Interview Witcher Q&A at GameBanshee

[Saint_Proverbius]

Tags: Witcher, The

<a href="http://www.gamebanshee.com/">GameBanshee</b> has <a href="http://www.gamebanshee.com/interviews/thewitcher1.php">an interview</a> about <a href="http://www.thewitcher.com/">The Witcher</a>. Here's a little bit on why you can't do much in the way of spell casting:
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<blockquote><b>GB: Tell us a bit about the magic system and how players will acquire spells. Are there a couple of the more powerful spells you can talk about?
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Panasewicz:</b> Just like with character development – we prefer ‘quality’ before quantity’ - which is also true for Sapkowski’s novels, where witchers have access to a limited number of spells. There are just a few Gestures (special kind of witchers’ magic), but all of them can be used in different ways enriching gameplay – offensive, defensive or simply buffing. For instance, the Aard Sign - a strong telekinetic burst of energy – knocks enemies back, puts flames out, throws light objects into air, and destroys fragile items in vicinity. But with a little practice it can be also used for more delicate manipulations or some powerful effects – like switching buttons at distances or smashing locked doors.
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Still in the world of The Witcher there are powerful magic users - friends and enemies of our hero, who can cast some powerful spells. </blockquote>
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Switching buttons at a distance.. I smell a puzzle.
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[StraitLacedDeviant]

At least he isn't talking about his level 9 spell dragons fury having realistic dragon scales motion captured from a gecko and quantum particle effects modelled on solar flares he filmed on location.

Most of ordinary equipment will be created randomly during gameplay, but all rare and quest items are pre-generated, and can be either found, given or purchased in fixed locations.

Randomly generated Ph@t L3wT I hope this doesn't turn out to be another wheat cutting simulator like Sacred.

GB: How important will equipment be to the character and will equipment found or purchased be static or random from game to game?

GB: How many different magic items are you planning on implementing into the game?

GB: Can you give us a couple examples of some of the more powerful weapons and armor?

Can my character have a little lace bow, pink around the edges but not too feminine, I don't want the monsters thinking i'm a fag. Where did they get this interviewer?

Apart from the retarded questions Witchers is sounding like a decent game.

 

[Sol Invictus]

I don't know why people jump to obviously silly conclusions like you just did, Strait. I don't think the team has EVER mentioned the generation of 'random phat lewt'. If you've read anything about the development of the game you would know that it's extremely character/story-dependant and thus, any such 'strong implementation' of random phat lewt is clearly nonexistent.

Take for example Divine Divinity, Fallout and Planescape Torment, two games which were both story and character-based, but both of which featured 'random phat lewt' as you so put it. To state it simply, The Witcher likely shares a similar implementation of 'loot pools' as many other games. Implementing ordinary items one at a time on each and every single NPC is extremely time-consuming, not to mention pointless.

You're right about the reviewer, though. He seems extremely inclined to ask the same question about phat lewt multiple times when it should be clear to him as anyone else that The Witcher is simply not some lame incarnation of Diablo.

 

[Elwro]

There are of course also many different interior locations - like deserted dungeons, cursed catacombs, smelly sewers

OMG alliterashun!

I'm felling better and better about this game all the time.

 

[Ausir]

They usually use two swords � silver one for killing monsters - and a normal sword for humans.

Except it isn't true. Both swords were for different types of monsters in the books, one was made of silver, and the other was made of meteorite iron, so it's not a "normal" sword either. It is, of course, more effective against humans than the silver one, but it's not its primary function.

 

[StraitLacedDeviant]

I don't know why people jump to obviously silly conclusions like you just did, Strait. I don't think the team has EVER mentioned the generation of 'random phat lewt'. If you've read anything about the development of the game you would know that it's extremely character/story-dependant and thus, any such 'strong implementation' of random phat lewt is clearly nonexistent.

Take for example Divine Divinity, Fallout and Planescape Torment, two games which were both story and character-based, but both of which featured 'random phat lewt' as you so put it.
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What I took him to mean by randomly generated items was the stats on the items, and hence the value or effectiveness would be randomly generated. I don't particularly like this feature in games as it can force a player to grind through mobs to get a better weapon rather than going through quests and actually enjoying the flow of the game.

