TW2 |OT| ENHANCED EDITION FOUND HERE: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?p=36802174#post36802174
CREATED BY
PLATFORM
TW2 TECH THREAD
Performance, Tips, and Measuring of Swords
TW2 SPOILER THREAD
Click at your own risk!
REQUIRED LISTENING
1 2 3
WHAT IS THE WITCHER
The Witcher is a fantasy tale set in the kingdom of Temeria, it was adapted from a series of novels by Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski. The Witcher universe is a cut above your average fantasy setting thanks to it's mature approach to story telling and it's morally ambiguous themes. There are no true heroes or villains, only conflicting agendas and ideas. There are no color coded responses, only shades of grey.
The Witcher tells the story of Geralt of Rivia, who specializes in slaying monsters and solving human problems. Geralt is a Witcher, a breed of mutants who are specially trained to protect humans from monsters. Witchers are often reviled by common people, being seen as unnatural or dangerous due to their superhuman abilities and unusual appearance, but they are the unsung heroes that common people often turn to when they need to get something done. When Geralt's not busy plunging his silver sword through the heart of drowners, he can be found pounding dwarven liquor at an inn or bedding the wenches-in-distress who he has saved from monsters and humans who act like monsters.
THE STORY SO FAR
The story begins with Geralt waking up with amnesia, after being revived and brought to the stronghold Kaer Morhen by his fellow witchers. It's there that he reunites with his on-and-off again lover, the sorceress Triss, who he proceeds to tap despite being unable to remember who she really is. The castle is then assaulted by a group of bandits called Salamandra, who are led by Azar Javed and The Professor. The witchers and Triss successfully defend the stronghold from the attackers, but Javed and The Professor escape with witcher mutagen potions and Geralt is forced to follow them.
In his quest to chase the Salamandra and restore his memories, Geralt arrives at the outskirts of Vizima. It is there that he first meets Shani, an old acquaintance, who has taken in a mysterious boy named Alvin. His investigations of the Salamandra bring him to Abigail, a witch, who Geralt must either save or leave to be lynched by idiot villagers.
Geralt proceeds to the city of Vizima, where he continues his investigations in the Temple Quarter. In the Temple Quarter, Geralt first meets members of The Order of the Flaming Rose, a pro-human society of knights who defend Vizima from monsters and the non-human 'threat'. During his time in Vizima, Geralt reunites with Shani as well as his old friends, Zoltan and Dandelion. Geralt also becomes involved with a murder investigation which eventually leads him to Azar Javed, the mage in league with the Salamandra. Javed manges to knock Geralt unconscious and escape at the last moment.
Geralt awakes in Triss's chambers, which are located in Vizima's Trade Quarter. It is there that he meets Adda, the daughter of King Foltest who he dispelled a curse from before losing his memories. Geralt finds himself closer to the Salamandra than ever, while also being unwittingly included in the conflict between The Order of the Flaming Rose and The Scoia'tael, a non-human group who sometimes use violent tactics to fight for their rights. During a bank robbery, Geralt is forced to side with one of the groups if he is unable to find a peaceful solution. Eventually, Geralt finds evidence which leads him to the Salamandra's lair. With the help of the group he sided with earlier, he kills The Professor while Javed once again escapes at the last moment. Geralt leaves the lair only to find himself surrounded by royal guards, but Triss wisps him away with a spell before they can capture him.
Triss's spell brings Geralt to Lakeside, a settlement far from Vizima which is now in a state of major conflict between The Order and the Scoia'tael. Geralt finds that the boy, Alvin, and his friend Dandelion have been teleported to Lakeside as well. In his time there, Geralt is finally reuinted with the disgraced witcher he has been tracking named Berengar, who is unhappy with the life he is forced into. Geralt must choose to duel with Berengar or forgive him so that they can join forces in the final fight with Azar Javed. With or without Berengar's help, Geralt defeats Javed and sets his sights on The Grandmaster. It is revealed that Javed was simply working in the interest of the Grandmaster.
Geralt returns to Vizima, which is now in a state of civil war as the city burns. The Scoia'tael have begun a violent uprising, demanding equal rights for non-humans, while the Order do everything in their power to deny their rights and quell the rebellion. The Grandmaster reveals himself as the Salamandra commander and betrays the king, who tasks Geralt with tracking him down and killing him. At this time, Geralt must instruct the king to side with the Scoia'tael or the Order, depending on how he sided with previously.
