Alt 18: Gravitation

[Parish]

At Tomm's request, we have the latest experience from the creator of Passage, you can download it for free here.

Gravitation
Jason Rohrer | PC etc. | Life | 2008

It's all of eight minutes, so play it before commenting. You may want to comment again after playing it again as you try different things and the concepts become clearer.

[Beat]

I have played all 8 of it's minutes.

And I... don't really get the vast symbolism. And the author's notes only made me more confused.

I don't really consider that a spoiler.

[Eirikr]

Okay. So I played with the girl and the ball for a little bit before I realized that you had to start jumping up. Then you lose this high jump ability. Then you get it back.

These are the creative leaps he is talking about? How creation in itself is not a constant succession of leaps, but how the mind will narrow for a bit until you get that next spark. Patience rewards the creator. Patience will allow you to get higher and higher with your own idea as you allow it the time to be more complex. Maybe the girl at the beginning is supposed to be a creative inspiration? I did not know where to go until playing with her allowed me to see the first hole in the sky.

Also, the more I read about the creator's personal life, the more I want to well, not punch him in the face, but perhaps look upon him in disdain as a member of middle America. Probably out of jealousy.

[JCDenton]

But why did she leave me????

First time I got a score of 7. The second time was 75, which I would be moderately proud of if it didn't feel as though a much higher score could be attained. I don't think pushing two or three at once really got me anywhere I wanted to be, so one a time it is next trial.

I really like the overall feel, particularly the whole creative process symbolism I may or may not be imagining.

Edit: Only 80 for the third try. Oh well.

Edit the second:

Originally Posted by eirikr

These are the creative leaps he is talking about? How creation in itself is not a constant succession of leaps, but how the mind will narrow for a bit until you get that next spark. Patience rewards the creator. Patience will allow you to get higher and higher with your own idea as you allow it the time to be more complex.

Makes sense. I figured there was some commentary on having to reach for ever higher peaks in order to maintain a slowly decreasing level of progress. Reach/jump too high though and you'll instantly find yourself cold, alone and unloved.

[Parish]

I didn't see this as being a parable about creativity but about parenthood, about how the lives of a parent and a child are so closely tied. But ultimately, the parent has to go out and provide. Eventually, when you're not paying attention, the child grows up and leaves the nest. But then, I didn't read the notes, so maybe I'm totally off.

[JCDenton]

Originally Posted by Parish

I didn't see this as being a parable about creativity but about parenthood, about how the lives of a parent and a child are so closely tied. But ultimately, the parent has to go out and provide. Eventually, when you're not paying attention, the child grows up and leaves the nest. But then, I didn't read the notes, so maybe I'm totally off.

That's a pretty interesting way of reading it. I was biased by the subtitle: "a video game about mania, melancholia, and the creative process".

[Red Hedgehog]

I interpreted playing with the girl as giving you inspiration - letting you know that there's a reason to do things and strive to come up with more - but that if that is all you focus on, eventually you will become short-sighted and no longer able to reach those places you once could. I was genuinely sad when I came back from gathering ice block to find the girl gone.

[pence]

A few things I noticed:

- The fire in the kiln slowly dies over the course of the game.
- Your mood will naturally fluctuate slowly. The only way to artificially increase your mood is by playing with the child or grabbing a star.
- Grabbing a star will cause your mood to rapidly fall after it increases. Playing with the child does not.
- Burning the solidified stars for points will not affect your mood.

If getting points won't increase your mood, why bother trying to get a high score? The game doesn't even have a leaderboard.

Probably because the alternative, simply staying at the bottom of the board, is pretty boring. The child won't disappear if you just hang out with her for 8 minutes; I think I spoiled her.

Originally Posted by Red Hedgehog

I was genuinely sad when I came back from gathering ice block to find the girl gone.

Aeris fans take note.

[JCDenton]

Originally Posted by pence

A few things I noticed:

- The fire in the kiln slowly dies over the course of the game.

Yeah, I noticed that too, though I assumed it was because the star/block/things were made of ice and pushing enough in the fire would extinguish it. Thought maybe I could "win" if I put it out before the 8 minutes were up, but that is just idle speculation I have no intention of testing.

[Psyael]

Originally Posted by Parish

Eventually, when you're not paying attention, the child grows up and leaves the nest.

If it only worked that way. Usually they only leaved when absolutely forced, as I and I'm sure many others have set as example.

Kind of struck me as another symbolism for the sake of symbolism idea.

[JCDenton]

Originally Posted by Psyael

Kind of struck me as another symbolism for the sake of symbolism idea.

Well, the developer does seem kinda...artsy? A free spirit? Pretentious? Take your pick.

