The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (2015) [ANA KONU] (6. sayfa)

A bit bigger, a little fancier, to 'a handful of new features on top of it - it wouldn't need much more to please the Witcher fans, but CD project has other plans for The Witcher 3. They don't just want to repeat the success of the second part, but surpass it so radical than the previous work that ones seem like better tutorials. That something can go wrong, CD Projekt does know that, there are sufficiently chilling examples of bloated sequels. To prove that behind The Witcher 3 is more than just an obsession, CD project provided us with a visit with some developers. Included in the package: an early, but already great executable build of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.
Marek Ziemak, gameplay producer, begins to speak: "Our dream was to combine a story heavyweight like The Witcher 2 with a completely open world, of course, we knew that this would be really difficult.". Maciej Szczesnik, senior gameplay designer sets, according to eagerly: "We believe that this has no one ever tried yet."
"That's why we change our philosophy, our goal a little", continues Marek. "We're still making a dark, story-intensive game, but it's just now also an open Word Game - and that affects every aspect of the game."

Geralt's last adventure
The Witcher 3 will be the final chapter of CD project RPG trilogy - the grand finale around the white-haired mutant and monster slayer Geralt of Rivia. The developer promises a more personal story, dealing again with more Geralt himself and thereby clarify many questions should, after part 2 had more political issues and power games between the Northern Kingdoms. The foundation of this lavishly decked mythology is again the Witcher series of novels by Andrzej Sapkowski. As with its predecessors, the Polish author was not directly involved in the game again, so the story comes back completely from CD Projekt.
After the exhausting events of The Witcher 3 Geralt has regained his memory and is on the run to finally fulfill his heart's desire: Geralt wants to rescue his great love, the sorceress Yennefer, from the clutches of the mysterious wild hunt - those ghostly horsemen, already appeared in its predecessors and are now playing a central role in Geralt's last adventure. And as befits a good Witcher game, Geralt search will pull also far-reaching consequences for the country, its people and the political network between the nations after themselves - tricky choices and consequences are therefore still the guidelines in The Witcher 3.
Therefore the authors of CD project also prepares an exciting stage: As indicated in the finals of the previous games the war is going on in The Witcher 3. The power-hungry empire of Nilfgaard is again invading the Northern Kingdoms and scatter there terror. All this is done independently of the decisions that have been made ​​in the second part: It is true that PC gamers can import their old save game, but that has rather an impact on secondary characters (like Geralt's part-time girlfriend Triss Merigold), but not on the overall story.
The reason: The Witcher 3 plays in three all-new zones, in which the events of its predecessor are just minor. One of these is No Man's Land, a desolate land, which is reminiscent of the outer areas of the first part - here are the terrible consequences of war be particularly visible. Geralt will also visit the huge city Novigrad, the largest city in Sapkowski book. The third major game area is Skellige Islands, an island group, recalls the strong Nordic-harsh climate, with its Viking tribes in the setting of Skyrim. Here begins our gameplay presentation.

At the beginning of the demo the witcher is still in the woods, in the literal sense: Around Geralt himself nicely sculpted trees lined up facing dim light falls through the canopy, detailed bushes and grasses adorn the lavishly textured soil. The graphics are so far "only" like beautiful as in The Witcher 2, but that will soon change: CD project is currently working to make the engine fit for DX11 and to add as many effects and enhancements, so you should recognize the game at release next year barely anymore. But even now, with the old DX9 renderer, the graphics make a very good impression. Even the weather system contributes to the dense atmosphere: Fine realistic animated snow whirls through the air and clouds are so believable in the dark sky along that we assume that it could erupt at any moment a storm (which would incidentally actually possible). As Geralt of a cliff rising and wander from there your gaze, we have to fight the temptation to snatch the developers of hand mouse and keyboard: Before Geralt extends to a vast empire. The tremendous foresight gives a view to distant forests and mountains, all of which are reachable for the hero. The game world of The Witcher 3, namely first freely explorable, there are no levels, acts defined zones or more. And is not it all: "Our game world is about 30- to 40-times bigger than The Witcher 2," Marek says proudly. We throw doubting glances to the young man, but he is unimpressed by that: "Such comparisons are, of course, never really exactly, but on the current state of our world it is about 30 percent bigger than Skyrim"
Thus, Geralt doesn't get his heel sore, there are now mounts in The Witcher 3, which can travel much faster at greater distances. Horses can either be bought from merchants or just search for a wild horse in the nature, you can tame it with the conviction Axii-spell that was already introduced in earlier Witcher games. But even without a mount Geralt is now much more flexible and dynamic on the move, because the control has been completely redesigned: Geralt can climb and jump the first time, artificial boundaries as in the previous game are no more.

