Screenshot & Artwork collection - Part II

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"The Wild Hunt is coming"



Only five months left. :)


Just five months... five... months... left... I need to survive this winter.



 
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New screenshots are very nice,
but I'm still waiting for something from bygone era
- my favorite early screenshot
-maybe it's just green gray filter but it looked almost like a first witcher -but in a new engine.
(not including that tree on left side of market in 35 min game play build is making me sad- nitpicking sorry)

I also miss this, the screens are great but they miss something from the first game.

I feel like CDPR are showing of with these recent screenshots, and they deserve praise for creating those amazing environments. however recently what they have shown has been idealistic, not the screens themselves but the environments. it feels like they went out of their way to compete with other RPG on the market with their open world environments. Its a terrible thing to suggest CDPR of doing, but regardless of the way those screenshots are taken (with the rule of thirds) the world will still look like that. People hate comparisons with skyrim, and dragon age, because we regard the witcher as something else, but that’s what I see in those screenshots, I see those idealistic fantasy settings.

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Look at the kaer morhen screens, they are amazing, but for me when I think about the books and the impression I have of the place, I feel put off by that shot. I don't want to sound nit picky either, but the witcher 1 was not moody because of the colour, (it wasn't that gloomy any how) but that its environments felt true to themselves, and the way a places looked, looked the way they did for a reason. What I mean is the first game is not nearly as artistic as the witcher 2 and 3, and that made the mood for the game I think, not that it was gloomy, but that it’s environments where trying to be places first and for most.

Still there is nothing wrong with being artistic, but it should serve a purpose (not necessarily), and when you are dealing with a world that was previously described by the books you have to stay true to that (you can be as artistic as much as you want around that, but the place must be that place in the books, or at least a place to itself), and the wtcher 1 was like that I think. The witcher 2 wasn’t a problem either, the game was excellent with the art style complimented the locations and it made them better, even better than the witcher 1, but the witcher 3 is going to be open worlded, and that might changes things. That said when I hear about how much effort whet into designing novigrad I get really excited, and CDPR have shown us that they can create excellent locations, however those screens worry me a little, and I can’t help it. there is plenty to like in those screenshots but still

The kaer morhen screens are really good looking, but they feel off to me, because they look like every one of those screen released. It shows an amazing landscape, lush and colourful and hospitable, and that is not kaer morhen. In the books, it wasn’t like that, and in the witcher 1 it wasn’t either. kaer morhen in that screenshot, is in summer, and is filled with colour and the keep looks great, the comfortable home of the witchers, and the surrounding forest lush, perfect for pretty screens. The books, give a very different impression. Kaer morhen is a hard place, the surrounding landscape, was the sight of battles, and of the massacre, of the wolf school long ago. The bones of the dead witchers from that time are littered around the keep and where never buried because vesamer saw them as example, you can even still find the fliers used to convince people to participate in the massacre. the woods around the keep are not very lively, and there is a trail that goes through the woods where young witchers, including Ciri, trained and is called the killer for obvious reasons, and because some died trying to do master it. I could still be wrong about these screenshots, and I want to be, normally I would give it a chance and accept that this is good and just CDPR’s interpretation, but kaer morhen looks the same in that flash back screenshot where Ciri is young as well.

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I think it was @Guest888 that pointed out in this screenshot that geralt has the same gear as he does in the game play demos, which makes no sense if this is a flash back of Ciri’s past at kaer morhen because that was years ago. But I want to also point out that Ciri arrived in winter to kaer morhen, as it is after all the witchers winter shelter, and they are out hunting monsters during the summer. But the keep in that flash back shot is worm , colourful like it might be in summer. The witcher books had plenty of lush and lively and colourful places, but kaer morhen wasn’t one of them, and I don’t think it needed to be, even for those that like it.

