Hey Tony, I am the same with Australia :(( That game has got some amazing reviews and impossible to get hands on it on the Xbox Store either (was released 3 days ago)

Agreed. Really want to play the game but I have only Apple products and don’t want to set up a windows partition. Any chance of a macOS, iOS, or tvOS release?

Hi Jonathan,

Is there any update on ports to other systems (OSX, iOS, Xbox one)? I’d love to be able to play without buying a PS4 or PC.

We are still working on that. Things have been moving slowly so far but we have hope.

Any update if HK psn store will get the witness?

Since my last message I’ve discovered the back-up saves you’re talking about.

But the game has made three or four back-up saves (that I was not aware of) of my first short sessions of play, and since then has always saved itself on the very same slot ; so that the bug comes to block my longest run of solved puzzles -it was 8 “areas” and somes other puzzles, about 350 puzzles solved.

Moreover I would have expected that the back-up saves would have saved the game the moment just after the last puzzle solved, and not the last place I was standing.
With this system my back-up save starts always with me stuck behind the rock…

Sorry for reporting this bug, but the frustration is as high as “The Witness” is a clever and tricky puzzle game, full of great ideas.
?

I suppose that the coming patch will prevent other players from falling in the same trap than me, but will not get me out from my confinment ? Or will it help to start again in the closest “safe place” ?

Best regards,
Dominique

Theoretically you should have a back-up save (if you have solved enough puzzles) if you go to the Load Game screen.

But yeah, this is an unfortunate bug. Will be patched.

The Witness is a great puzzle game that I was enjoying a lot on PS4…until after a lot of hours of play and 7 “areas” completed, and many puzzles solved in the other ones, I fell in a game breaking bug.

I get back to the quarry and get on the elevator, standing next to the rock wall, the elevator did go up… but unfortunatly without me on it.

By now I’m stuck just beside the original starting place of the elevator on the ground, trapped between invisible walls, going through the rock cliff and watching the scenery from behind..without any way out, neither the possibilty to call back the elevator above me…

I’ve tried to leave the game but when I restart it I’m still stuck in this small area, watching all the broken landscape from below, unable to continue the game…and afraid to have to do it all again from the very beginning :-(

Cheers,
Devi

I’m writing to say that your game was very resonant with me. My grandfather passed away when I was around 13 years old, and I have a distinct memory of looking at the bookshelves he left behind. Intermingled with books about the natural sciences — especially physics — there were an equal number of books about spiritual topics. He was an a Feynman fanatic, but he had also read countless religious texts, prayer books, and essays. Later, my mom told me about the Christmas where he asked for a gong. I had found it strange that an Aerospace Engineer, physics graduate, and casual Catholic would pursue this whole other world.
I’ll never be able to ask him personally why his bookshelf came to look like this. But playing your game made me think: maybe his spirituality wasn’t just a hobby, a source of joy, or a practical tool for overcoming strife. Maybe it was a moral obligation for him to explore the world though that lens, one that demanded effort and fortitude. The videos and audio clips spelled out this argument to me, and the gameplay made me believe it.
This may seem too schmaltzy and coincidental to be true, but it is, 100%. I was shocked by how strongly The Witness evoked that memory of that bookshelf.
Nowadays it seems like nobody will touch spirtuality with a ten foot pole, let alone endorse it as a serious intellectual pursuit. I admire you for having the courage to put your cards down on the table and make something with such a bold pro-spritual stance. Your message is timely and vital. I was not a spiritual person going in, but you found a way show me a glimpse of the world through your eyes. I’m confident that others will see The Witness not just a great game, but as an extraordinary good deed.

Thanks,

Chris

Solutions are checked dynamically.

I’m also a software engineer, and I do have a technical question about the game from that standpoint: when panel solutions are evaluated by the game software, particularly for panels that have multiple solutions, does it analyze the player solution based on the rules for puzzle the moment you reach the endpoint, or are all acceptable solutions pre-computed offline and each compared to the player solution (or some combination of both approaches)? I ask because it seems like some of the solution analysis must be computationally intensive, yet I never notice any lag when I complete a panel.