Three different epilogues
While Geralt on the back of his (still bumpy animated) little horse rides through the woods, we see that much more life is into the game world than before. We spot wandering wild animals, you can hunt, for example, to gain leather, which can then exchange at face value to traders. We also meet on NPCs that might ask us for help, such as when once again attacking a bandit group or a predator furor in the flock of a shepherd - such events will dynamically appear in the game world, without ready-made scripts. Also, it is different than in previous it will be always possible to return to former places. You might want to even ignore parts of the main quest, because that decision is considered and will affect the outcome of the story. Apropos: The game will culminate in three epilogues which include one hour each time. Furthermore 36 different "states" of the world are planned - depending on Geralt's decisions the war against Nilfgaard will run differently. But CD project already claimed strongly the same thing in The Witcher 2 with diverse courses of action, even though the game just end up significantly weakened, those promises have yet to be treated with caution.

100 hours Quests
A large game world alone does not satisfy one, because it must be well filled. Reluctantly we remember some areas in The Witcher 2, which turned out quite big and beautiful, but also sorely empty. So that in The Witcher 3 not go wrong, CD project now promises all interesting places in the game world, which are often already make out from a distance. For example, we see in our presentation, a lighthouse on the horizon - there we could now ride and look around for enemies and treasures, but especially by motivating quests, because of which it is intended, according to CD Projekt gives much more than its predecessors: set 50 hours the developers only for the main story to be added, there are 50 hours of side quests with dialogues, characters and decisions. The latter are to confront the player as usual morally tricky situations, which reveal the consequence of a decision often later. A faction system à la Skyrim or Fallout: New Vegas is not planned, however, because that would not fit the hero always neutral.

Cinematic dialogues
Even the new horse is not always enough to traverse the game world comfortably. So there's also a quick-travel system that works much like in Skyrim: Just select on the outline map the goal, once clicked and Geralt is there - we didn't notice any loading times, thanks to the new streaming technology the game world is loaded in a jiffy. Convenient: For each place, the map also displays the same one all active quests that Geralt has to meet there. In our presentation of the hero already follows a mission that leads him to a magnificent fortress. No detours he studied there in the lords, a burly Jaarl, with the witcher apparently combines a deep friendship. The dialogue between the men is like in The Witcher set to music two great and glorious consuming agree, but the staging of this time is much better: The conversation is shown from various perspectives and with little camera movement, and also the figures now show more believable animation - the whole thing looks as a cut scene, but it is an interactive dialogue. Only the facial animations still look pretty rigid, so that should be revised sharply to the release. Marek said: "dialogues and cutscenes are really important to us. Usually there is nothing like this in any open-world game. "
The Jaarl has a job for us: Geralt should locate Hjalmar, the prodigal son of the Viking Prince. The offspring went off in order to acquire a reputation as a tough guy, because only then the other Jaarls of the Skellige Island will accept him as the new king. Geralt, quite the hero takes on the task of course, and goes on a search for clues about Hjalmar's whereabouts. His journey takes him to a nearby village, where residents like to pursue their day's work: NPC exercise professions, talk, warming themselves by the fire, or lie down at night in their beds. New: This time, the residents react to theft - if Geralt so once again makes the long finger and is caught, call NPC guards to help, or perhaps even grab a weapon. Bloodthirsty Players may restrain immediately: It will not be possible to lynch innocent or exterminate entire villages, because that would just would not fit Geralt's character.

