Core Hub

This is a sub-page of Prerelease:Portal 2.

This page is rather stubbly and could use some expansion. Are you a bad enough dude to rescue this article? Notes: There is more. Since much research (and a leak) happened, more content (also remnants) related to this stage has been found (although they aren't widely known yet). Also add sources on some things.

Starting in 2009, Valve moved away from F-Stop and began developing a true sequel to Portal. This iteration was focused on getting GLaDOS back online with various cores the player would find around the facility each time after solving test courses with the same puzzle elements from final game. They would then need to be returned to GLaDOS’s chamber, which acted as a hub area (hence the Core Hub nickname).

Test Elements#

At first, Valve began experimenting with various new elements and features for Portal 2, many of which (light bridges, catapults, and lasers) remained in the retail game.

Laser#

Lasers during development originally reused the models of Energy pellet Launcher and Catchers as their launchers and catchers, but smaller. Also Reflection Cube was different, being a box with arrows aiming to the laser output in each sides, and the different output itself.

Catapult#

Catapult is an self-explanatory test element, as it does appear in final game as the Aerial Faith Plate, although in this iteration it looked like a panel arm.

Self-Esteem Field#

Self-Esteem Field (better and internally known as Slow Fields) was an element that would slow down the player. This test element would be scrapped after this iteration of game got scrapped.

Walls#

Walls (internal name) is another self-explanatory test element that also appears in final game too as Hard Light Bridge.

Hover turret#

Hover turret this is an NPC in the form of a paranoia module. They only appeared in the screenshot of the test card and in the early intro.

Early Animations#

Watch on YouTubeThings seen in the Early Test Intro portion are:

• The intro was not made in the Source engine. It was made in Maya.
• The lighting was unfinished; It can be occasionally buggy.
• The laser emitter used a different model.
• An early version of the laser over goo was shown.
• A few lines from Portal were reused in the intro, including one not heard elsewhere in the game or its sequel. That line was: "You have been detained in the relaxation vault for..."

Gallery#

Some screenshots listed below may be concept arts or paintover, but not from the actual game.

Prehub Test Chambers#

Similar to the start of the final version of Portal 2, the very start of this era of the game would’ve featured the player going through a selection of some of the Test Chambers from the original Portal. The main differences in version compared to the final are that the design of the chambers is nowhere near as dirty and overgrown like the final, and is instead more destroyed and only lightly dirty in places rather than completely overgrown. From what is known, the chambers would’ve have gone from 00 to 13 (before breaking out) instead of 00 to 07 in the start of final version of Portal 2.

Hub#

GLaDOS Lair#

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Core Rooms#

Core Hub Room#

Misc#

Paranoid (Morgan Freeman) Core Test#

Multiplayer Futbol Playtest#

Paint Test#

In the summer of 2009, The developers of Tag: The Power of Paint were hired by Valve. Then gels were developed on a game internally called paint, separated from Portal 2 codebase, and it wouldn't be merged until late 2009. It wasn't part of the main campaign during that time.

Hover Turret#

Core Flashlight Test#

Characters#

GLaDOS#

From what was seen in test animations, GLaDOS would act much more erratic and unhinged. Her design also shows she would have been hanging by a thread, as most of her parts have fallen off. The original plan was for the player to slowly but surely put her back together by getting different cores from different testing courses. GLaDOS also had an alternative design seen in the test animations, which looks closer to her Portal 1 model with a more humanoid appearance. This GLaDOS would drag herself along the chamber floor, but can also be seen still attached to the ceiling in some of the animations.

Morgan Freeman Sphere#

The Morgan Freeman Sphere (also known as the Richard Sphere or originally Paranoid Sphere) is a core that has spent a lot of time in a small room, to the point that he could remember every detail. When the player finds him and gets him out of the room, he freaks out seeing all the damage that Chell has caused to the facility. While the player was transporting him to the hub, she could hear him telling different facts about the room that he was in.

The core was based primarily on Freeman's role as Ellis Boyd "Red" Redding in The Shawshank Redemption¹

He originally used the curiosity core model from Portal as a placeholder. He was seen in a video listed above, where he would be in a room surrounded by turrets. The player would be able to grab him which would cause him to shriek. He would also threaten the player to put him down, or he would go "mental". He would also react to being bashed against walls and thrown down a flight of stairs.

Mel#

Mel was originally to be the main protagonist of Portal 2 before being moved to the multiplayer mode and eventually cut altogether. The only valid instance of her appearance (physically) is from a retexture of a Chell model from the original Portal. Her appearance featured a blue-eyed, blonde woman with a light blue jumpsuit, some pink-gripped Advanced Knee Replacement units, and a white skin tone.

When Mel was still the main protagonist, it was found that playtesters became disappointed that GLaDOS didn't recognize them. After being changed to a multiplayer character, the consequence of dying without respawning often made playtesters afraid of experimentation. Thus, Chell was re-introduced as the main protagonist. Chell and Mel would later be replaced by Atlas and P-Body in the multiplayer mode and were shown being taken apart and re-assembled in different areas to help players (and playtesters) overcome any fear of being unable to respawn. This also creates a reasonable excuse for being able to respawn.

A possible early version of Mel is seen in Portal 2: The Final Hours as a random character in an early jumpsuit design for Chell in Portal. This character had a different face and overall younger appearance than Chell and is therefore assumed by many to be Mel. Her placeholder texture is still in the game and separate from those of Chell, but lacks animations (although they are specified, they don't exist anymore).

Quint Sphere#

Quint's module was never added to the game and was merely an idea. His personality was that he considered himself a predator, and GLaDOS his shark. Beyond that, we know nothing more.

Aquarium Sphere#

MeThe Aquarium module kept muttering about wanting to get into the aquarium. This module was inspired by an advertisement for the Oregon Coast Aquarium, in which a small fish kept repeating the same phrase, wanting to get into the aquarium.

References#

• The Final Hours of Portal 2 by Geoff Keighley
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