I don’t know how many see this as a possible problem of the witcher 3, but I can’t help but feel like these screenshots show the continued departure that was started by the witcher 2, I don’t know if those screenshots capture the books, they don’t feel like they do, and the developers at CDPR are the best fans of the books, they don’t need my opinion, but the game has definitely changed, since the witcher 1. I’m pretty sure that CDPR love the books, they are basing these games after them and understand them as fans I guess, so why the departure? Is it no longer about capturing the books, is there more to it than that? Not every one will agree, and I might still be wrong, I’m being picky about one environment that might not mean anything for the game as a hole, could be place holder or just different by the time it reaches us in the finished game, but the witcher games have lost something, it makes me sad too.

i want to be positive about the amazing new screens, but still.
 

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I feel like CDPR are showing of with these recent screenshots, and they deserve praise for creating those amazing environments. however recently what they have shown has been idealistic, not the screens themselves but the environments. it feels like they went out of their way to compete with other RPG on the market with their open world environments. Its a terrible thing to suggest CDPR of doing, but regardless of the way those screenshots are taken (with the rule of thirds) the world will still look like that. People hate comparisons with skyrim, and dragon age, because we regard the witcher as something else, but that’s what I see in those screenshots, I see those idealistic fantasy settings.

I like those screenshots.
But mate, what makes the Witcher exceptional, is story. I don't really care about graphics that much. The entire open world and other "gimmicks" are a logical expansion and a tool to make this story even better, or at least i think so. And I don't expect TW3 to remain loyal to the "trueschool" art direction of W1 or imaginary visions fans may have, or Ciri's hair colour. Well I'd appreciate it, but I don't expect that.
I expect TW3 to drag me down, to make me take all the wrong decisions, i expect it to kick my ass with the moral consequences, and I expect all that to be enclosed within brilliant and mature story. That's what I expect. The graphics are secondary.
But that's me. Also, my approach doesn't really have much in common with this thread.
I understand your concerns, but certainly TW3 won't be a generic RPG. Hopefully, it will be unlike (and better than) any RPG we ever saw, so help us (and CDPR) god(s?).
 
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(Please) I hope the artwork screens for the XB1 achievements look awesome,
because we can put them as our background theme.
Some with bright orange/yellow fire that fills the whole screen to the top would be rad.
IGNI Achievement or the wild hunt maybe, and have a large Rune(s) in the bottem right hand corner with the 3 wild hunt dudes in the middle. Then add some flames behind them that rage to the top.
Thanks cdpr for making me feel the need to post more nerdy stuff like this, sorry guys I'm rockin to SLAYER! ;)
 
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I think it was @Guest888 that pointed out in this screenshot that geralt has the same gear as he does in the game play demos, which makes no sense if this is a flash back of Ciri’s past at kaer morhen because that was years ago. But I want to also point out that Ciri arrived in winter to kaer morhen, as it is after all the witchers winter shelter, and they are out hunting monsters during the summer. But the keep in that flash back shot is worm , colourful like it might be in summer. The witcher books had plenty of lush and lively and colourful places, but kaer morhen wasn’t one of them, and I don’t think it needed to be, even for those that like it.
You're jumping to conclusions based on wild random speculations of screens you have no idea about. What if it's not a flashback at all? It is afterall a game with Ciri - realms, and a possibility of a bit of Avallach's interference... there's tons of possibilities. What if some of those are placeholders? We simply do not know and concluding that possibility #1/2/3 is what's happening based on literally no information is premature.

EDIT: Apparently Marcin said something:
http://forums.cdprojektred.com/thre...-credibility?p=1491754&viewfull=1#post1491754

To me it would seem you saw some nice, pretty looking screens and are now operating under the assumption that it's gone 'generic, idealistic fantasy' as opposed to generic low/dark fantasy where everything about life is shit, every place is a broken mess and everyone is a cynic and crime is rampant, rape is as common as a handshake - doomy and gloomy all the time. (This is an existing trope, yes)

Witcher has never done that, it's always had both the kinds. Even Temeria - outskirts and the Temple Quarters were pretty grim but once you got into the Trade Quarters(?) it was fucking beautiful and pretty, as was Murky Waters. They weren't grim, dull spectacles devoid of all life.

I do not know why you think Kaer Morhen is always that way, seasons exist, forests exists, it's not a place where the sun never rises and greenery doesn't exist. It's still a broken, old fortress.

