The toy table and one rule sheet per chapter: what the player shoots, what's lit, the timers,
what lights the multiball, the layers and the small ending. Built from STORY.md (the
story, the single source of truth) and the final review's per-item changes
(research/story-brainstorm/review-b-changes.md, D28). This is step 1 of plans/story-to-build.md (retired, CHANGES #160).
These sheets become the MPF mode designs and feed each feature's ## Story and ## Rules
sections in design/features/.
Status: reviewed with the owner (2026-10-07); all 8 open questions answered (listed at the
end). Every count, timer and score here is still a draft for the balance pass on the
cabinet. The counts and timers here are Advanced Testing's, level 2 of the difficulty setting;
the other levels' values: docs/scoring.md section 6 (CHANGES #97).
Shot names follow the agreed shot list (shots.md, round 5). Part labels in
brackets are registry labels (tools/hw_console/data/components.yaml).
¶ The shots and toys
The 8 major shots (left to right): Left Orbit, Incinerator, Excursion Funnel, Aerial Faith
Plate, Turret Gauntlet, Orange Portal, Hard Light Bridge, Propulsion Run. Plus: the Blue
Portal (its own VUK, a new hole and up-kicker (owner, 2026-10-19; needs a playfield change); no longer the Mid-Flipper's shot), the Super Button [S-RollOver] with its
standup, the top lanes (LIE) and bottom lanes (CAKE), the 6 placed standups and the 7th (not placed yet), the pops
and slings, the spinner, and the story toys: the ball dropper [Servo1], Rattmann's panel [Drp1],
the lemon target [Pull1], the shortcut gate [Up2], the Incinerator post [Up4], the 3 core locks
(new), the LED strips, the hint LED row, the shaker.
The 3 multiball locks (hardware answer H8): lock 1 the Hard Light Bridge into the ball dropper
(Div1 -> VUK6 -> Servo1), lock 2 the Incinerator, lock 3 the Turret Gauntlet's exit. With the
ball in play, a 4-ball multiball.
Which toy each chapter uses, and for what. Bold = the chapter's main use; plain = a layer or
a side use; - = idle. Codes are the story items (beats and arcs) in the final review.
| Toy |
1A |
1B |
1C |
2A |
2B |
2C |
3A |
3B + climax |
4 |
5 |
Co-op |
| Left Orbit + spinner |
test: momentum |
spinner: laser relay |
jackpot (hoses) |
- |
Propulsion Gel |
- |
timed test; arrows |
jackpot tour |
dial shot |
official/arrow shot |
Mobility Gels; retrieval |
| Incinerator [+ Up4] |
- |
chain step 3 (burn) |
lock 2 |
- |
lock 2 (sixty dollars) |
- |
timed test |
burns the cores |
- |
official/arrow shot |
- |
| Excursion Funnel |
- |
test: the funnel |
jackpot (hoses) |
- |
- |
via diverter to the Faith Plate |
timed test; ramp music |
jackpot tour |
dial shot |
official/arrow shot |
course 4 |
| Aerial Faith Plate + pedestal |
- |
test: "impossible" |
- |
- |
- |
conversion gel window |
timed test; Turret Air |
jackpot tour |
the plate still works |
box: open (pedestal) |
course 2 |
| Turret Gauntlet (Drp2 + exit) |
voices |
voices; sabotage |
lock 3: the exit / the fire |
- |
- |
lock 3: the elevator |
voices; frenzy |
wave 3; jackpot tour |
the time machine's door (lock) |
official/arrow shot |
course 1 |
| Orange Portal [Up3] |
test: a portal |
infinite fall |
jackpot |
- |
- |
Conversion Gel |
timed test; shortcut |
rocket path; jackpot tour |
dial shot |
official/arrow shot |
multiball (P-body) |
| Blue Portal [its own VUK, new] |
test: the transfer |
chain fork: keep the cube |
jackpot |
- |
- |
Conversion Gel |
timed test |
rocket exit |
dial shot |
- |
multiball (ATLAS) |
| Hard Light Bridge + ball dropper |
- |
chain step 1 (cube lock) |
lock 1 |
lock 1 |
- |
- |
Bridge Shield |
jackpot tour; the 4th core |
dial shot |
box: load |
course 3 |
| Propulsion Run |
infinite fall loops |
test: the fling |
- |
- |
Propulsion Gel |
- |
timed test |
jackpot tour |
dial shot |
official/arrow shot |
Mobility Gels |
| Super Button + standup |
test: cube and button |
chain step 2 (the cube drops onto it) |
the argument |
voucher |
voucher |
voucher |
- |
Stalemate button; super jackpot |
- |
- |
course 1 |
| Top lanes (LIE) + Up1 |
skill shot (a top lane, Up1 down); LIE: its own parallel mode (from 1A) |
LIE layer |
LIE layer |
skill shot; Fine Print |
Fine Print |
moon-rock super skill shot |
skill shot hurry-up |
- |
- |
- |
course 1 |
| Bottom lanes (CAKE) + kickback |
CAKE: its own parallel mode (from 1A); recipe |
test: spell CAKE; recipe |
CAKE layer |
Fine Print |
Fine Print |
Fine Print |
CAKE layer |
- |
- |
- |
- |
| Standups (6) |
- |
test: live fire; Wheatley's hiding spots |
hiding spots |
science fair (TS-13) |
- |
- |
oracle; red phone (2 -> 3) |
waves 1 and 2 |
- |
- |
course 1 |
| 7th standup (not placed) |
- |
his count |
his count |
- |
- |
- |
his count |
dark |
- |
a dot on his wall |
- |
| Pops |
- |
test: pellets; cameras |
cameras |
Repulsion Gel |
- |
- |
redemption line |
- |
Space Core (after E7) |
- |
Team Building; Mobility Gels |
| Slings |
- |
- |
- |
Repulsion Gel |
- |
- |
crushers |
- |
- |
- |
Mobility Gels |
| Drp1 (Rattmann's panel) |
- |
hint passage; den 1 |
hint passage; den 1 |
hint passage; den 2 |
hint passage; den 2 |
hint passage; den 2 |
hint passage; den 3 |
rocket turret (climax only) |
den 4 |
his panel: the dens |
- |
| Pull1 (lemon target) |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
lemon target |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
| Up2 (shortcut gate) |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
shortcut |
- |
- |
- |
- |
| 3 core locks (new; for now the 3 multiball locks) |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
Her Cores multiball |
cores released |
- |
- |
- |
| LED strips |
- |
- |
exit lights |
the blue line |
blue line |
blue line |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
| Hint LED row |
- |
a LED per hint |
per hint |
per hint |
per hint |
per hint |
per hint |
- |
- |
his wall |
- |
| Magnet (HW-15) |
- |
- |
- |
Adhesion Gel (secret) |
Adhesion Gel (secret) |
Adhesion Gel (secret) |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
| Shaker |
- |
- |
the fire |
- |
- |
- |
neurotoxin clock |
explosion |
- |
- |
- |
What the table shows:
- Overloaded: the ball dropper (the cube lock, lock 1, the 4th core, the box) and the
Incinerator (the chain, lock 2, the burn). Both are used one at a time, so they don't clash,
but they need the dropper auto-reload (the launch-lane diverter) or the shot fallback (STORY.md
build order).
