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The Witness: An 8-year time line puzzle of progress

V

Vexidus

Member
Parham said:
Curious to see what he does after this. Eight years working on a single project sounds exhausting.
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In Giant Bomb's fairly recent interview, he expressed interest in developing his new programming language full time. He wants to create the next big language to succeed C++. So unfortunately, The Witness just may be his swan song. I hope he does continue game development at some point though.
 
G

GhaleonEB

Member
faridmon said:
8 years of line puzzles.

How neat.
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Well, there's more too it than that. This quote from an interview in 2010 is still very much relevant.

Jonathan Blow said:
I’ve seen mixed reactions to these mazes and to the gameplay shown in the video. Some people seem to have jumped to the conclusion that the game is going to be about solving simple maze puzzles, and thus not be particularly exciting.

If that thought crosses your mind, all I can ask is to have faith. I wouldn’t make a game about solving a series of rote puzzles. The footage came from the beginning of the game because we don’t want to spoil anything major. But even this beginning-of-the-game stuff has more to it than meets the eye.
Click to expand...
 
W

Wowfunhappy

Member
Remembrance said:
This official screenshot is a good example.
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Lol, this through me for a loop in that I couldn't figure out the relationship, and then the lightbulb when on and it felt great. :)

*********

I'm waiting for reviews on this game. I'm not against paying $40 (or, potentially, more) for an indie title if the content is there to justify it, but it's still a steep price for a game we know so little about.

I love going into games blind and think it can improve the experience a ton... but it also requires a serious leap of faith. And I didn't like Braid.
 
K

Kaako

Felium Defensor
Nice OP, this game been in the oven for so long now it seems. I can't wait to play it though since the dude went all in with his own money too. I see you Jonathan; you have my attention.
 
W

Wowfunhappy

Member
Also, can anyone puzzle out what the DRM-status of this game is? The description Humble Store preorder page says it's available DRM free, but then it doesn't have the DRM-free symbol.
 
M

mrklaw

MrArseFace
This game was announced to support the oculus rift? Is that still happening? Might make me get it on PC rather than PS4 if that's the case
 
Y

YankeeDonB

Member
I've got to play this, if only to discover for myself what sort of esoteric business Blow has been dreaming up for the last eight years. Very few games of this scope that are so apparently conceptually ambitious. Will he pull it off? I don't know, but definitely going to reward the effort with a purchase.
 
C

Clunker

Member
I am overjoyed with excitement and anticipation for this. Braid was a seminal moment for my involvement with video games; it's not that the game was the be-all-end-all of video games at large, but it was one of the strongest times that a game's design and a game's narrative and thematic drive dovetailed so well that I knew it couldn't have come from anything other than a game.

I'll be buying this day one, but I'll probably completely avoid this thread until I'm finished ... Which sounds like it's going to be quite a long time. So I'll see you all in a few months. :(
 
R

Remembrance

Member
Wowfunhappy said:
Also, can anyone puzzle out what the DRM-status of this game is? The description Humble Store preorder page says it's available DRM free, but then it doesn't have the DRM-free symbol.
Click to expand...

Normally you get both DRM-free and a Steam key, but in this case you have to choose (put in place to reduce key reselling).
 
M

More_Badass

Member
faridmon said:
8 years of line puzzles.

How neat.
Click to expand...
The OT is going to be fun...

Reducing The Witness to just "line puzzles" is like saying chess is just moving pieces or Portal is just shooting circles. The analogy I've been using is to imagine the line drawing as the pencil you use to fill out a crossword puzzle. It's just a tool to fill in the answer. Mulling over the crossword clues and figuring out what you need to write with that pencil is the real challenge

And those are just the puzzles themselves and not even considering how the puzzles are merely the means to interact with the island. Unlock doors, open bridges, activate machines, manipulate the environment, etc.

An analogy I heard on Idle Thumbs is that the puzzles are basically "answer sheets", ways to show that you understand a certain concept or how something is influenced/connected to something else
 
T

TimeEffect

Member
Oh no, is that first reveal music not in the game? I absolutely adore it.

