Collecting questions for an upcoming Dev Spotlight feat. Miles Tost

[Rawls]

1. Within a level or point of interest do enemies appear at random places or at specific spawn points? Will enemies reappear after time or once an area is cleared is it cleared forever?

2. We have heard from several sources that the world can change based on choices the player character makes in the game. Have you developed any points of interest or levels where you have to plan for multiple scenarios depending on prior choices the player has made in the game? If yes, how does that effect your design and what is it like designing for these varying possibilities?

3. Is there any specific level or point of interest you have designed or helped design that you are especially proud of? What about that particular point of interest makes it stand out to you?

 

[Neeedles]

Can Geralt eat food to regain a small part of his health or drink water to regain a small part of stamina??
Can we buy alcohol and get druhů whenever we want to? Not just in quests?
Can we still expect those semi-volumetric clouds? Without them the mountaints in the distance seem kinda "shallow".

 

[morozis23]

Will we be able to visit at least some parts of Vizima before\after visiting Emhyr or the only thing we see is the king's hall?

 

[scratcherpen]

Are you planning to add new territory in the future DLC? Brokilon, Dol Blathana, Zerrikania, Covir and Poviss? I really want to see that lands and their inhabittants in the future if this is possible.

 

[MilezZ]

Looking forward to this. Keep 'em coming, everyone!

 

[scratcherpen]

How difficult was for your your team to make such living locations with so much inhabbitants, each with their own culture, traditions and economic ecosystem. Where were you taking inspiration ? From which architecture and culture?

 

[Agent_Bleu]

Looking forward to this. Keep 'em coming, everyone!

Thank you.

Any idea when we can expect the interview to be released? Will it be taped?
Will there be some footage to illustrate your points?
(I just had to try)

 

[Cipher-Six]

I've played so many games where the scale feels off. Like a game can feel too small and claustraphobic, like ME2, where it just feels like every planet hub is just a small area and even the dungeons feel small. Or the opposite, games like Kingdoms of Amalur, feel too big, like oversized. How do you focus the scale of a large, open-world game so that it feels large, but still appropriate to scale for a single-player game? I do think Skyrim did a great job in giving players a large world that felt very well scaled. What kind of thoughts or designs go into scale for TW3? It is an aspect of games that I notice as I play them, but not something I understand much about. Any thoughts you'd be willing to share about this, I'd love to hear.

Thanks for your time!

 

[M_i_k_e]

Are the most of the doors closed in Novigrad? Can we access a lot of the buildings in the city?

 

[Rawls]

Since this is an "multi-region open world environment" how does that effect the flow control of the various points of interest? How does the open world level design direct players towards the goal of a given quest and attempt to prevent confusion and/or idling? Is it just quest markers? Are any of the levels you have designed time sensitive? Are there consequences to abandoning a quest mid-story?

 

[wichat]

Transition between outside and inside will have no cutscenes, the same for sewers and dungeons?

 

[WFMS2]

One thing I noticed during the newest gameplay video is the really apparent pop-in of distant vegetation, buildings etc as the game was switching between different LOD levels.
Is there a way this will be mitigated by the time the game releases?
Like for example, in Witcher 2 you guys used a dithering technique to make the transition between the LOD levels a lot less noticeable, but it seems this sort of method is completely missing in Witcher 3 and the LOD's just switch instantaneously.
Was it a technical limitation/ performance issues that prevented you from using the same method as W2, because W3 is a lot larger and needs to draw a lot more objects, or was it simply not implemented in time for the press event?

(Not entirely sure if this leans more on level design or a technical question, so I hope there's no issue if I post it in the Tech Q&A thread as well. But I hope Miles will share his thoughts on this subject too if my question is picked since I'm sure he's had to deal with the issue at some point in development as well.)

 

[nemanja_pozega]

Again, big gratitude and respect to you both for doing this :respect:

My question: how many areas besides Oxenfurt and Novigrad can be realistically considered cities? Not really large villages, and of course not the size of Novigrad, but some middle sized cities both in terms of ingame size and the things to do in them.

At the back of my head, I remember that in on of the earlier interviews it was mention that there would be 5 cities in the game. Excluding Vizima, and the two aforementioned cities, that leaves two. Are they still in, or have they been cut?

 

[onionshavelayers]

What will the Point of Interest density be like for the sailing?

 

[Agent_Bleu]

One thing I noticed during the newest gameplay video is the really apparent pop-in of distant vegetation, buildings etc as the game was switching between different LOD levels.
Is there a way this will be mitigated by the time the game releases?
Like for example, in Witcher 2 you guys used a dithering technique to make the transition between the LOD levels a lot less noticeable, but it seems this sort of method is completely missing in Witcher 3 and the LOD's just switch instantaneously.
Was it a technical limitation/ performance issues that prevented you from using the same method as W2, because W3 is a lot larger and needs to draw a lot more objects, or was it simply not implemented in time for the press event?

(Not entirely sure if this leans more on level design or a technical question, so I hope there's no issue if I post it in the Tech Q&A thread as well. But I hope Miles will share his thoughts on this subject too if my question is picked since I'm sure he's had to deal with the issue at some point in development as well.)

These are excellent questions and valid concerns.

I have asked the very same thing in the Technical community interview with CDPR. Check the pad where questions are listed - you can add your own at will, if you feel the subject has not been properly addressed. I think the tech Q&A is indeed the right context in which to ask these questions. Miles is a level designer, so these technicalities are not his prime concern, or so I believe.

This is just my opinion. You should of course proceed as you please.

 

[WFMS2]

These are excellent questions and valid concerns.

I have asked the very same thing in the Technical community interview with CDPR. Check the pad where questions are listed - you can add your own at will, if you feel the subject has not been properly addressed. I think the tech Q&A is indeed the right context in which to ask these questions. Miles is a level designer, so these technicalities are not his prime concern, or so I believe.

This is just my opinion. You should of course proceed as you please.

Ahh yes, I added my question just a few minutes after writing my post.
Must of missed your question in there when I was adding mine.
Not sure if I should get rid of it now or if the two questions are different enough to warrant separate spots. Perhaps we should combine them?

EDIT:

I actually think yours is the better question. If anything, I should be removing mine.
But back on topic.

Alright, I took both questions and made them into one then!
Good point about the shadow pop-in as well, it completely slipped my mind.

 

[Agent_Bleu]

Ahh yes, I added my question just a few minutes after writing my post.
Must of missed your question in there when I was adding mine.
Not sure if I should get rid of it now or if the two questions are different enough to warrant separate spots. Perhaps we should combine them?

I actually think yours is the better question. If anything, I should be removing mine.
But back on topic.

 

[eskiMoe]

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

Hopefully not like this:

Just saying..

 

[savioeven]

Questions:
1. Will we see francesca findabair and fringilla vigo in the game or in dlc(I hope you will add shani in the dlc)?

2. Are the crossbow bolts customizable (i.e. fire,posion, etc)?

3. Are all NPC killable(of course not the important characters)especially the bounty hunters?

4. How do we kill monsters while diving(is there a way or not)?

5. Is there a possibility for an evil route?

6. Will you provide a creation tool kit (like in skyrim)for modding?

 

[ONLY_ONCE]

Are we going to see lots of the same stuff all over the world?
e.g DAI has the same dead trees/logs everywhere I go, and it sucks, it looks fake and stupid. lol...
Please tell me you guys are making the world look and feel more real in every way.
New fresh everything, everywhere maybe? I hope so, and can you guys finish the game so that there is no screentearing on all platforms??