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Witcher III: Blood and Wine - May 10 Preview Info
- Thread starter Dmax3901
- Start date
I don't want to play the Witcher 3 content, I'm not up for something that large, but I'm interested in playing shorter more focused Witcher content like this or the other released DLC. Am I able to play the DLC content without playing the main W3 game? Or is it integrated in such a way that playing the W3 can't be worked around?
EatChildren
Currently polling second in Australia's federal election (first in the Gold Coast), this feral may one day be your Bogan King.
I'm fairly certain this expansion pack, like the last one Hearts of Stone, allows you to essentially start the expansion with a fresh character levelled up to the appropriate level.
That's good, thanks.
Admiral Woofington
Member
be prepared though as you might have to do some riding back and forth depending on if they don't give you any fast travel points when you start a new geralt for the expansion.
The perfect Dark
Banned
Already preordered, I can't wait!
Btw: is there are trophy for collecting all question marks? I might do this until the DLC arrives, lol.
Btw: is there are trophy for collecting all question marks? I might do this until the DLC arrives, lol.
Discotheque
Banned
i just bought it on gog and it was priced 10 dollars more than heart of stone (CDN fwiw).
shoulda copped the season pass. either way this is a fantastic deal.
sublimit
Banned
Well i thought that HoS more than deserved the 20€ price tag for the physical box and code and from what B&W sounds so far (it will have much more new content than HoS) 10$ sounds very reasonable.
LonelyGreyWolf
Banned
No, it was established as soon as they were announced that BaW would be more expensive. Both digital and physical is more expensive, but they're still a steal considering the value.
SolidChamp
Banned
They could ask full retail price for the physical edition w/Gwent and I'd pay it.
I'm Spartacus
Member
I just bought the Witcher 3 dirt cheap (yup lttp!) - if I buy the season pass do I get access to Heart of Stone and Blood and Wine when it releases?
Also, are they incorporated into the main game so when I hit a certain level I can access them or are they separate? Not sure how they work out in relation to the base game.
Also, are they incorporated into the main game so when I hit a certain level I can access them or are they separate? Not sure how they work out in relation to the base game.
sublimit
Banned
Oh i missed that announcement.
OrbitalBeard
Member
The season pass grants you access to both, yes.
And they are incorporated into the main game, so you can play everything with the same character. The game differentiates between "main game" quests and Expansion quests, so you'll know which is which. You also have to option to play the DLC separate from the main game (via a pre-made character) if you wish.
The perfect Dark
Banned
Hm, I think I should not complain, lol.
I'm Spartacus
Member
kraspkibble
Permabanned.
the expansion pass includes both Hearts of Stone + Blood & Wine. You will be able to download HoS straight away and you can download B&W from 31st May.
For HoS once you have installed it the game will simply add a new quest to your quest log in game and you go to it just like any other in the game and it all unfolds from there. I expect the same to be true for B&W. Hearts of Stone has a recommended level of ~30 and by the time you get to that you will be nearly done with the main story so it's designed to be played post game but really there isn't anything stopping you at a lower level. you just will find it way harder. i didn't start until lvl 36 and found some fights quite challenging.
Adry9
Member
I believe sequel.
So one of the three endings should be canonical...
Really? Thought this, like hos happens before the ending.
Same thing.
LonelyGreyWolf
Banned
Neither. It's more or less irrelevant to the Wild Hunt.
Yesssssssss
Hands down my favourite character in the books.
So glad he's back. His death made me really sad 
Awesome news
I mean they've already retconned plenty from the books and this is something I'm happy with. Hope he
[edit] Might actually not be a retcon according to a reddit post:
I mean they've already retconned plenty from the books and this is something I'm happy with. Hope he
settled down with that succubus...
[edit] Might actually not be a retcon according to a reddit post:
Basically Sapkowski reputedly saying Geralt didn't see Regis by his side when he was dying in the Rivian pogrom because he somehow might have regenerated from being melted into marble. Don't have more sauce than a mention in Polish Witcher wiki though.
Tenacious-D
Member
We are. Youtubers were invited to play the game in Italy last week. I find it odd that they use 21:9 monitors to demo the game, but all the cutscenes in-game and some menus are letterboxed to 16:9, and you have to use a mod / edited .exe file to remove the black bars from the cutscenes. They play perfectly once you've done that too. You would think that if they demo the game on 21:9, they would have done a bit more work to make everything run fully in 21:9.
They also seem to like Razer peripherals.
Here's the main menu:
Code:
[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/Xe9JQWw.jpg[/IMG]EatChildren
Currently polling second in Australia's federal election (first in the Gold Coast), this feral may one day be your Bogan King.
AFAIK, like Hearts of Stone, it is neither a sequel nor a prequel. It takes place at the same time as Wild Hunt's events, as there's no canonical post-game end state.
Thank you, I appreciate it.
EatChildren
Currently polling second in Australia's federal election (first in the Gold Coast), this feral may one day be your Bogan King.
You mean until the end-of-2016 Enhanced Edition release, bundling all content together with a DX12 renderer and enhanced effects, improved animations and overall presentation, and supplementing content that scatters additional quests throughout the game world such as new contracts, NPCs, gwent tournaments, and so on?
the_batman
Banned
EatChildren
Currently polling second in Australia's federal election (first in the Gold Coast), this feral may one day be your Bogan King.
