2026-10-25, branch away/cleanup. The last full critic panel on design/STORY.md before the
build is finished.
Comments only. Nothing here is removed, rejected or decided. Following the brainstorm's rules
(README.md): options don't have to agree, a hybrid is one more option next to the ones it's built
from, and the critics comment without taking anything out. The new hybrids (H120 onward) wait for
the owner like every earlier one.
design/STORY.md (the decided story, D1-D33), design/rule-sheets.md, design/callouts.mdREADME.md, and the three earlier panels, so points already settled aren't raised again:critics-agreed-story.md (H61-H81), critics-final-story.mddesign/research/story-chain/critics-meter-memory.md (H106-H119). "Settled in " marks adesign/sounds/catalog.csvdesign/sounds/script-portal1.md,script-portal2.md and script-portal2-coop.md; what's buildable against machinefolder/config/config.yaml, hardware-devices.yaml, machine-stats.yaml, settings.yaml),story_p3, credits_lap, major_shots) and the registrytools/hw_console/data/components.yaml, its status flags).Facts the panel found while checking, before any opinion. Each is a comment for the owner, not a
change.
wheatley_openinghello21, 10.0 s)wheatley_openinghello22, 10.9 s), and "tell them... everyone lookedwheatley_openingstorystraight02, 14.0 s). All three arecritics.md (2026-10-06) called "one of ten thousand" canon; the "still alive"callouts.md (period 4, "Opening, per wayglados_post_escape_bridge_03 (1.2 s) "Is anyone there?" after E8 - a Portal 1script-portal1.md:219), spoken by the AI the player has just destroyed. A turretturret_turret_autosearch_5, 2.5 s). -> H121.caroline_caroline_cave_responses82 (3.7 s, speech-to-text, not a caption)_responses56 (2.7) "Mr. Johnson, I don't want this!" and _responses63 (2.3), both speech-to-textmachinefolder/modes/credits_lap was built 2026-10-24 (every major shot lit, 10,000 a shot, awheatley_sp_intro_03_afterfallalt08,sp_a1_intro3, when a floor gives way under Chell), not fromcritics-final-story.md; the source wasn't named there.)story_p3.yaml (draft, CHANGES #86): ESCAPE = thes-exit-success, behind the Drp2 bank), DIVE DEEPER = the Blue Portal,major_gauntlet_hit while p3_radio==2). The exit sits behind three drop targets and thes-pedestal, which the registry lists as not obtained; 1B dropped its pedestal step ons-exit-success, VUK1-5/7/8, Up2-Up4, Pull1, the spinner, the orbits, thes-insinerator, s-pedestal. No componentcritics-final-story.md; the facts stand.glados_02_part1_success-2 (8.3) "...we will not monitor the nextglados_02_part2_success-1 (9.0) "...our previous statement suggesting thatglados_04_part1_entry-1glados_13_part1_endnag-1 (13.7) "...an independent panel of ethicists has absolved theglados_13_part1_middle-2b-2 (7.5) "In the event that the weighted companion cube does speak,cave_seventies_intro14 (7.3)wheatley_gloriousfreedom03 (11.4) "No rail to tell us where to go!... Just follow the rail,glados_fizzlecube01 (5.2) "Oh. Did I accidentally fizzle thatcuriosity_core_escape_02_sphere_curiosity-01stat_games),stat_cake, "always 0: the cake is a lie"), "SUBJECTS WHO COMPLIED / DEFIED",design/attract-pages.yaml, machine-stats.yaml).| # | Critic | Lens |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joost Verhagen, veteran pinball designer | Shot flow, holds and waits, callout length against live play, stacking, timers, what MPF 0.80 and this OPP cabinet can do |
| 2 | Margit Lund, Portal lore purist | Canon accuracy, tone (the humour and the sadness), lines in the wrong mouth or chapter |
| 3 | Lotte de Wit, first-time player | Knows Portal from memes and one weekend; has played pinball twice. What she can follow without a rulesheet |
| 4 | Kasimir Okafor, canon gap-finder | What both games have that the story leaves out; a checklist, a gap table, the top 10 |
| 5 | Orla Brennick, dystopian science-fiction writer | The story as dystopian fiction: power, control, consent, surveillance, the institution, the human cost, complicity, whether resistance is real, whether each ending earns its tone |
Joost Verhagen spent twenty-eight years on the floor side of pinball: ten fixing route machines,
the rest laying out rules for a small boutique maker that shipped four titles, none of them
licensed. He judges a table from the flipper buttons: what's lit, how long the ball sits still, and
whether the next shot is obvious. He likes story when it lands between shots, and distrusts any
rule a player has to have explained. "A home machine gets played by the same three people for ten
years. It can be deeper than a route game, but it can't be slower."
