By Jim Rossignol on April 10th, 2009 at 9:53 am.
Greenhouse have posted up the PC demo of Jonathan Blow’s time-fiddling, award-winning platformer, Braid. It’s 120mb and contains a sizeable chunk of the game, with an option to unlock the full thing in exchange for $15. And, well, it’s pretty damn good. (It even automagically detects 360 controllers being plugged in mid-game.) Thanks to Aaron for the tip. We’ll be talking at greater length about Braid next week.
10/04/2009 at 09:57 bansama says:
I wonder if Jonathan will get all annoyed again like he did when Gamersgate hosted the demo yesterday.
10/04/2009 at 10:11 Theoban says:
I’ll be giving this a whirl, I’m a fan of the artist. A Lesson is Learned but the Damage is Irreversible was one of the best webcomics.
10/04/2009 at 10:12 MD says:
TODO: has encountered a problem and needs to close. We are sorry for the inconvenience.
10/04/2009 at 10:14 MD says:
ah, it stripped out the File Description bit due to the bracket thingies. But yeah, any tips? I was rather curious about Braid when I first heard about it, and would love to give it a go.
10/04/2009 at 10:16 Anton says:
Sizeable chunk – should be fun! I wonder if it will appear on Steam once the morning sets in the US. I like to play my demos in Steam, makes the numbers go up in the steam rating field (from 0.1 to 0.2, for instance).
10/04/2009 at 10:28 Little Green Man says:
If you add any game through the add non-steam game button it will register your time with the game, even if it doesn’t show which game it was.
10/04/2009 at 10:33 Markoff Chaney says:
Steam has 8-9 hours to go before it unlocks here. Demo is quite fun and installed without a hitch for me. So far it’s just like the 360 version I tried at a friends house a while back. Not that that’s a bad thing at all.
10/04/2009 at 10:58 Vae Victus says:
“TODO: has encountered a problem and needs to close. We are sorry for the inconvenience.”
I got this error on my netbook.
I think that it’s a resolution issue. Just run the shortcut with a -windowed on the command line. Fixed it for me.
10/04/2009 at 10:59 Vae Victus says:
PS: there are other command line options listed in the readme.
10/04/2009 at 11:18 catska says:
Played this 8 months ago on Xbox, really good.
Awaiting the inevitable ‘Braid 90% piracy rate’ newspost.
10/04/2009 at 11:41 dishwasherlove says:
I guess Jim, like myself you were still fishing around in your drawer for your 360 controller, vainly trying to plug it in before the game launched. Somewhat like myself.
Its a nice looking game but a little strange that it doesn’t really scale up to your monitor resolution, choosing to stay at 720p or whatever.
Still trying to decide if the price is right, but I did pay full price for World of Goo on Steam and didn’t regret that.
10/04/2009 at 11:45 DK says:
Massively overrated.
10/04/2009 at 11:53 Heliocentric says:
Fyi i’m this aaron, stupid gmail mobile. Why wont you let me use my alias! Not even tried the demo, due to logistics but i’m crazy keen to play it.
10/04/2009 at 12:15 gnome says:
Happy news! And I just finished downloading the demo…
10/04/2009 at 12:38 MD says:
Thanks for the tip Vae Victus, but unfortunately that didn’t do the trick in my case.
10/04/2009 at 13:35 Meat Circus says:
Braid is a magnificient game. Easily one of my three favourites of 2008.
Everybody owes it to themselves to play it.
10/04/2009 at 13:44 noggin says:
i’m enjoying it but the time-rewinding visual effects are incompatible with my hangover
10/04/2009 at 13:54 Sagan says:
I enjoyed the demo and want to buy it: Is Greenhouse a good place to do that? What’s their DRM? Can I download as often as I want, on any PC I want? Can I share that copy with my brother, and can I play on my PC at the same time that he plays on his PC? Or do they block that like Steam? Oh and if a game has multiple versions (like Windows and Linux) do I get all if I purchase one?
10/04/2009 at 14:05 Meat Circus says:
@Sagan:
Greenhouse has an activation system, but I believe you can use the key to activate multiple copies on different machines, provided you don’t take the piss.
10/04/2009 at 14:20 Lugribossk says:
I checked out the four sites offering Braid and ended up picking Greenhouse. Their process involved me downloading the demo and getting a cd-key to unlock it into the full version. The site talks about a one-time online activation when you first run a game, didn’t notice it doing that.
Steam and Impulse don’t seem to realize that April 10th starts earlier in Europe than the US, Gamersgate hopes we won’t notice their 30% 15 dollars = 15 euros markup, while Greenhouse both sells it and sells it for 15 dollars.
10/04/2009 at 14:34 El Stevo says:
That demo was lovely. Will buy.
10/04/2009 at 14:52 bansama says:
As far as DRM goes, apparently the Impulse version will be DRM free. Or at least, that’s going by the following quote:
I requested of Impulse that they make the game DRM-free. They seemed happy with that suggestion. We’ll see how the game actually is, today!
But I think I’ll be skipping this. As nice as the demo was, I think $14.99 is a little too pricey right now. Might pick it up if it ever gets reduced in a weekend/week sale somewhere.
10/04/2009 at 15:01 Jarmo says:
I’ve been waiting to buy the game for a long time, lacking a Xbox 360. Finally, I got to do that. Steam still makes you wait for 5 hours, but Greenhouse delivered. Go, Blow, go!
10/04/2009 at 15:04 Heliocentric says:
TODO: has encountered a problem and needs to close. We are sorry for the inconvenience.
tits!
10/04/2009 at 15:28 jsutcliffe says:
I wish I could unpurchase my 360 version and get it for PC. My PC is for indie games, not the consolebox, for I never play it there.
10/04/2009 at 15:31 JonFitt says:
Played the demo on my Xbox and decided to buy it when it came out on PC. It’s been a looooong wait though, and my interest has fizzled somewhat.
