'I want to make games for people who read Gravity's Rainbow'

[Perry Noid]

A--and was wondering, is the seeing of patterns and puzzles in the "real
world" like the Tetris effect or something different? I know it's absurd to
think of the They Live glasses but

On Sat, Feb 13, 2016 at 6:52 PM, John Bailey <sundayjb at gmail.com> wrote:

> The creator of videogame The Witness Jonathan Blow, has again
> mentioned that Gravity's Rainbow is one of his favourite books (in an
> Ask Me Anything he did the other day).
>
> And the game itself is a major work of art. I thought I'd totaled
> about 10-12 hours with the thing and then checked my stats... I've
> played it for 90 hours.
>
> 90 GODDAMN HOURS.
>
> It may appeal to Pynchon readers for a number of things:
>
> 1. It has layers that you only begin to register after 'finishing' the
> game - by going back you begin to have Magic Eye effects that
> completely reinvent the thing you think you were playing. Someone
> asked Blow how many puzzles are in the game and he responded that
> trying to complete the game by solving all of its puzzles makes no
> sense: "I always like to go back to my favorite books as examples. It
> is not meaningful to 100% Gravity's Rainbow or Invisible Cities. The
> very idea is absurd. So I am not sure why we are so eager to apply the
> idea to games, except that maybe historically games were simpler."
>
> 2. After playing for a while you begin to see patterns and puzzles in
> the real world - heaps of people are remarking on this and it's both
> hilarious and a bit terrifying. It literally alters your perceptions
> of the world.
>
> 3. It is PACKED with references to and explicit discussion of
> philosophy, art, religion, many sciences, humour, game theory and
> design, etc etc. I never expected to come across Tarkovsky in a game.
>
> 4. It can get meta as all hell.
>
> 5. Despite all of this, it is a very fun and immediately accessible
> work. Again, the really complex stuff only gradually enters your
> awareness if you care to keep on at it.
>
> 6. I just listened to an hour-long lecture I found embedded in a
> videogame. It took me hours and hours to unlock it and I just sat
> there for a whole hour listening to this fascinating talk on the
> secret geomatria in Bach, El Greco's dogs, Shakespearean conspiracy
> theories, the psychology behind Bible Code nonsense, eclipses and the
> millennia-long histories of Easter Eggs. There's another hour-long
> lecture I've yet to listen to.
>
> 7. I see it as very much 'about' the same questions that have been
> animating the list lately, on materialism, faith, the limits of
> perception and consciousness, humanity's place in the universe, order
> and chaos, and lots more.
>
> Recommended.
>
> On Thu, Jan 28, 2016 at 1:32 PM, Perry Noid <coolwithdoc at gmail.com> wrote:
> > This article has more screenshots of the game
> >
> https://killscreen.com/articles/californium-brings-philip-k-dicks-vision-of-the-world-to-life/
> >
> > On Wed, Jan 27, 2016 at 6:19 PM, Perry Noid <coolwithdoc at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> >>
> >> Also, it's a couple years old and not exactly under the radar but if you
> >> like puzzle games and haven't played Fez...
> >>
> >>
> http://www.unwinnable.com/2012/06/21/gamatria-a-mystical-deconstruction-of-fez/
> >> I wouldn't call that a "deconstruction" but it is a good starting point
> >> and I haven't seen any other articles on this aspect of the game.
> >>
> >> The Witness is not being compared to GR, it's for people who *like* GR
> sez
> >> the designer, which I take to mean that it's *not* for people who play a
> >> game to find out the end of the story, or as benchmarks for their rig,
> or
> >> because it has dinos. I think he means to say that the game is
> presenting a
> >> challenge and a certain level of perplexity, which is becoming less of a
> >> rarity these days especially in indie games. I think Valve can
> technically
> >> be considered an indie dev also but Valve is it's own unique and curious
> >> creature, and Half-Life continues to perplex. Two complex and perplexing
> >> indie games I have had great fun with lately are Don't Starve and
> Darkest
> >> Dungeon.
> >>
> >> And for the juicy bit...
> >>
> >> Now *this* is one I am looking forward to and might perhaps be a little
> >> closer to Pynchonian by way of being Dickian, you actually get to play
> as
> >> the paranoid writer!
> >>