story-chain/options.md is still open). Fix: onecritics-final-story.md's toy table discussion).TODO.md that five story moments wait on it.s-pedestal) is described as present, but it isn'ttools/sim/playthrough.py sum the held seconds per level next to the 25-30critics-meter-memory.md (the TODO is there). Nothing new.docs/scoring.md's 62,500 in period 2 may be too small to teach that).critics-final-story.md (the owner kept a rocket per core); I only add: give the tour a timer ats-pedestal (ground truth 8). Both are alreadycritics-final-story.md).combo_switches device (it has acritics-final-story.md).Margit Lund has finished both games more times than she'll admit, owns the developer commentary as
a transcript, and once wrote a forty-page fan essay on the order of the Portal 1 core lines. She
doesn't object to inventing: she objects to inventing by accident, putting a line in a mouth or a
moment where its meaning flips. "Valve's jokes are always about something sad. If you keep the
joke and lose the sad part, it's just a quote."
glados_00_part1_success-3, 12.3glados_01_part1_entry-2). D23 makes every drain a fizzle,critics-meter-memory.md, and right.critics-final-story.mdglados_13_part1_endnag-1, 13.7 s) is the darkest joke in chamber 17 and it's unused,critics-final-story.md, H98).cave_seventies_intro14, 7.3 s) is unused; hiscritics-final-story.md and now in the right order.script-portal1.md:382). On SPARE HER it becomes the linecritics-agreed-story.md.turret_turret_autosearch_5, 2.5 s, "Is anyone there?"), after the announcer's "Vent systemannouncer_bb_neurotoxin06, 2.5 s). The facility runs oncave_fifties_outro08, caroline_caroline_cave_responses31, Portal 2 ch. 6), so theyTODO.md E4): wheatley_temp_wheatley_crush is GLaDOS's line, the cakesphere_cakemix-17/-22/-24), and many core and defective-turretLotte de Wit played Portal 2's co-op one weekend with her brother years ago and knows "the cake is a
lie" from the internet. She has played pinball twice, both times at a bar, both times for under
five minutes. She reads what's on the screen and shoots what flashes. "Tell me what to hit and why
I care. If I have to stand there while someone talks, the talking had better be funny."
critics-final-story.md; still open).machine-stats.yaml already keepsending_e1-ending_e8).Kasimir Okafor keeps a spreadsheet of every test element, every line and every ARG clue in both
games, and ticks things off when a fan project uses them. He doesn't care whether the story is
right (that's Margit's job): he checks what it leaves out. "Three panels have already found the
famous gaps. What's left are the quiet ones - the lines between the jokes - and those are where
Portal keeps its point."
How to read this. This is a fresh checklist from both games, checked against the final files
(S = STORY.md, R = rule-sheets.md, C = callouts.md) by grep. Items an earlier panel already raised
say so: still open (not taken yet) or settled (taken, or the owner decided). Only the
new rows feed the top 10. Voiceable = a catalogue row exists (file, seconds); music = a music
file; display = no recording, text only.
| Item | Game / chapter | Covered by, or missing | How the machine could use it | Voiceable |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| "The cake is a lie" | P1, dens | S/R LIE-CAKE, C rule 10 | - | display |
| "Now you're thinking with portals" | P1 tagline | S 1A, attract | - | display |
| "Speedy thing goes in..." | P1 ch. 10 | S/R/C 1A (A11 cut) | - | glados_06_part1_success_2-1 (9.8, split) |
| Still Alive / "This was a triumph" | P1 credits | S E1 slice, credits lap; H97 later | - | music music_portal_still_alive (176.5) |
| "Cake and grief counseling..." | P1 ch. 10 | C 1B Spell CAKE, attract | - | glados_10_part1_entry-2 (4.6) |
| "Good people don't end up here." | P1 escape | C drain pool | - | glados_escape_01_part1_nag02-1 (2.8) |
