The Witcher (video game)
| The Witcher | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | CD Projekt |
| Publisher(s) | Atari |
| Engine | Aurora Engine |
| Platform(s) | Windows |
| Release | October 26, 2007 |
| Genre(s) | Action RPG |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
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The Witcher is a computer role-playing game in development for the PC by CD Projekt. Based on the book series of the same name by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski,[1] the game uses BioWare's proprietary Aurora Engine[2] and is currently scheduled for release in October 2007.[3]
The Witcher follows the story of Geralt, a man who becomes a "witcher" — a travelling monster hunter for hire gifted with unnatural powers. Taking place in a medieval world, the game implements detailed visuals. The natural light during various phases of the day is realistically altered, and the day and night transitions serve to enrich the game's ambience. The weather can dynamically change from a light drizzle to a dark, stormy downpour accompanied by thunder and lightning.
Game Engine
The Witcher is powered by a new version of the BioWare Aurora Engine, modified for a single-player experience. A number of changes have been introduced to the original BioWare Aurora Engine, and some of them are described below.
World visualization
One of the most important of which is modification to the world-visualization method. In BioWare's Aurora Engine, the world is designed exactly as it was envisioned rather than using a tile-based system. Because of this, the visuals are claimed to be unique and rich in detail. All the environments are created in 3ds Max and then exported into the game engine.
- Light maps
- The CD Projekt's version of the engine supports lightmaps, generated in 3ds Max. Shadows generated this way are claimed to look more realistic and are better performance-wise.
- Texture paint
- This is a special tool that enables to paint the environment using custom textures, with purpose of saving the time and promising more natural look than ordinary mapping.
- Skybox and water effects
- New realistic skybox and water effects were added to the engine.
Rendering
All the in game and tool set rendering is done using DirectX9, and the engine now supports many different shaders (water effect, bump mapping, environment mapping, etc). Additionally the whole rendering system has been unified and a new light manager was added.
Other changes
Other important changes include the following: motion-captured animation, physics effects, new mechanics and combat system. There are also many other modifications, like introduction of portals, additional graphical effects (glows, advanced dynamic shadows, blurs)
Gameplay
There are two ways of playing The Witcher. You can play The Witcher from a top-down perspective, in which case you use the mouse to control everything. However, you can also play The Witcher this way and use the keyboard and mouse for controls.
The combat system in The Witcher represents a departure from most RPGs. First, you have to choose one of three different fighting styles. The quick fighting style lets you make fast jabs that don't deliver a lot of damage. Then there's the heavy fighting style, which is a slower style that lets you make powerful attacks; imagine a swordsman raising his sword over his head to deliver a crushing blow. Finally, there's the group fighting style, which features a lot of sweeping attacks that are best used if you're surrounded by foes. [4]
Decision Making
An innovative, time delayed decision-consequence system means that the repercussions of players decisions will make themselves apparent up to 10 -15 hours later in the game. This will presumably prompt players to put more critical thinking into making each decision, and circumvent a save-reload approach to decision making.
The nature of the options faced by players rarely falls into the typical good-bad dichotomy. Players will often find themselves choosing from the lesser of two evils, a situation more reflective of real life morality. [5]
Notes
- ^ Aihoshi, Richard (May 24, 2006). "The Witcher E3 View". IGN. Retrieved September 9.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ Park, Andrew (May 16, 2004). "The Witcher Impressions - E3 2004". GameSpot. Retrieved September 9.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ "The Witcher technical information". GameSpot. Retrieved September 9.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/thewitcher/news.html?sid=6173457&mode=previews
- ^ Arulnathan, Justin (Aug 24, 2007). "The Witcher TheGamerGene Preview". TheGamerGene. Retrieved August 24.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help)