Gish (video game)

Last updated

Gish
Gish (video game).jpg
Developer(s) Chronic Logic
Publisher(s) Chronic Logic
Designer(s)
Programmer(s)
  • Alex Austin
  • Josiah Pisciotta
Artist(s) Edmund McMillen
Writer(s) Dave Strock
Composer(s) Game Audio Magic
Platform(s) Microsoft Windows, Linux, Mac OS X
Release
  • Microsoft Windows
  • May 4, 2004
  • Linux, macOS
  • August 2, 2004
Genre(s) Platform
Mode(s) Single-player, multiplayer

Gish is a 2004 platform game developed and published by Chronic Logic. After eight months in development, it was released in May 2004 to a positive reception. A sequel, Gish 2, was canceled. The game became open-source software in May 2010 and received a 15th-anniversary update in January 2020.

Contents

Gameplay

A screenshot of FreeGish, a fork of Gish FreeGish 1-5.png
A screenshot of FreeGish, a fork of Gish

Gish is a physics-based platform game. [1] The player controls Gish, a ball of tar. Besides movement, Gish has four abilities: becoming sticky, slick, solid, and jumping/expanding. When sticky he can climb up walls, stick to ceilings, and plant himself firmly to a solid object. Becoming slick makes Gish slippery and frictionless, letting him slide down pipes and squeeze out of being crushed at the same time getting under objects. Being in solid state turns Gish's body into a rigid weight, allowing him to push any object he might have squeezed under, fall faster, squash enemies, smash breakable platforms, sink in water, and resist being run over. To jump, Gish must first compress his body, then expand to launch himself into the air. Gish's abilities can be combined for use in certain situations - for instance, while both sticky and slick he can climb walls without grabbing loose objects, and while slick and solid he can slide downhill at high speed.[ citation needed ]

Plot

Gish is a ball of tar who lives happily with his human girlfriend Brea, until one day a mysterious dark creature kidnaps her. Gish fights through several levels of enemies in the sewers of Dross until the final boss appears: Hera, Gish's former classmate who has an unrequited affection towards Gish. Gish rejects her, and Hera threatens to drop Brea into a pool of lava. After Gish defeats Hera, he must rescue Brea. If the player succeeds, Brea and Gish escape and become famous entomologists, as well as the world's first legal inter-species marriage. If the player fails, Brea burns to death in the lava pit and Gish goes on to live a life of celibacy, "volunteering most of his time to charity organizations that specialize in bringing lava awareness to the mainstream." In the latter case, Brea's picture is crossed out from the final group photo of the game.

Development and release

Gish was developed by Chronic Logic—an indie game studio based in Santa Cruz, California, and founded in 2001—without external funding. The game was the idea of Edmund McMillen, Chronic Logic's artist and designer, as the company was looking for a new game concept that used the physics from its previous puzzle video game, Triptych. [2] Alex Austin, the lead programmer, was initially against the idea until McMillen convinced him of the concept. [2] [3] Over a longer time period, the developers were able to test out several concepts. They came up with further ideas and discarded those that did not work, such as the original plan of giving Gish an arm to swing with. [2]

The development process was split into two halves. The first focused on the physics and issues with collision detection. Austin used the MS-DOS Editor to write the source code, compiling it with Visual C++. The second half covered "everything else", including the level design, which was changed multiple times, and a level editor. They were driven by the "make it fun" principle of games like Super Mario Bros. and Pitfall! , which they played during the production. Using Adobe Photoshop and Macromedia Flash, McMillen designed original characters, including 36 enemies, which later had to be reduced to 16 due to time constraints. Austin also cited self-imposed crunch time as an issue during development. The total development time was eight months. [2] Gish was released for Microsoft Windows on May 4, 2004, and ported to Linux and Mac OS X on August 2, 2004. [2] [4]

Chronic Logic disbanded shortly after Gish's release, which cost the game potential publishing deals, McMillen later joined Austin at his news venture, Cryptic Sea. [3] Another Mac OS X version, compatible with all variants of the operating system, was released by Cryptic Sea in December 2007. [5] Reflexive Entertainment distributed the game through its online game portal, Reflexive Arcade, starting in 2006. [6] Gish Mobile, a version for J2ME, was developed by Hardwire and Erphenic Studios, published by Pixalon Studios, and distributed by GlobalFun. [7] [8]

