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The Witcher 3 - New preview details

On the item scaling:
One thing that people seem to have mis-heard on the item scaling is that he didn't say you'd be able to use higher level weapons right away. He mentioned that you might still have to wait a few levels, but you wouldn't just be carrying it around so long that you forget about it. That makes me think there is a cap to how low an item could scale down. So it wouldn't be totally nerfed.

I think the problem they're trying to solve is to ensure that you're actually getting an awesome weapon that you'll be able to use soon instead of a hunk of steel that would just take up room in storage and become annoyance, maybe even finding out when you finally get to that level that another sword you got since then is actually better. It will be interesting to look at in practice though.

Senior game designer did an interview podcast with Gametrailers yesterday (link here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSrfrc4e9ZY) and a large amount of the details were put together. Unfortunately can't link it since it's banned but thanks to Dualshockers for putting it together.



  • The damage made to Geralt’s face when he’s intoxicated by his potion is actually displayed in cutscenes. White Honey cures it.
  • There are very very few fetch quests in the game. The team doesn’t particularly like them. Those that are there spend time developing the character that gives the quest. For instance there’s one in which you have to go from point to point with a character, and while you do he tells you in depth about him. That can influence the choice at the end of the quest.
  • Monsters can attack you while you’re meditating.
  • The AI of normal animals like sheeps and goats is pretty basic. It will tell them that there’s a bush that they might like within their radius, so they’ll go eat it. The same goes for animals or entities they’re scared of, causing them to run away.
  • If you kill that goat, it’s gonna produce a smell, and monsters may be attracted to it if there’s one that likes that kind of meat in the radius. If no one eats it and the corpse rots, a different kind of monster that eats rotten meat will be attracted.
  • If there are deers in an area wolves will hunt them, but if you kill all the deers you may see some wolves patrolling, but there will be less because there’s less game.
  • The reason why ice skating was removed from the game (very few things have been actually cut) is because creating a big fight based on a completely different set of mechanics that haven’t been explained or used before and that the players didn’t have the opportunity to master is a bad idea, as it gets people killed too easily and frustrated.
  • In some cases when you kill the monsters in an area, humans will settle it. In the prologue there’s actually a cutscene that shows is as it happens so that the players understand the mechanic. It’s not always so simple, and there are different states. Whenever you go into an area the game will check what you have and what you haven’t done, who you helped, who you killed, the decisions you made during quests and dialogue. That can change a lot of things, including the people that spawn in a village. The mechanic is simple, but it can get complex because of all the branching.
  • Monsters don’t scale with your level. If you’re way underleveled compared to a monster, you’ll do almost no damage.
  • The level of an enemy is displayed, but is its level is indicated by a skull you better stay away, because it’s way too strong for you, and it might even oneshot you.
  • The bestiary populates itself as you learn information and eventually it tells you where a monsterlives, at what times of day it appears, what it’s vulnerable to.
  • Gear has been moved around very recently to re-balance it.
  • You won’t find items you can’t use because you’re too low level. They will automatically scale down to your level if they’re too high for you. For instance the damage of a weapon will be lower, even if they will keep their “cool” elements like setting elements on fire for instance. Once you pick up an item, its stats are set, so it won’t scale back up to its original stats. That said, you’ll always get better loot as you move forward anyway. There’s no need to wait to be the right level before you get an item.
  • You can use Axii on your horse to force him not to panic during combat. Quen can be changed from defensive to offensive, and it can explode and damage enemies when it’s penetrated.
  • There was a big conversation within the team on whether Geralt could be fully nude or not. The conversation also involved the extra polygons that would be used for his penis and who would animate it while running. On the other side, others believed that there was a lot of female nudity in the game, so there should be male nudity as well. The result is that there’s a lot more male nudity than in previous games, but Geralt still normally wears his underwear.
  • The Gwent minigame was designed to last ten minutes tops for each match. You can win money, new cards, enter a torunament with all the best Gwent players. There are even quests linked to the game.
 

EatChildren

Currently polling second in Australia's federal election (first in the Gold Coast), this feral may one day be your Bogan King.
There was a big conversation within the team on whether Geralt could be fully nude or not. The conversation also involved the extra polygons that would be used for his penis and who would animate it while running. On the other side, others believed that there was a lot of female nudity in the game, so there should be male nudity as well. The result is that there’s a lot more male nudity than in previous games, but Geralt still normally wears his underwear.

Can't do dong runs? Pre-order cancelled.
 

ironcreed

Banned
Can't do dong runs? Pre-order cancelled.

witcher-3-geralt-chair-confusion.png
 
  • There was a big conversation within the team on whether Geralt could be fully nude or not. The conversation also involved the extra polygons that would be used for his penis and who would animate it while running. On the other side, others believed that there was a lot of female nudity in the game, so there should be male nudity as well. The result is that there’s a lot more male nudity than in previous games, but Geralt still normally wears his underwear.

