Interview Witcher interview at TVG

[Vault Dweller]

Tags: CD Projekt; Witcher, The

<a href=http://www.totalvideogames.com>Total Video Games</a> has posted a 3-page <a href=http://www.totalvideogames.com/pages/articles/index.php?article_id=7008>interview</a> with <a href=http://www.thewitcher.com/>The Witcher</a>'s developers.
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<blockquote>During the game, our hero will learn Forms - the basic elements of Witcher's art of fighting, each of them with specific purposes and effects (both positive and negative). Those Forms can then be combined into whole Sequences of attacks that compound the effects of particular Forms. The player has to choose such a Sequence that will allow him to utilize his opponent's weaknesses and at the same time make it impossible for the foe to utilize his strengths.
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Preparing a good Sequence is one thing, employing it in practice is something completely different. While attacks are triggered in a simple point&click manner, the problem lies not in making a given cut or slash, but in doing it perfectly. Only ideal timing of consecutive attacks will result in the occurrence of the desired effect - that's where the player's own manual dexterity comes into play.</blockquote>
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That kinda sucks. I hope that the story is good, at least.
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[Fresh]

"Form-combining" could be fun - but only if the controls are tight.

Btw those screens looks impressive.

THIS is like ALOT:
What will in your opinion distinguish the world you're creating?
The Witcher's world's strongest points are its originality and authenticity - it was created by Andrzej Sapkowski in his writing and we are doing everything we can to best render its character in our game. Of course, as any fantasy world, this one is also a figment of imagination, full of magic, incredible creatures and enchanting places; very different, however, are the 'persons' (including elves, dwarves, and even vampires) that people this world. They can truly be called 'flesh and blood' characters, for they do not serve some arcane notions of Good or Evil and are not standard paper dolls with no feelings - they have real human shortcomings, weaknesses and lusts. This is a world in which a monster-hunter can befriend an ancient vampire, and a teenage murdering wench save the whole continent. (Madej)

Hmm reading this interview makes me wanna go read some Sapkowski's novels.

 

[Sol Invictus]

Yeah, dammit. I wanna read his novels but none of them have been translated into English.

 

[Fresh]

This is a great (old) screenshot/image:
http://www.totalvideogames.com/tvgadmin ... /38438.jpg
I mean, how many games features screens of nipple-flashing, cut-up, running women? So what if its kinda blocky. I give it 9,5/10 for originality and political incorrectness.

EDIT: Also notice the bruise on the inner thigh, I guess they arent trying to market this to the conservative christians over in da states.

 

[Sol Invictus]

I believe she is a princess who escaped being raped or something.

 

[suibhne]

Geralt is the main character of the books, yes? I thought I recalled CD Projekt stating that the PC would not be Geralt but rather a different witcher, so I was surprised to see this interview reveal the opposite. On the other hand, I don't know enough about the setting to care one way or the other, really - other than my general irritation at the "powerful character suffers cataclysmic event and loses all his/her abilities and powers" cliche (even if it ends up being handled effectively in this case).

The screenies still look great; it's amazing to think that these use the same engine as NWN. I don't have high expectations, but I'm definitely looking forward to this.

 

[Fresh]

...

Okay, here's a question for those of you with insight in the gaming biz. I hope some1 answers this, cuz I really wanna know. How come more devs arent reasoning like this guy & buy a license instead of doing it all themselves? From da interview:

In the beginning, we wanted - as most companies do - to develop our own technology, but we realized in time what a complicated and drawn-out process this required. We also understood that what is most important is the content and not the technology - a rich and interesting world, well-developed characters, immersing storyline, that's what makes an RPG valuable. Technology is only a tool that helps us obtain this goal and that's why we decided to buy a license for Aurora and not to further develop our own engine.

Why would u want to develop your own tech from scratch? Just like he says whats most important is the CONTENT.

Its just seems strange to me that we have so many companies all busy developing their own engines. Why not go with whats available (with some mods) and focus on the content of the game? (BTW Witcher looks damn good visually from the screens, so that cant be the reason)

Writers arent trying to invent the pen & paper everytime they want to write a story, so why should game devs do that?

 

[Vault Dweller]

Why would u want to develop your own tech from scratch? Just like he says whats most important is the CONTENT.

I don't have the insight required to answer the question properly, but based on my own experience, somebody else's technology forces you to do things a certain way, which is fine if that's what you want, or a pain if you don't. Workarounds are possible but they are often more complicated than designing a new engine from scratch.

 

[Sol Invictus]

I think they might have designed their own graphics engine based on Aurora instead of using the one that comes with it, which would explain why the game looks totally different. It doesn't even use tiles.

 

[Oyarsa]

Ignorance is not recognized among the ignorant

TVG: Who will be the hero of the game, and what are some of the tasks and challenges he'll have to face?

The hero of our game is the Witcher Geralt - a monster-slayer of legendary fame and abilities, though perhaps not as good a reputation. Some parts of the world see him as a hero, others as a butcher and murderer, but everyone believes him to be dead; rumour has it that he was killed during the Rivia uprising. What is more, he himself remembers nothing and knows not what caused his 'resurrection'... Before the player uncovers this mystery, he'll have to learn many abilities anew, save some friends, reclaim the Witchers' secrets and slay numerous monsters... For the right price, of course. (Madej)

Ah yes, nothing quite like the ol' soap opera amnesia trick. That certainly bodes well for riveting storytelling.

