Portal/Chamber 04

This chamber is another simple one to get you used to the concepts in Portal. Like the previous chamber, it has a single fixed orange end to a portal, but this time you must press a button to open the exit door.

Walkthrough


If you look at the cube dispenser, it drops a cube into a pit. While getting into the pit is as easy as falling into it, getting back out at first seems impossible. However, if you fire the portal gun at a wall at the bottom of the pit, then walk into it, you will come back out of the orange portal. Pick up a cube and return to the main area of the chamber, then put the cube on the button and exit.

Alternately, it is sometimes possible (based on how the cube lands) to shoot a blue portal below the cube and have it fall through to the floor next to the button, without you even having to enter the pit.

"Once again, excellent work. As part of a required test protocol, we will not monitor the next test chamber. You will be entirely on your own. Good luck."

- GLaDOS

The Complimentary Escape Hatch
Though difficult, it is possible to get the cube through the exit doorway, thus no longer being able to exit yourself. GLaDOS will acknowledge this, and open a "complimentary escape hatch" (the exit door) for you. Similar events can occur in numerous chambers, with varying amusing lines from GLaDOS.

One way to get the cube through the door is to knock down the two cameras and then bring them to the door. Set them side by side and place the cube on top. If you get them placed at the right angle, the cube will be leaning against the door. When you press the button, it will gently roll through the doorway. When you go to the door it will be closed; wait for GLaDOS to begin speaking. Another way is to place a portal as close to the exit door as possible and rub the cube against the edge near the exit.

No Cheating SpeedRun in One Segment for Mere Mortals
There is an opportunity to finesse this chamber for the fleet of foot, but it is difficult to get right reliably and can slow you down if you mess up. What you have to do is get to the edge of the pit really quickly and place the blue portal exactly under the cube as it hits the floor of the pit. It will then fly out of the orange portal and may actually land on the button. Whether it does or not, you need to get back to the orange portal yourself. Either jump into the blue portal you already have in the pit or move it somewhere near where you are standing. Practice different placements to find the best one for you. Back at the orange portal, grab the cube and put it on the button if it isn't already there. Then turn towards the exit, place a new blue portal and go back into the orange portal. Again, practice different placements and moves until you can get rapidly into the chamberlock.

If you have trouble reaching the pit in time, the cube will almost always end up on the grill at the edge of the pit floor. Place the blue portal on the wall behind it, jump in, grab the cube and move without pausing through the blue portal, out of the orange portal and to the button. Back up, turn right, place new blue portal and slip through the orange and to the exit. As you'll need to get it right-first-time in a single-segment speed run, establish which exact way is best for you and practice it until it is in muscle memory. Good players will be in the exit chamberlock within seventeen seconds from when the entry chamberlock door opens. Most players should achieve twenty.