Among drinkers
The witcher enters the local tavern, without loading times or annoying doors, as they were still in The Witcher 2. In the well-attended restaurant he chats with a garrulous navigator named Himli. The drunkard bugs our hero with his endless stories, but after a couple of strong beers, the man displays helpful and is a friendly information source: Hjalmar had embarked on an enchanted island, in order to earn his spurs in the fight - but he never returned from there. Before Geralt leaves the drunken Himli, he presents him a magic horn, which protects the witcher on his journey from sea spirits - because now Geralt sets his first venture out to sea.

Boatswain Geralt
The night has now fallen. With the horn in his luggage Geralt marched through the village down to the docks. He grabs the first-best boat, he can find, and it cruises out to sea. Geralt could, mind you, in principle, also swim, but in this icy region he would immediately freeze to death in that ice-cold water. The water looks in this early demo version not too realistic, but it is already pretty animated and fits okay in the harmonious overall picture. In general, this is the most atmospheric part of the entire presentation: While Geralt steers his boat on a calm sea, a large galley pasts him. From the hull of the ship's rudder drown throats rough men who sing in the night strong shanty. As if that was not enough atmosphere, mixes suddenly quieter whale song in the voices of the sailors - shortly thereafter raises the flipper of a huge marine mammal from the water. She shines in the moonlight, as if she was waving to us, and then disappears into the dark sea. Even those magnificent moments in the final game to not be scripted.

A mutant for clues
Geralt with his boat reached within minutes the desired island, lost where Hjalmar went. There, the Witcher follows a road inland, exploring the area - and is only a little later find: Along the way are garments, weapons and body parts especially. In addition, a dead man impaled in a tree top. Geralt, in his role as a monster hunter, a kind of fantasy detective, now uses his mutant senses to investigate the crime scene. Here is a new feature in The Witcher 3 being used: By pressing a button, the picture is painted gray, while important hotspots are highlighted in the area. The more information we shall analyze, the more Geralt will accurately determine which beast has raged here. Geralt should now decide to hunt the monster, he would have the necessary information to prepare for the fight - for example, what weapons he carry, what armor he should wear and in particular what potions he should drink. The time of day plays a role against a werewolf, one should not, for example, compete it at midnight, otherwise it will be sorely uncomfortable, even for a witcher. Maciej tells us more: "We have always had a day-and-night cycle in our games. In The Witcher 3 it will be the first time the day cycle will also affect the state values ​​of some opponents. Also, there are secrets in the game world that can be only discovered during a particular time of day or certain weather -. A magical door could, for example, only open at night in the pouring rain "The hunting of monsters is not just a embellishment, but Geralt's main source of income in The Witcher 3: By hunting beasts on behalf of needy NPCs, he will not only get small change, but also valuable reagents and substances. With which he can brew potions and craft rare new equipment at craftsmen. For the crafting Geralt has to find crafting recipes, but this time he can work with different materials - leather armor made from animal skins, for example, is not nearly as cool as one that was made with dragon scales.

Organschänder (Organ Grinder?!)
Witcher Geralt senses are not only used for the analysis of crime scenes, it comes in combat as new game mechanics. Marek grins: "This is one of my favorite features," Unfortunately, the new system is not yet ready for action, because it is currently in the works, but the developers explain the theory: In the fight you should be able to enable a kind of slow-motion, where you can target specific areas of an opponent. Once you leave the mode, Geralt then executes the selected attacks, including brutal animations. For example, Geralt can shred the venom glands of a vampire or pierce the internal organs of a monster, so as to eliminate its regeneration abilities. A similar mechanism is also used in human opponents used: Geralt can for example hit the sign out of his hand or cripple their legs of predators or enemy soldiers, to make the opponent immobile. We also revised the AI ​​of the enemies: they will cooperate among each other and will surrender, if Geralt appears too overpowering.

