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The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt E3 Fact Sheet [Up: Scans]

F

feel

Member
This is all looking and sounding great. I need to get back to Witcher 2 after the combat patch drops, I was having a blast with it but suddenly after that one huge game-branching decision you make it threw a bunch of dialogue/story at me that I couldn't understand or follow along and with the confusion I lost interest and never got back to it.
 
S

shinobi602

Member
Wide open roaming across regions is unspoiled by load times. Landscapes dotted with Points of Interest tempt players to venture off beaten paths in search of possible adventures. Players explore without interruption, encountering no barriers, choosing different means of travel to reach their destination. This whole new approach to exploration means players can vault over barriers, swim through rapids, ride a horse across the dangerous No Man's Land, run through Novigrad's narrow streets, or sail under the full moon amidst the Skellige Islands. The world provides an unprecedented feeling of open space and freedom, taking 40 minutes to traverse on horseback end to end. Players can stand atop a mountain, 1200 meters above sea level, breathless as they ponder the distant abyss and wind-swept isles, their look and feel rendered flawlessly.
Click to expand...

i8FGOpjrjoLWd.gif
 
Acidote

Acidote

Member
But a force darker and deadlier emerges. The petty men and women commanding tin-plated armies fail to understand that their conflict is child's play compared to the Wild Hunt, the otherworldly threat which now looms. These ghastly spectral riders have plagued the world for ages, plunging it in misery and despair. Yet this time the Wild Hunt seeks one person in particular: the one bestowed upon Geralt by Destiny itself, the one soul Geralt considers kin.
Click to expand...

So, Ciri confirmed?
 
Hyphen

Hyphen

Member
I've never had a PC capable of playing any of The Witcher games. But with my PS4 pre-ordered, and as someone who loves 3rd person epic action/adventure (within the sword & sorcery setting) I'm definitely looking out for this one. However, I'm tempted to hold out just in case 'CD Projekt RED' pull a 'Bioware' and release all 3 later on in the PS4's life.
 
I

Imp the Dimp

Member
TucoBenedictoPacifico said:
Blasphemy.
Click to expand...

I don't consider open world to be better than the semi-open world or the rather chapter like structure of the previous Witcher games. I wouldn't even say that a well executed open world is better than a well executed linear structure. Baldur's Gate 2 is the best game I've ever played and I don't see how it could've been better by being fully open world. An open world design inevitably entails dozens of hours of doing a lot of nothing and seems to be WAY harder to be designed well than non open world games. Games like Two Worlds 2 or Oblivion bored me to tears with their huge mass of nothing inbetween cities.
 
Sentenza

Sentenza

Member
Imp the Dimp said:
I don't consider open world to be better than the semi-open world or the rather chapter like structure of the previous Witcher games.
Click to expand...
But I do.
There's nothing in "semi-open world" games or "chapter structure" which is inherently impossible to achieve with a true open world.
And the former are usually picked more because of limited budget/manpower.
In fact you could pick a "semi-open" game and "cut and paste" it entirely in a more open structure without sacrificing anything, just adding on top.

I would also like to stress that going "open world" is not some weird deviation from the norm, it should be the natural form of a proper RPG: It used to be.
 
Sentenza

Sentenza

Member
K.Sabot said:
I remember when I thought Witcher 2 was too good to be true.
It was just too good when I played it.
Click to expand...
Well, I liked the game but I would lie claiming it didn't disappoint me in some areas.
Controls were a bit wonky, balance was hit and miss (a bit too easy after some level up, even in Dark Mode) and the game was a bit too focused on presentation rather than on interactivity.
Also, a bit too linear and self-contained.
 
J

Jay Shadow

Member
There's a funny article on Gamasutra where they asked devs to tweet about the most ridiculous dev requests they've gotten. There's a whole section dedicated to the PR person at CDPR going over the experience of trying to get the finished Witcher 1 published.

Agnieszka Szóstak said:
There's one pretty good story for you regarding The Witcher but it needs a background so you knew why it's funny.

You know Witcher series is based on a series of books by a famous Polish fantasy writer Andrzej Sapkowski. He created Geralt. Defining who he is (a male, a witcher), what he does, how he looks. So this is something set in stone. And if you're doing a game about this particular witcher, THAT Geralt you cannot change any of that obviously.

So back in the day we were looking for a publisher for The Witcher 1. The game was done, we knew it's great. We only needed somebody willing to sell it. So we've been going from door to door, explaining the whole setting and gameplay mechanics. It turned it's damn hard to pitch it! Publishers were saying it's to difficult, too hardcore, no multi and all that.