I should stop posting so much.

[MCBanjoMike]

Here's what I got from this game:

Drugs are bad, m'kay?

[Octopus Prime]

So this is from the maker of Passage eh?

I can honestly say I'm not fond of the guys work.

[Parish]

Thanks for contributing!!

[SamuelMarston]

I can't get it to run. Do I need to download the SDL library to do this thing?

Am I building from source?


EDIT: Passage really moved me, and I would really like to play this.

[Tomm Guycot]

I've still only played it once. However reading his statements "feels like my brain caught on fire" is pretty obviously represented in the game.

Want to play more before I comment further - tomorrow.

[Traumadore]

I definitely felt this would be more meaningful if it was about the parent-child relationship. I was sure that was what it was about before looking at the comments here, but I guess maybe it was just one interpretation.

I don't like the correlation of creativity being either far away, a burden, or futile.

If that's what this game is about, then screw that. If it's about the parent and child I will file it with Passage as strangely touching.

[Brickroad]

I broke the game by jumping as high as I could without getting any stars, then grabbing them all on the way down. They formed a stack so tall that I couldn't get on the left side of them to push them forward. I assume the little girl got trapped there and froze to death. Hurrah!

But yeah, symbolism for the sake of symbolism. I feel like there's a strong possibility this guy just likes making crazy art piece games and then trying to attach meaning to them after the fact. I kind of got that vibe from Passage too.

If this guy is really trying to say something meaningful with his games, it must be "life is beautiful, but ultimately pointless."

eta: High score is 87 after three playthroughs. I don't know of a more optimal strategy than the one I was using, so that's probably where I'll leave it.

[Tomm Guycot]

How in the world can you say the meaning in Passage was ascribed afterwards? The whole graphic effect was predicated on the symbolism. That wasn't accidental.

[Brickroad]

Originally Posted by Tomm Guycot

How in the world can you say the meaning in Passage was ascribed afterwards? The whole graphic effect was predicated on the symbolism. That wasn't accidental.

I didn't say he ascribed symbolism to it after the fact, I said "that's the vibe I got from it." Kind of like those overzealous English teachers who insist there is a deep hidden meaning in every paragraph in, say, Huckleberry Finn. Sure, maybe the raft is a symbol of unrestricted freedom in an otherwise rigid and unyeilding world... or, you know, maybe it is just a raft.

In Passage, it was easy to understand what the author wanted you to understand, not only because the game was pretty simple and linear, but also because he wrote an eleven-paragraph essay about it. In Gravitation, you play ball with a little girl until your head explodes, and then push blocks of ice into a fireplace until time runs out.

It's a cool little diversion, and like Passage it'll sit on my hard drive until I want to go at it once every few weeks or so, but maybe the blocks of ice are just blocks of ice.

[reibeatall]

Ok, so I got genuinely sad when the girl wasn't there when I got back TO PROVIDE FOR HER. Seriously, after she was gone, I felt no reason to go on.

I don't know how this compares to life, I really don't. Not being a parent might have something to do with that. Regardless, I felt joy playing ball with the girl, but I knew she needed melted ice to be happy, so I went out for her. I'd get back and play for a little while, but then work would call. When I got back and she was gone, I was sad I hadn't played with her more.

I then spent the next three minutes pouting about how pissed off I was that they took her away from me, and then how strange it is that these two games (Passage and this) can evoke such a strong emotion from me.

[Tomm Guycot]

Given rei's reaction, I think the game is about the battle between creative energies and achieving w/ them vs. family and enjoying their time / providing for them.

If you try to stay around the girl, you never achieve your potential heights.

[Eusis]

This was interesting, though it didn't have the impact of Passage.

I focused on playing with the girl at first, and after awhile of my head being on fire each time I bounced the ball back up, I jumped up and got that star, played for awhile more. Head was set back on fire, jumped higher, got more, and that lasted shorter than last time. Tried getting two blocks, and managed to get them in, and my head would still be on fire. After playing with the girl a little more, I jumped up and grabbed several more blocks... And she was gone. I pushed them in, just kinda walking around the ball trying to play with it, then wound up jumping up, getting a bunch of the stars down, and futilely shoving them into the furnace even as the title screen popped up.

[Makkara]

Originally Posted by eirikr

Also, the more I read about the creator's personal life, the more I want to well, not punch him in the face, but perhaps look upon him in disdain as a member of middle America. Probably out of jealousy.

I think this blog was written specifically about that guy.

As for the game, I can't play it right now, but I'll probably give it a go when I get home from work.

