For
Science: Testing the Physics of Aperture Science
Aperture Science was a place that once used the best and
brightest, and then the not so not best or brightest, and finally, running out of options,
their own employees, to test innovative products that could manipulate the
world. Now run down and ran by a highly intelligent, cynical, and homicidal artificial
intelligence named GLaDOS, this is where the world of Portal takes place and
where the player, as Chell, must fight to survive and escape. Specifically for
this study the world of Portal 2. A series of tests showed that although many
of the laws of physics of the real world were present at Aperture Science, this
universe was highly changeable through the use of items such as the A.S.H.P.D.
(Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device), specialized boots, and area changing
gels. Because of this, the restraining walls on the limits of the physics around parabolic arcs,
constant suspension speed and height, as well as free falling and terminal velocity,
were made more of rubber than stone.
Parabolic arcs are everywhere while testing the A.S.H.P.D.
Neither Chell, nor items simply fly straight out when propelled using a chain of
portals. They do not fall straight down when running off a ramp with the help
of Propulsion Gel (an orange gel that allows the player to run at high speeds
on the area it is covering). Anything bouncing around, with or without the help
of Repulsion Gel (a blue gel that allows the player or an object to jump to extreme
heights or distances off any surface the gel is on), does not just move about
wildly without any order. A possible exception is Chell’s inanimate companion,
the Companion Cube, or a shut down turret to Propulsion gel because of the
inability to throw objects in the game. A true exception to this rule is that
no matter what the gel, one gel can always cover over another, even when
propelled. This meaning that Propulsion gel will not bounce off of Repulsion gel. This is needed for smooth and effective game play and without this
break in the rules a player would not be able to finish most of the tests, and
therefore the game.
Test 1976 – 05 shows these arcs in action. In
this test, Chell is set in an area that is divided into several different platformed
areas. She is given both Propulsion gel and Repulsion gel to work alongside the
A.S.H.P.D. (See video one)
Video One: Test
1976 – 05
As seen in the video, the test is full of parabolic arcs
from the Propulsion gel being slung through portals onto the course, to Chell
running off a Propulsion gel covered ramp and using Repulsion gel to bounce her
way to the elevator at the end of the test. One might also notice though how
the gel allows the arc to be manipulated. If going by normal physics, no
person, even with the use of portals to gain extra distance, could run and jump
as Chell does there and make it to the end. Without the speed the Propulsion
gel provides, the arc would be cut much shorter ending in the test subjects
death. Also, without the use of the Repulsion gel, even with the extra speed,
because of the natural pattern of objects losing power with every bounce
making the next ones shorter and shorter, it would be impossible to reach the
final ledge to the elevator.
A last thing that can be seen in this test is that Chell
in many cases when coming out a jump does not have much of the settle that
would happen with normal physics. In many cases she either more of less runs to
a finish or stops with little to no bounce on the landing. This is due to her Long
Fall Boots that were specially developed to protect the A.S.H.P.D., not the tester.
Their specific design provides Chell a solid base that cushions her fall no
matter the height slowing down her stopping speed when she lands.. They will be
discussed more in the last section.
Not only does the world of Aperture Science follow parabolic
arcs, but also follows rules when it comes to constant speed and height
throughout the game. Through testing GLaDOS would be proud of, a hypothesis was
formed around this idea. Objects will continue to move at a constant speed
and/or reach a constant apex height when walking through or being dropped into
a portal when they are side by side; either when walking through a chain of
portals with no prier propulsion of any kind, or side by side on the ground for
when dropped or walked in. Walking through portals as Chell it is easy to see firsthand
how there is no change in speed. But to show it for being dropped in, drops of
gel were isolated and suspended between two portals. The gel droplets, after a
few falls and rises would eventually even out to move at a constant speed. They
would also slow into an apex height before falling back through only to repeat
the process on the other side at about the same height, if not the same exact height.
(With no true measurements other that visual observation, the two heights
cannot be completely confirmed as exactly equal.) However, this height and
speed can be changed. When one of the portal’s positions is changed while the
drops are in the air, the apex height will lower with each change due to the
drops seeming to lose energy. With each lowering, the speed changes slightly
due to the drops not traveling as high. At a certain point however, the drops
no longer lose anymore height or gain anymore speed and balance out, breaking
the rule slightly. But just as the last rule break with the gel, this is needed
for game play to be smooth and able to continue. It appears that the same
principle applies for both Chell and any object such as the Companion Cube also
follows the same rules, but due to size, and camera angle when it comes to
Chell, the effect is hard to duplicate. However, with a little work, it is
possible. The following video shows many of the ideas stated above using the
co-op bots from the game Atlas, with the blue eye, and P-Body, with the orange
eye, and also introduces the next
hypothesis: free falling and terminal velocity. (See video two)
Video
Two: TV Spot with Atlas and P-Body
Lastly, the final hypothesis involves free falling and
terminal velocity both involving and not involving portals. In both situations,
terminal velocity can be achieved. Free falling through portals is seen in the
last video when Atlas drops himself into two portals that are positioned one
above the other. He reaches a terminal velocity right about when it cuts to
P-Body showing one of the laws from the last section. It only takes him about a
second in this video. In game, it does take a little bit longer, around three to
four seconds, but it still much faster than it would in real life. However,
this appears to only happen when free falling through portals. When free falling
without portals however, terminal velocity is much more gradually reached, as
seen at the end of the video above. The best example from the game of reaching
terminal velocity is at the start of chapter six, The Fall. Chell and GLaDOS, now inside of a potato,
are falling down a seemingly endless hole at a constant rate meaning they have
possibly fallen far enough reach a terminal velocity. However, this example
does not completely show how long it took and if it is right on in physics since it started right after a cut scene. Also, although the background does not
seem to be changing any faster, near the end of the scene, Chell gets closer to
GLaDOS as though she may have still been still gaining some speed but it is very
little. (See video three)
Video
Three: The Fall
Now even though a terminal velocity can be reached, under
normal laws of physics, because of the speed the average human is at when reaching
this, a human would not be able survive. Aperture Science however breaks the laws
of physics once again by their invention, the Long Fall Boots. These boots provide
Chell a way to extend the time of impact when she lands similar to an egg being
thrown at a sheet. They are so effective that Chell can fall from any height
and still land without harm on her feet. Therefore all consequences of free
falling or reaching terminal velocity are counteracted by these boots; except,
of course, if you land in the deadly liquid filled pits or right off the scaffolding
into the endless pit below. (See video four)
Video
Four: The Long Fall Boots
The world of Portal 2 and Aperture Science has a large base
in the physics of the real world when it comes to game play. Objects still move
in arcs and under normal circumstances lose energy as they continue to move. Objects
stay at a constant speed when they are already walking or being carried through
a portal or reach a constant speed and height when dropped into portals. And
lastly, when objects free fall they will reach a terminal velocity both in and
out of portals. But due to the innovations that were made at Aperture Science,
these laws are able to be bent and manipulated. The Propulsion Gel and
Repulsion Gel allow Chell to create more distance and height that life physic
could ever allow. The Long Fall Boots make it so that Chell can fall from any
height and come out unharmed even at terminal velocity. But in the world of
Portal 2 and Aperture Science, real physics and the manipulations work together
seamlessly. The rules that are bent, broken, or manipulated allow for a seamless
and enjoyable game play. The rules that hold strong give a realistic experience
to the world. In the end, if nothing else, it leaves the player wishing that
these items were all real so that he or she can experience what Chell does in
the game. Well…without the threat of dying due to the hands of any sort of
artificial intelligence, toxic lakes, turrets, or neurotoxin.
No comments:
Post a Comment