You’re right. It is actually not the definition, but I think my point was fairly clear. There are plenty of awesome people waiting for the game.

its actually not insanity. “doing the same things and expecting different results” is not the definition of insanity. in fact it doesnt even apply to this case. theyre being very impatient, but if you dont want to be asked when youre game will be released…dont make a game. people who insult the developers, insult the industry, or say they wont be buying the game because of the wait, those people are toxic. everybody else is fine.

I agree that not all people would be satisfied by this and that not all people would read the description. But that is mostly because some people will be ridiculous no matter what. Those are not the people this idea is intended for. It is for people that have at least some reasonableness. I do believe there are some out there with some reasonableness and that some of them are still getting somewhat frustrated waiting for the game, even though they don’t have a right to voice any such feelings in a negative way. I think the moving target estimate would be enlightening and enjoyable for most reasonable people that are looking forward to playing this even if they are not beginning to feel frustrated. Another thing to keep in mind is that with this idea, the displayed estimated release date would change slightly most weeks thereby making it harder to take it as gospel or to misunderstand it. They could even keep the estimated release date hidden. You would just see a link that says “Estimated Delivery Date” or something like that. When you click it you are taken to the explanation, and you must check a box saying you understand the explanation before they show you the current estimate. Even though I agree that nobody has a right to voice their frustration in a negative way, I think some people have some level of unavoidable frustration just because they have wanted to play it for a long time and keep checking back and have waited much longer than they expected to and still have no idea when it will be released. I think this would help with that.

Braid had that awesome title screen that was also the beginning of the game. It will be interesting if they do something similar or analogous.

(not pushing, intended as an expression of mild interest)

good point

Truly, it doesn’t even need to be about the game. Orsi’s update about reorganizing the office in February was also a treat. Any update that gives us a peak inside the game or your work in developing it is great!

I agree with Mike. I’ll wait however long it takes, but the wait is less painful and more exciting when we get a little taste of the game with an update here and there.

Eager,
Anxious,
Excited,
DB

I hope it’s still sunny and warm outside when it comes out so I can crank the air conditioner and have little sun beams peeking through the window.

Perfect setting for playing games.

Pssst…. It was also in the trailer.

Updates used to happen once a month, and those little tidbits or screenshots were always eagerly anticipated. I understand that the team is dedicated to finalising the game, but it would be awesome to have a newsletter or more frequent updates, even if it is just a screenshot or reassurance that the game is coming soon. Even just a means of telling me when this blog gets updated would be very welcome!

Keep up the good work. But please update the blog more!! :-)

You are right. You clearly see the arm of the statue on that old screenshot.

You know what… I think you’re right. It might have been an old placeholder one though, from the before-time when the sculptor wasn’t around.

Greatly looking forward to the game, take your time with this masterpiece!

The arm could be supported by a system of rods within the stone arm itself and then attached on to the main body after the rest of the sculpture was completed. Solved! Boom.

The arm could be supported by a system of rods within the stone arm itself and then attached on to the main body after the rest of the sculpture was completed. Solved! Boom.

yeah, me too, good that it’s back, though

Just giving my first/second impression. Looks good/looks unreal. It gave me a sort of internal double-take. I figure my honest reaction is the only thing that stands a chance of being any use to anyone involved in development. Looking forward to playing the game when it’s done.

Yeah I remember that. I seem to recall Jonathan saying something along the lines of it being some of the finest work he’s ever done at that particular time and that he surprised the team with it. It was definitely notable, and it made me really curious. I seem to remember it being possibly a secret area too. Damn, was that really 2 years ago?

I get the feeling that Thekla is going for a slightly otherworldly feel for this environment. In that case, sculptures such as this would not be quite so out-of-place. I liken it to the Argonath as portrayed in Peter Jackson’s The Fellowship of the Ring.

In principle, I like that idea. In reality, people will see the date and take it as gospel without bothering to read the explanation, which would just be setting Thekla up for more harassment about the timeline. I think what they’re doing is better: make clear that the ship date is “when it’s done,” and periodically release screenshots and stuff to demonstrate progress. Although I wouldn’t complain if the updates were a little more frequent… :)

Bottom line is, a person who has no skin in the game (paying for development, publishing, etc.) has no business griping about how long it’s taking. And really, we don’t need more developers that push out games before they’re fully baked; we’ve got EA and their ilk for that.

Hellz to the yes!

