List of changes and cut content from the May 2014 leaks (copied from Reddit)

[sv3672]

Here's example: in the initial concept of the game Crach would ask you to help Hjalmar first, before he gives you a permission to investigate cataclysm site. After you do so, you have to come back and then you find out that Cerys sailed to lift Udalryk's curse, so you have to help her, then you finally get permission from Crach. In the final game Crach gives you a permission right away and just ask you to help his children when you have a chance to do that, you can also decide who you wanna help first or at all. Turning those two main quests into the sidequests not only makes game structure less linear, but also make more sense for Crach's character

Yes, I am aware of that change, it is still apparent from the quest numbers that they were originally planned to be main quests (q202 = The Lord of Undvik, q203 = Possession, Echoes of the Past). However, the largest changes of that type were made in the second act, which would have had three branches (Velen, Novigrad, Skellige) like the first one that originally ended with the Uma investigation in Kaer Morhen:
- Velen: A Towerful of Mice (q106), Return to Crookback Bog (q107), Forefathers' Eve (q108 ), For the Advancement of Learning (q109)
- Novigrad: ? ? (q306, deleted), ? ? (q307, deleted), Carnal Sins (q308 ), Now or Never (q309)
- Skellige: King's Gambit (q206), ? ? (q207, deleted), Coronation (q208 )
These were not only demoted from main to secondary quests, but many were also significantly reworked or simplified. From the final versions, it is often no longer apparent why they would have been main quests or what the originally intended story was like. I think this change also affected some of the related "sq" quests, which entered production later than the main story.

 

[Goodmongo]

I really dont understand this mentality of : " they should have done this- they should add this - it would be easy to"

As a programmer I HATE it when my boss or users tell me that "it should be easy to" make the change they want. Without intimate knowledge of the source code no one can say that except someone who actually knows what the program is doing. The request it self can have lot's of reasons for doing it but "being easy to do" is the one thing people don't know.

 

[Sam2305]

As a programmer I HATE it when my boss or users tell me that "it should be easy to" make the change they want. Without intimate knowledge of the source code no one can say that except someone who actually knows what the program is doing. The request it self can have lot's of reasons for doing it but "being easy to do" is the one thing people don't know.

Considering what we've seen. It should be easy for them. We are not talking about one guy trying to fix the problems of a single game but a complete studio

 

[Shavod]

Yes, I am aware of that change, it is still apparent from the quest numbers that they were originally planned to be main quests (q202 = The Lord of Undvik, q203 = Possession, Echoes of the Past). However, the largest changes of that type were made in the second act, which would have had three branches (Velen, Novigrad, Skellige) like the first one that originally ended with the Uma investigation in Kaer Morhen:
- Velen: A Towerful of Mice (q106), Return to Crookback Bog (q107), Forefathers' Eve (q108 ), For the Advancement of Learning (q109)
- Novigrad: ? ? (q306, deleted), ? ? (q307, deleted), Carnal Sins (q308 ), Now or Never (q309)
- Skellige: King's Gambit (q206), ? ? (q207, deleted), Coronation (q208 )
These were not only demoted from main to secondary quests, but many were also significantly reworked or simplified. From the final versions, it is often no longer apparent why they would have been main quests or what the originally intended story was like. I think this change also affected some of the related "sq" quests, which entered production later than the main story.

I'm not sure if 306, 307 and 207 are deleted quests or ever existed, since there is not a single mention about those, there might be another reason behind the odd numbering. About intended story for the original Act 2, I think I know how it was going to look like.

Uma investigation was going to happen in the end of Act 1 in Kaer Morhen, where we have the party, quests and all the other things we know from the final version. The major difference is that Yen wouldn't lift the curse right away, just made a research and some preparations, which concludes with that she's unable to do that on her own. Yen, Triss (probably called for help) and the witchers discuss the matter and it turns out that in order to lift Uma's curse they would need a help of the Council and Conclave of Mages, which is currently unavailable (either because it doesn't exist or because it's under Radovid's control). Then they find alternate solution in the form of Forefather's Eve. This is where the story splinters back to Velen, Novigrad and Skellige. So basically most of the Act 2 was going to be about lifting Uma's curse.