| "The Companion Cube will never threaten to stab you" | P1 ch. 17 | settled: dropped by the owner 2026-10-18 (hold kept short) | - | glados_13_part1_middle-2 (8.4) |
| "...the Companion Cube cannot speak" / "...disregard its advice" | P1 ch. 17 | missing (new) | the kept cube's plunge line (H125), answering Lab Rat's talking cube | glados_13_part1_middle-2b-1 (4.8), -2b-2 (7.5) |
| "...independent panel of ethicists has absolved..." | P1 ch. 17 | missing (new; the C1 nags use endnag-3/-7/-8 only) | after a burn, held (H125) | glados_13_part1_endnag-1 (13.7) |
| "...'unsatisfactory' mark on your official testing record followed by death." | P1 ch. 04 | missing (new) | the first drain's next plunge; the file's drain row (H124) | glados_04_part1_entry-1 (12.5) |
| "...we will not monitor the next test chamber" / "...an outright fabrication." | P1 ch. 02 | missing (new) | 1A -> 1B, the cameras' introduction (H123) | glados_02_part1_success-2 (8.3), glados_02_part2_success-1 (9.0) |
| "Your specimen has been processed..." | P1 ch. 00 | missing (new) | the intake card (H128), held | glados_00_part1_entry-3 (4.9) |
| "Android hell is a real place..." | P1 ch. 14 | still open (critics-final-story.md) |
1B live fire | glados_11_part1_success-1 (9.9) |
| "It makes shoes for orphans" | P1 escape | still open (critics-final-story.md) |
a 3B burn | glados_escape_01_part1_nag11-1 (8.8) |
| "You're the LAST test subject left." | P2 ch. 1 | missing (new; S Act I says the opposite) | H120 | wheatley_openinghello22 (10.9) |
| "No rail to tell us where to go!... Just follow the rail, actually." | P2 ch. 1 | missing (new) | H129 | wheatley_gloriousfreedom03 (11.4) |
| "Oh. Did I accidentally fizzle that...?" | P2 ch. 2 | missing (new) | H135 | glados_fizzlecube01 (5.2), glados_fizzlecube03 (1.7) |
| "Like an eagle. Piloting a blimp." | P2 ch. 3 | still open | first Faith Plate jackpot | glados_sp_catapult_fling_sphere_peek_completion01 (6.2) |
| "I AM NOT! A MORON!" | P2 ch. 5 | still open | branch | wheatley_bw_fgb_heel_turn21 (2.6) |
| "We want the best... Couldn't keep a straight face." | P2 ch. 6 (1970s) | missing (new) | 2B card (H126) | cave_seventies_intro14 (7.3) |
| "You're not part of the control group, by the way." | P2 ch. 6 (1950s) | still open (H84 (b), as a level name) | 2A gel test, held | cave_fifties_repulsion_intro03 (12.9) |
| "...volunteered to be injected with praying mantis DNA..." | P2 ch. 6 (1950s) | missing (new) | a 2A waiting-room bite (A5) | cave_fifties_waiting07 (6.7) |
| "Prometheus was punished by the gods..." | P2 (defective turret) | missing (new) | the oracle turret's pool, held | turret_different_turret04 (8.9) |
| "This sentence is false" | P2 ch. 9 | still open | branch 3B, display | display |
| The birds ("fed me to birds") | P2 epilogue | still open | E1 colour, held | glados_epilogue19 (11.7) |
| "Exile Vilify" | P2 ch. 9 | still open (not in the rip) | - | none |
| "SPAAACE!" | P2 ch. 9 | S branch E7 | - | space_core_space22 (1.8) |
| Item | Game / chapter | Covered by, or missing | How the machine could use it | Voiceable |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Portals, the dual device | both | S/R 1A | - | - |
| Weighted Storage Cube | P1 ch. 01 | C 1A Super Button | - | glados_00_part2_entry-1 (7.3) |
| Companion Cube | P1 ch. 17 | S/R/C C1 | - | - |
| Edgeless Safety Cube | P2 co-op | S Act I | - | glados_mp_coop_fling_3end01 |
| Discouragement Redirection Cube | P2 ch. 2 | R 1B relay (H89); its intro line not used (owner: too long) | - | glados_sp_a2_laser_stairs_intro02 (11.4) |
| Franken cube / Frankenturret | P2 ch. 8 | still open (critics-final-story.md) |
branch 3A | music music_Portal2-03-FrankenTurrets |
| Buttons (Super, pedestal, Stalemate) | both | S/R | - | - |
| Turrets (floor, defective, oracle, singing, rocket) | both | S/R/C | - | - |
| Energy pellets | P1 ch. 06-09 | R 1B pops | - | - |