I’ll probably wait for a sale.
10/04/2009 at 15:48 Meat Circus says:
@bansama
$14.99 is too much for one of the greatest games ever created?
You clearly think very little of gaming.
10/04/2009 at 15:48 Bremze says:
This has a SM 2.0 requirement, so that might be causing your errors.
10/04/2009 at 15:53 Heliocentric says:
I’m downloading the demo off impulse, its a different size and likely a different exe. Might be less buggy.
http://storage.stardock.com/files/demo/Braid_demo.exe
10/04/2009 at 15:57 Heliocentric says:
nope, crashes too. No ToDo but still crashes at boot, I’m not sure if the full game will have the same problem. But I don’t want to risk it.
10/04/2009 at 15:59 Heliocentric says:
Thanks Bremze. I’ll try grabbing a new driver… heh new drivers for a 2d game.
10/04/2009 at 16:03 cacti says:
Could someone offer a step-by-step of how to do that command-line thing? Keep getting the same error.
10/04/2009 at 16:03 fulis says:
it’s kind of neat but it’s not any fun
many thing I’d rather play
don’t think I’ll be buying this
10/04/2009 at 16:05 Bremze says:
Jonathan Blow wrote this in the tigsource comments: “Yes, Braid needs shader model 2 support. But any graphics card that doesn’t support shader 2 would be too slow to draw all the pixels Braid draws (it’s a lot).”
I think my Geforce 5500FX would be up for the job even though it doesn’t have SM 2.0 but who am I do argue with the developer.
10/04/2009 at 16:06 pkt-zer0 says:
Your avatar suggests there might be some slight fanboyism influencing you, Meat Circus.
As for the worth-it/not-worth-it debate, same as World of Goo: who cares if the game itself is not worth it? These are the sorts of games that should be made, just encouraging their creation is worth the price.
Gonna pick it up from Impulse, since after Steam’s Euro/Dollar conversion silliness, if there has to be a middleman, I’d rather it be someone other than Valve.
10/04/2009 at 16:09 Cedge says:
Too bad the gameplay is so good, because I cannot stand any of the trappings of the game. The character and enemy sprites make me involuntarily gag. And the writing. Oh, the writing. It is some of the most trite, pretentious drivel I have ever read. God, it’s truly awful. And it thinks it is so smart, when it’s all so mind-numbingly trite and obvious.
I will not buy this game. I point to this blurb on the game’s website: “Braid does everything it can to give you a mind-expanding experience.”
I will not give my money to anyone who thinks their mind is so much “wider” than mine, and that they need to do poor, stupid, narrow-minded, has-yet-to-complete-Braid me the favor of “expanding” mine by selling me a videogame.
[Cedge, don't insult people in our comment threads - RPS]
10/04/2009 at 16:09 DK says:
“$14.99 is too much for one of the greatest games ever created?”
Case in point ^
Overrated, overblown, no pun intended.
10/04/2009 at 16:09 bansama says:
$14.99 is too much for one of the greatest games ever created?
You clearly think very little of gaming.
One of the greatest games in your opinion. Over priced Indy affair in mine. As far as I’m concerned there are far better games out there. If that makes me think very little of gaming, then so be it. But this is one bandwagon I won’t be riding.
10/04/2009 at 16:14 Cedge says:
I must say, that Braid does about as much to “expand my mind” as Prince of Persia, or Blinx: The Time Sweeper.
10/04/2009 at 16:27 dhex says:
to be sure, mr. blow comes across, generally speaking, as a cross between pt barnum and a true believer you’d cross the street to avoid, but i’m not sure that’s a good reason to avoid someone’s product. it might be a good reason to roll your eyes so hard you get a hernia but to be fair to mr. blow that’s a standard marketing 1.0 routine. nearly old school, really.
10/04/2009 at 16:29 Bremze says:
Heh, for each one of you who wont buy it, ten more will buy it, praise it and love it. Why rob yourself of a decent game? You act like all the indie bullshit and the pretentiousness killed your dog or something. The gameplay isn’t less fun if you skip through all the cutscenes :)
10/04/2009 at 16:40 bansama says:
Why rob yourself of a decent game?
To be totally blunt, after spending two hours with the demo, I was totally bored. Why should I buy something for $14.95 I’d hardly ever play when I get more enjoyment from other (indie) games which are priced cheaper?
10/04/2009 at 16:40 jalf says:
I’ve never played Braid. And to be honest, I’m not all that interested in it. I’m sure the gameplay is fun, but from what I’ve seen and heard, it seems sickeningly pretentious.
But the real killer for me is the art style. Like Cedge said, it just makes me involuntarily gag. It doesn’t just look like terrain, background, character and enemies were all drawn by different artists, but also using completely different techniques and going for completely different styles. It just doesn’t look nice.
I’m sure the gameplay is fun, and I’ll probably pick up the demo one of these days, and then maybe the game itself. But in terms of presentation, it really does an impressive job of turning me off.
10/04/2009 at 16:41 Meat Circus says:
@Cedge:
So speaks somebody who clearly hasn’t played it.
10/04/2009 at 16:43 Meat Circus says:
You have to consider that this game seeks to engage parts of your brain you never even knew you had.
For some people, being forced to engage their brain is not a comfortable experience…
10/04/2009 at 17:09 Jonathan Blow says:
Well guys, all I can say is, I am glad the game is providing some entertainment for you, either directly, or by giving you something to grouse about in forum posts.
10/04/2009 at 17:13 Sagan says:
Alright I finished it.
Unfortunately I did not understand the story at all. And that meant, that the ending left me confused and not satisfied. The game kind of promises, that there is some smart story behind what you do, but then it doesn’t want to tell you.
Really a shame, because now I’m kind of in a bitter mood about the game.