Also I have read a lot about this game and this is the first I have seen of this. Like you said the dev team hasn't mentioned it before. Hence my surprise. Fallout and Planescape had random drops of static items.

I don't know why people jump to obviously silly conclusions like you just did, Strait.

"Hello Pot, this is kettle, you're black."

 

[Sol Invictus]

I don't think that the game is going to force you to grind to accumulate weapons, Strait. As he mentioned, ordinary weapons are random spawns, but the rare/unique items are pre-generated. If you have an ordinary weapon, chances are, you won't be using it for long.

 

[StraitLacedDeviant]

I don't think that the game is going to force you to grind to accumulate weapons, Strait. As he mentioned, ordinary weapons are random spawns, but the rare/unique items are pre-generated.

Like I said, by randomly created I didn't think he meant randomly spawned, rather a system akin to Sacred. Glad to hear thats not the case.

 

[Ausir]

They will be ordinary weapons, not magic ones at all, so they won't have any super stats or features to randomize. Witcher is not D&D or Lionheart where everyone has uber magic items.

 

[StraitLacedDeviant]

They will be ordinary weapons, not magic ones at all, so they won't have any super stats or features to randomize. Witcher is not D&D or Lionheart where everyone has uber magic items.

Thats why I was looking forward to it, that comment set me a little wary, my bad for taking it up wrong. Many happy feelings again.

 

[Ausir]

I think the only random stats you'll see on the random weapons are going to be because it's either "rusty dagger" or "quality dagger" etc.

 

[suibhne]

I remain skeptical about the combat clickery, but this game otherwise has me mildly excited. The graphics are (surprisingly) gorgeous, the setting seems interesting, and the emphasis on story is damn refreshing. Color me cautiously optimistic!

 

[dunduks]

I hope they manage to get the gritty setting and the feel from the books right. Otherwise it looks very good as it stands now.

 

[Crazy Tuvok]

"The system is designed in such a way that both inexperienced players and hardcore cRPG fans will find it enjoyable. Thanks to user-friendly interface and intuitive step-by-step tutorial, players will find the system easy to grasp in all its depth."

I know the interview is basically a PR piece, but can game devs/spokespeople/yammer monkeys please stop saying this. It just isn't true. Ok I am sure there are exeptions that someone will point out, but no game comes to mind that satisfied my hardcore RPG impulses if it kept the newb in mind. I have no problem with a simplifed system per se (tho I prefer complex or deep ones) but the system that appeals to everyone - those who love to read 200 pg manuals and understand how all the numbers get crunched and how morale or whatever works etc, and those who want to just fire up the game and play does not exist. And the bastard mutant hybrid mushed together systems are always the worst of all possible worlds.
Hopefully it is just PR intended not to scare off potential consumers. I stress the *hope* part here.

 

[Sol Invictus]

It can't be harder than Fallout, and I played that when I was 13 with no prior RPG experience. I could never get into games like Daggerfall because of the draconian manuals, poor interfaces, unnecessary complications like 'morale' and redundant hotkeys.

Streamlining > Derek Smart-esque bullshit

To further elucidate, to this day, I refuse to play a game with god-awful graphs, pie charts, unnecessary calculations, complicated micromanagement, unintuitive hotkeys, and everything that the sadists who created MOO3 can come up with. There's no fun or point in trying to memorize a bunch of keys for a game that'll likely last only a couple of hours.

 

[Crazy Tuvok]

I mistated my case a little. I am not talking about needlessly complex systems or games that are basicaly spreadsheets (tho I have yet to encounter this even in games where that was a complaint - as I said I like that kind of stuff). I am talking about something more akin to Diablo - pick it up and play it vs even the complexity level of FO or ToEE or JA2 - which aint all that complex.

I like huge manuals and I find things like morale far from an unnecessary complication. Different tastes is all I guess. I don't remember the last time or if I have ever complained about a game being too complex or having too many variables etc. I get a kick out of that kind of stuff. Maybe cuz I started my RPG life with tabletop where all that shit is all over the place. Just makes it more fun for me.

As I said, I don't mind a simple system I just don't like it when devs are trying to please everyone - they usually end up with pleasing no one.