Sometimes the solutions come to you while doing something different (and maybe not even playing the game) and there are puzzles the solution to which is so spectacular that it leads to what, I guess, scientists feel when they make a great discovery – a religious experience in the sense in which Einstein used it, featuring in one of the in-game quotations.

All the thinking The Witness stimulated – from math and logic, through observational science to philosophy and spirituality – having interest in all those areas it’s needless to say I found it deeply stimulating, engaging, and dare I say – even awe-inspiring and profound. I think The Witness will be important for a long time to come, it’s lightning in a jar, it sets the mark so high, that Jonathan Blow might not be able to surpass it again. So I say – bear witness to what video games can do.

I have just completed the ten “worlds” and I can easily state that this is the best game ever made. The most thoughtful, beautiful, brilliantly designed piece of gaming art. It is obvious on every square millimeter that Jon and his folks poured their hearts into it.

You just created a masterpiece. Time to go into the mountain. God I don’t want this to end….

Hi Kosmo,

I add this same feeling but it’s not a bug, or rather it’s the laser which has a bug. Look around and you will find how to “fix” it ;)

There is a panel somewhere than you need to turn so that the laser hits it and points in the right direction

Any word on what the plan is there? My previous save is over a hundred random puzzles back, and I’d rather not have to revisit it all, especially since it could happen again.

That said, super awesome game.

You can find more here:
http://steamcommunity.com/app/210970/discussions/3/458607518211035379/

Also, here is a free program that does full monitor simulation of colorblindness. It’s free.

http://colororacle.org/

I am not sure where else to leave a message in hopes that mr. Blow or anyone involved with the project will see this, but I just wanted to personally say thank you. I love good puzzle games, and very good ones are so few and far between. This game is just excellent. You have done a very wonderful job, and I really really enjoy the game.
Very sorry to hear it is being pirated so much. I bought my copy on the ps4, and bought one for a friend as well, and we both think the game is worth every penny. If I had more money, I would pay for more copies, just to encourage future projects from you.

Waited patiently for The Witness for a very long time, and it was 100% worth the wait. Thank you very much for all your hard work, and such a great game! :)

(If anyone knows a more appropriate area for feedback, to make sure it is seen, please let me know. It’s important to me to show my appreciation for the effort. Thanks.)

Thank you for making art and not just big explosions =)

I’m looking forward to a physical release.

There were many times in the game when I thought “The game was just released, this is probably a bug.” And then I realized that I was wrong, not the game. Sometimes it feels like the game is playing you and not the other way around. I love that.

Thats my only annoyance is with the saves. You save the game by pressin the load button, but if you wanted to load something previously you cant. You just load the save that it just created by hitting the load button. Seems like an after thought. Need separate load and save options.

I found myself wanting to load my last puzzle and I couldnt, just showed me where I currently was. Annoying.

20 hours in and I’ve loved every bit of it.

<3 <3 <3 <3 <3

lol this comment is awesome

lol this comment is awesome

Thanks for that.

p.s. fuck you I’ma make it into that boat.

Nope, this puzzle is fine.

actually soon after commenting i got that,
and din’t want to spoil it here.
and also understand what a laugh i must have gave thekla. lol
just wow.
reminds me of myst. (:

P.S. – We need more “Ill-Advised Rants” :)

I finally had an AHA moment last night while driving down the road contemplating a puzzle in the town area by the windmill. I havent actually went back and solved it yet but I am 100% sure I know the solution based on the room and audio logs that I pondered. Now that is good game design!

Jon, I seemed to have let a platform run away from me by activating it while not being on it and I cant get it back to me because its too far away to see the panel. Am I screwed? I dont recall another area that I would be able to get back to it from another angle since the other panels to exit are internal to that area.

Those are speakers playing bird and animal sounds.

