YES, it has been already one year since the game has been announced on steam… times sure flies… maybe too much…
But in a way, this year has been decisive and really important for Portal BAGLEY.
If you had asked me last year in the same period of time where I was on the development, I would have said I was around 60%. But if you ask ne the question now, I will answer that we are in the 30ish%. Why would you tell me? What happened?
I need to say that my needs for the game have evolved since it was announced on steam. It is a huge platform, I can’t be here and just pop out my “little mod” like that. No, Steam needs somethings breathtaking! Even with the constraint due to the fact that it isn’t a game but a mod, I try to do my hardest, and I’m reaching my goals!
For example, the game will offer steam achievements, something that, for a long time, wasn’t possible without portal 2’s source code. But I found a solution (For the interested developers, I created a steam guide available here. Warning! This will only work if your game is on steam)
Each achievement will be represented by a different icon and background between four:
"normal" achievements background
"Importants Events" achievements background
"Events related to heartful relationship between characters" achievements background
" Events related to heartless relationship between characters" achievements background
Of course, this is not the only thing that will make the game original, lets go to the serious part
The Aperture Remote Terminal
The Aperture Remote Terminal will be available freely as a DLC for Portal BAGLEY.
This application, available for Windows only, aims to help players understand the entire story of Portal BAGLEY by discovering the characters, locations, projects, problems that occurred at Aperture via a console application in the same style as aperturescience.com, but with additional functionality enabled by the fact that it is a Windows application.
One of the most important and unique features is the “in-game interaction system”. This means that you will be able to interact with elements of the game directly from the application. For example, do you want to access an area? No problem ! Use the Aperture Remote Terminal and open the door that will give you access.
Of course, Portal BAGLEY is not an open world game (due to the limitation of the Source engine), but I try to ensure that the player can access as many places as possible in a map. When I talk about accessing an entire area, I'm exaggerating a bit, in reality it will be to open doors to other paths, hidden areas, etc...
(Demonstration of an in-game interaction from the Aperture Remote Terminal)
Also, using this feature is not required to complete the game, or at least not required to complete the game?
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2886170/Portal_BAGLEY__Aperture_Remote_Terminal/
The "Character Relationship System"
Another innovation that takes up a lot of our time and is the main cause of the "regression" of the game's development in one year is the "character relationship system".
This feature is rather simple on paper: the relationships between the protagonist and the other characters can be of several orders, which will have repercussions throughout the game:
- Heartless
In this case, the dialogues between the protagonist and the other characters will be cold, and rather hostile. In this case it is possible to "miss things" (which may be important). - Neutral
In this case, the dialogues are neutral. It is possible but rare to "miss things" (which may be important). - Heartful
In this case, the dialogues are warm. It is possible but very rare to "miss things" (which may be important).
Important Events
Already, yes, the protagonist speaks! Now when I say it is possible to miss things that may be important. The game will contain "important events" which can be useful in understanding the story and which can unlock unique dialogues.
These "important events" can be completely missed by the player or even inaccessible depending on their relationship with the other characters.
Of course, we try to do our best to make the protagonist's mind match that of the player and vice versa. If the player decides that the protagonist must do something "good", he will be "rewarded" with "cool" dialogues and unique things while on the contrary, if the player decides that the protagonist must do something "bad" , it will be the opposite.
Game Development
Here are some features that Portal BAGLEY will offer (I think it's already quite good). Now let's figure out why the development of the game has "gone backwards".
As I was able to explain above, the main reason is the “Character Relationship System”. To the extent that with this functionality, the same dialogue can take 3 different turns, this represents considerable work in the writing but also in the recording and translation...
And this is where I have some bad news... The game will certainly not be available in English audio... Indeed, being French, it is rare to find someone who agrees to record audio. tons of lines of dialogue in English FREE. Of course, I could pay someone, but unfortunately I can't afford it. So if you are interested in making Portal BAGLEY playable in your language, without financial compensation, I invite you to fill out this form.
If you still want to help Portal BAGLEY be accessible in your language without necessarily having the equipment or the desire to do it vocally, you can always help translate the subtitles (you can also translate the textures into your language if you wish) by filling out this form.
Also note that if you are reading this text in your language, it is because the position of translator in your language is already taken!
Marketing and Visibility
Perhaps you will find this data useless, but I want to be transparent, so I see no reason why this data should remain private.
Steam Store Page Visits
Total store page (Unique) visits : 319 206
Top 10 visits by country:
Country
Number of Visits
UNITED STATES
69 426
Russian Federation
42 529
Singapore
26 391
Germany
12 480
United Kingdom
10 778
France
10 410
Poland
9 941
Ukraine
9 744
Australia
9 498
Brazil
9 261
Wishlist
Number of additions to a Wishlist: 58 487.
Development Progress
I hear very often from those around me “when is the game coming out?”. And every time I answer that I don't know. More seriously, the scenario is finally complete, which means that I can concentrate completely on the lines of dialogue and their implementation in the maps. This implies that I repeat most of the maps already created to correspond to the new standards of the scenario. This process is not simple, it requires a lot of time and work. And even after that, there will still be a lot of things to do... So, I don't know when the game will be released...
(Image of part of sp_a1_01, first map of the game dating approximately from January 2023)
(Image of part of sp_a1_01, first map of the game dating from approximately October 2023)
(Image of a part of sp_a1_01, first map of the game dating from June 2024)
Finally, I would like to thank everyone who supported me during this year (and even the previous ones). I think of my family, my friends, but also the people I met through the Portal BAGLEY Discord!
Feel free to support us on our page Patreon and join our Discord !
- Adrien Vasseur (MrBlume)