I'm wondering how they'll handle it. It could be made pretty seamless if technicalities don't get in the way. You are galloping on your horse past a certain threshold and (without taking control away from the player) it fades to black, "Days later..." it fades in with you doing what you were doing previously. They could probably think of better ways to do it, though.
The CDPR phrase *is* "Multi-Region Open World", so I don't get your point that it "perhaps" needs qualifying. It is qualified, quite precisely, and has been for over a year.
You do realize that the Witcher 3 game world is bigger than both RDR and GTA V worlds combined?
Comparing to GTA doesn't make sense but Is ıt really? I didn't play GTA V but it should be much bigger. You have cars in GTA for one thing, if there were cars in a Skyrim-size game, no one would think that game is big and people considers GTA V a big game.
I just took that to mean it had many locales.
Now if they had said multi-map or multi-level, that would be clear.
Yup, I have the same recollection. It's a simple matter of practicality - when he's running or on horseback, or if he's approaching a door, the system knows what's next and can pre-load. When he fast-travels, it can't.
I think it is bigger than both together yes. Skillige plus Novigrad were supposed to be about 136 square km (64 km2 + 72.25 km2) together according to the info released to the press last summer. I was never 100% positive if that includes No Man's Land in the Novigrad part. That does not include Kaer Morhen or other areas.
http://www.dualshockers.com/2014/04/03/the-witcher-3-two-of-the-areas-are-over-52-square-miles-by-themselves-3-5-times-larger-than-skyrim/
GTA V was apparently 80 km2 (http://imageshack.com/a/img571/1084/d60t.jpg) and RDR was approximately 25 km2. So together they do not add up to size of known Witcher map.
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The game is huge, take into acount that the main island in the skellige archipielago is the size of skyrim. the fact that at the beginig there are blocades is for story purposes.
this is not a mediocre rpg. this is the witcher, its main focus is the storyline and the fact that they managed to combine both open world and a novelike story is amazing.
Eaven the blocades are awsome, they are suposedly battles between the armies wich prevent you from going further into some locations, there are no invisible walls.
im realy confident and happy about the design desitions the company is taking.. we shall se how this ends
this is not a mediocre rpg. this is the witcher, its main focus is the storyline and the fact that they managed to combine both open world and a novelike story is amazing.
Eaven the blocades are awsome, they are suposedly battles between the armies wich prevent you from going further into some locations, there are no invisible walls.
im realy confident and happy about the design desitions the company is taking.. we shall se how this ends
So some of the ppl here understands just the half of the fact, yes, there is 2 main regions, but you should really understand that each region bigger than a whole game, and you call it not an open world game? What is it then?
When each region would stand on it own in a complete different game. If you would like to call a game, which was called an open world game, that would be the DA:I, for me an open world game have dinamyc weather and day night and none of thees are in that game.
I would like to write some infos about the MGS V open world. I know that it will be off topic, but someone mentioned it before. Kojima has only showed us a little part of his open world maps. Some of the Kojima station episode mentions that you will able to do multiple missions in one deployment, you do not need to go back Mother Base, you can explore and do some main or side ops as you will. Of course you will have limitations during missions, but as soon as you finish it, you will be free to explore anywhere. And here comes my guessing about this, Lets just say that you go for an intel in one base, and you raised alarm, it is possible that as you approach a different base in that place they will be on higher alert.
When each region would stand on it own in a complete different game. If you would like to call a game, which was called an open world game, that would be the DA:I, for me an open world game have dinamyc weather and day night and none of thees are in that game.
I would like to write some infos about the MGS V open world. I know that it will be off topic, but someone mentioned it before. Kojima has only showed us a little part of his open world maps. Some of the Kojima station episode mentions that you will able to do multiple missions in one deployment, you do not need to go back Mother Base, you can explore and do some main or side ops as you will. Of course you will have limitations during missions, but as soon as you finish it, you will be free to explore anywhere. And here comes my guessing about this, Lets just say that you go for an intel in one base, and you raised alarm, it is possible that as you approach a different base in that place they will be on higher alert.
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2014 Thief was also being called an open-world yet it was kludged smallish areas full of loading times.
I'm happy that CDPR takes the gradual opening as its way, keeps the focus nicely where it should be. Fully open from the get go worlds in games like these tend to come down as messy and distracting and lose their intrigue pretty fast. Case in point, Bethesda's games that have no direction and can't have either because the player is allowed and assumed to go everywhere straight from the get go. Gradual opening allows for some deviation and expands the whole thing as you go, but still keeps to the point, the drive to go on remains.
All great story-driven RPGs offered hub-based level design imo. I'm glad CDPR at least didn't went with the "one" seamless open world ala Skyrim. One big seamless open world is good for sandbox games but not for story-driven games imo...
I also don't get the problems some people have with loading times. If I have to bear them for well designed, hand-crafted levels I gladly accept them...
I also don't get the problems some people have with loading times. If I have to bear them for well designed, hand-crafted levels I gladly accept them...
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I actually really like the idea of a world that does not open up right away. It's more captivating, more alluring.
Up until now I was under the impression you'd get a loading screen only when FT or travelling between Skellige and the mainland. If I recall correctly, initially they didn't rule out a loading screen in between complex interiors but I'd guess they dropped it altogether, which is fine by me. I was also under the impression that no loading screens except in the aforementioned circumstances was the main drive behind the new streaming tech, that you could get rid of them without sacrificing asset quality.
It's for good reason, the push to get rid of loading screens. They break immersion. But I won't be excessively bothered by one in between Novigrad region and NML. Those two are so expansive in and of themselves, that a small hiccup won't be too big a deal.
Up until now I was under the impression you'd get a loading screen only when FT or travelling between Skellige and the mainland. If I recall correctly, initially they didn't rule out a loading screen in between complex interiors but I'd guess they dropped it altogether, which is fine by me. I was also under the impression that no loading screens except in the aforementioned circumstances was the main drive behind the new streaming tech, that you could get rid of them without sacrificing asset quality.
It's for good reason, the push to get rid of loading screens. They break immersion. But I won't be excessively bothered by one in between Novigrad region and NML. Those two are so expansive in and of themselves, that a small hiccup won't be too big a deal.
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To be honest I wouldn't even call Thief a real "Sandbox Game".
Yes, there was the City Hub, but aside from that it was a VERY linear game.
Why? It wouldn't take away anything. I wouldn't have minded one big sandbox if Skellige were right next to Novigrad in the lore map.
TW3 isn't only No man's land and Skellige + Novigrad. It will also feature some smaller, story-relevant hubs (probably Kaer Morhen, Vizima, flashback scenes,...)
The problem with seamless open worlds is imo staging, pacing and complexity. If you have a complex story to tell with a lot of choice and consequence in a kind of realistic fashion, it's better to narrow down your locations to reduce overall complexity and to enable focused level design.
That's still one of my biggest concerns with TW3, that the world is already too big and too connected...
Seems like they're trying to have their cake and eat it. When done well the inability to go certain places feels circumstantial and makes sense, whereas I read of a journalist trying to roam outside of the prologue area and getting teleported back, which sounds pretty heavy-handed.
I mean, did they conceive of this game as an open-world game because it suited their narrative driven approach, or because they want to say they've got a Skyrim-beater?