ASCIIpOrtal Has Been Released

maclizard writes "After much waiting, ASCIIpOrtal has now been released. Joe Larson, the man behind the game, has made sure to provide numerous mirrors so as to avoid the Slashdot effect that killed his site several months ago. An interview with Larson (part two here) is available as well."

Yup

[Anonymous Coward]

Best graphics evar!!!!

Well, ain't that something.

[mdm-adph]

I'm both proud in a weird way and horrified in a weird way that there exists 64-bit Linux binaries for this but no 32-bit. :P

Re:

[Goldberg's Pants]

I'm amused by the fact the site is dead already. The mirrors hardly matter when the main site is hosed. ("Service Unavailable").

Re:

[DeadPixels]

It loads just fine for me.

Re:Well, ain't that something.

[whyde]

Please do not destroy vital network apparatus.

Re:

[Zerth]

Win
http://willhostforfood.com/access.php?fileid=85819 [willhostforfood.com]
http://solidfiles.com/d/8fC8 [solidfiles.com]
http://www.mediafire.com/file/zkiqmzcode4/asciiportal-1.0-win32.zip [mediafire.com]

Mac
http://willhostforfood.com/access.php?fileid=85820 [willhostforfood.com]
http://solidfiles.com/d/XGEg [solidfiles.com]
http://www.mediafire.com/file/yhaywt2zjzi/asciiportal-1.0-osx-univ.zip [mediafire.com]

64 bit Linux
http://willhostforfood.com/access.php?fileid=85821 [willhostforfood.com]
http://solidfiles.com/d/9jxO [solidfiles.com]
http://www.mediafire.com/file/yzdneznfujo/asciiportal-1.0-linux-x64.tar.gz [mediafire.com]

Re:

[Zontar The Mindless]

32 bit Linux

http://willhostforfood.com/users/C/cymon/asciiportal-linux32.tar.gz [willhostforfood.com]
http://solidfiles.com/d/YlA4 [solidfiles.com]
http://www.mediafire.com/?zj0ywjmgylm [mediafire.com]

Re:

[JesusOfNazareth]

I'm amused by the fact the site is dead already. The mirrors hardly matter when the main site is hosed. ("Service Unavailable").

My servers! The mirrors do nothing!!!!

Re:Well, ain't that something.

[Icegryphon]

Yes oh yes, delicious 64bit ascii characters.

Re:Wait.

[einstein4pres]

ASCIIpOrtal is a 2D platformer that has a portal gun. It shares many of the same elements as the original game, plus a few others.

Here, have a demo:
http://www.offworld.com/2009/07/day-made-mind-blown-its-portal.html [offworld.com]

Re:

[Jahava]

I believe the original game mentioned is Valve's "Portal" [wikipedia.org].

Re:

[Khyber]

No, the original game is Nabacular Drop.

Re:

[Khyber]

Forgive me for missing one R you cowardly piece of shit.

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

Not if you're from Boston. And it's ahshole you friggin' twist.

Re:Wait.

[MozeeToby]

But you missed why it was important enough to warrant being a frontpage Slashdot article. It it pretty sweet, but that really shouldn't be enough to warrant a front page article. I thought the important thing was that the game is a demonstration that good games are about original gameplay ideas and not about graphics. Before ASCIIpOrtal came along, it would have been easy to argue that the game play mechanics of portal would have been impossible or at least diminished without 3D graphics; now it is much more difficult to make that argument.

Its dead,

[mrops]

Jim So much for mirrors

Re:Wait.

[eln]

Actually, if that demo is indicative of the game as a whole, then it makes a very good argument as to why the 3D graphics were so vital to the original portal game. The original portal is far more playable, and its 3D nature allows for far more interesting puzzles. The text game is, while an interesting exercise in what's possible with antiquated graphics, appears to be a far inferior game. Just the way it handles moving the scenery around while keeping the player upright would give me a headache in about 10 seconds.

Re:

[Bragador]

I guess you never played Portal: The Flash Version?

It is a 2d puzzle game and is still quite interesting. So, maybe your argument is actually more of an opinion? The last levels are obviously more interesting...

http://www.kongregate.com/games/Dragy/portal-the-flash-version [kongregate.com]

Re:

[Gulthek]

Of course its an opinion but, c'mon, the flash portal game was cute but absolutely nothing compared to the actual game. No GlaDOS, no twisted 3D puzzles, no ratman.

Re:

[djdavetrouble]

Wrong, ASCII versions of anything usually make the front page, it is a longstanding nerd favorite.

Re:

[sukotto]

No, it warrants being on the front page because it's frikken cool with frikken lasers in its head.

