It’s a graphical remaster of Portal 2 that’s mod-friendly and free (but requires the original game in your library). It uses an upgraded version of the Source engine called Strata Source, which also powers Momentum Mod.
It’s a graphical remaster of Portal 2 that’s mod-friendly and free (but requires the original game in your library). It uses an upgraded version of the Source engine called Strata Source, which also powers Momentum Mod.
I didn’t have a problem with the original graphics and style. What does this improve?
I believe they just took Portal 2, put a newer engine under the hood and added a bunch of tools so that people can make mods way easier. One nice side effect is, that it now looks a bit better if you just want to play the campaign.
Portal 2 for its own engine seperate from portal 1 I thought.
Yes, this is in fact true. However, after Portal 2, they kept on working on the engine for CS:GO, Alyx and CS2. That’s why those engines are a bit more modern and add new visual effects and also a lot of new capabilities. This mod uses a heavily modified engine of CS:GO for Portal 2, called “Strata Source”. Unfortunately, VALVe does not license Source 2 engine to third parties, as it seems, or else the would probably switch to this engine.
Edit: I was spreading inaccurate information and fixed this now. Thanks for pointing it out, @[email protected]
Oh, they switched to Source 2? I thought P2:CE was based on the CS:GO branch of the engine, which would still be Source 1. But I haven’t kept up to date with what they were doing, so maybe I’m wrong here.
I was mistaken; you are right!
I think the video I linked in the post would demonstrate the benefits better than me writing here. I agree that the look of Portal 2 has long-lasting appeal, but P2CE introduces improved lighting and graphics rendering inspired by Source 2 while still being Source 1. Otherwise, the improvements are mainly technical, like removing signature “Source spaghetti” engine limitations.
The real killer feature is that it reorganizes Portal 2 under the hood to be very mod- and custom campaign-friendly, so it will be the Portal enthusiast’s dream platform.
Here’s a video from the P2CE channel that shows the lighting changes in a bit more detail.