- Idle in a whole period: the slings in periods 1, 4 and 5 (ambient sounds only); Up2 outside
3A; Pull1 outside 2C; the Mid-Flipper has no story use of its own, it feeds the Faith Plate (the Blue Portal
gets its own VUK, owner 2026-10-19). These are fine as they are.
- The magnet (HW-15) has two uses (Q 7): period 2's secret Adhesion Gel and the Wheatley
branch's "SPACE!" grab.
Every held choice (C0, C1b, the last core, C3, C5) runs on one clock, so real choices are chosen,
not timed out. 10 s decisive window at every level: a pick here scores the DECISIVE bonus
(50,000 base times the period's multiplier, the same as the choice itself - owner 2026-10-24; docs/scoring.md). Then the grace: no bonus; both shots flash and the character
nags once (each fork's lines: its "grace nag" row in callouts.md; at C1b Cave nags at 10 s and Caroline answers halfway to the time-out, owner 2026-10-25). For C1b, C3 and C5 (C0 and the last core never time out, below), the window in all, by the testing
protocol: level 0 never times out (ball held, the nag repeats every 20 s), level 1 30 s,
level 2 20 s, level 3 15 s. On a time-out: the announcer's "Interpreting vague answer as YES.", the
default side happens (the lit side, or the fork's own default), and it never counts as a choice
(neither the meter nor Cave's record moves, and no choice points: only a made shot scores the choice, owner 2026-10-24). Exceptions with their own clock: C1 (a shot fork
with the ball in play: ~30 s, GLaDOS's nags, then a clear pause, then kept) and LEAVE FOR GOOD (10 s, the ball in play).
Never times out (owner, 2026-10-24 review, Time-outs tab): C0 (the ball waits until you plug
Wheatley in or refuse; the default, should one ever be needed, is refuse) and the last core
(the ball waits for burn or spare; the default, should one ever be needed, is the side the meter lit,
burn on an even meter). Their decisive window and grace nags stay. C1b's time-out is voiced by
Cave himself (one of three lines at random, owner 2026-10-25), and C5's by Cave's ghost (one of three
lines at random, owner 2026-10-25), not the announcer.
Built (machinefolder/modes/story_p1, with the shared layers in story_layers, arrows,
caroline, story_meter), on the virtual platform only: the three chapters' tests, the cube chain
and C1 with its way out, 1C's locks and exit, the escape multiball, the callouts and the screens.
Not built yet (TODO.md): the lights per chapter (A1), 1C's jackpots (A9), the physical locks - a lock
is progress only, the ball isn't held (C2) - and C0, so the escape always refuses (B1). The portal and
ramp switches the shots count on are to check on the cabinet.
Applies all period: the chamber sign with its icons; the turret drop bank speaks Portal 1's
classic turret lines and every reset is the un-boxer; the pops are GLaDOS's cameras (every 10th
hit a camera line; a pops total gives "CAMERAS BLIND": the cube chain's timers pause for a few
seconds). A drain is a fizzle at the grill at once, then ~1 s later GLaDOS's mock (callouts rule 3).
¶ 1A The Courtesy Call (chambers 00-05 and 10)
-
Goal: finish any 3 of the 4 tests (step 4, owner 2026-10-07).
-
Tests (3 lit at a time; finishing one lights the next; the sign shows each one's rule):
| Chamber |
Test |
Made by |
Sign |
| 01 |
Cube and button |
The Super Button, once |
"PRESS THE SUPER BUTTON" |
| 02-03 |
A portal |
The Orange Portal, from the front |
"SHOOT THE ORANGE PORTAL" |
| 04-05 |
Through the portals |
A portal transfer (Orange <-> Blue) |
"SEND IT THROUGH BOTH PORTALS" |
| 10 |
Momentum |
The Left Orbit, once |
"LEFT ORBIT: SPEEDY THING GOES IN" |
-
Featured beat (within ~5 shots): the first portal: GLaDOS explains it, both portal inserts
pulse, "Now you're thinking with portals" on screen.
-
Momentum comes forward from chamber 10 (owner, 2026-10-07), so 1A teaches it too: the
Left Orbit test plays "speedy thing goes in, speedy thing comes out" (or the first fast portal
exit onto an orbit, if that comes first). Also: the infinite fall (2+ swaps within ~4 s, each extra swap doubles).
-
Ball start: the wake-up plunge (Wheatley knocks; the random subject number); ball 1 is the
Edgeless Safety Cube. Skill shot: hitting a top lane from the plunge, with Up1 (the popup post
in the top lanes) down (owner, 2026-10-19). Completing LIE is not part of it: LIE runs as its own
parallel mode.
-
Timers: none.
-
Multiball: none in 1A.
-
Layers: the lanes only: LIE and CAKE, each its own parallel mode, from 1A on (owner, 2026-10-19); the
rest start in 1B.
-
Done: chapter card "CHAPTER 1B - THE COMPANION CUBE", ball held ~2 s.
-
Small ending (game over here): back to the vault, "You are a horrible person.", then
"NEXT: CHAPTER 1B - THE COMPANION CUBE" and your file.
-
The second panel's picks (D34, owner 2026-10-31): ball 1's card adds "CONSENT: SUBJECT REFUSED TO
ANSWER." with "Your specimen has been processed..." held (H128); the sign shows SUBJECT POOL: 1 (H126); at
the plunge after the portal test, held, "...we will not monitor the next test chamber..." (H123); at the
plunge after the game's first drain, held, "...an 'unsatisfactory' mark on your official testing record..."
(H124, any period with GLaDOS: 1 and 3).
-
Goal: start all 6 tests and finish the cube chain (start to qualify, finish to multiply:
each finished test adds +1x to the escape multiball's jackpots).
-
Tests (3 lit at a time on Military Android; finishing one lights the next, in this order.
On the other difficulty levels all 6 are lit from the start - CHANGES #98):
| Chamber |
Test |
Made by (draft) |
Sign |
| 06-07 |
Pellets |
25 pop hits |
"BOUNCE THE PELLET 25 TIMES" |
| 09 |
The impossible test |
The Aerial Faith Plate, once |
"USE THE AERIAL FAITH PLATE" |
| 11-12 |
The fling |
The Propulsion Run, twice |
"PROPULSION RUN TWICE" |
| 13 |
The funnel |
The Excursion Funnel, twice |
"EXCURSION FUNNEL TWICE" |
| 14-15 |
Cake |
Spell CAKE in the bottom lanes |
"SPELL CAKE" |
| 16 |
Live fire |
3 lit standups |
"HIT THE LIT TURRETS" |
-
The cube chain (chamber 17), lit from the start of 1B next to the tests:
- Hard Light Bridge -> Div1 -> VUK6: the cube is locked in the dropper ("CUBE STATUS:
UNKNOWN"). This is the featured beat (within ~5 shots).