As for the " close to the source" CDPR's had their own vision of Witcher and Geralt since the very first game, I'm not sure what you're implying suddenly started with Witcher 2. That is aside from the issue that "true to the source" is not a game's merit and doesn't automatically make it good and ignores the possibility that there can be issues with the source. The Reds have someone on team that's a... Botanist(?) someone that knows what's planted where, what kind of trees/plants would exist on what terrain with what specific conditions so I would think that places like Kaer Morhen would be accurate that way.
 
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I think people are remembering TW1 with rose-tinted glasses. Or, well, murky ones.

TW1 had its share of melancholy atmosphere, but it also had a good amount of colorful places. Chapter 1, arguably the most gloomy of them all, was balanced by Chapter 4, which was just full of peaceful fields and a picturesque village. Vizima's temple quarter wasn't the most merry one, but the trade quarter felt like a festival on the other hand. Chapter 5 had a dirty civil war, but the Epilogue took place in a very bright and "High-Fantasy"ish inner-world covered in snow.

Kaer Morhen in TW1 doesn't look all that morbid all the time,




...and isn't different in TW3,




And as we've already seen in Wild Hunt, it can look remarkably dismal,




If anything, the difference in the last two images, when taken of the same place, is testimony to how advanced CDPR's weather system is and how the same place can feel completely different based on the day's mood.

From what little gameplay we've seen so far, then, like in TW1, it has its murky parts, it has its happy ones. Johnny's swamp, Gran's house and surrounding area, they were pretty despondent. I'll also add that Damien said in his Q&A session in Russia that the way the built the map is by breaking it down to different regions, and giving each one its theme. I find that a great approach, and I expect that we'll have parts that are heavy in atmosphere and others which are light-hearted. The balance is good, and in line with what they did in TW1.
 
What I mean is the first game is not nearly as artistic as the witcher 2 and 3, and that made the mood for the game I think, not that it was gloomy, but that it’s environments where trying to be places first and for most.

Couldn't say it better myself with my poor english, you are so right about missing mood ,
like everything is happy sunny places, some shots are maybe in frozen setting but not that kind of scary.
It started with witcher2 (no place felt gloomy and sad- at least for me),
but it is their choice how to end this - and I hope RED team will prove me wrong.
Like I said before , it's hard to please everyone-
(especially ones like me- who thinks that first witcher was and will be most precious game in my life.)
I felt like true lonely wolf -trying to save love ones, make justice and destroy madness all around, especially that old cannibal in swamps.
 
You're jumping to conclusions based on wild random speculations of screens you have no idea about. What if it's not a flashback at all? It is afterall a game with Ciri - realms, and a possibility of a bit of Avallach's interference... there's tons of possibilities. What if some of those are placeholders? We simply do not know and concluding that possibility #1/2/3 is what's happening based on literally no information is premature.

I agree and I said what I said was as much and that this was possibly place holder. this is just how i feel about it, when i see it.


thank's for showing me this, it stops me worrying :)

To me it would seem you saw some nice, pretty looking screens and are now operating under the assumption that it's gone 'generic, idealistic fantasy' as opposed to generic low/dark fantasy where everything about life is shit, every place is a broken mess and everyone is a cynic and crime is rampant, rape is as common as a handshake - doomy and gloomy all the time. (This is an existing trope, yes)

Witcher has never done that, it's always had both the kinds. Even Temeria - outskirts and the Temple Quarters were pretty grim but once you got into the Trade Quarters(?) it was fucking beautiful and pretty, as was Murky Waters. They weren't grim, dull spectacles devoid of all life.

when I saw those screenshots, although I liked how good they looked, I couldn't help but see other games i have played in them. I have not made the assumption that the game has become entirely generic, but realistically that elements have moved toward it, specifically the environments, and nothing else. the way those mountains and trees and etc look, where made intentionally, my question and problem is with what intention those landscapes where made.

