[Aperture Science Test Course]
In this game, you play “Chell”, the silent female protagonist in an orange jumpsuit. Is she a convict? Is she involved with Aperture Science? Well, let’s find out!
The first few rooms teach you the basic concepts. Portals do not lead into other dimensions. Portals lead you from one part of the Test Facility to another part, usually within the same room. The computer voice, who you will eventually get to know as “GLaDOS”, seems to have the ability to create portals wherever ‘she’ wants. This works out to your advantage in the early rooms.
{Use the mouse to look around}
{Press W to move forward}
{Press S to move backward}
{Press A to strafe left}
{Press D to strafe right}
{Press E to grab or drop an object}
{Press Ctrl to Crouch}
{Press Space to Jump}
Room 00;
GLaDOS will introduce you to your life as a test subject. After a minute of studying your clipboard and listening to the radio in your “Recreation chamber”, ‘she’ will open a portal for you. At this point, you may leave your cell. You will also see yourself walking through the portal, and though disorienting, this lets you know that you are not in some other world. You are in the same dimension, you are just outside your cell. An interesting note; If you take the radio with you, and place it in the doorway to the next room, the door will malfunction when it tries to close. ;)
The “Box on Button” concept is fairly simple. You place a box on a button, and a door opens, or a platform moves. Interestingly enough, you can also stand on a button to see what it does. Sometimes, you won’t even need a box. You may only need to press a button once. Anyways, in this next room, you find a box, and a button. Placing the box on the button will result in success.
If you needed a tutorial for this level, then I’m not sure you’ll do so well on the later levels… :(
Room 01;
This level may be a bit confusing, but it’s easy to stumble through. You start out with one orange portal. Like all orange portals early in the game, this one will not move, but the destination is constantly changing. The idea here is the same as the last room. You need to grab the box, and put it on the button.
The difference is that the box and the button are in different rooms, totally closed off from eachother. If you are quick about it, you can run into the box room as soon as you see it, grab the box, and back out of the portal before it changes rooms. If you are not fast about it, you might lose the box, or become trapped until the portal comes back. No worries. When it comes back, now is the time to step through, and wait until you see the button through the portal.
Rush in, show the button what a cube is for, and run back out before the portal leaves you. If you are forced to suffer prolonged exposure to this button, do not worry! You will have your cake eventually, and that’s all you need. When you are finished here, just go through the door when you see it.
Room 02;
[3 Cameras]
You finally have your portal gun! It is time to break Vital Testing Apparatus! Okay, well, you don’t have your portal gun yet. There are a few steps to take before you can get to it. First, wait for the speech to stop. Then go through the door. Wait for the blue portal to appear. The portal gun will fire this portal through the makeshift window. When you go through the blue portal, you will come out on an upper ledge. Simply jump down, and grab your very own Portal Gun!
{Left-Click to place a Blue portal}
Hoorah! Now you can shoot… err… Blue portals? Well, still, that’s very awesome. The power of the thing! You are bending space to your will! Here’s the cool part. Stand near the orange portal, and shoot blue portals at any place you can see. Shoot off to the left, and you can get back to the beginning of the level by stepping through the orange portal. Look for a camera. There are three of them in this room. Shoot a blue portal at the first one you see. Since the camera is now ‘attached to air’ through the portal, the wires and bolts are cut, and the camera falls off the wall. GLaDOS doesn’t seem too happy about your destructive tendencies. However, one of your mission objectives is to destroy every camera you come across. Might as well get them all your first time through.
Once you have successfully pruned the other two cameras from their native habitats, feel free to go through the doors and leave the room.
Room 03;
[3 Cameras]
“Mind the gap”. This level is simple. It also again demonstrates the use of the blue portal as both an entry point, and an exit point. Shoot the cameras off of the walls when you see them. Place a blue portal anywhere nearby to get through to the platform with the orange portal, then place the blue portal near the door to complete the level. If you didn’t see the cameras, try looking up. ;)
Room 04;
[2 Cameras]
Again with the boxes and buttons. This is simple. The orange portal is on the upper level. The boxes drop into the lower level. Theoretically, you could put a portal into the lower level, under the box, and it will fall out of the one on the upper level. You could shoot a portal on the wall of the lower level, and walk through the orange portal to grab the box. You could jump down to the lower level, place a portal anywhere, grab the box and walk through it.
However you get the box, place it on the button for the door to open. Don’t forget to shoot the two cameras off the wall before you leave!
Room 05;
[3 Cameras]
Before you walk into the room, shoot a portal at the camera. It will fall clean off the wall. As you walk in, look to your left to find the second camera. Now, you’ll notice two buttons. One block is on a high platform, and one is in a pit. Shoot a portal under the block in the pit, and it will fall out the orange portal onto the other platform. Shoot a portal near the floor to walk through, grab the block, and put it on one button. Go back through the portal and shoot a portal behind the other block while standing on the platform with the orange portal. Go back through the orange portal, grab this block, and put it on the other button. Go through the door. Shoot a portal on any wall here and fall through into the room above. Knock the camera off the wall and exit the level.
Room 06;
The “Energy Pellet into Receptor” concept is a little more advanced than the “Box on Button” concept, and it was first introduced in the Halflife Series, when the player used the gravity gun to fire these energy balls into receptors. Basically, the Energy Emitter fires an Energy Pellet, and you place portals constructively in order to make the Pellet reach the Receptor.
There are no cameras in this room since it has metal walls. The room is simple as cake, however, just one portal is required. The orange portal is placed for you, in just the right spot. Put a blue portal where you see the orange glow, above the Receptor, and ride the lift to victory!
Room 07;
Just like the last room, you need to redirect an energy ball into a receptor. To make this easy, wait for the energy ball to bounce off the wall. It will leave a charred mark where you need to place a portal. Once the energy pellet is through, just put a portal on the ceiling above the conveyor. Jump through the orange portal, and ride the conveyor TO YOUR DOO- I mean… To happy fun times with cake. Did I say Doom? No, that’s got nothing to do with Portal. Totally different game.
Room 08;
In case the energy pellets weren’t painfully obvious… (If you haven’t been hit by an energy pellet yet, keep up the good work!) This room features yet another form of the Pellet Puzzle. This time, you need to place two portals to get the pellet to where it wants to go. First, put a portal at the black mark. Then, after the pellet goes through, hit the orange glow with a portal. The pellet will bounce off of the wall, go back through the orange portal, and come out straight into the receptor. At this point, the conveyor will start up.
Now, place a blue portal where it is easy to get to. Walk through to the platform near the orange portal. Then, place a blue portal near the level at which the conveyor will stop. You should be able to walk straight through onto the conveyor with no problems. It will take you straight to the next room.
