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Multiplayer progress in Portal 2 is saved to Steam Cloud:

Is progress in the coop campaign in Portal 2 saved?

How do you reset your progress to zero and experience the game from scratch with someone who has not played it yet?

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6 Answers 6

Reset to default
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Contrary to all the answers on here, it is in fact possible to reset your progress in co-op. Make sure you are the host (you invited your friend, rather than you were invited by your friend). Start a co-op game. Make sure you are in the hub when doing this.

Warning: This applies to both players. Make sure the other player is fine with you doing this.

Unfortunately, this doesn't work with ss_map. You have to be in a session with another player, and this will set both players' progress.

Enable the developer console in the options, then press ~ to open it. If you are having trouble, see this question. Then, enter the following command in the console:

mp_mark_all_maps_incomplete

You might see a weird message about DLC, but the command will have no other visible effect. Now, enter this command:

changelevel mp_coop_lobby_2

This will reload the lobby, and your progress will be reset at zero.

You can use this command to change your progress manually:

mp_mark_course_complete <course>

Whereas the number is the number of the course you want to unlock (have finished), minus 1. So to unlock course 1, use mp_mark_course_complete 0, to unlock 2, mp_mark_course_complete 1, and so on. This means that mp_mark_course_complete 0 unlocks course 1 fully, and will then open 2.

There is also mp_mark_all_maps_complete if you want to get Professor Portal.

Thanks to fail badp♦ for allowing me to waste his time.

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  • Cool! And this is only in effect for the instance that you're playing? Meaning, the next time you start up a co-op game it will load your full progress as usual?
    – Calvin Fisher
    Commented May 2, 2011 at 13:07
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    @CalvinFisher Do note that this command applies to both users, not just yourself.
    – user56
    Commented May 6, 2011 at 9:33
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    I'm genuinely surprised to see this apply to both players - looks like I'll be keeping a long way away from joining games with a random partner...
    – James B
    Commented May 6, 2011 at 10:05
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    @JamesBurgess Yes, but using these commands you can fine-tune your progress completely. So as long as you know how far you were before you randomly joined a session, you can go back to that amount of progress.
    – user56
    Commented May 6, 2011 at 10:43
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    Have these been silently patched? They aren't working anymore...
    – Tamara Wijsman
    Commented May 21, 2011 at 19:03
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I am wondering precisely why you would care to fully reset things. I don't think you can, but it shouldn't hurt the experience at all if you don't reset it.

I will assume that you really just want to play through the intro puzzles with your friend. If so, here are a few things to note:

  • When at the level selection Hub, you can bring up the Menu and go back to the Calibration area. This is the first area you start at when a new person starts playing, and has some simple puzzles that get you in the swing of cooperation.
  • When at the level selection Hub, you can look at the door above each puzzle set. You will see little Orange/Blue rectangles. These indicate how far each player has progressed through the section. If you find a door with more of one color than another, you've found a puzzle set that you (or your friend) hasn't completed.
  • As you enter a puzzle area in the Hub, you will see a small monitor on your left that indicates, once again, how far each player has progressed. There are small buttons under this monitor to select which level you would like to play.
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  • Wondering is not an answer, but technically you did provide it: can't be done. ;) And those are excellent things to point out that are easy to miss.
    – Calvin Fisher
    Commented Apr 20, 2011 at 20:46
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    To answer the "why" question: in a game where the experience and feel are such important components, it helps give you a sense of... I don't know, really exploring something... to walk around a game world that slowly opens up to you. It disrupts that to have to pull up a menu, or walk around in a game world that's already completely accessible. It's not a huge deal, but I might want to be able to do this if I really wanted to play through again with a friend and give him/her the full experience.
    – Calvin Fisher
    Commented Apr 20, 2011 at 20:47
  • @Calvin Sometimes knowing the context surrounding a question can help provide a better answer, ie. "You can't do what you are asking for exactly, but you can still fulfill your desires in these other ways." On the specific why, I agree that in some games with exploration a full reset would make perfect sense. Personally I feel that in Portal 2's case, the unlocking/exploration is not altogether eventful or dramatic so you're not missing much. The individual puzzles are really where the fun happens with this game!
    – Mag Roader
    Commented Apr 20, 2011 at 21:06
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    Quite true. :) I think the puzzles are definitely the most important part by a large margin for anyone involved... but what engages different people generally is a very subjective question. For my part, I find that there's a little bit of extra excitement in exploring a virgin world that turns into a little bit of condescension when I feel like the game is subtly reminding me that the person I'm playing with is coming back "down" to my level. So if a reset option was available, I'd consider using it even with those things you pointed out.
    – Calvin Fisher
    Commented Apr 21, 2011 at 14:10
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I know this is an old question, but I was just skimming through and had a bit of an addendum to the best answer here (the one involving the mp_mark_all_maps_complete command and all that). At first I submitted it as an edit to that answer, but I think it's enough to warrant it's own post here.

So here it is.

Step-by-step how to reset your own progress (without affecting anybody else).

  1. Launch Portal 2.

  2. Select "Play Cooperative Mode"

  3. Select "Standard Coop"

  4. From here, open the Console (default ~, otherwise check the related questions for more info.

  5. CONSOLE COMMAND: ss_map lobby_2

  6. CONSOLE COMMAND: mp_mark_all_courses_incomplete

  7. Leave the map, and go play with your friends, as if you started from scratch.

This is especially useful for people looking to experience the transitions and extra few GLaDOS lines.

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As the game is saved to the Steam Cloud and no option is provided to reset this, this is impossible.

The only difference would be the animations in The Hub for loading new zones, in order for the player to see them they have to play with someone that hasn't completed them. Apart from that, you can just run to the game and selecting the first chamber in each zone...

You can, however, try to contact the Steam Support and ask them to reset it for you.

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    Good suggestion. I don't know why, it just seemed to me like there would have to be SOME way to do it.
    – Calvin Fisher
    Commented Apr 20, 2011 at 20:50
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The whole point why I wanted this is to let my second Cooperative Testing Partner in Science™ (who got me Professor Portal, by the way) experience the 5 unlocking sequences; I missed the first three myself. Listening to GLaDOS is a large part of the Portal 2 experience.

Apparently, however, we can't just do that, so here goes Youtube scavenging. :(

Surprise surprise, finding decent videos of those sequences is challenging. Let's plays drown out GLADoS ruining the whole point of this exercise, while walkthroughs have probably have everything unlocked already (when they don't skip the lobby entirely), so finding good Youtube videos of this is challenging. So I'm marking CW to let you help me find those videos.

  3. ?
  4. ?
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It's really a non-issue in my opinion since there is so little storyline in the coop mode. But if you want to hear all of GLaDOS' comments (in coop mode), you can watch these videos:

Oh and BTW, if you finished coop and you play with a friend who haven't played yet, you'll get the "Professor Portal" achievement. Only 2.3% of all players have unlocked this achievement.

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  • Aw, I hoped this was the five unlocking sequences :/
    – badp
    Commented Apr 30, 2011 at 9:10

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