So finally we're at one of those meetings witch a bunch of execs, sales ppl, explaining the lore, who Geralt is and such. When suddenly in the middle of it doors open and a bunch of excited marketing ppl pops in saying they've just finished doing targeting and market analysis for the title and they see huge potential they totally want to publish it, we'd just need to do a few amendments in the setting basing on what their market analysis showed them. And those amendments were:

1. Change male into female
2. Forget about witcher and made it an elvish sorceress
3. Change name
4. Add multi

THEN they will publish it. We thanked and we left. To this day it's one of the favourite stories in the studio. :)
Click to expand...
 
D

Dictator93

Member
Jay Shadow said:
There's a funny article on Gamasutra where they asked devs to tweet about the most ridiculous dev requests they've gotten. There's a whole section dedicated to the PR person at CDPR going over the experience of trying to get the finished Witcher 1 published.
Click to expand...

pretty much proof positive that there is probably horrible amounts of lack in creative control for devs when they interact with publishers.

Also that story is awesome.
 
Sentenza

Sentenza

Member
Beside this episode, I must say that the more I think about this thing in the game industry, the more annoyed I get.

And NO, not because "I'm naive and I don't get products need to sell", but because that's just not the way to sell a product.
Publishers and "marketing experts" should put their efforts in promoting what developers/creatives produce and make them successful for what they are, not in telling them how to transform their creations to fit those "market analysis".
 
B

boskee

Member
Meanwhile, Agnieszka Szóstak from CDPR tweeted this:

Ooooook couple of hours and drinks later time for an update. We've succeded! The new Witcher video out on Monday. :)
Click to expand...

Although she later clarified:

Damn we should have thought about it earlier! ;) No it'll be just a small, silly movie, that should make you laugh. Hopefully. ;-)
Click to expand...

The full CGI intro should be released during Gamescom.
 
S

SpacePirate Ridley

Member
  • No Man's Land: a sparsely populated, war-ravaged territory, based on Slavic mythology. Murky swamps and dark primeval forests cover this land, where monsters lurk behind every tree and no one can be sure whether they will see another sunrise. Its fields stripped bare by passing armies, No Man's Land is a place of anarchy, where might makes right and gold buys life.
  • Skellige: a wind-swept and rugged archipelago, based on Nordic and Celtic legends and sagas. In these isles, inhabited by proud and noble people, warriors seek fame by facing legendary monsters, druids guard nature's secrets, and bards sing of heroes past in torch-lit halls. Stubbornly independent, the Skelligers are rigging their longboats and sharpening their spears, ready to lay down their lives defending against the inevitable Nilfgaard invasion.
  • Novigrad and its surrounds: a port city inspired by medieval Amsterdam. In this grand city, as rich and colourful as it is corrupt, players witness the persecution of mages by an all-powerful cult, while at the same time dealing with underworld figures poised to profit from the ongoing world war.
Click to expand...

YES! I KNEW IT!
So that means the game takes place in the whole southern west part of the Northern Kingdoms, from Novigrad down to the frontier of Nilfgaard, probably cutting in the east up to Vizima (probably not included, but it still could be a surprise they dont want to spoil). No Man's Land probably refers to the whole devastated Cintra down to Nilfgaard.
This could turn into the most epic medieval setting game ever made and a delight for all of the fans of the books.
BTW, you can find more about Novigrad and Oxenfurt before playing the game in The Blood of Elves.
World_map.jpg
Click to expand...

sonic moob said:
Is this like a game version of Game Of Thrones? Or what game is W2 similar to, please? I like trying new game styles.
Click to expand...

The Witcher books were created some years before Song of Ice and Fire (Game of Thrones). They are similar in that both are set in medieval times, but Game of Thrones make politics more prominent (they are also in the witcher, but Geralt tries to stay away from them), while The Witcher relies a little bit more on fantasy (although tries to make it realistic) and comedy.
 
T

Trevelyan9999

Banned
Damn, that description makes me feel like my brand new GTX 770 4GB edition won't be enough to run this game with all details and a good frame rate.......
 
S

SpacePirate Ridley

Member
epmode said:
It's very similar to Mass Effect, but with swords and better writing.
Click to expand...

Apart of being both RPG's the Witcher 1 and 2 play nothing like Mass Effect. Not dissing one or the other, becuase I love both, but they are not similar in the slightlest.

Jay Shadow said:
There's a funny article on Gamasutra where they asked devs to tweet about the most ridiculous dev requests they've gotten. There's a whole section dedicated to the PR person at CDPR going over the experience of trying to get the finished Witcher 1 published.
Click to expand...

lol, marketers in this type of industry (videogames, movies, themeparks...) are the worst kind of people ever, they ruin anything they touch. CD Project did a good job running as fast as hell from them.
 
