One solution would be to record your playthrough using fraps or something similar. Most of the puzzles really aren't that relevant to the discussion probably. Most of the important stuff happens towards the end, so I guess you could just save there. Once you've played through the game once the puzzles take a lot less time.LordCuthberton said:
College Professor Requires Students to Study Portal
- Thread starter Tom Goldman
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This will go on my list of (hopeful) required study materials at my college, along with Iain M. Banks' Culture novels, Star Trek, and BioShock. Unfortunately, there's no way it will ever get any notice, but it's a nice thought.
Another factor in Portal's favor is that the vast majority of college students have played some form of video game, so it's not quite like starting from scratch.Outright Villainy said:
You know HOW this guy convinced the staff to include this on the reading list? Did he just show it to them, gave them the games transcript, or let them just play it? I assume it had to take SOMETHING big to convince them to allow Portal next to Dante's Inferno.Tom Goldman said:
Not a bad idea, but i would rather put it into high & public schools for the training of logic, than for...whatever they study up there.
This reminds me of a ICT ELP I had to do once. You had to (baisically putting it) explain how a game worked. I chose HALO:ODST as it was quite simple.
Of course it's awesome to see games being used as educational material. A lot of games have more to say than what is evident at the surface. It also shows that games have become more accepted in our society.
But I also agree with the people worried about gaming being no fun when done as homework. Really, dismantling and picking apart books is hard enough and takes away a great part of the fun of simply reading and letting it sink in. On the other hand, who ever said that learning had to be fun ... When games want to be taken seriously (as art or whatever) we'll probably have to pay the price that sometimes we'll have to play games not for fun, but to analyse them as we do with other pieces of art.
But I also agree with the people worried about gaming being no fun when done as homework. Really, dismantling and picking apart books is hard enough and takes away a great part of the fun of simply reading and letting it sink in. On the other hand, who ever said that learning had to be fun ... When games want to be taken seriously (as art or whatever) we'll probably have to pay the price that sometimes we'll have to play games not for fun, but to analyse them as we do with other pieces of art.
Initially i was going to disagree and say that portal is one of the most engaging games i've played and every moment was memorable and so would not be hard to find, or even recall.LordCuthberton said:
But then i thought, hang on a tick, i've played it before, portal runs in my blood. I don't think with logic, i think with portals, Valve changed me.
But this man is introducing this game to a class and asking them to study it. While he may well be onto something (GAMES ARE THE FUTURE!!!) there is a high chance that a lot of his students won't have played portal before. They may not even play games, if that is the case any assignment set for the game could be the worst thing ever to happen to them. It will either make gamers, or break people. The future of that technique could well rest on the gaming ability of a class of students.
I however would ace that class, i win, A+.
Firstly, epic.
Hmm...reading a novel would likely take a lot longer than playing Portal. The time spent in-game is mostly working out puzzles, making a second run-through much quicker - you can play through the entire game in under an hour if you don't have to figure it out. Also, you can start at the beginning of any of the sections, and save points, making it easier to find a particular moment.LordCuthberton said:
Same sentiments here.Terrorist_school_drop-out said:
Only I'm using this to illustrate.
I wish I went to that college.
I like that portal is being included in education BUT it should be present in a more mathematical or spatial subject, not arty rubbish 
I think they should make it so only those who have never played "Portal" are allowed to take the class, so they ummm... have no preconceived notions.
At the beginning of that section of class, the professor should come in and eat delicious cake in front of the class while they work hard, and promise when this portion of the lesson plan is done everyone will get some. Each time the class meets he should put down delicious cakes and munch on it, while making promises that everyone can have some when it's done.
Then of course predictably at the end of this part of the lesson (however many classes it takes) tell them it was all a lie and keep eating cake in front of them.
I mean after all, going by the cinematics GlaDOS did indeed have a cake, she just didn't share which makes her doubly evil.
That and anyone who says that they like pie better should automatically fail! (muhwahahahaha!)
Sadly, the above is the closest you can come to actually educating them on the game and it's treatment of delicious cake. I doubt the university would allow the professor to gas the people in class after they play the game, put them in crippling leg braces, and make them navigate a gauntlet of "SAW" and "Cube" inspired traps under the school with red and blue colored flashlights with no use given the lack of real portal gun technology. Sort of a way of getting people to understand the human condition of experiencing death traps with no hope... and well... okay, okay I'm getting crazy even for me.
Still, if some university wants to give me Tenure and a large budget to design my own classes, just let me know. I've got this great idea for a class that will use both "Battle Royale" and "Team Fortress 2" for inspiration. When done graduates will have a better understanding of insanity, sadism, and the artistic merits of blood splatters!
At the beginning of that section of class, the professor should come in and eat delicious cake in front of the class while they work hard, and promise when this portion of the lesson plan is done everyone will get some. Each time the class meets he should put down delicious cakes and munch on it, while making promises that everyone can have some when it's done.
Then of course predictably at the end of this part of the lesson (however many classes it takes) tell them it was all a lie and keep eating cake in front of them.
I mean after all, going by the cinematics GlaDOS did indeed have a cake, she just didn't share which makes her doubly evil.
That and anyone who says that they like pie better should automatically fail! (muhwahahahaha!)
Sadly, the above is the closest you can come to actually educating them on the game and it's treatment of delicious cake. I doubt the university would allow the professor to gas the people in class after they play the game, put them in crippling leg braces, and make them navigate a gauntlet of "SAW" and "Cube" inspired traps under the school with red and blue colored flashlights with no use given the lack of real portal gun technology. Sort of a way of getting people to understand the human condition of experiencing death traps with no hope... and well... okay, okay I'm getting crazy even for me.
Still, if some university wants to give me Tenure and a large budget to design my own classes, just let me know. I've got this great idea for a class that will use both "Battle Royale" and "Team Fortress 2" for inspiration. When done graduates will have a better understanding of insanity, sadism, and the artistic merits of blood splatters!
I suggested this to my physics teacher at one point. I can't remember what he said, but it went along the lines of "That's not going to happen."
