For the tens of people with 4K capabilities, I guess Alessandro’s article from last week was interesting. But today I’m faced with an even bigger challenge, writing enough words for Geoff not to beat me, all about one imagine that CD Projekt Red has decided to release in the wild. Challenge accepted!
Here is the single image that was released via twitter:
To the casual observer, you might think that this is just an image of the environment but let’s pull it apart and find way more, shall we?
To begin with, as a sign of emergent gameplay, we have some kind of buck emerging from the woods. Remember, each form of wild life has its own AI. This buck could be fleeing a predator or foraging for food. If you kill it, the smell of blood may lure nearby monsters to the area as well.
Similarly detailed and uniquely designed is the movement of birds. Are they simply migrating, or perhaps they were scared off from their previous resting place. You’ll notice that they are all flying in the same direction – perhaps to flee the Wild Hunt?
The Witcher 3 is highly anticipated and we’re really excited for this game. I’m not really sure that showing us one screenshot at a time will get people particularly amped, but I suppose CD Projeckt Red knows what they’re doing. The game is going to be massive and I think that they are just trying to show the scale of it all – anything you can see, you can go to. So even those mountains in the distance are accessible, if you’re willing to travel that far. Still, I’d rather that they release more images of combat or monster designs; those are the ones that I find most informative and intriguing. I suppose with only a couple months to go until release, I must just be patient for the final product.
Last Updated: March 23, 2015
Admiral Chief
March 23, 2015 at 08:35
Beat you as in winning or beat you because you were naughty?
O_O
Ranting Raptor
March 23, 2015 at 08:41
dat castle…. I want to explore it…..
Hammersteyn
March 23, 2015 at 08:48
I want to explore the women….
Ir0nseraph
March 23, 2015 at 08:52
XD
Loftus
March 23, 2015 at 08:53
women ? WOMEN ? YOU Lied to me…
*sobs in the corner
Admiral Chief
March 23, 2015 at 08:56
Good, you are already in the corner!
Loftus
March 23, 2015 at 08:58
Master Admiral Chief likes it in the corner
Admiral Chief
March 23, 2015 at 08:58
Vinger op mond, hand op kop! En DRAAI OM!
Loftus
March 23, 2015 at 09:00
Byt die kussing Pappa sit hom in droog ? bwahahaha
Admiral Chief
March 23, 2015 at 09:01
You will have to ask Hammersteyn, he is in the corner with you…
Loftus
March 23, 2015 at 09:05
No please noooo!!! you know what he does to people!!!
Admiral Chief
March 23, 2015 at 09:12
I’ll see what I can do, but I can’t promise anything. He is already so excited, and it is hard to calm him down when he gets like this…
Loftus
March 23, 2015 at 09:25
it is hard ?!?!
*runs 😛
Admiral Chief
March 23, 2015 at 09:26
Think “concrete”
I’ll hold him back for as long as I can! The chains can only hold him back for so long!
RUN LOFTUS RUUUUN
Hammersteyn
March 23, 2015 at 09:32
Or men, I’m openminded like that
Admiral Chief
March 23, 2015 at 09:42
Run Loftus, RUUUUNNNN
hexadecimal255
March 23, 2015 at 21:21
What just happened?
Patron_of_Gaming876
March 23, 2015 at 13:34
It has to be Kaer Morhen. That’s where witchers from the school of the wolf go to train.
Captain JJ the damned
March 23, 2015 at 08:42
My body is ready.
Admiral Chief
March 23, 2015 at 08:45
Same here, can’t wait
Ranting Raptor
March 23, 2015 at 08:43
The more I see of the Witcher the more I actually want to play it…..
If it’s everything they claim to be. I remember how excited I got about Oblivion’s “Radiant AI” system and how it fell way short of my expectations.
I am worried the same will be true with this kind of AI where birds would flee from something in the distance that you may or may not even come across. Having such a living world excites me but I really fear it’s going to fall very short of what is promised. Because cynical.
