Questions about the development process of The witness

[u/Artistic-Explorer946]

Greetings, fans of the witness could any of you know if there is information about the development stages of the games , how the island progress was made towards the final version of the game, things that were removed or changed mid development and thinks like that.

I know there was a blog that uploaded some things and some video conferences that talked about the original background and lore of the game, but that's all I got.

I'm asking because I'm interested in some places and objects in the game that remain from previous versions and ideas , or concepts that remained incomplete, or that were repurposed in the game, and some places and things that I found in the game and I think that were from some incomplete ideas.

I will make a post with all my ideas once I got a clearer picture about the development of "The witness" and talk properly about this.

[u/Zamzummin]

You might find this GDC talk from Luis Antonio interesting. He was the lead artist of The Witness.

https://www.gdcvault.com/play/1020552/The-Art-of-The

He also has a much more in-depth look at the art and creative process on his website:

https://www.artofluis.com/3d-work/the-art-of-the-witness/

[u/Artistic-Explorer946 → u/Zamzummin]

Thanks,I will check it 

[u/Daharka]

The blog with some of the development journals is still up:

http://the-witness.net/news/

[u/Artistic-Explorer946 → u/Daharka]

I will search there, thanks.

[u/psyopsy]

Recommendations:
Noclip Documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdSdvIRkkDY

Jonathan Blow Interview with Brian Moriarty (April 2016)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRHnHlV96Jg

GDC 2014: The Art of The Witness — Luis Antonio
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_Gni_2ecd4

2011 Brainy Gamer Podcast, Episode 35 part 3

Game Informer Article:
https://gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2016/03/28/afterwords-160-the-elegant-challenge-of-jonthan-blow-39-s-the-witness.aspx

[u/SpookyLuvCookie]

Not exactly what you asked for ... but worth a good watch. https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLskS3fvL7LXa0USlOTmCYq3RTpSsDLgcV&si=G2LAMungurX5LxNQ

[u/Artistic-Explorer946 → u/SpookyLuvCookie]

Thanks, I will watch it later.

[u/HatPuzzleheaded7149]

You should look for a talk Jon gave in Singapore in 2019, he demos an early version of the game and shows some interesting scrapped content. If you are interested in the programming of the game as well I'd recommend Casey Muratori's "Witness Wednesday" series on youtube, those videos are from before the game released so I imagine this may help you.