- The Super Button: Servo1 drops the cube onto it ("ALIVE" or "INCONCLUSIVE"), "The Vital
Apparatus Vent will deliver a Weighted Companion Cube..." (the pedestal step is gone, owner
2026-10-18). The chain stays in order at every level (G6).
- Choice C1, a shot fork: the Incinerator burns the cube (GLaDOS's canon line, "You
euthanized your faithful Companion Cube...", held, with "COMPANION CUBE EUTHANIZED" on the
display, then Rattmann's poem; D29), the Blue Portal keeps it. Only a made shot counts.
The way out (H105): if neither is made within ~30 s (draft), GLaDOS's end nags escalate,
then a clear pause (owner, 2026-10-24 review: the nags and "kept" a moment apart, ~3 s draft), then she decides, "the cube is kept for further testing" (the keep side; the sign says so),
voiced by the announcer's "Interpreting vague answer as YES." (D32, H118).
- GLaDOS's chamber 17 lines play at each step; Rattmann's graffiti answers on the display a
beat later. (H91's "...will never threaten to stab you" during step 1's hold is dropped,
owner 2026-10-18: the hold stays short.)
-
Timers: none (the chain has no clock; "CAMERAS BLIND" is only a bonus).
-
Multiball: none; finishing 1B opens the exit (1C).
-
The laser relay (H89, a side mode): the spinner is a Thermal Discouragement Beam relay.
Spinning plays the laser beam sound for as long as it spins (owner, 2026-10-18; callouts).
Spinning (draft: 20 spins) sends the beam to one lit major shot, which "receives the laser" for
20 s for an award. The sign shows the beam until the LED strips exist. The first time,
at the next plunge (held): GLaDOS's redirection-cube introduction.
-
The Surprise (H88, Portal 2 ch. 4), rare (draft: a 1-in-5 chance when an extra ball is
lit, or a Super Button press with nothing lit on it): "Initiating surprise in three... two...
one." (held), confetti on the sign, "Surprise.", "I made it all up.", and a small real award.
-
Layers that start here (each runs to the end of period 3 unless noted). By difficulty
(H103, D29): the CAROLINE letters, the meter and Rattmann's hints start in 1B at every level
(the lanes' LIE / CAKE already run from 1A, owner, 2026-10-19); Wheatley's visits and sabotage start in 1B on Military Android (level 3) and in
1C on the others; the smaller layers start in 1B on levels 2-3 and in period 2 on levels
0-1.
- LIE / CAKE: CAKE (bottom lanes) is GLaDOS's promise and reads the next cake-recipe
ingredient; LIE (top lanes) is Rattmann's scrawl, with GLaDOS owning up to a lie (a voice line, owner
2026-10-19; was a den sting); LIE completion is its own parallel mode (owner, 2026-10-19),
separate from the skill shot; LIE and CAKE both run from 1A (owner, 2026-10-19). Each finished
test adds a slice to the held cake value; LIE pays it out. Both in one ball: "the cake is a
lie." five times, plus a bonus.
- The CAROLINE letters: a hidden letter on each of the 8 major shots, found in any order (owner,
2026-11-01: "not in a mandatory order"), once each, kept across balls and periods (unlocks E5); the
radio-static sound kept, and the letters found show faintly on the sign in their places (owner,
2026-10-25, CL1). Caroline's advice in period 2 lights the first letter still missing.
- Wheatley's visits: after tests 2 and 4 and the chain, one random standup blinks 20 s
as his hiding spot: a hit gives a whispered escape update and a small award; the third hit
lights the escape lock early.
- The comply/defy meter (D31, D32): GLaDOS's ledger; only choices fill it - C1 burn the cube
+3 (comply) / keep it -3 (defy); at each arrow moment in 1B, 1C and 3A, GLaDOS's order shot
+1 against Rattmann's arrow -1 (neither: 0); period 2's lone arrows -1; once the Wheatley
branch exists, C0 refuse +2 / plug in -2 (H108). Range +9 to -15 (on the branch +11 to -17).
Tests count nothing (GLaDOS's tone only). A time-out (C1's way out) doesn't move it. The
playfield's small LED bar shows it live (owner 2026-11-01, design/LIGHTING.md).
Rattmann's arrows: 2 set moments per chapter in 1B-3A (draft), each lighting a non-test
shot 20 s with his scrawl. GLaDOS's order (D32, owner 2026-10-24, H106): in 1B, 1C and 3A the same moment
lights another shot white, with period 5's chime and an order ("Please proceed to the
chamberlock. Mind the gap."); the sign shows both faces for the 20 s.
- GLaDOS quotes your file (D32, owner 2026-10-24, H110): after a defiant C1 or 3+ arrows followed, in period 3
at the first drain or the 3B card (held): "It says so right here in your personnel file:
Unlikable..."; after a compliant C1, at the next plunge: "...I'm going to note this on your
file, in the commendations section..." Once each per game (draft timing). When H91's cube line
wants the same held moment (a burned cube), H91 goes first and the file quote waits for the next
drain.
- Sabotage (side mode): the lit "defective turret" standup sets "New template accepted":
the turret bank stops resetting for 20 s; each turret knocked down then counts as a
sabotaged turret for the finale.
- Rattmann's hints: when a hint is lit, Drp1 opens the passage for a few seconds; a ball
through it is "in the walls" (GLaDOS loses you, a scrawl, one LED in the hint row). The hidden
room behind the passage shows this period's den, and each hint found adds its fragment there
(D30, H1+H2; the den display, DenDisplay). Now and then she says she's lost you ("Where are
you?" - callouts rule 12, the ball-search lines).
- Smaller: catch me (the dropper's release is Wheatley's rail, once per game), the singing
turret (6 standups with no turret hit in between), the hacking easter egg, the oracle turret,
Rattmann's seventh-standup count.
-
Done: chapter card "CHAPTER 1C - THE ESCAPE".
-
Small ending: as 1A, then "NEXT: CHAPTER 1C - THE ESCAPE".
-
The second panel's picks (D34): the first camera line's answer, "...an outright fabrication.", held at
the next plunge (H123); while CAMERAS BLIND runs, a lit Rattmann hint's passage stays open 5 s longer
(H123, draft); after C1, at the second plunge after a burn the ethics panel's absolution, at the next
plunge after a keep "...disregard its advice." (H125, both held); at an arrow moment a shot that's neither
hers nor his counts 0 on the meter but 1 on the file's INSTRUCTIONS IGNORED (H127); the arrow moment's callout
FOLLOW HIS ARROW / OBEY HER ORDER over the moment's two shots (owner, 2026-11-04, instead of H140's two
words); where more than three tests are lit the sign shows the three nearest to done
and cycles the rest every 3 s (H139, draft).
