The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings

[DarthParametric]

New dev diary concerning the engine (part 1 of it anyway):

 

[youtube=hd]5ZIitQtw8Lw

 

Some very interesting tidbits throughout, especially the brief peeks at their toolset. There's also a very obvious undertone that all the things they can do in this engine were driven by what they couldn't do in the first Witcher using their rehashed version of the clunky old Aurora engine.

[DarthParametric]

There's some more footage of the prison break demo over at GameTrailers: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 - unfortunately only low quality.

 

A lot of it has already been shown previously, but there's a couple of glimpses at the inventory, revamped potions, revamped fist-fights, revamped Witcher amulet, revamped sword enchanting, and some additional dialogue/cutscenes. As before, they show the same two alternative paths with the mother and son, although they mention there are actually 4 possible routes/outcomes for that particular quest. After exiting the jail/dungeon they pull back the camera for a nice look at the surrounding city (or at least it would be nice if the video were decent quality). After that is a brief bit of footage from a previously mentioned ghost battlefield with what would appear to be a heavily scripted boss battle of the horribly clichéd Achilles' Heel type.

 

Additionally, it would seem that CPR have taken the surprising move of offering a digital download version DRM-free via GOG.com. Apparently GOG is a "sister site", so is presumably owned by the same parent company or some-such, which was news to me. It's available for pre-order now. Apparently it's a one-off thing, as usually GOG sells old games, as their name implies.

[Wookiee Rrudolf]

There is not only digital version available for pre-order but also a very rich in content Collectors Edition and Premium Edition. And after buying the game you can download DLC exclusive for every seller. I'd get the one with Finisher Pack DLC myself, because I really liked the finishers in the first game. Unfortunately this DLC is not available in my region I hope it'll be released some time after premiere for everyone to get.

[Drunkside]

There's some more footage of the prison break demo over at GameTrailers: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 - unfortunately only low quality.

 

A lot of it has already been shown previously, but there's a couple of glimpses at the inventory, revamped potions, revamped fist-fights, revamped Witcher amulet, revamped sword enchanting, and some additional dialogue/cutscenes. As before, they show the same two alternative paths with the mother and son, although they mention there are actually 4 possible routes/outcomes for that particular quest. After exiting the jail/dungeon they pull back the camera for a nice look at the surrounding city (or at least it would be nice if the video were decent quality). After that is a brief bit of footage from a previously mentioned ghost battlefield with what would appear to be a heavily scripted boss battle of the horribly clichéd Achilles' Heel type.

 

Additionally, it would seem that CPR have taken the surprising move of offering a digital download version DRM-free via GOG.com. Apparently GOG is a "sister site", so is presumably owned by the same parent company or some-such, which was news to me. It's available for pre-order now. Apparently it's a one-off thing, as usually GOG sells old games, as their name implies.

 

I heard that they decided to take the "Metallica-approach" to illegal downloaders And i think its the right thing to do, it leaves us honest game buyers in peace and the evil pirate-copy -downloading bastards will get what they deserve. I hope they track down one of my friends, he hasnt paid for any computer game since JKA...

[Wookiee Rrudolf]

I heard that they decided to take the "Metallica-approach" to illegal downloaders And i think its the right thing to do, it leaves us honest game buyers in peace and the evil pirate-copy -downloading bastards will get what they deserve. I hope they track down one of my friends, he hasnt paid for any computer game since JKA...

 

I totally agree. Especially since they announced that the game will be DRM-free and because of that it'd be technically easy to make a copy and share it on the web. So I think that it would be first time "pirates" would have problems and honest buyers not.

[DarthParametric]

It's hardly a new tactic. It has been used for years by the RIAA and MPAA. All it does is catch the retards - it won't have any marked impact on the level of piracy. I'm sure their energy could be better spent on incentives for people that actually buy the game, not penalties for those that don't. At least they are ditching the DRM though. All that does is punish legit users.

