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Jonathan Blow's new game, The Witness, is out

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Re: Jonathan Blow's new game, The Witness, is out

#21

Post by jhawk28 »

joncampbelldev wrote: post #12
newjersey wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree. Here is a relevant Reddit discussion https://www.reddit.com/r/linuxmasterrace/comments/3c508j/my_...

Sounds like people are shifting the blame for JB's frustration with linux onto hardware vendors for not providing drivers ... that's not really going to be acceptable to a perfectionist like JB. "Oh here's my game on linux, please address any questions or problems to those shitty hardware vendors" No, he's just going to release it on a platform where he can guarantee compatibility and functionality with minimum effor…

Making a game is HARD. Why take on the additional risk of complicated multiplatform when that can be done later.

Re: Jonathan Blow's new game, The Witness, is out

#22

Post by fsloth »

newjersey wrote: post #6
pferde wrote: post #3

Is that the guy who was unable to install Ubuntu properly, so he declared that supporting Linux versions of his game is not worth the effort? Color me disinterested. "No Tux, no bucks."

I agree. Here is a relevant Reddit discussion https://www.reddit.com/r/linuxmasterrace/comments/3c508j/my_...

The post at the top is a pretty horrible rant but the following discussion is surprisingly civil and to the point.

Re: Jonathan Blow's new game, The Witness, is out

#26

Post by fulafel »

donatj wrote: post #20

Windows and PS4 huh? As the exclusive owner of Macs and an Xbox One, that's little irritating. I'd at least imagine a Windows to Xbox One port to be reasonable.

They have a timed exclusivity agreement with Sony, hence PS4 first.

"It will be released on the PC and the PlayStation 4 on January 26, 2016. The game will come to iOS some months after that, and other platforms a bit later." (http://the-witness.net/news/about/)

Fingers crossed for a Linux port at some point! For Blow's last game (Braid) I think the Linux port was done by a third party.

Or maybe it's time to get a copy of Windows and set up a VM with GPU passthrough...

Re: Jonathan Blow's new game, The Witness, is out

#27

Post by mwill »

donatj wrote: post #20

Windows and PS4 huh? As the exclusive owner of Macs and an Xbox One, that's little irritating. I'd at least imagine a Windows to Xbox One port to be reasonable.

Bit of info why Blow went PS4 over XBO:

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2015/09/how-sony-snagged-jonat...

Re: Jonathan Blow's new game, The Witness, is out

#29

Post by flohofwoe »

hellofunk wrote: post #13
colinramsay wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is going to be one of the most popular games of 2016, and is releasing for Windows and PS4. Compared to those platforms, do you think that the time it would take to get a Linux version up and running would be cost-effective? There are some Linux sales figures kicking around [1] and they generally show that the Linux share is under 3%. [1] https://www.gamingonlinux.com/articles/sales-statistics-for-...

And OSX. Apparently Macs are the fastest growing segment of the desktop/laptop industry, but they are often the last to get the big games.

Yeah, it's easy to grow from nothing as the saying goes ;)

Depending on region and target audience, Macs show up between 1.5% and 3.5% of total player base in tracking (see Steam and Unity hardware surveys, and I also see those numbers in our own games), and these have been the same for 10 years. For comparison, Linux is between 0.5% and 1.0%. Most Macs are laptops with Intel GPU which are simply too weak for most current games. The Mac OpenGL drivers have a legendary reputation for being crap since they are controlled by Apple, not the GPU makers (although, native Intel GL drivers are not much better). Sometimes the reason is simply that the additional required customers support for Mac costs money and thus the development effort can't be justified.

I'm a daily Mac user and like it pretty much, but for games I also have a proper PC, attached to the TV. Most games I play there would run at most with 5fps on my MacBookPro.

Re: Jonathan Blow's new game, The Witness, is out

#30

Post by moultano »

cstuder wrote: post #8
sp332 wrote: post #2

Although it's tempting, this is a game you really don't want any spoilers about (if you are ever going to play it). Vi Hart, who has been playtesting the game for months, said: > Tips for playing The Witness: give yourself a week or two, no hints, no reviews. Sleep on it. Take breaks. It's a big game. Nothing like it. > If you can't spend all day every day playing The Witness, give yourself months. Engage deeply with…

Since the game turns out to be pretty polarizing, I would suggest reading a review or two. Most reviewers appreciate the design of the game and keep it spoiler free. My recommendation: http://www.polygon.com/2016/1/25/10817632/the-witness-review... "The Witness is maze puzzles. Full Stop."

> "The Witness is maze puzzles. Full Stop."

While this is technically true, I really think it gives people the wrong impression. The colored mazes are the universal UI widget but many of them are switchboards that control the environment in the game in ways typical to 3d puzzlers (turning on lights, moving platforms, aligning objects.)

Many of the puzzles are the sort of abstract logic puzzles you'd see in an IQ test or mobile game, but most of them revolve around paying close attention to your environment and seeing it in different ways. I'd love to describe a few of them, but wouldn't want to spoil the moments of euphoria from noticing them yourself.

It's unfortunate that the game starts with some of the more abstract ones, because the real joy lies elsewhere in the game, but I would say that if you don't enjoy an abstract intellectual challenge you probably won't enjoy it.

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