GameBanshee Forums

Building on the news threads that I have made thus far, I am going to build on the original thread started by Aegis, [url="http://www.gamebanshee.com/forums/showthread.php?t=63784"]here[/url]. Feel free to post your own news.

Name: [url="http://www.thewitcher.com/witcher.asp"]The Witcher[/url]
Developer: [url="http://www.cdprojekt.com/"]CD Projekt RED[/url]
Publisher: To be announced
ESRB Rating: TBA
Requires: Windows/ Direct 3D
Release Date: ? If anyone has an approximation....
Engine: [url="www.bioware.com"]Bioware[/url] Aurora Engine (TM)
Platform: PC
Origin: Europe (Poland)

If you have any problem uploading the videos from IGN, then try to open them using Microsoft Media or Realtime Media players.

Updates (Beginning on the 13th of November, going down):

November 13th, 2005 -The official Witcher website has been updated with the Witcher feature of the week
November 13th, 2005 -Finally finished most of this news thread, awaiting new links (adding some)
November 13th, 2005 -Finished the list of peeks, quick notes addded, newsletters added, press area added
November 18th, 2005 -New screenshots on the official website
November 25th, 2005 -The Witcher Feature of the Week has hit the Witcher homepage
November 25th, 2005 -More news! You can now sign up to get a christmas card signed by one of the devlopers from the Witcher homepage!
December 6th, 2005 -Preview from TVG added!
December 10th, 2005 -The Witcher feature of the week includes some new screenshots at the official website.
December 13th, 2005 -Another Witcher seasonal special [url="http://www.gamebanshee.com/forums/showthread.php?t=69179"]here[/url].
Christmas Eve, 2005 -Added a preview.
December 29th, 2005 -Witcher Feature of the week is up on the Witcher website, which is a wallpaper scene.

Links:

[url="http://www.thewitcher.com/witcher.asp"]The Witcher Homepage[/url] ( I would recommend using videos from future sources)
[url="http://www.thewitcher.com/forum/witcheropedia.asp"]The Witcheropedia[/url]
[url="http://newspics.rpgdot.com//galview.php?level=3&sort=&from=0&d2=830&d3=Screenshots&d4=&d5="]RPGdot Gallery[/url]
[url="http://media.pc.ign.com/media/682/682220/imgs_1.html"]IGN (Larger) Gallery[/url]
[url="http://media.pc.ign.com/media/682/682220/vids_1.html"]IGN Videos[/url] (14 in total)

Sites With Coverage:

[url="http://www.gamebanshee.com/thewitcher/"]GameBanshee[/url]
[url="http://pc.ign.com/objects/682/682220.html"]IGN[/url]
[url="http://pc.gamespy.com/pc/the-witcher/"]Gamespy[/url]
[url="http://www.fileplanet.com/147244/140000/fileinfo/The-Witcher---Eating-Animation?r=5?r=5"]File Planet[/url] -Ignore the vote, one person out of 65.
[url="http://www.gamestats.com/objects/682/682220/"]Gamestats[/url]
[url="http://www.planetexile.com/archives/2005/06/05.html"]Planet Exile[/url]
[url="http://rpgvault.ign.com/articles/620/620401p1.html"]RPG Vault[/url]
[url="http://www.computerandvideogames.com/r/?page=http://www.computerandvideogames.com/previews/previews_story.php(que)id=110397"]CVG/PC ZONE[/url]{UK}
[url="http://uk.nzone.com/object/nzone_thewitcher_home_eu.html"]nZone[/url]

Previews:

[url="http://www.gamebanshee.com/previews/thewitcher1.php"]Preview @ Gamebanshee[/url]
[url="http://www.rpgdot.com/index.php?hsaction=10053&ID=1150"]A Look At The Witcher[/url]
[url="http://pc.ign.com/articles/643/643615p1.html"]GC 2005: Witcher Update[/url]
[url="http://rpgvault.ign.com/articles/620/620401p1.html"]The Witcher E3 2005 Report[/url]
[url="http://pc.ign.com/articles/617/617400p1.html"]E3 2005: The Witcher Update[/url]
[url="http://pc.ign.com/articles/515/515984p1.html"]E3 2004: The Witcher[/url]
[url="http://www.gamebanshee.com/editorials/e32004page3.php"]E3 2004: The Witcher[/url] @ Gamebanshee
[url="http://www.rpgvault.hu/?id=1915"]The Witcher: Preview[/url]

Interviews:

[url="http://www.totalvideogames.com/pages/articles/index.php?article_id=8974"]The Witcher: Interview[/url](Totalvideogames)
[url="http://www.rpgdot.com/index.php?hsaction=10077&newsid=41610"]The Witcher: Interview Part II & III[/url] (HC Gamer)
[url="http://www.hcgamer.hu/gamer/index.php?p=5&c=12372&hw=1&tores=1"]The Witcher: Interview Part II[/url] (HC Gamer)
[url="http://www.hcgamer.hu/gamer/index.php?p=5&c=12359&hw=1&tores=1"]The Witcher: Interview[/url] (HC Gamer)
[url="http://nwvault.ign.com/View.php?view=Interviews.Detail&id=213"]The Witcher: Interview/Community Q&A[/url] (NW Vault)
[url="http://www.firingsquad.com/games/the_witcher_interview_part_2/"]The Witcher: Interview Pt. 2[/url] (FiringSquad)
[url="http://www.firingsquad.com/games/the_witcher_interview_part_1/"]The Witcher: Interview[/url] (FiringSquad)
[url="http://www.gamecloud.com/article.php?article_id=38"]The Witcher: Interview[/url] (Gamecloud)
[url="http://pc.ign.com/articles/614/614751p1.html"]Witcher Q&A[/url] (IGN)
[url="http://www.gamebanshee.com/interviews/thewitcher2-2.php"]The Witcher: Interview Pt 2[/url] (Gamebanshee)
[url="http://www.gamebanshee.com/interviews/thewitcher2-1.php"]The Witcher: Interview Pt 1[/url] (Gamebanshee)
[url="http://rpgvault.ign.com/articles/614/614288p1.html"]Update Interview[/url] (RPGVault aka IGN)
[url="http://www.totalvideogames.com/pages/articles/index.php?article_id=7008"]The Witcher: Interview[/url] (TVG)
[url="http://www.rpgcodex.com/content.php?id=112"]The Witcher: Interview[/url] (RPG codex)
[url="http://www.gamebanshee.com/interviews/thewitcher1.php"]The Witcher Interview @ Gamebanshee[/url] (Gamebanshee)
[url="http://rpgvault.ign.com/articles/523/523971p1.html"]The Witcher Interview- Part III[/url] (RPGDot)
[url="http://rpgvault.ign.com/articles/522/522672p1.html"]The Witcher Interview- Part II[/url](RPGDot)
[url="http://rpgvault.ign.com/articles/520/520848p1.html"]The Witcher Interview- Part I[/url] (RPGDot)

Peeks from RPG Vault:

[url="http://rpgvault.ign.com/articles/602/602626p1.html"]The Witcher: Peek #15[/url]
[url="http://rpgvault.ign.com/articles/600/600132p1.html"]The Witcher: Peek #14[/url]
[url="http://rpgvault.ign.com/articles/594/594126p1.html"]The Witcher: Peek #13[/url]
[url="http://rpgvault.ign.com/articles/593/593377p1.html"]The Witcher: Peek #12[/url]
[url="http://rpgvault.ign.com/articles/588/588720p1.html"]The Witcher: Peek #11[/url]
[url="http://rpgvault.ign.com/articles/583/583250p1.html"]The Witcher: Peek #10[/url]
[url="http://rpgvault.ign.com/articles/579/579626p1.html"]The Witcher: Peek #9[/url]
[url="http://rpgvault.ign.com/articles/573/573831p1.html"]The Witcher: Peek #8[/url]
[url="http://rpgvault.ign.com/articles/570/570549p1.html"]The Witcher: Peek #7[/url]
[url="http://rpgvault.ign.com/articles/568/568793p1.html"]The Witcher: Peek #6[/url]
[url="http://rpgvault.ign.com/articles/560/560010p1.html"]The Witcher: Peek #5[/url]
[url="http://rpgvault.ign.com/articles/559/559848p1.html"]The Witcher: Peek #4[/url]
[url="http://rpgvault.ign.com/articles/558/558972p1.html"]The Witcher: Peek #3[/url]
[url="http://rpgvault.ign.com/articles/558/558542p1.html"]The Witcher: Peek #2[/url]
[url="http://rpgvault.ign.com/articles/529/529196p1.html"]The Witcher: Peek #1[/url]

Newsletters:

[url="http://www.gamebanshee.com/forums/showpost.php?p=737895&postcount=2"]Post 1[/url]
[url="http://www.gamebanshee.com/forums/showpost.php?p=737895&postcount=3"]Post 2[/url]
[url="http://www.gamebanshee.com/forums/showpost.php?p=737895&postcount=4"]Post 3[/url]
[url="http://www.gamebanshee.com/forums/showpost.php?p=737895&postcount=5"]Post 4[/url]
[url="http://www.gamebanshee.com/forums/showpost.php?p=737895&postcount=6"]Post 5[/url]

Press (English, many articles I find are Polish):

[url="http://wolfgaming.net/wgn/gc2005review/"]WolfGaming[/url]

Quick Notes:

- Main player is a Witcher named Geralt
- A Witcher is a person trained at a young age in the arts of combat, to become a seelsowrd of great prominence. Check out the offical website for more.
- Made in Poland
- Real time combat with motion captured animations performed by a master of medieval sword combat.
- Ragdoll and rigid body physics, powered by Criterion’s Karma Engine to simulate interaction with opponents as well as elements of surrounding.
- Interesting story full of twists and turns in a complex and coherent setting.
- Most quests can be accomplished in several ways.
- Three different endings that depend on player's actions and choices throughout the whole adventure.
- The main character is a professional swordmaster and monster slayer.
- Game world which is more „adult” and less „fairy-tale” than typical fantasy.
- The world which is not black and white and is inhabited by believable characters.
- Thanks to transparent and intuitive controls, players are able to enjoy the game right after beginning without a long learning curve. During the game depth of the system will be gradually discovered.
- All actions can be done using the mouse only, however all possible shortcuts are fully configurable.

A synopisis of the main character and world from The Witcher's offical website [url="http://www.gamebanshee.com/forums/showpost.php?p=737937&postcount=7"]here[/url].