I am so excited for this. After playing Portal 2 and Talos Principle, I truly do appreciate how excellently a good puzzle game both progresses in its gameplay/challenge, and how damn well the storytelling is.

In many ways, it's what makes the genre so great: you are playing a story, but you are also exploring a story. I especially enjoyed this aspect in Talos Principle.

Also, it's fantastic news that it's open world. Again, like in Talos Principle, you don't get stuck, and then are forced to look up a solution or give up. It's incredible how in Talos Principle, I got stuck on a puzzle, went somewhere else, and then came back to the puzzle I was stuck on and had a huge "AHA!" moment.

The satisfaction of solving all the puzzles in that game was immense, but it had to be open world in order to achieve that. It's such a fantastic feeling playing open world puzzle games because some of the time, all it takes is coming back another day to understand something you've missed.

I am so, so, SO excited to explore this game. Blow did a fantastic job making me feel really sad with Braid, and the music in that first trailer just tugs at my heart.

Is there a word for that? I mean, I play some games that make me feel... sad, but it's not necessarily sadness as much as it is being totally enthralled in the world that has been created and feeling this wanderlust.
 
A

antitrop

Member
TimeEffect said:
Is there a word for that? I mean, I play some games that make me feel... sad, but it's not necessarily sadness as much as it is being totally enthralled in the world that has been created and feeling this wanderlust.
Click to expand...

I would go with poignancy, I suppose.
 
V

Vexidus

Member
TimeEffect said:
Is there a word for that? I mean, I play some games that make me feel... sad, but it's not necessarily sadness as much as it is being totally enthralled in the world that has been created and feeling this wanderlust.
Click to expand...

Apparently there is only one song used in the game and the rest of the audio is purely immaculate environmental sound design. Not sure if one of the trailer songs are in the game or not. The reveal trailer song reminded me of the closing song in ICO.

I get what you mean too about feeling sadness when playing a game. Perhaps it has something to do with having empathy for the artist behind the game. Thinking about what they must have gone through in order to bring storytelling like that to light.
 
T

TimeEffect

Member
Vexidus said:
Apparently there is only one song used in the game and the rest of the audio is purely immaculate environmental sound design. Not sure if one of the trailer songs are in the game or not. The reveal trailer song reminded me of the closing song in ICO.

I get what you mean too about feeling sadness when playing a game. Perhaps it has something to do with having empathy for the artist behind the game. Thinking about what they must have gone through in order to bring storytelling like that to light.
Click to expand...

Haha Im not sad for the developer. The game just evokes a certain feeling

Sort of like playing and exploring a game like SotC or playing a fond childhood JRPG

Ah yes, it does remind me of ICO. I swear Ive heard something like it before
 
T

TimeEffect

Member
Oh right, I hope the PS4 version is technically near perfect

Sony has been backing this game right? It's not just that it's on ps4, its been advertised and spotlighted by sony?
 
M

mattiewheels

And then the LORD David Bowie saith to his Son, Jonny Depp: 'Go, and spread my image amongst the cosmos. For every living thing is in anguish and only the LIGHT shall give them reprieve.'
Anyone know if the PS4 version is worth getting over PC for any reason, like different controller functionality or something?
 
T

TheKastorian

Member
Love the secrecy behind the game, but from the tiny bits of information I've read it sounds freaking incredible. Officially hyped! Will still wait for the reviews on Monday before I buy it, just because of the $40 price tag, but I'm sure they will all be very positive.
 
B

Belgian Dude

Member
Remembrance said:
This game clicks so much more easily in pictures than words. I really like that screenshot because I can't think of another one that so clearly frames the ideas the game tries to show you.
Click to expand...

I think I'll save that one. A lot of people tried to ask me why I was excited for the game and I'll probably just show that image from now on.
 
Stillmatic

Stillmatic

Member
Has there been any word of this supporting PSVR? I know it has Oculus support, but since the game runs at 1080p 60fps on PS4 it seems like it'd be an easy conversion.

I'm buying the game day one, but I'd wait to actually play it in VR if it's happening.
 
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