it is still conditioning the player for a later part of the game
The quality of this video is extremely good for a channel with 85 subs, great video👍
Chamber 17 does teach a mechanic, the incinerator
Life is a game which the Universe plays with itself
I don't think this video is showing how "Portal is letting you win", but how "Portal is one big tutorial."
you are super underrated you are a great youtuber in the future i can see you will blow up
Absolutely loved this video man, really great content, might help a bit to bring up the levels on your microphone, had a tough time hearing ya. Look forward to more and you’ve definitely earned a subscription!
Even nowadays most tutorials are either walls of text, arrows and images or a fully scripted environment which could pretty much be a glorified cutscene
Claiming my "here before 1000 subs" because you're about to blow up
Before 100!
This video is amazing, sadly underrated, you are doing a great job, man!
Quite literally the quietest video on the platform. Had to triple my volume on my tv.
10:34 Who tought you to crouch? A prerequisite perhaps.
glad i got recommended this; great job
Yes please go over Portal 2 next. This was great!
I was so confused I thought chamber 9 is glitched until I looked for a walkthrough
great video, really liked it. just maybe turn up your mic volume, i had to turn up my speakers super loud to hear you.
This was amazing! I'm subbing right now!
Dev commentary explains the game well.
my dev commentary is broken
Holy shit this should have way more views
I dunno what happened, but RUclips started promoting it a lot more in the last few hours. I'm glad you liked it!
Nice video! I'd be quite interested in hearing your thoughts about how lighting guides players.
Here at around 875 views and 118 subs
Going to be interesting to see how fast those numbers change because I expect both of those to get higher real quick
Your channel is really good
and unfortunately unpopular but I would love a video going into the mechanics of portal 2
This was a great video
that's all I want to say
it's great
Recommended bringing me more underrated gems. Great video.
I'm pretty sure the one chamber without checkered floor was specifically made that way, because it needed to know the player could figure out where to get enough velocity, without outright telling them. The other chamber that did have it, was trying to teach a different lesson. Also, no, you are NOT required to learn about using a cube as a sheild from turrets, I'm not sure where you got that.
I think a video about lighting in games would be very interesting
The one criticism I can give of this analysis is that I disagree with the sentiment the Companion Cube level didn't teach you anything for the future levels. Not only did it have that "Practice" sequence at the end for the boss fight(as described by Dev commentary) but it also teaches you, or I suppose reinforces after the turret maze, that there are many different functions of the cubes and that they're NOT just for pressing buttons. This is the first time you're given not one but two different options regarding boxes and pellets. Not to mention the mini-puzzle with the buttons and how you can interact with the cube-pressed buttons in more ways than one.
Other than that, this was a very interesting analysis, and...yeah it's a bit clickbaitey but I liked it. Nice job!
3:00 WAIT SO CAN YOU PICK THEM UP WITHOUT KNOCKING THEM DOWN FIRST?!?!?!??!?
I WISH I KNEW THAT
I'd really love a portal 2 vid, it's my favorite game after all
geez i really thought this video had atleast 50k views from how well made this was.
I would highly enjoy a video on portal 2
Great video! Audio mix seemed a bit low though:)
I saw some errors in the subtitle thing but pretty cool video overall!
Nice video👍
The only problem is subtitles, they are sometimes quirky…
But you really deserve more views
I'd love another video on Portal 2
You didn't mention the concept of timed puzzles that were introduced in later chambers
Valve has the best approach to game design compared to any other company
I also love your calm voice and detailed approach to the analysis. I was wondering if increasing the volume would be possible for future videos though? I hope I'm not being too picky
You're not the only person to mention the volume. I think I've fixed it in later videos. There should be another this afternoon!
@@sudologic oh wow awesome!
i have over 1.7k hours in p2 but i never think about this stuff
I'd love this same video but for portal 2. I'm a big fan of portal 2 :D
Cube moment
Great video! just wished the audio was a bit louder.
You are underrated as hell. I subbed, and portal 2 version would be great
Nice video, the captions are a bit scuffed, though.
Just had this recommended at 240 views. Guessing it’s about to blow up based on the comments.
Actually im stuck on the turret level of the first one
Good vid, Good job
I'd like to see that video later
Yeah i like for portal 2
You play Valve games because of their fine handmade craftmanship. I play them to listen to the developer commentaries. We are not the same.
New sub! You are SO underrated!
I would love to see a portal 2 video👍
God damn people are forgetful as fuck, in chamber 1, you have to go through an orange portal in order to get the cube, then go back through the blue portal and through the orange to place the cube on the button, then go back through the blue portal again then go through the orange to reach the exit.
You go through the orange portal 3 times while going through the blue portal only 2 times.
Bruh
The algorithm has blessed you good sir
Sure seems that way. I wonder if lightning will strike twice?
Damn this is underrated as hell.
Amazing vid wtf
bro someone stole all the apostrophes from your subtitles
Portal 2 video yes please!
raise the gain of your voice
Goddamn, this video is quiet.
tou may beed to turn the volune up a bit
(why is this video so quiet i literally can't hear it over a whisper)
the volume is too low, I put youtube and browser on 100% and still cant hear what your saying
HEY when your great one day remember I'm one of your first 1k subs
887 to be specific