I am posting the newsletter archives here, however, I recommend finding them on The Witcher's website, as there is some information and screenshots that they request you not post.

These will be linked to the first post.

[QUOTE=Newsletter #1]Newsletter 01/2004
http://www.TheWitcher.com


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We'd like to welcome everyone to the first edition of TheWitcher.com newsletter! This is only the working draft, but we hope that content of our newsletter will compensate for the crudeness of its form ;-)

First of all, we'd like to thank everyone for taking an interest in our game. We promise not to let your expectations down and inform you about what's going on prior to the official release of the game (and for some time after that, as well ;-) )

1. Others about us. First impressions from the E3 Computer Games Expo.
2. This newsletter's screenshot - a visit to Dennis Crammer's shop.
3. A month in the CD Projekt RED team a couple of words on what we were doing this past May.
4. See you next month!



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1. First Witcher impressions from the E3 Computer Games Expo

E3 has come and went, and various Internet portals are publishing their impressions concerning our game - based on what they saw of it during our presentations in the BioWare booth. Below you'll find hyperlinks leading to the newest texts:


http://www.silven.com/news.asp?case=show&id=602
http://www.gamebanshee.com/editorials/e32004page3.php http://www.tothegame.com/preview.asp?id=10

Here, on the other hand, are some of the information that were published earlier:

http://www.rpgamer.com/event/e3-2004/jo ... chera.html
http://pc.gamespy.com/pc/the-witcher/51 ... ?fromint=1
http://pc.ign.com/articles/515/515984p1.html?fromint=1
http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/thewitch ... 98638.html
http://www.homelanfed.com/index.php?id=23324

And here's a little something for our Russian- and Czech-speaking friends

http://www.sector.sk/title.asp?filter=20542
http://www.doupe.cz/Aktuality/Ar.asp?AR ... 0&CAI=2136
http://news.dtf.ru/index.php?type=id&publ_id=54620


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2. A visit to Dennis Cranmer's shop

We prepared a surprize exclusively for the readers of this newsletter - a screenshot depicting new, never shown before game location. It presents the witcher visiting Dennis Cranmer's shop in the city of Mayen. Only... Who's this guy? He doesn't look like Cranmer the dwarf!


(We ask you not to distribute this screenshot - it is for your eyes only )



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3. A couple of words on what we were doing this past May.The month of May has ended - it included more hard work than any other in the whole history of the project.

First half of the month was a time when we were preparing the first functional version of the game for the presentation at E3 computer expo. You know how it is with stuff being done for the first time - needless to say, some of the things we worked on came out a little different than expected. Luckily, thanks to the SLIGHTLY extended number of work-hours, we managed to finish everything we wanted and even prepare something extra. One of those out-of-the-blue things was the game's trailer - that's the reason for it not being 100% politically correct ;-) (I'd like to use this moment to announce a competition - please name the reason for the trailer being politically incorrect. The answers should be mailed to us, and the prize shall be a healthy dose of satisfaction ) We liked the trailer so much that we decided to show it - it's fun working for a large corporation and being able to make this kind of decisions ;-)

Despite the very early moment in the project's timeline at which we are now, the version we presented was received very warmly at the expo. The whole team was relieved - after all, this was the first public validation of many months of our work... Below you'll find a couple of unofficial photos prepared in connection with the expo:



Adam Badowski, our main artist and master of animation. Thanks to his hands (and numerous motion-capture sessions ;-) ) our characters are so beautifully animated. Even those prepared at 4 AM ;-)


At one point, there arose a need to pray for everything being finished on time. To this purpose we quickly built ourselves a little shrine ;-)






A few survivors of a night that was too long for our programming team (photo from a cell-phone camera).




Once some of us flew away to the expo, the rest felt a little lonely. To rectify this, we came up with an idea of adopting a pet to be the company's mascot - that's how a nice little doggy called Reddy appeared. Unfortunately, his story was not a long one - someone accidentally stomped him to death. When the rest of the team returned, Reddy was already flat and lifeless; after some deliberation, a decision was made to gather his remains and send them via DHL to a random recipient.

The second half of the month was much more subdued - we regenerated after the expo. The next period of hard work wasn't to start until 28th of May - but that story will be told next month.



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4. See you next month!
This is the end, but don't worry! Next month, you'll receive a new edition of the newsletter - it will be larger and will contain lots of hot new material! Besides the parts that you already know ('Others about us', 'Screenshot', 'A month in the CD Projekt RED team'), new elements will be added:

Question of the month - here we'll answer a randomly chosen ;-) question connected with the project.

People from RED - here we'll present short descriptions of people working on the game (including some of their photos - not necessarily decent ones ;-) )

Furthermore, the 'Screenshot' will be a little different - from the next edition on, we'll present you three screenshots each month. Those screenshots will later be published on our webpage - after all, if you're reading this text, then you're most probably interested in the Witcher very much (if I'm mistaken, then please read the fine print at the bottom) and would like to receive new screenshots before the others ;-)

Lastly, I encourage you to visit our webpage at http://www.thewitcher.com - it is a place where the newest materials connected with the project are published, and soon it will be a place where you can meet us on the discussion board.

Thanks and see you - on behalf of the whole team!