A sequel, Gish 2, was in development "for a couple months" at Cryptic Sea by November 2007. [9] McMillen proposed Gish 2 to Microsoft in 2008 before developing Super Meat Boy instead. [10] Gish 2 was formally put on hold in late 2008 for Cryptic Sea to focus on its other release, No Quarter. [1] Austin released the Gish source code under GNU GPL-2.0-or-later in May 2010. [11] In the same month, Gish became part of the first Humble Indie Bundle. [12] It further appeared in the Humble Voxatron Debut in November 2011. [13] [14] In January 2020, celebrating the game's 15th anniversary, Austin and McMillen released an update for Gish with several quality-of-life improvements. [15] Newgrounds user Tarhead designed the cover art for this version. [16]

Reception

Gish received "generally favorable reviews", according to Metacritic. [17] At the 2005 Independent Games Festival, Gish won the "Innovation in Game Design" award, as well as the Seumas McNally Grand Prize and its US$20,000 prize money. [18] McMillen used his acceptance speech for the latter to propose to his girlfriend, Danielle. [3] Gish also won Computer Games Magazine 's 2004 "Best Independent Game" award. [19] The revenue from Gish kept Austin afloat for several years. [20]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Game Developers Choice Awards</span> Annual award for games and developers

The Game Developers Choice Awards are awards annually presented at the Game Developers Conference for outstanding game developers and games. Introduced in 2001, the Game Developers Choice Awards were preceded by the Spotlight Awards, which were presented from 1997 to 1999. Since then, the ceremony for the Independent Games Festival is held just prior to the Choice Awards ceremony.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Xbox Game Studios</span> American video game company

Xbox Game Studios is an American video game publisher and part of the Microsoft Gaming division based in Redmond, Washington. It was established in March 2000, spun out from an internal Games Group, for the development and publishing of video games for Microsoft Windows. It has since expanded to include games and other interactive entertainment for the namesake Xbox platforms, other desktop operating systems, Windows Mobile and other mobile platforms, and web-based portals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steam (service)</span> Video game digital distribution service

Steam is a video game digital distribution service and storefront developed by Valve Corporation. It was launched as a software client in September 2003 to provide game updates automatically for Valve's games, and expanded to distributing third-party titles in late 2005. Steam offers various features, like game server matchmaking with Valve Anti-Cheat measures, social networking, and game streaming services. Steam client's functions include game update automation, cloud storage for game progress, and community features such as direct messaging, in-game overlay functions and a virtual collectable marketplace.

NovaLogic, Inc. was a software developer and publisher established in 1985 and based in Calabasas, California. The company was founded by CEO John A. Garcia. Garcia's background in computer software started in Southern California in the early 1980s, when he worked at Datasoft. The company was known for their Voxel Space engine, which was utilized in franchises such as the Comanche and Delta Force series. In October 2016, NovaLogic's assets were bought out by THQ Nordic and is currently an inactive label for the company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Second generation of video game consoles</span> Second video game console generation, including the Atari 2600

In the history of video games, the second-generation era refers to computer and video games, video game consoles, and handheld video game consoles available from 1976 to 1992. Notable platforms of the second generation include the Fairchild Channel F, Atari 2600, Intellivision, Odyssey 2, and ColecoVision. The generation began in November 1976 with the release of the Fairchild Channel F. This was followed by the Atari 2600 in 1977, Magnavox Odyssey² in 1978, Intellivision in 1980 and then the Emerson Arcadia 2001, ColecoVision, Atari 5200, and Vectrex, all in 1982. By the end of the era, there were over 15 different consoles. It coincided with, and was partly fuelled by, the golden age of arcade video games. This peak era of popularity and innovation for the medium resulted in many games for second generation home consoles being ports of arcade games. Space Invaders, the first "killer app" arcade game to be ported, was released in 1980 for the Atari 2600, though earlier Atari-published arcade games were ported to the 2600 previously. Coleco packaged Nintendo's Donkey Kong with the ColecoVision when it was released in August 1982.

ZeniMax Media Inc. is an American video game holding company based in Rockville, Maryland, and founded in 1999.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bethesda Game Studios</span> American video game developer

Bethesda Game Studios is an American video game developer and a studio of ZeniMax Media based in Rockville, Maryland. It is best known for its action role-playing game, including The Elder Scrolls, Fallout, and Starfield. Bethesda Game Studios was established in 2001 as the development unit of Bethesda Softworks was separated from the publishing function. Todd Howard serves as the studio's executive producer, leading it with managing director Ashley Cheng and studio director Angela Browder. As of March 2021, Bethesda Game Studios has more than 420 employees across four offices.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Perfect World (company)</span> Chinese video game company

Perfect World Co., Ltd. is a Chinese mass media company based in Beijing. It was founded in 2004 by Chi Yufeng. The company consists of two business segments: Perfect World Games, a video game publisher, and Perfect World Pictures, a film production company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indie game</span> Class of video game, generally independently published

An indie game, short for independent video game, is a video game typically created by individuals or smaller development teams without the financial and technical support of a large game publisher, in contrast to most "AAA" (triple-A) games. Because of their independence and freedom to develop, indie games often focus on innovation, experimental gameplay, and taking risks not usually afforded in AAA games. Indie games tend to be sold through digital distribution channels rather than at retail due to a lack of publisher support. The term is synonymous with that of independent music or independent film in those respective mediums.

