A big thank you to the developers of this tool!

[DreamBliss]

A big thank you to the developers of this tool!

It's too easy sometimes for us to complain about stuff, rare to acknowledge and say thanks.

Since the days I played with FarCry IP on the Xbox 360 and Morrowind on the PC, I always wanted a certain tool, especially in FarCry. I had so many good ideas, I remember sharing them on various forums, but I never found anything like I was looking for.

Just watched a video at YouTube showing how to use REDkit. There, to my utter amazement, was that tool. The Slope Tool. It even works somewhat like I had envisioned all those years ago. I always hoped someone would make something like that, and you guys finally did.

I haven't played with the CRYEngine, UDK or Unity terrain tools yet. But to my knowledge, the terrain tools in REDkit are the best I have seen in the last 10 years or so. Good work everyone, and please keep it up!

I hope we see REDkit in The Witcher 3, so it will be easy to transition from making stuff for Witcher 2 to making stuff for Witcher 3. The only thing REDkit terrain tools are missing is a way to make caves and tunnels, but as I understand it, that is a limitation of the type of terrain used. You need Voxels or something for caves and tunnels. Outside of that, from what I have seen, the REDkit terrain tools are excellent.

Awesome job!

 

[Benzenzimmern]

I can promise you that there will be a Redkit for The Witcher 3.

 

[Silderon]

To make a tunnel:
1 - use Paint Holes to make a hole in the mesh (LMB to paint the hole, Shift + LMB to delete it)
2 - use decorations to cover the the hole and make it looks natural. Try to look in the Asset Browser using "cave" search request. And when you use a decoration for a grounD. don't forget to make it Static_Walkable.

REDkit is a nice tool (I've worked with Gothic Mod development kit and with Dragon Age toolset so I have some experience) but it's a pity it crashes so often, that I can't create my own cutscenes and that there are not so many people who are really interested in modding.

 

[DreamBliss]

I am not so sure it is the modding where there is lack of interest. It certainly has waned since the days of Morrowind. But I think this issue here is that not many people know about The Witcher series. If you were to go somewhere and ask for RPG suggestions you would get Skyrim. You might even get Gothic 4. But you will rarely hear anyone say anything about The Witcher.

To make the community larger the developers need to get the word out better about The Witcher 3, to start, and they need to get it on the newest Xbox and Playstation consoles. That will get everyone interested in the game.

The next step is tougher. They have to figure out how to make mod tools that work on the consoles, and if possible how to get console and PC modders able to work together and play each others maps. FarCry IP developed a huge cult following because it was really the only Xbox 360 game that had a decent editor. Console gamers aren't used to seeing that, and when they find a console game with an excellent set of tools, especially if there is a way to share their work with the PC modding community, well they start making stuff like crazy. When PC gamers learn they can share their maps with console players, they too start modding like crazy. The community grows.

So step 1 is make the game and its tools available to all gaming audiences. That will raise awareness and interest.

Step 2 is to make a good set of video tutorials available. You need two kinds: "Learn as you go" and "learn the program." "Learn as you go" teaches a modder how to use the program while making something that holds their interest. "Learn the program" teaches each aspect of the program, from the interface, to moving and scaling, etc. This is where a lot of game companies fail. They might make learn the program videos but few make learn as you go videos.

Lack of documentation, in lieu of video tutorials, is another issue. You have to make a good game, with good tools, then if you want a large modding community, you have to make it very easy for a wide variety of learning types to learn your editing tools.

I think perhaps another issue is with The Witcher itself. As an example I am playing the first game, and just completed a quest where I could choose from three rewards, one of them my own cabin where I was told I could store things. Well I had saved the game before choosing, so I chose the cabin and guess what? I get my own cabin, but I can't sleep there or store items!

This was a big mistake on the part of the developers. Morrowind, four years earlier, at least had this part figured out. Players could have houses and store stuff there. They could sleep there. That should have been in the Witcher series from the start. Players of RPGs want armor dummies to hang armor on, display cases to place weapons and items in. They want bookshelves you can take books off of, read, and put back. Modders spent years in the Morrowind community making these things.

In Skyrim you have mounts. In Morrowind you could jump and fly. The Witcher lacks any sort of jumping, climbing, flying or mount experience. It lacks the ability to own houses, as well as store and display items. I don't know about Witcher 2, but so far all of this is missing in the first game. You have to give players what they want or they won't buy or play your game.

Players want modding tools, and when they play the game, they want to be able to jump and climb, fly and use mounts, own houses and store items in various ways. If the developers provide these things in The Witcher 3, then its popularity is guaranteed.

The developers already have an excellent set of tools. They can keep working on it to make it more stable and add the things modders want. All that's left is to get the gaming part right. Here's to hoping that they will..