I wanna know what kind of crazy stuff is in that area that Jon worked on during his holiday a couple years back. Sounded pretty intense and interesting! Anyone else remember that?

Also can’t wait to see the underground tunnels I know are there!

Though I would like to echo some of the previous points raised in the thread;

-Seems too pristine (looking at the other assets/ The style is very clean, but still a small amount of damage/weathering [chips/cracks etc]) and this seems to be missing here
-Similar point to the above but… the transition from rock face to sculpture feels a little harsh (ie the resolution of the faceted rock face to her right arm is very distracting.)
-Small issue but I feel the hands could use a little more modelling attention (they look a tad “sausage-fingery” in my honest opinion.

Apart from those minor niggles which shouldn’t (?) consume too much art time to fix, I think this is a great addition and will add a tremendous amount of character to your island.

Can’t wait to see what else Andrea comes up with! Grats on the new employee :)

I thoroughly expect there to be some “crazy ass shit” in that mountain. :)

Haha, you should make that the official tagline of the game:

“The Witness: Your Head Will Explode.” (Make sure the Collector’s Edition comes bundled with a safety helmet!)

PS: Thank you Orsi, Andy, Jon, Luis, et al, for dropping in occasionally to say hi. Best wishes to you all as you put the finishing touches on the game.

http://planetden.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/rsz_petra-26small.jpg

Mountain sculpture carved out of mountain…

If you’re getting this worked up over whether the arm on that statue is “realistic”, well, we’ve put stuff in The Witness that will probably make your head explode. You should wear a safety helmet when playing.

Very elegant my friend.

Patient anticipation. :)

Message to Thelka Team:

Go Team! Really been enjoying seeing this project grow over the past few years and I can totally respect and empathise (I am a visual artist, not just a maker of redundant farcical comments (see above^)) the time, energy and dedication you have put behind this idea. In life you only get to execute these kinds of concepts once(?), and its plain to see you want to do it justice (not that I need to tell you that!), which fills me with patient anticipation for the game. Please don’t let the frustrating comments make you question your development approach or the value of this blog, you are a beacon amongst grey waters. Jon, one day perhaps I may make you a jelly statue. All the best on the final stretch, Alistair.

Dunno, I love reading posts from previous years, remembering the details I forgot about. That’s done pretty well to tide me over.

I’m used to waiting, though. I’ve also been waiting for Doors of Stone to release, and that’ll be another couple years.

…

I have no idea what this means, but I agree!

The Witness transcends definitions — is breaking out of its own skin. Has been for a while.

:)

I got him! Got into the game and got it first try. I must have just needed sleep!

Peptalk increased my performance!

Looks awesome guys. Keep it up!

I am not, and never will push your team to make this faster. I would prefer it takes longer and gets released as a better product. It’s not like there is not other stuff for us to do with our life than wait for this game. But I did have an idea the other day. I think it would achieve the following goals:

Motivate a lot of people not to post these types of comments.
Allow you all to work in an unpressured way, at your own pace, releasing the game only when you are truly ready.
Keep us up to date as to the expected release date.

Here is the actual idea. You could have a place on the website that shows the current release estimate. You could accompany this with an explanation about what this estimate actually means. Instead of being a deadline that does not change until you either meet it and excite everyone, or miss it and frustrate everyone, it can be a no pressure, moving estimate. Once a week , on a specific day of the week, you should update this estimate as to your new guess of when you will release it. Some weeks it may move back, some forward, and some it will stay the same. But if you update it every week, there will be no surprise or letdown. I think it will also prevent those anticipating it from imagining it is or could be almost released, then growing more and more frustrated and impatient waiting for it. Anyway, no pressure from me, just thought is was a cool idea and wanted to share it. It is not even really an idea for you specifically, it seems like it would work well for most games or projects.

Landscape architects possibly didnt advice on how to reach realism but how to achieve other goals such as how to organize the island, how to generate landmarks…

Im glad that architecture is pretty cool, and based on real one. I was surprised by the design of some of those structures.

And the color use is amazing. Seeing how both artificial and natural elements share colors in some zones provides a strong identity to those spaces. I loved some of the indoors screenshots with intense red light.

Thanks for the update Orsi! Keep up the great work guys, this already looks amazing, surely you are getting close to your goal!

Level of nitpick for The Witness:

Over Nine-Thousand!!!

