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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

#131
post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This level of polish would be somewhat herculean to pull off in unity, and was not even close to possible when the game's development was started 8 or so years ago. Unreal maybe, but it also wasn't as viable a choice 8 years ago. Source: I use unity professionally at my day job.

oh, they've been working on it for 8 years? Yikes

Game development from scratch is a bit like inventing the universe from the atoms up.

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

#132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Jonathan posts on HN. Here was his post defending his position on the poor productivity of Linux game dev - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5125078 FYI - I have only used Linux as my main laptop for the past 15 years. But he's right. I had really hoped that Steam Linux would be based on Android or something and build that friendly layer.. I'm still not sure why they went with Debian.

All his arguments from that post are today FOO.

Do you have any experience in trying to make and sell games? Have you ever been compensated for a self-developed game project?

You appear to be completely unaware of the economics of game development. That coupled with the arrogant tone of your comments really makes you sound foolish.

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

#133
post #14

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-...

Of course, the cost/benefit ratio has to be evaluated by the developer, and I don't want to force anyone into anything. I'm just aware that plenty other developers have no problems making their games available on the OS I am running. And since their games are more than enough to fill whatever free time I have for computer games, I won't be missing this one.

Do they make any money from those games, or are those mostly hobby projects?

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

#134

This game is the perfect tool for testing your problem solving skills. It puts you in a new framework and tests your cognition. Portal, The Talos Principle, all have the same goal. I wonder if people could become excellent problem solver by playing these games instead of honing the skills in the mathematics, physics or similar frameworks.

You may begin to realize that you are doing maths without realizing it. Thinking mathematically is quite natural for a curious, motivated person. It's writing down these thoughts which people find difficult. It's not easy for us to be precise!

It could augment your skills in mathematics. Most people are much better than they think they are or are given credit for.

I gave my niece the game, Set, over the holidays. She was able to beat adult players after a few rounds. Similar experiences with http://dragonbox.com as well.

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

#135
Congratulations to Jonathan Blow on finishing his game — I was afraid that he would never be done. I look forward to playing it, and I hope it sells well.

For entirely selfish reasons, I'm now really hoping this release means he now has some breathing room to spend more time on developing his programming language, Jai.

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

#136

One of the things I did not like is the sometimes incredibly obfuscated association of symbols with mechanics. For example, the panels with sun symbols. [Spoilers] It didn't take me incredibly long to figure out that they needed to be grouped in twos, but it did take me longer to figure out than to solve the first ~8 introductory panels. And the worst part, how is a star in any way connected with grouping by twos????

When a new rule is introduced, the early panels can be easily solved by trial and error. However, it's a mistake to continue until you can articulate the rule. That means experimenting with a panel even if you accidentally get the correct answer on the first try.

Edit: I'm reminded of this game from the New York Times from October: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/07/03/upshot/a-quick...

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

#137
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'm going to wait for Linux version to buy...that way will incentivize devs to make Linux versions.

Er, no it won't. If everyone who shared your opinion could convince 100-1000 other people to do the same, then maybe it would work.

Fundamentally, though, some kinds of customer aren't worth the trouble. I'm not going to sell Lamborghinis to people who don't really care about flashy cars. So, why would I expect to sell AAA polished games to people who won't install a gamer OS, out of principle?

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

#139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And for all those wondering, YES you should go buy & play Braid if you haven't already. It's an astounding game. A 2D platformer-style game that deals with in-game undo, time travel, time distortion, and multiple realities. It's mind bending, fun, and beautiful. Watch the trailer for it here if you haven't seen it before: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqtSKkyJgFM

Braid is a masterpiece, just go get it now and play it WITHOUT WALKTHROUGHS (they'll just spoil the game for you). I'm not sure the Witness can live up to Braid, but we'll see.

There is actually an official walkthrough[1] that just says... don't use walkthroughs ;)

I remember when I was originally playing the game right after it came out, and I was stumped by a puzzle and then found the "official" walkthrough and it inspired me to try my best at the game to get through it. And it really made the game way more rewarding, enjoyable, and memorable.

[1] http://braid-game.com/walkthrough/walkthrough.html

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

#140

One of the things I did not like is the sometimes incredibly obfuscated association of symbols with mechanics. For example, the panels with sun symbols. [Spoilers] It didn't take me incredibly long to figure out that they needed to be grouped in twos, but it did take me longer to figure out than to solve the first ~8 introductory panels. And the worst part, how is a star in any way connected with grouping by twos????

When a new rule is introduced, the early panels can be easily solved by trial and error. However, it's a mistake to continue until you can articulate the rule. That means experimenting with a panel even if you accidentally get the correct answer on the first try. Edit: I'm reminded of this game from the New York Times from October: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/07/03/upshot/a-quick...

I do not mind new panels introducing concepts; what I mind is the symbols not always being clearly connected with the mechanic they introduce. For example, the black and white symbols that needed to be separated were intuitive.
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