| Unstationary Scaffold (moving platforms) | P1 ch. 03-08 | missing (new, minor) | Up1 rising as a "scaffold" to the top lanes in 1A | glados_03_part2_platform_activated-1 |
| Aerial Faith Plate | P2 ch. 2 | S/R | - | glados_faith_plate_intro01 (15.0, unused) |
| Hard Light Bridge | P2 ch. 3 | S/R | - | - |
| Excursion Funnel | P2 ch. 8 | S/R | - | - |
| Lasers, relays | P2 ch. 2-4 | R 1B relay (H89) | - | sfx_laser_activation_01 |
| Gels (four) | P2 ch. 6-7 + cut | S/R period 2 | - | - |
| Pneumatic Diversity Vents (the tubes) | P2 ch. 6-8 | missing (new) | the left ramp's PVC tubes as the vent when it carries a cube/turret ball; the Vital Apparatus Vent (S 1B) is the only vent named | sfx_delivery_tubes_lp_01-_04; commentary com-vacuum (31.4) |
| Crushers / panels | both | R 3A slings | - | - |
| The goo (deadly water) | P2 | missing (new, minor) | the outlanes as goo in period 4's ruins (the grill doesn't work there) | sfx_laser_lifts_goo_down (3.1) |
| Emancipation Grill: vaporizes equipment | both | S/R drain (D23) - but the subject passes through in canon | H135; Margit's sign word | glados_00_part1_success-3 (12.3) |
| Neurotoxin | P1, P2 ch. 5 | S/R 3A, 1C | - | announcer_bb_neurotoxin01 |
| Incinerator | P1 ch. 17 | S/R | - | - |
| Personality cores, P1's four | P1 escape | S/R (Morality named, H83); the Curiosity Core never speaks (new) | H134 | curiosity_core_escape_02_sphere_curiosity-01 ... (17 files, 0.7-2.9 s) |
| Corrupted cores | P2 ch. 9 | S/R branch | - | - |
| PotatOS | P2 ch. 6-9 | S branch | - | - |
| The moon portal | P2 ch. 9 | S branch | - | - |
| Long Fall Boots | P2 | still open (H90, not now) | - | glados_potatos_sp_a3_00_fall14 |
| Intelligence Dampening Sphere | P2 ch. 9 | S branch (H101) | - | - |
| Party escort bot | P1 end | S E2 | - | - |
| Observation rooms / cameras | both | R 1B pops; CAMERAS BLIND | H123 adds the lie about them | see quotes |
| Wheatley Laboratories (rebranded chambers) | P2 ch. 8 | missing (new) | branch 3A's sign (H136) | display |
| Item | Game / chapter | Covered by, or missing | Pinball mechanism | Voiceable |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Momentum through portals | P1 ch. 10 | S/R 1A | the Left Orbit out of a VUK | - |
| Flinging | P1 ch. 11-12 | R 1B Propulsion Run | the up-ramp | - |
| The infinite fall | P1 egg | S/R 1A | VUK to VUK swaps | sfx_egg_infinite_portal_01 |
| Repulsion / Propulsion / Conversion | P2 ch. 6-7 | R period 2 | pops+slings / orbits / portals | - |
| Speed + bounce (the long jump) | P2 ch. 7 | still open (H102, not now) | pop/sling then orbit in 3 s | sfx_player_bounce_jump_paint_01 |
| Adhesion (cut) | P2 cut | S/R | the magnet (not obtained) | sfx_player_enter_stick_paint_01 |
| Faith-plate arcs | P2 ch. 2 | S | the VUK onto the platform | - |
| Funnels carrying you | P2 ch. 8 | S | the tube ramp | - |
| Reversed funnel polarity | P2 ch. 8 | still open | the left ramp's diverter | - |
| Fizzling | both | R/C drain | the outlane | sfx_portal_fizzle_01 |
| Objects fizzled, then re-delivered | P2 ch. 2 | missing (new) | the kept cube fizzles at a drain and the Vital Apparatus Vent re-delivers it (H135) | glados_fizzlecube01, glados_13_part1_entry-1 |
| A portal on the wrong surface | both | still open | an unlit portal VUK buzzes | sfx_portal_invalid_surface_01 |
| Rockets through portals | P1 escape | S/R climax | Drp1 -> Orange -> Blue | - |
| A bridge or funnel through a portal | P2 ch. 3, 8 | missing (new, minor) | after a portal transfer, the bridge (LED-Bridge) lights from the far side for 10 s | - |
| Sucked into space | P2 ch. 9 | S branch (magnet) | - | - |
| Item | Game / chapter | Covered by, or missing | How the machine could use it | Voiceable |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| P1 chambers 00-19, escape, the finale | P1 | S Acts II, V | - | - |
| P2 ch. 1 Courtesy Call: the dead vault | P2 ch. 1 | S Act I - but "still alive" (new) | H120 | wheatley_openinghello22, _openingstorystraight02 (14.0) |