“I don’t think the game should come out on Steam because, The Witness deserves to be lived and not merely played digitally, you know? Like Steam is all commercial n’ stuff and the platform is an insult to what it is. I won’t settle for anything unless I can actually go the island, you know?”

Haha, I’m not the only one who is excited.

:)

I have to say that the sculpture itself is great – being on the mountain is fine, too – but the placement IS odd. It’s “too perfect”. It looks like it was mounted onto the mountain, rather than sculpted out of it.

A “diagonal” (facing either toward the pathway or opposite angle from it and where the sculpture currently is) would be more believable.

It is awesome! Thanks for the pep talks! I will try him in a few minutes here. I’ve been leveling for hours to try and raise my stats.

It is so stressful. My favorite is still Demon’s Souls because it fit neatly into my mind. These last ones are so huge and daunting.

I played through Demon’s Souls 7 times in 70 hours. That 70 hours only got me through Dark Souls one time haha.

:)

Woah, another Jack! I’m going to have to start differentiating myself from now on.

*the best game

accidentally a word

I’m sure you mean that jokingly, but understand that it’s pretty grating for the team to hear these sort of comments so frequently when they’re trying to make the game they possibly can.

I have been thinking about this, and I think I am finally beginning to realize that this game is your brainchild. It’s cost you millions of dollars and an unimaginable amount of time. I am starting to get the animosity towards the “better finish soon comments”.

If I was you, I’d keep the thing as long as as humanly possible if I thought it wasn’t complete.

I think the thing the fans are picking up on is that NOBODY works this way anymore. And the fact that you guys are making the total package is blowing me away. I’d wait another 5 years for this. It is such a part of the fabric of my mind now.

Take your time!

:)

Abandoned by definition means there had to be someone there before to abandon it….

Yes, agreed. Please don’t change it unless you guys want to! It’s fantastic. Maybe the sculptor scraped away the entire mountain to make it smaller for his sculpture. Y’know, to give it more OOMPH!

Messages like this are not appreciated. I am going to start deleting them when I see them from now on. Fair warning.

…and Orsi is right. The game gets really cool after father g. And wait…Orsi plays BLOODBORNE?! That’s awesome :D

Father G is stupid hard for a beginning boss fight. He literally took me at least 50 attempts before I beat him. And some of the later bosses I beat on my first attempt with ONLY 6 BLOOD VIALS. So keep at it man! Although I am pretty turned off on Bloodborne right now, I just lost over 200,000 echoes due to a god awful hunter battle near the end of the game :( so I just swapped over to Scholar of the First Sin :D I do need something nice and relaxing though after all these stressful games, here’s praying for a soon(ish) release!!

Don’t give up, I just beat him last night and now the game is much more fun!

We’ve done some things that made the architects and landscape architects pull their hair out before. When it happens, it’s for a reason. For some things it’s okay to stray from the rules, they are only there as a very useful anchor.

Seriously. I dont know how much longer Bloodborne will satiate me. I can only try to kill Father Gascoigne 700 times before I give up entirely.

Perhaps some more GTAV online or Killing Floor 2 in the interim is in order. Hmmm.

Also, OH MY GOD THE GAME IS GETTING FINISHED!

WOOP, WOOP, WOOP!

P.S.

I think her size is perfect, and that she’ll add a really interesting point of interest and help greatly with the feeling of a lot of small, disconnected areas to become a more cohesive whole.

Why is it always daytime? Why does the tide not change and ruin half of the buildings? Why are there little boats for traveling on an island you could spit across? How does one get building materials to such a place and remain abandoned?

They are going for realism my fellow dudes. But not THAT realistic.

Everything looks awesome. The genesis of all of these ideas are coming from the one mind that knows exactly what to do with the game. No worries.

:)

If you look at marble sculptures that the Romans made copying Greek bronzes you will see all sorts of tree roots and plinths added as supports because anything bigger than a human sized arm could not support its own weight when stretched out like that.

Of course there’s no such thing as a perfect game, but it’s invigorating to know that you all are still pushing to get as close as you can.

My guess is that there is a story reason for sculpted statues being embedded into the cliffs of the island.

Not to mention… how many more times we gonna hear that the islands finished and that you’re wrapping up technical stuff just to see that this is what you’re still doing? I know it’s hard guys, I know there’s a perfectionist in all of us, you’ll think of things you wanted to add after it’s out, but at some point you’re gonna have to say it: “the game’s done, let’s release it”. Or you’re all gonna die

Just wow.

Awesome. Way to go for the sculptor!