Preorder cancelled.
 

ironcreed

Banned
Games usually fail for things that we're *not* told.... ;)

LOL, I am not saying that it will be a perfect game. I am merely suggesting that if lives up to even half of the potential then it will still be great and highly regarded. But sure, I guess they could be hiding something that will bring the rest down. I doubt it, though.
 

TokiDoki

Member
Great bits of details .

Tbh I'm more interested on the female witcher , Ciri . Hopefully her portions aren't short .
 

Kintaro

Worships the porcelain goddess
There are very very few fetch quests in the game. The team doesn’t particularly like them. Those that are there spend time developing the character that gives the quest. For instance there’s one in which you have to go from point to point with a character, and while you do he tells you in depth about him. That can influence the choice at the end of the quest.

I'm sorry but I just don't believe this. Not in open world games.

Everything else sounds nice, but this...I just can't. Sorry. =x
 

NovaCross

Neo Member
Great show and interview! I was there moderating the chat during the Livestream. Lots of new information and it's got me so hyped for the game.

I'm taking the entire day off on May 19th and isolating myself for hours.
 

ViciousDS

Banned
You won’t find items you can’t use because you’re too low level. They will automatically scale down to your level if they’re too high for you. For instance the damage of a weapon will be lower, even if they will keep their “cool” elements like setting elements on fire for instance. Once you pick up an item, its stats are set, so it won’t scale back up to its original stats. That said, you’ll always get better loot as you move forward anyway. There’s no need to wait to be the right level before you get an item.




that is fucking brilliant.......pure brilliance, no worries now on whether you can't use an item or have to wait. This better become a standard for games, always something to look forward to and you never know what it may be.
 

Blizzard

Banned
I wonder if the items will scale UP to your level if you're too high of a level, though?

Also, it sounds like it might take a bit away from the fun of finding a super powerful weapon, if weapons will always be tailored to the "just right" level.

Presumably the developers have taken such things into account, however.
 

hawk2025

Member
that is fucking brilliant.......pure brilliance, no worries now on whether you can't use an item or have to wait. This better become a standard for games, always something to look forward to and you never know what it may be.



I actually don't like that at all, and is the one blemish in all this information.

It's not as fun to find gear if everything scales neatly to your level -- and it also creates a meta-game of when is the optimal time to find the best gear in the game.

Nope, don't like it one bit :(
 

ValfarHL

Member
You won’t find items you can’t use because you’re too low level. They will automatically scale down to your level if they’re too high for you. For instance the damage of a weapon will be lower, even if they will keep their “cool” elements like setting elements on fire for instance. Once you pick up an item, its stats are set, so it won’t scale back up to its original stats. That said, you’ll always get better loot as you move forward anyway. There’s no need to wait to be the right level before you get an item.

Not a fan of this part. :/

Still fukken hyyyped!
 
I actually don't like that at all, and is the one blemish in all this information.

It's not as fun to find gear if everything scales neatly to your level -- and it also creates a meta-game of when is the optimal time to find the best gear in the game.

Nope, don't like it one bit :(

Yep. It's going to suck finding out that you missed out on a potentially great item because you found it too early.
 

Chemist

Neo Member
So excited for this. Has it been said if they are keeping that god awful weight system from Tw2? I haven't seen it anywhere but I couldn't stand that. modded that crap right out last game.
 

EatChildren

Currently polling second in Australia's federal election (first in the Gold Coast), this feral may one day be your Bogan King.
that is fucking brilliant.......pure brilliance, no worries now on whether you can't use an item or have to wait. This better become a standard for games, always something to look forward to and you never know what it may be.

It was terrible in Oblivion and is frowned upon by a lot of RPG fans as it implies a world pandering to your player over an organic world you're challenged to explore and discover.

I'm very disappointed that this is in The Witcher 3 as it seems contradictory to how they've detailed a lot of other features. I can only hope the scaling isn't too aggressive.
 

Almighty

Member
You won’t find items you can’t use because you’re too low level. They will automatically scale down to your level if they’re too high for you. For instance the damage of a weapon will be lower, even if they will keep their “cool” elements like setting elements on fire for instance. Once you pick up an item, its stats are set, so it won’t scale back up to its original stats. That said, you’ll always get better loot as you move forward anyway. There’s no need to wait to be the right level before you get an item.

Yeah I have my doubts about this right here. Item scaling in my experience is always bad.

There are very very few fetch quests in the game. The team doesn’t particularly like them. Those that are there spend time developing the character that gives the quest. For instance there’s one in which you have to go from point to point with a character, and while you do he tells you in depth about him. That can influence the choice at the end of the quest.

I also have my doubts about this one in an open world rpg as well. Then again not all fetch quests are created equal.
 

Durante

Member
I think the whole problem stems from the idea of "level requirements" for items. Those belong in loot games, not RPGs.
 

loganclaws

Plane Escape Torment
It was terrible in Oblivion and is frowned upon by a lot of RPG fans as it implies a world pandering to your player over an organic world you're challenged to explore and discover.