| P2 ch. 2-4 (names) | P2 | still open (H100) | - | display |
| P2 ch. 4 The Surprise | P2 | S (H88) | - | - |
| P2 ch. 5-9, epilogue | P2 | S, branch | - | - |
| Who gets tested, decade by decade | P2 ch. 6 + lore | missing (new; brainstorm L5, never taken or raised by a panel) | H126 | cave_fifties_intro01, cave_seventies_intro14, cave_eighties_intro03 |
| Co-op courses, the human vault | co-op | S/R co-op | - | - |
| Co-op DLC (Art Therapy, Peer Review) | co-op DLC | still open (H93) | - | - |
| Perpetual Testing Initiative | DLC | S/R period 4 | - | - |
| Rattmann's dens, murals | P1, P2 | S/R period 5 (six dens, D30) | - | - |
| Lab Rat: the box, the file, the list | comic | S E6, period 5 | - | display |
| Lab Rat: the talking cube | comic | partly (period 5's "Don't.") | GLaDOS's "disregard its advice" as the setup (H125) | see quotes |
| Lab Rat: Henry and "Bring Your Cat to Work Day" | comic | missing (new, minor) | a period 5 den scrawl (display) | display |
| ARG: the radios | P1 patch | S the radio route, C A8 | - | sfx_dinosaur* |
| ARG: the BBS ("GLaDOS login:") | ARG | missing (new; brainstorm L9, not taken) | a rare attract page (H137) | display |
| ARG: "VALUABLE ASSET RETRIEVAL INITIATED" | ARG update | missing (new; brainstorm L10) | E2's drag card (H137) | display |
| Valve's commentary | P1, P2 | S H92 (attract, not built) | - | 83 commentary_com-* |
| Aperture's history: Aperture Fixtures, the Borealis | lore | missing (new, minor) | quote/propaganda cards in attract | display |
| Black Mesa rivalry | P2 ch. 6 | still open | - | cave_seventies_intro16 (18.0, split) |
Count: 91 items. 51 covered (one of them, the grill, only partly canon), 16 still open from
earlier panels, 24 new gaps (5 of them minor). The new ones cluster in two places: Portal 1's PA lines between the famous jokes (the
monitoring lie, the record, the ethics panel, the speaking cube) and canon's human cost (the dead
vault, who gets tested, the rail).
Orla Brennick writes dystopian novels in the genre's long tradition - the managed society, the
ledger that knows you better than you do, the rebel who turns out to be part of the plan. Her books
(The Compliance Engine, Quiet Hours) are about institutions that are polite while they hurt
you. She came to Portal late and thinks it's one of the best dystopias of its century, precisely
because it's funny: "The jokes are the PA system. A regime that sounds friendly is the most
frightening kind." Her test for every beat: who holds power here, what is the player agreeing to,
and does the ending pay for its tone?
glados_mp_credits43, 1.9 s). The only truly free act gets one line in the record - which is alsoglados_00_part1_entry-3,cave_seventies_intro07) punch down. Rule 9 doesn't name them, and in a dystopia they'resettings.yaml plays it) isTone check, ending by ending: E1 hope with a pull back (good, and better with H131); E2
despair, canon's own (good); E3 tragic irony (earned); E4 cold irony (earned); E5 hope
(earned); E6 irony dressed as triumph (needs H128 to be read right); E7 farce (the branch's
licence, fine); E8 a hollow victory - the tyrant dies and the facility carries on (good, and
H121 makes it audible: the announcer and a turret, no ruler).
pa_taunts is on), and the service menu's title "ADMINISTRATOR ACCESS".Champions (three or more critics):
critics-final-story.md.Shared worries (three or more critics):
critics-final-story.md) - Joost, Lotte, and Orlacritics-final-story.md): the Blue Portal's VUK has no registry part, the box opens on anEach is an extra option next to what it's built from; none replaces anything. "Changes" names a
decided item it would touch; "none" means it fits the decisions as they stand. Lines are checked in
catalog.csv (seconds; all captions unless marked speech-to-text). "Held" follows callouts rule 2.