[Wookiee Rrudolf]

It's hardly a new tactic. It has been used for years by the RIAA and MPAA. All it does is catch the retards - it won't have any marked impact on the level of piracy. I'm sure their energy could be better spent on incentives for people that actually buy the game, not penalties for those that don't. At least they are ditching the DRM though. All that does is punish legit users.

 

I don't think it's all the same as RIAA and MPAA (or MAFIAA for short ). They only try to hit the "pirates". You say CDPR should encourage buyers - but they do. They include physical content that cannot be downloaded, not only DLC. So this is what differs CDPR from other developers - they remove DRM because it irritates legal buyers, they add physical stuff and free DLC to encourage people to buy the game and if all this fails to convince "pirates" to buy rather than download, than they punish "pirates" with fines. I have never seen any other company to work that way.

[DarthParametric]

All they are going to do (and all they actually can do) is monitor torrents and log IPs and then send them a threatening letter from a lawyer - exactly what the RIAA/MPAA do. Or, more accurately, what they pay other people to do. Again, it's not going to stop piracy or put even the slightest dent in it. All it is going to do is catch people stupid enough to use torrents, and even then the legal validity of the tactic is still somewhat hazy. It relies on scare tactics to a large degree. The game will still be pirated, all the extra content will still be pirated. As I said before, it's a wasted effort and just an alternative form of waving a big stick at people to try and scare them into buying the game.

[Sabretooth]

[Drunkside]

All they are going to do (and all they actually can do) is monitor torrents and log IPs and then send them a threatening letter from a lawyer - exactly what the RIAA/MPAA do. Or, more accurately, what they pay other people to do. Again, it's not going to stop piracy or put even the slightest dent in it. All it is going to do is catch people stupid enough to use torrents, and even then the legal validity of the tactic is still somewhat hazy. It relies on scare tactics to a large degree. The game will still be pirated, all the extra content will still be pirated. As I said before, it's a wasted effort and just an alternative form of waving a big stick at people to try and scare them into buying the game.

 

I like big sticks wawed at people! I never buy games with crazy DRMS (ACII...), and when sometyhing like this happens i usually buy them just to support them. And its not really scare tactics, its the same as removing security from a store and then using detectives to track down the thieves I dont see it as hazy, in my opinion copyright laws are pretty definite (if not tailored for this age of web piratism), and if you steal other people´s intellectual property you deserve fines. Im not supporting those legendary "1,5 million for 24 downloaded songs"-kind of punishments, but making them pay twice the price of the game would be nice.

[DarthParametric]

Part 2 of the engine dev diary. Nothing earth shattering, but there are a few snippets about some of the middleware they are using and the unveiling of the system requirements (which are quite modest).

 

[youtube=hd]urmVQyOOi7s

[DarthParametric]

A new dev diary, this time focusing on characters (with the primary focus being on art direction):

 

[youtube=hd]kW57xbropTw

[Sabretooth]

Love how Polished the game looks.

 

*badum-tsh*

[Darth333]

I am definitely looking forward for this game.

[DarthParametric]

New dev diary on locations:

 

[youtube=hd]QKoZCHYJ4p4

 

 

I had to laugh at the comment about them creating an architectural style for Dwarves that they think could become as universal as Tolkien's take on Elves. Possibly just a tad presumptuous. Certainly given what they showed in the trailer at least.

[igyman]

Well, I have to say I like what I saw in this dev diary. Sure, they might have exaggerated a bit with parts of self-praise, but that's marketing for you. If you want to laugh your ass off, watch Dead Space: Aftermath and then watch "The Making of Dead Space: Aftermath" clip - some hilarious statements there.

 

As for the dwarven architecture specifically, I definitely liked what I saw. There were familiar elements - dwarves being a mountain people - but at least it's neither a copy of WoW, nor a copy of LoTR styled dwarven environments. They actually live above ground in CD Projekt's vision and have wooden structures mixed with stone walls (from what I could see in the dev diary) instead of pure stone, dwarven runes and whatnot that we saw in many other games.

[DarthParametric]

Preview here - http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2011/02/21/the-witcher-2-hands-on-with-a-succubus/ I recall that was the same demo level IGN previewed a while ago.