Step 1: Preparing the ground for Forefather's Eve. Eve always takes place on Fyke Island, which is currently cursed and Geralt needs Keira's help to lift it. After getting to Keira's house, he finds it to be abandoned and ravaged by Witch Hunters, who are searching for her. Then he follows her track to a new hideout in one of the villages, which were destroyed by the plague (you can still find this village in the game). Keira gives him magic lamp and all the information he needs, then the quest with the Fyke Island plays out exactly the same like in the final version. After lifting the curse, Geralt needs to go with Bloody Baron on his crusade against Crones (for reasons unknown, but I presume they would somehow interfere with the Eve and had to go away), who in the end of the first act was just preparing for it. This quest also plays out the same, except that in the final version it's optional.

Step 2: Getting Dudu's help in Novigrad. I'm not sure why he's needed for the Eve, but I already posted my guess in one of the earlier posts, which is that he's job was copying a "soul" of the summoned ghosts in order to get access to their memories and help them get to the other side. In order to get his help Geralt needs to catch the serial killer who attacked Blanka. Now who's Blanka? At first I thought it's early name for Priscilla, but they were mentioned separately, so I think she was different character, only later on she and Priscilla were merged together. There is a mention in Prima Guide doc, which hints that she was going to be a female doppler, potentially a love interest for Dudu, so it would explain why would she end up as a victim of the Eternal Fire fanatic. Carnal Sins itself is almost the same, except Priscilla replaced Blanka, Dandelion Dudu and Triss is not the one who makes the autopsy. The another major difference is that I think Blanka supposed to be the person who organized the mages escape from Novigrad (and this is what Blanka Operation refers to), which would also explain why Geralt had to help Triss finish it, otherwise Dudu would not agree to go with him and help him. Now or Never plays out in similar way to the final version, with couple of differences, like Roche is helping Triss instead of Dijkstra and it seems there were some other failing conditions for the mages escape then Geralt refusing to participate, though the consequences are probably the same.

Step 3: Obtaining Heroes Mead at Skellige, which would probably be used as anesthetic for Uma. Geralt and Yen visist Crach in order to ask him for it, but then the slaughter happens, so they need to find the culprit first, before they get what they want. Investigation would be a bit more expansive, but overall it very similar to how it looks like in the final game. Ultimately Geralt decides to either help Cerys with peaceful resolution or Hjalmar with more agressive one in the same way. There was no option to fail it, so in the original version of the game there was no way for Svanrige to become a king, it was either Hjalmar or Cerys. This possibility was added after they decided to turn it into the sidequest. Then we have a coronation and after that the couple finally gets what they were looking for (this is where The Last Wish was also going to take place, it could be only initiated after this quest).

Last step: Forefather's Eve. I already described in the past what it supposed to be, I'm not going to go into details. In short, it was a bunch of playable flashbacks, where you play as Vserad in a day where his tower has fallen, as Bloody Baron (if he died) in a day when he abuses his wife (and maybe rapes her, judging by some flashbacks names), kid named Wojtek (if children died) in a day when he betrays Johnny to the Crones, which is why he probably lost his voice, and finally as Avallac'h in his Ciri and Eredin flashbacks.

After that, Keira tries to screw Geralt over by stealing WMD, which also gets Bloody Baron and his Sergeant involved. This is also when Geralt would had a choice to kill Bloody Baron, if he didn't die before. Piece of this quest involving Keira has been combined with Keira's sidequest (a date) and this is the shape it has taken in the final game. Then we have Isle of Mists and Kaer Morhen, just like in the final game.

That's about summarizes it.