But since there is so much negativity in these comments already, I can’t end with that. The game is just too great. It has really really smart puzzles. It makes you feel like you are some kind of genius for figuring out the solutions. Definitely comparable to World of Goo and Portal, except it’s harder, and because of that, more satisfying.
I think it was worth my 15$.
10/04/2009 at 17:13 dhex says:
“You have to consider that this game seeks to engage parts of your brain you never even knew you had.”
now *that’s* pretentious. :)
10/04/2009 at 17:15 Cedge says:
@Bremze:
“Heh, for each one of you who wont buy it, ten more will buy it,”
I’m pretty sure that statistically, that is impossible…heh…
@Meat Circus/Braid fanboy/viral marketer:
Just prior to writing my post, I exited the game after getting a sixth puzzle piece on World 4, thank you very much. To you, I say “So speaks someone who is so obsessed with this game, that they think the only way someone could not love it as they do, is for them to have never played it, or to be stupid.” Typical.
In regards to your second comment, about “parts of my brain you never even knew you had”:
No, I “discovered” all of the parts of my brain that Braid makes me use back in 2002, when I played Prince of Persia and Blinx. And I use the same parts for every sort of puzzle game, both traditional (and I have been a traditional puzzle enthusiast since childhood, mind you), and of the videogame variety. I do not find Braid to be terribly intellectually stimulating or excersizing, in a way that I have not encountered before. But hey, if this puzzle game that apes mechanics pioneeded over half a decade ago in a Japanese game on the Xbox 1 is “expanding your mind,” then, uh…congratulations for having a mind that hadn’t been expanded earlier?
And in regards to your third comment about “…is almost certainly an anti-intellectual imbecile and should keep their unwanted bleating”:
Ooh, I’m surprised you managed to reist the temptation to bust out and directly call me a “sheeple” or some other such cleverness. That you associate pretentiousness on a direct scale with intellectualism says a lot about you. More than any amount of elaboration on my part could.
If you think that anything about Braid (the gameplay, the shoddy story and allusions, whatever) is anything approaching “intellectualism,” then you’re beyond help. If this game is the closest encounted you’ve had with intellectualism, then you’re beyond help.
@Heliocentric:
HAHAHAHA you made me spit out my water just now.
10/04/2009 at 17:17 Cedge says:
Edit:
Oh, and please forgive my typing and spelling errors in the above. Long night.
10/04/2009 at 17:18 Meat Circus says:
@Heliocentric:
:)
@Jonathan Blow:
Braid was easily my most loved game of 2008, for which I can only thank you.
Pay no attention to people whining about ‘pretension’ because you didn’t hand the complete meaning of Braid to them on a plate. Not, I suspect, that you were planning to.
@Sagan:
I assume you’re not a David Lynch fan? Not everything has to be explained to you to be satisfying. What do you *think* Braid was about?
I’m of the school of thought that it was mainly about the Manhattan Project.
10/04/2009 at 17:18 Heliocentric says:
@JB is the technical issue in the demo the same in the full game. Using a pretty early shader model 3 card and crashing at boot on a 7600gs agp. I’ll buy it regardless as its not my only pc, but its the only one i’m near now.
10/04/2009 at 17:21 Meat Circus says:
@Cedge:
Do you *seriously* think that Braid does nothing new or interesting with time manipulation that PoPSoT or Blinx did not?
I’m assuming you’re on some hilarious AIM troll here, but I can’t be sure.
To my mind, the puzzles were so exquisitely designed that some of them made me chortle with glee.
How long did it take you to get the last two pieces on World 2?
10/04/2009 at 17:22 Harry says:
Jonathan I’m glad you have time to be posting on forums but could you consider fixing the damn game so it works on my PC before you come up with any more witty banter
10/04/2009 at 17:23 Jonathan Blow says:
If the demo doesn’t work, I would find it unlikely that the full version would work. They are basically the same program.
VMC tested on 7600gs cards and it worked, so it’s likely that the problem is something else… hmm.
10/04/2009 at 17:29 Cedge says:
@ Meat Circus
Ever played Blinx? It had every single time manipulation concept that Braid has, and more. Yes, Braid’s puzzle design is excellent. Even exquisite, at times. But none of the concepts are new.
Also, the question about “the last two pieces on World 2″:
I dunno. Which two pieces are you considering the “last”?
To give you an idea, though: When I stopped playing halfway through World 4 (this is from starting a new game, having never played the game before), I had been playing for less than an hour.
10/04/2009 at 17:30 chiablo says:
I bought the game recently for XBLA and enjoyed the game. Obviously, the game is gorgeous and the gameplay is very clever and is one of the more pleasant gaming experiences I’ve encountered…
However…
I obviously am not pretentious enough to see it as “art”.
I think there’s a little too much reading between the lines going on when it comes to plot analysis. I tend to play games to have fun and deeply analyzing what a game means on a Freudian level isn’t fun to me.
For those interested, there’s a fantastic writeup of the plot on gamefaqs:
http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/xbox360/file/943284/53842
10/04/2009 at 17:30 Cedge says:
Edit:
Ah, you mean the part with using the puzzle as the bridge. Only took a few minutes. Fairly obvious.
10/04/2009 at 17:35 Cedge says:
Edit 2:
Or am I being presumptuous? Sorry if I am. I assume you mean the bridge puzzle thing…
10/04/2009 at 17:38 El Stevo says:
@Cedge
I haven’t played Blinx, but Braid goes far beyond Prince of Persia with the time manipulation. I don’t see how you could have played the game and not realised that, whether you enjoyed it or not.
10/04/2009 at 17:42 Cedge says:
@El Stevo:
I know it does. That’s why I’m using Blinx as my main example. ;)
I’d recommend looking Blinx up on youtube. The concepts are all there.
