• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

The Witness |OT|

Does anyone have any advice for puzzles in the
coloured-tile house
area?

I got stuck where there are
secondary colours on the map, and I can't solve it how I have done similar examples before.
I think what I noticed being different is important, but no idea what to do with it. Is there a tutorial section I've missed or something? Also, be aware I think there's a bug in one section, where you're crossing some bridges (sort of), I've been unable to get back across one after going on it then going back, which has locked out an entire biome's puzzles. Very frustrating.
 

Daffy Duck

Member
I keep seeing Fez mentioned, and I had no idea that game was a puzzle game despite buying it from a GOG sale.

The more you know.
 

Ziek

Member
Does this game require good agility or dexterity?

My dad has Parkinson's, but loves video games. Sadly, nowadays he can't play most games because of the dexterity involved. Do you think he'd be able to get at least a good portion of the game completed? Thanks!
 

nib95

Banned
Blow said he didn't put music in the game because it wouldn't have served a gameplay purpose and would have distracted or interfered with the things he did purposely design.

He wouldn't put music into a game just because games tend to have music.

Wait what, the awesome trailer music isn't in the game?
 
Does this game require good agility or dexterity?

My dad has Parkinson's, but loves video games. Sadly, nowadays he can't play most games because of the dexterity involved. Do you think he'd be able to get at least a good portion of the game completed? Thanks!
Do not think so.
Just need to be able to see and hear.
 

Solal

Member
I don't believe that for a second. Does he think people will honestly believe that there is no kind of music that would fit the game?

Translation: I couldn't figure out how to put proper music into the game, or didn't want to pay for it, so I'm claiming it's a conscious choice.

Does not sound like Blow AT ALL.

It's not a matter of "fitting the game" or not, it's a matter of vision... is it so hard to imagine that a game would not need music ?

He made the game he wanted to. You've got to respect that.
 

shiba5

Member
OMG this game is gorgeous. I got the door from the Giant Bomb quick look open. Let's just say I'm intrigued by what I found inside.
 

Dantis

Member
Just played for a couple of hours. Solved 67 panels so far. Unsure what I think of it.

The production and design on it is amazing, but I don't really understand what the motivation to progress is.

It's not terrible, but I won't be surprised if I don't get to the end.
 

skynidas

Banned
Does this game require good agility or dexterity?

My dad has Parkinson's, but loves video games. Sadly, nowadays he can't play most games because of the dexterity involved. Do you think he'd be able to get at least a good portion of the game completed? Thanks!

The only thing needed in this game is being smart. And there are only three buttons, x to interact, sticks to move and triggers to run.
 
holy shit lol

Are you even bothering to consider what he is saying with that comment?

Q: "Why doesn't your game have music?"
A: "Music detracted from the design of the game."

Across the infinite number of options of music, he believes no music of any kind would work with his vision. That's crazy talk. If he had said he couldn't find anything that worked, fine, but to claim that there is nothing that would possibly work is just ego stroking.
 

czarship

Member
That's entirely my point. He couldn't come up with one for this game, and is passing it off as a choice, and a real cop out one at that.

I'll have to give Blow the benefit of the doubt on this one. It's true that music of any kind can alter the pace of a game or experience. Having not played the witness yet, I can only speculate that the pace he's designed for this game is one of slow and meditative exploration that may otherwise be directed too strongly by the inclusion of a soundtrack.

Brad Shoemaker stated in the GB Quick Look that music would distract from the game's very important sound effects, which are sometimes the only indications that something has changed somewhere on the island. He also postulated that music may increase anxiety in a player when they've hit a wall of difficult puzzles.

For now, I believe the exclusion of music was a conscious choice for the game. I can't wait to play it.
 

DanSaxon

Member
I've just bought The Witness on Steam and I can't pre-install it...

NUst6Uw
 
Are you even bothering to consider what he is saying with that comment?

Q: "Why doesn't your game have music?"
A: "Music detracted from the design of the game."

Across the infinite number of options of music, he believes no music of any kind would work with his vision. That's crazy talk. If he had said he couldn't find anything that worked, fine, but to claim that there is nothing that would possibly work is just ego stroking.

There's pretty much constant atmospheric sound. Even without music there's a lot going on with the sound design.
 

rudds

Name 10 better posters this year
can anyone help me with the puzzle in the flower growing area (?) it's the second to last one before the door opens. i'm going insane.

you have to separate 4 kinds of colors from each other

I don't know which puzzle you're on specifically, but generally in that area you have to (vague hint)
find ways to flatten the numerous colors down to a smaller, more manageable number.
 

kadotsu

Banned
Discussing this game will be a nightmare. I want to warn someone of spoilers, but the spoiler warning is a spoiler.

So here it goes:

Non Panel Puzzle Spoiler

Fuck you single grey cloud! I'd be at 150 + 6 without you.
 

Yogg

Member
It was briefly mentioned quite a while ago that The Witness would have support for 3D TVs. Is it the case for the PS4 version ? Any option or auto-detection for that in the game ?
 

moggio

Banned
People really need to stop comparing this to Myst. By doing so you're effectively saying, "this game is terrible".

Judging by impressions so far that doesn't seem to be the case.
 

tuxfool

Banned
Does not sound like Blow AT ALL.

It's not a matter of "fitting the game" or not, it's a matter of vision... is it so hard to imagine that a game would not need music ?

He made the game he wanted to. You've got to respect that.