 

[sv3672]

I'm not sure if 306, 307 and 207 are deleted quests or ever existed, since there is not a single mention about those, there might be another reason behind the odd numbering.

All three are mentioned in "W3 Locations production list.xlsx", and q207 is also in "W3 Quest asset matrix.xlsx". Although these might be quests that were only written on paper, and did not actually reach the production stage. The numbering of the quests in the three main hubs seems to follow a simple scheme: quests 1 to 5 are in Act 1, 6 to 9 in Act 2, and 10 and above in Act 3.

Step 3: Obtaining Heroes Mead at Skellige, which would probably be used as anesthetic for Uma. Geralt and Yen visist Crach in order to ask him for it, but then the slaughter happens, so they need to find the culprit first, before they get what they want. Investigation would be a bit more expansive, but overall it very similar to how it looks like in the final game. Ultimately Geralt decides to either help Cerys with peaceful resolution or Hjalmar with more agressive one in the same way. There was no option to fail it, so in the original version of the game there was no way for Svanrige to become a king, it was either Hjalmar or Cerys. This possibility was added after they decided to turn it into the sidequest. Then we have a coronation and after that the couple finally gets what they were looking for (this is where The Last Wish was also going to take place, it could be only initiated after this quest).

Yes, it can also be seen in "W3 Flashbacks Finalboard Storybook.xlsx" that originally there was no Svanrige ending. Which may explain why the character is so under-developed in the final game and has only 11 lines to say. But is it certain that a separate Last Wish quest was always planned, or could the Yennefer romance have been a part of q208 (now Coronation), and then later ended up as a new secondary quest ? The reason why I wonder that is that there are a few references left in the game files to a fact named "q208_yen_lover", instead of the usual "sq202_yen_girlfriend".

After that, Keira tries to screw Geralt over by stealing WMD, which also gets Bloody Baron and his Sergeant involved. This is also when Geralt would had a choice to kill Bloody Baron, if he didn't die before. Piece of this quest involving Keira has been combined with Keira's sidequest (a date) and this is the shape it has taken in the final game. Then we have Isle of Mists and Kaer Morhen, just like in the final game.

Is there more information about what this WMD would originally have been ? In the actual version of the game, the only reference to it is a scene named "q109_06_cs_geralt_destroys_wmd". I did not actually see it in game yet, but it is apparently a cutscene after killing Keira, where Geralt says the line "Didn't have to end this way…", and burns the papers.

 

[Shavod]

Yes, it can also be seen in "W3 Flashbacks Finalboard Storybook.xlsx" that originally there was no Svanrige ending. Which may explain why the character is so under-developed in the final game and has only 11 lines to say. But is it certain that a separate Last Wish quest was always planned, or could the Yennefer romance have been a part of q208 (now Coronation), and then later ended up as a new secondary quest ? The reason why I wonder that is that there are a few references left in the game files to a fact named "q208_yen_lover", instead of the usual "sq202_yen_girlfriend".

No, I think it was always planned to be this way, since The Last Wish is listed as a large sidequest under name "Yen Romance" and the list of assets confirms it's the same quest as in the final game. As for Svanrige, it kinda makes sense he doesn't talk much, since for the most of the game he supposed to look simply like a pawn in his mother hands without any opinion that is his own, before he surprises everyone by suddenly going against her wishes.

Is there more information about what this WMD would originally have been ? In the actual version of the game, the only reference to it is a scene named "q109_06_cs_geralt_destroys_wmd". I did not actually see it in game yet, but it is apparently a cutscene after killing Keira, where Geralt says the line "Didn't have to end this way…", and burns the papers.

I think it supposed to be a samples of the plague on which Alexander worked on. Originally they supposed to be hidden in crates that Geralt smashes, but person overviewing the quest noted how silly this was, so I think this is where they decided to leave it as a documents in the final game. Bloody Baron's presence implies that maybe he was trying to get them for Nilfgaard or Keira tried to deal with Nilfgaard through him, resulting in Geralt having a choice to kill him or not (there are flashbacks related to Geralt saying that rapists deserve to die or they deserve to live, which might be that choice). If Geralt let him live and take it, Keira dies. If Geralt kills him and stop Nilfgaard from getting WMD, Keira lives. Of course, most of this are just my speculations.