| # | Option | Built from | Changes |
|---|---|---|---|
| H120 | The last subject. STORY Act I reads "(he says one of ten thousand; you're the last one left)". Ball 1 keeps today's knock. Later, on the plunge after the third hiding-spot hit (which lights the escape lock early), held: Wheatley's confession wheatley_openinghello22 (10.9) "You're the LAST test subject left...". Optional: wheatley_openingstorystraight02 (14.0) "...everyone looked pretty much alive. Alright? Not dead." on the period 1 small ending's file; attract's vault page adds "SUBJECTS IN SUSPENSION: 1". |
Act I, Wheatley's visits (1B/1C), attract base screen (D28), ground truth 1 | Act I's wording (not a D) |
| H121 | The facility without her. Period 4's opening after E8: announcer_bb_neurotoxin06 (2.5) "Vent system compromised: Neurotoxin offline." -> a turret's "Is anyone there?" (turret_turret_autosearch_5, 2.5) instead of GLaDOS's glados_post_escape_bridge_03 -> "Powerup initiated." as now. |
E8 (D23, D29), period 4 "the way in", callouts period 4 | callouts' opening row (an owner pick, not a D) |
| H122 | Caroline's voice, taken. One form for her last line: (a) text only, as STORY says (drop the voiced take from callouts' super-jackpot sequence); or (b) the voiced protest (caroline_caroline_cave_responses82, 3.7, speech-to-text; or _56, 2.7) cut off mid-word by the upload sound, then her last line as text. A10's listen decides which take, if any. |
D26, STORY Act VII, callouts period 4 super jackpot, A10 | none for (a); (b) aligns STORY with callouts |
| H123 | The unmonitored chamber, and the blind spot. At a 1A plunge after the portal test: glados_02_part1_success-2 (8.3, held) "...we will not monitor the next test chamber. You will be entirely on your own. Good luck."; in 1B at the first camera line: glados_02_part2_success-1 (9.0, held at the next plunge) "...an outright fabrication." While CAMERAS BLIND runs, a lit Rattmann hint's passage stays open ~5 s longer (draft). |
1B cameras (R), Rattmann's hints, H106 | none |
| H124 | The official testing record. The plunge after the first drain of a game (held): glados_04_part1_entry-1 (12.5) "...an 'unsatisfactory' mark on your official testing record followed by death. Good luck!" Your file's drain row is headed "UNSATISFACTORY MARKS". |
K1, H113 + R5 (the file), callouts' drain row (its first-drain line stays) | none |
| H125 | Chamber 17's long nags, held. After a burn, on the second plunge (H110's commendations take the first): glados_13_part1_endnag-1 (13.7) "...an independent panel of ethicists has absolved... all test subjects of any moral responsibility for the Companion Cube euthanizing process."; the file adds "MORAL RESPONSIBILITY: ABSOLVED". After a keep, on the next plunge: glados_13_part1_middle-2b-2 (7.5) "In the event that the weighted companion cube does speak, the Enrichment Center urges you to disregard its advice." (period 5's "Don't." answers it). |
C1, H105, H110's timing rule, R4 | none |
| H126 | The roster. Each period 2 decade card gets its subject-pool line and one sign word: 2A cave_fifties_intro01 (10.6, already the card) "Astronauts, war heroes, Olympians...", "SUBJECT POOL: VOLUNTEERS"; 2B cave_seventies_intro14 (7.3) "...we want the best, and you're it. Nope. Couldn't keep a straight face.", "PAID"; 2C cave_eighties_intro03 (9.4) "...mandatory for all employees...", "MANDATORY" (copied, rule 11: E3 keeps it too). Period 1's sign: "SUBJECT POOL: 1". No orphans memo (rule 9). |
lore A3, brainstorm L5, period 2's sign per decade, E3 | none |
| H127 | Instructions ignored. At an arrow moment (H106), a shot that's neither her order nor his arrow still counts 0 on the meter (as decided), but the file counts it: "INSTRUCTIONS IGNORED: n", read with glados_mp_credits43 (1.9) "Ignores directions." when n >= 3. |
D32 (H106's "neither nothing"), H113, R5 | none (the meter is unchanged) |
| H128 | The intake form. Ball 1's start card adds "CONSENT: SUBJECT REFUSED TO ANSWER." (Lab Rat's intake form, display only); optional held line glados_00_part1_entry-3 (4.9) "Your specimen has been processed and we are now ready to begin the test proper." E6's last page repeats the consent line under TOP OF THE LIST. |
Act I, lore A3/A6, E6, H113 | none |
| H129 | The rail. A held moment before the fall (the escape multiball's lock 3 hold or the third hiding-spot plunge, whichever H120 doesn't use): wheatley_gloriousfreedom03 (11.4) "No rail to tell us where to go!... Just follow the rail, actually." |
Wheatley's visits, 1C, Act III | none |