Geralt tracks down The Grandmaster, who reveals that there is much more to his plans than it appears. It is also hinted that the Grandmaster may be Alvin in the future, who teleported away during the conflict at Lakeside. He claims that his actions, which involved stealing the mutagens to create a powerful army, were for the protection of Temeria, which is doomed to become an icy wasteland if the country cannot defend itself. Geralt decides that he did not have the right to make that decision, and ends The Grandmaster's life with his silver sword, which is reserved for monsters.
Geralt returns to the King, to inform him that The Grandmaster has fallen and that Temeria, if only for a moment, is at peace. It is then that a mysterious assassin's attempts to take the king's life. Geralt defeats him and discovers that he is *GASP* a witcher.
TW1 RETROSPECTIVE
Rock Paper Shotgun: how The Witcher dealt with choice
Eurogamer retrospective
Youtube: TW1 comprehensive review
TW1 final cinematic
Geralt meets his worst enemy
TW1 COMPLETED SAVES
Order, Triss: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=FVFOJTQP
Neutral, Triss: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=EKDCZW6Q
Scoia'tael, Triss: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=8EMTWZTO
Neutral, Shani: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=WQHMT19O
Scoia'tael, Shani : http://www.megaupload.com/?d=L11DCRD1
ONE STORY ENDS AS ANOTHER BEGINS
The Witcher 2 begins two months after the end of The Witcher, when Geralt defends King Foltest from an assassin who is revealed to be a witcher. Geralt must track the assassins and unfold their conspiracy while being reunited with old friends and continuing to recover his lost memories.
SAVE IMPORT
If you've completed a playthrough of TW1, TW2 will detect your save and give you the option to import your choices. CD Projekt have said that the game starts the same way for everyone, but the repercussions of your big choices will be seen as you proceed through the game.
A few of your items, like the Raven armor, are expected to carry over as well.
NOTABLE PREVIEWS
Destructoid
Eurogamer
Rock Paper Shotgun
PC Gamer
A NEW WAY TO KILL
The unpopular timing based combat of The Witcher 1 has been scrapped entirely. The new combat system is influenced by combo-heavy action games like Batman: Arkham Asylum.
Basic moves - Geralt can alternate between quick light attacks and slow heavy attacks. To defend himself, he can roll to evade or block/parry.
Swords - silver (monsters) and steel (humans) remain. Geralt can still alternate between fast and strong attacks, but group attacks are unlocked with the swordsman tree.
Signs - Yrden, Igni, Aard, Quen, Axii return, and Heliotrope is the new sign. Signs can now be incorporated into a seamless combo.
Combos - linking moves like signs into a combo and using items mid-fight will require you to open a radial menu in real time, but time slows down to a crawl as you do it
Other weapons - secondary weapons like axes, clubs and spears return, traps and throwing weapons like knives and bombs can now be used
Enemies - greater variety of this time, they will have unique AI that requires the player to determine the correct approach
Potions - potions can no longer be used in combat, and health does not regenerate, all consumption must be done at a meditation spot (3 potions at a time)
[Combat overview]
ABILITIES
Leveling up allows you to upgrade four skill trees: Swordsmanship, Training, Alchemy and Magic. Upgrading abilities will raise your stats and unlock new moves in combat.
Training - regeneration, endurance, fortitude etc
Swordsmanship - sword damage, block efficiency, critical hits, riposte etc
Magic - advanced signs and a skill path exclusive sign that allows you to slow down time, poisoning, etc
Alchemy - increased efficiency and special moves using potions, bombs, mutagens, oils etc
[Magic & Alchemy skill trees] [Swordsmanship & Training skill trees] [Abilities screen]
ALCHEMY
Alchemy returns in TW2, and it has been expanded beyond potions to oils and bombs as well.
Potions - like TW1, mix items to create potions for anything from vitality regeneration to night vision
Oils - can be applied to weapons for increased damage or crit chance
Bombs - can be found as loot or crafted, used for long distance attacks with effects like stun or pure damage
Mutagens - applied to your abilities, gives bonuses like increased damage resistance, increased vitality and higher crit chance
[CD-P interview re: Alchemy]
CRAFTING
If you come across diagrams and the required items, you can have a NPC craft items such as swords, armor and traps. With the new crafting system, you can create 200 different items.