 

[sv3672]

No, I think it was always planned to be this way, since The Last Wish is listed as a large sidequest under name "Yen Romance" and the list of assets confirms it's the same quest as in the final game.

That does not explain the presence of the above mentioned fact in the files, though, which suggests there were plans for a Yennefer romance choice in q208 at some point. That is, assuming there would not also have been a secondary quest but the choice made in q208. However, it is also possible that by the time the side quest appeared in the documents, the second act was already being reworked. I could have missed it somewhere, but the quest asset list from June 2014 is already a "mostly final" story where it is listed as sq202 like in the released version, while "W3 Quests _ Story production list.xlsx" from January 2014 shows it as sq205 with little information other than that it is "to be redesigned" and is mostly in "to do" status. Are there documents other than "W3 Quest Asset List.pdf" with detailed information about the side quests ?

 

[Shavod]

That does not explain the presence of the above mentioned fact in the files, though, which suggests there were plans for a Yennefer romance choice in q208 at some point. That is, assuming there would not also have been a secondary quest but the choice made in q208. However, it is also possible that by the time the side quest appeared in the documents, the second act was already being reworked. I could have missed it somewhere, but the quest asset list from June 2014 is already a "mostly final" story where it is listed as sq202 like in the released version, while "W3 Quests _ Story production list.xlsx" from January 2014 shows it as sq205 with little information other than that it is "to be redesigned" and is mostly in "to do" status. Are there documents other than "W3 Quest Asset List.pdf" with detailed information about the side quests ?

In the alpha bugs file there is a mention of the dialogue with Yen after coronation, which supposed to start this sidequest. At first they planned to have Yen talk the matter with Geralt immediately after, but the person overviewing the quest felt it would be better for Yen to say that she has a problem and then for the player to go and talk with her to learn the details, so basically how it is in the final game, except in this case it's after garden quest. It is still called sidequest though.

 

[sv3672]

Considering what we've seen. It should be easy for them. We are not talking about one guy trying to fix the problems of a single game but a complete studio

It depends, there is no longer a complete studio to work on the game, the majority of people moved on to different projects already. Some of the cut content would conflict with what is in the final version (because the story has been changed since then), while other parts of it could in theory be restored without too much difficulty. And then a lot of stuff was cut before it entered full production, or it has no voice acting yet, or only in English, or is otherwise in an incomplete state. I suspect that if more content was to be added to the game (however unlikely that seems right now), it would either restore things that were "mostly" done and deleted at a late stage of development, or it could be just new content made from scratch.

I'm not sure if 306, 307 and 207 are deleted quests or ever existed, since there is not a single mention about those, there might be another reason behind the odd numbering.

Here are the few small bits of information that I found about these quests:

In "W3 Quest asset matrix.xlsx":

Spoiler

q306

Mechanism in the archive for rotating bookcases

q307

(no assets, but the quest is listed in this document)

q207

Animations of people attached by insects</t></si>
Debuff for NPCs attacked by insects</t></si>
Inscects summoned by Mousesack

In "W3 Locations production list.xlsx" (the quests are not listed on the SubMatrix tab, so they might already have been deleted and then this is just old information that has been left in the file):

Spoiler

q306

Messengers Inn
Golden Sturgeon Inn
Kingfisher Inn +basement
Passiflora Brothel
Dandelion Brothel
Dandelion Brothel Interior Levels

q307

Sewer System building
Temple of Eternal Fire

q207

Crach Castle
Crach castle - Yennefers room

Step 2: Getting Dudu's help in Novigrad. I'm not sure why he's needed for the Eve, but I already posted my guess in one of the earlier posts, which is that he's job was copying a "soul" of the summoned ghosts in order to get access to their memories and help them get to the other side. In order to get his help Geralt needs to catch the serial killer who attacked Blanka. Now who's Blanka? At first I thought it's early name for Priscilla, but they were mentioned separately, so I think she was different character, only later on she and Priscilla were merged together. There is a mention in Prima Guide doc, which hints that she was going to be a female doppler, potentially a love interest for Dudu, so it would explain why would she end up as a victim of the Eternal Fire fanatic.