| H130 | The cabinet as Aperture. Attract stats add "SUBJECTS RELEASED" (games that made LEAVE FOR GOOD) next to "TEST SUBJECTS PROCESSED"; the high-score table is titled "SUBJECTS OF RECORD" (P20 already plays at initials entry); the service menu's title line reads "ADMINISTRATOR ACCESS". Display only. | attract stats (D32, machine-stats.yaml), pa-snippets.md P20, settings.yaml |
none |
| H131 | Signal ignored. On LEAVE FOR GOOD the radio's crackle runs under "It's been fun. Don't come back." and fades; the file says "ESCAPED." and below it "SIGNAL IGNORED." (the radio route keeps "ESCAPED. CAME BACK ANYWAY."). | E1, the radio route (owner, 2026-10-19), E6's file line | none |
| H132 | C3, named, and one shot to leave. STORY and the sign name C3's shots: ESCAPE = the Turret Gauntlet exit, DIVE DEEPER = the Blue Portal, FOLLOW THE ARROW = Drp1 (3+ hints), as story_p3.yaml drafts them. The Drp2 bank isn't reset from wave 3 until LEAVE FOR GOOD's window closes, so leaving is one hard shot, not four (no KD1 to lower a reset bank). The card says "TO LEAVE: THE EXIT, 10 S". |
C3 (D31, owner 2026-10-25), story_p3.yaml, 3B wave 3, KD1 not obtained |
none (doc + a reset rule) |
| H133 | The held-time budget. tools/sim/playthrough.py sums every held second per level (cards, choice windows and graces, lock and dropper holds, den holds, file quotes, tapes) next to the 25-30 minutes; a draft ceiling (e.g. 10% of a game at Advanced) decides which new held lines (H120-H129) get a plunge and which wait. |
rule 2, D33, H96, the playthrough model | none |
| H134 | The Curiosity Core speaks. In Her Cores, the cores' jackpot chatter adds the Curiosity Core's short questions (flavour, 0.7-2.1 s: "Who are you?", "What is that?", "Where are we going?", "Is that a gun?") next to the Anger core's growl; at its burn, curiosity_core_escape_02_sphere_curiosity-15 (1.3) "Do you smell something burning?" (already the attract stat's line). Only lines without "lady"/"angel" (TODO.md E4). |
Her Cores (3A), H83, callouts | none |
| H135 | Fizzled and re-delivered. Optional, once per game, if C1 kept the cube: at a drain while the cube icon rides the sign, held at the next plunge: glados_fizzlecube01 (5.2) "Oh. Did I accidentally fizzle that before you could complete the test? I'm sorry." -> glados_13_part1_entry-1 (7.0) "The Vital Apparatus Vent will deliver a Weighted Companion Cube...". The file still says KEPT. |
C1, D23, Portal 2 ch. 2 | none (touches what "kept" feels like: the owner's call) |
| H136 | Wheatley Laboratories. On the branch's 3A the chamber sign's header reads WHEATLEY LABORATORIES (Portal 2 ch. 8's rebranding), his art on the sign. | the branch's 3A, D13/D14 | none |
| H137 | The ARG's paper trail. E2's drag card reads "VALUABLE ASSET RETRIEVAL INITIATED" with an ETA ("AFTER THE HEAT-DEATH OF THE UNIVERSE"); a rare attract page shows the 2010 BBS ("GLaDOS login: backup") and a scrawl. Display only. | brainstorm L9, L10, lore C2, E2, attract pages | none (attract's rotation was trimmed 2026-10-25; adding a page is the owner's call) |
| H138 | The grill names what it took. The drain's sign word follows what the ball is (OW-3): CUBE / TURRET / CORE EMANCIPATED; when the ball is you, "EQUIPMENT EMANCIPATED" (the grill vaporizes equipment, not subjects). Rule 3's fizzle and mock unchanged. | D23, OW-3, rule 10, glados_00_part1_success-3 |
none (sign text) |
| H139 | Three on the sign. Where more than three tests are lit (1B on levels 0-2), the sign's icon row shows the three nearest to done and cycles the rest; the inserts show all. | D13, D14, D26, CHANGES #98 | none |
| H140 | Say what a choice does. Two words under the faces: at arrow moments "OBEY" / "FOLLOW"; at C1b "CAVE: BONUS" / "CAROLINE: A LETTER"; at C5 "HOME" / "HER". | H106, D22/D32's grammar, C1b, C5 | none |
| H141 | Mercy leaves a mark. After SPARE HER, period 4's opening shows her state ("GLaDOS: 12% POWER", display) and the next game opens with a spare-side line (to pick), mirroring H111's E8 line. | D31, H111, period 4's way in | none |
| H142 | 3A by level. At levels 0-1, one 3A side mode at a time (the first earned runs; the others queue); levels 2-3 as written. Turret Air always reachable. | H103's drip (1B), 3A side modes, docs/scoring.md 6 |
none |
| H143 | Endings on record. The file's second page adds "ENDINGS ON RECORD: n OF 8" from machine-stats.yaml's ending_e1-ending_e8. |
R5, R6, the certificate wall's removal (2026-10-25) | none |
Also noted, wording only (no hybrid): STORY's credits lap "Not built yet" (built 2026-10-24, ground
truth 5); "she decides, 'the cube is kept for further testing'" (display text, ground truth 4); the
paragraph's "burn her cores - or watch her be destroyed" (Margit); the playfield's pedestal described as
present (ground truth 8); the Blue Portal's VUK has no registry component yet (ground truth 9).