Re:

[VGPowerlord]

Before ASCIIpOrtal came along, it would have been easy to argue that the game play mechanics of portal would have been impossible or at least diminished without 3D graphics; now it is much more difficult to make that argument.

No, actually, Portal: The Flash Version [wecreatestuff.com] made that point nearly two years ago (the copy on Newgrounds has a submission date on it of October 9, 2007).

Re:

[ChaosDiscord]

"Before ASCIIpOrtal came along, it would have been easy to argue that the game play mechanics of portal would have been impossible or at least diminished without 3D graphics..."

Assuming one was unfamiliar with Portal: the Flash Version [wecreatestuff.com] which came out some time ago.

Slashdotted..

[eiMichael]

Addition Pylons (I mean mirrors) Required.

Re:

[lokiomega]

You've not enough minerals.

GaiKai...

[Jahava]

I can't wait for this to become playable over GaiKai [wikipedia.org] or OnLive [wikipedia.org]! Although there may be some serious competition [wikipedia.org]...

Taking care to avoid Slashdotting... or not?

[Thundarr Trollgrim]

Service Temporarily Unavailable

The server is temporarily unable to service your request due to maintenance downtime or capacity problems. Please try again later.

Re:

[otravi]

Windows (which apparently has 32-bit only?):
- http://willhostforfood.com/access.php?fileid=85819 [willhostforfood.com]
- http://solidfiles.com/d/8fC8 [solidfiles.com]
- http://www.mediafire.com/file/zkiqmzcode4/asciiportal-1.0-win32.zip [mediafire.com]

Mac binaries (compiled by FutureStack on RGRD):
- http://willhostforfood.com/access.php?fileid=85820 [willhostforfood.com]
- http://solidfiles.com/d/XGEg [solidfiles.com]
- http://www.mediafire.com/file/yhaywt2zjzi/asciiportal-1.0-osx-univ.zip [mediafire.com]

Linux-64bit binaries (compiled by Kaw on RGRD):
- http://will [willhostforfood.com]

Re:How do you play this?

[argent]

You don't need the portal for the first level at all... it's a "here's how you move and stuff" level.

Re:

[argent]

I just kept walking and the "Å" climbed up it.

Pwned!

[werfu]

"After much waiting, ASCIIpOrtal has now been released. Joe Larson, the man behind the game, has made sure to provide numerous mirrors so as to avoid the Slashdot effect that killed his site several months ago." Looks like its that again : Service Temporarily Unavailable - The server is temporarily unable to service your request due to maintenance downtime or capacity problems. Please try again later.

Re:I think I just jizzed in my pants...

[Razalhague]

I think you should look into this rather new invention, called "movies". It's got all the awesome graphics of games without that pesky gameplay to distract you!

"...avoid the Slashdot effect..."

[Redlite]

Fail. Service Temporarily Unavailable The server is temporarily unable to service your request due to maintenance downtime or capacity problems. Please try again later. Apache/1.3.33 Server at cymonsgames.com Port 80

Re:

[hansraj]

I am guessing that the smart guy meant exactly zero when he said "numerous". After all, it is not slashdot effect if the webmaster intentionally made the service unavailable.

dead, already?

[thecolor]

after much waiting the Slashdot effect appears to have STILL killed it (mirrors or not). ;)

Mirror

[BluePeppers]

If people want a link to a mirror, one for the 64 linux binaries is: http://download566.mediafire.com/b2wsmldgy9gg/yzdneznfujo/asciiportal-1.0-linux-x64.tar.gz [mediafire.com]

However, I'm getting an error, stating "Error - No map files found.

You must place all level files in a directory with the same base name.
The default should then be in \maps\maps001.txt"

I've tried renaming them, but it doesn't seem to work. And what's going on with the backslashes?

Re:

[berashith]

They aren't backslashes. That is ascii representation of grass in a breeze.

Avoid the /. effect?

[MMC Monster]

Joe Larson, the man behind the game, has made sure to provide numerous mirrors so as to avoid the Slashdot effect that killed his site several months ago.

Yes.
Well.... So much for that. Not one +3 comment and the site is sluggish as hell. May as well be slashdotted.

Lie

[Anonymous Coward]

The mirrors is a lie.

