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I think the most interesting thing I've seen from these leaks are the Portal 2 beta content videos. The temporary time-slow mechanic and the beta voice acting

I think the most interesting thing I've seen from these leaks are the Portal 2 beta content videos. The temporary time-slow mechanic and the beta voice acting have been really interesting to see. The time slow mechanic in particular could have made the game a lot more accessible to gamers with slow reflexes and refocused the game on the puzzle elements.

anal_reactor 1mo ago
[flagged]
- cindyllm 1mo ago
  [dead]
- TaLiTr 1mo ago
  > A perfect game isn't a game that casts a wide net, a perfect game is a game that satisfies its target audience. Maybe, but that's completely tangential to what the GP said. And aside from that those games with a wide net do have a target audience, that's how they end up in that situation to begin with.
  - anal_reactor 1mo ago
    The game has both puzzle and platforming elements. A similar argument could be made "they could make puzzles easier for people who don't like puzzles" which is silly because one of the reasons why the game got so popular is that people liked the synergy of puzzles and platforming. Either way, I really doubt that Portal 2 suffered from lack of recognition and further improvements were necessary in this area. You'd be way more likely to break something that works.
- pibaker 1mo ago
  Why does an optional, opt in easy mode take away the satisfaction of its target audience? You are not required to play it. It is like saying having a gluten free option on the menu takes away the enjoyment of a meal's target audience.
  - anal_reactor 1mo ago
    > It is like saying having a gluten free option on the menu takes away the enjoyment of a meal's target audience. Having a gluten-free option takes away resources from other parts of the restaurant. Considering the fact that gluten allergy can be pretty serious, having gluten-free options means shitload of money spent on making sure there's no cross-contamination. Money that could be invested in better croissants for example. Anyway, easy modes shift and break the game. It's very visible with GTA for example. Savehouses in GTA III, VC and SA are very memorable because the game forced you to go there pretty much after every mission to save. In GTA IV we got autosave after each mission plus GPS which means we don't remember shit from what Liberty City looked like and especially we have zero emotional connection to savehouses. Technically you could go back to the savehouse just to save, but really, you didn't. You could turn off GPS in options, but really, you didn't. There was this one fucking mission in GTA VC where you had to fly a toy aircraft but controls were fucked and after every fail you had to go through this over and over again. It was memorable because it was annoying. In GTA SA there was the famous line > All we had to do, was follow the damn train, CJ! As a result of a broken voiceline where Smoke told you to get closer while in fact you needed to get further away. The fact that after each fail we had to do the mission again from the start made it frustrating, but also memorable. In GTA V we have mission checkpoints. All friction has been removed because general audience hates friction.
  - BoxwoodSeed 1mo ago
    Imagine if there was a lift to the peak of Mt. Everest. That existing alone would undermine the achievement of having reached said peak. Also, it's very hard to get multiple difficulty settings right. It's much better to have cheats available to make the experience easier and learn to get better at the game through those.
    - fckgw 1mo ago
      I would respectfully disagree that playing a video game is equivalent to climbing the world's tallest mountain peak. Sometimes I want to play a game to experience the story.
- indrora 1mo ago
  As someone who is firmly in Portal's "target audience" I would have enjoyed the game immensely with such an adaptive feature. Just like I appreciate the amount of work that Valve has put into closed captioning for their games.
- account42 1mo ago
  It really depends. Sometimes it's possible to add optional modes that make things easier for casuals without changing anything from more hardcore players and there is nothing wrong with that. They can always add achievements or some other minor reward for not using those modes so that you can keep showing off your e-peen.
Stevvo 1mo ago
There is no puzzle in Portal 2 that requires fast reflexes.
- vablings 1mo ago
  My teenage self who was pretty good on the controller would disagree. Some of the puzzles required turning around midair or carefully timed shots. Also, they did use the slow-motion mechanic at the end of the game to prompt you to shoot the "killing portal"
- zamadatix 1mo ago
  What "fast reflexes" is will vary by person but keep in mind the average person (not necessarily the average gamer) struggles with moving the character/camera in the way they want when things are stationary with normal physics. Now try taking that to launching a portal while flying midair, maybe even on controller. I mean I got through it fine but it would have helped make 2 player a lot easier with my dad at the time.
- superhuzza 1mo ago
  I can't recall exactly which puzzles correspond to which game, but there are absolutely puzzles that require a decent amount of speed and dexterity. To the point where my wife got totally stuck on some because she's slow with a mouse. Like firing portals while in midair, or catching a cube as you pass it during a jump.
- account42 1mo ago
  Not reflexes but some do require somewhat precise timing.