Michał Kiciński
[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=Newsletter #2]Newsletter 02/2004
http://www.TheWitcher.com


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Welcome to our second, holiday edition of TheWitcher.com newsletter! Because of the holiday season, quite a lot of our team members are away, so we decided to release only one newsletter in July and August. In some departments (for example in the graphics one) there are less than 50% people left, as you can see in this picture:



Of course the production department, which, among other things, is responsible for this newsletter and the website, is complete!



Ok, that's enough for an introduction. Time for some hot stuff!

1. Press coverage of The Witcher. A few worldwide impressions of our game.
2. Newsletter screenshots. A visit in the Old Narakort tavern.
3. What's new at CDProjekt RED. A few words about what we were doing in June and July.
4. Question of the month. An answer to one selected (and easy question.
5. RED's People. A short profile of one of the members of our team.
6. See you in September!





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1. Press coverage of The Witcher

Another month of interviews - hundreds of e-mails and telephone chats are behind as. Whew! We have prepares a short summary for those of you, who haven't had a chance to read those interviews and previews.


We encourage you greatly to take a look at the interview at the Homelan website, which you can find here. We also recommend an older, but still interesting interview at RPGVault: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3. They are of course both in English. For German-speaking people, here's a short preview at: 4players.de. And for our compatriots there are two previews at gry.valkiria.net and gry.o2.pl. Enjoy your reading!


Or maybe you're curious about what gaming magazines around the world wrote about us? If so, visit the press section of our website. You'll find scans of entire articles there. Fluency at Japanese, Italian, Czech, German, English and Polish required!




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[/QUOTE]

Continuation

[QUOTE=Continuation of Newsletter #2]2. A visit to the Narakort tavern in Vyzime

Just as we promised last month, here's a bunch of some new screenshots from The Witcher. You can now see the details of architecture and decorations of the Narakort tavern in the city of Vyzime. While the pictures show only the building itself, during the game it will be full of various items and people (and other things .



Nowhere in Temeria can you find such a tasty roasted pig as in Narakort tavern. Yummy!

The innkeeper is well known not only for his delicious cuisine, but also for being an excellent hunter. Well, and for his fondness of fancy green curtains .




What kind of inn would it be without flour bags and wine barrels
And for a few silver pieces, you can rest in one of the rooms upstairs. Alone or with a nice company... (Kristina works at another inn )



And here's the tavern soon before the guests are let inside.





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3. A few words about what we were doing in June and July.Our team got bigger again! Ola Cwalina (known also as Krupik) has officially joined our team as a Senior Producer, and Michał Madej is our new Senior Designer. That's not all! Soon our team will grow even more and if everything goes according to our plans, in autumn we'll have 20 people onboard!

Each month we move ably forward with our work. We have couple of great-looking locations, with two most important being King Foltes's Castle and the City of Old Vyzime (you can find their screenshots at our website.)

We didn't get idle about the engine modifications. BioWare's Aurora engine has been enriched with a stunning looking day and night system. Now you can go at evening on a walk by the lake shore and admire the sunset in a romantic scenery. The sun hides behind the horizon, casting warm, evening light on the landscape. And when the warm colors and long shadows change into dark twilight, you'd better stay in a safe place. Unless you are a witcher with a silver sword in hand, of course...

Of course beautiful sunsets can be admired only when the weather is nice. Fortunately nothing shows that it can change right now, as the weather system is not ready yet

Soon we will show you results of our work in some screenshots, and then you'll be able say if you like them...




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4. Question of the month
Here you have surprised us, as most questions concerned the game's official forum Apparently, you want to ask even more questions, as a forum is the best place to do it . Therefore we officially inform you that the grand opening will take place on 1st of September!




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5. RED's People
We will begin our "RED's People" feature with the profile of our youngest colleague, Piotr Panasewicz, also known as Fallen Zen (friends call him Fallen). He is the Communications Coordinator - he takes care of our website, and supports our production team, by performing even the most unimaginable tasks. Fallen is a virtual being, which would love to be able to communicate with the world only using e-mail or ICQ, although we have to admit that he's also getting better at dealing with the "real life". His great passion, outside The Witcher, of course, is the world of Warcraft, and malicious people say that he's actually an orc disguised as human…
Hmmm…



Fallen and his best teammate ;-))))


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5. See you in September
Unfortunately, this is the end of our newsletter, and you'll have to wait until September for the third issue. In the meantime, as usual, we invite you to visit our website.

Take care!

The CD Projekt RED team[/QUOTE]

That was a continuation of the above. on to the next. This will be linked to the top as well.

[QUOTE=Newsletter #3]Newsletter 03/2004
http://www.TheWitcher.com


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Welcome to the new edition of our slightly changed newsletter. Thanks to your suggestions, we have made some changes, and we hope that the newsletter in its current form will be even more interesting to you! This time we have decided to tell you (to some of you only remind) about the world and characters created by Andrzej Sapkowski.

Contents:

1. Andrzej Sapkowski - a short biography. About the creator of the Witcher world.
2. Who were the witchers? - introduction. Basic information about the witchers.
3. Day and night cycle - movies. Just as you wished, we have prepared two movies showing the day/night cycle.
4. Newsletter screenshot. We present you with a new screenshot from the game.
5. Q&A with Jacek Brzeziński. Our lead programmer was asked some questions.
6. The Witcher Week - A whole week of non-stop updates on The Witcher website.
7. The next issue. A short summary of what you will see in the next month's issue of the newsletter.