 

And you will no doubt be particularly interested in this comment igyman: ""the dwarf city of Vergan isn’t particularly inspired".

[igyman]

Nice preview. As for the dwarven city, sure it may not look as impressive as Moria, Ironforge and Ironforge Jr. (Orzammar) - to name a few - but it breaks from the established formula, at least that's the impression I got.

[DarthParametric]

New video which shows a bit of the Dwarf city Vergan, bit of mini-game action, bit of combat, and the start of the succubus quest in the preview linked to earlier.

 

[youtube=hd]uB9oq38Fi58

 

Have to say the combat looks a bit clunky - more so than the clickfest of the first game and not helped by that console radial menu. Gotta love that we get that in a PC game that they supposedly haven't even decided to port to consoles yet. Oh and the whole "pre-beta" thing for a game no more than a month out from going gold is fairly hilarious.

 

EDIT: Oh and what was with the grinding comment? It was pretty much just saying "and here's some filler quests that we only tossed in to pad out the game length".

[Liverandbacon]

I have to agree on the clunkiness of the combat. Hopefully at least the more useful things (switching sword type, the more useful signs) can be bound to single keys.

 

Also, I really don't see the point of the whole FB/Twitter integration. I know it can be turned off, but I'm sure the dev time could have gone to more useful pursuits.

[mur'phon]

One of the better game jokes this year linky

[Sabretooth]

They almost seem to be taking it seriously enough to be a non-April Fool's parody of the industry.

[igyman]

Have to say the combat looks a bit clunky - more so than the clickfest of the first game and not helped by that console radial menu. Gotta love that we get that in a PC game that they supposedly haven't even decided to port to consoles yet. Oh and the whole "pre-beta" thing for a game no more than a month out from going gold is fairly hilarious.

 

EDIT: Oh and what was with the grinding comment? It was pretty much just saying "and here's some filler quests that we only tossed in to pad out the game length".

 

Haven't really noticed the "clunky" aspect of the combat, unless you mean the lack of auto-attack and lock-on-target. As for the radial menu - I do understand the radial design is used primarily in today's console games, but since the last console game I played was Tekken Tag Tournament on PS2, I have no idea how well or even if those radial menus work on consoles. I will however point out that the PC versions (or console ports, if you prefer) of AC2 and AC: Brotherhood both had a radial weapon selection menu which worked really well on the PC and the radial menu from this video seems a lot like the menus of the two AC games I mentioned. My point being that if it works well, I don't care if it's organized in a quickbar, a list or a circle with icons. This doesn't automatically make me a fan of Bioware's dialog wheel (blech!) and paraphrase system (double blech!) though.

 

As for the "grinding quests", they're the most optional of all and every RPG I've played had them and was no worse for it.

 

Oh right, the pre-beta thing - well people swallowed the crap that was the pre-alpha excuse used for any DA2 footage, so why not a pre-beta one for the Witcher 2?

[DarthParametric]

A warning for Oz buyers of TW2 - GOG is about to jack up the price as part of the retarded publisher-driven region price setting policy, so you'll want to get it quick if you were planning on buying it from there. Steam has already put the price up. Also, the Oz version has some minor censorship in one of the quests, which the digital versions will adhere to apparently.

 

Btw, speaking of GOG, they will have TW1 for $5 next week - http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/the_witcher It's the "director's cut" of the Enhanced Edition apparently, which from what I can determine is just the re-inclusion of nudity that was originally cut out of the US version (so the European version essentially).

 

EDIT: Also, just saw this video over at GT. Shows a full day/night cycle and how NPCs react - http://www.gametrailers.com/video/exclusive-gameplay-the-witcher/713622 Reminds me of the sort of thing Bethesda promised for Oblivion. I guess we'll see if CDPR can actually realise it.

[DarthParametric]

So with only a few days left until release, CDPR have launched a new website and put up a new video that gives some brief info on the surrounding kingdoms and their monarchs:

 

http://en.thewitcher.com/the-witcher/2/world/video/