10/04/2009 at 17:43 Cedge says:
And I never, ever said that Braid doesn’t do more than PoP alone, so please try not to add such conjecture to statements I make, if you would be so kind.
10/04/2009 at 17:44 teo says:
@Meat Circus
Your blabbering is only doing the game a disservice. You’re gonna put people off
The last two pieces on world two took me about 5 minutes and mostly because 1. you can’t get them the first time and 2. they require you to use a mechanic you haven’t been introduced to. Maybe that’s clever puzzle design, but not good game design
And no, it wasn’t very intellectually stimulating so now I’m going to go back to studying quantum mechanics
10/04/2009 at 17:53 Bremze says:
This game is fun, not groundbreaking ,not engaging new parts of my brain, but fun and thats the most I ask from games. I find most “art games” unfunny but they are being praised beyond belief. Guess people enjoy games differently then me.
10/04/2009 at 17:59 Bremze says:
ARRGH no edit, I meant not fun instead of unfunny.
10/04/2009 at 18:01 fulis says:
@Cedge I agree that the writing is terrible =/
The rest of the game is well made though
10/04/2009 at 18:03 dadioflex says:
Tried the demo. Really glad I did. Turns out I still hate platform games.
10/04/2009 at 18:48 Neut says:
Personally loved the game, favourite game of last year. Don’t really get the bile being spewed around here, especially about the art style (which I thought was excellent). Then again I was turned off by World of Goo’s art style for being a bit too cutsy, smart and Burton-esque, so to each his own I guess.
10/04/2009 at 18:51 RPS says:
Keep it civil and on topic. Insulting people will just get the thread nuked.
10/04/2009 at 18:55 Sagan says:
@ Meat Circus: I don’t think leaving things unexplained fits into Braid. I thought throughout the game, that figuring out the story was the final puzzle. That the books, the paintings and everything were hints to help you connect everything.
But then the game explains nothing and just confuses you even more in the end. It tells you, that you got the final puzzle wrong, but doesn’t tell you the correct answer afterwards.
It’s like a mystery novel where they don’t reveal the killer at the end. Asking “who do you *think* the killer was?” doesn’t help, if they don’t tell you afterwards whether you are correct or not.
Well at least if I got that “story as the final puzzle” thing right.
Also I think you shouldn’t argue with some of the people in this thread too much. They just want to be provocative, and you aren’t helping by being provoked easily. Especially Cedge, who wrote in his first post “I will not give my money to anyone who thinks their mind is so much “wider” than mine,[...].” So he hasn’t even played the game, and is just having some fun trolling here.
Most of the genuine posters in here seem to look upon this game favorably, so don’t worry too much.
10/04/2009 at 18:58 Donald Duck says:
Nice demo. And I really like the writing, it reminds me of “A lesson is learned…” a bit. Think I’ll have to buy this.
10/04/2009 at 18:59 Guto says:
I also had the “TODO” problem, and I have a GeForce 9800GT, so I don’t think that the Shader Model is the problem, I was able to run the game in windowed mode, though.
Great game, btw, I’m buying it for sure.
10/04/2009 at 19:02 fulis says:
why is braid listed as released on Steam but you can’t buy it?
10/04/2009 at 19:12 Heliocentric says:
The todo isn’t anything to do with the problem. Its just the greenhouse exe doesn’t have proper descriptions. The impulse demo has the same issues but the descriptions are fixed.
10/04/2009 at 19:13 Supertonic says:
Love it, really do. I’ve not played it on xbox so no preconceptions, but very nice. Works fine in Wine btw for any linuxtards out there, tested on ubuntu 8.10 with wine + dx9 and vcrun2005, sp1 and dotnet20 installed via winetricks.
10/04/2009 at 19:31 Tonamel says:
@fulis:
Steam’s release timer was counting down to 3PM EST, so give it another half hour.
10/04/2009 at 20:01 Cedge says:
@fulis:
Happens all the time on Steam. Games occasionally disappear for a few hours between the “Coming Soon” and “New Releases” columns.
@Sagan:
I’m rather tired of people claiming that I have not played the game:
http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/6964/braidrunninginbackgrounz.png
Does that clear up any doubt? Again, I’ve just about had it with people who think that the only way you could not love this game and all it’s trappings, is to not have played it.
10/04/2009 at 20:03 Cedge says:
And once again, that’s not to say that I don’t like the game. The gameplay is great, and the puzzles are excellent.
But I would must rather this be presented without any of the trite, pretentious story or artistic embellishments. If this game was all abstract backgrounds and stick figure characters, with no text, I’d be able to enjoy it much more.
10/04/2009 at 20:20 Cedge says:
And yeah, I did cave in and get the game. Sue me.
10/04/2009 at 20:41 jalf says:
Oh, thank you for that. I so love being told what I’m thinking, because random forum people are so much better at reading my mind than I am.
Could we perhaps lay off the mindless fanboyish insults? It’s not like I or anyone else insulted your mom or something. So perhaps you could keep that particular bit of unwanted bleating to yourself too?
Like I said, I haven’t played the game yet, and I am judging it solely on how it presents itself, on websites, on Youtube, in trailers and screenshots. And 1) I seriously can’t stand the art style, and 2) it comes across as very pretentious and trying to be oh so artsy, *whether or not that is actually the case for the game itself*.
But honestly, I really do not feel tempted to play a game if it makes fans call non-fans “anti-intellectual imbeciles”.
Perhaps I should wait a few more years before playing it. Perhaps fans will be able to hold a sane and polite discussion of the game around 2012?
And when all that is said, I do respect Jonathan Blow for making a game that 1) has been successful, and 2) fans feel so strongly about. You must have done something right. ;)
10/04/2009 at 21:12 Tonamel says:
@jalf
The issue is that the word “pretension” means different things to different people. To critics such as yourself, I think you mean it to say “This tries too hard to have artistic merit, and so it comes across too heavy-handed/obscure,” which is a valid point.