Admiral Chief
March 23, 2015 at 08:44
All the delays for “polishing” seem to be worth it (I hope)
Ranting Raptor
March 23, 2015 at 08:45
I really do hope so too. This may be my AAA “early purchase” for the year (and by early I mean at least a month after release just to be sure and not waiting for a special on Steam)
Admiral Chief
March 23, 2015 at 08:47
I’ve got my GoG download taunting me…
Hammersteyn
March 23, 2015 at 08:47
Do it!
Captain JJ the damned
March 23, 2015 at 08:52
Do iiiiit
Hammersteyn
March 23, 2015 at 08:47
Like how they’re polishing GTA?
*Runs
Admiral Chief
March 23, 2015 at 08:48
Well, Mythbusters proved that you CAN polish a turd, just takes time 😛
Hammersteyn
March 23, 2015 at 08:48
XD
Loftus
March 23, 2015 at 08:51
they are polishing a different kind of knob in GTA!
Hammersteyn
March 23, 2015 at 08:53
Oh noes. here comes the aussies with the ban hammer.
Captain JJ the damned
March 23, 2015 at 08:51
The nice thing is that they’ve gotten us so used to waiting that we’re now just going to wait until the sale to buy GTA V. 🙂
Hammersteyn
March 23, 2015 at 08:53
Make sure all you’re friends do. Heists are crap without them
Captain JJ the damned
March 23, 2015 at 08:55
I have PayDay 2 for heists. 😀
I only know one person who’s actually buying GTA V at all anyway. The pc folk don’t seem to be too amped for it.
Gareth Smith
March 23, 2015 at 13:32
your*
*Runs
Hammersteyn
March 23, 2015 at 13:38
Oh snap!
Loftus
March 23, 2015 at 08:50
Geoff : ” Write article about Witcher 3 and make the internet monkeys go wild! ” *cracks whip*
Zoe: ” yes master Igor obeys” *writes article and puts lots of pretty pictures because she know most can’t read all that well*
Ranting Raptor
March 23, 2015 at 09:23
Sounds like these people need The Derek Zoolander Center For Kids Who Can’t Read Good And Wanna Learn To Do Other Stuff Good Too
Captain JJ the damned
March 23, 2015 at 09:24
Haha. Win.
Loftus
March 23, 2015 at 09:25
nah it’s just me!
m/(^o^)m/
Ryanza
March 23, 2015 at 08:52
A bit of a long one. But all the new info revealed over the weekend by Gamestar who got to play the game for 2 days, no restrictions.
-you cannot enter every house in Novigrad but it’s cleverly masked if you can’t enter one
-no button for opening doors anymore, all doors are swinging doors
-extremely lively interiors, every interior tells a different story
fluid gameplay on 1080p with everything on maximum +nvidia hairworks on GTX 980 -> looks insanely good for an open world game
-two big cities with Novigrad and Oxenfurt (which is really big as well)
-there are towns in the game of the same size of Flotsam
-cities have a realistic eco-system and surroundings with real suburb parts in which craftsmen are located like in medieval times
-last active skill-slot at level 50, level cap could be even higher
-relationsships to women feel organic
-whole world feels quite realisitic and organic
-gameplay feels very good and fluid
-diving is still not optimal in terms of controls, but you can dive everywhere
-gamepad controls are apparently much better than mouse/keyboard according to the journalist (m/k on TW2 level)
-it’s still too easy to rob people, robbing system in general is lacking
-whole game is consequently open world so pacing could be difficult for some
-passages
with Ciri are like a linear action-adventure, not like a RPG, plays
differently and more action-fueled than Geralt’s passages
-side quests are great and each tells its own story with people actually reacting to Geralt
-sound and subtitles can be combined freely from different available languages
-there will definitely be a day-one patch
-high
grade of visual violence with dismemberments with a higher gore-level
than TW1 or TW2, but still feels organic and consistent
-items can be crafted and decomposed
-best items in game must be crafted-
-Novigrad and No man’s land are connected, only seperated maps, only loading time between main land and Skellige
-Novigrad+No man’s land are much bigger than Skyrim alone
-game world can change based on your decisions
-there was indeed no slider or adjustment option for the draw distance/LOD but according to the journalist he was happy with it
-there is the cleverly constructed illusion of a realistic
world but traveling is never boring and there is always something to
discover
-even if you disable markers for quest givers on the map the game gives you audio-visual hints like people screaming for help
-the journalist never had the feeling that the world is “empty”
-no sudden changes of environments (e.g. desert to humid regions), organic and consistent world
-“sandbox
elements” and random stuff is limited, so no fights of townpeople
against dragons like in Skyrim, you can only influence the world to a
certain level
