The Witcher II is a very notable game, as it was made by a developer which prides itself in being a perfectionist. Also the environment in the game, to me, felt not only very pretty, but helped the story and the actions of the NPCs' and me as they player flow really well, which is hard to accomplish in modern day rpgs'... hence there was a real sense of good design in this game, so I was very fortunate to get a chance to speak to two members of the team.
First of all, fantastic game, I’ve played it, it’s really good, and I think one of the things that made this game really good was you know they say this game is about 40 hours long, maybe 80 hours with extra content. To me, it felt like far longer, and I think its because when you think about what you’ve done, like your memories in the game, their just endless, there are so many events!
Nikolai: Yeah well the main path is about 20-30 hours long but to actually get all the content of the game you need to play it at least twice or at least three times because…
Pawel: the thing is that you have the second act, okay, it has two paths Roche and Iorveth and a not many people know that the Witcher 2 has 16 endings in total
Wow..
Pawel: in total, and those endings depend on what you do; the first act, second act and the third and so it has 16 endings in total and to really know every single path of the game you have to play it at least 16 times.
So maybe I should go back and haha
Nikolai: Yeah its like um, an example, you have the branches of the second act are very big, its like a completely different game, but then you have the prologue, and to play the prologue in four different ways, four different paths to go because you can either save Aryan and then find him in the execution room or save Aryan and find him beaten and taken out by the soldiers or kill Aryan and find his mother Louisa at the executioner or find his mother to Chillard the guardian ambassador. So to really have all the scenes and everything from the game its you have to play it even more then two times. There are of course very major decisions you are making, but also like in real life there are many minor decisions who have consequences later in the game.
Pawel: if you want to play it, you know, in a very detailed way I advise you to make you a note and write down your paths and decisions, then when you play it a second time recall your previous decisions and for the third time again different decisions.
So its really built on your actions and decisions…
Nikolai: Exactly! Even the side quests might be done in completely different way for example you can kill the troll or try to find his wife’s murderer or for example you can give someone out to the authorities or help her run away, so there are many paths…
I’m going to direct this conversation a bit, I’m actually an architecture student so I’m very interested and I think it was very well done in the Witcher II, the level design and by level design I do not only mean the actual geometry and forms but also the way you guys manage to tailor to the NPC’s and how you use the NPC’s to guide the player in certain directions.
Nikolai: well we have actually received the European games award some days ago, on Saturday I think for the best game world, it was the “Best Game World’ award. So this is of course, the game world is obviously about the levels, and I happen to think the world is very beautiful, the forests and so on.. but there is also we are very strict when it comes to details, there are also people working in our office. I think one of our concept artists actually studied architecture. So for example the castles, the towns, everything, even the clothes of the people are not designed from nowhere! Of course there are variations of what the actual people were wearing back in the day. But many of those elements were actually taken from books, or from sources. So we try to draw inspirations, there is also this Slavic feel to it.
Yes! I felt that…
Nikolai: Exactly so we tried to create an immersive environment.
You know when I came to Warsaw after playing the game; I was actually looking out for things that may have influenced you guys in the office…
Nikolai: Yes! Exactly, when you have for example “Flotsam” the port part, there is actually a port crane in the game, and I do not know if you are aware of the port city here in Poland, of Gdansk.
Gdansk! Of course…
Nikolai: Well when you see the port crane, its actually pretty much the same as the medieval crane in “Flotsam”
So actually for Polish players, there is actually some recognizable objects which is actually kind of desirable. I know that many people didn’t like fallout 3, but one of the reasons it was desirable was because people could recognize and relate to many of the landmarks found in Washington to people in the US. The could re-experience some of the monuments in a different light…
Pawel: we were really strict about the level design, you know, even small blades of grass, bits of leaves, treas. And we get together and if somebody doesn’t like it, we redesign it until everybody is satisfied, that’s why the level design is really something different…
I noticed some very specific decisions in the level design, I noticed that in the town Square of Flotsam, you have three people which you’ve watched hang when you first enter the town, but the issue is, is that they are left there even after, for your duration in Flotsam with Crowes lingering about, it was a very dramatic scene. Based on the fact that I noticed some extreme detail in the game, and that the bodies stayed where they were, it was clear to me that leaving them was a conscious decision. It was a decision right? Because it affected the town square in a very dramatic way… there would be this buetifall weather, and taverns, homes and then those three bodies left there to rot outdoors…
Nikolai: We wanted to show the world as it was perhaps in the past, how criminals would be punished or something, they were left for the town people to mind them and to be reminded of the penalties for breaking the law, this was also our decision to make it so.
This is a personal question for you guys, what do you make of good level design, what do you think, what do you get from this game, personally?
Pawel: To me, you have to get as close as possible to reality, you know, our forest, to me personally. I really liked it, and when you enter it and when you enter you feel really, like, in a forest.
Nikolai: I can also say, that to me, our levels are really one of the most stunning levels in games in history. As Pawel already said the forests, but also the lighting, which is a very important matter, how its used to draw you and lead you.
