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Portal - The Game. Free Download. [Expired]
If you’re a fan of single-player games you’ve probably heard of Portal. Version 1 was a major hit for Valve Software, and version 2 is due to be launched in the coming months.
As part of a promotional offer, Portal v1 is currently available as a free download from Valve’s online store until May 24th. So if you feel like playing, grab it now from http://store.steampowered.com/freeportal/. It’s available for both PC and Mac.
If you haven’t played Portal before, you can read about it at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal_(video_game). Or see the official trailer at http://store.steampowered.com/app/400.
Portal is undoubtedly an impressive game. Sadly, however, taking advantage of this offer isn’t as simple as downloading an installer file, running it, then settling down to play. You'll need to create an account on the Valve Software’s “Steam” system, and then download the Steam client app (1.5 MB). This then acts as your front end to all Valve software, allowing you to download and launch games from within the Steam system. It’s all relatively pain-free, but is an infuriating set of hoops through which you have to jump, merely to play a game. And while the download of Portal itself, within the Steam app, is fully automatic, the total download is a stonking 5 GB. Worth bearing in mind if you’re not on an unlimited monthly package from your ISP. Still, the game itself looks great fun, and a number of people have recommended it to me.
My thanks to site users RandomToon and Markola who told me about this free download. If there’s a great item of freeware, or a web-based service, that you think deserves to be a Hot Find, please let us know and we’ll do the rest. Just fill in some brief details at http://www.techsupportalert.com/content/submit-product-review.htm.
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Comments
Great game and I'm sorry I missed it. But what I do not miss is Steam.
Anyone have a suggestion for my problem. I have a Steam account. Doesn't bother me using it to play their games. I go to the free portal download page and try to install Portal. I get the existing account login. I enter my user name and password and get an incorrect login error. I change my password using my existing user name and the change is successful. Still get the error. I use my account information to submit a support issue. No problem getting into support. No response to y question in 3 days so far. I use the user ID and password that gets me into support but won't get past the login to install Portal.
Any suggestions???
If you have a friend you trust, you could have them try to log in for you.
Sorry but "must be on-line to play" = unnecessary DRM = NO THANK YOU.
You don't have to be online all the time to play-only once. Then you simply go into offline mode, and you don't have to be online to play anymore.
To this day Half-Life remains my most favoured game. I bought Blue Shift, Opposing Force, Half Life 2 etc etc.
Having to be locked into Steam, with all the attendant problems is what made me stop playing.
It's a major nuisance, not that reliable and is not meant to engender good relations with a large fan base.
RIP Gordon Freeman and all related activities due to the murderer, Steam.
I find that most people who say that haven't tried Steam in several years. I will agree that when it debuted, it was often broken more times than it was working correctly. However, that has not been the case in a number of years. The only time I have issues with Steam now is when something huge releases, like MW2. Then you will occasionally get hiccups until the majority of downloads tapers off, and everything is back to normal. I play on Steam every day, and I can't remember the last time I had a problem with it.
I don't know, maybe it's just me, but I don't see the big deal with having to log in to Steam to play-I have to log in to check my email, I have to log in to post on forums, I have to log in to order things online, what's one more login? (Not to mention that just like all of the above, you can save your login and simply start Steam, or you can go into Offline mode for games like Portal that aren't multiplayer.)
I had problems with Steam hanging with a few kb left to download: this happened several times until i finally contacted their support team. The support was excellent but still none of the solutions offered solved the problem until i eventually gave up. This was last year so maybe things are better. They explained that they were aware of this problem but at that time did not indicate when or even if they would be fixing it. A shame because i downloaded around twenty gigs of data for nothing.
Which is the correct download link for downloading free Portal ? "Download DEMO" or "Install Game"
http://store.steampowered.com/app/400
ok so i went ahead and went thru all hooks to register w/steam, install their 'installer' and downloaded Portal last night.. tried to start the game and got an error that the game was.. not currently available and i should try again later! WTF? (excuse my language) but i'm uninstalling.
Occasionally you'll get that message, you just have to try to launch the game again. Normally it's as simple as retrying, you never get that message for very long. Personally, if I spent a couple of hours downloading a 5GB game, I wouldn't give up after trying to launch it once.
I should have mentioned, i did try 3 times before giving up but if the game is installed on the hard drive (after the mega-download) i just don't understand why it wouldn't run. Do i have to be online and logged into Steam whenever i want to play it?
Yes. Unless you go into offline mode (for which you have to be logged in and online), you do have to be online to play. If you want to avoid this in the future, start Steam, log in, and from the "Store" window, click Steam at the top, then click "Go Offline." From then on, until you go back into online mode, you will not have to be online to play.
thank you!
take me forever to download 5 gig on satellite
have to pass on this one
thanks for the link
Get a steam account and click the link so that it will get registered to your steam account, almost as if you've bought it. That way you can download it in the future--still free.
From what I can tell, it appears that you will be able to play it up until 24th May but not beyond (unless I'm mistaken). To play after that you'll have to buy it though I suspect it will be sold at a discount price at some stage (as are a lot of Steam games). Portal is a fab game though either way!
(answer to previous question - no 3D glasses required - it's not that hi tech)
Actually, you can play it for as long as you like as there is no time limit on play. The 24th is just the last day that they will let you download it for free. Excellent game and great, dark humor. I definitely recommend everyone to at least get an account on steam and get your free download. Steam will queue it up and you can download later at your convenience.
Sorry, my mistake. That makes it an even better deal than I thought it was!
Um. Sorry if this is a stupid question, but...
Do you need 3d glasses for this?
Nope you don't.
This is the ONLY 3D game my wife likes. I've never managed to get her hooked on anything else, no matter how easy it is to kill off pixels.
And the humor is outstanding!
The download is only 5GB if you don't already have Half-Life 2. If you do, it's a little over 1GB. And while there are some disadvantages to Steam, if you're like me, a gamer with kids, it's great. I never have to worry about my kids losing their install discs, their CD keys, or scratching up discs. And if your computer crashes, you just log back in to Steam and download everything again, as many times as you like.
If you don't want to have to log in to Steam every time, simply go into "offline" mode. But you do have to be online to go into offline mode, it's one of the quirks of Steam.
I played the version of Portal that came bundled with the "Orange Box" and thoroughly enjoyed it: a good game :)
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