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1. A short biography of Andrzej Sapkowski
Andrzej Sapkowski - of the Rawicz coat of arms, born in 1948. Distinguishing features: an outstanding gift for narration, the skill of creating the right atmosphere, powerful imagination, and a slightly cynical sense of humor.
Before he became one of the best Polish fantasy writers, he was a businessman. His literary career started in March 1985, when the "Fantastyka" science fiction and fantasy magazine announced a literary contest. Andrzej Sapkowski sent them his short story "The Witcher", and waited...
And then, in December 1986, "The Witcher" won the third place in the contest, the readers got to know the witcher Geralt, and they recognized his adventures as the best short story of the year. Sapkowski is not only a fiction writer - he also publishes critical texts, revievs and editorials. But it's his literary work that gave him the Paszport Polityki (The "Polityka" Magazine Passport, one of the most important Polish awards given for promoting Polish culture), and five Janusz A. Zajdel Awards (the most prestigeous Polish science fiction and fantasy award).
Sapkowski's prose is quite different from standard fantasy books. Lively action, colorful language, a big portion of laughter - this is how one can describe the writings of this author, who is impossible to pigeonhole. Under the guise of a joke, he hides an elegant mockery of the present, he does not divide the world into good and evil, but describes it in shades of grey.
What makes Sapkowski unique is that he plays with the reader, gives many subtle references to the canon of world fantasy literature. You don't have to search too deeply to find in Sapkowski's world far echoes of Conan, mysterious Tolkienesque spaces, or wisdom and dignity of Dune. Even someone who does not know the fantasy literature will find references to the classics of literature. But it is only a game, as Sapkowski has created his own, unique style, a new portion of which you will find in his new trilogy (its first part, "Narrenturm", has already been published in Poland, and the second one will premiere late September or early October).
Privately, Andrzej Sapkowski likes beer (Zywiec Porter), good Polish comedies, and is of the Gemini astrological sign. When asked if he makes use of the Internet in his work, he said:
"There have been in my life - as I have said before - three inventions, which I have welcomed on my knees and with tears of happiness: painless dental drill, bra fastened at the front, and the Internet."
He is known for his lack of tolerance of ignorance: "I am completely unaware of any connection between fantasy and parapsychology. It is, excuse me, Madam, absolute nonsense."



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[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=Continuation of #3]2. Who are the witchers - introduction.
Everyone of us knows where he comes from.
Everyone of us, when asked, will know his parents' names.
Everyone of us...

""I do not remember my parents, or the place in which I came into the world.
Do you think that is terrible? It is not. My home was Kaer Morhen - the witcher's stronghold. There I was made a witcher. It was a long and painful process, something I would prefer not to talk about. I learned a great deal there and then went on my way into the world to kill monsters...."

Everyone of us knows his place among the people.
Most of us can say they have a friend.
Most of us...?

"Yes, I am a mutant and a changeling. I am a professional monster killer. They throw stones at me, sometimes they set dogs on me. But when a werewolf, or a terrible kikimore turns up near their village, these good folk fall over themselves trying to get my help."

Who doesn't try to be the best at what he does?
Who doesn't try to reach his goals?
But... do we ever reach them? Are we irreplacable?

"I am not a dubbed knight. That honour has never been bestowed on me, and as to my birth it is better not to mention the circumstances surrounding it. But I firmly believe that I am needed and useful. After all, someone has got to protect people from monsters. So I perform my task as well as I can and I don't care about the insults."

A witcher's life is a life of a lone wolf.

He cannot count on human kindness, but he does not want great honors, he does not make a fool of himself at courts, he does not try to be liked by those who are not worth it. He is no diplomat, he is not interested in political influence, he has no idea about some of the things you and me would consider essential in everyday life. This, however, is not his strength... If you met one of the witchers, he would seem to be nearly a superhuman being. He is as agile as a cat. Darkness does not seem to bother him, he can see through it just as well as you can see in the daylight. He looks really inhuman, however, when he wields one of his swords. You should know that every witcher carries two blades. One is made of silver and, as you can probably guess, is used to fight the monsters that hate this precious metal. The other one, seemingly an ordinary sword, but an extremely sharp one, is for fighting people. For they are often the worst kind of monsters.
It's true, seeing a witcher is not a pleasant view and there are few people whose hearts wouldn't be filled with fear at such a sight. A witcher fights alone, but he is not weaponless. The sword isn't everything. It's not the steel that is deadly, but the hand that wields it.
And the hand was being shaped for years in the cold walls of the grim fortress of Kaer Morhen, called the Witchers' Keep. In this awful place forgotten by the gods, young boys are subject to a deadly, merciless training, the purpose of which is to change them into warriors. This wouldn't be enough, however, to create a perfect fighter. That's why they are also subject to the horrible change called the 'Trial of Grass', which only one out of ten boys survives. Because of the secret witcher potions their hair often changes its color, and their eyes are more beast-like than human in appearance. No wonder the witchers are called mutants.
You will find no slayer better than a witcher. The training, their sharpened senses, ubelievable reflexes, unusual strength, and some magic tricks. For it is no mystery that each of the monster hunters carries with him the famous elixirs, which give him yet another advantage in combat. Additionally, although they're no wizards, they also possess some magical abilities. The witcher Signs are simple, but extremely useful in combat, and are quite helpful when the sword is not enough. But the witcher himself has no weak points.
Everything has its price, however. A witcher is a perfect machine for exterminating monsters. A warrior, who can defeat any knight in direct combat. Indeed, no weak points. Except one. The mutation which made him what he is, also took away an essential part of what makes us human - his feelings. It seems that a witcher feels no emotions. He knows no fear, but he knows no love or mercy. A perfect killing machine...
The witchers can, of course, differ from each other. They can come from far sides of the world, be trained by different masters. By their pendants you can recognize to which of the schools - the School of Wolf, the School of Cat or the School of Gryphon - they belong. Every witcher has to have one. But regardless of his sign, there are some things you can be sure about when you meet a witcher... He does not feel, but he sees perfectly. He does not love, but has selective hearing. He is not capabe of mercy, but he thinks like his enemy. He is merciless, tough, and consequent. He does not abandon the road he chooses. This is why you can always count on him.

