Valve has left an indelible mark on the history of video games, creating titles that have marked an era and endure in the memory of players. From the iconic Half-Life even addictive Counter Strikepassing through the innovative Holderl, Valve has proven time and time again its ability to deliver unique and memorable gaming experiences.
However, what many do not know is that one of the company’s most emblematic games, Portal, was on the verge of not seeing the light of day if it were not for the intervention of a group of students whose brilliant idea laid the foundations for this revolutionary title.
In 2005, in the DigiPen Institute of Technology in Redmond, Washington, began the story that would bring with it one of the most creative games in the industry. In DigiPenan annual event is held job fair that connects students with the main companies in the sector, with one of the participating teams being the Nuclear Monkey Software team.
This revolutionary team brought with it a project called “Narbacular Drop”whose main idea was the use of portals that would allow you to move through different places, a fairly novel idea that caught the attention of Valve. Robin Walker, A prominent Valve employee noticed this project and soon let the team know.
“Why don’t you come to Valve and present your game for some people to see? It could give them different perspectives,” were the words of Robin Walker
Jeep Barnettone of the programmers of the project and its director, saw a great opportunity in these words, so he, along with his group of 6 other colleagues, They decided to accept the request.
“We thought they were going to give us a tour of Valve and laugh at us, but at least we hoped to get some useful tips,” Barnett recalls.
The developers got a big surprise when they met several Valve employees present at the meeting, including Gabe Newell. But, despite the young students’ nerves, the meeting was an immediate success, Gabe commented that he was impressed by the way in which these students had developed such a complex system, furthermore, expressed concern that the talent of these young people was wastedwhich led him to make the decision to offer them a job immediately with the company.
“Narbacular Drop is innovative, and they executed the concept very well,” said Gabe Newell.
The TURBO button on old computers did not serve to speed up the PC
The most veterans in computing will remember the computers that existed among the 80s and 2000smuch cruder equipment, but that fulfilled their functions in the use of the programs and games of the time.
These computers were marked by peculiar features, such as the Turbo button, which is unknown to many current PC users and which, contrary to what its name suggested, did not speed up the computer’s performance, but rather slowed it down, a feature which, although it may seem strange today, had a specific purpose back then.