I'm very disappointed that this is in The Witcher 3 as it seems contradictory to how they've detailed a lot of other features. I can only hope the scaling isn't too aggressive.

It can probably me modded.
 

rashbeep

Banned
Item scaling is puzzling to me, especially when enemy scaling is out.

Great info otherwise, but I really hope that modding that would be possible (not holding my breath).
 

EatChildren

Currently polling second in Australia's federal election (first in the Gold Coast), this feral may one day be your Bogan King.
I think the whole problem stems from the idea of "level requirements" for items. Those belong in loot games, not RPGs.

Completely agree. Which is funny for a game like The Witcher where you don't have stats like strength/agility that can act as logical prerequisites locking you off from mid-late game content while still early on. Ideally, as an action RPG, Wild Hunt would have no scaling, and instead strong content would be hidden/locked away behind quest arcs, monster fights, and dungeons with a difficulty challenge relative to the reward. The harder it is for you to acquire the item, the greater the item reward should be by association. Over level to make the acquisition easy, and the item is naturally less rewarding.
 

Yogg

Member
You won’t find items you can’t use because you’re too low level. They will automatically scale down to your level if they’re too high for you. For instance the damage of a weapon will be lower, even if they will keep their “cool” elements like setting elements on fire for instance. Once you pick up an item, its stats are set, so it won’t scale back up to its original stats. That said, you’ll always get better loot as you move forward anyway. There’s no need to wait to be the right level before you get an item.

I'm a little scared of that part. There's bound to be more balanced or straight-up better weapons that would prove more efficient at a higher level than at a low level where you would just replace it in a matter of hours.

It all sounds amazing otherwise.
 

hawk2025

Member
Completely agree. Which is funny for a game like The Witcher where you don't have stats like strength/agility that can act as logical prerequisites locking you off from mid-late game content while still early on. Ideally, as an action RPG, Wild Hunt would have no scaling, and instead strong content would be hidden/locked away behind quest arcs, monster fights, and dungeons with a difficulty challenge relative to the reward. The harder it is for you to acquire the item, the greater the item reward should be by association. Over level to make the acquisition easy, and the item is naturally less rewarding.


Right, exactly.

Part of the design should (well, "should" -- just my opinion) be on how and where the gear is acquired. If someone goes through great trials "underleveled" to pick up some amazing weapon, I think it stands to reason that it should be extremely powerful.
 

Rodin

Member
that is fucking brilliant.......pure brilliance, no worries now on whether you can't use an item or have to wait. This better become a standard for games, always something to look forward to and you never know what it may be.
I actually don't like that at all. The other info are really great, because it seems that they properly developed every single aspect of the game in order to build a coesive, deep, fun and rewarding game experience. In such a great picture, something like that feels a bit off.

Completely agree. Which is funny for a game like The Witcher where you don't have stats like strength/agility that can act as logical prerequisites locking you off from mid-late game content while still early on. Ideally, as an action RPG, Wild Hunt would have no scaling, and instead strong content would be hidden/locked away behind quest arcs, monster fights, and dungeons with a difficulty challenge relative to the reward. The harder it is for you to acquire the item, the greater the item reward should be by association. Over level to make the acquisition easy, and the item is naturally less rewarding.
Exactly.
 

Helznicht

Member
It was terrible in Oblivion and is frowned upon by a lot of RPG fans as it implies a world pandering to your player over an organic world you're challenged to explore and discover.

I'm very disappointed that this is in The Witcher 3 as it seems contradictory to how they've detailed a lot of other features. I can only hope the scaling isn't too aggressive.


Onboard with you guys. Items should scale up with your level or skill (up to the maximum capability of the item), Not be fixed when it is found.

I will take golf as an example, I am a really crappy golfer, but I have a buddy that is pretty close to a scratch player. I can take a Walmart set of clubs and play about the same as I would with his pro-tour set. However if he would play with mine, it would surely affect his game play noticeably. As I improve in skill (lol) I can outgrow my set and buying a higher quality set would help my game.

This should be the same, hopefully modding will be easy for this.
 

Majmun

Member
I'm really interested in this game. But I haven't played the first two...

I hope the game will explain the story of the first two games somehow.
 

Almighty

Member
Onboard with you guys. Items should scale up with your level or skill (up to the maximum capability of the item), Not be fixed when it is found.

I will take golf as an example, I am a really crappy golfer, but I have a buddy that is pretty close to a scratch player. I can take a Walmart set of clubs and play about the same as I would with his pro-tour set. However if he would play with mine, it would surely affect his game play noticeably. As I improve in skill (lol) I can outgrow my set and buying a higher quality set would help my game.

This should be the same, hopefully modding will be easy for this.

If they have to do item scaling this should be how they do it. A badass sword is still a badass sword even if it wielded by an amateur.
 
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