The Orange Box...

[HaRuMaN]

Just beat Portal yesterday...   anyone else play?  GladOS is friggen' hillarious!

[AtomSmasher]

Great game, I can't wait until more levels are released for it.

Episode 2 was also really good and I'm just starting to get into TF2.

[HaRuMaN]

Yeah I beat HL2 on PC, but I'll probably play it again before trying Eps 1 & 2.  Still haven't played TF2, but it looks like a lot of fun.   

[Cakemeister]

Just beat Portal yesterday...   anyone else play?  GladOS is friggen' hillarious!

Portal was lots of fun. I couldn't get any of the challenges. I thought I was doing well to get one of the challenges done in 12 portals, then in order to get the cake I needed 9!

I am a bit disappointed in the TF2 gameplay. No grenades and few maps and I think the class balance is off.

[shardian]

No grenades

Damn conc jumpers gotta ruin the whole experience by getting all grenades taken away huh?

[HaRuMaN]

No 'nades?  *sigh* One of my favorite things to do in Halo 3 is sticking people...

[slycrel]

I think some classes fared better than others in TF2, but overall it's pretty fun.  Some of the classes (engi for example) really could have used their special grenades back.  Beating people down with the wrench is pretty satisfying though.

Portal rocks.  It's the best game I've played in some time.  Very unique idea, and a good "story" to boot.  =)

I think I'm almost done with ep. 2, valve seems to be getting better at doing what they already do well.

It was a very worthwhile purchase for me.  (And a couple friends got HL2 and Ep. 1 for free as well, can't beat that)

[AtomSmasher]

Just beat Portal yesterday...   anyone else play?  GladOS is friggen' hillarious!

Portal was lots of fun. I couldn't get any of the challenges. I thought I was doing well to get one of the challenges done in 12 portals, then in order to get the cake I needed 9!

I am a bit disappointed in the TF2 gameplay. No grenades and few maps and I think the class balance is off.

I managed to get bronze on all of the fewest portal ones (and silver on a few), but I really suck at fastest time and fewest footsteps.

The no grenades did bug me quite a bit at first, but I'm getting used to it.  The VIP/assination missions were always my favorite in the original (and in counterstrike), so I hope they bring some of those maps back.

[somunny]

I'm still playing through HL2.  I haven't even tried Portal yet!    I'll check it out this weekend.

[lokki]

I portal available for separate purchase? Or only with HL2?

Thanks

[AtomSmasher]

I portal available for separate purchase? Or only with HL2?

Thanks

Its available for seperate purchase for $19.95, but team fortress 2 and episode 2 are both $29.95 each if purchased seperately, so if you want at least two of them you might as well buy the orange box for the same price and get everything.

[mr.Curmudgeon]

http://www.portalwalkthroughs.com/

Video walkthroughs of all the levels and bonus challenges.   

[Cakemeister]

http://www.portalwalkthroughs.com/

Video walkthroughs of all the levels and bonus challenges.   

good stuff there, as good as "quake done quick".

[Zero_Hour]

This was the best game purchase I've made in a long time. Hadn't gotten either of the HL episodes, and enjoyed both 1 and 2, though Valve needs to speed up their release tming if they plan to continue episodic content for the series.

Never played the original TF, but have been having a blast with TF2, there are a fair number of servers running custom maps, and that has definitely added to the fun. After 2+ years of Battlefield 2 being my primary FPS for online play, I'm happy to finally ditch it for Team Fortress 2.

Portal was really the gem of the package though. The writing was some of the best ever in a game, and took a great concept and turned into "Game of the Year" quality. I definitely need more maps. I've played through it completely twice (once with the commentary option), beaten the advanced maps, and am now working on the challenge maps. The fewest portals challenge was a lot of fun. You can beat half of them with only 2 portals. The fewest steps and least time challenges are giving me much more trouble. I am still resisting the urge to look at walkthroughs. but only barely.

If you are into FPS games even a little, you really can't find a much better buy than the orange box.

[mr.Curmudgeon]

How to play HL2 with portal Gun
http://forums.gametrailers.com/showthread.php?t=204343


Disclaimer: I haven't tried this yet, so I can't personally vouch for it. Sounds unstable, since it's obviously an experimental hack. But, based on the video, it certainly looks fun! Btw, the ending to the video is just classic! 

[HaRuMaN]

TF2 is awesome...  I like the Spy the best...  nothing better than disguising yourself as the enemy, getting the enemy medic to heal you, then stabbing him in the back with the switchblade...   

