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The Witness |OT|

I

IchigoSharingan

Member
bananafactory said:
Jonathan Blow is an incredibly smart man, and worked on this game for a long time. He also has a team of very talented people.

I can assure you if he wanted music in the game, it would be there. It's not missing because he is lazy, or couldn't find the right music. It's not there because he made a deliberate choice that he didn't want any.

Its fine to disagree with that decision but its disappointing seeing some making baseless assumptions and speculation. If you want music just find the track you want and fire up Spotify or the media player app and there you go
Click to expand...

Yes and no. He had a vision for a game, and it just turned out that music got in the way of that vision.

Game design isn't about shoehorning or forcing a round peg in a square hole. It's about creating the pegs and holes and then seeing what fits and what doesn't from that point onward.
 
K

kami_sama

Member
GatticusFinch said:
Yes, it makes his given reasoning for not including music wrong, contrary to decades of research, and it should make the people attacking others for questioning the lack of music slow down from the "Blow's a genius and you have no right to criticize him" circlejerk that is already forming.
Click to expand...

While I think that Music would have been good for the game, it's still his game, and while you can criticize him for doing that, you can't say the game is incomplete.
 
R

rje

Member
https://twitter.com/Jonathan_Blow/status/692030168227971073

icupfuG.jpg
 
R

rudds

Name 10 better posters this year
Captain Smirk said:
Big puzzle awareness spoiler
The reason there is no music is because the sound of footsteps solves certain puzzles
Click to expand...

They actually do quite a bit more with that concept, it's super cool. I can't come close to figuring out the hardest one of those, which is in the
shipwreck
 
D

Deleted member 22576

Unconfirmed Member
Ok, hoping he pushes the button soon! So much anticipation!
 
X

XANDER CAGE

Member
GatticusFinch said:
Yes, it makes his given reasoning for not including music wrong, contrary to decades of research, and it should make the people attacking others for questioning the lack of music slow down from the "Blow's a genius and you have no right to criticize him" circlejerk that is already forming.
Click to expand...

You may disagree with part of the reasoning that got him there, but does that change how the game functions without music? The audio was clearly designed around not having music so it seems far more productive to criticize the work itself and how well you feel that design choice pays off, rather than getting upset about how he arrived at the decision to not have it.

I don't particularly agree with his assertion of how music works either but that doesn't really have much bearing on what I think of the game's audio. I also don't agree with Quentin Tarantino's opinion that film is always "more magical" than digital video but I do think his choice to always use film yields good looking results. Do you see what I'm trying to get at here? It's generally futile to reason with creators about their aesthetic preferences.
 
V

Visualante2

Member
so they've been faffing around with the launcher all morning i bet and only just decided to commit to the Steam servers?

launcher of the year 2016
 
D

Deputy Dangle

Member
Finale Fireworker said:
People talk about uncovering mysteries and secrets and that's absolutely my jam. I feel like I need motivation for walking around an island and solving puzzles. I need a reason why. So if I'm uncovering story and intrigue with every step, I'll love it.

I'm in a precarious position because I don't want spoilers and have to be careful what I read. But I also want more information than I currently have. It's a delicate balance.
Click to expand...

My understanding of the game is that it expects the player to meet it halfway. This extends to how it teaches you the intricacies of its puzzles non-verbally as well as what you take away from the landmarks and audio diaries found in the environment. When Blow has spoken about the game, he's been steadfast about not wanting to give easy answers to the players, so that he can create a game with a constant series of "a-ha!" moments. The discovery is the motivation, at least for me. Whether those details are too little or more than enough motivation depends on the person.
 
G

GDJustin

stuck my tongue deep inside Atlus' cookies
(VERY mild spoilers for what the "object/goal" of the game is - which most people will pick up on early or even from the trailers):

I turned on my 7th laser last night and ascended to the top of the mountain to begin what I assumed would be the end-game.

What happens up there elevates the game from "beautiful, satisfying, brilliant puzzle game" into 10/10 GOTY territory. I dunno what I expected... but it wasn't that. Blow is now two for two when it comes to late-game reveals.

Everyone owes it to themselves to experience this on their own, without being spoiled, so if you see people start to talk about anything like this in the next coming days, run in the opposite direction until you're there.

And if anyone is curious about which 7 I turned on (spoilers equivalent to the trophy/achievement list):

(Desert, Quarry, Shadow Woods, Keep, Monastery, Jungle, Symmetry Island)
 
D

Deleted member 22576

Unconfirmed Member
watching him press the button this is killing me
 
M

MetalGearOnlineK

Member
Wow, I'm absolutely loving the game so far! The game itself is gorgeous, but that's stating the obvious. Here are my thoughts on actual gameplay and puzzles after an hour or so. I'll spoiler tag it since it does touch on some of the early puzzles, but this is very early stuff

I love how the game just immediately begins, no start up credits or menus to go through. I'm not sure if this will be different when I load up the game a second time, but I think it's the first time that matters most. The opening area was cool. I solved the puzzle with two possible end points to open the white fence, then I resolved it with the other solution that would normally not open the white fence. I'm curious to see if this affects anything, since it did light up a different power line.

The separate the white / black dot "Tutorial" was very well done! The "Touch all Black Dot" tutorial was equally well done, and slightly more challenging (Though it was still minimally challenging, I'm sure this will increase).

The door that incorporates both mechanics was fun to solve. It took me five or six attempts I would say. I like how the game tests your knowledge so quickly.

The tree puzzles were really well done in my opinion. I felt clever noticing that I had to trace the line to the apples, and seeing how even that seemingly basic mechanic could grow and evolve. I didn't really know what I was supposed to be doing (If anything) in the area that it opened up, maybe it's just for world building?


Also worth noting, on Twitter, Jonathan Blow said in reply to a question, that he does not consider it cheating if you take notes / pictures to help you remember things!
 
J

jett

D-Member
It's really too bad there's no music in the game. His inspiration for this game, Myst, has a wonderful, memorable soundtrack that is entirely unintrusive.

Also, why couldn't you get your shit together for the Steam release. Not even a goddamn pre-load.
 
X

XANDER CAGE

Member
jett said:
It's really too bad there's no music in the game. His inspiration for this game, Myst, has a wonderful, memorable soundtrack that is entirely unintrusive.

Also, why couldn't you get your shit together for the Steam release. Not even a goddamn pre-load.
Click to expand...

Man, yeah, the Myst and Riven scores are something else.
 
V

Visualante2

Member
Downloading, 30 minutes left. 10 minutes before scheduled release. I'll take it.
Can't believe he hadn't uploaded to Humble before he went live on Steam though.
 
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