Recently we had the excellent opportunity to float a few questions by the development team of The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings. Tomek Gop, Senior Producer took the time to answer a few of our questions. Here’s what he had to say about CD Projekt RED’s highly anticipated roleplaying game.
Geralt's newest adventure is shaping up to be an experience that no self-respecting rpg-gamer should miss.
E-G: In terms of development, how much more time has been spent creating Witcher 2 than what was spent to create the first Witcher game?
Tomek Gop: Well, it was LESS. First we’ve created the engine basis, low-level stuff, tools, renderer and so on. We’ve started implementing the game around the time we’ve released The Witcher: Enhanced Edition. So, by Q1 2011 when the game should be out, the development process will have taken around 2.5 years. Not too shabby! Of course we have thought out the game previously, vision, main plot of the storyline and such – all that was being constructed for some time, but the real implementation started around two years ago.
E-G: Fans and critics are all impressed with the constant support that your team gave the original Witcher long after its release. Should they expect to experience that same level of service with Witcher 2?
Gop: Totally, what we’re aiming for with The Witcher 2 is to have a game at least as good as TW:EE on “day 1”. That’s because we’re really concerned with user support. It would be perfect to be able to focus on delivering new possibilities to players who have bought the game. I mean, there probably still will be things that need addressing, but I think patches will be smaller this time – maybe we’ll find time and resources for additional content. No solid declarations at the moment, but it would be cool to release some sort of DLC for The Witcher 2.
E-G: You had all new material to show at Gamescom. What was your goal for the show?
New weapons aside, nothing is cooler than a sword made with silver or a meteorite core.
Gop: The show we’ve prepared for GamesCom had information in mind. We’ve tried to push through as much information as we could squeeze into 30-minute show. Non-linearity, choices, alternative paths, lethal and non-lethal walkthroughs, even epic-scale battle with awesome graphics and performance show-off. We also wanted to take care people will have chance to digest all this info – that’s why we had one-hour slots during GamesCom and people were able to ask questions before and after they’ve seen the game in action.
E-G: I’m certain we’ll see the meteorite sword and silver sword, but what other types of weapons will be available to Geralt?
Gop: Tons of those. That’s because we’ve implemented character (and weapon) customization system. In The Witcher 2, the player will not only be able to find lots of different items and weapons throughout the whole game (way more than in the previous game), but it is actually possible to craft items that you find. Still however, Geralt is a Witcher, not an elven bowman, not a dwarf axe-murderer; please don’t expect forgetting about the sword. It is still his primary weapon.
E-G: Is there anything in the works for downloadable content at the moment? Will the PC version come packed with a scenario editor?
Gop: DLC is definitely a way to go. Nothing we can confirm yet, but we’d love to deliver extra adventures and so on. It’s not like we’ve already cut something out of the game and are keeping it to “surprise” everybody. We’d just like to sit down to adding content once we’re done with the game itself. We don’t like to cut corners!
Steel sword, not meteorite sword. Meteorite swords were custom swords you could make combining colored meteorites and steel swords. Ah, kids these days.
Anywho, didn’t know you could do non-lethal playthroughs so that’s a discovery. And it’s certainly interesting. Too bad you didn’t get to ask him much though.
This is assuring that The Witcher 2 will be awesome.
I just want to know if they are bringing back Geralt’s VA from the first game, since he was perfect. I only say this because the demo at GC this year had a different voice.
I am excited that there will only be 4 load screens and not all those load screens when you want to enter a door or transition from area to area.
Can’t wait to see what developments they make in the coming months.
Argh, can’t wait. I just started playing The Witcher recently (currently in Chapter III, where taking sides truly begins) and it is incredible. Although, when I first went into the game I was excited for all the gray area, lesser of two evil choices. Sadly, I can’t help but beat myself up over every single decision I make and I haven’t even gotten to the main ones yet (though I’ve already decided on which political side I’m going with, I still hate to do it). I’ve always been bad at decision-making. I remember standing in Blockbuster as a kid for a half-hour at a time just to choose which game I wanted to rent. But for this, I love it.
I’ve stood in stores for like 30-45 minutes just wondering what game to buy (game crazy mostly).
As for your dilemma, I know where you are coming from. I need to go back and play through as the other side, but I know there are like four endings (just going to go through two though). The story is really well done, and after reading the first book, and half of the second, the games really fit in with the whole Witcher Universe. Now I just need to finish that second book to see if it is really totally cohesive (there are some interesting things in the novels that don’t appear in the game, or are hinted in the game, and it would be fun to see if I could pick out all of those things).