[AtomSmasher]

Heres a pretty neat song made from a lot of clips from Portal (and no, it's not the end credits song): http://www.tindeck.com/audio/my/cbyr/Victims_of_Science_-_The_Device_Has_Been_Modified

[HaRuMaN]

Heres a pretty neat song made from a lot of clips from Portal (and no, it's not the end credits song): http://www.tindeck.com/audio/my/cbyr/Victims_of_Science_-_The_Device_Has_Been_Modified

That's pretty catchy...

Started playing Episode 1 yesterday.  I gotta say, Orange Box is the best $60 I ever spent on a game!

[HaRuMaN]

Portal Themed T-Shirt

Pretty funny... 

[shardian]

Circuit City will have Orange box for $34.95 on black friday.

[Samstag]

Portal Themed T-Shirt

Pretty funny... 

I'm hoping to find mine in the mailbox today.  Now all I need is a companion cube hat and I'll be all geeked out.

[AtomSmasher]

Portal Themed T-Shirt

Pretty funny... 

I'm hoping to find mine in the mailbox today.  Now all I need is a companion cube hat and I'll be all geeked out.

Heres another pretty good portal shirt: http://store.valvesoftware.com/productpages/apparel/product_PortalShirt.html

make sure to click on the image to see both the front and back.

[Samstag]

I was just looking at that shirt earlier in the day but I missed the fact that it had a reverse.  I guess that should have been obvious.

There's a rumor that a companion cube plushie will be available in time for xmas.

[drunkatuw]

Circuit City will have Orange box for $34.95 on black friday.

Best Buy will have it for $24.99

[slycrel]

There was a news announcement on steam for the companion cube plushie the other day.  It will probably sell out pretty fast.

I have to say, I really liked both portal and ep 2.  I'm on the fence with TF2.  Yes, it's very fun, but it's similar enough to team fortress classic that I've pretty well played that gameplay to death.  So I may never be a regular again.  I do think they've balanced it (mostly) well and the graphics are great.

I still think portal's gameplay and overall "story" is worth the full price alone.  I likely won't replay ep 2 much, but I've played through portal a number of times already.

[SirPeale]

Circuit City will have Orange box for $34.95 on black friday.

Best Buy will have it for $24.99

I'm thinking about getting this.  If BB will have this for that price, I'll definitely do it.

Is this an all day affair, or just from 5-7am?

[HaRuMaN]

Circuit City will have Orange box for $34.95 on black friday.

Best Buy will have it for $24.99

I'm thinking about getting this.  If BB will have this for that price, I'll definitely do it.

Is this an all day affair, or just from 5-7am?

It's totally worth it at $60 bucks... at those prices, it's a friggen' steal!

[SirPeale]

Few days ago I asked a customer service rep @ Wal-Mart about their price match policy because Best Buy is an hour from here.  They told me as long as I had the flyer (or a copy of it) I was fine.

Went to Wal-Mart today to honor this, and they told me they only honor competitors within 30 miles.   

I pressed the issue.  And got the deal.  Though I shouldn't have had to, this is a new thing they're doing.  They should have it in writing on their wall on the guarantee.

[javeryh]

I finally played Portal over the holidays - WOW.  It's my GotY for 2007 along with Bioshock.

[ahofle]

Just finished Portal a couple days ago too.  I was starting to think there weren't any more original ideas for games.   

[SirPeale]

How have you guys  done on the challenges?  I've got a few done, but damn some of them are hard.

[ahofle]

I actually haven't tried those yet (only finished the main game).  Guess I shouldn't have said 'finished'.

[AtomSmasher]

How have you guys  done on the challenges?  I've got a few done, but damn some of them are hard.

The fewest portal ones are the only ones I'm any good at.

Also, it looks like Nvidia users can get an extended demo if they haven't bought the game yet: http://www.steamgames.com/nvidia1

[Cakemeister]

Is there an SDK for Portal? It would be cool if user levels were easy to make.

[Samstag]

I've seen video of a hack that allowed use of the portal gun in HL2 levels, so it may be possible with an HL2 level editor.  I don't know if those exist yet.

[AtomSmasher]

Is there an SDK for Portal? It would be cool if user levels were easy to make.

The SDK has been released and there are some user levels coming out, although I don't know how easy it is to make one since I've never made one myself. 

Heres a site that reviewed some of the user created levels: http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=178414