If hired, he'll find any beast, take the money, and depart into the darkness, followed by an insult, a stone, or only by silence...




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3. Special movie - Day/night system
We have prepared a little surprise especially for the readers of our newsletter. It's a movie which shows the day/night system which you've recently been able to see in screeshots. This time you can see how it works in the interior. One, quickened movie shows a time period from dusk till dawn, and the other shows the same room in real time. If you want to see how it works, check it out here, where you can download both aforementioned movies.



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4. Newsletter screenshot - Prophet Pigweed's Hospital
Here's a glimpse of another location featured in the game - the Prophet Pigweed's Hospital. The place will be full of sick people, especially during the plague in Old Vyzime.





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5. Q&A with Jacek Brzeziński
Jacek Brzeziński is the lead programmer at CDProjekt RED. We decided to ask him some questions.

How did your adventure with The Witcher begin?
Of course by being hired by CD Projekt RED last October. Making a game based on the Witcher stories was a natural choice to me - I, of course, like Andrzej Sapkowski's works, and I consider them to be an excellent material for a computer game. I've been interested in RPGs for a long time, I even used to work professionally on pen & paper role playing games. As a programmer, this project is quite a challenge to me - it's one of the biggest Polish computer game projects ever, so the expectations are very high. Well, it's a big and interesting project, so I decided to participate.

What do you enjoy the most in making games?
Unlike other kinds of software, a game's quality is not measured by how useful it is, but how enjoyable it is - which is quite hard to define. Of course, making games is also fun, because you can play it, but, what's most important, make your ideas come true, and instantly see the results of your work. We're also working with the latest technology when it comes to graphics, which is also great.

What kind of games do you like best?
I like adventure games, Japanese RPGs, action adventure, survival horror. My favorite titles are console games, like Final Fantasy or Silent Hill. I also like train simulators.



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6. The Witcher Week
We'd like to invite everyone to visit our website (http://www.thewitcher.com) between 18th and 25th of October for a whole The Witcher Week. We've prepared a lot of materials such as screenshots, new artwork, new gameplay trailer and many more! Also we will reveal the identity of the main character of our game. Stay tuned for more details!



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7. The next issue of the newsletter.
Unfortunately, it's the end of this month's issue. See you next month for the next portion of Witcher stuff, including more movies. We have just finished works on the weather system, so next time you will not only see the day night cycle, but also moving clouds, rain, storms and lightnings.

See you soon![/QUOTE]
In the post below, I editted much of what had been put into the newsletter, since it did not have to do with the game, the next week being Witcher week and all. I recommend trying to find this on the Witcher website, though... really interesting.

[QUOTE=Newsletter #4, somewhat editted by yours truly]Newsletter 04/2004
http://www.TheWitcher.com


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Welcome to the October issue of our newsletter. As you will surely notice this issue differs a lot in comparison to previous ones. It is very, very short. That is, because we’d like to invite you to visit our website tomorrow at noon! The Witcher Week is about to begin. Meanwhile, be sure to take interest in the following:

Contents:

1. Another milestone closed another to be closed soon.
2. Inside RED Studio… the parties and many more…
3. The Witcher Week starts tomorrow!




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1. Another milestone closed another to be closed soon.
1. In September we managed to complete another milestone. That means we made another giant leap in the production process. We’ve introduced a number of changes to the engine, like the day and night system, face expressions system, full screen effects e.g. glow – softening and making the graphics look real. Although we are proud of the changes introduced to the engine, they are but a foretaste of what we are working on at the moment.

Another milestones we wish to complete soon will be full-screen effects concerning the very character of the Witcher e.g. night vision (that coming from the Witcher training, as well as the enhanced one – being the effect of a potion), alcohol intoxication effect , and a very useful telekinetic Aard gesture. The latter being strongly connected with finalizing the first step of Criterion’s Karma Engine implementation. Some chairs, barrels and plates are being introduced and forced to behave as they should, with a little help of the physics engine.

If you’ve ever wondered where the shadows were, you don’t have to do it no more. The realistic, softened shadows system has already been finished and almost entirely tested. All the above features will be presented gradually in various screenshots and movies that are about to appear.
[/QUOTE]

.

