The Witcher Blog Update - briefly
(hx) 09:08 PM CEST - Aug,11 2006
- Post a comment The The Witcher
blog on IGN has been updated, this time offering an interview with the art
director Adam Badowski:
Lukas & Michal: As we've already seen, the graphics in The Witcher
look extremely natural and real. In comparison, however, numerous games that
have been released recently (including those in the RPG genre) present a rather
sterile, even plastic-looking and dehumanized graphic style. How would you
comment on this trend in graphics?
Adam: The Witcher is supposed to be as real as possible. The game's story
is not at all amusing; the game world is dark, sinister and brutal. Such a
realistic fantasy world (how's that for an oxymoron?) should captivate the
player, and permit him to sympathize-and maybe even empathize to a certain
degree-with the authentic characters presented in the game. Geralt is a trained
monster slayer, ready for battle anytime and anywhere. Consequently, in keeping
with the realism of the game, Geralt simply cannot allow himself to wear
fashionable and attractive clothing, a long and stylish dark cloak, or whole
sets of potion vials strapped to every imaginable part of his attire. I'm
repeating myself here, but in-game realism is what we've strived for.
Naturally, it's much simpler to create a game that lacks visual cohesion and a
consistent plot. So, if you plan on getting rich by selling a mediocre game at
best, then all you need to do is choose a whole palette of ten colors, rip a
couple of cartoon or game characters off the TV or computer screen, and there
you go; you've got a guaranteed marketing hit. I've even heard of to-do lists
where you just need to tick some boxes off, in order to sell a game. That's not
what we're here to do, though.
As for sterile graphics, you do have to take into consideration the limitations
of today's technology. As good as it might already be, it's nearly impossible to
transfer all of your ideas into the game world successfully. It's extremely
difficult to achieve a natural look in a game. It takes loads of time, effort
and truckloads of coffee . That's why we're very happy with what we've managed
to achieve in The Witcher.
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