Portal 2 Update 2021 – Vulkan Support, Bug Fixes, and New Features

4.5

Portal 2 receives a new update almost a decade after its launch.

Originally launched back in 2011, Portal 2 is one of the critically acclaimed puzzle games of seventh generation of consoles and one of the Valve’s greatest IPs. For a single-player game, it would seem odd to receive a brand new update after ten years, but Portal 2 update 2021 is real and it brings some modern-day features to the game such as Vulkan support.

Portal 2 Update 2021 Patch Notes

Improvements:
Implemented a Vulkan render backend (currently accessible through the -vulkan command line parameter).
Improved compile time for Perpetual Training Initiative puzzles.
Improved advanced video settings descriptions.
Made the game Hi-DPI aware.
Smarter default video settings.
Improved resolution of player avatars throughout the game.
Players can now be invited to play co-op on controller.
Button text contrast and padding has been improved when using a controller.
Implemented a 360° Spin action.
The portalgun is now correctly affected by dynamic lights (projected textures) in the scene.
Improved client-side prediction for coop play.
Added the ability for workshop levels to pack particles into their map with a particles/map_manifest.txt.

Misc:
Rendering optimizations.
Added an icon to the game on Linux.
Removed the “Trading Coming Soon” button.

Bug Fixes:
Fixed a crash on startup that could happen on Linux.
Fixed a crash that could occur in some community test chambers using BEEMod on Linux.
Fixed the credits being corrupted on Linux.
Fixed the intro videos for acts 2 and 3 not playing on Linux.
Fixed the game starting in the top left corner of the screen on Linux.
Fixed a crash in the PeTI if you placed a light strip above a laser catcher on the floor and linked it to a fizzler.
Fixed the fizzler not playing the retract animation when turned off in new PeTI maps.
Fixed being able to copy ’uncopyable’ items in the PeTI leading to invalid/broken levels.
Fixed some items in PeTI not maintaining their portalability state when expanding the chamber boundaries.
Fixed a crash if PeTI avatars could not be retrieved.
Fixed Cave Johnson’s lines not progressing when playing queued workshop levels.
Fixed a memory leak that could occur when changing levels.
Fixed a bug where you could no longer ping/taunt via mouse/keyboard if you have ever used a controller.
Fixed the ping menu being visible when quick pinging on controller.
Fixed the game instructor not respecting input types for respective players in split-screen mode.
Fixed rumble not being respected for respective players in split-screen mode.
Fixed the wrong avatar being used if playing coop after playing a workshop level.
Fixed the OnFiredPortal2 output not firing.
Fixed some text being duplicated on the screen multiple times.
Aside from technical improvements, the new update also brings a 360° Spin action, which sounds like a new ability in the game.

Although there are no other clues yet, Portal 2‘s latest update might be a hint on the game’s launch on last-gen and current-gen consoles.

Since the launch of Portal 2, Valve never released a sequel to the franchise. That being said, an spin-off from the series was launched back in 2017 in a completely different genre, called Portal Bridge Constructor.