C

Cheese Raptor

Banned
epmode said:
If you don't see the similarities between TW2 and Mass Effect, I'm not sure what to say.
Click to expand...

ME:
Clear good/bad decisions
Play as male or female
No boob
Combat
Dialogue system
Upgrade character stats

TW:
Moral grey areas
Play as Geralt
Boob
Combat
Dialogue System
Upgrade character stats
 
G

Giygas AF

Member
Witcher 2 was good, but Witcher 1 made me feel bad at a few of the choices I made lol.

Kill all villagers for hot witch
Kill all knights for hot vampires
;P
 
I

iavi

Member
Giygas AF said:
Witcher 2 was good, but Witcher 1 made me feel bad at a few of the choices I made lol.

Kill all villagers for hot witch;P
Click to expand...

Well, to be fair,
Abigail hadn't done much wrong in comparison to the shit they were doing.

God I miss that choice system. Where the hell did it go in TW2?
 
S

SamVimes

Member
TucoBenedictoPacifico said:
Well, I liked the game but I would lie claiming it didn't disappoint me in some areas.
Controls were a bit wonky, balance was hit and miss (a bit too easy after some level up, even in Dark Mode) and the game was a bit too focused on presentation rather than on interactivity.
Also, a bit too linear and self-contained.
Click to expand...

Until you build a mage (because hey, it's the second playthrough) and you have to do the fucking Eternal Battle quest. That shit was incredibly stupid.
 
H

HP_Wuvcraft

Banned
Cheese Raptor said:
ME:
Clear good/bad decisions
Play as male or female
No boob
Combat
Dialogue system
Upgrade character stats

TW:
Moral grey areas
Play as Geralt
Boob
Combat
Dialogue System
Upgrade character stats
Click to expand...

Consider they brag about having influenced Mass Effect....

you know because CDPR can time travel.

they also invented romance in video games
 
J

Jac_Solar

Member
40 minutes? Didn't it take 15 minutes to traverse Skyrim on horseback? That's sort of weird, since they said the world would be as large or slightly larger than Skyrim.

If Skyrim is 15 square miles, and it takes 15 minutes to traverse the world on horseback, then Witcher 3 would be, at the very least, 30+ (More like 40+.) square miles if it's a normal square map/world.
 
V

Vulcano's assistant

Banned
Jac_Solar said:
40 minutes? Didn't it take 15 minutes to traverse Skyrim on horseback? That's sort of weird, since they said the world would be as large or slightly larger than Skyrim.

If Skyrim is 15 square miles, and it takes 15 minutes to traverse the world on horseback, then Witcher 3 would be, at the very least, 30+ (More like 40+.) square miles if it's a normal square map/world.
Click to expand...
I imagine that it is because the topography is harder to traverse on horse since there are islands and sea, not necessarily 40+ square miles.
 
P

Perkel

Banned
Jac_Solar said:
40 minutes? Didn't it take 15 minutes to traverse Skyrim on horseback? That's sort of weird, since they said the world would be as large or slightly larger than Skyrim.

If Skyrim is 15 square miles, and it takes 15 minutes to traverse the world on horseback, then Witcher 3 would be, at the very least, 30+ (More like 40+.) square miles if it's a normal square map/world.
Click to expand...

It really depends also on scale.
This 30+40+ square miles is really weird imo. I mean: If you have a horse which is not fast at all you can traverse from Riverun to Solitude in less than 15minutes. That is not even straight line !

Skyrim World is very big but i feel scaling is not right. Hrodgar High Moutain looks very very very big but it is actually very very very small mountain in comparison to real life mountains.
 
E

EatChildren

Currently polling second in Australia's federal election (first in the Gold Coast), this feral may one day be your Bogan King.
-tetsuo-

-tetsuo-

Unlimited Capacity
I had like 55ish hours in TW1 and I did everything. Every quest completed. Nowhere near close to 100 for dragon age or Fallout NV as well. I think the only RPGs I have actually spent 100 hours on were BG2, Arcanum and FF12. If they make it, sweet, but niwadays devs and reviewers way overblow how long a game takes.
 
K

Kaako

Felium Defensor
Thanks for the links, EatChildren. My body is beyond ready for this game, but my patience...not so much.
 
D

dapperbandit

Banned
This looks really good, but I never really got the chance to play the first two.

I bought the first one but my PC was rubbish and couldn't handle it.

TW2 never came out on PS3 either.
 
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