But supporters don’t hear that. When they hear something they like called pretentious, they hear “I don’t like art for art’s sake and I REALLY don’t like to have to think about my entertainment. Why can’t a game just stick to being fun?” And it comes across as an attack on the very reason they like something, which makes it a personal attack on their aesthetics. Following “pretensious” with “oh so artsy” didn’t exactly do you any favors, either.
Moral of the story: “Pretensious” is too ambiguous a word, and it should be stricken from the English language.
10/04/2009 at 21:23 suibhne says:
I’ll take “pretentious and oh so artsy” over Generic FPS Sausage-fest #3 any day of the week.
10/04/2009 at 21:39 Heliocentric says:
I’ll keep the word pretensious but have it refer to the physical state of being about to be under tension. All previous applications of the term will be read this way.
Thus, braid is about to come under structural stress from the tension that will soon be generated.
I’m glad we could have this talk.
10/04/2009 at 23:17 Lawlers says:
Soulja Boy Provides His Thoughts On Braid
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSXofLK5hFQ
10/04/2009 at 23:57 MeestaNob! says:
Stuff the sooking upthread, this is a good game.
I might buy it.
11/04/2009 at 00:01 Klaus says:
lolz Soulja boy…. I feel kinda stupid.
11/04/2009 at 00:21 Kieron Gillen says:
Braid’s a lovely game.
KG
11/04/2009 at 00:40 Hidden_7 says:
Looks like Steam is now listing it as out tomorrow, so I guess greenhouse gets my money.
Anyone else having any bluescreens / total system crashes when trying to run it fullscreen?
11/04/2009 at 01:41 Lambchops says:
Brilliant stuff.
O love games where working out each puzzle gives a nice satisfying feeling of a job well done. Also having a rewind mechanic obviously limits the fustration I sometimes end up feeling at 2D platformers.
Loved figuring out how to understand the way time works in each level.
Also i’d say it’s well worth playing even if you don’t like the art style or give a toss about the games narrative. it’s a puzzle game for crying out loud. The nearest comparable recent game has been Professor Fizzwizzle and just as I’d question anyone not playing that on the basis of a dislike for childish rhyming narative and having a grey mustoched hero; so i would question anyone not playing Braid because they are put off by a bunch of text you can chose to ignore if you so wish.
And now that I’ve mentioned it I’m going to throw out there that if you like Braid then you’ll probably like the Professor Fizzwizzle games (which were horribly under appreciated). Clever platform base puzzles which rely more on thinking than on reflexes. personally i find these types of game horribly addictive!
11/04/2009 at 01:58 malkav11 says:
I liked Braid quite a bit on XBLA, but I should note that if the PC demo is anything like the XBLA demo, it’s not exactly a showcase for the game’s strongest points. World 2 barely plays with time at all and is thus not particularly demonstrative of the game, and the XBLA demo gave you like one room of World 3.
11/04/2009 at 02:31 dhex says:
the art is very, very nice.
I’ll take “pretentious and oh so artsy” over Generic FPS Sausage-fest #3 any day of the week.
i want a blending of the two. i like sausage fests to bring the fun but need a bit of fartsy gloss to get over the voice acting.
11/04/2009 at 02:49 Smee says:
I liked it!
11/04/2009 at 03:24 Jonathan Blow says:
I actually made the PC demo much longer than the XBLA demo. It’s like half the game now.
11/04/2009 at 03:44 Scalene says:
OMG OMG JONATHAN BLOW
*FANBOY*
11/04/2009 at 03:47 Vagrant says:
When I tried the demo on a friend’s 360, I wasn’t to impressed. I stopped playing this demo after the feeling returned. I decided to give it another go a few hours later. I was trying to get the two pieces at the end of World 2′s Cloud Bridge. When I eventually did figure it out, I became impressed. Definitely buying this within the next few weeks.
11/04/2009 at 03:58 Albides says:
I like this. I like the polish, like the art (having been a fan of A Lesson is Learned), and I like the game.
I don’t like the fact that I have to force it to run it in a window just to get it working. Hopefully there’ll be a patch for this.
11/04/2009 at 04:01 pkt-zer0 says:
Hmm.
Finished the game, was hoping for more challenging puzzles. I can’t say I’ve figured out the puzzle that is the game itself, though, so I don’t think I’m quite done here.
11/04/2009 at 05:37 Caiman says:
Braid is one of those games that starts off simple and becomes increasingly clever. There’s usually a point where you reach this threshold and your brain realises how well you’re being manipulated. Most people appreciate that point, some rebel against it.
11/04/2009 at 06:44 psyk says:
HAHAHA how can you play the braid demo for 2 hours, is that even possible.
11/04/2009 at 06:46 psyk says:
ok just saw johns comment but still 2 hours, you can speed run the game in under an hour.
11/04/2009 at 09:32 Kieron Gillen says:
You can probably do that to Portal too. For most people, Braid’s about the length of Portal. If you’re not one of those people, well done, you’re very good. But you’re not normal.
KG
11/04/2009 at 11:20 Meat Circus says:
It’ll take you a lot longer than a few hours if you want to get all eight stars.
11/04/2009 at 12:23 Chaz says:
@ Lambchops
I shall have to see if I can find those Professor Fizzwizzle games then, as I do like a good puzzle platformer myself.
As for Braid I really enjoyed it. The story kind of went over my head a bit, but it was still an enjoyable read. I guess I must be a bit of a thicky though as I had to check the internet to get past a couple of bits, especially that bit at the end of world 2. I probably would have figured it out had I accidentally landed on the platform at some point, but as I kept jumping past it I didn’t even recognise it as being a bit of platform. I was a little bit annoyed by that one actually, as I thought was a bit spurious when compared to the other time bending puzzles.
