CD Projekt are the biggest company you’ve never heard of – at least, until the breakthrough hit RPG The Witcher arrived. A force to be reckoned with in Central Europe localisation, publishing and distributing, and all over the Internet thanks to digital distribution portal Good Old Games, CD Projekt have put Poland back on the map for many otherwise oblivious gamers, and their award-winning adaption of Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski’s series of fantasy novels has cemented their reputation as an up and coming developer on top of everything else.

But as every novice author knows, it’s your second major work that really has to shine. The Witcher 2: Assassin of Kings revisits the dark, politically-fraught world of protagonist Geralt, but it does so with an all new internally developed engine and tons of new features. An early, pre-alpha build is being demoed around the world, and after having a good gawk, we managed a few minutes with Tomasz Gop and Marek Ziemak.

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Continuity and Plot

games.on.net: Will you be carrying over any save file data from the previous game?

Tomasz: We want you to import the save file from the first one. Major choices that you have made will be reflected in the second one. It’s more of a reward for the players who have played the first one. It’s not like it changes the world completely. It’s just that if you have played the first one it’s like “Oh, I know why he doesn’t like me”.

games.on.net: Are there any choices from the first game that you have set in stone one way or the other, and made canonical? For example, that regardless of what you did, Triss is the love interest.

Tomasz: Well… yes. There are plots that are independent of the first game.

games.on.net: So you’re stuck with Triss?

Tomasz: (to Marek) Um, is there Shani? I don’t know. I think so.

Marek: Uh, we don’t want to spoil that.

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See why this RPG is so excitingly different
games.on.net: (after Tomasz comments that they would love to take the engine into future projects) Do you have anything particular in mind?

Tomasz: Nothing that I will let you know. But in the outro of the first game, there is a hint that there would be a second game. That proves that we already knew that we would be doing a second game. If you play the second one, you will know whether we have more games in mind.

Because The Witcher world is a really rich one, it’s a really comfortable situation for us. When designers sit together and they go “Okay, let’s think about a new character to do this twist in this part of the story – Milfgardia.” Okay: everybody knows who Milfgardia is. It’s not like this guy thinks it’s a dragon, this guy thinks it’s a knight on a horse. They know who it is, and it’s easier to create a story that way.

games.on.net: Are you building it with DLC or expansions in mind?

Tomasz: Nothing really solid that I want to talk about right now but yes, it seems a really natural move to go to DLC. There’s definitely a lot of stories there to be told.

games.on.net: Is there any advantage, story or otherwise, to using stealth rather than just blasting your way through?

Tomasz: Spoiling it for you: yes, experience wise.

Marek: Sometimes you won’t be able to get into some story or gameplay options without going quietly, because you sound an alarm, or doors get locked. You don’t have to go stealth, but it modifies your gameplay – how the quest moves forward. A couple of times it’s a good idea to go stealth in one play through, and go hardcore in another.


The New Engine

games.on.net: In the cut scenes we’ve seen, it looks like you have a much greater range of NPCs. Is that also true when you’re just wandering around town? Greater variation in how people look?

Tomasz: We have made a lot of steps forward from The Witcher in this aspect. Because in The Witcher we had NPCs that, uh… we tried our best, especially with the enhanced version, to make sure that most of them look different. For example, they were coloured in a different way, so you weren’t seeing clones. But right now? With the second game? We even have randomised geometry of the character. For example, we have sets of legs, of chests, of arms, of heads, faces, facial hair, hair, hats and so on and so on. You can spawn a character that’s randomised. Everything fits because it’s a set, “thin” or “townsman”. (Each set) has like sixteen different kinds of legs, trousers, shoes. If you randomise a character, you get one who is believable, but is unlike any other character that you see in that location – although they’re from the same set.



games.on.net: Can you give any specific examples of limitations of BioWare’s Aurora engine, which you used for the previous game?

Tomasz: You will notice, for example, dialogues, which are way different from The Witcher 1. They were really typical for RPGs: camera one on the first one, camera two on the second one, and so on and so on. In The Witcher 2, we’ve got really lively animations. Characters can interact (with) each other during the dialogues. Sometimes they even start fighting, and it doesn’t break the dialogue. And you can have a lot of participants, our bunch versus your bunch. People can join in, or drop out. It was not possible on Aurora.

Marek: And streaming is a good technical example of what changed. Now we can use streaming to have no loading screens. And exploration! Moving through different dimensions. That wasn’t possible in Aurora.

Tomasz: Logically, for Aurora, a location has to be flat. You cannot have overlapping layers in one location. Here, it’s not a problem.

games.on.net: So you can go crazy with castles and dungeons on multiple levels?

Marek: Yeah, you can actually use ladders.

games.on.net: Are you planning to do another Enhanced Edition for this one?

Tomasz: (Post-release support) is a real priority for us. But hopefully we won’t have to! If there are any important changes that people look on as really needed, we will implement them.

Did you play the hidden gem that was The Witcher? If so, how do you think The Witcher 2 is looking? Has all the work moving to a new engine been worth it? Share your opinion in the comments section.