Valve has announced new DLC for Portal 2, entitled “Perpetual Testing Initiative.” Unlike previous DLC for the game, this is actually a “simplified puzzle maker that allows [the] creation of mind-bending puzzles without ever leaving the game.” Users on PC and Mac have had access to the Portal 2 SDK for some time, but anyone who has had any experience with Source’s Hammer Editor knows that making interesting maps is an art form to the second power. In other words, the user interface makes developing maps extremely tedious and slow moving.
Thanks to this new DLC, players will be able to make their own maps without ever even looking at the Hammer Editor and can then share them with the rest of the world FOR FREE. That’s right, not only are the maps you and your peers make free to use, the DLC will be free as well. As maps are completed, they will be uploaded to the Steam Workshop “where users can browse, vote on, and select to play them. Selected puzzles will automatically be downloaded and installed inside Portal 2.”
The DLC will hit Steam on May 8th (Valve Time permitting) for PC and Mac with no announcement for a release on consoles. So, pick up a rifle and get ready to battle an army of mantis men! Assuming someone makes a map of it … don’t bet on it … yet.