[QUOTE=Newsletter #5]Newsletter 11/2004
http://www.TheWitcher.com


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Welcome to yet another Witcher newsletter. As usual, we bring you a number of interesting information. Here goes:

Table of contents:

1. CD Projekt RED Insider.
2. Who shall join forces with the Witcher?
3. The Witcher in NVIDIA's "The Way It's Meant To Be Played" programme.
4. Two new screenshots from the NVIDIA co-operation press release.
5. Christmas is coming!




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1. CD Projekt RED Insider.
We'd like to start with writing a little about the stuff we're doing at the moment. Considering the lack of changes on the game's official website, one might think that we're doing absolutely nothing, but this is far from true. Just as I'm writing these words, we're finishing our work on the newest playable version of the Witcher! In comparison with what we presented almost half a year ago at E3, the changes are massive - first of all, the new demo allows you to play Geralt and try out some of his special skills, such as night vision or Aard sign. What's important is the fact that this demo includes a portion of the game's actual script and some elements that are very characteristic of the gameplay. We'll stop here so as not to fire up your appetites too much - the demo is intended for potential publishers, though eventually some information about it will appear in media. It might also feature in any reports from 2005's E3, where this demo will be presented.

The work on the demo was so absorbing that other things had to wait their turn. The second 'Week with Witcher' will take place in the beginning of next year, and sadly until then we'll not make too much game material available. On the other hand, the stuff that we'll show will be of the highest quality, as evidenced by this newsletter's screenshots!



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2. Who shall join forces with the Witcher?
We hope to have an answer to this question soon! December 6th is the starting date for Lyon's Game Connection computer games show, where we'll inaugurate a series of publisher presentations that'll stretch out well into January. Since we have not done anything like this to date, we're a little jittery, but at the same time hopeful of finding a good partner. One that understands our concept of the game.

We consider this to be of utmost importance - several cases of making games forcibly nicer and neater have raised the priority of this issue. The whole project would suffer from protracted talks about how to make the Witcher a game for everyone (which often means simply 'no one'). The game is designed for older gamers and jettisoning such important elements of gameplay as, say, spicy jokes, strong beverages or cheap women would not be a good idea and would not make the game's commercial potential any larger (and even if it did - we don't want to make a game without that ;-)

Anyway - we believe that a good game will always find a good publisher and remain hopeful ;-)



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3. The Witcher in NVIDIA's "The Way It's Meant To Be Played" programme.
We're proud to inform that we have begun a close co-operation with NVIDIA. This co-operation means that the Witcher will be extensively tested for compatibility, and the finished game will offer the gamer running it on a computer with an NVIDIA GPU the best possible quality, easy installation and trouble-free gameplay.

Both companies commented on the joining of forces:

NVIDIA's chief of designer contacts division, Darryl Still, said: "The Witcher brings a fresh approach to the cRPG market! Because CD Projekt chose to use a great and very stable game engine, they could concentrate on designing a product that has massive playability and an immersing storyline. We're very happy that they chose NVIDIA as the supplier of the development platform for their game - we believe that the end result of our co-operation not only has stunning looks, but will also provide the gamers with quality entertainment in a very stable environment."

Here's what Michał Kiciński, leader of the game's production team, had to say about the newly-initiated co-operation: "The Witcher's world is incredibly beautiful and realistic. This wouldn't have been possible without the talent of our graphical team coupled with the ultra-modern technology supplied by NVIDIA. I think we managed to create a world that the gamers will not want to part with."

You can read more about this in the official press release, to be found here.



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4. Two new screenshots from the NVIDIA co-operation press release.
Two new screenshots were published in connection with the news about the co-operation with NVIDIA. What's interesting is the fact that one of them shows for the first time Geralt - the game's main hero!

Here they are:







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5. Christmas is coming, and a surprise beckons!
We have a small, but nice surprise for our fans. If you come to our web page between the 3rd and 9th of December and supply your post address, you'll receive a small surprise this year. Everyone worrying about the safety of their personal information can be assured that we will use them for the purposes of this campaign and this campaign only - they will be deleted immediately afterwards.

That's all we have for you this time. Thank you for reading this and see you next time.

CDProjekt RED Team[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=Newsletter #6]The Witcher Summer Newsletter
http://www.TheWitcher.com


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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. The beautiful meadow in all its glory. Many different plants are visible - one can only dream of having a picnic in such a place!
(click here to enlarge)





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6. The Witcher Week #2.
Many of you probably already know this from our website, but it won't harm anyone to inform about this once again here - the date for the next Witcher Week has been set. It shall take place between the 24th and 31st of August, later than we previously planned due to the Leipzig expo, but we'll make up for that by showing you a large quantity of interesting materials from the game. The first day will be started by a presentation of a gameplay movie, and the whole week will witness a number of other video material presentations, new graphics (a small teaser can be found to the left of this message), screenshots and music fragments. Also appearing will be new developers' interviews... Once again - sorry for the later date, but we strongly encourage everyone interested in the Witcher Week to visit our website in the end of August.

What's more, we'll soon publish news developers' interviews and some never-before-seen game screenshots.



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7. Thanks!
Once again - thanks for your attention! We don't yet have a PR department as such, but we encourage questions and other similar business - we'll do our best to help you out. If you're a media representative that couldn't attend one of our presentations, don't worry - write us and we'll send you the materials from our Press CD.