I noticed that there were many areas, that the level design uses that makes you really aware of it or look at different directions, or lead the player.
Pawel: If you really want to appreciate the level design in our game, you have to really walk in those places a couple of times: in the evening, in the morning, during the day.
And that’s what was smart, as this game wasn’t a linear game, like in a fps shooter when you push on and push on, so I think it’s important to create levels that make you see new things to keep it interesting.
Nikolai: well, actually as you know, Witcher II isn’t a sandbox game, we have our levels which are queit big but are not as big as other rpgs’ or sandbox rpgs, but it allowed us to as you said focus on details and that all the elements that are in the levels have a real purpose. Even the example of the forest when you approach various ruins you can see that there are some signals that you are going the right way, various relics that are reminiscent of where you are heading. And many of these points of interest are also playing an important role in the plot and allow the player to go to the direction where we want them to go.
Val: I was curious in the first level when you are playing during the siege, that was quiet contentious with reviewers, that it didn’t guide you enough, there wasn’t enough of a tutorial. And I felt that now you’ve announced that you’re adding a new tutorial. Do you know what decisions lead to first of all to having such a kind of throwing people in the deep end approach and now you are sort of going back and..
Nikolai: well first of all, the Witcher II is not an easy game, this is a very challenging game and it is also not so obvious today because a lot of developers are working to make games; easier and easier… and more accesiable. So we have made a more hardcore approach maybe, this was our decision but at the same time we were conscious that some players got lost a little bit, because the Witcher II is also a game that not everybody plays for fighting. The story is the most important thing and there were also some feedback that the fighting in the first part was too difficult for them, because it also is always a complex game. So in this presentation actually we were also listening to the feedback of some of our players and that’s why we also decided to redesign the tutorial to help some existing players but also for new players who buy the game (for xbox and pc). So that’s what lead to the decision and ofcourse this tutorial will be free because we also feel that this is our policy towards old players and new players alike.
Val: are you redoing the current introduction sequence or are you adding a new tutorial before it?
Nikolai: I would not like to comment about this at this time, but you will find out in about a month…
Going back quickly, last question; into the level design. To what extent to you think the enemies play a role in the actual level? I noticed that some were very specific like the dragon and the tower…
Pawel: Well not many people consciously realize this, but there are some different monsters, and different approach of monsters and different numbers of monsters and different points of the day. So there are some more monsters during night then during day. There are more Elven soldiers in the Urveth side attacking you during the day, and there will be fewer at night. But there will be more Nekers during night for example…
Nikolai: Exactly, the question is to make the world believable, and its in making the NPC’s behave and have a real seeming purpose in the world that makes this. Many of the people living in the worlds communities have a schedule, they wake up and go fishing, I don’t know, the butcher cuts the meat and so on, this is the same case with the monsters. The forest as a level, doesn’t just act as a place for the spawning point of endless monsters. Again in the example of the first act where you have for example some quest where yuou have some quest to get rid of some monsters, and actually when you do that the monsters don’t spawn as often as they do when you first get into the levels. We also have some instances where monsters fight against each other because it’s not like every monster is against the main player.
This makes you feel like the environment is more real… and revolves around with/without you…
Nikolai: Exactly, exactly and as Pawel said, monsters who appear only at night like Drowners or only at day like Nekkers, are also a very important in the world.
But at the end of the day, this is all about gameplay and I felt like the levels were very specifically designed to accommodate an arena vs a certrain type of enemy. Like the… (I do a motion with my hand)
Nikolai: The Kyran?
Yes that one is a good example!
Nikolai: Ofcourse as in every game we had some speciel enemies, like the dragon, the Kyran or the Drog. So ofcourse in such cases you also design the levels, to accomdaate the level to the monsters… because some of those scenes were also scripted, like the run from the dragon, you have the roofs over your head, to protect you from the fire. So in such situations its very clear how the NPC and the level work together and ofcourse to the story.
These specifc levels are very important aren’t they? Because they give you a feeling of time. They give you a plot point in the game, which you know you’ve progressed…
Nikolai: Yes! Exactly, exactly… because they are some points in the game where you can move freely do some side quests so on, but sooner or later, you will return to the main plot. The decisions, you will see, the players make through the game have a reflections in the levels themselves. For example in act I when you decide to help Roche, there is a big feast with the soldiers in Flotsam. But when you decide to help Ioverth, the humans living in Flotsam will attack the non-humans there, and there will be a big pogrom.
So it makes the environment much more real as it is reflected by your actions, physically… so its not that the levels are only built physically round the player but they are also malleable in a way and...
Nikolai: changing based on the decisions… this was also very important to us!
Makes you feel like you’re actually in the game….
Nikolai: So all those elements, the monsters, attention to detail, lighting, changing environments based on the decisions makes our world really believable and I think the “European Games Award” was rightly won for our hard work.
Good Interview. Thanks post
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