Where is the impossible space in Portal 2?

[BACK]
Where is the impossible space in Portal 2?
Posted On: June 9, 2016

One of the commentary nodes by a Portal 2 developer, Eric Tams, said they used "world portals" to quickly reconfigure maps and puzzles during testing, which allowed them to create rooms that were bigger on the inside, infinite falls, and other sorts of impossible geometry, save for the users own ASHPD space bending.


When we started the project, making any big structural change in a level or the order of levels would lead to hours or even days of busy work trying to reconnect things and make sure they lined up again. If we ever wanted to ship something the size of Portal with the finely tuned balance we desired then we needed a way to be able to make big changes to the layout of the game without paying the cost of making everything line up again. We needed a way to bend space.


Soon every connection between any space was a portal. We would even switch them on the fly. Even a simple door worked like the cartoons - just a facade painted on a wall that seamlessly opened somewhere else entirely. Once the game settled down we were able to finalize our path and remove all of the world portals. There's only one impossible space left in the whole game. See if you can figure out where it is.


After the map layout was finalized, most of these were fixed into boring linear spaces, likely for the sake of performance, save for one spot. Where is it?


Question from user Nick T at gaming.stackexchange.com.


Answer:

In the entity list, there is a linked_portal_door for this purpose; it is used in the Death Trap, (in map sp_a4_finale2.bsp):.


This entity is designed to link two separate, distant areas together without any clear transition between the two. This entity is exclusive to Portal 2.


It is used in Chapter 9, in the Chamber 75 Death Trap with all the crap turrets. The room is actually completely separate from its supposed surroundings. It is the only use of this entity in the final version of the game, though commentary states that it was used a lot during the development of the title to link chambers together.


I guess that the development team first made the rooms separate so that they could wipe a bad room, then connect them later when the levels were more perfect, and I suppose that this room didn't fit.


Answer from user Tamara Wijsman at gaming.stackexchange.com.



[BACK]
Where is the impossible space in Portal 2?
Posted On: June 9, 2016

One of the commentary nodes by a Portal 2 developer, Eric Tams, said they used "world portals" to quickly reconfigure maps and puzzles during testing, which allowed them to create rooms that were bigger on the inside, infinite falls, and other sorts of impossible geometry, save for the users own ASHPD space bending.


When we started the project, making any big structural change in a level or the order of levels would lead to hours or even days of busy work trying to reconnect things and make sure they lined up again. If we ever wanted to ship something the size of Portal with the finely tuned balance we desired then we needed a way to be able to make big changes to the layout of the game without paying the cost of making everything line up again. We needed a way to bend space.


Soon every connection between any space was a portal. We would even switch them on the fly. Even a simple door worked like the cartoons - just a facade painted on a wall that seamlessly opened somewhere else entirely. Once the game settled down we were able to finalize our path and remove all of the world portals. There's only one impossible space left in the whole game. See if you can figure out where it is.


After the map layout was finalized, most of these were fixed into boring linear spaces, likely for the sake of performance, save for one spot. Where is it?


Question from user Nick T at gaming.stackexchange.com.


Answer:

In the entity list, there is a linked_portal_door for this purpose; it is used in the Death Trap, (in map sp_a4_finale2.bsp):.


This entity is designed to link two separate, distant areas together without any clear transition between the two. This entity is exclusive to Portal 2.


It is used in Chapter 9, in the Chamber 75 Death Trap with all the crap turrets. The room is actually completely separate from its supposed surroundings. It is the only use of this entity in the final version of the game, though commentary states that it was used a lot during the development of the title to link chambers together.


I guess that the development team first made the rooms separate so that they could wipe a bad room, then connect them later when the levels were more perfect, and I suppose that this room didn't fit.


Answer from user Tamara Wijsman at gaming.stackexchange.com.



[BACK]

WHY IS SALAMI A WEAPON?!? WHY IS SALAMI A WEAPON?!?

Posted On: March 25, 2025
i don’t even know what to say…should i start beating up the steel watch with salami now????Question from user Bellaswannabe at BaldursGate3 at reddit.com.Answer:Yes start beating people up with th...[More]


Does Improved Catalyst increase self-damage from Rigged Bombs? Does Improved Catalyst increase self-damage from Rigged Bombs?

Posted On: August 20, 2023
The description for Improved Catalyst says that Bombs and Rigged Bombs will deal +10 damage. Normally Rigged Bombs deal 150 damage to enemies and 3 self damage to the player. Does Improved Catalyst...[More]


[Warning: Spoiler] I feel so alone in liking Natsai in Hogwarts [Warning: Spoiler] I feel so alone in liking Natsai in Hogwarts

Posted On: June 24, 2023
I feel like I'm in the twilight zone because I seem to be liking characters in this game that aren't liked by most players. I like Natty the most, and then Ominis and Poppy. Though Poppy is...[More]


How does durability work in Breath of the Wild? How does durability work in Breath of the Wild?

Posted On: January 15, 2023
In the tool tips, the game always says to "keep an eye on your durability" or that certain actions might "knock off some durability", but so far I have only seen 3 stages of durabi...[More]


How do you link two outposts in Starfield? How do you link two outposts in Starfield?

Posted On: September 20, 2023
I created two outposts in Starfield on different planets but not sure how to link them together. Must they be in the same system or can I link different systems too? And will they all link to a sin...[More]


Why isnt Diep.io loading? Why isnt Diep.io loading?

Posted On: February 2, 2023
I have just got on to diep.io, and it is stuck on the "Connecting" screen. The tab also keeps refreshing. I see many errors on my developer tools when I press the F12 key.I am using a Windows 10 Surfa...[More]


Tips for beating Ranrok Tips for beating Ranrok

Posted On: September 1, 2023
Does anybody have any tips of beating Ranrok? I’m having a hard time fighting him. I’ve looked at tutorials but it hasn’t helped. Question from user According-Finger-34 at Hogwart...[More]


Are the Highlighted destructible items in Diablo 3 significant in any way? Are the Highlighted destructible items in Diablo 3 significant in any way?

Posted On: May 10, 2023
I've noticed that I come across destructibles (doors, barrels, other props) that have a kind of highlight, a double helix type of spiral with some effect. Do these items have any significance? ...[More]


What kind of DLC do you wish for for Hogwarts legacy? What kind of DLC do you wish for for Hogwarts legacy?

Posted On: August 25, 2023
These are the DLC I wish to see for Hogwarts legacy (yes, DLC, I do not want another game with a new character, I dont want to spend hours on learning basic spells, I want to expand on the world I alr...[More]


Dynamic Lighting in (vanilla) Minecraft Dynamic Lighting in (vanilla) Minecraft

Posted On: August 25, 2023
I have already seen tutorials on Minecraft regarding dynamic lighting, but none of them seem fancy enough. What I'm thinking of is a way to make dynamic lighting that is clean and not destructi...[More]