This subject is related to the Portal 2 era.

Excursion Funnel

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This subject is related to the Portal 2 era.

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Excursion funnel.svg
31420.jpg
Excursion Funnel
General information
Faction

Aperture Science

Type

Tractor beam made of liquid asbestos

Usage
Used by

Chell
ATLAS and P-body

“Asbestos is harmless!”
— Excursion Funnel diagram[1]

The Excursion Funnel is a testing element used in the Enrichment Center several decades after Portal, and appears in Portal 2.

Overview[edit]

Inside an Excursion Funnel, facing its emitter.
  • Created from at least 1998, Excursion Funnels are used by Aperture Science as part of an investigation into how well Test Subjects can solve problems while traveling violently through a churning funnel of liquid asbestos. According to the Aperture Science scientists, results as far as 1998 were highly informative; they cannot.[1]
  • Acting as a tractor beam, the Excursion Funnel is powered by a round emitter placed on a wall, containing three gleaming, blue orbs. From each orb leaves a thread that swirls on itself in a spiral, the three threads making up the Funnel itself, a seemingly infinite transparent blue cylinder.[2] Combined with portals, it can transport Test Subjects or objects to otherwise unreachable areas.[1]
  • "Asbestos is harmless!" appears to be the Excursion Funnel's slogan, and a registered trademark of Aperture Science.[1]
  • If the player is about to die through misplacing a portal that is redirecting an Excursion Funnel, the game automatically rearranges their portals to save them from death.[3]
  • The mechanics of the "liquid asbestos" aspect of excursion funnels is currently unknown. It is likely that the device generates a type of tractor beam, which propels a liquid mixture of several elements, one of these being liquefied asbestos.

Related Achievements[edit]

Portal 2
TRACTOR BEAM.jpg Tunnel of Funnel (15G)
Master the Excursion Funnel.
EXCURSION FUNNELS.jpg Obstacle Building (15G)
Complete all test chambers in the Excursion Funnels co-op course.

Behind the scenes[edit]

The original diagram, with a Super Button in place of the emitter.

The Excursion Funnel was first revealed through a diagram in the April, 2010 issue of Game Informer. In the diagram, a 1500 Megawatt Aperture Science Heavy Duty Super-Colliding Super Button serves as a placeholder for the Funnel's emitter.[1] For an updated (and moving) diagram revealed during E3 2010, the Button was replaced by the definitive device.[2]

Trivia[edit]

So far it is unknown why while the Excursion Funnel was already in use in 1998 as it is not seen in the first Portal, set over 20 years later.[4] However, it is likely that Chell simply did not venture into Test Chambers containing the Excursion Funnel during this time.

Gallery[edit]

List of appearances[edit]

Main games[edit]

Other[edit]

References[edit]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Game Informer, April 2010 issue
  2. 2.0 2.1 Excursion Funnel demonstration on Combine OverWiki's YouTube channel
  3. Dave Saunders states in the Developer commentary Excursion Funnel "As a solution, we now detect when the player places the wrong portal in hopes of saving themselves; we help them out by moving their other portal under the excursion funnel source."
  4. Special Edition Podcast: Portal 2 - podcast on Game Informer

External links[edit]