Examining 'The Witness': how architects crafted the island's volcanic history and climate zones.

This week, we're learning about the island's natural history, which has a sense of realism thanks to all the thought that's been put into it, even though everything is so stylized and compressed (deserts next to forests, etc).

10:50 -- The volcanic geology of the island! Note, in the video I say that the middle of the island is granite and talk about how this doesn't make sense. Actually, I was wrong about this; looking again at their diagrams it's clear that the middle of the island is just assorted sedementary rock.

16:40 -- Climate zones (rainfall & temperature), based on my assessment of the vibe of each distinct ecological area.

20:25 -- Trying to figure out the prevailing winds on the island, as revealed by which parts of the shore are wave-beaten versus calm.

25:50 -- The "weed garden" easter-egg put into the game by the architects, explained by my real-world restoration ecologist wife! This specialized ecological knowledge adds some interesting thematic context to the marsh area, which we discuss at 30:10.

33:05 -- Learning about all of Fletcher Studios' contributions to the Witness helped change my view of the game away from "this masterpiece came entirely from the brain of Jonathan Blow" towards recognizing how even when you are building a super-thematically-coherent artwork with so many interdependencies, it still helps to have input from a diverse team (indeed, is necessary -- Jonathan Blow wouldn't have known all the subtle architecture & ecology details that give the game its feeling of seriousness and cohesion).

35:10 -- Naming just a few of the many, many small touches of architectural realism that can be found all over the place in The Witness.

40:45 -- My doomed quest to figure out what time it is on The Witness island!

[user__]

I just read Fletcher Studio's article on designing the island. It's fascinating and impressive that Blow invested that much in the "sensibility" of the island. I certainly didn't notice most of this stuff when I played, and I'm not sure it really matters that much to me. But it does add a certain shine to the game to learn all these things and contemplate them now.

[Drecon]

A very good guide on the geology and stuff of the island. Very thorough and insightful.

[DemonixTB]

very insightful episode, but also very difficult and uncomfortable to look at with the low fov, in previous episodes it was fine, not sure why you changed it. loved listening to it at least.

[BaseSixtyFour]

hey Jackson, I had a random Braid modding question for you - do you happen to know what the impenetrable and intangible entity flags in the editor do exactly? I feel like I'm seeing inconsistent results, and I couldn't find any docs. I'd really appreciate your help!

[user__]

44:26 Ah, but Azores latitude at what time of year!?

[Usuk-glqf]

Great video with fantastic perspectives, but I'm frequently bothered by how often you cut off or talk over your wife. I find her insights very nice but it seems like you butt in just when she's getting to the point on some things. I understand finding a talking point that you can jump off from in her words but I would really appreciate if you could give her time to finish her thought before cutting in. No hate of course, just thought I'd mention it!