The Novigrad part still seems to be unclear to me, there is little information about the Act 2 quests here in the documents from before 2014, and by that time they were already in the process of being reworked for the final structure. One can only speculate about the exact roles of Blanka and Dudu, what those deleted quests would have been about, and many other details.

Carnal Sins itself is almost the same, except Priscilla replaced Blanka, Dandelion Dudu and Triss is not the one who makes the autopsy. The another major difference is that I think Blanka supposed to be the person who organized the mages escape from Novigrad (and this is what Blanka Operation refers to), which would also explain why Geralt had to help Triss finish it, otherwise Dudu would not agree to go with him and help him.

So, Blanka would have organized the mages' escape from Novigrad, but when she is injured in Carnal Sins, Triss takes over that role, which would explain why she was planned to play a role in that quest and why the story continues with Now or Never ? Not sure if what I have seen so far confirms this theory, though, and exactly how SQ301 fits into the story. Q305 - where Blanka was to be introduced, and is now The Play's the Thing quest - does have something about the mages' hideout. Interestingly, there are also references there to characters now only present in Carnal Sins like Eustace, Nathanel, and the coroner.

In the alpha bugs file there is a mention of the dialogue with Yen after coronation, which supposed to start this sidequest. At first they planned to have Yen talk the matter with Geralt immediately after, but the person overviewing the quest felt it would be better for Yen to say that she has a problem and then for the player to go and talk with her to learn the details, so basically how it is in the final game, except in this case it's after garden quest. It is still called sidequest though.

Do you mean this line ?

sq z yen - nie wycagajmy tego w jednym dialogu po koronacji - to powinno byc tak ze Yen mowi ze nie moze jechac, Geralt pyta dlaczego, ona mowi ze cos musi zrobic - Yen odchodzi na gp, a my dostajemy sq do journala "pogadaj z yen" - wyjscie z dialogow powinno dawac do zrozumienia ze z Yen cos jes nie tak.

It still does not really tell what that part of the game would have been like, though. Of course, it is easiest to assume that it would have been the same as in the final game, but since at that time that side quest (or it could have been an optional sub-quest of q208 ? There is no number, only "sq") probably was not in production yet, and then in 2014 it apparently needed to be redesigned and even had a different number at first, it is anyone's guess.

 

[Pug.]

Considering what we've seen. It should be easy for them. We are not talking about one guy trying to fix the problems of a single game but a complete studio

The problem at this point lies in creating market confusion. CDPR has confirmed the existence of a GOTY edition. Usually that's the definitive version of the game. Occasionally you might also get a remaster down the road, similar to what Naughty Dog did with The Last of Us, but that's usually just to bring the graphics up to date. A precedent doesn't readily come to mind of a company releasing a GOTY edition, and then an Enhanced Edition which fundamentally alters large swaths of the narrative, which is what most people seem to be asking for.

 

[Shavod]

Here are the few small bits of information that I found about these quests:

In "W3 Quest asset matrix.xlsx":


In "W3 Locations production list.xlsx" (the quests are not listed on the SubMatrix tab, so they might already have been deleted and then this is just old information that has been left in the file):

Really, I have no idea about any of those, but seeing how early they were removed, it was most likely done for quality related reasons. Looking at the list of storyboards I don't think they had anything major in it.

