вЂњIt took a little while for us to convince the Portal team that it was worth experimenting with,вЂќ says Rivera. вЂњWe had a bunch of options, and one of them was вЂletвЂ™s incorporate this into Portal.вЂ™вЂќ вЂњAt that point, which was maybe two months into our jobs, we were deciding what to do with the paint technology,вЂќ Kohli says. We took it as a вЂsink or swimвЂ™ situation вЂ“ being thrown into the deepВ end.вЂќДЄround the same time they finished their tech demo, the вЂњpaint guys,вЂќ as they came to be known within the company, found a new opportunity: playtesting Portal 2, the sequel to ValveвЂ™s 2007 blockbuster that was itself based on the work of a DigiPen game team. (The Source Engine is ValveвЂ™s proprietary game development framework.) вЂњSo we essentially re-wrote all the stuff from Tag вЂ“ the painting and the paint gun вЂ“ and made a few levels so that people in the company could try it and then assess what to do with theВ technology.вЂќ вЂњIt was just the four of us in our own office, and we were told, вЂMake Tag in the Source Engine,вЂ™вЂќ says Kohli. The teamвЂ™s first project at Valve was an unusual one. вЂњThatвЂ™s when the Valve guys got back to us and said, вЂHey, do you guys want to work at Valve?вЂ™вЂќ Kohli says. вЂњIt was essentially an interview with us, but a very informalВ one.вЂќДЄ month later, the team flew down to San Francisco for the Independent Games Festival, where they checked the second item off their list: Tag won the honor of Best Game in the festivalвЂ™s Student Showcase.

вЂњHe played the whole game, and while he played it he kept asking us questions about our process and how we worked on the game,вЂќ Kohli says. ThatвЂ™s where they ran into Robin Walker from Bellevue-based Valve Software. The team already had their вЂњsweet game,вЂќ a 3D platformer called Tag: The Power of Paint in which players travel through an urban landscape by вЂњtaggingвЂќ surfaces with magical paint, and they were demoing it to recruiters. It all started at DigiPenвЂ™s annual Career Day, where students present their projects to visiting game developers.

For most student developers, accomplishing one of those items would be a tremendous achievement вЂ“ but these DigiPen all-stars managed to hit allВ three. RTIS graduates Tejeev Kohli, Brett English, Pongthep вЂњBankвЂќ Charnchaichujit, and Ted Rivera had a вЂњwish listвЂќ for their time at DigiPen: вЂњMake a sweet game, win at IGF, and get hired by Valve,вЂќ in EnglishвЂ™s words.

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Portal 2 source code