Risen 2 - Making of the World Video
 

A new video developer diary titled The Making of Risen 2 - Epsiode 1, Creating Worlds has been released. Featuring a mix of live video with the likes of Bjorn Pankratz and Mike Hoge and in-game footage, the six minute video offers a good feel for the size of the world and how Piranha Bytes approaches the world creation.
Interestingly, lead programmer Philip Krause explains the landscape is no longer hand-crafted due to the size, with a "terrain engine" implemented for the first time in PB's history.
Thanks, Kostaz and Alistair!
More information.

Heh, silly promo antics (and one tiny spoiler)…

Uh Oh :-/

The few scenes shown seem kinda promising though…

It probably will be where the landscape itself won't be handcrafter and will be more like how it is with the TES games but the rest will be hand placed. (somewhat like Skyrim)

I like the live-action pirate theme. :)

The landscape looks great, I just wish they would show some more in-game footage already.

Still #1 on my list of anticipated games.

Just as long as the world building (one of PBs greatest strengths) is not compromised,
nothing I've seen up to now would suggest that ofcourse…

Nah, Don't want to be spoiled more than that.

Seems my declarations, of wanting a demo this time around, will probably be forgotten
(again, as I was saying that before Risen too) as the game nears release :rolleyes:

Regarding the "terrain engine"… got this from Risen 2's Facebook page:

It is a useless pain to create the landscape models from scratch like they probably had done in the past and probably was almost as much work as creating and placing everything else. They should be able to put much more work into more important things and even potentially make an even better landscape if the terrain engine is good.

Risen had a demo didn't it, like every other PB game I think.

I'm sure Risen 2 will have a demo. They need to make one anyway for all the people who bought the CE and are in possession of a "beta test" code.

This is something I've really enjoyed having recently played Risen, G1, and now currently G2.

More often than not, many times it's worth returning to places you've already covered as things change. NPCs frequently will have dialog recognizing quests you've progressed and solved - oftentimes even giving a little extra experience beyond the experience you get completing the quest itself. It is a nice touch and makes their games and endless search for Easter Eggs.

I have also enjoyed re-visiting previous locations in Gothic 3 and indeed it was rewarding. For Risen 2, my only grumble is that the graphics look a bit cartoony for my taste and it does not seem to take itself seriously (from the character models).

By the way, thank you for your 'player review' on two worlds 2 - very concise and captures the important aspects of the game for me as a player (decided not to buy in the end - better rpgs are coming next year or until the price of the game reduces significantly).