Yeah. This is a guy that spent 7 years getting the game just right, do people think that he would just shrug off sound and say "meh, this will do".
 

rudds

Name 10 better posters this year
I will be as vague as possible here but I will still tag it. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do not click this unless you've played the game or are morbidly curious:




I figured something out very early on. It took me somewhere that felt very "end game."

I'm super curious what you're talking about, but mechanically it's impossible to get to anything like an endgame until you
activate seven of the lasers
so I'm guessing you're reading more into whatever it is than is actually there. Feel free to PM me, I've finished the game and all but two of the regular areas.

If it's the
credits
then I lost my shit when I found that too, but it's not of any consequence to the larger game. Still an amazing holyshit moment to find that though.
 
People really need to stop comparing this to Myst. By doing so you're effectively saying, "this game is terrible".

Judging by impressions so far that doesn't seem to be the case.

Sick zinger aside Myst is a totally fair comparison. It's a first person puzzle game, on an island, with an eerie, lonely atmosphere.
 
Does not sound like Blow AT ALL.

It's not a matter of "fitting the game" or not, it's a matter of vision... is it so hard to imagine that a game would not need music ?

He made the game he wanted to. You've got to respect that.

You honestly believe there is no music that has been or could be composed that would work with the game? That cannot possibly be true, purely by definition. He chose to go with no music, and that's fine, but to claim that there is nothing that would possibly work when the choices are infinite is pretty ridiculous. That's all I am saying.
 

zXe

Member
In this interview Jonathan Blow talks about how The Witness was inspired by games like Myst, so I don't get why people are freaking out about it. He explains how myst is quite empty due to the technical limitations, but that it made the player feel alone in the game space and wanted to achieve a similar experience for the player in this game, but obviously more density in the environments etc.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4jqX4z7fwY

Check it out where he says this at 9:50 onwards.
 

convo

Member
Are you even bothering to consider what he is saying with that comment?

Q: "Why doesn't your game have music?"
A: "Music detracted from the design of the game."

Across the infinite number of options of music, he believes no music of any kind would work with his vision. That's crazy talk. If he had said he couldn't find anything that worked, fine, but to claim that there is nothing that would possibly work is just ego stroking.

He seems like the type of guy that can give you a seminar on why he choses the sound design the game has. For me i would probably turn off the music to concentrate with the amount of time it takes getting through this game. And if music helps you think then i guess people can listen to classic music if it strikes their fancy on their own.
 

Lord Error

Insane For Sony
Game downloaded to PS4, now just to get back home and dive into it. I am pretty much completely in the dark as to what to expect.

I've been playing MGSV the last few days, but it's not grabbing me at all, so I think I'll put it on a backburner and play this instead.
 

kAmui-

Member
You honestly believe there is no music that has been or could be composed that would work with the game? That cannot possibly be true, purely by definition. He chose to go with no music, and that's fine, but to claim that there is nothing that would possibly work when the choices are infinite is pretty ridiculous. That's all I am saying.

You should read this blog post where he explains why there is no music in the game http://the-witness.net/news/2015/11/on-music-sound-effects-story/
 
So I stay up until about 1:00 playing The Witness before heading to bed. I wake up this morning at about 4:50 (as I normally do) tired as hell, sooo tempted to just skip my class today. I already knew exactly what we’re doing. My test is Wednesday and I know exactly what it was on. I really didn’t have to go to school… I often have 3-4 hour sleep nights, but the only reason I was so damn tired this morning is because I didn’t get much sleep the previous night either. Usually that doesn’t happen 2 nights in a row.

I muster up all kinds of willpower to just convince/force myself to get ready and go to school, because I know in the end I’ll feel good about it. Though of course, sleeping through my class and just hoping on The Witness a few hours later seemed so appealing, but ultimately I ended up getting on the bus for an hour and 20 minute trip to school.

I get to school, i’m waiting outside of my 8:00 class for 15 minutes with my classmates and someone tells us that class was cancelled.

I’m not sure how to feel about this.
 
I'm super curious what you're talking about, but mechanically it's impossible to get to anything like an endgame until you
activate seven of the lasers
so I'm guessing you're reading more into whatever it is than is actually there. Feel free to PM me, I've finished the game and all but two of the regular areas.

If it's the
credits
then I lost my shit when I found that too, but it's not of any consequence to the larger game. Still an amazing holyshit moment to find that though.

Gotcha - PM'd!
 

Lylo

Member
So I stay up until about 1:00 playing The Witness before heading to bed. I wake up this morning at about 4:50 (as I normally do) tired as hell, sooo tempted to just skip my class today. I already knew exactly what we’re doing. My test is Wednesday and I know exactly what it was on. I really didn’t have to go to school… I often have 3-4 hour sleep nights, but the only reason I was so damn tired this morning is because I didn’t get much sleep the previous night either. Usually that doesn’t happen 2 nights in a row.

I muster up all kinds of willpower to just convince/force myself to get ready and go to school, because I know in the end I’ll feel good about it. Though of course, sleeping through my class and just hoping on The Witness a few hours later seemed so appealing, but ultimately I ended up getting on the bus for an hour and 20 minute trip to school.

I get to school, i’m waiting outside of my 8:00 class for 15 minutes with my classmates and someone tells us that class was cancelled.

I’m not sure how to feel about this.

It would be worse if they told you that the class was cancelled because teacher is at home playing The Witness...
 
Top Bottom