They ran a similar program back 2005 for universities where you could buy a perpetual cyber cafe license for $10 / seat. I think they realized it wasn't such a great deal for them and it is annual now (Source U). I bought some licenses for our computer club and Valve gave us contact info for one of their engineers who ended up sharing their Maya export tools.
More and more companies are opening up to this sort of stuff but us students were flabbergasted to get "real" tools from a studio that we could learn and use in the lab.
Welcome to the new, free educational collection of puzzles and teacher-created content from Valve’s best-selling game, Portal 2, an engaging 3D puzzle-solving game. Based on Valve’s technology, the Portal 2 Puzzle Maker takes place in an environment with realistic physics – a playground rich with opportunities for educational fun.
Ah, this is a bitter reminder that I purchased Portal 2 when it came out (for the Mac) but do not yet have a computer fast enough to run it...one of my few regrets about getting an Air.
Your Air can't run Portal 2? Which model is it? (I'm not doubting you, I'm genuinely surprised. Glad I opted to get the Retina MBP, I'd hate to lose my games.)
They ran a similar program back 2005 for universities where you could buy a perpetual cyber cafe license for $10 / seat. I think they realized it wasn't such a great deal for them and it is annual now (Source U). I bought some licenses for our computer club and Valve gave us contact info for one of their engineers who ended up sharing their Maya export tools.
More and more companies are opening up to this sort of stuff but us students were flabbergasted to get "real" tools from a studio that we could learn and use in the lab.
Keep it up, Valve!