GetWiki

{{Short description|2004 platform video game}}{{Use American English|date=February 2021}}{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2021}}

factoids

Platform game>Platform| modes = Single-player, multiplayerEdmund McMillenJosiah Pisciotta}}Alex Austin|Josiah Pisciotta}}| artist = Edmund McMillen| writer = Dave Strock| composer = Game Audio Magic}}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.

Gameplay

File:FreeGish 1-5.png|thumb|left|A screenshot of FreeGish, a fork of Gish]]Gish is a physics-based platform game.WEB,weblink Unknown Pleasures 09: McMillen's Myriad Marvels, Alec, Meer, January 13, 2009, Rock, Paper, Shotgun, February 8, 2021, February 8, 2021,weblink live, 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|date=February 2021}}

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.WEB,weblink Indie Postmortem: Chronic Logic's Gish, Alex, Austin, December 13, 2004, Gamasutra, February 8, 2021, April 3, 2019,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20190403021148weblink">weblink live, Alex Austin, the lead programmer, was initially against the idea until McMillen convinced him of the concept.WEB,weblink Edmund McMillen, Creator of Gish and other Flash Games, Ryan, Ball, May 3, 2006, Animation Magazine, February 8, 2021, January 26, 2021,weblink live, 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.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. Gish was released for Microsoft Windows on May 4, 2004, and ported to Linux and Mac OS X on August 2, 2004.WEB,weblink News, 2004, Chronic Logic, 05/04/2004 - Gish Released, Order here! (...) 08/02/2004 - Gish released for OSX and Linux, try the demo!, December 27, 2020, July 14, 2020,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20200714113256weblink">weblink live, 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. Another Mac OS X version, compatible with all variants of the operating system, was released by Cryptic Sea in December 2007.WEB,weblink Gish goes universal, Mike, Schramm, December 31, 2007, Engadget, February 8, 2021, February 8, 2021,weblink live, Reflexive Entertainment distributed the game through its online game portal, Reflexive Arcade, starting in 2006.WEB,weblink Chronic Logic Brings Gish To Reflexive Arcade, Jason, Dobson, September 21, 2006, Gamasutra, February 8, 2021, May 13, 2012,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20120513172601weblink">weblink live, Gish Mobile, a version for J2ME, was developed by Hardwire and Erphenic Studios, published by Pixalon Studios, and distributed by GlobalFun.WEB,weblink Gish goes mobile, Stuart, Dredge, May 15, 2008, Pocket Gamer, February 8, 2021, October 28, 2019,weblink live, WEB,weblink Gish to be dished out for mobiles, Spanner, Spencer, November 12, 2008, Pocket Gamer, February 8, 2021, October 28, 2019,weblink live, A sequel, Gish 2, was in development "for a couple months" at Cryptic Sea by November 2007.WEB,weblink Road To The IGF: Cryptic Sea's Blob Returns With Gish 2, Leigh, Alexander, Leigh Alexander (journalist), November 20, 2007, Gamasutra, February 8, 2021, August 17, 2014,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20140817100548weblink">weblink live, McMillen proposed Gish 2 to Microsoft in 2008 before developing Super Meat Boy instead.WEB,weblink Postmortem: Team Meat's Super Meat Boy, Edmund, McMillen, Edmund McMillen, Tommy, Refenes, Tommy Refenes, April 14, 2011, Gamasutra, February 8, 2021, November 27, 2020,weblink live, Gish 2 was formally put on hold in late 2008 for Cryptic Sea to focus on its other release, No Quarter. Austin released the Gish source code under GNU GPL-2.0-or-later in May 2010.WEB,weblink Gish Open Source, Alex, Austin, May 29, 2010, Cryptic Sea, Blogspot, May 31, 2010, June 1, 2010,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20100601013905weblink">weblink live, In the same month, Gish became part of the first Humble Indie Bundle.WEB,weblink The 69 biggest, weirdest moments of the decade in PC gaming, December 12, 2019, PC Gamer, February 8, 2021, November 15, 2020,weblink live, It further appeared in the Humble Voxatron Debut in November 2011.WEB,weblink Humble Voxatron Debut adds Gish, three other games, David, Hinkle, November 10, 2011, Engadget, February 8, 2021, February 8, 2021,weblink live, WEB,weblink Gish Joins The Humble Voxatraon Bundle, Craig, Pearson, November 10, 2011, Rock, Paper, Shotgun, February 8, 2021, January 26, 2021,weblink live, In January 2020, celebrating the game's 15th anniversary, Austin and McMillen released an update for Gish with several quality-of-life improvements.WEB,weblink 15 years after release, Gish is getting a new update, Andy, Chalk, December 18, 2019, PC Gamer, February 8, 2021, December 20, 2019,weblink live, Newgrounds user Tarhead designed the cover art for this version.WEB,weblink GISH 15th anniversary cover art, Tarhead, January 27, 2020, Newgrounds, January 31, 2020, January 31, 2020,weblink dead,

Reception

Gish received "generally favorable reviews", according to Metacritic.WEB,weblink Gish Critic Reviews for PC, Metacritic, February 8, 2021, December 18, 2020,weblink live, 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|link=yes}} prize money.WEB,weblink Gish, Wik Triumph At 2005 IGF, Simon, Carless, March 10, 2005, Gamasutra, February 8, 2021, August 12, 2020,weblink live, McMillen used his acceptance speech for the latter to propose to his girlfriend, Danielle. Gish also won Computer Games Magazine{{'}}s 2004 "Best Independent Game" award.MAGAZINE, The Best of 2004; The 14th Annual Computer Games Awards, Staff, Computer Games Magazine, 172, March 2005, 48–56, The revenue from Gish kept Austin afloat for several years.WEB,weblink Q&A: For Alex Austin, constant prototyping is a way of life, Kris, Ligman, February 11, 2014, Gamasutra, February 8, 2021, November 10, 2014,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20141110233000weblink">weblink live,

References

{{Reflist}}

External links

• {{Official websiteweblink}}

{{Edmund McMillen}}{{Seumas McNally Grand Prize}}