Regards,

Michał Kiciński
Creative Director

Piotr Panasewicz
Communication Coordinator

and the whole CD Projekt RED team![/QUOTE]
.

[QUOTE=Official Website]The Witcher
The witcher is a warrior who has been trained to fight since childhood, subjected to mutations and trials that transformed him. He earns his living killing monsters and is a member of a brotherhood founded long ago to protect people from werewolves, the undead, and a host of other beasts. However he is not an idealist who thinks that he can save the world. Killing monsters is his profession, he does it for money, not for fame and glory. He is a master of sword combat, whose battle skills are further enhanced by using certain magical powers. During the game the player must constantly make choices influencing the development of the character. All the modifications of the witcher, as well as changes in his appearance and inventory are reflected in the gameplay.[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=Official Website]The World
The game-world shares many common features with other fantasy lands. However there are also many distinguishing elements setting it apart. The world is not black and white, and there's no clear distinction between good and evil. Therefore it is populated by believable characters that act like real humans. It is a vivid and colorful place bearing many analogies to our reality, it is also a world full of violence and vulgarity, a place where only the strongest and most cunning can prevail. From the player's point of view the most important feature of this world is existence of witchers. They are members of a brotherhood of warriors, trained to kill monsters in order to protect people. There are only few of them left now, and time comes for one of them to play a very important role in the story that is about to unfold.


During the game the witcher will have a chance to visit many vivid and colorful places, including Kaer Morhen - the witcher's stronghold, great cities of Vyzime and Mayena, Old Castle of Temerian Kings, and lots of other locations full of interesting characters, terrifying monsters, deadly traps, and dangerous encounters. [/QUOTE]

If I recieve enough requests, then I will quote the rest, but only if I have to. It is quite long.

Okay, everyone, about a month's worth of material is now up, and this news thread has a handy list of some of the updates I made. Have fun with the more updated version.

Also, anyone who has not checked the Witcher website for new items should, as they have a couple of new bits of material out.

Wow, I finally got around to checking out what this game is about and it looks like its going to be a lot of fun. Thanks for posting!

[QUOTE=JudgeU]Wow, I finally got around to checking out what this game is about and it looks like its going to be a lot of fun. Thanks for posting![/QUOTE]
My thoughts exactly.

Since the last update, there has been a good 2 pages worth of updates, with around 40 articles, so go ahead and read them! It's unfortunate I haven't figured out how to link them, as they all have the same article.

New Witcher week

The Witcher Week (E3 Edition) – starting date!
As we promised a week ago, the time has come to share with you the starting date of The Witcher Week (E3 Edition). Next bunch of info and materials will start showing up on our website from 12th of June. Stay tuned for more info regarding TWW.

Edit-some unofficial video
Edit2 - new unofficial video
Edit3 - third video

My thoughts on Witcher

Hey,

Did have a look at some of the new trailers for the Witcher including the story and the combat. The story looks interesting enough but the combat does reminds me of Neverwinter Nights in some aspects. Plus the way that guy moves by mouse clicks does concern me slightly as I don't really like to move in that manner.

Still, it might not deter my interest in the game.

They have now added some concept art and more screenshots to the official site (http://www.thewitcher.com/witcher.asp)

Release Date

According to GamespotUk, the developers of The Witcher have given an approximate release date of Q2 2007. How reliable this is, however, is unknown as the official answer to the release date question is that it will be released when it is finished lol.

[QUOTE=mr_sir]According to GamespotUk, the developers of The Witcher have given an approximate release date of Q2 2007. How reliable this is, however, is unknown as the official answer to the release date question is that it will be released when it is finished lol.[/QUOTE]
Same at Gamespot as well. Stated as Q2 2007. However, I did take a look at some of the demonstration videos and the person demonstrating the Witcher said that the game will be released somewhere 2007.

The winner of the NPC competition has been announced. This NPC is guarenteed to be in the game:

From the official website:

Ist award - guaranteed appearence of the character in game goes to TYHE, for "Zahin Schmartz", a dentist, experimenter, alchemist and inventor. He won becaue of a great background, clever dialogues, and very well prepared role in the game. Sapkowski himself would be proud if he had created that character by himself!

Folks, Buck has reported about a new screenshot in the news forum. Yes, I'm exited too. There's a news forum!

Oh, erm, right. Well, the picture is high res and has a stunning view of the country side. People of all ages who are interested, the link to the thread is [url="http://www.gamebanshee.com/forums/gamebanshee-news-73/the-witcher-screenshot-78310.html"]here[/url].

The Witcher Week

News
The Witcher Week begins! This time it’s dedicated to the latest game teaser, straight from Academy Award nominated Platige Image Studio. During next few days you’ll see not only the video itself, but also a large pack of really cool bonus footage from creators. And this is only the beginning because new screenshots from the actual Witcher build are on their way too! Every day we’ll post few news containing one of those goodies. Keep in touch!
[url="http://www.thewitcher.com/witcher.asp"]The Witcher official site[/url]

According to a recent article in Gamespot, Atari will publish the Witcher in the U.S. alongside with Europe and Asia ([url="http://www.gamespot.com/news/6165372.html"]link[/url]).