11/04/2009 at 14:16 Markoff Chaney says:
The Fizzwizzle games are enjoyable (both the original and the molten expansion, the pinball one ehhhhh) but they barely hold a candle to my favorite of the Turn Based / Logic Step Puzzle Genre DROD. Check out the Architect’s edition if you want a full free (and rather old, but still excellent gameplay wise) game or check out the demos of some of the newer stuff (as well as a take on Tower of the Sorceror – DROD RPG) if you like. Great for optimizers as well as creators of levels and it doesn’t get much more independent that Caravel Games.
Speaking of Braid, this PC version FAR exceeds any expectations I originally had, though it didn’t work on one of the 5 boxes I thew the demo on (Radeon X850 VGA with a black screen but the words of the game show up. odd). I kept waiting for the demo to end and saw a LOT more than the 360 demo shared. Nice work showing off the full range of the game this way. Then I checked out the readme. Level Editor? Languages? Full Mod Support? Keeping Speed Runs? Ability to reduce frame rate and post processing effects or music? All of this is phenomenal and much more than I was thinking would be there.
I can’t wait to see what the community can come up with. I know Mr. Blow felt the game was complete in itself and, without getting into intellectual or some pseudo-solipsistic claptrap, I think the game is pretty much dead on complete and I loved the story. Anything that tries to make me Think I am a fan of. I’m also a sucker for editors and community based work though (some of the most inspired work comes from the most indie of all indie devs, the modders) and I’m grateful that Braid can live on for more than just it’s sound, art design and story.
Excellent Work, Mr. Blow. Good Show.
11/04/2009 at 15:14 Tarn says:
Woke up to find Braid finally up on Steam. Love the game, very clever puzzles and gorgeous music and visuals.
My only complaint would be the writing, which is plain bizarre. At times it reads like wonkily translated Japanese – is that deliberate? One particular favourite example thus far has to be:
“Immediately Tim walked out his door, the next morning, towards whatever the new day held.”
Perhaps it’s supposed to be a sly comment on the malleable nature of time in the game, but the clumsy syntax makes it feel very clunky. As my passing girlfriend (who doesn’t play many games but reads a lot of books) mentioned, “computer game programmers shouldn’t try to write.”
I’m not sure why people are getting so heated about whether the game is ‘pretentious’ or not. It didn’t strike me as pretentious or intellectual, just a little clumsily written.
However, the amazing level design more than makes up for the writing, which is only a very minor part of the game anyway. Looking forward to playing more…my brain is hurting a bit now though, so I’m taking a break. :)
11/04/2009 at 16:17 Diziet Sma says:
@Tarn:
So she’s only a short term girlfriend then? ;-)
Ah the English languages… so wonderfully vague and open to willful misinterpretation.
11/04/2009 at 16:34 I am beginning to understand this comment system says:
I am disappointed Blow didn’t end up doing a Mac port. I know he was actively trying to a do a linux port at one point, but that was abandoned.
The best thing about greenhouse is getting games from a single purchase that run on both my PC desktop and my Macbook.
11/04/2009 at 16:46 eyemessiah says:
Wow, so much rage.
I bought it on steam this morning.
Really enjoying it so far (world 4).
I laughed gleefully at a few points, much like the previous poster (way back up there somewhere amongst all the bile).
I’m not sure how I feel about the writing. I had read a lot about it and I was expecting something completely impenetrable, but so far it seems pretty transparent. Grammar-pedantry aside it seems pretty readable to me.
Its the content that puts me off a bit. Its just so earnest (the university social tightrope, the difficult family meal, she didn’t understand him etc. etc.) it makes me squirm a bit.
That said, imho its the opposite of pretentious. In fact its almost too honest! For instance, no matter how much the cliché might make you cringe, I’m sure that a lot of people genuinely find social acclimation after leaving their childhood home to be a bit of an angsty experience.
Although I think there is clearly no pretence, I personally would have preferred if the angst & earnestness was buried a bit. I would have liked a bit more obscurity actually.
That said, the gameplay is still exquisite! I’m enjoying it immensely.
11/04/2009 at 17:44 bob arctor says:
Hmm I had thought the story actually told a story, but it seems to be random stuff. I found the situations a bit off putting as well, a bit angsty, “oh no university how harrowing!”, just strikes me as self-conscious.
But you can just ignore it. I still would have prefered if it all came together though, Portal had a brilliant story which actually drove me along.
Still got gaps to fill, ooh it’s annoying. Good gameplay, visuals very nice, I liked the sound effects warping etc.
11/04/2009 at 17:49 Thirith says:
Isn’t part of the point that the story comments on the guy’s angst and self-centredness, to the point where he doesn’t actually get what has happened because he’s staring at his own navel?
11/04/2009 at 18:46 Robin says:
“It even automagically detects 360 controllers being plugged in mid-game.”
And yet doesn’t recognise non-360 joypads at all.
Fuck off, Braid.
11/04/2009 at 19:02 Nero says:
Remember you can use programs like Xpadder to use a gamepad (my old ass Gravis Gamepad works great), but it is indeed a bit silly to not support a generic gamepad in the game itself.
11/04/2009 at 19:16 Beholder says:
The artstyle reminds me of PBF (http://pbfcomics.com/).
11/04/2009 at 20:29 Lews says:
People put off by the writing in the demo stages should be assured that the self-indulgence actually serves a very specific purpose in how the plot develops.
Shortly after the demo ends, things twist violently into something very uncomfortable, and… let’s just say it *knows* the writing comes across as teenage Livejournal rambling, and that’s kind of the point.
Tim’s character is very complex.
11/04/2009 at 22:07 bob arctor says:
The bit just after the demo ends?
I’m nearly complete in the house and I can’t think which bit you mean.
11/04/2009 at 22:49 Meat Circus says:
The XBox 360 controller is the generic PC gamepad.
Sorry to break the bad news.