<i>Aether</i> (video game) 2008 video game

Aether is a video game designed by Edmund McMillen and Tyler Glaiel and published by Armor Games, released on September 3, 2008. Players control a lonely boy and an octopus-like monster that the boy encounters, solving puzzles on different planets to restore them from monochrome to color. The pair travel through space by swinging on clouds and asteroids with the monster's elongated tongue, searching other planets for life to which the boy can relate. It is also a part of The Basement Collection.

<i>Super Meat Boy</i> 2010 platform game

Super Meat Boy is a 2010 platform game designed by Edmund McMillen and Tommy Refenes under the collective name of "Team Meat". It was self-published as the successor to Meat Boy, a 2008 Flash game designed by McMillen and Jonathan McEntee. In the game, the player controls Meat Boy, a red, cube-shaped character, as he attempts to rescue his girlfriend, Bandage Girl, from the game's antagonist Dr. Fetus. The gameplay is characterized by fine control and split-second timing, as the player runs and jumps through over 300 hazardous levels while avoiding obstacles. The game also supports the creation of player-created levels. Super Meat Boy was first released on the Xbox 360 through Xbox Live Arcade in October 2010, and was later ported to Microsoft Windows, OS X, Linux, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Wii U, and the Nintendo Switch. A Wii version was in development but was ultimately cancelled.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edmund McMillen</span> American video game designer and artist

Edmund Charles McMillen is an American video game designer and artist. He is known for his Adobe Flash games with unconventional visual styles. His works include 2010's side-scroller Super Meat Boy, 2011's roguelike game The Binding of Isaac, and its 2014 remake, The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth.

Humble Bundle, Inc. is a digital storefront for video games, which grew out of its original offering of Humble Bundles, collections of games sold at a price determined by the purchaser and with a portion of the price going towards charity and the rest split between the game developers. Humble Bundle continues to offer these limited-time bundles, but have expanded to include a greater and more persistent storefront. The Humble Bundle concept was initially run by Wolfire Games in 2010, but by its second bundle, the Humble Bundle company was spun out to manage the promotion, payments, and distribution of the bundles. In October 2017, the company was acquired by Ziff Davis through its IGN Entertainment subsidiary.

<i>The Binding of Isaac</i> (video game) 2011 video game

The Binding of Isaac is a roguelike video game designed by independent developers Edmund McMillen and Florian Himsl. It was released in 2011 for Microsoft Windows, then ported to OS X, and Linux. The game's title and plot are inspired by the Biblical story of the Binding of Isaac. In the game, Isaac's mother receives a message from God demanding the life of her son as proof of her faith, and Isaac, fearing for his life, flees into the monster-filled basement of their home where he must fight to survive. Players control Isaac or one of the 33 other unlockable characters through a procedurally generated dungeon in a roguelike manner, fashioned after those of The Legend of Zelda, defeating monsters in real-time combat while collecting items and power-ups to defeat bosses and eventually Isaac's mother.

Nicalis, Inc. is an American video game developer and publisher based in Santa Ana, California. The company focuses primarily on indie games and has developed and published both original games as well as ports of existing games. Nicalis was founded in 2007 by Tyrone Rodriguez, a game designer and former game journalist. In 2017, Nicalis announced that they had acquired SuperVillain Studios and Cowboy Color.

THQ Nordic GmbH is an Austrian video game publisher based in Vienna. Formed in 2011, it is a publishing subsidiary of Embracer Group. Originally named Nordic Games, as was the parent company, both companies were renamed THQ Nordic in August 2016 after the parent company had acquired the "THQ" trademark in 2014. THQ Nordic's core portfolio comprises assets that were acquired from other developers and publishers, such as from JoWooD Entertainment and its subsidiaries DreamCatcher Interactive and The Adventure Company in 2011, THQ in 2013, and NovaLogic in 2016. THQ Nordic has acquired and established several subsidiary studios, including Black Forest Games, Bugbear Entertainment, Gunfire Games, HandyGames, Piranha Bytes, Purple Lamp, and Rainbow Studios.