Less stress, more tactics
But also at other points the combat system is revised sharply - this particularly affects Geralt improved impact animations, specially for the CD project, a new motion capture studio has created. the developers just shows us the results: Like in the predecessors there will be again light and heavy attacks that you perform with an iron or silver sword. But here instead of stringing together several fencing movements automatically, now every click is now a single sword strike. This should be easier for the player to deploy combos effectively and still keep moving and being flexible -the player can now estimate the length of the battle animations much simplier. "This makes the fights more exciting and tactical," says Maciej. We also like the new combat pace well: instead of in The Witcher 2 dodge constantly and frantically to roll through the area, Geralt is now a bit more controlled. In addition, the camera moves in the fighting this time further back, to provide a better overview on the opponent.

Old characters, new action
In his quest for Hjalmar Geralt is attacked suddenly from a horde of small crustaceans - these new opponents places the developers describe as "swarms". To cope with the killer shrimp, Geralt is using Igni, which now works as a kind of flamethrower: The fries are not only reliable stream of fire the enemy out of the way, but it's also worth seeing the surrounding vegetation on fire. Besides Igni there are also the rest and known magic signs from the predecessors, such as the pressure wave Aard, the trap Yrden. New: In The Witcher 3 you will now use those signs in different ways and they can be expanded.

Finale: The Ice Giant
Geralt's scavenger hunt on the island leads him to a cave, where we can expect the final presentation. The stalactite cave Geralt finally finds the hapless Hjalmar, who was locked in a cage. "Bring him to yes! He's mine! Set me free! "Hisses us to the Son of Jaarls. Only then will we understand we are talking Hjalmar: In the middle of the cave, stretched out on the stone floor, sleeps a huge, bearded guy - an Ice Giant, against Hjalmar apparently had no chance. Geralt now like so many before a momentous choice: he could slay the sleeping giant safely asleep, but that would hurt Hjalmar's reputation with the Vikings tribes undoubtedly. The trickier alternative: He freed the son of Jaarls and helps him defeat the Ice Giant in single combat - and it happens even in our presentation. The boss fight that follows is not scripted, no quick time events, the developers plan to completely eliminate them. Instead, CD Projekt has screwed firmly on the enemy AI: If the giant is not using his weapon - a massive anchor on a heavy chain, he also uses the environment in combat. He can bang on the walls and whizzing down sharpened stalactites from the stalactite ceiling. In a forest, such a fight should have been different, for there the giant would rather uproot trees and hurl after our hero - that always depends on what the environment offers as a weapon. That may sound cool, but in practice the combat runs still quite usual: a bit of dodge, to hew a little, even the enemy is on the ground. Quest solved giant dead, Hjalmar saved-the end of our presentation.

Geralt long way
In an interview with CD Projekt we learn the first details on the character development: In The Witcher 3 will be seen more in the character sheet statistics - values ​​such as impact strength, hit points, stamina regeneration, and other attributes should also be clearer than in the predecessor. After you improve Geralt level rises again over several talent trees, in which the player known areas - expanding - swordsmanship, alchemy and magic. Also mutagens, there will be, they are gaining about the monster hunting. However, they now fulfill a different function: It In The Witcher 3, mutagens flexible in three slots on and replace each of them and granted Geralt a new, active special ability. The development of the hero should also take a long time: The level cap is currently set to 60, and only those who diligently do side quests will get to the maximum. CD Project emphasizes that The Witcher 3 is an action-driven game. This means you earn experience points, especially on quests, not about the constant killing from the same monster. Good news: The levels of the opponents do not adapt to Geralt's character level, so there will be a lot of enemies in the game world, where Geralt is not initially grown. CD Projekt praises here especially the Gothic series as a successful model.

Next Gen
The Witcher 3 will not appear until 2014, and that at the same time for PC and for the next generation of consoles. That takes quite long yet, but at least then the old PS3 and Xbox 360 consoles are no longer relevant and may hinder the development of the game in any way. CD Projekt strongly expects to drive future PC hardware to their limits. In addition, the developers promise to give the interface of the PC version this time more attention - for example, currently are two different user interfaces built, one for gamepads and a huge extra for PCs. One game world, 100 hours of quests, brand new AI, tens of different decision moments - CD Projekt has done so much in that one, given the things that could go wrong here, very dizzy. But Marek is confident: "It is the last part of our trilogy - there has to be everything right."