anal_reactor 1mo ago

[flagged]

cindyllm 1mo ago
[dead]
TaLiTr 1mo ago
> A perfect game isn't a game that casts a wide net, a perfect game is a game that satisfies its target audience. Maybe, but that's completely tangential to what the GP said. And aside from that those games with a wide net do have a target audience, that's how they end up in that situation to begin with.
- anal_reactor 1mo ago
  The game has both puzzle and platforming elements. A similar argument could be made "they could make puzzles easier for people who don't like puzzles" which is silly because one of the reasons why the game got so popular is that people liked the synergy of puzzles and platforming. Either way, I really doubt that Portal 2 suffered from lack of recognition and further improvements were necessary in this area. You'd be way more likely to break something that works.
pibaker 1mo ago
Why does an optional, opt in easy mode take away the satisfaction of its target audience? You are not required to play it. It is like saying having a gluten free option on the menu takes away the enjoyment of a meal's target audience.
- anal_reactor 1mo ago
  > It is like saying having a gluten free option on the menu takes away the enjoyment of a meal's target audience. Having a gluten-free option takes away resources from other parts of the restaurant. Considering the fact that gluten allergy can be pretty serious, having gluten-free options means shitload of money spent on making sure there's no cross-contamination. Money that could be invested in better croissants for example. Anyway, easy modes shift and break the game. It's very visible with GTA for example. Savehouses in GTA III, VC and SA are very memorable because the game forced you to go there pretty much after every mission to save. In GTA IV we got autosave after each mission plus GPS which means we don't remember shit from what Liberty City looked like and especially we have zero emotional connection to savehouses. Technically you could go back to the savehouse just to save, but really, you didn't. You could turn off GPS in options, but really, you didn't. There was this one fucking mission in GTA VC where you had to fly a toy aircraft but controls were fucked and after every fail you had to go through this over and over again. It was memorable because it was annoying. In GTA SA there was the famous line > All we had to do, was follow the damn train, CJ! As a result of a broken voiceline where Smoke told you to get closer while in fact you needed to get further away. The fact that after each fail we had to do the mission again from the start made it frustrating, but also memorable. In GTA V we have mission checkpoints. All friction has been removed because general audience hates friction.
- BoxwoodSeed 1mo ago
  Imagine if there was a lift to the peak of Mt. Everest. That existing alone would undermine the achievement of having reached said peak. Also, it's very hard to get multiple difficulty settings right. It's much better to have cheats available to make the experience easier and learn to get better at the game through those.
  - fckgw 1mo ago
    I would respectfully disagree that playing a video game is equivalent to climbing the world's tallest mountain peak. Sometimes I want to play a game to experience the story.
indrora 1mo ago
As someone who is firmly in Portal's "target audience" I would have enjoyed the game immensely with such an adaptive feature. Just like I appreciate the amount of work that Valve has put into closed captioning for their games.
account42 1mo ago
It really depends. Sometimes it's possible to add optional modes that make things easier for casuals without changing anything from more hardcore players and there is nothing wrong with that. They can always add achievements or some other minor reward for not using those modes so that you can keep showing off your e-peen.

Stevvo 1mo ago

There is no puzzle in Portal 2 that requires fast reflexes.

vablings 1mo ago
My teenage self who was pretty good on the controller would disagree. Some of the puzzles required turning around midair or carefully timed shots. Also, they did use the slow-motion mechanic at the end of the game to prompt you to shoot the "killing portal"
zamadatix 1mo ago
What "fast reflexes" is will vary by person but keep in mind the average person (not necessarily the average gamer) struggles with moving the character/camera in the way they want when things are stationary with normal physics. Now try taking that to launching a portal while flying midair, maybe even on controller. I mean I got through it fine but it would have helped make 2 player a lot easier with my dad at the time.
superhuzza 1mo ago
I can't recall exactly which puzzles correspond to which game, but there are absolutely puzzles that require a decent amount of speed and dexterity. To the point where my wife got totally stuck on some because she's slow with a mouse. Like firing portals while in midair, or catching a cube as you pass it during a jump.
account42 1mo ago
Not reflexes but some do require somewhat precise timing.