- Goal: lock 3 balls and start the escape multiball.
- Locks: lock 1 (Hard Light Bridge into the dropper) and lock 2 (the Incinerator) lit from the
start. Lock 3 is the exit: knock down the 3 turrets (Drp2), they stay down now, the yellow LED
strips light toward the exit, and GLaDOS calls it a malfunction you caused: the escape hatch
opens in 3, 2, 1. Hit the exit.
- The Super Button argument: when it's lit, GLaDOS and Wheatley argue (taking turns every
20 s); pressing it gives an award, one gloats, the other sulks.
- Timers: the escape hatch: ~20 s to hit the exit once the bank is down, then the turrets
redeploy (draft).
- Lock 3 = the fire: "The test is now over", the incinerator sound, red light, the shaker,
"Goodbye."
- Choice C0 (ball held): GLaDOS "Do NOT plug that little idiot into MY mainframe." / Wheatley
"Plug me in...". Until the Wheatley branch is built, C0 isn't offered (refuse).
- Multiball - The Escape (4 balls, "YOU DIDN'T GO IN"): the ramps are neurotoxin hoses, the
turret targets are turret sabotage; jackpots on both, each multiplied by the finished tests;
super jackpot when both sets are done. Escape nags on jackpots.
- End: the multiball drains to one ball: the fall (Act III; on the Wheatley branch the core
transfer instead, see below): Wheatley's grip slips, his
far-away line once, Cave introduces himself. Chapter card "CHAPTER 2A - THE FIFTIES".
- Small ending: as 1A, then "NEXT: CHAPTER 2A - THE FIFTIES".
- The second panel's picks (D34): the plunge after Wheatley's third hiding-spot hit plays his
confession, held, "You're the LAST test subject left..." (H120); the drain word follows what the ball is
(H138: CUBE / TURRET / CORE / EQUIPMENT EMANCIPATED, every period with a sign).
Built (machinefolder/modes/story_p2, the side features in story_p2_side), on the virtual
platform only: each decade's gel test and lock, C1b at each lock with Cave's record, the lemons
multiball, the Fine Print, the Voucher Button, the science fair, 2B's loop combos, 2C's Conversion
Gel window, the Adhesion Gel, the red phone, the callouts and the screens. Not built yet (TODO.md): the
lights per chapter (A1), the moon rock (A9), the lemon target - until Pull1 has a switch the ramps
are the lemon jackpots and the Super Button the super jackpot (C3) - and the physical locks (C2).
Applies all period:
- The sign: a different style per decade, the year as the chamber number.
- Cave's front desk in short bites: welcome at the period start, "We're done here" on a
drain (canon-adjacent: a PTI Cave's line, D29), his house rules on ball saves and tilt, "another round of tests" on an extra ball,
"Science isn't about why..." on risky shots.
- Caroline: answers Cave in 1-2 s ("Yes, sir!", "Sir, the testing?"), her portrait in the
speaker bar, her honorarium as the bonus count.
- The turret bank is the test elevator's doors (no turrets in Cave's time).
- The lanes are The Fine Print: each CAKE letter is one of Cave's promises ("CLAUSE C"), LIE
is the catch (an award); both: "CONTRACT FULFILLED".
- The Voucher Button: a finished gel test lights the Super Button; pressing it cashes in
the banked points with a Cave and Caroline exchange.
- The gel symphony: each decade's real gel music builds as its shots land.
- Choice C1b at each decade's lock (ball held): Cave's order or Caroline's advice (her tip as
text in her speaker bar), in the choice window (D33); on a time-out Cave's orders happen (owner 2026-10-24: a yes to the boss), voiced by Cave himself (owner, 2026-10-24 review; a pool of three, owner 2026-10-25: "Now let's solve this thing!" / "Let's all stay positive and do some science." / "Alright, get to it."), not counted on the record - no bonus, no letter hint. It goes on Cave's record (D32, owner 2026-10-24, H108), not the meter: each of
Cave's orders adds to Cave's bonus; Caroline's advice lights the shot of her next CAROLINE letter
for 10 s (that's "easier"). The record leans C5 and sets Cave's ghost's tone in period 4.
- The secret fourth gel - Adhesion Gel (Portal 2's cut gel; owner, 2026-10-07): a hidden
condition (draft: the Blue Portal twice in one decade) coats the ball: the
next time it crosses the magnet, the magnet holds it ~1.5 s ("it sticks to the wall"), with the
real sticky-gel sound, then releases it toward a lit shot. "CUT CONTENT: ADHESION GEL" and a
bonus. Once per game.
- Layers that carry on: the CAROLINE letters, the meter, Rattmann's hints (Drp1).
- Skill shot: follow the blue line (the LED strip lights the path).
- Small ending (game over in period 2): Cave fires you: "Box. Your stuff. Out the front door.
Parking lot. Car. Goodbye.", then "NEXT: CHAPTER ..." and your file.
- Goal: the gel test, then lock 1.
- Gel test: 30 pop and sling hits (the music adds a part at 10, 20 and 25; step 4, owner
2026-10-07; re-check with the measured pop rate). Sign: "COAT THE BUMPERS: 30 HITS".
- Featured beat: the blue line (the skill shot), within ~5 shots.
- Then lock 1: the Hard Light Bridge into the dropper; C1b at the lock.
- Side: the science fair (TS-13): a standup sequence shows "SCIENCE FAIR ENTRY FOUND" (the
potato battery, Bring Your Daughter to Work Day), file fragment 2, a Rattmann hint.
- Timers: none. Done: chapter card "CHAPTER 2B - THE SEVENTIES".
- The roster (D34, H126): the 2A card's line is Cave's subject pool ("Astronauts, war heroes,
Olympians..."), the sign word SUBJECT POOL: VOLUNTEERS; C1b's callout CAVE'S ORDERS / CAROLINE'S ADVICE over
THE LEFT ORBIT / THE HARD LIGHT BRIDGE at every decade's lock (owner, 2026-11-04, instead of H140's CAVE:
BONUS / CAROLINE: A LETTER).
- Goal: the gel test, then lock 2.
- Gel test: 6 orbit shots (Left Orbit or Propulsion Run), loop combos count double; each
orbit plays the Propulsion Gel sound and a Cave seventies bite, each a little faster. No Space
Core in the 1970s (H98, D29): its faster copies belong to the Wheatley branch and E7. Sign:
"PROPULSION: 6 ORBITS".
- Featured beat: the honorarium on the orbit (Cave asks if the vouchers are ready).
- Then lock 2: the Incinerator, Cave's sixty-dollar risk lock; C1b at the lock.