I don't think it should be generic low fantasy either, that is not what I think at all, I'm sorry if it sounded that way. I dont think the game should be gloomy or colorful, generic fantasy or dark fantasy. the witcher is not that kind of game, and I also said as much. I said that the witcher isn't dark,, it is also bright, just like with your example. I know exactly what you mean, because i have played the game often enough.

what I think is that as the witcher games have progressed they have possibly moved away from treating environments with the same intention as the first game, and this worries me. the first game didn't care about weather a place was grim or happy, the environments in the witcher 1 where themselves. they where made with the intention to be places first and for most. when a place was dark in the witcher 1 it was dark because that is how it was. the temple of visima was gritty, because of the catriona plague and the gangs, and that it had a slum, and non human district where racist persecution presumably led to poverty. the trade quarter was bright and happy because it was the place where the rich made money, and people exchanged goods and services and thrived, it is a place where you would expect it to be happy because that is how it would be if it where a real place. I never thought otherwise, the witcher environments are part of a world, and those environments are intended to be part of that world, and that is why I cant help but feel uncertain when i see artistic environments in those screens. those screenshots are amazing and look so good, they are artistic, so is that one of the intentions they had in design? if it is than those environments are not designed like those in the first witcher game, and that is what i think is missing, and what i think people think is missing when they look at the witcher 1 and ask what they cant find and want in the 3rd game.

I do not know why you think Kaer Morhen is always that way, seasons exist, forests exists, it's not a place where the sun never rises and greenery doesn't exist. It's still a broken, old fortress.

I don't think kaer morhen is that way, it isn't a place where the sun never rises, its a place that witchers go to best the winter. a place that has a history, and place which i would accept if the flash back screenshot proved itself of having seasons, because it is also a place where it is not summer year round. I feel like that screenshot was intended as a beauty shot, and that screen, to me, is of a place that is not portrayed in consideration as an actual place. and while it could still be made in consideration as an actual place, screens like that still worry me, and that is just how I feel about those screenshots when I see them.

As for the " close to the source" CDPR's had their own vision of Witcher and Geralt since the very first game, I'm not sure what you're implying suddenly started with Witcher 2. That is aside from the issue that "true to the source" is not a game's merit and doesn't automatically make it good and ignores the possibility that there can be issues with the source. The Reds have someone on team that's a... Botanist(?) someone that knows what's planted where, what kind of trees/plants would exist on what terrain with what specific conditions so I would think that places like Kaer Morhen would be accurate that way.

that's a really amazing thing, I have never heard before.

the flash back screenshot was not close to souse material, and environments that are designed with the intention of look good can still be designed to be close to source material, but are still designed to look good. artistic decisions that make CDPR, vision of the witcher are their decisions, decisions that realize their vision. decisions that are not made to realize a vision of the game, don't further that vision. I worry because when i see those screenshots, I see that they are good looking, and that they where made to be good looking, and while you can see that as CDPR furthering their vision of the game, it can also be seen as the opposite, and CDPR have shown themselves to have become more malleable in order to make their games compete with other AAA titles, and I'm just going to have to accept that, even though I would want CDPR to to stick to their vision absolutely without expectation.

in the interviews and articles thread, some one posted a translation of what a writer on the witcher 3 said about the story on the polish side of the forum.

in answer to a question by a Smiki55: "Bad. Very bad.. if you want to create a master piece, it must be appealing to you in the first place."

in video games the ultimate director and "final contractor" is the player. Especially in Witchers, where the story can be told in different ways. Writer is satisfied when the player can play in their own way and feels, that he got everything he needed to enjoy the game. This goal must be achieved in spite of a writer to various technical, production and budget constraints.

My satisfaction comes not from the story perfectly the way I would like, but IMO from player satisfaction. Perhaps masterpieces follow different rules, but it's hard for me to speak subjectively, because I've never created a masterpiece and I don't know how it really is. The only thing I can base things upon is my professional experience.

this is interesting, because I kind of agree and don't either. but it is certain, and he even says so, that despite what we may think, CDPR often do things they don't like, but they know that will appeal to players. those screens and the environments they where of, where meant to impress players. and they did, I am impressed, its the best looking thing on the planet to me at this moment, so am I suppose to think that that that effort, the decisions that made that environment the way it is in those screenshots, was done with intention to further their vision? I don't know, but I worry because I like the game, its speculation though, the game can still end up being exceptional.