<i>The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth</i> 2014 indie video game

The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth is an indie roguelike video game designed by Edmund McMillen and developed and published by Nicalis. Rebirth was released for Linux, Microsoft Windows, OS X, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita in November 2014, for Xbox One, New Nintendo 3DS and Wii U in July 2015, for iOS in January 2017 and for Nintendo Switch in March 2017. The PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S versions were released in November 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seumas McNally Grand Prize</span> Main award given at the Independent Games Festival

The Seumas McNally Grand Prize is the main award given at the Independent Games Festival (IGF), an annual event that takes place during the Game Developers Conference, one of the largest gatherings of the indie video game industry. The award is named after computer game programmer Seumas McNally (1979–2000), founder of independent game development company Longbow Digital Arts. McNally died of Hodgkin's lymphoma shortly after receiving the award, then just the IGF Grand Prize, in 2000 for his game Tread Marks. The award is given alongside a prize of US$30,000.

Tyler Glaiel, also known by the moniker Glaiel Games, is an American video game designer and programmer known for games such as Aether (2008), Closure (2012), Number (2013), Bombernauts (2017), The End Is Nigh (2017) and Mewgenics (2024).

<i>Coil</i> (video game) Autobiographical video game

Coil is an autobiographical Flash game developed by Edmund McMillen and Florian Himsl, released in 2008. It was nominated for the Innovation Award at the 2009 Independent Games Festival and is considered an example of an artgame. The game was sponsored by Armor Games.

References

  1. 1 2 Meer, Alec (January 13, 2009). "Unknown Pleasures 09: McMillen's Myriad Marvels". Rock, Paper, Shotgun . Archived from the original on February 8, 2021. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Austin, Alex (December 13, 2004). "Indie Postmortem: Chronic Logic's Gish". Gamasutra . Archived from the original on April 3, 2019. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 Ball, Ryan (May 3, 2006). "Edmund McMillen, Creator of Gish and other Flash Games". Animation Magazine . Archived from the original on January 26, 2021. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
  4. ↑ "News". Chronic Logic. 2004. Archived from the original on July 14, 2020. Retrieved December 27, 2020. 05/04/2004 - Gish Released, Order here! (...) 08/02/2004 - Gish released for OSX and Linux, try the demo!
  5. ↑ Schramm, Mike (December 31, 2007). "Gish goes universal". Engadget . Archived from the original on February 8, 2021. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
  6. ↑ Dobson, Jason (September 21, 2006). "Chronic Logic Brings Gish To Reflexive Arcade". Gamasutra . Archived from the original on May 13, 2012. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
  7. ↑ Dredge, Stuart (May 15, 2008). "Gish goes mobile". Pocket Gamer . Archived from the original on October 28, 2019. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
  8. ↑ Spencer, Spanner (November 12, 2008). "Gish to be dished out for mobiles". Pocket Gamer . Archived from the original on October 28, 2019. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
  9. ↑ Alexander, Leigh (November 20, 2007). "Road To The IGF: Cryptic Sea's Blob Returns With Gish 2". Gamasutra . Archived from the original on August 17, 2014. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
  10. ↑ McMillen, Edmund; Refenes, Tommy (April 14, 2011). "Postmortem: Team Meat's Super Meat Boy". Gamasutra . Archived from the original on November 27, 2020. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
  11. ↑ Austin, Alex (May 29, 2010). "Gish Open Source". Cryptic Sea. Archived from the original on June 1, 2010. Retrieved May 31, 2010– via Blogspot.
  12. ↑ "The 69 biggest, weirdest moments of the decade in PC gaming". PC Gamer . December 12, 2019. Archived from the original on November 15, 2020. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
  13. ↑ Hinkle, David (November 10, 2011). "Humble Voxatron Debut adds Gish, three other games". Engadget . Archived from the original on February 8, 2021. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
  14. ↑ Pearson, Craig (November 10, 2011). "Gish Joins The Humble Voxatraon Bundle". Rock, Paper, Shotgun . Archived from the original on January 26, 2021. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
  15. ↑ Chalk, Andy (December 18, 2019). "15 years after release, Gish is getting a new update". PC Gamer . Archived from the original on December 20, 2019. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
  16. ↑ Tarhead (January 27, 2020). "GISH 15th anniversary cover art". Newgrounds . Archived from the original on January 31, 2020. Retrieved January 31, 2020.
  17. ↑ "Gish Critic Reviews for PC". Metacritic . Archived from the original on December 18, 2020. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
  18. ↑ Carless, Simon (March 10, 2005). "Gish, Wik Triumph At 2005 IGF". Gamasutra . Archived from the original on August 12, 2020. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
  19. ↑ Staff (March 2005). "The Best of 2004; The 14th Annual Computer Games Awards". Computer Games Magazine . No. 172. pp. 48–56.
  20. ↑ Ligman, Kris (February 11, 2014). "Q&A: For Alex Austin, constant prototyping is a way of life". Gamasutra . Archived from the original on November 10, 2014. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.