-in one instance when the journalist encountered a pack of
wolves on horseback some wolves attacked the fleeing horse after Geralt
descended (the horse flees instead of fighting against enemies like in
Skyrim), so there is at least some environment interaction with enemies
-as
far as the journalist has experienced it there will be little to no
enemy respawning, enemies haven returned during his two days in the game
-the game is open world but actually almost everything is “controlled” and “planned” by the developers
-early in
the game you visit a town that was visited by the Wild Hunt -> they
“froze” the whole town and turned it into a winter environment
-many things are commented by Geralt e.g. when he tracks down leads with the Witcher senses
-mutagens can be very powerful, like 40% damage enhancer for signs
-very different enemy types that feel and play differently
-no “clone” NPCs, every NPC in Novigrad for example looks differently
-every potion and bomb must only brewed/crafted once
-potions have different quality levels, can be improved, e.g. Swallow can offer more healing and more slots
-crafting is extensive
-you can for example increase the inventory limitations of
your horse by crafting bigger saddle bags but you must actually go to
your horse to be able to have access to these bags
every region has its own color setting and feel
-clouds cast shadows
-bad weather like storms can happen everywhere
-game loading time is extremely short on the high-end PC
-saving and loading times are also extremely short
-some huge buildings and story-relevant special areas have loading times, normal buildings not
-story branching in quests is excessive and impressive with
not always “transparent” or easily visible effects, for example one
quest had six “decisive” elements that could have gone down in a
different way if the journalist behaved differently
-“it will be impossible to play Witcher 3 two times in exactly the same way”
-different
to Bioware games dialogue options are not “obvious” and every
possibility makes kind of sense, no sign whether an answer is “good” or
“bad”, only quest relevant options are marked (opposite to chatter and
non-quest related dialogue options)
-due to the complex way of story branching it’s difficult to
find times and locations where “things went wrong” if you want to
develop your game in a different way
-Ghwent is awesome according to the journalist, great design and entertaining
-fist fighting is without QTEs now, it’s just like normal fighting with hard and fast strikes and such
-there are now negotiations for quest rewards like bargaining for a monster hunt (before and after quests?)
-there
are horseraces similar to RDR, biggest focus on stamina management
during races, you can even buy better saddles for horseraces
-every item you choose is visible on Geralt’s ingame model
-you
can enter and play whatever region you want but you get hints where to
start by your main quest (e.g. search Ciri in Novigrad’s surroundings)
if you want enemies that are on a similar level to yourself, but it’s up
to the player how he wants to progress
-soundtrack was good, but neither really negative nor outstanding, but dynamic and decent, fits to the situation and location
-some reactions from NPCs to things you did, but rather
small comments, journalist admitted that he didn’t play -the game long
enough for probably bigger reactions
-tutorials are integrated into the story/progression and worth the effort due to good dialogues
-resolution on Xbox One will definitely stay at 900p in order to offer a stable performance
-the
game is really immersive and “drags you in”, feels and plays a lot more
fuildly than the predecessors without being less complex
-there
is a chance that they won’t be able to hold the level until the end of
the game (speculation since two days were surely not enough to get to
the end) but the journalist was truly and deeply impressed by what he
saw and played
-journalist reached level 7 after 10-12 hours of playing
-level 23 wyvern was able to kill his Geralt with one blow/shot
-potions are quite important, especially on harder difficulty settings
-gameplay is comparable to Dark Souls, but faster
-there will be a lot more items and loot than in the predecessors
-no completely random quests, hand-made quests with depth instad
-you will be able to visit Kaer Morhen multiple times
-Kaer Morhen and the starting area are quite extensive, both offer at least 4-5 hours of gameplay
-Geralt’s beard will grow over time so you have to visit a barber from time to time if you want him shaved
http://forums.cdprojektred.com/threads/33354-Interviews-and-Articles-2015?p=1571854&viewfull=1
Captain JJ the damned
March 23, 2015 at 08:54
But does someone tell you that no lolligaggin’ is allowed?
