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Is it true open-world or psuedo open-world?

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frivolousam

Senior user
#101
Tuco Benedicto said:
I'm not sure what point you guys are trying to make here.
They *choose* to tell a story that spreads across several different regions, they don't *have* to.

They could pick a single small town, its surrounding area and according to what level of detail and amount of content they want to pack in it they still could have the tools to make a game which is twice the size and length of TW3.
Click to expand...

This is a continuation story, and the CDPR has probably chosen the best possible places for it to take place and makes sense. They could have not created skellige and map would be 1 huge area(novigrad and NML) but important characters of this story have roots in Skellige which is also home to many other and it is a good change of scenery with more nordic themes to diversify the game. Or they could have discarded Novigrad and NML and just made Skellige more bigger then we would miss big cities, much of the ongoing war and many other things. I'm assuming here, probably CDPR has more or different reasons. In the end we have both. So yes, they chose this and I think it's a choice to make the story great.

They are not trying the fit the story into a limited area, they try to fit regions for the story. <this could have been better with different words, unfortunately I'm not capable :p
 
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TheDeathRun

Rookie
#102
Tuco Benedicto said:
I'm not sure what point you guys are trying to make here.
They *choose* to tell a story that spreads across several different regions, they don't *have* to.

They could pick a single small town, its surrounding area and according to what level of detail and amount of content they want to pack in it they still could have the tools to make a game which is twice the size and length of TW3.
Click to expand...

Well they could do that, but in my humble opinion that's not a good idea. As an RPG first, with only one of its characteristics being an open world, the game needs to tell a good- no, a fantastic story. And the best stories are the ones that grow by themselves, without restriction. Everything that follows should be built around it - including the locations available in the game. That is why I appreciate how CDPR have previously mentioned that they chose to make the game open world not because "AWW YEAH OPEN WORLD IS COOL AND TRRENDY" but because the story needed it. That means we can assume that the locations we have now (Novigrad, No Man's Land, Skellige, Kaer Morhen, etc.) were picked for the story - and not the other way around.

As someone who loves it when story takes precedence in a work of art, I must say I totally love their approach. :)
 
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Senteria

Forum veteran
#105
I like this semi open world. Personally I feel much more at home when exploring 'smaller' areas first and when progressing I get new things instead of: Here is this big world, go get yourself lost. I had that feeling a bit with skyrim where I was like: well, what's the point of this huge open world? I liked the way it was done in the final fantasy series from a long time ago. You discover more and get to go more places the further you progress the story. It's rewarding this way.
 
Rawls

Rawls

Moderator
#108
It's all down to your opinion of what an "open world" is. I would say it's definitely still open world. Even if there is a loading screen as you cross the Pontar River between Novigrad and No Man's Land it's going to qualify as open world for me. At worst it sounds like there will be loading screens between regions (Kaer Morhen, Novigrad, No Man's Land, Skellige and potentially Vizima) and for dungeons. That qualifies as open world for me. I don't think it devalues the term at all. With a world this massive AND engrossing story AND with graphics like we have seen, a loading screen every now and then is not going to make me upset in the least. As far as prior RED claims about open world I don't feel misled at all. Advertising is all about making it sound as awesome as possible without being strait up dishonest. I don't feel lied to at all. They are just promoting a product using vague and grandiose terms. That's what PR departments do.
 
KingHochmeister

KingHochmeister

Forum veteran
#109
I actually remember an interview that one of CDPR said that there will be loading screen when traveling between regions or fast traveling and that there will be no loading screens when entering buildings.

I can swear these are the exact words that were spoken, I do not remember when the Interview was, but I think it was either in E3 2013 or E3 2014.


But seriously, like @Kinley said earlier, Skyrim had loading screens whenever you entered buildings or when you traveled to the "Expansion DLC" regions, does that game also count as an "Open world" game now?
 
Rawls

Rawls

Moderator
#113
The game world is split into various regions, each of which is massive and, yes, free of loading times. So each area is perhaps seamless, but the entire world is not . . . Riding down a road only to be met with a "You've reached the world's end" warning was disheartening. But it's really only a matter of expectations.

Consider: would you rather explore one region of the world or multiple? Would you prefer to stay within the confines of say, the capital Novigrad and its surroundings rather than experience the majesty of the Skellige Isles and various other locales? I'll trade a truly seamless world for more varied environments any day. And you'll hardly notice, because the areas are immense. It really is at least 35 times bigger than the Witcher 2.

And: no load times once you're in an area. That means walking into buildings, into dungeons, into another section is load screen free. It's a wonderful, liberating feeling, and even fast travel load times are short and sweet.
Click to expand...

http://www.rpgfan.com/previews/The_Witcher_3_Wild_Hunt/index.html

I didn't see that quote anywhere in the thread yet and thought it was very relevant to the OP. So that's what the world is (apparently). Also no load times for dungeons which is pretty awesome. Qualifies as open but not seamless world for me.
 
E

easeldooor

Rookie
#114
You have to give credit to Rockstar for it's open world streaming technology. That is the key difference.
What other companies have done is mimic the streaming, hence the load screens.
 
C

caruga

Rookie
#115
Rawls said:
Qualifies as open but not seamless world for me.
Click to expand...

Yeah, perhaps. When I think 'open' I tend to think one unified map, but maybe that's a mistaken thing to assume. Maybe it just needs a qualifier, like 'multi-open-world'. When I heard about 'seeing a mountain off in the distance--you can go there' I just jumped to other conclusions.
 
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easeldooor

Rookie
#116
Kinley said:
Hmm.

So TES games (or Bethesda games post-Morrowind for that matter) are considered open world. Even though you have a loading screen every time you enter a building.
Witcher 3 is not considered to be one (by some). Even though you only have one loading screen between two huge areas (and those areas are huge).

I wanna ask, which game offers a better open world design?
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Red Dead Redemption, GTA5. Doesn't mean I think they are better games than Witcher 3, but they live up to the expectation of what you would imagine an open world is, with less qualifiers.
 
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TouPoutsou

Senior user
#118
Open world means that the game is non linear and you can free roam almost the entire map(Of course alot of smaller areas and several dungeons, houses etc. can be locked until progressing a certain storyline). That's it. Doesn't matter if you have loading screens every 5 mins. Now if the regions of the game are locked, and have to progress the main story to unlock them, it's not 100% open world, but it still ftis the catergory because 1)The regions are supposed to be pretty big, 2)you can return later and do further side quests etc. Personaly, instead of blocking the areas, i would prefer to just let your free roam and get your ass kicked by the enemies cause you are not ready. Especially if they implement the EXCELLENT TW2 system of EXP gain, which mostly limited you XP gain to quests. This way the game 1)Encourages you to Play as many side quests possible, 2)Discourages braindead grinding, which should be restricted to Online RPGs, 3)Discourages you to visit areas they do not want you to visit before completing a number of quest, WITHOUT forcing you though.

The situation with TES games is different, mainly because the main quest is always dumb, and the whole point of the game is free roaming the world.
 
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