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LunchHouse Software have announced a sort-of documentary focusing on a cancelled Valve game, apparently it was going to be called F-STOP/Aperture Camera and it was a prequel to Portal.

They say this is not based on speculation or heresay, instead they have official code from Valve to take a proper look at what could have been. It seems in F-Stop the player uses a special camera, which enabled you to create objects from your snaps. Not just create the item though, resize it, stack them, attach them and more. The first video, shown below, is quite short but already showed how it could have been quite fun.

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From the video description:

The mechanics are not based on speculation or heresay. Instead, Exposure uses the original, official code from Valve's own F-STOP, or as it was properly named, Aperture Camera. We've reached out to Valve, who've given us explicit permission to continue with our project using their original code.

What we've shown today are simply the base mechanics of the game. There's a lot of depth to these mechanics, many of which have never been seen by the public. We look forward to sharing more with you all in the near future.

There doesn't appear to be any public release happening, only a documentary. The question is: how long before someone now makes a full game with this mechanic? I would certainly like to give it a go. Know of any similar games people can try on Linux to satisfy this urge? Let us know in the comments.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Tags: Misc, Valve, Video
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9 comments

wvstolzing Jan 6, 2020
I've recently seen a tweet by game developer Matt Stark, who seems to be developing a very similar type of game: https://twitter.com/mattstark256/status/1213156890475212800?s=20
sub Jan 6, 2020
Quoting: wvstolzingI've recently seen a tweet by game developer Matt Stark, who seems to be developing a very similar type of game: https://twitter.com/mattstark256/status/1213156890475212800?s=20

Haha, I wanted to post exactly the same tweet. :D

Was just struggling if it is possible here to embed a tweet. (?)
Mountain Man Jan 6, 2020
Looks like an intriguing game. I would love to have played it. I wonder why Valve pulled the plug? Instead we're getting some VR BS.
Mountain Man Jan 6, 2020
Quoting: Xpanderand Q.U.B.E - which for some weird reason isn't on steam anymore, though i own it in steam... wtf
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AltrokRM4NI
If a game you've purchased is ever discontinued or pulled from the Steam store, it remains in your library and can still be downloaded from the Steam servers.
wvstolzing Jan 6, 2020
Quoting: Xpanderand Q.U.B.E - which for some weird reason isn't on steam anymore, though i own it in steam... wtf
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AltrokRM4NI

QUBE is on GOG as well (no Linux version though). I played a few hours into it, and liked it quite a bit; though for some reason I get motion sickness from it. (Which happens only on the rare odd game, and I don't understand why.)

A couple more games:

Deadcore: I'd like this one a lot more if it didn't rely so much on precise platforming. It's really difficult; but does scratch the Portal itch.

Antichamber: This is more of a labyrinth, as opposed to complex physics puzzles in 3 dimensions, but it's pretty interesting. Really difficult as well.
buckysrevenge Jan 6, 2020
Quoting: XpanderQ.U.B.E - which for some weird reason isn't on steam anymore, though i own it in steam... wtf
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AltrokRM4NI
the director's cut is still available on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/239430/QUBE_Directors_Cut/
stuff Jan 6, 2020
A similar game, I got it in a Humble Bundle some years ago:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/204220/Snapshot/
Philadelphus Jan 6, 2020
Quoting: buckysrevenge
Quoting: XpanderQ.U.B.E - which for some weird reason isn't on steam anymore, though i own it in steam... wtf
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AltrokRM4NI
the director's cut is still available on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/239430/QUBE_Directors_Cut/
Was just going to post that, that's probably why the original isn't available anymore. :) I remember getting the Director's Cut for free at some point after I'd bought the original game, that might be when they removed the original from Steam.

The name F-STOP was mentioned in the documentary "Portal 2 - The Final Hours" as being this incredibly fun and interesting game mechanic which was around before 2011, but which Valve kept a tight wrap on. It's nice to finally—after all these years—see what it was actually about. Seems like it would be an interesting mechanic, if well-implemented.
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