11/04/2009 at 23:38 DK says:
“The XBox 360 controller is the generic PC gamepad” is a unfounded assumption that also happens to be wrong.
Sorry to break the bad news.
12/04/2009 at 00:33 Y3k-Bug says:
Good games sure do seem to bring out a lot of anger in people.
12/04/2009 at 01:19 Cedge says:
It would appear that some recent comments were deleted, so I will re-reply to Yutt’s post:
[No, this thread is not the Yutt-Cedge private battleground. Do shrug it off, both of you. - RPS]
@Meat Circus:
No, actually, it’s not. “De facto” does not equal “generic.” The fact that there is only one company making a proprietary, specifically branded “Xbox 360 controller for Windows” makes it specifically non-generic, by definition.
“Generic PC gamepad” actually refers to a specific standard plug-n-play driver and design that has existed for decades. Microsoft is pushing for the Xbox 360 controller to become the new standard gamepad for PC (through it’s inclusion in the Games for Windows standard), but this far from makes it the “generic PC gamepad.” Quite the opposite, in fact.
12/04/2009 at 04:30 Jetsetlemming says:
The system requirements has “TBD” for the minimum video card.
I think I found it.
http://img8.imageshack.us/img8/466/braid.jpg
The exciting adventures of time traveling cube man in color shifting cube world! Set to relaxing classical music!
12/04/2009 at 04:36 Jetsetlemming says:
For the record, despite looking like that it was actually running at 20 FPS, on my integrated intel chipset. “Cards below sm2.0 won’t be able to run it fast enough” my ass.
12/04/2009 at 06:57 whalleywhat says:
The game is beautiful and challenging. I really do think people need to quit the overblown proselytizing, though. Seeing as it’s an artistic experience, nobody else is going to necessarily get what you got from the game. Not that the shrill cries of “Pretentious!!1!” can’t go screw either. “Enforced mediocrity! Don’t make anything that aspires to anything higher than entertainment, my fragile feelings might get hurt!”
12/04/2009 at 07:03 whalleywhat says:
p.s. I’ve just got an onboard GeForce 7050, and the demo ran great.
12/04/2009 at 08:47 Sander Bos says:
So,
I watched Blow’s speech about game design (http://braid-game.com/news/?p=129) since I bought this game
and really enjoy it (have not finished it by a long shot, do not think it is revolutionary and some parts are annoying but world 4 is certainly worth the price of admission).
Since I could imagine other people here may do the the same (watch the speech as they have played part of the game), some words of warning.
After hearing Jonathan Blow talk, specifically about BioShock, I now feel conflicted about killing the ‘lionheads’. At least the pink bunnies attack you, it’s self defense. What’s up with those bunnies anyway, what have I ever done to them?
But I bet the lionheads feel exactly the same about me, there they are walking back and forth waiting for the day to end so they can go home and spend time with their kids (yes, Austin Powers henchmen reference), and here I am killing them off because I want a key or jump to a higher platform.
In some levels it is possible to get the puzzle pieces, then rewind all the way back undoing your murder spree,
and I would recommend every ethical person to do exactly that, no harm no foul? But on some levels this will undo getting the puzzle pieces, because the developers are clearly unethical when it comes to lionhead rights. (unless there goal was to make you think about why you as player are so obsessed with getting these pieces and not letting anything stand in your way to get them).
12/04/2009 at 10:06 Supertonic says:
Mac Port: It’s working beautifully on Wine on my linux beast and I believe there are ports of wine available for the mac so try it on that.
12/04/2009 at 13:18 eyemessiah says:
@Teo
So Braid is nothing compared to quantum mechanics then?
12/04/2009 at 13:46 Tei says:
@Tarn
“As my passing girlfriend (who doesn’t play many games but reads a lot of books) mentioned, “computer game programmers shouldn’t try to write.””
Tell your GF that nowdays games are made by a team of peple. The guy that write code could be different the one that draw stuff… normally is different. Nothing stops a game to have a writter, any writter with any skill level. Or to sumarize… tell your girlfriend that we are not at the 80′s anymore, where a single bedroom programer make a byzarre platform game. That has been different the last.. 20 years.
12/04/2009 at 13:47 Gap Gen says:
Damn, and I was hoping that I would have to derive the Hamiltonian for the level before I could solve the puzzles.
12/04/2009 at 15:49 Cedge says:
whalleywhat:
As I said before, you can be “non-mediocre,” without resorting to trite pretentiousness. Pretentiousness is an easy way to appear artistic, in my opinion. Braid is not pretentious because it is “non-mediocre.” It is pretentious, because it is pretentious.
@Tei:
I think you are misunderstanding her comment. I’m pretty sure she is quite aware that games are developed by teams these days. But in the case of Braid, the same guy who did the programming and level design, also did the writing. And while he is a good programmer, and a good designer, he is a terrible writer. Which is what I think she meant by her statement.
Braid was made by two people: one guy who did the programming, design, and writing, and one who did the graphics (the music was all pre-existing, and licensed; it was not made for the game).
12/04/2009 at 16:13 Thirith says:
Cedge: Apart from anything else, do you think that “pretentious” is a factual description of Braid? That’s how you come across, yet you haven’t really given much evidence for your judgment of the game.
12/04/2009 at 16:18 Tarn says:
@Tei
As Cedge points out, you’re presuming a level of ignorance on my part and my girlfriend’s part that isn’t the case. It’s also a little odd to talk about games being developed by huge teams in the context of Braid, which was developed by (I believe) 2 people.
Games where the team bother to hire actual writers for dialogue tend to come off a lot better. Then you’ve got the likes of Bethesda, who boast that their tech guys also write the quests and dialogue – which explains a lot.
