The Aperture Science Weighted Storage Cube is a small cube that serves several purposes in Mari0. For more information about its uses in the Portal universe, please refer to the Portal Unofficial Wiki.
In 1.6, it is mislabeled as Companion Cube, which is a specific type of Weighted Storage Cube that doesn't actually appear in the game anywhere. In Mari0: SE, its name is corrected to Weighted Cube.
In-Game[]
"I don’t think you understand the gravity of the situation"
Cubes sit utterly motionless in the game and can do nothing unless acted on by an external force. Mario can pick up and put down cubes by pressing the "use" button (E by default). Mario can also slowly push them without grabbing them for fine adjustments.
Cubes are often used in puzzles. The simplest use of a cube is to hold down a button, often so that Mario may pass through a door. In Mari0: SE, the blue ring will turn yellow when placed on a button, like in Portal 2. Since cubes are solid, Mario can jump off of one for extra height. They will also block lasers and deflect enemies, letting Mario slip through a dangerous corridor, or blocking a laser from activating some sort of trap.
Cubes are destroyed by Emancipation Grills or by dropping them off the stage. If they are destroyed in any way, they will send an output. This feature is intended to be used with the Item Dispenser, which in 1.6 did not have the option to drop a cube at the start of the level, so a pre-placed cube would be used to simulate that feature. However, the cube's output can be used on other entities.
Cubes can stomp any enemy with the properties stompable and destroyedbyboxed. Having only destroyedbyboxes will cause the box to bounce off of it without dealing any damage. It will only collide with enemies that have the correct mask settings.
Cubes will also stick to Adhesion Gel, which has its own uses.
Trivia[]
- In the code, it is simply called box.
- In Mari0: SE, the code to send an output on death is also implemented into Custom Enemies, but as enemies cannot be linked, it is only used by the Item Dispenser to drop new enemies.