Witcher Updates

[Aegis]

For of you interested in this game (I don't know why there isn't more activity here. This game looks phenonminal!), this was sent to me today by the guys at RED studio's.

Welcome again after a long break - this is the summer holidays edition of our newsletter.

Contents:

1. What's new with RED Studio?
2. E3 summary + photos.
3. Leipzig computer expo.
4. Media reaction after E3.
5. Check out the new plant system.
6. The Witcher Week #2.
7. Thanks!




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1. What's new with RED Studio?
A lot of time has passed since the last newsletter, and many of you must have wondered what's going on with us... Well - a lot's been happening! First of all, our team has been significantly increased; not so long ago, it was not even 20 people strong, while now it includes more than 40 people! One of those joining us is Bartosz Gulik, who used to work as a Program Manager on - amongst others - Dungeon Siege.
Our office is another element of constant change. As the number of employees grew, it became less and less possible to cram them all into the limited space we had available; we had to take over another room from our parent company CD Projekt, and this is only the beginning - we're looking at a move to a completely new headquarters before the end of the year, or so they say. Thanks to the larger number of people working on the game we managed to implement a couple of things we did not originally plan for during the last couple of months. The game's development process has significantly progressed, which I'm sure pleases many of you. You'll learn all about it during our Witcher Week, which is described in more detail below.



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2. E3 summary + photos.
In the beginning we'd like to mention that this year, for the first time ever, we organized our E3 presentations all by ourselves. And where we lacked something in experience, we tried to make up for in other ways.

Preparations:
120... minutes before the first presentation it turned out that the audio-video equipment we rented was highly antiquated.
75... minutes - that's exactly how long it took us to buy a new projector and a 1000W sound system.

45... minutes - is the time we spent preparing and redecorating the conference room, and this includes plugging in the newly acquired audio-video system.

The Expo:
26 presentations given during the Expo.
115 press packs presented to our guests. We were visited by numerous representatives of the computer gaming media, ranging from world-renowned print and on-line magazines to college newspapers!
11 publishing companies visited our presentations.
9 kilometers - that is the distance our "runner" - Adam, had to cover during the course of the Expo.
5,5 hours is the average amount of time we slept each night during the show.
12 hours is the time we spent sleeping after the final day of E3

Also here you can download some photos that we've captured during E3 and The Witcher presentations:
The Witcher presentation (3,6 MB)


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3. Leipzig computer expo.
Following Los Angeles' E3 we're preparing for the next computer expo - this time in Leipzig, Germany. The newest version of the game will be presented there, with many new features implemented. This is to be a kind of last trial before the final round of negotiations with potential publishers, so we have a lot of work to do! What's more interesting to a potential gamer is that the Leipzig expo will - for the first time ever - witness the unveiling of gameplay elements connected with the game's storyline.

If you are a media representative and would like to take this opportunity to meet the Team at Lepizig, please contact CD Projekt regarding specific timing and arrangements. CD Projekt Team is available at:

Media Contact:
Joanna Kobylecka
Phone: +48 22 / 519 69 43
Fax: +48 22 / 519 69 01
e-mail: joanna@thewitcher.com



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4. Media reaction after E3.
It's been some time now, since the closing of E3, and first responses appeared on various media. We're even more glad to notice that they are all warmly positive. If you wish to have a look at them, follow the links presented below:

English websites: FiringSquad, GamesAreFun, Gamespot, GameSpy, NWVault, PC.IGN.com, Penny Arcade, PlanetExile, RPGVault, ReviewOutpost, WarCry, WickedToast.

Non-English websites: Gry-Online (PL), Bonus-Web (CZ), Multiplayer (IT), UOL (BR).

We're most proud to inform that The Witcher has received its first award. This year, just as it was in the previous years IGN selected a group of the best PC games of E3 - 2005. The Witcher has emerged as the 1st Runner-up in the "Best RPG" category.

The Witcher has been also recognized second time in a row by the Edge magazine as one of the best games on PC platform shown during E3 (from all of the PC games shown during E3 Edge chose only 16 titles, including The Witcher).



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5. Check out the new plant system.
One of the Aurora engine modifications we recently implemented is the modern small-plant sowing mechanism. The system is based on the so-called 'plant maps', or specially-prepared textures with graphically marked plant density. Thanks to this, our artists can easily fill the locations they create with plant life - they just use a special tool to 'sow' it wherever they need it. During the process it is possible to alter settings such as plant density, separate blades' size or things like whether the plants grow horizontally or vertically in relation to the ground. Additionally, it is possible to have any number of plant sub-classes within any given class, with the possibility of defining the percentage any of these takes on any area that is sown with a particular plant type. The mechanism allows not only for sowing grass and similar plants, but also for planting small geometrical shapes, such as rocks. The system works well even on older computers, and on newer machines it is boosted by the newest graphic cards and DirectX function called 'instancing'. Thanks to this, a single blade of grass is sent to the graphics card as a single instance which is then reproduced a given number of times, which makes this system work very fast on newer computers. Below you'll find one screenshot available only to the readers of our newsletter - they depict the final effect the whole system creates.

Not a whole lot, but some info on the game. I'll try to keep things updating here.

[Hill-Shatar]

Seeing as currently there are no links, I'll quickly add one, that directs you to the current website.

http://www.thewitcher.com/witcher.asp

Enjoy.

EDIT- Seeing as I got away with posting in Aegis' thread the first time... heres another from Gamebanshee News.
And another.
More Gamebanshee News, compliemnts of the 4th of November

[Cammaris]

Ok, another Witcher week is coming.

Next Monday is now officialy a first day of The Witcher Week (16 – 20.10.2006). Both with Platige Image studio we have prepared dozens of unique witcher related goodies. You’ll see our outstanding game teaser with all the bonus footage, such as concepts, models, frames etc. There’ll be a large pack of screenshots, game concept arts, also a blog update, new wallpaper and a surprise (few guys here just ROTFL after they saw it).

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