The Witcher - Preview @ CVG

Saying CD Projekt's RPG has the potential to be one of the surprises of 2007, CVG has a hands-on preview of The Witcher:

Here's a good example: one particular scene we were shown found Geralt protecting crates of goods from monsters on behalf on an NPC. Sounds boring, right? Well, monsters dispatched, the hero was suddenly approached by an elf demanding to trade for the goods. Instead, Geralt attacked and kills the elf - and the elf's cohorts. It turns out, originally unbeknownst to Geralt, that the death of the elf was actually the NPC's ultimate goal.

Madej then took us further into the game to explain how Geralt's actions have affected the storyline - they've resulted in the execution of a potential ally. And just to reveal how things would have been different had Geralt traded with the elf, we're then shown what's essentially a terrorist group attacking an inn and killing occupants with the goods - which were weapons, it turns out - from the crates.

On a related note, you'll find five hopefully new Witcher screens at Worthplaying.
More information.

Nice sneak peak at the game.

The kraken-creature mentioned seems to be one in the fourth screenshot on WP.

Also, the first screenshot - Ow.

Must…have…game…NOW!

I can not believe how good this game looks. I want this game right now!

FF crashes everytime I access the site, weird!!

What version are you using Corwin? I'm using the very latest (2.0.0.4) and have no issues.

Heathens!!! I use Opera - the enlightened browser. And all was well.

I'm still using 1.5. I've downloaded 2.0, but haven't installed it yet. That's next on my to do list, after playing the 4 game demos I have cued up. I seem to have less time now that I'm retired than I did when I was working full time!!!!

Ok that snippet slightly worries me now.

Fine to have consequences from actions - I love that. But I don't want them to be consequences I had no clue about.

If every choice has outcomes that you have no way of knowing beforehand then you might as well just guess - it becomes impossible to play with certain intentions if it's just pot luck as to whether your intentions bear fruit.

Now it could be that we'll get clues that the elf to be traded with is a slightly dodgy character, in which case, fine. But it becomes cheap if there are just unintentional consequences that are out of our control all the time.

Originally Posted by kalniel
Ok that snippet slightly worries me now.

Fine to have consequences from actions - I love that. But I don't want them to be consequences I had no clue about.

If every choice has outcomes that you have no way of knowing beforehand then you might as well just guess - it becomes impossible to play with certain intentions if it's just pot luck as to whether your intentions bear fruit.

Now it could be that we'll get clues that the elf to be traded with is a slightly dodgy character, in which case, fine. But it becomes cheap if there are just unintentional consequences that are out of our control all the time.

But that's realistic

In real life, nobody can forsee what will ensue (immediately or later) when they make a choice. Personally I think it's fun to play the game, make the decisions when I come to them and see the consequences play out.

Originally Posted by Dr. A
But that's realistic

In real life, nobody can forsee what will ensue (immediately or later) when they make a choice. Personally I think it's fun to play the game, make the decisions when I come to them and see the consequences play out.

I agree - and I'm sure that it is 'gamey' enough that you will basically be told what decisions led to what future consequence.

What happens if you open the chests, destroy the weapons, and then don't kill the elf??

Originally Posted by Corwin
What happens if you open the chests, destroy the weapons, and then don't kill the elf??

Or, in the spirit of the DMotR comics - kill the elf, kill the NPC and loot them and the crates!

Originally Posted by txa1265
I agree - and I'm sure that it is 'gamey' enough that you will basically be told what decisions led to what future consequence.

Dr.A summed up what I felt when I read that part of the interview. At the same time as someone wrote, the result will hugely depend on the content, which canproduce acoherent and living world with plots of clever backdrops or nonesense with full of loose ends. Expect somewhere middle between the extremes. I hope designers will do better than letting the players find amusement only in attemptsofoutsmarting them. I admit they are a part of fun in RPG with freedom, though.

I suppose that this feature would be quite worrisome for "power-players" - players who are driven to complete every quest in their log, destroy every monster, harass every NPC, etc. Basically players who hate loose ends and want to glean as much experience points as they possibly can from a game.

I can just imagine them squirming in their seats, agonising over every little choice and running all feasible outcomes in their mind.

Originally Posted by Unre
Dr.A summed up what I felt when I read that part of the interview. At the same time as someone wrote, the result will hugely depend on the content, which canproduce acoherent and living world with plots of clever backdrops or nonesense with full of loose ends. Expect somewhere middle between the extremes. I hope designers will do better than letting the players find amusement only in attemptsofoutsmarting them. I admit they are a part of fun in RPG with freedom, though.

Yup, there is a distinction (in my eyes) between a game that provides logical consequences of actions and one that requires trial and error.

In a limited freedom game (which The Witcher is) you have to compensate and give the player clues to make up for the lack of ability to gather all the information that you might do 'in real life'.

I'm sure they'll do a good job, as part of a coherant game world - it's just a trap to avoid falling into when you attempt to create an 'actions have consequences' world.

freaking real! I would love being double-crossed. And seems Atari is pumping some real money into marketing this game.

Finally, a game that addresses the red-sauce addiction problem:

Geralt has a toxicity level and can only down a certain number of potions at any one time; too many results in him being poisoned.

Didn't Fallout have something like this--couldn't use too many Stim-paks or you became a junkie?
Anyway, I like the idea of having to do something to create a viable character besides carry fifty health potions into each battle.

Originally Posted by magerette
Didn't Fallout have something like this--couldn't use too many Stim-paks or you became a junkie?

Other games, also - Boiling Point, I believe.