So, Blanka would have organized the mages' escape from Novigrad, but when she is injured in Carnal Sins, Triss takes over that role, which would explain why she was planned to play a role in that quest and why the story continues with Now or Never ? Not sure if what I have seen so far confirms this theory, though, and exactly how SQ301 fits into the story. Q305 - where Blanka was to be introduced, and is now The Play's the Thing quest - does have something about the mages' hideout. Interestingly, there are also references there to characters now only present in Carnal Sins like Eustace, Nathanel, and the coroner.

Nathaniel still appears in this quest, He's the guy Ciri bumps into during her escape in the flashback. Coroner maybe also appears somewhere in the background, though I'm not sure of that. As for the Triss sidequest, it was Vegelbud party and it was going to take place during Act 1, in the final game it was connected with Now or Never.

or it could have been an optional sub-quest of q208 ? There is no number, only "sq")

I'm quite sure this is The Last Wish, since they call it Yen sidequest.

 

[Sam2305]

The problem at this point lies in creating market confusion. CDPR has confirmed the existence of a GOTY edition. Usually that's the definitive version of the game. Occasionally you might also get a remaster down the road, similar to what Naughty Dog did with The Last of Us, but that's usually just to bring the graphics up to date. A precedent doesn't readily come to mind of a company releasing a GOTY edition, and then an Enhanced Edition which fundamentally alters large swaths of the narrative, which is what most people seem to be asking for.

They could do some kind of "extended cut" of the game. Just keep in mind that the stories that were excluded from the current game were not supposed to change the main endings so adding this cut stuff wouldn't change signifcantly the main story. In fact, it would make it better so I don't think that an EE would create market confusion

 

[Shavod]

I was thinking about posting a list of changes and cuts made to The Witcher 2 (other then Dol Blathanna), though I'm not sure if I should do that in this thread (since some of it is related to the Wild Hunt) or just make another thread like this in Witcher 2 section.

 

[Antonsky07]

If it is about witcher 2 post it in witcher 2 section of the forum.

 

[sv3672]

I'm quite sure this is The Last Wish, since they call it Yen sidequest.

It only says "sq of yen", whether that would have been The Last Wish as released, or different to an unknown extent, one can only speculate either way, knowing how some of the other quests (where the information is actually available) changed a lot, while others did not. I think at that time there might have been only a placeholder there, which would explain the lack of a quest number (this is the only place where "sq" appears in that document), and maybe also why references to "q208_yen_lover" were left in some other main quests that already entered production sooner than "sq of yen".

Really, I have no idea about any of those, but seeing how early they were removed, it was most likely done for quality related reasons. Looking at the list of storyboards I don't think they had anything major in it.

The storyboards do not really tell much about the details of the story, but it is indeed plausible that they were removed for "trimming the fat" reasons, as even with the simplified final version, there are still people complaining about the Novigrad quest line being overly long or complicated.

Nathaniel still appears in this quest, He's the guy Ciri bumps into during her escape in the flashback. Coroner maybe also appears somewhere in the background, though I'm not sure of that.

I find the bits related to Eustace, the corpse collector more interesting, like this line: "There should be some dialogue lines before asking witnesses right away about the scene (e.g. "- Are you Eustace? - What do you care? and then a choice hub)". That looks similar to an actual scene from the final version of Carnal Sins. Maybe the first attack of the psycho would already have happened in Q305, but only investigated later when Blanka also becomes one of the victims ?

As for the Triss sidequest, it was Vegelbud party and it was going to take place during Act 1, in the final game it was connected with Now or Never.

I have seen in "W3 ALPHA BUGS.xlsx" that it was already in development (alpha stage ?) at that time and similar to the final version, what I wondered if there could have been any differences due to the changes that have been made to the mage escape plot.

They could do some kind of "extended cut" of the game. Just keep in mind that the stories that were excluded from the current game were not supposed to change the main endings so adding this cut stuff wouldn't change signifcantly the main story. In fact, it would make it better so I don't think that an EE would create market confusion

"The Witcher 3: Enhanced GOTY Edition (Director's Cut)" ?