13 to 15 GB according to PSN.
I think CDProjekt is actually satisfied with the game in its current state. Witcher 1 was almost broken in its original release, and Witcher 2 also felt kind of rough. While the Witcher 3 might have its share of issues (on consoles especially) the game currently feels much "smoother" and well rounded, considering it ambitious nature. So I don't think CDProjekt is going to spent so much more time on it, when they have their hands full with Cyperpunk 2077.
Tenacious-D
Member
You've seen the light.
I think it will be a Vulkan renderer. They announced a while ago that TW3 was coming to SteamOS, but since then, we've heard nothing. They no longer want to talk about it for some reason, only saying that when they have news, they'll share it.
I'm also about 50% sure they'll announce a remake of TW1 on it's tenth anniversary. They've said that there are currently no plans for TW1 and TW2 remakes/remasters, but business wise, it would make sense to release something before TW4. A lot of people didn't play the previous games, and they would sell now that The Witcher is a well known franchise. Some devs have also expressed their desire to keep working on The Witcher series, instead of Cyperpunk.
Witcher 1 would obviously require more effort than TW2, but they have a lot of the environments now, like Kaer Morhen and Vizima Palace. They were working on Rise of the White Wolf back in the day, a port for PS360, but that nearly bankrupted the company. If they did it in-house this time and kept an eye on it, it could easily succeed.
Looking at how many TW1 references there are in B&W, they're obviously quite fond of TW1. Which makes sense, it was their first major game.
They've hinted otherwise, on their forums and in recent interviews. They have enough teams to do it as well.
nortonff
Hi, I'm nortonff. I spend my life going into threads to say that I don't care about the topic of the thread. It's a really good use of my time.
That's an amazing amout of content.
The new menu looks great. I just hope they fix the performance on the menus on the PS4. It's a real pain in the ass right now.
The new menu looks great. I just hope they fix the performance on the menus on the PS4. It's a real pain in the ass right now.
truestatic
Member
In what sense? It sounds like you've got your $85 worth at any rate.
I feel like TW1 shows its age a great deal in just about every facet. It's a great game, but the amount of reworking required to appease players expectations coming off the strength of Witcher 3 basically demands the creation of an entirely original game.
EatChildren
Currently polling second in Australia's federal election (first in the Gold Coast), this feral may one day be your Bogan King.
While I didn't get to attend the recent press event, my colleague did, and one thing he took away from it (and myself, from prior interviews with CDPR staff) is how humble they are. As in, no matter how many times he noted the highs of Wild Hunt and Hearts of Stone, they'd come back with something self critical and where they want to improve. The entire reason Blood & Wine is coming with a massive menu/UI overhaul is because they're still not happy with it.
That's basically how CDPR roll. You can tell them Wild Hunt was your GOTY, and they'll tell you where they could do better.
Tenacious-D
Member
This is exactly how they act on the forums too. Mainly regarding the lack of the Wild Hunt (which was related to cut content), and the lacklustre politics compared to TW2 (which they obviously knew about, but didn't have time to fix). They're also more than well aware of Act 3's shortcomings, which is objectively quite rushed compared to Act 1 or Act 2.
They still don't want to talk about Iorveth, though.
I get the feeling that it's a bit of a raw nerve for some the leads because they couldn't make him work, for whatever reason. I highly doubt the lead writer would have spoken about his role in 2013, unless they really wanted him to be in the game.the_batman
Banned
this game is way too good, and the devs put way too much work into it. it's crazy.
Don't break my heart...
A year on probably the only thing I was disappointed about was (Witcher 3 spoilers just in case)
the lack of a major battle. There was the whole Kaer Mohren thing but man... the siege at the start of Witcher 2 and the spectre battle in Act 2 were so amazing. The enormous Nilgaardian camp just seemed to be teasing some kind of huge battle happening later. All the aftermaths of different skirmishes was really cool to walk through though.
Snkfanatic
Banned
Thinking of buying the season pass today. Start one of the new characters leveled for Hearts of Stone and run through that, hopefully that will be a good level for this expansion too. I have a save that I finished the game with but I have a feeling it will be way over leveled.
Tenacious-D
Member
Yeah, they would have to remake it in the REDEngine. Aurora can't run on the PS4 or XBone. I mean, in theory it could, but it would be silly.
They do have TW2 and TW3 to work from though. TW2 runs on an older version of the engine, but as we've seen with TW3, it seems that its quite easy to port over assets, and quite a few are taken directly from TW2.
A sizeable amount of assets could either be directly used from TW3 (Kaer Morhen, Vizima Palace), or reworked to fit. TW1's levels aren't that big. Personally, if they did do it, I would rather like to see an evolution of TW2's combat preparation mechanics, instead of TW3's more simplified approach. I still think potion making is the best in TW1, but many people would argue otherwise.
Combining TW1 and TW2 into one game would be incredible, but is also unlikely. If they ever revisit TW2, I'd like to see them finish the Dol Blathanna chapter that they cut because they ran out of cash. Thanks Rise of the White Wolf. :/ It's also the reason why Act 3 in Loc Muinne is so short, even after the EE, as several quests would have started there, and then finished in Dol Blathanna. It's also why Francesca Findabair is named dropped almost a dozen times by important NPC's like Triss and Iorveth, yet never actually appears.
