The Witcher 4 — Unreal Engine 5 Tech Demo

[muzic90210]

The devs have spoken:

CDPR says Ciri's face in the new Witcher 4 trailer is "a direct copy of The Witcher 3 model" despite "two subtle changes"

Ciri's face is "the same character model" from the 2024 Witcher 4 trailer

www.gamesradar.com

I do find it funny that at first it was "Nooo she looks different and old now, bring back her original model!" and now it's "Noo, she looks too pretty, she is a Barbie doll, bring back the one from before!!"
I do understand that these two groups are completely different people, but still, I do feel like Goomba here:
View attachment 11416709

The devs have spoken:

CDPR says Ciri's face in the new Witcher 4 trailer is "a direct copy of The Witcher 3 model" despite "two subtle changes"

Ciri's face is "the same character model" from the 2024 Witcher 4 trailer

www.gamesradar.com

I do find it funny that at first it was "Nooo she looks different and old now, bring back her original model!" and now it's "Noo, she looks too pretty, she is a Barbie doll, bring back the one from before!!"
I do understand that these two groups are completely different people, but still, I do feel like Goomba here:
View attachment 11416709

A lot of folks were thrilled and happy with the reveal trailer back in December.

There’s a lot of us that think she looked badass.

Her look in the reveal trailer embodied the character.

Now after they tweaked her face, she just looks awkward and out of place.

 

[ReptilePZ]

Dear CDPR,

All I need to see from you in terms of marketing is the following:

1) Trailer explaining what the story hook that necessitated the existence of this game is, e.g. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Elder Blood Trailer
2) Trailer showcasing what the average questing/gameplay experience outside the main quest/optional branches of the main quest will be like, e.g. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - “Precious Cargo” quest walkthrough

Sincerely,
Reptile

PS No in-game pre-order/extra special edition incentives, please.
PPS Manticores are cool.

 

[Toyen]

I think we're going to get one more piece of marketing this year just to keep the fandom satiated before the year ends but that will be it.

I'm betting on some cool screenshots in Q4.

Since this was probably bigger than any of us expected, I doubt we will see another trailer this year.

If the game comes out in 2027 then next year they should kick off the marketing campaign.

If not then in 2026 we will probably have our first look at the story setup and some gameplay with the marketing campaign starting in 2027 if we are looking at 2028 release.

 

[Tvaroog]

Some more footage of the demo, this one looks less scripted.

Cloth physics:

Gameplay to cutscenes transitions and localization:

Horse:

More about animations:

Trees::

Livestream 2, Day 1 | Unreal Fest 2025

Big thank you to LithiumLogica for the great timestamps!00:00 Start0:14:45 A Peek at some Future Features of Unreal Engine3:09:05 Streaming Improvements for ...

youtu.be

 

[Toyen]

Just a small nitpick I'm noticing right now.

This is a small fishing town.

Why are there so many people as if we were on the square in Novigrad?

I get that they are trying to make the location seem alive for the tech demo but I think the population density should reflect the environment we find ourselves in.

It looks kinda off to see a small fishing village bustling with this much life and kinda takes you out of the story a little bit.

This isn't the capital city. Nor does it seem to be a border town where a lot of migration would be happening for example.

I hope details like this will be tweaked in the final game!

 

[WhiteYoghurt]

This is a small fishing town.

Is it, though?
There's a marketplace, an inn, a port with loading infrastructure, plenty of large buildings including some on the mountainside.
It could shelter perhaps few hundreds people, wouldn't it?

The guy Ciri talked to was talking about salt delivery.
Regardless the fate of his men, it suggests ongoing trade; and so jobs, money, etc.

There's the guy showcasing a bear. ( Hopefully he trained it well )
And there's a stage for artistic performances.
Buildings are painted, nicely decorated (including carved columns, etc.), there are colorful pennants,etc.
People have nice and clean clothes.
These are unnecessary luxuries that suggest locals do well enough for themselves to be able to afford it.

The village is more likely a trading point, one of many on the river. It may connected with the capital.
Many people may come and go seeking jobs, trade, etc.

The one scene at the marketplace in which they spawned in many NPCs was just to showcase what they are capable of.

