Maximum PC

Hey everyone, here's my first mod I did about 6 months ago. Thought I'd post up my Portal:ATE mod before and after so you all here can see.

I got my idea for the case after playing Portal:Prelude (best Portal mod EVAR!!). The ASEC (Aperture Science Enrichment Center) case was already done and plenty of companion cube mods were already finished, so I decided to put the two together only in a different scenario. For the ones who have completed the game, we know the GlaDOS blows up the ASEC building. I wanted to recreate the ASEC case and CCube as what they would look like after the explosion. In this case, stuck together.

(Sorry I don't have the picture of the case before I even touched it, but it was just a free, junk, beige box so you didn't miss anything.)

Before:









After:











Here's some light vs. dark photos of the hidden messages on the case. I felt like these gave the case the Portal eery-ness whenever a hidden message was found in the game.

Lights on:


Lights off:


Lights on:


Lights off:



Also, thought I'd show you a comparison between the ASEC case and my blown up ASEC case. I'd use the computer model from Portal but I thought this was better.





And! Since my pictures don't to the whole case justice, the lights also flicker. I tried to capture it as best as I could on video, so here's a Youtube video of the case.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqIGoPLWjAo


To check out my full work log, head over my Overclock.net work log:
http://www.overclock.net/case-mod-work- ... osion.html

Enjoy! Let me know what you think!

WOW! Nice work. How many hours did you put into that?

Holy hayzeus! that unbelievable!! Well done!!

Man, portal is such a sweet game. and that case mod is even better. i can't put into words just how awesome that case is...

WHOAAA!

AMAZING WORK DUDE (I never type in all caps unless thoroughly impressed).

I like it a lot!

WOW! thats supremely awesome. You should enter that into the CPU Mad Reader Mod competition. Also, Im a bit confused: You took your beutiful aperture science case, then blew it up to make it even more awesome? or there were actually 2 seperate cases, which were both awesome.

Thanks! I put a lot of hours into it. It actually only took me 2 months. 1 month for the ASEC case, 1 verrrry long month for the CCube (it felt like forever )



Thanks!! I love Portal too. Portal: Prelude is what set me over the edge to make my first mod, and make it about Portal.



WoW! Thanks!



Thanks! Ok, story time.

I competed this in Overclock.net's Mod of the Month and got 2nd to CR's TF2 The Intelligence Mod, but still got a tag. I competed in PDXLAN13 CPU Mag Case Mod Contest and took 2nd place to Boddaker's Battlestar Galactica mod. (Story goes, the judges had a hard time picking between mine and the BSG case, but who could blame them? BSG is way more professional than my first-time mod.) The head judge guy for CPU Mag told me to reenter my case for Mad Reader Mod so that's what I did and gave me a 3 year sub. So, it's just a matter of waiting I guess. I'd hate to consider it a 2nd place case mod, but that's all it's been getting lately. I'm happy with it regardless!

And no, I'm not the guy who made the ASEC case mod on [H]. I took a beige box case and for each side, I essentially recreated the ASEC case and carefully destroyed it. TBH, it was more of making it look destroyed than actually breaking something and setting it on fire.

THAT CASE IS NUTS!
i hate to say it but i see something that i would do, because it screams turbine in the front to get rid of that stock mesh.

wow. That's one of the best mods I've ever seen. Puts my beginner skills absolutely to shame. (I've only done two mods, one major, both pretty generic) great work.

Thanks!

Ya true...but it was more of a replication job. I guess adding a turbine just didn't fit in my mindset of what the ASEC case would look like after blowing up.



Ya, I've done two mods too, and I try to go as extreme as possible while staying under a budget. I have a rule that all my mods have to be under $200.

When I say the mod, I mean just the case itself and whatever is considered part of the case (like lights and fans). The Portal mod was around $150. My L4D mod was just around $200, but that was because the street signs cost a lot. (haha, most of them ) Making the CCube was extremely inexpensive. All the wood that went into making it cost about $3, then $6 for the CCFLs and about $10 for the paint and glue. Took a lot of time and patience though.

The reason I have a budget is because I see a lot of case mods that looks really nice and clean and...they are SO expensive. Not only that, but special tools are involved like CNC machines and tools no one really has laying around. All I am is a guy with a jigsaw, drill and a dremel showing that you can make a cool looking mod on a budget.

You should have seen some of the stuff I did to hide my mistakes though. haha I had a lot of them.

WOW! That is AMAZING!

wow. That's crazy for a second mod. I'm guessing you've had previous workmanship experience though? I started with nothing, so I'm learning slowly, and working slowly, as I don't have much time.

Thanks!



Ya, it was fun. L4D workstation was just an experiment though. I finished it but I didn't even take final final pictures of it heh. I'll post it on here anyway one of these days.

I do have previous workmanship experience. I took shop class in middle school and my senior year of high school. Middle school is what taught me how to use mostly wood tools, but a little plastic and metal. I did more CAD work in high school, but learned how to work around metal lathes and create castings. And now that's why I'm in college now becoming a Mechanical engineer. (along with another dream of mine)

Funny thing is, I don't have much time either. I spend nearly all my time after work or after homework working on a project. I borrow my family and friends' tools. I'm kinda a bum doing the mods, but my F&F like my work and want me to do more.