I like those screenshots.
But mate, what makes the Witcher exceptional, is story. I don't really care about graphics that much. The entire open world and other "gimmicks" are a logical expansion and a tool to make this story even better, or at least i think so. And I don't expect TW3 to remain loyal to the "trueschool" art direction of W1 or imaginary visions fans may have, or Ciri's hair colour. Well I'd appreciate it, but I don't expect that.I expect TW3 to drag me down, to make me take all the wrong decisions, i expect it to kick my ass with the moral consequences, and I expect all that to be enclosed within brilliant and mature story. That's what I expect. The graphics are secondary.
But that's me. Also, my approach doesn't really have much in common with this thread.
I understand your concerns, but certainly TW3 won't be a generic RPG. Hopefully, it will be unlike (and better than) any RPG we ever saw, so help us (and CDPR) god(s?).

I agree with you, what makes the story exceptional is the story. I wasn't talking about graphics, that's not what I meant. I agree with you that the open world is a logical expansion for games and for the story, and that's exactly my point in a way. in almost every other medium we don't disconnect world and story, games somehow can be. you cannot remove world from story, its the same for games. fidelity is secondary all that matters is story, I agree with you totally, but the story is more than just kick as amazing choice and consequence and a mature quest line that will drag you down. still your right, the witcher 3 should be the better than any RPG we have ever seen!

by the way for the devs its 's more than one person will play this game and more than one will be a fan ;)

Couldn't say it better myself with my poor english, you are so right about missing mood ,
like everything is happy sunny places, some shots are maybe in frozen setting but not that kind of scary.
It started with witcher2 (no place felt gloomy and sad- at least for me),
but it is their choice how to end this - and I hope RED team will prove me wrong.
Like I said before , it's hard to please everyone-
(especially ones like me- who thinks that first witcher was and will be most precious game in my life.)
I felt like true lonely wolf -trying to save love ones, make justice and destroy madness all around, especially that old cannibal in swamps.

hahaha I feel exactly the same way about the first game. now CDPR have the chance to make something special, its hard to please everyone, and unfortunately the market dictates this kind of behavior, and while I think CDPR should be completely true only to themselves with their creations, they are doing damn well better than any other developer in this regard, they are the best! I hope the reds pull it off.
 
These new screenshots do look pretty, got to give them that.
But I think CDPRED will have to show off more than that to win back the trust of a lot of people who were spooked by the recent rumors concerning forced parity, downgrading or neglecting the PC platform in favor of the consoles.
 
These new screenshots do look pretty, got to give them that.
But I think CDPRED will have to show off more than that to win back the trust of a lot of people who were spooked by the recent rumors concerning forced parity, downgrading or neglecting the PC platform in favor of the consoles.

Thanks for a good laugh.
 
These new screenshots do look pretty, got to give them that.
But I think CDPRED will have to show off more than that to win back the trust of a lot of people who were spooked by the recent rumors concerning forced parity, downgrading or neglecting the PC platform in favor of the consoles.

lol "a lot of people"? no its just you and some other complainers
there is no need to earn back the trust because nothing was lost if you are concerned about the game because of some rumors then thats just silly
the nerve of some people..
 
So-called issues like forced parity, deliberate downgrading, and the like have been thoroughly discredited, euthanized, autopsied, and buried. There is nothing more to demand than the refutations that have already been made.

But what these forums will not do is allow members to throw about accusations that others are persisting in making such complaints. That is not a way of arguing the merits of the game or what has been made available about it. It is a way of discrediting other members by accusing them of being among the complainers.

Don't go there if you don't want the moderators to step in.
 
What exactly is going on here?

They are in the middle of bringing young Ciri (who is a big girl) to Kaer Morhen ("Young Ciri, I'm Kaer Morhen" said Vesemir), but they don't know that she will crash the castle, with no survivors.

Or in other words, read the ____ books, they are excellent and one should not go about their daily life without having the saga completed at least once.
 
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