 

[AvarageEnjoyer]

Just a small nitpick I'm noticing right now.

This is a small fishing town.

Why are there so many people as if we were on the square in Novigrad?

I get that they are trying to make the location seem alive for the tech demo but I think the population density should reflect the environment we find ourselves in.

It looks kinda off to see a small fishing village bustling with this much life and kinda takes you out of the story a little bit.

This isn't the capital city. Nor does it seem to be a border town where a lot of migration would be happening for example.

I hope details like this will be tweaked in the final game!

Like @WhiteYoghurt have said, it might not be a small town, but rather a medium town or a small city. Or maybe, if it is not just a showcase of technology, the population density in general will increase and big cities will be shown even bigger and more densely populated than before.

 

[echohaxorelite]

so their saying everything will move together
So you (and NPS and or AI) will be moving accordingly to suit your surroundings
I think this is a great idea and nice add (big one for sure), i do like to think further (let me know guys what you think about this)
The thought of maybe having multiple (Hotkeys) for, parkour or stealth riding on a horse, or entire stealth mechanics when "entering a mode" or flying on beast, (Yes beendone, buutt)

they've already done this, im just thinking this is a good and MAJOR area that should definitley thought of "NOW + FUTURE"

I think keeping it simple, at least atm would be a good idea, so you everything works together and your able to9 focus more on say.. loot, hunts, collecting, fighting, quests ect
but..im a bit worried that the automatic animations and how they blend in will be dull and if they're not straight away maybe it will after a while.....
its great to see the hard work, but it could sort of feel like a narrative based RPG though only applying to movement and how we play...
more options for control


and i know.. this has already been done."Stealthj Mode" " Fighting Mode"even "Sprinting" and "Prone"

im just thinking ahead before the game does..

 

[SMiki55]

Why are there so many people as if we were on the square in Novigrad?

Because Novigrad is from a 2015 game and this one releases in 2027 at the earliest?

Novigrad in TW3, while substantially large, is still downsized in comparison to its books description.

 

[devivre]

So far, it looks awesome. Hopefully it will work well enough on my current PC even if that means lowering the settings quite a bit

And yeah, it's just a tech demo and we will have to wait and see how well the final game does on PS5. Playing a small demo region and exploring a huge open world map are usually two pair of shoes.

I am definitely very curious how well the latest version of Unreal Engine can handle this type of open world game!

 

[pinoko]

Because Novigrad is from a 2015 game and this one releases in 2027 at the earliest?

Novigrad in TW3, while substantially large, is still downsized in comparison to its books description.

True. Original Novigrad even has a zoo. If they create Novigrad again with modern technology, it must be a much larger city than TW3.

 

[devivre]

True. Original Novigrad even has a zoo. If they create Novigrad again with modern technology, it must be a much larger city than TW3.

Although I doubt the TW3 size of the Novigrad map was a matter of technical restrictions. It may depend a lot on what size of a city is actually beneficial to storytelling without making orientation for players too hard and also without taking too long for them to leave the city for the next monster hunt and other quests. I do think Novigrad had a good balance in that regard.

Of course, one reason to built a significantly larger city is if it is the main area of a game (like in CP2077). But that's never going to be the case in TW4 where so much is happening outside the city walls and far away. So personally, I don't think it necessarily will have to be larger.

 

[SMiki55]

Someone ought to mod the Novigrad zoo in. We need it.

 

[tru3story]

Hopefully we don't have to wait for too long, but also...long enough for you know...and you know.

 

[LeKill3rFou]

 

[Domhnallaich]

I'm not excited by this game but the tech demo does look interesting. Looks like UE has various improvements over Red Engine.

 

[AvarageEnjoyer]

Digital Foundry interview is extremely technical and mostly focuses on very niche aspects of rendering/rigging/frame optimizing, etc., so I present another interview for a Chinese gaming channel:

The lady talks with developers in English and, thankfully, the entire video has pre-made subtitles that can be auto-translated extremely well.
She asks really good and interesting questions about NPC interactions, face variations, horse movements and other ones. Really concise and to the point.

 

[Guest 4797929]

I'm looking forward to it more than other games, we're waiting with curiosity.