> http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2015/11/californium-the-many-surrealities-of-philip-k-dick/
> >> And a video since the one in the article seems to be asking for a log
> in:
> >> https://vimeo.com/141057075
> >>
> >> On Wed, Jan 27, 2016 at 2:52 PM, John Bailey <sundayjb at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> >>>
> >>> Aurally too.
> >>>
> >>> On Thu, Jan 28, 2016 at 9:30 AM, David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> >>> > Have you tried Monument Valley.  It's visually quite beautiful.
> >>> >
> >>> > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wC1jHHF_Wjo
> >>> >
> >>> > On Wed, Jan 27, 2016 at 4:11 PM, John Bailey <sundayjb at gmail.com>
> >>> > wrote:
> >>> >>
> >>> >> "Its ambitions are intellectual and philosophical – it strives to
> be,
> >>> >> and succeeds as, a work of serious thought..."
> >>> >>
> >>> >> I played a few hours yesterday and at first thought it was a whole
> >>> >> heap of hype for a fairly standard puzzle game, but it's a) really
> >>> >> freakin' beautiful and b) induces a very tranquil state of
> >>> >> contemplation and slow thinking. Critics are saying it's pretty
> >>> >> solipsistic and in this way it's the opposite of GR - it refers to
> >>> >> nothing outside the parameters of the game itself, whereas GR
> alludes
> >>> >> to everything in the world - but I'm getting the feeling that smart
> >>> >> players will start to theorise about what the game might *really*
> >>> >> signify.
> >>> >>
> >>> >> Braid was similar - I liked it but only years later appreciate its
> >>> >> overall importance. That was a work that seems almost explicitly
> >>> >> inspired by Gravity's Rainbow, featuring a plot that confuses a lost
> >>> >> love for a nuclear device.
> >>> >>
> >>> >> On Thu, Jan 28, 2016 at 6:19 AM, Mark Thibodeau
> >>> >> <jerkyleboeuf at gmail.com>
> >>> >> wrote:
> >>> >> > That's just mean.
> >>> >> >
> >>> >> > J
> >>> >> >
> >>> >> > On Wed, Jan 27, 2016 at 1:29 PM, Monte Davis
> >>> >> > <montedavis49 at gmail.com>
> >>> >> > wrote:
> >>> >> >> Off to Steam as soon as I read it - thanks!
> >>> >> >>
> >>> >> >> Long ago, teaching at Dalton School in NYC, I put together an
> >>> >> >> experimental
> >>> >> >> course on "literature of childhood": books and stories for,
> about,
> >>> >> >> and
> >>> >> >> by
> >>> >> >> children, Including of course Alice in Wonderland & TTLG.
> >>> >> >>
> >>> >> >> The school encouraged multimodal projects, and three of the
> >>> >> >> students
> >>> >> >> did an
> >>> >> >> "Alice" board game with very good, painstaking artwork. It was
> just
> >>> >> >> like
> >>> >> >> Monopoly, with locations from the books instead of Atlantic City
> >>> >> >> streets,
> >>> >> >> and "bread" (buttered tea-party style) instead of money. So far,
> so
> >>> >> >> moderately imaginative. What made it Carrollian was that landing
> on
> >>> >> >> two
> >>> >> >> of
> >>> >> >> the squares -- or using any of several "get out of jail
> free"-style
> >>> >> >> chance
> >>> >> >> cards -- swapped players: you (Twedledum) took over the Queen of
> >>> >> >> Hearts'
> >>> >> >> token and its position, her bread and properties, and she got
> >>> >> >> yours.
> >>> >> >> All
> >>> >> >> game tactics, of course, went madly meta, and half the class
> played
> >>> >> >> it
> >>> >> >> obsessively for hours on end to determine if the game could be
> >>> >> >> gamed to
> >>> >> >> restore any notion of "winning."
> >>> >> >>
> >>> >> >> I told the creators that I was awarding an A, a C, and an F, and
> >>> >> >> they
> >>> >> >> could
> >>> >> >> roll the dice for them.
> >>> >> >>
> >>> >> >> On Wed, Jan 27, 2016 at 11:56 AM, Mike Weaver
> >>> >> >> <mike.weaver at zen.co.uk>
> >>> >> >> wrote:
> >>> >> >>>
> >>> >> >>>
> >>> >> >>>
> >>> >> >>>
> >>> >> >>>
> http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/jan/27/jonathan-blow-designer-video-games-braid-the-witness
> >>> >> >>>
> >>> >> >>>
> >>> >> >>>
> >>> >> >>>
> >>> >> >>> -
> >>> >> >>> Pynchon-l / http://www.waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l
> >>> >> >>
> >>> >> >>
> >>> >> > -
> >>> >> > Pynchon-l / http://www.waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l
> >>> >> -
> >>> >> Pynchon-l / http://www.waste.org/mail/?listpynchon-l
> >>> >
> >>> >
> >>> -
> >>> Pynchon-l / http://www.waste.org/mail/?listpynchon-l
> >>
> >>
> >
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://waste.org/pipermail/pynchon-l/attachments/20160214/369626a6/attachment.html>