STORY.md's "Open points", one row each.
| Open point | Joost (designer) | Margit (lore) | Lotte (first-time) | Kasimir (gaps) | Orla (dystopia) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The 3 core locks | The multiball locks stand in (Q 2); don't build them before the trunk runs on the cabinet | Three seats for four cores is canon if the Morality Core comes from the box | I'd never know | Name the seated three on the sign (Curiosity, Intelligence, Anger) and let the Curiosity Core talk (H134) | Three cells for her conscience: let the sign call them "CONTAINMENT" |
| Drp1's hidden passage | Needs a switch behind it, or the dens run on "Drp1 went down" forever | Rattmann's crawlspace behind a panel: canon | A light on it when it's open (still open from critics-final-story.md) |
It's also the rocket turret: keep the two looks apart on the sign | The dissident's door in the regime's wall; under CAMERAS BLIND it should stay open longer (H123) |
| Up2's shortcut gate | Place it where the flippers can see it open | No canon stake | A gate I see open = "shortcut" | Could double as the Unstationary Scaffold cue in 1A (gap table) | A shortcut the dissident cut: label it as his, not hers |
| The LED strips and the hint LED row | Strips first; the hint row can wait | The yellow lines are Portal 1's floor guides | The blue line is the skill shot I'd understand | The row as his wall is canon art in lights | Two records side by side: her file on the screen, his wall in the playfield |
| The small playfield screen | Stretch | No stake | I wouldn't look at it | The den display (D30) is the better small screen | A screen inside the playfield is a camera's view: show what GLaDOS sees, rarely |
| Magnet, shaker, launch-lane diverter, co-op button, tilt | Shaker and tilt first (every period); the co-op button can be a combo_switches flipper pair until it exists |
The magnet's "SPACE!" grab is the branch's best physical canon | The shaker is the one I'd feel | The diverter refills the dropper: the Vital Apparatus Vent | The tilt is the regime's "Cheater." on your file: wire it before the file ships |
| KD1 (a knock-down coil on one turret target) | Not needed for a falling turret, but H132's "bank stays down" needs either KD1 or no reset | A sabotaged turret falling by itself is ch. 5 canon | Only if I see it fall | Pair its drop with a defective-turret line | The sabotage remembered and acted out: resistance with a physical trace |
| Cave in short bites | Period 2 lives on it; pick the roster lines (H126) in the same pass | Bites from the decade of the chapter | Short is the only way I'd hear him | 819 candidates; the mantis-DNA bite is one (gap table) | Keep the ones where his contempt is aimed at the subject, so the institution speaks, not the machine |
| The broken PA fragments | Fine as made (A3) | "No character speaks" (H94) | One word I can act on | A4's single words are still the real gap | The PA on autopilot is the regime without a ruler; the less it says, the better |
| The faster Space Core copies | Branch only now; fine | Branch only (settled, H98) | Funny | SPACE! stays branch-only; settled | No stake |
| Listens: E8's scream, The Surprise, the momentum cut | E8 needs the shaker's timing with the scream | The scream's caption is speech-to-text-ish ("Rrr, I hate you"): listen before trusting it | I'd want the scream loud | - | E8 is the hollow victory; the scream should be short, then silence (H121) |
| Caroline's speech-to-text lines (A10) | Pick one take or none (H122) | Speech-to-text, not captions: listen first; likely cut content | Don't make me read what she just said | Three takes exist (_56, _63, _82) |
The text-only version is the stronger one: her voice is what's taken |
| The chapter rule sheets | Numbers per level next (H96); add 3A's drip (H142) | Fine | The sign rules are my rule sheet | Add the missing toys as options (H134, H135) | Fine |
| The callout script | Sum the held seconds (H133) before adding H120-H129 | Fix the E8 opening (H121) and the cube "further testing" wording | Fewer, shorter lines in 1B | Add the new rows' files, marked as options | Add the dark ones on existing plunges only |
The art list (plans/art-and-screens.md) |
Sign icons first | Murals and den art from the games, sources noted | Big arrows, clear faces | WHEATLEY LABORATORIES (H136), the BBS page (H137) | The intake card and the file pages are the dystopia's documents: give them the most care |
| Earlier hardware questions (Portal A, standups, VUK roles) | Give the Blue Portal's VUK a registry part now | No stake | One name per portal | - | - |
| The final review's "not now" items (H85, H87, H90, H93, H99, H100, H102, H104) and "later" (H96, H97) | H99 (compete locks) before compete is played; H96 with H133 | H100 (The Cold Boot) still the better 3A name | H85's one colour per shot would help me most | H90, H93, H102 are still the open gaps | H97: Still Alive is the regime's own victory song - worth wiring before the credits lap ships |
| The length's level (H96) | Measure on the cabinet at Advanced, with the held seconds (H133) | No stake | Tell me how long my level takes | - | A home machine's dystopia should be finishable in one evening; say which level that is |