Portal 2 and the Portal Updates

[The_Emperor]

*huff, puff* port... they... the... is... new... with a... *SLAP!*

*cough*

As some of you already may have seen, there has been a portal update, with a new achievement which requires the player to move 26 radios to specific locations to receive a secret transmission.

People have looked into the files for those "transmissions", and discovered that the soundfiles files were actually images! (except for 3 morse codes)
What's more, those images had numbers on them, that turned out to be a BSS code when combined, which translated into a phone-number. Calling it resulted in static, till someone connected to it with a modem, and used a username and passwords received in the morse-code to connect to it, resulting in bits of text, and portal-related Ascii-images!

This is awesome, I really hope this is Valve's way of announcing Portal 2 or perhaps HL2 e3. Either way, it's an insane bit of marketing!

Facepunch topic with images here:
http://www.facepunch.com/showthread.php?t=902578

[Master_Ben]

That...... is just plain epic.

[Lord Bardar]

lol i was banned on facepunch for a week, so i have to wait until friday to read that message. but this sounds cool, anyone done it yet?

[Dohnutt]

Wow, that's a sick idea.

[Grev]

That... Is really crazy marketing. Valve: 9001 Players: Undefined

[Fingerfood]

I got the achievement!

Also, here's the original, 321 page topic on the Steam forums.

And I suppose I should just link to the main Portal board (Has several interesting topics. See all the five star threads.)

I'm not really sure what to believe, but I'm more inclined to believe it's the Borealis radio transmissions. Either way (Portal 2 or EP3) I'd be extremely happy.

[Lord Bardar]

9001 Players

Hmm, I may play Portal again. It's so well written, and we all love a good bit of dark comedy.

[Nihillo]

I have been watching this ARG since the very moment Portal was updated, I actually spent an entire night pressing 'refresh' in the Steam Forums, waiting eagerly for some sort of revelation. What can I say, I'm excited.

Things seem to have settled down, though, no more leads to anything of relevance. Well, at least we have the ASCII images (which are still coming, by the way) and Cave Johnson's notes.

My guess? The ASCII images are actually unreleased concept art for Episode 3.

[The_Emperor]

I have been watching this ARG since the very moment Portal was updated, I actually spent an entire night pressing 'refresh' in the Steam Forums, waiting eagerly for some sort of revelation. What can I say, I'm excited.

Hah, me too, I barely slept because I didn't notice the time...

[Moving_Target]

This is sweet and totally wth is going on.

[Lord Bardar]

yeah it's quite fun, although

Hidden/Spoiler:

slightly annoying that you have to carry the radios to certain places in the level so you can get the transmissions, i have about 10 right now or something. oh well, who doesn't love the salsa mix of still alive?

[Nihillo]

Well, if you feel like 'cheating' the achivement, you could listen directly to the files named "dinosaur_*" inside the game's folder.

[Fingerfood]

They updated again today. I'm not going to tell you guys what they added, but I'll say this:

Holy [Diet Dr Pepper]!

[Nihillo]

Yup, kinda creepy.

Spoilers:

Hidden/Spoiler:

Could that droid be Cave Johnson? Or is it just a mindless drone?

[Fingerfood]

Spoilers:

Hidden/Spoiler:

Could that droid be Cave Johnson? Or is it just a mindless drone?

Hidden/Spoiler:

I'm pretty sure it isn't Cave Johnson, but it's definitely not a mindless drone. Whatever it is, it has to have some significance, otherwise Valve wouldn't have made it the only update for today.

Oh, and Gabe Newell is supposedly speaking at GDC on the 11th, and 3.11 had some significance in Monday's update, so expect this all to be resolved then.

[The_Emperor]

Spoilers:

Hidden/Spoiler:

Could that droid be Cave Johnson? Or is it just a mindless drone?

Hidden/Spoiler:

I'm pretty sure it isn't Cave Johnson, but it's definitely not a mindless drone. Whatever it is, it has to have some significance, otherwise Valve wouldn't have made it the only update for today.

Hidden/Spoiler:

Probably a drone (party escort! ) though it's likely Cave did upload his brain into a droid or computer of sorts, judging by the bits of text coming with the ASCII art... Or he found another way to "cheat death". I think the update's not about the droid, but about Chell surviving and being a valuable asset for some reason.

Anyway, still excited! New update is freaky and sweet

[Fusion]

Hidden/Spoiler:

Also, Valve was apparently searching for a Cave Johnson voice actor last year, so it might just be him or a drone that uses his voice.

[Nihillo]

I found an artistic rendition of that robotic couple depicted on an ASCII image:

(Click to see an enlarged version along with the original image)

I thought it was cool, just wanted to share.

[Lord Bardar]

Hidden/Spoiler:

The new ending is pretty cool, it's the same ending as the original, but when you wake up and see the outside, a drone says "Thank you for assuming the correct party submission position" and then drags you away. It could be a drone of Cave Johnson or something.

[Fingerfood]

http://store.steampowered.com/news/3559/