Collecting questions for an upcoming Dev Spotlight feat. Miles Tost

[Kinley]

Collecting questions for an upcoming Dev Spotlight feat. Miles Tost

Hello everyone!

As the title states, with the help of CDPR I'm working on a little project called Dev Spotlight. It'll contain a small Q&A with questions from the community.

This one will feature Miles Tost - Level Designer. So I'd appreciate if questions posted in this thread are questions concerning level design or something related to it only.

Let the questions flow! Not sure for how long I'll let the thread run, but I'll give ample warning before I lock it.

 

[ReptilePZ]

Just how big is TW3 compared to Skyr--

We know the world is quite large, so most of it must have been just generated. How much of it actually does get the hand-crafted level design treatment?

Why the crossbow?

Since Geralt is now a lot more nimble and can get to more places than ever before, just how big a role does verticality play in TW3 when it comes to level design?

Stealing? Really?

 

[wichat]

How will the save files system work? Will be they named automaticly or we'll can name them freely?

 

[WildFinn96]

In closed environments e.g. caves and buildings, how "open" will they be? Straight tubes or will there be several ways to go and explore?

Darnit, I can't think of words to say it better

 

[Exentryk]

Will there be some secret areas not shown on the map? I don't mean underground areas, but just some hidden secret bases that just don't get shown on the map?

 

[Garrison72]

I see lots of steep, rocky mountains. Are those basically no go zones, or are there passages that snake around mountains, or to the summit? Or perhaps tunnels going through?

 

[WildFinn96]

I see lots of steep, rocky mountains. Are those basically no go zones, or are there passages that snake around mountains, or to the summit? Or perhaps tunnels going through?

I think I've heard that we can climb them one way or another

 

[Agent_Bleu]

Hello everyone!

As the title states, with the help of CDPR I'm working on a little project called Dev Spotlight. It'll contain a small Q&A with questions from the community.

This one will feature Miles Tost - Level Designer. So I'd appreciate if questions posted in this thread are questions concerning level design or something related to it only.

Let the questions flow! Not sure for how long I'll let the thread run, but I'll give ample warning before I lock it.

Why Kinley, that is awfully nice of you!

It's almost as though you've retained at least one or two of the singular virtues that made you such a valuable forum member before becaming a mod. And realize you can lock the thread whenever you want. Threads have been locked before for unscrutinizable reasons.

Sarcasm.


But this is indeed a great idea. Thank you Kinley.

My questions:

1. Climbing
There's a ladder on one of those Novigrad rooftops. Can Geralt go up there? How extensive are Geralt's climbing abilities? Does Geralt have any mountaineering abilities? Do they require special gear? Is the system similar to TW2 only with a much larger array of climbable modules?

2. Interactivity
Can Geralt move objects around as a tactic? What sort of destructible environments can we expect? Are the muck, beehive and swamp gas examples the norm or the exception when it comes to taking advantage of the environment?

3. Interiors
Are TW3's interiors qualitively different from Tw2's? How so?
What kind of environmental puzzles are there?

 

[mirakodus1]

Are semi-volumetric clouds/mists still being considered in ultra options?

 

[TheDeathRun]

You, sir, are a true champion. Hats off to you.

Couple of questions I can think of:

1. Did you design areas with the enemies in mind? Something like "alright I'll place some ponds here for Water Hags, I'll make this hilltop a clearing so the Griffin can nest here, oh and I musn't forget a clear sky so the Harpies' movements aren't restricted" etc. Or were you more focused on making sure the player had some sense of direction/orientation and wouldn't get lost?

2. How did you decide how far apart to place villages/towns? Aside from how it would be like in real life, how did you balance that with player needs? This is especially true now that we've learnt weapon repair requires blacksmiths, and alcohol needs to be bought for potions.

3. When designing dungeons did you go for a "horror"'vibe? Many turns and corners, etc, with areas made for monsters to take advantage of and ambush you.

4. TW2 had great level design in my humble opinion. It was fun to explore, filled with detail, I never got frustratingly lost, and most importantly it felt like a real place. Were you able to manage the same level of detail and "handcrafted feel" for TW3 despite the world being 35 times bigger? Did you have to sacrifice or change any of that?

5. How did you make Novigrad's five districts feel different? Did you change up the architecture, the way the buildings were placed maybe?

Mr Tost probably won't answer them all, but I really appreciate this Q&A nonetheless! Thank you CDPR, and thank you Kinley!

 

[serxho92]

Will there be places where Geralt is wanted dead or alive and posters of him are seen throughout roads , villages etc.. If yes, is there a system like TW1 where bounty hunters or bandits harass and chase us (Geralt) and they're really tough to deal with.

 

[MUPPETA]

One big question, thanks Kinley

Kaer Morhen, what we can do there?( Is it just a prologue place or we can comeback and explore)
-maybe a secret door, with secret book , with secret sword and secret story (at least as dlc)

 

[ImPeakingIt]

How did you go about creating the level design for the Ciri missions? are the levels/areas vastly different to Geralts open world? how do they differ? and what challenges did you face and what did you enjoy about designing those levels.

 

[thislsmadness]

1. Whenever I play an open world game my first thought is... What happens when I reach the edge of the world? A lot of open games use invisible walls, some teleport you backward, and many will just flat out kill you. How do you guys handle this in Witcher 3?

2. Novigrad is the most impressive medieval city I've seen. How many of those buildings have actual interiors that we can enter?

 

[Holgaroni]

Are you satisfied with the world you have created? There's something you would change/improve now that the contents are locked?

 

[Scholdarr.452]

I don't know if he can answer it but I'll give it a try anyways:

Will we be able to create custom markers from certain locations on the map (at least on PC)?


And then:

1) How many of the houses in the world (and specificially in Novigrad) will we be able to enter?

2) Will we be able to visit all the specific locations/establishments in Novigrad which we know from the books?

 

[C0bR]

How big is the biggest dungeon?

 

[Ifrit30]

How many dungeons/caves are in the game and how do you keep them different (design and structurewise) without making it (feel) copy & paste?

I know it won't be much (if at all), but how big is the environmental destruction?

 

[Blothulfur]

How much do you believe a location can tell a story? Blood, broken furniture, small details of daily life etcetera, adding detail without exposition or explanation. I'm thinking of the houses and their individuality in Flotsam.

Can this interact with Geralt's senses?

 

[Agent_Bleu]

(...) how do you keep them [dungeons/caves] different (design and structurewise) without making it (feel) copy & paste?

Bam.
The single most important question has been asked.

I'd gladly trade all mine for a satisfactory answer to this one. I'm sure I don't have to bring up a certain AAA open world RPG of similar but smaller size that features countless cloned dungeons, ad nauseum.


Daywalker30 , thanks for being the Christopher Hitchens of this thread. Appreciated.