[Portal - feature request] Make the radio puzzles a separate mode like the challenge maps

[stevethepocket]

It's been bugging me that once you play through the game once, you're stuck with those silly radios forever if you decide to replay the game. This is especially a problem for me; I got my parents a Steam account and a copy of Portal because I thought they might like it (I couldn't have gotten them separate accounts even if I'd wanted to because they share an email address). But now that Dad's played through it, Mom can't play it without those dumb radios.

So what I'd like, and what some other people have been clamoring for over on the forums, is for the radio mode to be a separate menu item that unlocks once you beat the game, similar to commentary mode: You get the normal chapter list but with a special icon in the corner of each one.

And yeah, I know, it's not specific to Linux or the SteamPipe beta, but people have been asking for this for a long time and, hey, posting on GitHub worked for getting the Half-Life expansion packs' original soundtracks restored.

[apocalyptech]

Yeah, agreed - From an aesthetic standpoint, also, I feel they detract a bit from the air of subtle menace that the game's got going on throughout. I tend to prefer the coldly sterile environments, when I'm not specifically trying for the radios.

FWIW, you can get rid of them if you go into Offline Mode and then delete some files from Steam's root. I don't know if these are ALL necessary, but: SteamApps/common/Portal/portal/gamestate.txt, userdata/[userid]/400, and appcache/stats/UserGameStats*_400.bin

Of course if you leave Offline Mode, your state would get re-synced and you'd get the radios back, but it tends to work out well enough for me.

[dscharrer]

Add another vote to this.

I know this is unlikely to happen, but it would also be great to restore the pre-ARG ending without the party escort bot.

[arfett]

The music the radios play is pretty ridiculous. It would be nice to play the game again without it.

[McMasterGold]

Another vote for this. It would be great to play the game with its original atmosphere.

[swenor]

I support this idea. Radios should be optional. TY.

[Gorriz]

Yes, please, add an option or console command to mute / stop the radio sound or something, it's ridiculous.

[stevethepocket]

Something I had not yet considered that came up in the comments for the latest update: Now that Portal stores everything in /common/, are save states and such shared between users? Because that would make this doubly annoying because even buying someone their own copy wouldn't keep the radios away if they're using the same computer.

[McMasterGold]

Oh wow, I didn't think of that at all. You're absolutely right.

I kind of have the feeling that Valve didn't plan SteamPipe that well... It has lots of flaws.

[Gorriz]

Any news on this? I want to play without the melody in every one of the levels.

[McMasterGold]

Me too. I'm replaying Portal, and those radios are getting annoying. The atmosphere of the game has been ruined.

And now with SteamPipe and the VPKs, it's not possible to modify the radio sound and make it silent.

[unclghost]

Please add this option, even loading my old saves from several years ago to play the game in its original state doesn't work anymore.

[ege010]

I created a small mod file (VPK) to silence the radios by using a blank wav file. It should be put in C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Portal\portal\custom (you have to create the "custom" folder if it's not already there). The mod file can be downloaded from here: http://www.sendspace.com/file/uypovj (be careful to click "download from sendspace", not the ads...).

[McMasterGold]

This is great! Thanks a lot!

[Gorriz]

Thanks thanks thanks !!!! :dancer:

[thegreatprophetzarquon]

This needs to be an option. The extra Transmission Received radios absolutely ruin the atmosphere of the original game, and really don't serve much of a propose now that the ARG is done. I guess you can get an achievement from them, but there should be an option to disable them.

[stevethepocket]

Since this is still getting traffic, I had a thought: Does anyone know how to get in touch with Adam Foster directly? He created the ARG, so I guess he's the best person to ask about patching it. Everybody at Valve pretty much does whatever they want anyway, so it's not like he'd have to get permission from anyone. Especially since it's his baby to begin with.

[thegreatprophetzarquon]

He's not on the email page. I don't really think it would need too much work. The game checks to see if you have the heartbreaker achievement, and if you do it spawns the radios. They just need to add a checkbox in the options to not spawn the radios.

[McMasterGold]

I don't understand why they're not doing anything about this. The community wants this a lot, and since thegreatprophetzarquon said that the game checks to see if you have an achievement to enable the radios, it's easy to implement an option to turn them off. Do they still check this GitHub?

[makethatwork]

it's been a couple years since this got activity, but i'd like to bump this - i don't know if valve even checks this, but those damn radios are killing me.

[InputEvelution]

I don't see how the radios are an issue. It's not like they're preventing you from completing the game.

[apocalyptech]

Obviously Valve doesn't see how the radios are an issue either, eh? Well done on resurrecting a four-year-old bugreport just to say that, though!

In seriousness, though, I stand by what I said all those years ago: "I feel they detract a bit from the air of subtle menace that the game's got going on throughout. I tend to prefer the coldly sterile environments, when I'm not specifically trying for the radios." I just prefer the atmosphere of the game without the radios is all, and it'd be nice to have a little checkbox somewhere in the options where I could turn 'em off.