[Crafting screen]
INSANITY
The standard difficulty levels will return: easy, medium and hard. Easy is for players who simply want to experience the story, and hard is for those who wish to explore the entire combat system and experience some heavy resistance from their foes. TW2 will have a new difficulty mode, insanity. Insanity mode will feature an 'extreme' challenge as well as permadeath. This means that any time Geralt falls in battle, your save will be deleted. The mode is said to be inspired by Demon's Souls.
QUICK REACTIONS
Unfortunately, there will be quicktime events in The Witcher 2. They will occur during barfights and and some cutscenes. However, CD Projekt has given players the option to turn off "difficult" QTE's which will make them easier to put up with. There will also be some story moments where you will have limited time to make decisions.
WILL IT SUPPORT A GAMEPAD?
Yes, TW2 will support a gamepad. In fact, it has been demoed with it on numerous occasions. Everything from the combat to the list based inventory has been designed with a gamepad in mind.
UI OVERHAUL
Much like the combat, the user interface of TW has been completely overhauled. There will no longer be an isometric view or a point and click interface. The HUD has been refined and now has a much more minimal appearance. Simply put, the UI has been overhauled in a much more gamepad friendly and stylishly presented way.
[HUD] [Inventory] [Map]
THE RED ENGINE
The POS Aurora engine is no longer, CD Projekt have developed their own engine for TW2. The RED engine is intended to be much more flexible, so much so that it's already been optimized and tested on PS3 and 360. On the high end, it will take advantage of multiple cores, putting that expensive hardware to use.
The most notable aspect of the RED engine is that it allows for a streaming environments and a nearly loading screen-free experience. The only load screen you'll see is the very first upon boot up, the rest of the loading will be done in real time. This has enabled CD Projekt to create open ended environments that Geralt can explore freely without having to sit through loading screens as the game moves him to another map.
[CD Projekt on the RED engine]
TRAILERS
the debut
prison break
DEVELOPER WALKTHROUGHS & DIARIES
dwarf town & questing
characters & consquence
combat overview
30 minute interview & footage
GERALT ON THE BATTLEFIELD
part 1
part 2
part 3
MISCELLANEOUS
a stroll through the environments
swamp action
VE3D preview
PREVIEW
convos & combat
character development
PROLOGUE
exclusive footage
*german language website, footage is in english
PREVIEW
exclusive preview
a living world
CREATED BY
PLATFORM
TW2 TECH THREAD
Performance, Tips, and Measuring of Swords
TW2 SPOILER THREAD
Click at your own risk!
REQUIRED LISTENING
1 2 3
WHAT IS THE WITCHER
The Witcher is a fantasy tale set in the kingdom of Temeria, it was adapted from a series of novels by Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski. The Witcher universe is a cut above your average fantasy setting thanks to it's mature approach to story telling and it's morally ambiguous themes. There are no true heroes or villains, only conflicting agendas and ideas. There are no color coded responses, only shades of grey.
The Witcher tells the story of Geralt of Rivia, who specializes in slaying monsters and solving human problems. Geralt is a Witcher, a breed of mutants who are specially trained to protect humans from monsters. Witchers are often reviled by common people, being seen as unnatural or dangerous due to their superhuman abilities and unusual appearance, but they are the unsung heroes that common people often turn to when they need to get something done. When Geralt's not busy plunging his silver sword through the heart of drowners, he can be found pounding dwarven liquor at an inn or bedding the wenches-in-distress who he has saved from monsters and humans who act like monsters.
THE STORY SO FAR
The story begins with Geralt waking up with amnesia, after being revived and brought to the stronghold Kaer Morhen by his fellow witchers. It's there that he reunites with his on-and-off again lover, the sorceress Triss, who he proceeds to tap despite being unable to remember who she really is. The castle is then assaulted by a group of bandits called Salamandra, who are led by Azar Javed and The Professor. The witchers and Triss successfully defend the stronghold from the attackers, but Javed and The Professor escape with witcher mutagen potions and Geralt is forced to follow them.
In his quest to chase the Salamandra and restore his memories, Geralt arrives at the outskirts of Vizima. It is there that he first meets Shani, an old acquaintance, who has taken in a mysterious boy named Alvin. His investigations of the Salamandra bring him to Abigail, a witch, who Geralt must either save or leave to be lynched by idiot villagers.
