F-Stop, Valve's Forgotten Portal Prequel, Revealed in Documentary

If you were asked to name the godfather of mind-bending game mechanics, Most folks would say Portal. The 3D puzzle game by Valve overwhelmed countless players. But Valve's penchant for uncommon puzzle mechanics didn't stop there. The company was, at one time, working on another Aperture Science game, known as F-Stop.



F-Stop, known internally as Aperture Camera, was going to be a prequel to Portal. Taking place in the same facility, the player must solve various 3D puzzles by using a special camera. When the player photographs an item through the camera, it discorporates and is represented in a piece of film. The player can then re-place the item into the world wherever they choose, altering things like location, angle, and size.

The game was originally being developed after the release of the Orange Box in 2007. Rumors of the game have existed for years. But only now are we learning what the game really was, thanks to Exposure, a documentary produced by LunchHouse Software. The multi-video series will detail the various mechanics of the game, using the original source code of the game, provided by Valve themselves.

It's rather interesting to see the project Valve was working during their golden years of game development. You can definitely see Valve's familiar style in the world design.

For the time being, this appears to be just a documentary. This doesn't appear to be a teaser for a new game by Valve. At least not yet. Valve has put game development on a back burner in favor of managing Steam and many folks miss those days. I know I'd love a Left 4 Dead 3.