Aperture Science Unstationary Scaffold
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| Aperture Science Unstationary Scaffold | |
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| General information | |
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| Type |
Moving platform |
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| Used by | |
| Game information | |
| Entity |
N/A |
The Aperture Science Unstationary Scaffold, also called the Track Platform,[1] is a testing element featured in several Test Chambers of the Enrichment Center.
Contents
Overview[edit]
Moving along a blue ray similar to the one supporting the elevators that link separate Test Chambers, the Unstationary Scaffold is often used to safely progress above pools of toxic waste. It can be activated by sending an Aperture Science High Energy Pellet in its catcher, putting a Weighted Storage Cube on a Super Button, or redirecting a Thermal Discouragement Beam into a receptacle.
In Portal, before the device starts itself, a mechanism lowers the platform towards the blue beam. Interestingly, the same platform is also included in the second variant of the Victory Lift. Unstationary Scaffolds can also travel downwards, as seen in Chamber 19, where one of them lowers at an angle into the pit of fire.
Unstationary Scaffolds in Portal 2 run on wall-mounted tracks, instead of the blue energy beam. Furthermore, these platforms can also move vertically. In older areas of the Enrichment Center ceiling-mounted Scaffolds can be seen.
As seen on one of its blueprints, the Borealis contains an Unstationary Scaffold.
Behind the scenes[edit]
According to Jeep Barnett, originally, the Scaffolds ran on electrified tracks. However, playtesters would hop along the rails to the exit, bypassing the puzzle entirely. The developers tried to solve this by killing players as soon as they touched the rails but that solution ended up being too much of an over correction, as even skilled playtesters were getting frustrated by these one-hit kills, in the more complex puzzles later in the game. Making the scaffolds run along immaterial beams of light solved both problems.[2]
Gallery[edit]
Portal[edit]
Unstationary Scaffold diagram.
Used to cross Test Chamber 08.
Used in Test Chamber 11 to get the upgrade for the ASHPD.
Used in Test Chamber 13, with a Weighted Storage Cube on it.
View from the last Scaffold used at the end of Test Chamber 19.
The end of the last Scaffold's ray, ending in a deadly furnace.
Unstationary Scaffold on the Borealis blueprint (misspelled as "Scafford").
Aperture Science logo as seen in the middle of an Unstationary Scaffold platform.
Portal 2[edit]
In an early Test Chamber 04.
In Test Chamber 01, where it moves vertically.
In the retail Test Chamber 04.
20th century version.
Aperture Science Unstationary Scaffold icon in Perpetual Testing Initiative.
List of appearances[edit]
Main games[edit]
- Portal (First appearance)
- Half-Life 2: Episode Two (Borealis blueprints only)
- Portal 2
- Peer Review
- Perpetual Testing Initiative
Other[edit]
- Portal: First Slice
- Portal: Still Alive (Non-canonical appearance)
- The Final Hours of Portal 2
- Lego Dimensions (Non-canonical appearance)
References[edit]
- ↑ Perpetual Testing Initiative
- ↑ Portal commentary
