F-STOP

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

This page sucks. If you could make it suck less, that would be awesome.

This page is rather stubbly and could use some expansion. Are you a bad enough dude to rescue this article? Notes: There is a lot to add to this page.

To do: Document the F-Stop Source code leak

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F-STOP was Valve's fifth experiment and a planned sequel to Portal. The game would've swapped out the portal gun for a camera that could change the size of objects based on perspective.

Overview#

In November 2007, Gabe Newell got the idea of shutting down Valve's production pipeline for a few months and turning the company into one big creative playground. He proposed the idea of "Directed Design Experiments" to his employees, hoping it would lead to a creative renaissance. The Valve employees started brainstorming in small teams for about 3 to 4 months, with no news from Valve to the public during that period.

At the end of the brainstorming in February 2008, the Valve employees gathered at a local movie theater in Bellevue, Washington for an internal "science fair" of their new design experiments, where was to be showcased "more innovation in 60 minutes than most game companies will see in a lifetime." Most of the experiments showed to be inspiring, some were funny, few did not work at all.

Gameplay#

This needs some investigation. Discuss ideas and findings on the talk page. Specifically: The mousetrap actually most likely worked like the Aerial Faith Plates in the final game, not to trap/kill androids. We should add the hostile androids/mannequins' behaviors if they are known.

The following mechanics played a certain role in the gameplay:

1. Fan (prop_air_vent) — it lifts objects into the air.
2. Monopole (prop_monopole) — a large magnet that could change its polarity. Along with the entity item, there is a trigger that also functions as a monopole.
3. Balloon (prop_balloon) — could be attached to an object to make it fly upward. The more balloons attached, the faster and higher the object flies.
4. Mousetrap (prop_mousetrap) — using the mousetrap, you had to destroy androids by luring them into it.
5. Geyser (prop_geyser) — lifts objects upward, but note that air from the geyser is released every three seconds.
6. Dollhouse (prop_building) — there were two of them: you entered through one and exited through the other. Any of these houses could be photographed, and their size could also be changed.
7. Door frame (prop_linked_portal_door) — works the same as the dollhouse, except that the mechanic worked as a door frame rather than a whole building.
8. Fizzler (trigger_photo_eraser) — upon passing through it, all your previously created photos were erased, and photographed objects returned to their original places. This process was accompanied by a flash. Not used in test chambers.
9. Swapper (prop_swap) — by photographing this entity, you swapped locations with that object.
10. Reflector (prop_reflect) — by photographing this entity, you teleported to that object.
11. Android (npc_android) — they helped you with basic actions in test chambers.
12. Chicken (npc_chicken) — just walked around the map and did nothing

Concept Art#

During F-Stop's development, several pieces of concept art depicted several unique designs and appearances.

Test Chambers#

Giant Chicken#

What is quite possibly a prototype of a boss / segment from F-STOP, all that is known about this is it would rage and storm through the room you were in (in this case, an office.) This appears to be linked to a concept poster depicting a Bioengineering department focused on chickens.

Relaxation Vault#

During F-Stop's development, several concepts for early versions of the Relaxation vaults were created to test the new game's artstyle. It's assumed the player would've started here, or at the very least visited one at some point. This concept most likely evolved into the motel room seen at the beginning of Portal 2.

Props#

Concept art showcasing various objects you would encounter throughout F-Stop.

Miscellaneous#

To do: There's a lot more than this.

Mannequins#

Mannequins were used as enemies in a similar manner as turrets. According to Portal 2: Final Hours, the mannequins were sentient robots who were to rise against Aperture Science. Along with the F-Stop mechanics, the prequel idea, and the camera, the mannequins were ultimately cut, although one remains in a deactivated state in the turret assembly line. Sound scripts for the mannequins still exist in the final game in portal2/scripts/npc_sounds_android.txt. Some released concepts depicted a female version of the mannequin as well.

Betty#

This needs some investigation. Discuss ideas and findings on the talk page. Specifically: I don't think it's known for certain that you would play as Mel in F-Stop, especially considering how there's concept art for a robot-mannequin-esque "Test Subject"

Back when the game was in early development, Mel was still running around Aperture as the protagonist, and Cave Johnson replaced GLaDOS. The Gyroscopic Liability Absolver and Disc Operating System (otherwise known as Betty) was to introduce the player to new test chambers. She would "roll out after [Cave Johnson] had described the test" and void Aperture Science of any liabilities that may be found during testing. As shown in the image, the early model for Betty was a small morality core attached to a desk lamp with wheels. Interestingly, the acronym of her name (GLAaDOS) was to be the only reference to GLaDOS, the antagonist from Portal and the final version of this game.

Cave Johnson#

When Portal 2 was originally called F-Stop, there were plans for Cave Johnson to be the game's antagonist instead of GLaDOS. Compared to the final game, Cave has a western billionaire look to him, but not much else is really known about this concept. Leaked audition scripts show that Cave had already transferred his mind into a computer, which was recycled (right down to the lines themselves) for a Multiverse variant of Cave Johnson from the Perpetual Testing Initiative DLC.

Original intro#

A video on the original F-Stop depicts the player waking up on a sunny beachside, which is revealed to be just a simulation made by Aperture. Watch on YouTube

Known Maps#

• lab_intro - The starting map
• lab_01 - First puzzle map
• lab_02 - Second puzzle map
• lab_03 - Third puzzle map
• lab_04 - Fourth puzzle map
• aperture_training_doors - Puzzle map for teaching the Doorway mechanic
• puzzle_chickens - Puzzle map featuring the F-STOP Aperture Chicken