Talk with Jonathan Blow丨Gcores

In this vedio,Jonathan Blow talked about The Witness ,the self-developed programming language and indie-game industry.At the same time,he explained how he think about game designing.In the end,he made a little prediction of the future.

[@PatchyE]

I love these words Jonathan said: "If I play a puzzle game, I don't want to FEEL smart; I want to actually BE smart. (Right?) So if a game can help me actually be smart, that's actually very valuable, and that can make games... something very new... and very powerful. So you know, if I play a puzzle game, and I solve a puzzle, what does it mean that I solved the puzzle? Well, it's probably not that I have entered some random code and that would be a boring puzzle game, right? Hopefully, it's like there is some system the way things work, and I figured out how things work, and I was able to use my knowledge of how they work to do the right thing in this situation. And the reason I feel good, is because I noticed I successfully understood the way things work. Our brains are made to notice that and respond positively, to the REAL thing, right? So going back to The Witness for a second, you know the puzzles - it's harder to talk about the abstract puzzles with the symbols and stuff, but there are other puzzles in the game - I mean even the symbols are about... you could say they are about logical phenomena, but there are puzzles that take place in the space of the world that are about natural things, like light and shadows. You know the way light travels when it's coming from the sun, and how it might reflect off objects and things like that... The things you observe in the game, they are pretty close to what happens in the real world, so... you are doing something real there a little bit... It doesn't actually matter. Actually what's true is any system that's consistent, that you can learn, is REALLY real knowledge of some kind... It's just it may or may not have that much to do with what happens in the world when you walk around, but it's just that learning the system and doing the right thing is actually the important part." ... "I think games eventually could be one of the next steps in humanity becoming more powerful about the way we think and the way we understand the world. That's not exactly what games are today, we have to make them into that, or develop them until they become that strong." This is exactly why The Witness is such a great game. One of the most important games of our generation I would say.

[@nosferadu]

I think The Witness is so far ahead of its time, people don't get it yet. Hopefully, in a decade or two, the medium will catch up and recognize what Jon achieved with this game.

[@wasdwasd5234]

@@nosferadu hey, can you tell me what the witness is about anyway, I played the game, it has puzzles. What's new in that?

[@nosferadu]

​@@wasdwasd5234 The game first teaches you its "language" via the panel puzzles. Once you play enough of those, you start seeing the environmental puzzles and in order to solve them you need to explore the island in a very particular way. Based on this and the many recordings you find throughout, I would say the game is about exploring the fundamental workings of this artificial world. (or as Jon puts it in another video, "the nature of reality")

[@austinbeige]

I'd go further and say that it's one of the most important artistic achievements of our time, certainly the high water mark in video games.

[@boblefest]

And this is what I love about The Talos Principle too; one of the few games where the game creators don't insult your intelligence by making it so easy that _everyone_ can finish. Often, the game designers had (seemingly) predicted the method I'd use to solve a puzzle, and made sure that the method would backfire. I really enjoyed being challenged like that. I found The Witness to be a little bit repetitive. Other than that, I don't have many complaints. Easily my 2nd favorite puzzle game.

[@AexisRai]

5:47 "[The Witness] was the deepest exploration of video game design that I knew how to do, at the time. We somehow managed to make a game that was very complicated, but complicated in a very connected way, where everything in the game relates to everything else, and that's not easy. I don't know if I will ever be able to design anything that good again. We'll see. I will try, but I don't exactly know how to do better."

[@MightyGiant]

Star Fox is such a great game. This guy is a genius.

[@ShredST]

That translator is freaking heroic.

[@ttony5433]

哈哈哈惊了，没想到videogamedunkey也看了这篇采访

[@chartreusewinds]

tt ony I also came here because of videogamedunkey lol

[@ttony5433]

I really wonder how he found out this interview, cause this channal just so damn tiny on KZbin.