- Timers: none. Done: chapter card "CHAPTER 2C - THE EIGHTIES".
- The roster (D34, H126): the 2B card adds "...we want the best, and you're it. Nope. Couldn't keep a
straight face." (7.3 s, held), the sign word PAID.
- Goal: the gel test, then lock 3 and the multiball.
- Gel test: 4 portal transfers. Sign: "CONVERSION: 4 PORTAL TRANSFERS".
- The lemon target rises at Pull1 for the chapter: each hit scores a lemon. Featured beat.
- Conversion Gel window: the Aerial Faith Plate gives 20 s of boosted scoring on every
other shot. (In period 2 the left ramp's diverter also sends the funnel shot into the Faith
Plate room.)
- Moon rock: the super skill shot (Up1 raised, held flipper, then the lit shot) collects it.
Optional: it powers the Wheatley branch's moon portal; on the refuse path it's a bonus
multiplier.
- Then lock 3: the turret bank as the elevator doors, then the exit ("taking the elevator");
C1b at the lock.
- Multiball - The Combustible Lemons (4 balls): Cave's lemon speech plays as its soundtrack.
Jackpots score lemons (the lemon target and both ramps); the super jackpot is the combustible
lemon (the lemon target after 5 jackpots). Easter egg: meet yourself on the testing track - two
portal swaps within 3 s during the multiball (where a ball is can't be sensed, so two balls
through the portals at once stand for "you coming out as you go in"; owner, 2026-10-19). Once per
multiball: "YOU MET YOURSELF", Cave's "If you meet yourself on the testing track, don't make eye
contact.", a small bonus (like a test done). In 2C's multiball it takes the place of the infinite
fall's quick-swap award.
- End: the red phone rings (hit the flashing standup within 20 s: "RED PHONE PLAN: 0%
SUCCESSFUL"), then the lift up with Cave's lemon line: chapter card "CHAPTER 3A - THE
REUNION".
- The roster (D34, H126): the 2C card adds "...mandatory for all employees..." (9.4 s, held; E3 keeps it
too), the sign word MANDATORY.
Built (machinefolder/modes/story_p3, the side modes in story_p3_side), on the virtual platform
only: 3A's timed tests with their neurotoxin clocks, the Her Cores multiball, the three turret waves,
the jackpot tour, the climax with its neurotoxin countdown on the sign, the last core's fork (with your
cube's fate beside BURN, H117), C3 with
its third side, E1 with the radio route and LEAVE FOR GOOD, E2 and the dive, Turret Air, Turret
Frenzy, Bridge Shield. Not built yet (TODO.md): the lights per chapter (A1), the shaker, Up2's
shortcut, Up4's post and KD1 (C3), the real core locks - the multiball locks stand in (C2) - and
Still Alive's slice (D4).
Applies all period: GLaDOS's Portal 2 voice, more emotional; taunts on drains (no fat, adopted, racist or sexist
jokes: callouts.md rule 9); "I'm
not even angry" on the first tilt warning; she glitches when a CAROLINE letter lands; the slings
are crushers and the pops the turret redemption line. Rattmann's arrows ("Over here") light a
non-test shot at their 2 set moments (D31): following one is a shortcut (adds time or counts as
two steps) and counts defy on the meter. GLaDOS's order shot lights at the same moments (D32, owner 2026-10-24,
H106): making it counts comply and adds 10 s to the neurotoxin clock, so both sides pay.
Small ending (game over in period 3): "Didn't we have some fun, though?", then "NEXT:
CHAPTER ..." and your file.
- Goal: finish 4 timed tests to light the Her Cores multiball (draft).
- Timed tests: period 1's chambers return as a fast backlog, 3 lit at a time, each with its
own neurotoxin clock (~30 s, draft) and the shaker pulsing faster as it runs down. The same
shots as period 1's tests, "solved a new way": Up2 opens a physical shortcut on one of them
(making it counts as two steps). A drain doesn't lose the test: it resumes next ball with at
least 20 s. A timed-out test goes back in the backlog.
- Featured beat: "Oh... it's you." on the plunge, and the shortcut, within ~5 shots.
- Side modes: Turret Air (each Faith Plate shot launches a turret: one finale turret cleared
in advance, max 3; every 3rd launch breaks the plate for 5 s); Turret Frenzy (the ball is a
turret, every shot its line); Bridge Shield (the bridge lights for 10 s and turrets knocked
down then stay down).
- Multiball - Her Cores (4 balls): GLaDOS's personality cores are seated in the three core
locks, one per lock, the Anger core growling. Jackpots on the portals and ramps.
- Until the core locks are built (Q 2, owner 2026-10-07): the cores go in the 3 multiball
locks (the dropper, the Incinerator, the exit). The full design stays the core locks; the
code switches over once they're in (TODO.md; the locks wait on the cabinet, HumanToDo.md).
- Done: the multiball drains to one ball: chapter card "CHAPTER 3B - THE FINALE".
- The Curiosity Core speaks (D34, H134): in Her Cores the cores' jackpot chatter adds its short
questions (0.7-2.1 s, no "lady"/"angel" lines) next to the Anger core's growl.
¶ 3B The Finale, the jackpot tour and the climax
- Before it: Rattmann's last arrow and "Hear the turret for it is knell...", then every
Rattmann feature goes dark for the rest of the chapter - with one exception: at the last
core his scrawl comes back once and points at the fire (owner, 2026-10-19; the silence makes his
return land).
- The finale - three turret waves (9 turrets: waves 1 and 2 three lit standups each, wave 3
the 3 drop targets - last, so the turret bank keeps the Turret Gauntlet exit blocked until the
end, owner, 2026-10-19): knock the wave down (attack), then make the lit side shot within 35 / 30 / 25 / 20 s by testing level
(defend). A time-out resets only the current wave (on Bring Your Daughter to Work Day it
only restarts the defend clock - the difficulty's R3, CHANGES #99). Sabotaged turrets fall by themselves
(Q 3, owner 2026-10-07): in wave 3, a turret target with a knock-down coil (HW-9) drops on
its own as the wave starts; in waves 1 and 2 (standups) a sabotaged turret counts as already
down, its insert dark. Turret Air turrets count as already down too. The turrets remember
(D32, owner 2026-10-24, R3): GLaDOS names your sabotage count as wave 1 starts, and the singing turret you spared
sits the finale out (one turret target counts as already down - a standup in waves 1-2 -
"I'm different"). Featured beat: the first wave.
- Finale won: a 2 s "TENACITY".
- The cube remembered (H91): if C1 burned the cube, once in 3B, held (the 3B card or the
first drain): "I invited your best friend the companion cube..." If C1 kept it, its icon rides
on the jackpot tour's sign.
