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Portal 2 is influenced by Fallout isn't it?

ConflictResolver

ConflictResolver

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Jan 1, 2024
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I never knew this at the time as I have only just gotten into Fallout with the TV show.

But am I correct in saying Portal 2's retro-futurism aesthetic and vibe is likely directly influenced by Fallout?

I was getting Portal 2 vibes while watching certain aspects of the show. The way the overseer of Vault 4 speaks reminded me of the narrator in the retro-future section of Portal 2. Vault-Tec = Aperture. Vaults = Test Chambers. British comedian robots!
 
fourfourfun

fourfourfun

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Oct 27, 2017
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Not sure, feels like a different era to the 40/50s of Fallout. In fact, I get a big feel for a lot of mundane corporate America from it, all the glimpses of empty offices, sterile bright lighting. More of a nod to 70s science fiction maybe.
 
Spoit

Spoit

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Oct 28, 2017
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Tbh, it's probably more influenced by TF2. Especially the Australium stuff
 
aerie

aerie

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Oct 25, 2017
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I think that's a bit of a stretch. As someone who played every Fallout and Portal game when they released, I've never felt any sort of connection or influence.
 
Dusk Golem

Dusk Golem

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Oct 25, 2017
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Portal was pretty directly inspired by System Shock 2, among other things I'm sure, but I don't believe Fallout was one of them.
 
AstralSphere

AstralSphere

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brawndolicious

brawndolicious

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Oct 27, 2017
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fourfourfun said:
Not sure, feels like a different era to the 40/50s of Fallout. In fact, I get a big feel for a lot of mundane corporate America from it, all the glimpses of empty offices, sterile bright lighting. More of a nod to 70s science fiction maybe.
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Yes exactly. Maybe they were the first big piece of media that we all saw to embrace that aesthetic but it's pretty distinct from Fallout.

I actually wouldn't be surprised if the Portal games were a major influence on The Stanley Parable or the Severance show on Apple TV. I can totally see it.
 
Gavalanche

Gavalanche

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Oct 21, 2021
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For those who don't know, I'm the guy who invented Portal, and my biggest inspiration was the Boss Baby movie.
 
Mivey

Mivey

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Oct 25, 2017
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Absolutely. They also shamelessly used the same first person camera view that Todd Howard personally invented for Fallout 3.
 
DrFreeman

DrFreeman

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May 9, 2020
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I guess you mean specifically the test chambers in Portal 2 which were built decades earlier and are unlike the futuristic ones seen in other parts of the game (and Portal 1).

I think that's just a way to show how long Aperture has existed for (and would exist for) to make the player feel helpless in a way.

Outside of gaming I'd say one of its biggest influences are actually 1984 (and some say The Trial by Kafka but I've never read that).
 
RudiJ

RudiJ

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Oct 28, 2017
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I think it's highly likely the designers of Portal would have played Fallout 1 and 2, and the designers of 2 would have played Fallout 3, it's definitely deep in there somewhere.
 
CognitiveAtrophy

CognitiveAtrophy

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Oct 27, 2017
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No, but both properties clearly take a large dose of inspiration from the Hitchhiker's Guide. Fallout is essentially that plus Mad Max.
 
julia crawford

julia crawford

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Oct 27, 2017
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You know the sixties really existed, like humans existed and they really did have an idea of the future back then, like, retro futurism was not retro in the sixties it was just futurism

Like in real life

Like this was a real thing

You're not inspired by Fallout you're inspired by actual historic art that was contemporary in its time
 
PLASTICA-MAN

PLASTICA-MAN

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Oct 26, 2017
24,079
Portal is isnpired by Half Life. There is no conspiracy in this. It's evebn part of the story.
I know the series now is trending and influencing people but to this extent? Come on OP.
If anything, the only real inspiration is from Prey and its multi dimentional portals which made Prey devs go insane when seeing Portals in Portal.
 
Blackpuppy

Blackpuppy

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Oct 28, 2017
4,253
Earlier pieces of media I can think of with retro futurism:

Brazil
City of Lost Children
Blade Runner (kinda..)
 
GeeTeeCee

GeeTeeCee

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Oct 27, 2017
861
I remember reading the synopsis of a Philip K Dick story, The Penultimate Truth, as a teen, and thinking "hang on, isn't this Fallout?"
 
Trey

Trey

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Oct 25, 2017
18,231
I know the thread is piling on you OP, but you can use this as an opportunity expand your horizons within the genre, whether it's retro/anacro futurism, immersive sim puzzler, or surrealist first person action adventure. A bunch of games already mentioned in this thread like System Shock and Half Life probably have more connective tissue with Portal 2 than Fallout 3, but it makes sense for you to pick up similar vibes between both properties.

Stuff like Bioshock and Prey have a shared lineage with the Portal franchise, even if none of them directly inspire the other. If you Google "Portal 2 inspiration," one of the first results is a dev interview where they were inspired in part by Super Metroid, which is something I wouldn't myself assume. Scifi is a huge genre with a bunch of different branches, enjoy!
 
Tygre

Tygre

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Oct 25, 2017
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I'm going to push back on a lot of the weird incredulity here and say that, given the immense influence Fallout (and especially Fallout 2) had in the 90s and given who developed (and most importantly wrote) Portal and Portal 2, it's very likely that Fallout influenced Portal.

Especially given what we know about the development of Portal, from it's origins as Narbacular Drop, it underwent a truly massive aesthetic and narrative shift.

Erik and Chet are old head PC gamers. Fallout would absolutely be one of their many influences.
 
Digital Dinosaur

Digital Dinosaur

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Oct 25, 2017
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If anything inspired the characters, storyline, and vibe of Portal 1/2 outside of Half-Life's influences, it's I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream by Harlan Ellison. Portal is ultimately a playable day in the life of one of AM's chosen victims.

The greatly expanded story of Cave Johnson and history of Aperture Science in Portal 2 is more retro 60s/70s reference point and isn't based on nuclear panic and red scare America. Cave Johnson seems largely a take on Howard Hughes. Particularly his life gradually becoming consumed by eccentricity and mental disorder.
 
Paquete_PT

Paquete_PT

Avenger
Oct 27, 2017
5,431
Yes, Fallout invented retro-futurism. Its influence throughout movies and books is also unbeatable.
 
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