Yes, pleeeease give us a Linux version! I’d buy in an instance!!

https://twitter.com/boobeckett1971/status/692431244831891458

The next panel along also has the wrong audio for it. Somewhere in the coding there is a misdirected sub-routine.

Jim Sayre

It will be a while. We don’t know yet.

I see that the game autosaves often, but so far the game seems to create new save files at random, sometimes with multiple hours in between. My worry is that if I fall out of bounds, then my previous ‘good’ save will be hours in the past.

Right now the workaround seems to be backing up saves to USB now and then, but that does not seem ideal.

Thanks Jon and Team!!

PS – Whats next for you?

Only downside for me… Motion sickness… Am I the only one? I was hoping so much that there will be a simple option to adjust the camera sensitivity/turning speed, this would solve the problem so easily but unforunately, nothing. At least not for PS4. Also no FOV option. The camera is way to slow, it doesn’t feel natural and makes me feel sick. But hey, great game so I have to go through that, I think. Maybe it gets better when I need more time on each console without exploring so much. :)

Those arent bugs, they are features.

Same here! Loving it! 127 puzzles in! I really got a sense of awe when I discovered my first “secret” puzzle that go boom right out of the gate! This island is magical to say the least!

Congratulations and thank you.

The courage, dedication and love that was put into this production shine through. I struggle for the correct words to express the whole extent of my gratitude. So, I will leave it at “thank you.” I hope to see more from all of you someday. You have done an amazing and beautiful thing.

The art, the puzzles, the atmosphere, and the few recordings I have heard.

I have already rubbed myself against some hard puzzles and I have felt great enjoyment from figuring out some mechanisms, and I have seen many that I have yet to work out. 143 puzzles in – I love it!

“data-pc.zip” folder (with sound files, etc.),
was unable to extract, without “as administrator” privileges.
also, the desktop shortcut would not run.

all is ok now.

humble version
“data-pc.zip” (with sound files, etc.)
was unable to extract,
without “as administrator”
install privilege.

also, the desktop shortcut,
would not work,
until run “as administrator”

thanks. good luck.
this resolved my problems.
I hope that this helps others.

Having a great time with it so far.

Finally a game which isn’t released prematurely.

Regards

Congratulations on your release. I have been playing The Witness for the last couple of hours or so (probably more!).
It really feels like a labour of love and thats the reason why I had to drop a line.

Thank youn and well done
Marcus

Jon was speaking about preorders doing well, not people actually playing the game at that moment. Not disrespectful. He was sharing his excitement that the game even though it wasnt even out yet was doing well on steam through preorders.

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy some of those big games, but I love when I get to play this type of personal, different and innovative video games (recently was Undertale). That’s when I actually enjoy gaming the most.

Braid was probably one of the most impressive game I manage to play in my life so this was a no brainer for me to buy this game

Congratulations to Jonathan and the dev team, I know that I will enjoy this experience.

Ps: Sorry about my english (spanish is my native language).

There are 3 groups of users:
PSN users
Steam users
DRM-free version users.

Apparently PSN users are already playing, while Steam users have to wait for 2 more hours (as of this post’s timestamp). No words on the DRM-free version.

It’s just… I don’t know – disrespectful? To boast how well the game is doing on Steam, but not telling customers (the only people that really matter, from business perspective) when they will be able to play.

Thanks for all of your hard work and dedication. It is definitely felt and appreciated while playing this game.

It is breathtakingly beautiful, engaging (even though I’m only past the initial green and blue panels), and it just kind of gave me a perfect sense of peace that I haven’t found for years in a video game. Thank you for making The Witness for all of us, and congratulations on seeing your hard work come to fruition.

Thanks Jonathan and the whole Witness team. I can honestly say I have not been this exited to play a game in years. My day at work has just begun so I’ll have to wait another few hours before I can experience your beautiful game. I’m looking forward to the challenge.

Thanks for all the blogs here too. Watching The Witness being made has been a pleasure.