Re:

[initdeep]

ISWYDT

Mirrored Download

[allometry]

I was able to snag one of the download mirrors URL before the site went down.

http://files.solidfiles.net/8fC8/asciiportal-1.0-win32.zip [solidfiles.net]

Mirror

[End Program]

http://cymonsgames.com.nyud.net/asciiportal/ [nyud.net]

Download Links

[fering]

Download Links: Hosting offsite for the first week. Just link to this page for the most up to date links.
Download Windows binaries: [sharebee.com] WHFF [willhostforfood.com] Solidfiles [solidfiles.com] Mediafire [mediafire.com] LGShort Sharebee [sharebee.com]
Download Mac binaries (compiled by FutureStack on RGRD): WHFF [willhostforfood.com] Solidfiles [solidfiles.com] Mediafire [mediafire.com] LGShort Sharebee [sharebee.com]
Download Linux-32bit binaries: Contact me to volunteer if you get it to work. Download Linux-64bit binaries (compiled by Kaw on RGRD): [sharebee.com] WHFF [willhostforfood.com] Solidfiles [solidfiles.com] Mediafire [mediafire.com]

here's a great use for BitTorrent

[TrippTDF]

Why not just put a link to a torrent file right in the article, and save everyone some headaches? I always thought that was the real potential for BitTorrent- share large amounts of data without killing anyone's servers.

Re:

[VGPowerlord]

I don't know about Valve, but considering that an mp3 of an instrumental version of Europe's The Final Countdown is sitting in the maps directory (final.mp3), the RIAA could definitely sue them...

Maybe

[cstdenis]

the server wouldn't be /.ed if the summery had bothered to include links to the mentioned mirrors.

Re:

[russlar]

the server wouldn't be /.ed if the summery had bothered to include links to the mentioned mirrors.

You're right. The server wouldn't matter, all the servers would be hosed instead.

Re:

[spydabyte]

Same thing with your post:

Hosting offsite for the first week. Just link to this page for the most up to date links.

Note: The LGShort and Sharebee hosts were commented out in the page's html.

Download Windows binaries: [sharebee.com] WHFF [willhostforfood.com] Solidfiles [solidfiles.com] Mediafire [mediafire.com] LGShort [lgshort.com] Sharebee [sharebee.com]

Download Mac binaries (by FutureStack on RGRD): WHFF [willhostforfood.com] Solidfiles [solidfiles.com] Mediafire [mediafire.com] LGShort Sharebee [sharebee.com]

Download Linux-32bit binaries (by Brandon): WHFF [willhostforfood.com] Solidfiles [solidfiles.com] mediafire [mediafire.com]

Download Linux-64bit binaries (by Kaw on RGRD): [sharebee.com] WHFF [willhostforfood.com] Solidfiles [solidfiles.com] Mediafire [mediafire.com] LGShort [lgshort.com] Sharebee [sharebee.com]

Mirrors

[maclizard]

http://www.lgshort.com/asciiportal-1.0-win32.zip [lgshort.com] http://www.lgshort.com/asciiportal-1.0-osx-univ.zip [lgshort.com] http://www.lgshort.com/asciiportal-linux32.tar.gz [lgshort.com] http://www.lgshort.com/asciiportal-1.0-linux-x64.tar.gz [lgshort.com]

Bittorrent

[kenp2002]

I am still amazed that we find it necessary to have 50 mirros of something when a single bit torrent link would suffice...

Re:

[chrisG23]

Maybe when someone codes an in-browser bit-torrent client things will go better

You mean like Opera? http://www.opera.com/browser/features/ [opera.com]

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

Correction: Maybe when someone codes an in-browser bit-torrent client for a browser that people actually use, things will go better.

Re:

[chrisG23]

Har. Im part of the 1% or 5% or whatever of browser users out there that use Opera as my primary browser (and chrome and Firefox for other uses, IE never except for manually doing windows updates). But I did disable opera's built-in torrent client, because I prefer a stand-alone. I think Opera doesn't have a problem of getting bad press, it has a problem of getting no press. As a lightweight fully functional speedy web browser that constantly innovates, its excellent. On a side note, Opera has an IRC clie

Re:

[sowth]

I thought the problem was most (if not all) webhosts don't provide torrent servers. Trying to provide a server over dialup isn't so great either.

See also:

[zugzwanged]

No one seems to have mentioned Jacob's Matrix http://www.zincland.com/7drl/jacob/ [zincland.com], which is another excellent textual take on the portal idea.

Over nine thousand!

[kars]

Oh, come on! A game with ASCII graphics, but over 9 MB large? What the heck?!

Re:

[karnal]

Give him a break, he didn't compress the map files *laugh*

Re:

[Maniacal]

Looks like it's all sounds that chew up the most K's. The app itself is small ~400k

So what is it?

[SEWilco]

Merely describing it as a game is not enough. Summary should mention the genre or what makes it unique. We don't have time to look at every piece of software which is announced... particularly those whose only description is "Version 3, now better than ever!" Great, so GigaWonder is version 3, but what does it do?

Playable via SSH?

[antdude]

Can we play it remotely or do we need almost 0ms lags? :(