How Far Do You Fall in Portal 2?

#shorts
This is how far you fall in Portal 2, using a method that I think is a good middle ground between "lore accurate" and physically true.

[EventHorizon]

Before commenting about acceleration, please watch the video linked at the bottom of the short, entitled "How Far Do You REALLY Fall in Portal 2?" Almost certainly, whatever you have to comment has already been commented 10, 000 times and is also entirely incorrect.

Original response:

Well this certainly exploded.
I really appreciate all of the positive feedback/support this video has gotten, it really means a lot to me and makes me super motivated to make more stuff. That's probably a really bad mindset to get into long term, but for now, it really feels nice and I am super thankful for everyone who has lent to that (mostly the wild Youtube algorithm lol) That said, I've been getting a lot of comments critiquing the methods used in this video, so I wanted to clear it up further:

There is no "right" answer to this question. Any different way of looking at this problem will yield a completely different answer, and the designers never intended for this level of scrutiny in relation to real life physics. That said, I think you can determine, with reasonable certainty, a rough estimate of how far you were *supposed* to fall in this section of the game, simply because of the signs located on the elevator shaft wall, which is where some seem to have missed the point. As this is a fictional game, everything bends to what we are given in game, including the laws of physics. Using air resistance/terminal velocity, acceleration, etc entirely misses the point, and instead serves to answer "how far would you fall in real life if you fell for as long as Chell does?" not how far you *actually* fall in the game. We all accept the unreality of portals in this universe, there is no reason to not accept that gravity or other physics work differently here. The little math I did in the second half of the video uses these signs as a model for the players speed, deliberately ignoring all other physics to create an answer that is truthful to the ""lore"" of the game.

Also, while it is true that I ignored the small part of the fall at the end, including the "last" sign (which is hidden behind a pipe) the amount of time you fall here is ultimately negligible considering the amount of rounding I did near the end. The extra distance is 125 meters, which when added to the rest of the fall, creates a final answer of 2, 093 meters (effectively the same thing).

Finally, a little piece of information I discovered while making this: The sign textures go up to 5, 250 meters, far above the point we see in game. Maybe the fall was supposed to be longer, but was cut down before release?

[huhtorro]

To prove how deep we fell, I created this life-sized recreation of the pit. Let’s give it a shot.

[funkey]

The fact that the Aperture facility is so massive that it extends at least 2 kilometers deep is just terrifying, but let's be real its probably alot more since we were already pretty deep in the facility when we start falling

[catrinmelldansen]

its actually further because Chell is knocked out at the end of it, and she blacks out at the start too. its a long ass way down

[crowsenpai]

Forget the portal gun. The Aperture Science Long Fall Boots are straight witchcraft.

[GoombaStudiosTV]

Game protagonist with fall damage: I died from jumping off my house roof!
Chell: pathetic.

[toastysketches]

“Damn how far did they fall?”
“2 kilometres, easy.”

[brolytriplethreat]

Forget Chell, she has the Long Fall Boots, but dang, how did PotatOS not become mashed potatoes? The bird gets her _after_ the landing.

[PhantomEye]

I mean acceleration exists, but you don’t accelerate in the fall, so this should be accurate

[LuigiInYourWalls]

Warning: Passing 2000 Meters, Oxygen Efficency Greatly Decreased.

[raptalos]

Plot twist: the “m” isn’t meters, it’s miles

[Yahiamice]

you could just open the console and run the getpos command, then convert hammer units to meters

[SSFAnimates]

“The fall is 2 kilometers”
“That’s cool”
*hits the ground at terminal velocity*

[ms.pirate]

"So how are you holding up? *BECAUSE I'M A POTATO!* "

[I_live_under_ur_bed]

How are you holding up? Because I'M A POTATO

[hurricanejaney]

seeing this game re-enter the internet stratosphere (no pun intended) makes me so happy. i love the idea of those who were just outside of the demographic when the game launched getting to experience it, and throwing themselves as deep into the lore as i did

[ExtemTheHedgehogLol]

“ thank you, I’m done”
_proceeds to die_

[arihanazalove]

"Math teachers when you tell them i need help"

[Shadow_the_menace]

"Thank you I'm done" *breaks legs*

[puffythedestroyer]

“🦅💥🇺🇸What the fuck is a KILOMETER 🇺🇸💥🦅”