Solutions are learned through environmental clues, prior puzzle solutions, and through listening to audio recordings found in the environment. The game takes between of 60 to 80 hours to complete. Gameplay progresses as you solve approximately 650 maze based puzzles, each with their own mechanics and symbols. It should be noted that there are greater meanings and stories that unfold as the game progresses, which will not be disclosed in this writing. In order to understand the planning and design of the Witness’ Island, it is important to understand the mechanics of gameplay. Jonathan is the ultimate producer and art director of the Witness. This team also included talented illustrators, programmers, and modelers. The Thekla team was partly made up of programmers, who were working on the technical practicalities of the game engine, the game coding, and user interface. It is a task for which Landscape Architecture is specially qualified.įor clarity, I will refer to the Theckla team as the game development team and the architecture/ landscape architecture team as the design team. It also blends the rigors of science with artistic expression. The design of the Island requires thinking across scales, both spatial and temporal. Our studio worked full-time for three of the game’s seven years of development, designing and modeling spaces, structures, geography, geology, environmental puzzles, and biomes. Having a rich and engaging environment was crucial to game play and in 2008, Johnathan approached Fletcher Studio to help develop a geographical and spatio-temporal framework for the various teams to work within. The Witness was conceived of by independent developer Jonathan Blow, who wanted to create a game that would encourage users to become sensitive to their environment and to achieve a sense of accomplishment and enlightenment. It is simply you and your brain solving puzzles, exploring a fictional world with a larger narrative that unfolds, as you progress. It expresses the overlaid palimpsests of fictional civilizations that have been planned and designed using the media of time and entropy. It is an adventure puzzle, set on a complex and mysterious abandoned island, populated with a multitude of biomes, geologies, cultures, and seasons. You are in a place of wonder.Īs a video game, The Witness is an intellectually challenging work of art. One minute you are in a scarlet red autumn forest, the next you are in snow atop a volcanic cinder cone. You move through ruins, modern adaptations of ancient buildings, and through diverse landscapes. You hear the sounds of nature, birds, wind, and running water and your own footsteps. It is rendered in bright hues, dappled and almost pointillist. The world is familiar, but a bit off kilter. Your avatar is now free to explore the island, in an open world environment. With a series of simple gestures, you solve a puzzle and gain access to the Witness Island. You wake up in a dark circular cave and walk up to a door.
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