Development Status 15.06.2023
Hi there!
I hope everybody had enough time to deal with the mental trauma of this mod’s delay to an undetermined date sometime this year. Be informed, that we will not be able to provide compensation for any therapeutic expenses you may have built up to help in your recovery. We understand that processing a game’s delay is not for the faint of heart.
Progress summary
I’m happy to announce that Portal: Revolution, for the first time since its creation 7 years ago, is fully playable from start to finish! 🎉
All 42 maps are gameplay-ready, most of which being fully decorated. The script is written and at this point there are no more question-marks floating around what we should do with this mod.
At this point, all that’s left to do is:
- Art assets for our story-heavy scenes
- Voice-over and character animation for act 3 and 4
- Decoration for act 4 test chambers
- Additional music for act 2 and 4
- Finish the ending
There’s still much to do, but I’m positive we can finish the game this year. Recording and implementing voice lines is fairly straight forward and we have written our scenes to limit intense animation work, which saves us a lot of time.
I’d say about 80%-90% complete.
New cast members
Over two years ago, we cast two voice actors for the mod. Sadly, our voice actress for one of the main characters dropped the project. Since we have not recorded a significant amount of lines, not much progress was lost, but her departure was still a surprise.
We went looking for a talent to fill her shoes and found Sarah Jacklin. Good to have you on board! Before anyone asks: No, we will not publish a preview right now. We want to keep the surprise.
First recording sessions already went really well and we’re happy to finally give this character a voice as it has been an empty shell for over three years.
Oh yes look at this
Again, we’ve mainly been working on extra-secret stuff which we don’t want to share yet, and we also wish to keep some surprises.
What about the 2023 release?
It’s still looking good. We’re making so much progress at the moment and with the new voice acting and story moments being finished, the whole game seems to really start coming together, which boosts motivation even more. Don’t get excited for a summer release though. I don’t know when we’ll finish, but it seems possible to do it this year. Wish us luck!
Honest words
I, Stefan, want to interject here for a bit and speak honestly about this game from my point of view.
I’ve been working on this thing for almost 8 years. Portal: Revolution got started as a little hobby project when I was just 13 years old. I’m now 20. This game has followed and taken over my life throughout my teenage and early adult life. (Austria has a very different school system but I’ll just refer to my schools as “Highschool” and “College”) I went through highschool, college and civil service, working on this mod in my free time, at every opportunity I could get. This mod has surpassed my graduation and civil service. I am currently enjoying an awesome employment-free vacation to get my drivers-license and finish the mod. I cannot thank my parents enough for enduring this stupid project all this time and letting me finish it on my terms, rent-free. (Yes I’m literally unemployed so I can make Portal mods full-time)
I hope you can now understand when I say that this mod has to be released this year. It has consumed me and my life for so long. While I feel awesome about how far it has come, and am still shocked by how much passion is put into this by my team and fans, it’s scary. The release of Portal: Revolution is an event which my brain cannot process. This has been my life-project so far; my magnum-opus.
I both love and hate this project. On one side, I am sick of working on the same game for so long and just want to get to the next project. But on the other, I’m proud of this creation, cherish the memories I have made with my incredible co-creators and can’t wait to share the fruits of our labor with the world.
Okay, yeah, you get it.
Point is: The game has to be done. We can’t keep working on this forever, and for once, it seems like it’s actually coming to a close. It’s getting there, believe me, we’ll finish it.
That should be about everything for now. Thanks for reading, see ya!
Stefan
Great news, 42 maps is ALOT and I hope you can finish this one time
thank you so much for your hard work Stefan I really hope that the portal community recognizes the amount of blood sweat and tears you've poured into this project. good luck with the final polishing and I hope to experience the fruits of your labor soon. thank you!
Good luck, Stefan.
Few people will realise just how impressive and unusual it is for a mod project to make it this far. Finishing a huge endeavour like this on a volunteer basis is a task of herculean proportions, let alone with a small team. It must feel surreal to have finally reached this point, but you should be extremely proud for having done so.
Your honest thoughts really struck a chord with me; as a fellow mod lead I know exactly how you feel. Projects like this can be incredibly rewarding in a way nothing else can, but they're also uniquely stressful and challenging. I'm beyond impressed with how you've stuck with it to the end. That takes serious dedication, passion, and skill, and I know it will be rewarded -- you will go far.
Stefan, you and your team have my utmost respect and gratitude for working so hard for so long to create something awesome for us Portal fans to enjoy. Congratulations to all involved, you should be very proud of yourselves -- and the very best of luck with the final stretch. I think I speak for everyone when I say I can't wait to play Portal: Revolution later this year :)
Oh wow thanks for the kind words! I really needed that lol. This mod doesn't have as much media attention as Desolation right now so sometimes it's easy to lose motivation when you feel like nobody cares about the project. The reactions I got to this article so far have been really heartwarming!
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Damn 42 maps, that is alot of content. I am looking forward to the release!
Nice.
I have a strong feeling that Portal: Revolutions is going to be amazing - a mod invested with this much passion is going to be exemplary. Cannot wait to play it!
Damn 8 years... This must feel like a giant rock just got lifted off your shoulder but the giant rock actually felt good(get what I'm saying?) Anyway I Can't wait to play the mod!
nice job stefan. impressed you almost made, now all you got to is cross that last mile.
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Stefan and team. Thank you so much for putting the work in to this. Can't wait to play the mod, no matter when it releases. Just know that the community appreciated your work! <3