The ARG and revealations over the past week have created a huge amount of excitement. Portal fans and friends from all over have been emailing/IMing me their questions, theories, thanks, and congrats. There's a lot of things I can't talk about and questions I can't answer, but I wanted to take a moment to thank everyone for the overwhelmingly awesome response and clear up any confusion about my involvement with Portal 2.
[IMG]http://jeepbarnett.com/gallery2/d/953-3/motivator_wcc.jpg[/IMG]
So, first: thanks everyone for the overwhelmingly awesome replies! Portal took years of hard work and was the culmination of everything we'd learned about creating games. Between the super positive internet reactions to its first reveal, the bombastic fan love after its release, the theme cakes mailed to our office, the subsequent awards, the clever essay disections, the diehard fans at conventions, and this massive response over 2 years later... it's been beautiful! Thank you!
[IMG]http://jeepbarnett.com/gallery2/d/12034-2/fanart_portal252.jpg[/IMG]
Now about Portal 2: I haven't worked on it. As Portal and The Orange Box's ship date approached, I put a lot of thought into what I wanted to work on next. We had a bunch of interesting internal projects that were just getting started, and I decided to join a team where I would have plenty to learn and could level up my programming/design skills. Since then, I've been working on a couple of projects and spent about 6 months helping with Left 4 Dead and L4D2.
[IMG]http://jeepbarnett.com/gallery2/d/99454-2/fanart_portal577.jpg[/IMG]
Meanwhile, Portal 2 began development with most of the original team (Dave, Garret, Realm, Paul, and Erik) and plenty of other kick-ass enthusiastic Valve people. If I was at all worried about the sequel not living up to and besting the original in every way, I would have wanted to join them and help, but the game could not have been in better hands. Additionally, I had this gut feeling that for Portal 2 to innovate beyond the original, it would benefit greatly from having fresh minds behind it. I poured my heart, soul, and many sleepless nights thinking into Portal... and now with new influences and new perspectives, Portal 2 will be able to evolve in important new directions.
[IMG]http://jeepbarnett.com/gallery2/d/15043-2/fanart_portal249.jpg[/IMG]
Finally, I love puzzle games and (selfishly) wanted the oppertunity to play Portal 2 without knowing all the puzzles or mechanics up front. I played through the game about a year ago and what they had, even then, was freaking brilliant! I can only imagine how much it's improved since then and will continue to improve up until release. Oh, and I don't know the details of how the ARG was dreamed up, but it certainly wasn't my doing. I was able to test it and give some feedback just before the update went out, but otherwise all your praise should go directly to the Portal 2 team.
[IMG]http://jeepbarnett.com/gallery2/d/99460-2/fanart_portal579.jpg[/IMG]
Whew... I didn't mean to write so much, but I'm totally psyched that Portal 2 news is finally out and can't wait to see how it turns out. As for the game I'm working on... as soon as I can talk about it, you'll be hearing from me again! :D
[b]TLDR:[/b] Thanks for the love! ITT all about me. Portal was my baby. Portal 2 is awesome, but not my baby.
You are awesome. Also it was hilarious to see you get banned by garry when you announced Portal and your hand in it.
And then proceed to be telling the truth.
ok.....wut.
[QUOTE=gt118;20599737]ok.....wut.[/QUOTE]
He works at Valve.
He gains the Conro seal of approval. He can now boast about it. Congrats.
How is it having a developer steam account, what with every game released on Steam?
What game are you working on that you can't talk about?
We can keep a secret ;)
Oh wow.
This guy makes me love Valve even more.
Oh wait, I sent them my heart in the mail, nevermind.
You's da best, PersonGuy.
Gold Member or Respected User?
I'm guessing he's one of the original people to get Gold Member.
Oh, and good on ya mate. Glad to see your idea for a game become a huge success with a sequel on the way. :golfclap:
[QUOTE=Just2Rusty;20599945]What game are you working on that you can't talk about?
We can keep a secret ;)[/QUOTE]
It's pretty obvious what game it is.
Interesting read that was.
So, was the announcement of Portal 2 the end of the ARG?
[QUOTE=Erebus.;20600099]It's pretty obvious what game it is.[/QUOTE]
Left 4 Dead 5
[QUOTE=Penguiin;20599890]How is it having a developer steam account, what with every game released on Steam?[/QUOTE]
Time consuming. But I'm not complaining.
Without you there would be no Portal. Therefore there would be no Portal 2.
So thanks!
That's pretty awesome.
[QUOTE=Just2Rusty;20599945]What game are you working on that you can't talk about?[/QUOTE]
Ricochet source. :P
Wow I didn't know we had a developer on Facepunch, that's awesome.
Oh awesome dude.
Cool man thanks for clearing up. Looking forward to the game and tell those developing now they're doing helluva good job and keep up the good work. Would be nice if you could provide some brief updates too over time, just anything :D
Oh cool a valve dev!
Oh wow I'm posting in the same thread as the guy whose worked on portal.
ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygod
How long have you worked for
Valve?
[QUOTE=Kyle902;20601169]How long have you worked for
Valve?[/QUOTE]
4 and a half years.
Look Ma! I'm posting in a thread written by a Valve developer.
Edot:
Q: Have you ever helped with anything on Team Fortress 2?
are you working on left 4 3 2 1 dead?
Were you one of the many people who were picked up by Valve to work for valve?
(i.e. a modder who got the attention of Valve)
It's good to see your still active with Valve. Keep up the good work.
Wow, that is cool.
I hope he isn't forwarding all of Facepunchs 'Gabe is fat' jokes..
Man, I'm jealous that you get to work for one of the best damn game companies in existence. How did you do it?
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