- The jackpot tour (D28,
super_wizard): a jackpot at each of the 8 major shots, in any
order, the music and lights changing by phase; then the super jackpot at the Super Button. For
the Turret Gauntlet, knocking down all 3 turrets counts as its jackpot (step 4, owner
2026-10-07: the exit needn't be made). No timer (draft); a drain resumes the tour next ball.
- The climax:
- The standup in front of the Super Button opens it; press it once (the Stalemate Resolution
Button). The post in front of the Incinerator [Up4] drops.
- The rocket turret (Drp1, climax only): hit Drp1 to light the Orange Portal; the rocket
goes through the portals (the Blue Portal releases the ball); the next major shot within
35 / 30 / 25 / 20 s by testing level hits GLaDOS and a core falls - after every rocket: the 3 cores from the core locks
(for now, the multiball locks), then the 4th from the dropper. The first fall: "Time out for
a second. That wasn't supposed to happen." (D29)
- Each core into the Incinerator, in Portal 1's order (H83, D29): the first is the Morality
Core - burned: "You are kidding me." then "Did you just toss the Aperture Science Thing...".
On levels 1-2 only the first core is refused, once (the VUK kicks it back, a reject buzz; step 4,
owner 2026-10-07), with the Morality Core speech held during the refusal; the rest burn on
the first shot. By level (owner, 2026-10-24, as built): never on Bring Your Daughter to Work Day, once on Standard Testing
and Advanced, every core once on Military Android (the difficulty's R1, CHANGES #99). "The rocket really is the way to
go." The neurotoxin clock runs, per core until the last core's fork (the level's 3A clock: 60 / 45 / 30 / 20 s, draft). Running out, by level (owner, 2026-10-25, N4): Bring Your Daughter to Work Day, GLaDOS's line and the clock starts again; Standard Testing and Advanced, the last burned core comes back (a fallen core goes back up: fire the rocket again); Military Android, the flippers die and the ball drains, no ball save - the next ball picks up at the same core.
- The last core is the choice (D31, M6a): BURN THE CORE (the Incinerator) / SPARE HER (the
Super Button). The meter lights its side (comply: spare; defy or even: burn); the other shot
still works. GLaDOS pleads, Rattmann's scrawl points at the fire (his one return in the dark 3B, on purpose). Spare: she survives,
weakened ("All I know is I'm the only thing standing between us and them. Well, I was.");
burn: she is destroyed (E8: the explosion, the shaker and her death scream). The choice
window (D33; it replaces the 40 s climax_choice_time): a 10 s decisive window (a pick in it scores the DECISIVE bonus), then the grace with her nag, and
no time-out at any level (owner, 2026-10-24 review: the ball waits for burn or spare; the nag repeats every 20 s).
Should a time-out ever be needed: the announcer's "Interpreting vague answer as
YES." (D32, H118), then the lit side (burn on an even meter), the meter unchanged. Beside BURN the sign shows
your cube's fate: a scorched cube, "SAME INCINERATOR", or the kept cube on Rattmann's scrawl,
"FOR THE CUBE" (D32, owner 2026-10-24, H117).
The fork is the same at every difficulty level.
- Then choice C3 (the ball plays on while you choose; never held, owner 2026-10-25 C3b): escape / dive deeper / follow the arrow (only with 3+ hints).
The meter leans it (D32, owner 2026-10-24, H115): comply lights Escape, defy Dive deeper (an even meter counts as defy, as at the last core - draft); no shot in
the choice window (D33): "Interpreting vague answer as YES." and the lit side happens.
(The meter's word now shows at the last core, D31; the screen never shows its value - GLaDOS's file
quotes, H110, say which way it turned, never the number - but the playfield's small VU-style LED bar
shows it live all game, owner 2026-11-01, design/LIGHTING.md.)
- Escape, GLaDOS spared: E1, the surface (the elevator, "You win. Just go.", the cake). Then
the radio straight away, no credits lap first (owner, 2026-10-19 and 2026-10-22): the ball held, Portal 1's radio
breaks into Rattmann's signal (the A8 slices, static), card SOMEONE IS STILL DOWN THERE.
The ball is released with the exit shot flashing again - the Turret Gauntlet exit you escaped
through - LEAVE FOR GOOD (draft: 10 s):
make it and E1 ends the game (the final ending, "It's been fun. Don't come back."; balls left: the
credits lap with Still Alive; at the surface, before this window, only a short slice of the song,
cut off by the radio, owner 2026-10-24). A time-out,
a drain or any other shot: period 5 (the radio route), then period 4. Leaving is the hard
choice on purpose; going back is the default.
- Escape, GLaDOS destroyed: E2, the surface, then the escort bot drags you back: period 4.
- Dive deeper: period 4. Follow the arrow: period 5 first, then period 4.
- The second panel's picks (D34): the Curiosity Core's burn says "Do you smell something burning?"
(H134); C3's shots on the sign - ESCAPE the Turret Gauntlet exit, DIVE DEEPER the Blue Portal, FOLLOW THE
ARROW Drp1 - and the turret bank isn't reset from wave 3 until LEAVE FOR GOOD's window closes, so leaving
is one shot; the card says "LEAVE FOR GOOD: THE EXIT" (owner, 2026-11-04, over H132's "TO LEAVE: THE EXIT, 10 S"); on LEAVE FOR GOOD the radio crackle under
the goodbye, fading, and the file's ESCAPED. / SIGNAL IGNORED. (H131); E2's drag card stays ASSUME THE
PARTY ESCORT SUBMISSION POSITION, now over a screenshot of the surface (owner, 2026-11-04, over H137); after a spare a machine variable for the next game's spare-side line (H141,
the line to pick), like H111's e8_last.
Built 2026-10-09 (machinefolder/modes/story_p4, CHANGES #77), on the virtual platform only.
Drafts in the build: the dial order (Left Orbit, Excursion Funnel, Orange Portal, Blue Portal,
Hard Light Bridge, Propulsion Run), a plate-lit shot skipping the dial past the current one,
5 jackpots to light the super jackpot on the Super Button, C5's shots (STAY WITH CAVE = Left
Orbit, FIND CAROLINE = Hard Light Bridge). In the ride every major shot is lit and each hit is a jackpot, so each lit shot made moves the dial
a decade and plays a tape, as designed (owner, 2026-10-24); the super jackpot stops it at 1980; the small ending is built (CHANGES #78). Built 2026-10-24
(away session, CHANGES #138): C5 on the choice window leaned by Cave's record, the ghost's greeting
of a defiant record, Cave's bonus (43,750 + as much per order, draft), the opening per way in, the
tape's sepia, E5 (all 8 letters); 2026-10-25: Cave's ghost's nag and time-out pool, Caroline's last
line. Not built yet: the ball holds, the obedient record's bite, the lights per chapter (A1).
- Goal: move the era dial home, then the Era-Dial Ride.
- The opening, per way in: after E2 (the escort bot), after a dive deeper with GLaDOS alive,
after E8 (her gone), or after period 5 (the arrow or radio route: the long fall down the box's
shaft); see callouts.md period 4. Then "Powerup initiated." for all four.