I was thinking about posting a list of changes and cuts made to The Witcher 2 (other then Dol Blathanna), though I'm not sure if I should do that in this thread (since some of it is related to the Wild Hunt) or just make another thread like this in Witcher 2 section.

Are there any similar documents for The Witcher 2, or would it be a collection of information that has been publicly released before in interviews etc. ? Although the files of the final version could also reveal some interesting bits, a lot of lines from the localization files seem to be unused, the file names of some scenes still refer to what they were originally planned to be like, developer comments may reference deleted or changed content, and so on.

Returning to the topic of cut content in Witcher 3, is there any information about the originally planned size of each quest, for example, something like the number of dialogue lines, which can be compared to the final version. In "W3 Quests _ Story production list.xlsx", there is a column labeled "WORK PLANNED", but it may or may not reflect the relative size or complexity of the quests well. Also in the same file, on the "Story&Quests_calculations" tab, there are a few numbers that may tell about the planned size of major sections of the game (what is shown in parentheses is what I counted in the actual files), although these seem to be only simple rounded values:

P1 - 8000 lines (10822)
Pr, P2, P3, E, F - 8000 lines (9298 )
SQ, Comm, NPC - 12000 lines (16148 )

It does not tell much, however, other than maybe that the second group (P2+P3+etc.) became somewhat smaller relative to the others, which is more or less as expected.

 

[Shavod]

It only says "sq of yen", whether that would have been The Last Wish as released, or different to an unknown extent, one can only speculate either way, knowing how some of the other quests (where the information is actually available) changed a lot, while others did not. I think at that time there might have been only a placeholder there, which would explain the lack of a quest number (this is the only place where "sq" appears in that document), and maybe also why references to "q208_yen_lover" were left in some other main quests that already entered production sooner than "sq of yen".

The thing is they writing those notes in a incredibly casual fashion, especially in polish. The only reason why sq is not numbered is because the person overviewing this quest wanted to be as brief as possible, because quest designer knows what he or she works on anyway, so when he writes "sq with Yen" in his note, quest designer knows exactly what he means and no more details are needed. And it's not like any other sidequest we are aware of fits any better in here, so in order to calm my spirit, I will accept it as that.

I have seen in "W3 ALPHA BUGS.xlsx" that it was already in development (alpha stage ?) at that time and similar to the final version, what I wondered if there could have been any differences due to the changes that have been made to the mage escape plot.

My theory is that this quest has been connected with Now or Never in order to explain how Triss gets the money to save mages, even if you didn't find Dijkstra's treasure. Since the operation could still fail and not just because of Geralt not helping with it, maybe the success of the operation originally supposed to depend on the fact if you obtained Dijkstra's treasure or not (I mean there must have been a reason why they planned flashbacks related to this choice), since he promised to finance the mages exodus if Triss helps him get it back. But again, that's just my guess.

Are there any similar documents for The Witcher 2, or would it be a collection of information that has been publicly released before in interviews etc. ? Although the files of the final version could also reveal some interesting bits, a lot of lines from the localization files seem to be unused, the file names of some scenes still refer to what they were originally planned to be like, developer comments may reference deleted or changed content, and so on.

Other user on the polish forum, Rustine, dig up quite a lot of info from the game files and I saw only some of that being posted on the international forum (the bit about flashback to Thanned). It's all in polish, so since no one else bothered sharing that here, I might as well do that (with all the credit still going to Rustine, of course).

 

[DaSmas]

Considering what we've seen. It should be easy for them. We are not talking about one guy trying to fix the problems of a single game but a complete studio

What indicates that... At all??? Plans and concept art even full blown models and meshes are like... 5 % of the work.

 

[Cohonez]

What I am about to write might be considered off-topic, but is - in my opinion - a very good example of how re-using the deleted content can actually improve the franchise.