[@not_herobrine3752]

what is this videogamedunkey video you come from

[@wwzz10]

Great interview，thank you for uploading. 谢谢分享和翻译，很棒的访谈

[@SSchithFoo]

Love this talk. Wish we had more developers who care about the people who play their games rather than seeing them as a resource to make money out of.

[@mehmetakyuz5290]

It's much easier to make money like that(unfortunately). Most of the indies are starving. So yeah, seems like it's going nowhere...

[@jarenthecomposer2237]

You were meant for great things sire i hooked up my mainframe to yours when i was 20 or so.

[@JK-zl9cq]

Some great questions in there: "Witness would be the perfect game if players never played other puzzle games before and were never exposed to progression rewards and achievements" "You like CS and Pubg, why don't you make games like those?"

[@yangyang2352]

首先不知道这位能不能看到，但是相对于来说我还是喜欢像我的世界这样游戏的高自由度游戏有一个后续的发展方向，这个相比其他的射击类游戏确实不需要占有主流地位，但是自己独树一帜还是可以发，能看出作者的经历于坚持，很难去改变他的想法，这点很好了！有机会体验下他的游戏，我也期待类似我的世界后续游戏的出版与新的制作！

[@Dexterdevloper]

Thanks , Great talk

[@ZappyOh]

I will try mr. Blow's new language, when it is released ... I believe it will be a very interesting experience.

[@vladimirkraus1438]

have a look at ziglang meanwhile... might be even better than jai.

[@QW3RTYUU]

@@vladimirkraus1438 doubt it. also, why would you want to say such a thing? It's not even out yet

[@vladimirkraus1438]

@@QW3RTYUU Unlike Jai, Zig is already in the public.

[@juleslei]

Hey I thought the interview was conducted almost 1 year ago. How come it's released so late lol

[@forcefield6973]

Nice interview. Will there be a second part talking about The Witness and philosophy? I understood you saing that at the end, but maybe I missed something.

[@MenkoDany]

Next year I think

[@flyingmachine6531]

There are two procasts about the Witness and Blow's game philosophy. They are made by gcores.com( this video creator) and hosted by the interviewers in this video. BUT the procast is made in Chinese, so it maybe hard for non-Chinese speaker to understand what they are talking about. In case you want to check out: www.gcores.com/radios/96753 ; www.gcores.com/radios/95312

[@flyingmachine6531]

I've found youtube version of these two procasts, feel free to check out: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pnyZhKCEbc-psLc kzbin.info/www/bejne/kJy5n5J_mKl5e5Y

[@zazito34]

So gooood

[@EhKurd]

HOLY SHIT RELEASE JAI THIS YEAR?!?!!!!! Fuck I am so excited for this

[@KrisLI1408]

太神了

[@simivb]

I second that "hopefully this year" :D. (please free me Jon, D isn't what they promised, it's actually also shit like everything else)

[@jackmordaunt5410]

Um the intro music stolen from “just for func”? Okay

[@mybigbeak]

I knew I recognised it.

[@bluecloud6673]

Eastward....

[@charlesalexanderable]

Was a little funny that he used PUBG to contrast against games that artificially make you feel powerful like God of war and dynasty warriors. The PUBG most Chinese viewers will know is PUBG mobile, and when you first start it puts you in games populated with many weaker bots mixed in to make you feel extra powerful.

[@Jojoateyt]

Not a fan of the interviewer going "yea" and "ok" all the time while Jon's talking.

[@TheSandvichTrials]

CircuitMembrane I learned that in Japanese conversation that kind of constant feedback, affirming you’re listening with all the yeahs and uhuhs, is expected and polite. The interviewer is obviously not Japanese, but I imagine it’s a similar kind of cultural phenomenon. ...that being said, I also find it very annoying

[@luceeombra]

Who is the "chosen one" dislike the video?

[@PatchyE]

first

[@robehickmann]

I feel a dissonance between the interviewer and John here, more than usual. John keeps going off on a tangent, and getting dragged back by a question that dosn't follow on as if the questions are all scripted.