- The ruins: technical-difficulties music; Cave's brain-mapped ghost boots and guides you
home, looking for Caroline. His glitches are the Perpetual Testing Caves (Cave Prime, the
impostor, the dead Cave) and the wrong-decade clips; once per game the "president Doug
Rattmann" line leaks in. He replays "Ground up moon rocks are pure poison", his memory dying.
- The Faith Plate still works: each launch lights the next dial shot (the plate as the route
through the rubble).
- The dial: each lit dial shot moves the era dial one decade on the sign (6 clicks, draft).
Featured beat: the first click.
- The lock: 6 dial clicks (draft) light the exit as the time machine's door (owner,
2026-10-07); making it starts the ride.
- Multiball - The Era-Dial Ride (4 balls): each lit shot
moves the dial a decade, each jackpot plays one of his tapes. The super jackpot stops the dial
in the eighties: ball held, "the part of the tape you didn't hear": Caroline's upload and the
reveal, Caroline's last line in her own voice, its words as text in the speaker bar ("No, listen to me! Sir, I do not want this!", owner 2026-11-01). That tape plays as a memory: a
sepia, tape-worn look over the screens for that moment only (owner, 2026-10-19).
- Bonus: Cave's, plus each of his orders you followed at C1b (D32, owner 2026-10-24, H108).
- Cave's ghost and your record (D32, owner 2026-10-24, H108): a defiant record (2-3 Caroline picks) gets "Ha! I
like your style. You make up your own rules, just like me." at the first dial click; an obedient
one his approval.
- Choice C5 (ball held): STAY WITH CAVE, home (E3: the dial stops on Bring Your
Daughter to Work Day, the screen reading "THE DAY IT ALL BEGAN" (owner, 2026-11-01, EH2); the card adds "YOUR TESTING PROTOCOL WAS NAMED AFTER THIS DAY.",
D29) or FIND CAROLINE, up to GLaDOS (E4 Caroline deleted, or E5 she remembers,
with all the CAROLINE letters). Cave's record leans it (D32, owner 2026-10-24, H115): 2-3 Caroline picks light
FIND CAROLINE, 2-3 orders STAY WITH CAVE; no shot in the choice window (D33): Cave's ghost voices
the time-out (owner, 2026-10-24; a pool of three, owner 2026-10-25: "Continue testing." / "Chariots, chariots, okay." / "That's an alternate Cave. Okay?") and the lit side happens. With no side lit (a
tied or thin record, C1b's time-outs not counted): no time-out, the ball waits and the nag repeats
(owner, 2026-10-24). E3 plays Cave's verdict ("Since making test
participation mandatory for all employees..."), then GLaDOS's Bring Your Daughter to Work Day line as
the card's punchline (owner, 2026-10-24).
- After C5 (H86): E3, E4 and E5 show as a chapter ending with "NEXT: THE TRUE STORY", then
period 5 (built: story_period_5 after the ending screen).
- Small ending: "Say goodbye, Caroline.", then "NEXT: CHAPTER ..." and your file.
- On the arrow and radio routes (period 5 came first), after this ending: E6, the box's file.
- The second panel's picks (D34): after E8 the opening is "Vent system compromised: Neurotoxin
offline." then a turret's "Is anyone there?" (H121); after a spare the screen shows GLaDOS: 12% POWER
(H141); C5's callout STAY WITH CAVE / FIND CAROLINE over THE LEFT ORBIT / THE HARD LIGHT
BRIDGE (owner, 2026-11-04, instead of H140's HOME / HER). H122, Caroline's voice cut mid-word, is superseded by her
full spoken line (CHANGES #192; owner, 2026-11-03).
Built 2026-10-09 in an away session (machinefolder/modes/story_p5, CHANGES #85), virtual
platform only. Drafts: the den order (Propulsion Run, Excursion Funnel, Left Orbit, Hard Light
Bridge, Incinerator, Orange Portal - six since 2026-10-24, the secret dens gone), Drp1 going down
standing in for the ball through his passage (no switch there yet), the official round (Blue
Portal, Gauntlet exit, Faith Plate), A Clear Head started on the Super Button, 4 jackpots. Built
2026-10-24 (CHANGES #138): the hints from periods 1-4 pinning dens, the radio and arrow routes
(the empty box), the voiceless drain and the ball save's chime, E6's true-ending scrawl. Not
built: the ball holds, the scrambled PA words, the falling scrawl and the handprint on screen.
Kept by the owner (2026-10-25, P5a): the counts (50 spins, 4 dots, 4 jackpots) and A Clear Head on the
Super Button; his den scrawls are Claude's words, OK'd by the owner 2026-11-01.
No character speaks (H94; the PA's chimes and broken words only). The sign is his scrawled version: arrows instead of icons, red marker, a
handprint. Where possible the ball is held ~1 s when a fragment shows, to look at the art.
- Goal: fill his wall, then open the box.
- The wall: always the same 8 dots: the 6 dens, the 7th standup, the box. Hints you found in
periods 1-4 are already pinned (each pinned dot lights its shot); more hints means a shorter
route. A player with no hints still plays the full period. A burned cube is pinned there too,
as one of his scrawls (no hint, no shot; D32, owner 2026-10-24, R4).
- Chimes against arrows: the PA on autopilot lights an "official" shot white with a chime (it
scores a little); his red arrow lights another (it moves the period on).
- The dens (owner, 2026-10-07; all six via Drp1, D29): Drp1 is his panel. 6 dens: make
the shot his arrow points at, then knock Drp1 down and get the ball through the passage: that
den is found (its scrawl, den art and music, ball held ~1 s). The two secret dens (the spinner
total, the Up3 drop) are gone. His murals fill in as dens are found. The den display behind the
passage (D30) shows his full wall here; periods 1-4 each showed their own den and the fragments
of the hints found.
- Featured beat: the first scrawl.
- Multiball - A Clear Head (2 balls; lit at 4 dots, draft): the Cube's last bubble "Don't.",
then quiet; each jackpot cleans one scrawl; all clean: Drp1's passage for the super jackpot.
Draining to one ball brings the scrawl back.
- Climax - Somebody Should Open the Box (lit after the multiball): load it (Hard Light Bridge
-> Div1 -> VUK6, skipped if the dropper holds a ball), open it (the pedestal: Servo1 drops the
ball). Music of the Spheres (the 19 s cut); the subject inside is alive.
- The end (E6): the last of every game that reaches period 5 (H86): your file, ABNORMALLY STUBBORN. TOP OF THE LIST. On the arrow and radio
routes the box opens empty onto a shaft down to period 4, and the file waits until after
period 4; on the radio route the file adds ESCAPED. CAME BACK ANYWAY.