Admiral Chief
March 23, 2015 at 08:57
“relationships to women feel organic”
Oh you!
Admiral Chief
March 23, 2015 at 08:57
Growing a beard ingame? Niiiice
Captain JJ the damned
March 23, 2015 at 08:58
Shaving is for girls.
Admiral Chief
March 23, 2015 at 08:58
Bowchikkawowow
Ryanza
March 23, 2015 at 09:03
Seems to me like CD Projekt RED is here to just kill it with The Witcher 3.
The Witcher 3 seems like it’s going to be the best damn game of the year and any year for that matter until Cyberpunk 2077 is released.
There is a day 1 patch but they say you don’t need that day one patch.
Not much bugs where found in those 2 days of play. 3 bugs, one of them a funny one.
No DRM.
16 free dlc.
Over 100 hours of gameplay.
The Ciri part only is longer than The Order 1886
The map is huge. But it doesn’t feel empty. Dense.
Shit I can go on and on…
CD Projekt RED has taken out their dick and slapping the gaming industry in the face with their cock.
Admiral Chief
March 23, 2015 at 09:11
LOOOL
z1n
March 23, 2015 at 09:19
Let’s just hope it doesn’t do an Evolve.
Why the fuck will there be a day 1 patch? I thought CD Projekt GOD were perfect?
Ryanza
March 23, 2015 at 09:30
CD Projekt RED got into bed with Microsoft. To me it seems like day 1 patch is required for all games now a day, whether you need them or not. So that’s my guess to why.
In Badowski’s own words, “we are making the product available on all platforms, including consoles, that can work offline – so the player doesn’t have to download a day one patch to run the game.” To add further assurance that a day one patch probably won’t be necessary, he concluded that future patches will be for “minor repairs, if any at all.”
z1n
March 23, 2015 at 09:37
Eish. Not a fan of Steve Balmers abandoned child. Let’s hope that it doesn’t cause too many problems.
I like that they keep updates to bug fixes/maintenance and hope they will release a DLC pack/expansion later.
Ryanza
March 23, 2015 at 09:44
I don’t think that they will work on an expansion pack. The teams have been working on this one game for years, many late nights and early mornings, crunch time for the last year. Would they really want to work more on a game they have been at for years or move over to Cyberpunk 2077, which we all waiting for. I think the team will want to work on something new.
z1n
March 23, 2015 at 09:48
Well since there’s supposed to be modding I’d hope they will at a later stage. Just something to engage with the modding community a bit. Maybe put some of the crazy/thrown out ideas in or throw in a few easter eggs somewhere.
Ryanza
March 23, 2015 at 09:56
CD Projekt RED is trying to release the most content rich and completed game, as possible. They have said that they don’t want to be doing enhanced editions and such.
So after release, the modders will be waiting for the red kit to be released. Then the game will be kept alive through mods while CD Projekt RED works on Cyberpunk 2077.
I would love an expansion pack for The Witcher 3 but I would love Cyberpunk 2077 to be released as soon as possible, even more.
z1n
March 23, 2015 at 09:22
Just a thought, MOBA’s are the ones slapping the gaming industry money piñata with their dick at the moment. I wonder for how much longer will this Reign of Chaos continue. Oh for the love of hats.
Ranting Raptor
March 23, 2015 at 09:11
tl;dr*
That feels oddly satisfying… No wonder everyone does it to me.
*Not really I actually read most of it and it made me more keen to actually spend the cash on this game.
z1n
March 23, 2015 at 09:24
Sounds like the game is Skyrim with mods for the most part. I’m not complaining. SHUDDUP AND TAKE MAH MONEY!
