Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device

"Thanks to the Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device, the impossible is easy."

- GLaDOS[src]

The Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device, often simply referred to as the Portal Gun, or its initials, "ASHPD", is an experimental tool used to create two portals through which objects can pass. The central piece of the "Portal project", Tier 3 of the three-tier program created by Aperture Science's CEO Cave Johnson on his deathbed in 1979, it is used within the Enrichment Center's Test Chambers, as the Test Subjects' primary tool to complete each chamber.

Overview

 * The ASHPD has the ability to fire two portals at once. The blue portal is fired by hitting the primary fire key, while the orange one is fired by hitting the secondary fire key.


 * During Portal, Chell first acquires the ASHPD in Test Chamber 02; it fires only blue portals. It is later upgraded in Test Chamber 11, to fire orange portals as well.


 * The player can also grab objects with the ASHPD, similar to the Gravity Gun, but one has to stand close to the object to do so, and it cannot be thrown. They can be carried through a portal, often required during tests.


 * The ASHPD is held with a hand inside the weapon, containing the trigger, and another hand under the cannon.


 * A sprite in the small hole on the top of the ASHPD and a sprite in its glass tube have the color of the last shot portal.


 * As most of the features of the Enrichment Center, the ASHPD is slightly worn-out.


 * The ASHPD is slated to appear in Portal 2. Three models will apparently be featured; one will be used by Chell, the two others by the two yet unnamed robots.

Tactics

 * The oval-shaped crosshair/reticle of the ASHPD indicates useful information pertaining the portals. It first starts with a completely blue crosshair, as the first acquired ASHPD can only shoot blue portals. Later, when the ASHPD is upgraded to shoot orange portals, the crosshair is cut in two parts, blue and orange. Furthermore, a smaller oval appears next to the side that has been most recently fired. Finally, when the ASHPD is held in front of a surface where portals cannot be shot, only the outlines of the two oval elements are seen. They must always be filled in to allow shooting portals.


 * Shooting an orange portal on an existing blue portal (vice versa) will create the portal right next to it, if the room available allows it.


 * An Aperture Science Material Emancipation Grid will "reboot" any portal created by the ASHPD. This can play a pivotal part in some Test Chambers.

Behind the scenes



 * The earliest known ASHPD model appeared like a modified Gravity Gun. The prongs directly based on that of the latter are still in the final model.


 * The ASHPD model seen in the Portal trailer features "F-22" written in black on its top, while concept art shows "A-12". It was replaced in the final model by the word "APERTURE" with under it a barcode and "04/". The end is faded, suggesting more alphanumerics used to come after "04/". This number suggests that the gun used by Chell is model 4 among the gun reserve, or that this model is the fourth version of the gun.


 * As seen in an early screenshot, the hands and forearms of the ASHPD user were to be featured in the viewmodel. Chell's right hand and forearm are still present in the final viewmodel, although the texture is broken. However it is in the game files, revealing what may be an early Aperture Science logo, followed by the number "122-7605", possibly Chell's Test Subject ID.


 * As seen in the earliest known Portal screenshot, a modified Half-Life 2 HUD was first reused.


 * As seen in the earliest known Portal screenshot, the orange portal was originally purple. The final colors, blue and orange, are actually the same as the ones featured in Narbacular Drop, Portal’s predecessor technically speaking.


 * The portals seen in the Portal trailer are slightly different than the retail ones, and have purple waves swirling in the middle.


 * The firing sound of the ASHPD when it is still attached to its pedestal originally was the charging sound of the Combine Guard Gun, a weapon cut from Half-Life 2.


 * The "ASHPD" acronym bears a striking resemblance to Adrian Shephard's name (Adrian SHePharD), which led many players to speculate it is a hidden Easter Egg, suggesting Shephard's involvement in Portal or its sequel. In addition, completing Portal unlocks a new menu background which contains a keyboard that has all the letters in Adrian Shephard's name highlighted, and these keyboards can also be seen throughout the game. Kim Swift said in an interview that the ASHPD acronym was actually a complete coincidence and that they added the keyboard highlights after people mentioned the acronym. Valve's Doug Lombardi subsequently confirmed the Portal reference as a complete coincidence.

Trivia

 * Typing "impulse 101" in Portal gives all the Half-Life 2 weapons and shows the HUD, where a standing man glyph is used for the ASHPD.


 * The ASHPD does not work be default in Garry's Mod. Although its prop can be imported with the Portal content, it cannot be spawned as as working portal device, as Garry's Mod does not have the necessary code to make it work. However fan-made working versions are available.


 * The ASHPD can be used in Half-Life 2 and its episodes and Half-Life: Source by simply copying all the game data of the related game into the Portal data folder, then using the console to load the required map. The Half-Life 2 maps will work seamlessly with the ASHPD and vice versa, partly because of development and system similarity.

List of appearances

 * Portal
 * Portal ARG
 * Portal 2