Hijinks Inc.

Tag: Portal

  • Portal 2: Release date announced

    We won’t have to wait too much longer, as Valve announced Wed morning Portal 2’s release date to be February 9th of next year.  Being a huge fan of the original, I’ll definitely be putting this one on my list.  Inherently, I’ll be opting for the PC or Mac version, as a game like Portal, in my humble opinion, is best played with a mouse.  They’re also releasing for PS3 and Xbox 360.

    There’s some awesome new elements they’re rolling out with this one, including Wheatley, a friendly British robot that will accompany you, voiced by Stephen Merchant (writer for both versions of The Office, and also starred in a few episodes of the US version).

    They’ve also added features, among others, like Repulsion and Propulsion Gel, an Excursion Funnel, the Pneumatic Diversity Vent, the Aerial Faith Plate, and a Thermal Discouragement Beam.  For trailers showcasing these features and more, check out Portal’s official teaser site here.

    For the latest news, keep an eye on gameinformer.

  • Fixing Portal Crashes

    For those of you who are getting the following error when trying to launch Portal, there is hope! Unless you’re running it under Boot Camp on a MacBook, if that’s the case you’re screwed.

    Hanging application hl2.exe, version 0.0.0.0, hang module hungapp, version 0.0.0.0, hang address 0x00000000.

    Just add the following to the end of the Target path of the Portal shortcut:
    -dxlevel 81 +mat_forcehardwaresync 0

    You can do so by right clicking on the Portal icon and selecting Properties.

    After you’re finished, it should look something like this:
    Steam.exe -applaunch 400 -dxlevel 81 +mat_forcehardwaresync 0

    Now click Ok.

    Please note this fix is only relevant for launching Portal using the desktop shortcut, this will not fix launch problems with launching Portal from within Steam.