- Standard moments, as sounds: a drain is radio static and a falling scrawl, a ball save an
arrow pointing back up, an extra ball a handprint, a tilt a scribbled-out sign.
- Small ending: a scrawl and a radio crackle.
Built 2026-11-04 (CHANGES #219), on the virtual platform only: C0 in 1C's choice window
(modes/story_p1), the core transfer and the pit, PotatOS in period 2 (story_p2), and the branch's period 3
(modes/story_p3w): 3A's four scrap tests (the Faith Plate, the funnel, the Orange Portal, the bridge) under the
reactor clock, the three cores' modes (three hits each: the orbits, the standups, the funnel and the Faith Plate),
the corrupted cores' multiball, 3B's three waves (three standups, then the Blue Portal's stun), What Wheatley is,
the booby-trapped button, the moon portal on the Orange Portal, E7 and PotatOS's verdict; then story_p3's C3, with
GLaDOS alive. All counts and scores are drafts. Not built: TODO E1b.
- End of 1C: Multiball - The Escape runs as on the refuse path (owner, 2026-10-24); when it
drains to one ball, the Super Button lights for the core transfer at the Stalemate button (a
substitute core, the button pressed); Wheatley drops you down the pit: "NOW WHO'S A MORON?"
- Period 2: as above, with PotatOS riding along (her short lines next to Cave, her fall and
lift lines; in 2C "why do I know this woman?"). The lift up is her pep talk.
- 3A The Itch: Wheatley's scrap tests, timed, with the reactor clock (the same timer code
as the neurotoxin clock, his art and sound). His death traps are software: a lit shot "mashes".
- The corrupted cores: three short modes earn their locks: the Space Core on the orbits
(its faster babble copies, edit A2: they live here and at E7, D29),
the Fact Core on the standups, the Adventure Core on the ramps and the Faith Plate. They
bicker when two run together.
- Multiball - the corrupted cores (4 balls): seated in the three core locks (for now, the
multiball locks, as Her Cores), arguing; the announcer counts the corruption to 100%.
- What Wheatley is (H101): before the boobytrapped button, ball held: PotatOS's
Intelligence Dampening Sphere line, then "Yes. You're the tumor."
- 3B The Part Where He Kills You: the 9-turret round ("new turrets, not defective"), opened
with "Ha! Death trap!"; stun him with a portal transfer; the boobytrapped Super Button (behind
its standup); then the moon portal on the Orange Portal (lit by your moon rock, or by the boss
fight without it): "SPACE!" (E7): the magnet grabs the ball near the Orange Portal, the
moon pulling it out, then lets go.
- PotatOS reads your file (owner, 2026-10-24; ball still held): one verdict line by the
comply/defy meter (comply / defy / even), the meter's word on screen (COMPLIANT or DEFIANT; even
shows DEFIANT, as at the last core) - the branch's version of
the last core's word (D31). Then choice C3.
- C3 on the branch: escape is E1 with Portal 2's own finish (owner, 2026-10-24): the same
surface, radio and LEAVE FOR GOOD, with Want You Gone (also on its credits lap), the turret
opera (Cara Mia Addio) and the cube thrown out after you (the scorched one if you burned it).
No E2 and no E8 here. Dive deeper and follow the arrow as on the refuse path.
- Small ending in 3: "NOW WHO'S A MORON?"
¶ Co-op - ATLAS and P-body (stretch)
One MPF player, the two humans take turns ball by ball; one shared score.
| Course |
Toys |
Goal (draft) |
Ends with (the retrieval) |
| Calibration |
Flippers |
Both players wave (each presses a flipper) |
- |
| 1 Team Building |
Pops, lanes, turrets |
25 pops, both lane sets, the turret bank |
an "outside the course" shot: the cartoon |
| 2 Mass and Velocity |
The Aerial Faith Plate |
3 Faith Plate launches |
- |
| 3 Hard-Light Surfaces |
The Hard Light Bridge |
3 bridge shots |
the security DVD |
| 4 Excursion Funnels |
The Excursion Funnel |
3 funnel shots |
the power station ("I'm fully connected. I can see everything.") |
| 5 Mobility Gels |
Slings, pops, orbits |
30 pop and sling hits, 4 orbits |
- |
- Co-op multiball (in course 5): both portal balls released, the Blue Portal's is ATLAS, the
Orange Portal's P-body; "ATLAS: LEFT. P-BODY: RIGHT."; a team jackpot is Blue then Orange
within 5 s (the hug).
- The ping tool: once per ball, the partner presses CO-OP to "ping" a shot: double for 10 s.
- The finale, the human vault: the ball held in a lock; both players press their flipper
button together, ATLAS left and P-body right, within 0.3 s (Q 8); GLaDOS reads the humans'
files. Not together: Plan B, "We need humans."
- Drains are disassembly, no big deal; the next ball is the other robot's.
- The team doors (owner, 2026-10-10,
plans/sign-icons.md; Portal 2's coop_teamdoor_blue /
_orange sign icons): whose ball it is (ATLAS blue, P-body orange, shown at each ball start),
the co-op multiball's left/right reminder, and the human vault (each door lights as its player
presses). Recorded only - built with co-op.
- Small endings: disassembly, "doing a great job of disappointing me", "This close and you
are going to fail me?"
Walked through with the owner, one at a time, on 2026-10-07.
Period 1's tests. Answered 2026-10-07: the Left Orbit (momentum) moves to 1A, so
1A has 4 tests (the Super Button, a portal, the transfer, the Left Orbit) and 1B 6 tests plus
the cube chain.The 3 core locks. Answered 2026-10-07: use the 3 multiball locks for now; the full
design and the hardware (HW-5) stay in the design (their placement waits on the playfield, HumanToDo.md), and the code moves to the core locks
once they're built.Sabotaged turrets that "fall by themselves". Answered 2026-10-07: a real
knock-down (HW-9) on one of the turret bank's targets, added to step 5's hardware; the standup
turrets in waves 1 and 2 count as down in software (the bank is wave 3 since 2026-10-19).The decade locks. Answered 2026-10-07: as drafted: 2A lock 1 (the dropper), 2B
lock 2 (the Incinerator), 2C lock 3 (the elevator exit) and the lemons multiball.Period 4's multiball. Answered 2026-10-07: 6 dial clicks light a lock (the exit,
the time machine's door); making it starts the Era-Dial Ride.Period 5's dens. Answered 2026-10-07: mixed: 4 dens by his arrow's shot then
Drp1's passage, 2 secret dens with their own condition (the spinner total, the Up3 drop).
Changed 2026-10-10 (D29): all six dens via Drp1's passage; the secret conditions go.The magnet. Answered 2026-10-07: keep HW-15, for period 2's secret Adhesion Gel and
the Wheatley branch's "SPACE!" grab.Co-op's "press together". Answered 2026-10-07: both flipper buttons within 0.3 s,
ATLAS left and P-body right, while the ball is held.