[Beat]

Ok, I played it again, and I am now prepared to say it's probably just a big mind screw that has exactly as much symbolism as you're willing to look for.

The moral of the story is that friendship gives you superpowers, but also causes permanent brain damage via fire.

Originally Posted by Makkuro

I think this blog was written specifically about that guy.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. I wasn't ashamed of being white before I saw that.

[Merus]

I think maybe it would have worked better if it were not supposed to be 'about' something. I agree that the metaphor seems much more forced here than it did in Passage.

I've said before, I think, that characters that are useful tend to be more easily likable than characters who don't. I think the girl here serves as an example - you play with her, and your field of vision increases, so you've got a clear reward for playing with her, and so it's a little bit heartbreaking to go climbing for stars when she's sitting there waiting for you to come back.

I'm sure I'm not the only one who was tempted to stick around playing catch with the girl for most of the game, especially as the climbing portion of the game just wasn't all that appealing to me. I had some trouble trying to intuit the rules of the game and how high I could jump at any one time, a cardinal sin when you're essentially making a platformer.

Also, I actually like the sport soccer, not just the idea of it. A good game's friggin' tense, man. I think you actually have to be rooting for one side or the other to really feel the cycles of tension and release when the ball moves towards the goal.

[TheSL]

Crap, all that this or Passage did was make me sad. I agree with the whole "family drives creativity, but that creativity can also destroy family" interpretation of the game.

[Makkara]

Using the field of vision as a metaphor for mood (or whatever it was supposed to be) was pretty clever. Seeing the fog of war rapidly encroach was pretty startling the first time. Otherwise it wasn't great. The controls were awful, which kind of ruined the platforming aspect. I also don't think the insights the game had to offer were particularly, um... insightful.

[poetfox]

So, okay, going to read everyone's comments after I write this, so... yeah.
On a whole, I don't think I "get" this game at this point as much as Passage. Passage left me with a clear feeling at the end and a clear understanding of what was trying to be done with the game. For most of this one, I was a bit confused at my goals. I guess my score was 24? I wasn't paying attention to how I got those points.
Anyway, I played with the girl until I caught on fire, and then I went jumping... collected a few stars... and then the sides of the screen went back in on me, so my immediate reaction was to fall back down and play with the little girl some more, which I did... then I jumped back upward, got some more stars, the same thing happened... this time when I went back, there were ice cubes? Some with arrows. So I pushed at them, taking breaks to return the ball, until they were all in the little fireplace, and then I jumped again... and I basically repeated that for the rest of the game. It kinda made me blink when the girl was gone and only the ball was left... I wasn't sure what I had done to make that happen. There was an emotional twang there, but not nearly as strong as, say, when the girl died in Passage and I literally stopped playing for awhile and I'm like "What?"
Anyway, if I had to take a guess at this game's message, it would be one of balancing family and work. Spending time with your family (playing with the girl) gives you the strength to go and do work, (collecting the stars) but if you work too hard, you can't get anything done, and may even neglect your family to the point that they go away. But I mean, I dunno. Now I'll read what everyone else has said and see if I have anything else to say.

Edit: Okay, yeah, post reading these impressions impressions, but not having read the guy's essay on this one... I like Parish's idea of the whole child moving out interpretation. That works pretty well too, I think, and certainly seems a little more uplifting with the girl disappears, although still a bit depressing.
For those like Rei who got a strong emotional reaction out of this one, go team. I really didn't, though, and if I had to explain why I didn't here from where I did in Passage, it was that I knew what I could and couldn't do... if that makes sense. While playing Passage, I honesty never understood the mechanics. I was just walking and experiencing, and it touched me, you know? Whereas in this... my rule-loving brain could turn on easily and say "okay, if I want to jump I have to return the ball X times and I can extend that amount of time with stars..." and while I'm thinking of this game as, well, a game, I'm not experiencing it so much as attempting to beat it? I was focused on trying to figure out how to see everything the game had to offer to comment about it. The more "game" aspects of this kind of removed that emotion, I suppose. I don't know if that makes any sense.

[Sprite]

So when I first played it, I thought I had to play with the ball to get my jump power/fog of war dissipation back. So every time I couldn't go any further I went all the way back to play with the ball. Once the girl left I realized I could've just waited for daytime. But by then I was so sad she was gone (those hearts are just precious) and time was so sparse that I didn't care enough to try again. I especially thought the dying hearth and the lonesome ball were good touches. What's the point of flying high if all I do is destroy my relationship with my daughter? I don't care if there's a metaphor, I just wanna go awwwww.

awwwwwwwww

P.S. If you stay with the girl the whole game does she stick around the whole time, or does she still leave?