EDIT: Also notice the bruise on the inner thigh, I guess they arent trying to market this to the conservative christians over in da states.

Being that this is the codex someone's always posting out of ignorance. Did you draw the lot this time?

 

[suibhne]

Its just seems strange to me that we have so many companies all busy developing their own engines. Why not go with whats available (with some mods) and focus on the content of the game?

Using someone else's tech can require an incredible number of person-hours to adapt to your own design goals, which is a downside I've seen frequently mentioned in project post-mortems.

I also question the very premise of your enquiry, good sir. :!: Seriously, are you sure that using in-house tech is the rule rather than the exception? I have no idea of the actual ratio in the industry, but I'm willing to bet there are many titles you didn't even know were using licensed tech. The original Half-Life, for example, was a licensee; Star Trek: Elite Force and American McGee's Alice licensed the same engine; the Gamebryo engine powers recent and upcoming games like Morrowind, Sid Meier's Pirates!, Dark Age of Camelot, Playboy: The Mansion, Freedom Force, and Kohan 2. Let's not forget all of the Infinity Engine games, nor should we miss the fact that two of the biggest single-player RPGs of 2004/5 are licensees - Vampire: Bloodlines and Arx Fatalis 2. (Granted, it's a pretty sparse stable. ) And don't miss the fact that even games with original graphics engines, like HL2, may license other tech to power parts of their game: HL2's much-lauded physics are built upon the licensed Havok physics engine. That physics engine, in fact, was also licensed for Max Payne 2, Thief: Deadly Shadows, Freelancer, Painkiller, URU: Ages Beyond Myst, Middle Earth Online, Destroy All Humans, MoH: Pacific Assault, and others.

Licensed tech is used right and left in this industry, perhaps even in the majority of released titles.

 

[Elwro]

Geralt is the main character of the books, yes? I thought I recalled CD Projekt stating that the PC would not be Geralt but rather a different witcher, so I was surprised to see this interview reveal the opposite.

Yeah, there was a controversy about that on the Polish boards. It seems the designers changed their mind. I suspect that Sapkowski wanted to keep Geralt intact for himself to use him in later books (although the saga is finished and he never said he would write anything about Geralt again; right now he's writing the third part of a very interesting trilogy about Hussites), but eventually let him go.

It's good that the screenshots are nice because I got a really ugly christmas card from CDProjekt with some kind of concept art depicting Geralt (a colour version of a picture posted on their website sometime ago). I mean, it's quite nice that I got a card from them and that it had an autograph of one of the designers, but I think they could've tried harder with the drawing.

 

[Fresh]

Yeah, there was a controversy about that on the Polish boards. It seems the designers changed their mind. I suspect that Sapkowski wanted to keep Geralt intact for himself to use him in later books (although the saga is finished and he never said he would write anything about Geralt again; right now he's writing the third part of a very interesting trilogy about Hussites), but eventually let him go.

Elwro you seen any info on them boards/elsewhere about an eventual (english) translation of Sapkowski's novels?

Being that this is the codex someone's always posting out of ignorance. Did you draw the lot this time? Wink

Not that I think this is going somewhere, but what exactly am I ignorant of? Enlight me, willya.

I also question the very premise of your enquiry, good sir.

Ya maybe, it might be so. Maybe some1 with insight in the gaming biz knows more on this issue. Maybe its ridiculously expensive to license engines?

 

[Vault Dweller]

Gamebryo costs 50k per title per platform plus 25k/year maintenance. Lithtech Jupiter goes for 10k per user per title, etc

 

[dunduks]

Yeah, there was a controversy about that on the Polish boards. It seems the designers changed their mind. I suspect that Sapkowski wanted to keep Geralt intact for himself to use him in later books (although the saga is finished and he never said he would write anything about Geralt again; right now he's writing the third part of a very interesting trilogy about Hussites), but eventually let him go.

I would rather see the continuation about what happened to Zirael, rather than Geralt - since Geralt's story was finished quite nicely.

Elwro you seen any info on them boards/elsewhere about an eventual (english) translation of Sapkowski's novels?

I dont know about english, but according to this, his books have been translated to Czech, Russian, Lithuanian and German.

 

[Elwro]

[Elwro you seen any info on them boards/elsewhere about an eventual (english) translation of Sapkowski's novels?

No, unfortunately not. I think that IF the game sells well some international publisher might be interested in translating the books, not the other way round.

 

[Oyarsa]

Sincerity can be lost in the written and in the codex.

Being that this is the codex someone's always posting out of ignorance. Did you draw the lot this time? Wink

Not that I think this is going somewhere, but what exactly am I ignorant of? Enlight me, willya.

Since you asked so nicely, do you have an accurate and viable definition for

conservative christians over in da states

for that matter do you have knowledge based on direct and substantial experience, or do you shun the empirical?

 

[Ausir]

I dont know about english, but according to this, his books have been translated to Czech, Russian, Lithuanian and German.

French, Spanish and Slovakian too, according to Wikipedia (ok. I wrote it) .