Copied from the agreed story (STORY.md) and the rule sheets
(2026-10-07); those two win if this drifts.
The Aerial Faith Plate (Portal 2's own name; the CAD's "Faithplate walls" confirm it): the ball
is caught by the launcher VUK [s-aerial], fired onto the platform by the exit, hits the pedestal
button [s-pedestal] and drops through the hidden hole that primes the Blue Portal.
- Period 1: 1B's "impossible" test (chamber 09). (The pedestal no longer opens the ball
dropper in 1B: the Super Button drops the cube, owner 2026-10-18.) The Faith Plate fanfare: each launch plays the next phrase of
the real Faith Plate music.
- Period 2: 2C's Conversion Gel window (20 s of boosted scoring on every other shot); the
left ramp's diverter sends the funnel shot into the Faith Plate room.
- Period 3: Turret Air: each launch flings a turret across the room and clears one finale
turret in advance (max 3); every third launch breaks the plate for 5 s ("You broke it, didn't
you.").
- Period 4: the plate still works in the ruins: each launch lights the next era-dial shot.
- Period 5: the pedestal opens the box (the climax).
- Co-op: course 2, Mass and Velocity.
- shot
shot_aerial — currently just a switch with no logic - simplest feature to implement,
per the resumption roadmap (CHANGES.md #3). Given no coil exists here, real-machine precedent (see
research doc) suggests treating this as a mode-qualifying step ("step on the plate to light
something else") rather than a standalone scoring shot, since it has no natural "repeat and build"
pattern the way a shot_group does.
DRAFT, needs a real game-balance pass with the user: 300/hit flat. Implemented in
modes/aerial/config/aerial.yaml as a single flat-scored shot, per the "mode-qualifying step, not a
standalone scoring shot" note above being itself still undecided - this is the simplest safe
baseline until that design pass happens.
From rule-sheets.md, not built yet: the rules above are what the mode does
today. Counts, timers and scores are drafts for the balance pass.
- 1B test "the impossible test": the Aerial Faith Plate once. Sign: "USE THE AERIAL FAITH PLATE".
- 2C: a Faith Plate shot starts a 20 s scoring boost on all other shots (once per window).
- 3A Turret Air: each launch pre-clears one finale turret (max 3); every 3rd launch disables
the shot for 5 s.
- Period 4: each launch lights the next dial shot.
- Period 5: the pedestal opens the box once it's loaded.
- Slide: modes/aerial/slides/aerial_hit.tscn - implemented with a springboard plate + dotted
ballistic-arc trail icon in "sky" cyan (distinct from portal-blue) on a matching tinted panel, per
the approved "Aperture Display Signage" graphics proposal.
- Show: modes/aerial/shows/aerial_hit.yaml - implemented (2026-08-27) as a white-to-cyan launch
flash. The "ballistic-arc trail" half isn't representable - only one LED (led-aerial) exists here.
- Sound: machinefolder/sounds/sfx/aerial_launch_impact.wav - implemented (2026-08-27) from the
user's Portal 2 sound extract, a platform-impact thud fitting the Faith Plate reference. DRAFT
pick, user plans to review/adjust manually. Picked (owner, 2026-10-24, sound library): sfx_longfall_land_01 (the long-fall
boots landing) for a launch (design/callouts.md's effects table).
board Overviews.xlsx's "Modes" sheet has a bare "aerial plate active" note and nothing else - the
specific rules still need a design pass with the user. Hardware wishlist (not blocking, not in any
phase yet): if an upkicker coil is ever added here, the standard real-machine use for this mechanism
type is a multiball-lock feeder or a mode-start scoop (VUK pattern) - see
design/research/portal-themes-and-pinball-design.md Part 2.
- 2026-10-07, story pass: the rules question above is answered by the rule sheets (the Story
rules). The pedestal [s-pedestal] has no feature yet; it belongs here with the launcher.