I believe that there are forum users familiar with game called "Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver". This 1999 game was a follow-up for title "Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain" and till this day remains the most successful (both "critically acclaimed" and "people choice") part of long forgotten "Legacy of Kain" saga.

Game has this great, dark athmosphere, fantastic characters and awesome gameplay - you are this fallen vampire Raziel and you are on your revenge-spree while visiting dystopian open world. You acquire new abilities, that enable you to go to previously unreachable places, gather bonuses, kill epic bosses and then...cliffhanger ending After this we have more story-focused "Soul Reaver 2" and "Defiance" (with more combat). There is also "Blood Omen 2", but despite good athmosphere, it is consider "a weakling".

What I am getting at is that developer (Crystal Dynamics) while creating first "Soul Reaver" was forced to cut roughly 1/3 of the original game. 3 large areas, 2 bosses, 2 abilities and dozens of useful power-ups were deleted because of technological issues (please be aware, that it was era of the first Playstation). Also, third act of game plot was put away...

...and apparently this was a good decission, because original plot was making the characters and their motivations pale and excluding sequel posibilites. Story was later changed, expanded and was more accurate to the first "Blood Omen" lore.

Majority of excluded content was later introduced in "Soul Reaver 2" and "Defiance". Plus, there was one feature appearing in "Blood Omen 2". And thanks to this gaming world has one of the best story/character based game franchises ever made.

If you want some details: here is a great investigation on NeoGaf forum:
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=488564

My point is - I think sometimes it is wise to re-introduce some of the deleted content but with some changed background. For Witcher world we could use example of our poor Iorveth - he was deleted because better plot was chosen for final game, but maybe it is worth to re-introduce him in totally different quest since GOTY is approaching?

Post Scriptum: Legacy of Kain series ended with Defiance in 2003. There were 2 attempts of continuation - Dark Prophecy (scheduled 2005) and Dead Sun (scheduled for 2012). Both cancelled due to editors demands. There are rumors, that it might be best for this series to do a solid remake. Perhaps CDPRed could sell the RED Engine to Crystal Dynamisc - then the Blood Omen reboot would have the great quality (even the main character has long white hair )

 

[sv3672]

My theory is that this quest has been connected with Now or Never in order to explain how Triss gets the money to save mages, even if you didn't find Dijkstra's treasure. Since the operation could still fail and not just because of Geralt not helping with it, maybe the success of the operation originally supposed to depend on the fact if you obtained Dijkstra's treasure or not (I mean there must have been a reason why they planned flashbacks related to this choice), since he promised to finance the mages exodus if Triss helps him get it back. But again, that's just my guess.

It is not clear however if the choices in Q303 would have been similar to the final version, since the scene with Menge was changed: in the documents, he is interrogated and beaten by Geralt, that is no longer in the quest (or was it turned into the Yamurlak scene ?), from the flashbacks it also looks like he could have survived originally. I am also not sure exactly when the events of those flashbacks would have taken place, since I found nothing about a barge or Margarita Laux-Antille in Q303, is it possible that they could have happened later ?

 

[Shavod]

It is not clear however if the choices in Q303 would have been similar to the final version, since the scene with Menge was changed: in the documents, he is interrogated and beaten by Geralt, that is no longer in the quest (or was it turned into the Yamurlak scene ?), from the flashbacks it also looks like he could have survived originally. I am also not sure exactly when the events of those flashbacks would have taken place, since I found nothing about a barge or Margarita Laux-Antille in Q303, is it possible that they could have happened later ?

List of flashbacks indicates that initially Geralt and Triss supposed to take Menge to Dijkstra. Also it looks like at this point Dandelion was not supposed to be kidnapped (at least yet), so maybe Triss tried to get informations about Margarita instead before delivering him to Sigi. As for Margarita in 303, she is mentioned in the W3 Characters Production List. I didn't find anything about the barge in this quest, though the scenes that involve it could always happen offscreen.