Geralt proceeds to the city of Vizima, where he continues his investigations in the Temple Quarter. In the Temple Quarter, Geralt first meets members of The Order of the Flaming Rose, a pro-human society of knights who defend Vizima from monsters and the non-human 'threat'. During his time in Vizima, Geralt reunites with Shani as well as his old friends, Zoltan and Dandelion. Geralt also becomes involved with a murder investigation which eventually leads him to Azar Javed, the mage in league with the Salamandra. Javed manges to knock Geralt unconscious and escape at the last moment.
Geralt awakes in Triss's chambers, which are located in Vizima's Trade Quarter. It is there that he meets Adda, the daughter of King Foltest who he dispelled a curse from before losing his memories. Geralt finds himself closer to the Salamandra than ever, while also being unwittingly included in the conflict between The Order of the Flaming Rose and The Scoia'tael, a non-human group who sometimes use violent tactics to fight for their rights. During a bank robbery, Geralt is forced to side with one of the groups if he is unable to find a peaceful solution. Eventually, Geralt finds evidence which leads him to the Salamandra's lair. With the help of the group he sided with earlier, he kills The Professor while Javed once again escapes at the last moment. Geralt leaves the lair only to find himself surrounded by royal guards, but Triss wisps him away with a spell before they can capture him.
Triss's spell brings Geralt to Lakeside, a settlement far from Vizima which is now in a state of major conflict between The Order and the Scoia'tael. Geralt finds that the boy, Alvin, and his friend Dandelion have been teleported to Lakeside as well. In his time there, Geralt is finally reuinted with the disgraced witcher he has been tracking named Berengar, who is unhappy with the life he is forced into. Geralt must choose to duel with Berengar or forgive him so that they can join forces in the final fight with Azar Javed. With or without Berengar's help, Geralt defeats Javed and sets his sights on The Grandmaster. It is revealed that Javed was simply working in the interest of the Grandmaster.
Geralt returns to Vizima, which is now in a state of civil war as the city burns. The Scoia'tael have begun a violent uprising, demanding equal rights for non-humans, while the Order do everything in their power to deny their rights and quell the rebellion. The Grandmaster reveals himself as the Salamandra commander and betrays the king, who tasks Geralt with tracking him down and killing him. At this time, Geralt must instruct the king to side with the Scoia'tael or the Order, depending on how he sided with previously.
Geralt tracks down The Grandmaster, who reveals that there is much more to his plans than it appears. It is also hinted that the Grandmaster may be Alvin in the future, who teleported away during the conflict at Lakeside. He claims that his actions, which involved stealing the mutagens to create a powerful army, were for the protection of Temeria, which is doomed to become an icy wasteland if the country cannot defend itself. Geralt decides that he did not have the right to make that decision, and ends The Grandmaster's life with his silver sword, which is reserved for monsters.
Geralt returns to the King, to inform him that The Grandmaster has fallen and that Temeria, if only for a moment, is at peace. It is then that a mysterious assassin's attempts to take the king's life. Geralt defeats him and discovers that he is *GASP* a witcher.
TW1 RETROSPECTIVE
Rock Paper Shotgun: how The Witcher dealt with choice
Eurogamer retrospective
Youtube: TW1 comprehensive review
TW1 final cinematic
Geralt meets his worst enemy
TW1 COMPLETED SAVES
Order, Triss: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=FVFOJTQP
Neutral, Triss: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=EKDCZW6Q
Scoia'tael, Triss: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=8EMTWZTO
Neutral, Shani: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=WQHMT19O
Scoia'tael, Shani : http://www.megaupload.com/?d=L11DCRD1
ONE STORY ENDS AS ANOTHER BEGINS
The Witcher 2 begins two months after the end of The Witcher, when Geralt defends King Foltest from an assassin who is revealed to be a witcher. Geralt must track the assassins and unfold their conspiracy while being reunited with old friends and continuing to recover his lost memories.
SAVE IMPORT
If you've completed a playthrough of TW1, TW2 will detect your save and give you the option to import your choices. CD Projekt have said that the game starts the same way for everyone, but the repercussions of your big choices will be seen as you proceed through the game.
A few of your items, like the Raven armor, are expected to carry over as well.
NOTABLE PREVIEWS
Destructoid
Eurogamer
Rock Paper Shotgun
PC Gamer
A NEW WAY TO KILL
The unpopular timing based combat of The Witcher 1 has been scrapped entirely. The new combat system is influenced by combo-heavy action games like Batman: Arkham Asylum.
Basic moves - Geralt can alternate between quick light attacks and slow heavy attacks. To defend himself, he can roll to evade or block/parry.
