Gameplay Mechanics of Cancelled Portal Prequel in Action
LunchHouse Software received the source code of F-STOP, a cancelled project which was to be the prequel for the first Portal, from Valve. Thanks to this, the devs could prepare a video showing the mechanics of the cancelled game.
In the last decade, Valve worked for almost a year on the prequel to Portal, which operated under the temporary name F-STOP. In the end, nothing came out of it, but until now it was not clear what exactly this game would offer. Now it has finally changed thanks to a project named Exposure from LunchHouse Software.
The team has received permission from Valve to develop a video series showing F-STOP's mechanics, and it is based on more then just designers' descriptions. LunchHouse Software received the code that was created for the cancelled game. The first episode is now available, and the whole series will consist of 5-6 episodes that will show more of the ideas that were supposed to drive the abandoned prequel. Unfortunately, there are currently no plans to make Exposure available in playable version.
The F-STOP project was supposed to be a first-person puzzle game, but its mechanics were very different from Portal. Gameplay revolved around a device called Aperture Camera. By taking pictures of objects we would transfer them to photographs. Then they could be restored to the game world, both in their original form or with modified size.
The game was supposed to tell the story of early years of the Aperture company, and the plot would revolve around its founder, Cave Johnson, and the rebellion of robot-mannequins.
Work on F-STOP was eventually abandoned, but some elements of the project were later used in Portal 2. The central part of the story campaign took place in the old test chambers, developed in the middle of 20th century, when the company was managed by Cave Johnson.
Finally, it is worth adding that Exposure is not the only project from LunchHouse Software. The team is currently working on their own production called PUNT, which is a first-person puzzle game inspired by the Portal series. The title uses the Source engine, which greatly facilitated the preparation of the video series about Valve's cancelled project.