Hammersteyn
March 23, 2015 at 08:52
So we’re down from two to one screenshot? The game must be close to release.
ReaperOfSquirrels
March 23, 2015 at 09:34
That’s what she said?
Hammersteyn
March 23, 2015 at 09:50
Dunno, someone find me a women!
Admiral Chief
March 23, 2015 at 09:58
Here you go:
http://images.lazygamer.net/2013/05/ION09052013.jpg
Hammersteyn
March 23, 2015 at 10:04
I demand a Caster Semenya test
Admiral Chief
March 23, 2015 at 10:05
Daai ding het tanne!
Ryanza
March 23, 2015 at 09:12
The Witcher 3 on Ultra setting.
http://static.panoramio.com/photos/original/113561148.jpg
z1n
March 23, 2015 at 09:50
That’s pretty. I would even say cardboard box pretty.
Martin du preez (D4RKL1NGza)
March 23, 2015 at 09:17
Downgraded AF
The game is built for consoles; the Witcher 3 is not a pc game.
The sooner pc gamer put the torches of triumph on the floor, accept the reality the situation, moving on accordingly, the less emotional pain will ultimately be inflicted upon release.
Captain JJ the damned
March 23, 2015 at 09:19
The console gamers think we care a lot more than we actually do.
I just want a new Witcher game.
Admiral Chief
March 23, 2015 at 09:19
Agreed, leave the butthurt for people needing consoling
Martin du preez (D4RKL1NGza)
March 23, 2015 at 09:20
My friends,That horse has a triangular tail.
Captain JJ the damned
March 23, 2015 at 09:21
There’s a triangle on the PS controller too.
O_O
Could it be the illuminati!? We’re all doomed I say.
Admiral Chief
March 23, 2015 at 09:22
Dun dun dunnnn
Captain JJ the damned
March 23, 2015 at 09:22
XD
Ryanza
March 23, 2015 at 09:41
Yeah of course if you playing the Xbox One version then you can say downgrade lol. But that doesn’t mean the PC 4k version is going to be the same as the Xbox One version.
When they said Witcher 3 is open world and multiplatform release, I already knew visuals will not be top notch. Open world more than multiplatform.
But this whole downgrade era we in, sense and logic just out of the window. The Witcher 3, a trailer vs gameplay demo, downgrade claims. Not a gameplay demo vs released gameplay. A trailer vs gameplay demo.
So let us wait until The Witcher 3 is released and then compare it to the gameplay demo’s we have seen. Not to the trailers.
Martin du preez (D4RKL1NGza)
March 23, 2015 at 09:48
I was going to buy this but decided to buy a fly rod instead.
Ryanza
March 23, 2015 at 09:52
http://www.museumofplay.org/online-collections/images/Z004/Z00499/Z0049949.jpg
Admiral Chief
March 23, 2015 at 10:03
Console graphics being the joke here yes?
Ryanza
March 23, 2015 at 10:06
No am not like that. Just a old fishing game reference. I couldn’t remember the name of that fishing game that came with a fishing rod.
Admiral Chief
March 23, 2015 at 10:06
I think it is this game yes
Sageville
March 23, 2015 at 10:03
Now this is the part of gaming jurnalizm that I don’t envy, making a whole article from a single screenshot.
Bravo!
Pieter Kruger
March 23, 2015 at 10:11
“anything you can see, you can go to” So is this game infinite or will you just go blind when you walk in a straight line for long enough?
Ryanza
March 23, 2015 at 11:26
New picture from gamestop.
http://www.gamestop.com/gs/images/content-pdp/Witcher3_wild_hunt/EXPLORE.jpg
Ryanza
March 23, 2015 at 21:26
Two new pics
http://i.imgur.com/TCpb3cE.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/DoUqsuQ.jpg
Remember it doesn’t count if there is not an article about them.
param vaswani
March 24, 2015 at 05:08
turns out theres 6-10hrs of ciri gameplay… but 16hrs of sexxxxxxxxxxxxxx wewt wewt!!!!!!!!!!