Swords - silver (monsters) and steel (humans) remain. Geralt can still alternate between fast and strong attacks, but group attacks are unlocked with the swordsman tree.
Signs - Yrden, Igni, Aard, Quen, Axii return, and Heliotrope is the new sign. Signs can now be incorporated into a seamless combo.
Combos - linking moves like signs into a combo and using items mid-fight will require you to open a radial menu in real time, but time slows down to a crawl as you do it
Other weapons - secondary weapons like axes, clubs and spears return, traps and throwing weapons like knives and bombs can now be used
Enemies - greater variety of this time, they will have unique AI that requires the player to determine the correct approach
Potions - potions can no longer be used in combat, and health does not regenerate, all consumption must be done at a meditation spot (3 potions at a time)
[Combat overview]
ABILITIES
Leveling up allows you to upgrade four skill trees: Swordsmanship, Training, Alchemy and Magic. Upgrading abilities will raise your stats and unlock new moves in combat.
Training - regeneration, endurance, fortitude etc
Swordsmanship - sword damage, block efficiency, critical hits, riposte etc
Magic - advanced signs and a skill path exclusive sign that allows you to slow down time, poisoning, etc
Alchemy - increased efficiency and special moves using potions, bombs, mutagens, oils etc
[Magic & Alchemy skill trees] [Swordsmanship & Training skill trees] [Abilities screen]
ALCHEMY
Alchemy returns in TW2, and it has been expanded beyond potions to oils and bombs as well.
Potions - like TW1, mix items to create potions for anything from vitality regeneration to night vision
Oils - can be applied to weapons for increased damage or crit chance
Bombs - can be found as loot or crafted, used for long distance attacks with effects like stun or pure damage
Mutagens - applied to your abilities, gives bonuses like increased damage resistance, increased vitality and higher crit chance
[CD-P interview re: Alchemy]
CRAFTING
If you come across diagrams and the required items, you can have a NPC craft items such as swords, armor and traps. With the new crafting system, you can create 200 different items.
[Crafting screen]
INSANITY
The standard difficulty levels will return: easy, medium and hard. Easy is for players who simply want to experience the story, and hard is for those who wish to explore the entire combat system and experience some heavy resistance from their foes. TW2 will have a new difficulty mode, insanity. Insanity mode will feature an 'extreme' challenge as well as permadeath. This means that any time Geralt falls in battle, your save will be deleted. The mode is said to be inspired by Demon's Souls.
QUICK REACTIONS
Unfortunately, there will be quicktime events in The Witcher 2. They will occur during barfights and and some cutscenes. However, CD Projekt has given players the option to turn off "difficult" QTE's which will make them easier to put up with. There will also be some story moments where you will have limited time to make decisions.
WILL IT SUPPORT A GAMEPAD?
Yes, TW2 will support a gamepad. In fact, it has been demoed with it on numerous occasions. Everything from the combat to the list based inventory has been designed with a gamepad in mind.
UI OVERHAUL
Much like the combat, the user interface of TW has been completely overhauled. There will no longer be an isometric view or a point and click interface. The HUD has been refined and now has a much more minimal appearance. Simply put, the UI has been overhauled in a much more gamepad friendly and stylishly presented way.
[HUD] [Inventory] [Map]
THE RED ENGINE
The POS Aurora engine is no longer, CD Projekt have developed their own engine for TW2. The RED engine is intended to be much more flexible, so much so that it's already been optimized and tested on PS3 and 360. On the high end, it will take advantage of multiple cores, putting that expensive hardware to use.
The most notable aspect of the RED engine is that it allows for a streaming environments and a nearly loading screen-free experience. The only load screen you'll see is the very first upon boot up, the rest of the loading will be done in real time. This has enabled CD Projekt to create open ended environments that Geralt can explore freely without having to sit through loading screens as the game moves him to another map.
[CD Projekt on the RED engine]
TRAILERS
the debut
prison break
DEVELOPER WALKTHROUGHS & DIARIES
dwarf town & questing
characters & consquence
combat overview
30 minute interview & footage
GERALT ON THE BATTLEFIELD
part 1
part 2
part 3
MISCELLANEOUS
a stroll through the environments
swamp action
VE3D preview
PREVIEW
convos & combat
character development
PROLOGUE
exclusive footage
*german language website, footage is in english
PREVIEW
exclusive preview
a living world