You can have a team of 1 or a team of 100; it doesn’t mean there are any actual good writers included. :)
Anyway, I don’t want to get too fixated on the writing, because it’s such a minor part of Braid. The areas that matter – puzzles, level design, visuals, sound, atmosphere, controls – are all absolutely outstanding and great fun.
I’m finding some of the later puzzles exceedingly tricky. My favourite world has to be the one with the slow-down ring. Love the way that works. :)
12/04/2009 at 16:33 jalf says:
Oh jeez, is this discussion still going on?
@Tei: We’re not talking about God of War or another big title developed by a team of 100. We’re talking about Braid. And as far as I know, Jonathan Blow is both programmer and writer on *that*. Which means that Tam (‘s girlfriend’s) comment was applicable.
12/04/2009 at 21:28 teo says:
@eyemessiah decide for yourself
13/04/2009 at 08:49 Jazmeister says:
I didn’t read any hype, and just from playing the demo four times, I think I’m in love. Now if I can just manipulate events to produce money, I’ll be able to smother myself in Braid and laugh and be walked in upon.
I was really excited about the writing, actually. I somethings think that some people aren’t even qualified to judge the quality of things at all.
13/04/2009 at 08:56 whalleywhat says:
@Cedge: Then I’m gonna echo what Thirith said and ask you to identify your definition of pretension in Braid, cause everything about the game exudes effort and thought for me. ‘Trite’ speaks to some sort of shortcut or insincerity taking place, which doesn’t quite jibe with a guy sinking 100 grand into designing his own game.
13/04/2009 at 17:10 Cedge says:
@Jazmeister:
Only you can judge things for yourself.
@whalleywhat:
Trite is the perfect word to describe it, so you’re setting a ground rule that I’m not allowed to use that word? Wonderful.
The writing about “university” and it’s “social tightrope” and the “insecurities” of it just reeks of teeny Livejournal-style angst. The waxing on “mistakes” and “relationships” and “regret,” all similarly reek of someone desperate to sound dramatic.
But, I see how it is. Not I’m not allowed to call the game “trite” or “pretentious.” Next, I won’t be allowed to call it “angsty,” and will have to find yet another way to describe it.
Also, regarding your last statement:
“‘Trite’ speaks to some sort of shortcut or insincerity taking place, which doesn’t quite jibe with a guy sinking 100 grand into designing his own game.”
Self-funding is is no more a guarantee of sincerity, than triteness is a shortcut to it. And besides, it’s not exactly like the creation of this game was an act of charity.
13/04/2009 at 17:16 psyk says:
Is it possible to hide the comment in till its moused over here? People need to finish the game to get the whole story as the real story hasn’t been said here.
13/04/2009 at 17:21 Thirith says:
@Cedge: So far you’ve basically been saying that Braid‘s writing is pretentious and trite because you say it is pretentious and trite. The mere statement doesn’t make it so. If you have a point, argue for it. So far your argument has consisted of being passive-aggressive and repetitive. Just because something treats themes that you consider angsty doesn’t make it trite or pretentious – because that would mean that there are certain topics that are off-limits for writers. Any theme can be done well or badly; just stating again and again that Jonathan Blow did them badly doesn’t constitute an argument unless you consider “Is not!” “Is so!” “Is not!” “Is so!” an argument.
13/04/2009 at 17:23 Tei says:
@Tarn
“As my passing girlfriend (who doesn’t play many games but reads a lot of books) mentioned, “computer game programmers shouldn’t try to write.””
*sadface* I am programmer myself, and I don’t see why I sould not write stuff. *sadface*
Oh.. the comment is about Braid? cool. If is not a generalization about all programmers, I am happy.
13/04/2009 at 19:30 Cedge says:
@Thirith:
I have given examples of why I think it’s trite and pretentious. Or have those comments been deleted?
And hey, I’m not saying you couldn’t have a good “angsty” game (though I sure as hell haven’s seen one). I’m saying that Braid is bad at it.
Again, Braid comes across as being written like something I would read from a poetry assignment done by an angsty first-year university student who spends too much time in hip coffee shops. If that’s cool to you, then so be it. I don’t think I have ever condemned anyone enjoying this game.
14/04/2009 at 08:28 Tarn says:
@Tei If you’re a good writer as well as a good programmer, then please feel free to write dialogue/prose/poetry etc. :) There are some people that have excellent skills in both fields, but most do not.
I’m still confused as to why people are spending so much time analysing the text of the game. Unless it becomes a major factor at a later stage, it all seems to be such a minor part of the overall game. The puzzles are great, the art is great, the ideas are great.
I don’t actually have a problem with the story itself. It seems to be a mild piss-take of Super Mario et al, if anything, which amuses me. What I do wish, though, is that it was told more through the visuals than the text. A screen of text seems like a slightly lazy way to tell a story, and it separates the gaming from the story in such a way as to make the story largely irrelevant to what is actually going on.
If Braid told its story in a more natural, visual manner – even the exact same story – then it would work much better for me. The words – regardless of their quality – just don’t seem to fit into the design for me.
The opening, for example, with Tim emerging from the darkness of the street, going into the house, is amazingly evocative. The gradually emerging puzzles are intriguing. I’m not sure the story needed over-stating in the level selection screens.
Meanwhile, I’m rather stuck on the last few levels. Tricky buggers.
14/04/2009 at 10:29 Ingix says:
On the question of Impulse and DRM:
I used the “Download and archive”-Function of Impulse, then turned off my connection to the internet (router), unpacked the game and ran it two or three levels into World 2.
All of this worked without a problem, so it looks like the Impulse version is really without DRM. Of course, it could be that some authentication is done after the Demo levels end.
10/05/2009 at 22:57 Chris says:
The comments sound so hateful in this thread.
I bought the game a week ago and I solved it with my girlfriend. She never played any game before, we had a lot of fun.
The last level was pure genious and a bit sad.
This was the best game I played in a long time. It took me two evenings to solve it.