[Geralt_of_bsas]

slimgrin said:

They quoted Skyrim. Be prepared. ›››

That is true, i felt really dissapointed when i read that in the blog, but to be fair, they could be talking about the space only, and not how you play in it.

i remember that when cyberpunk was announced in the press conference, in the image that had written some of the main features of the game, it said sandbox enviroment, and not sandbox gameplay, or free exploration, or whatever other words could've been used for it, they always referred to the game as happening in a sandbox enviroment or being open world.

So i hope they just mean the size of the playable area when talking about skyrim.

[gab961111]

I just hope they upgraded their engine because it does not seem render open and big areas really well. The biggest area in tw2 was outside Henselt`s camp.

[RSIK4]

lets hope for the best.....

[RSIK4]

An open world is a level or game designed as a nonlinear, vast open area with many ways to reach an objective.Some games are designed with both traditional and open world levels.An open world facilitates greater exploration than a series of smaller levels,or a level with more linear challenges. Reviewers have judged the quality of an open world based on whether there are interesting ways for the player to interact with the broader level when they ignore their main objective.Some games actually use real settings to model an open world, such as New York City.

[RSIK4]

A major design challenge is to balance the freedom of an open world with the structure of a dramatic storyline. Since players may perform actions that the game designer did not expect,the game's writers must find creative ways to impose a storyline on the player without interfering with their freedom. As such, games with open worlds will sometimes break the game's story into a series of missions, or have a much simpler storyline altogether. Other games instead offer side-missions to the player that do not disrupt the main storyline.Most open world games make the character a blank slate that players can project their own thoughts onto, although several games such as Landstalker: The Treasures of King Nole offer more character development and dialog. Writing in 2005, David Braben described the narrative structure of current videogames as "little different to the stories of those Harold Lloyd films of the 1920s", and considered genuinely open-ended stories to be the "Holy Grail we are looking for in fifth generation gaming".

[RSIK4]

Games with open worlds typically give players infinite lives or continues, although games like Blaster Master force the player to start from the beginning should they die too many times.There is also a risk that players may get lost as they explore an open world; thus designers sometimes try to break the open world into manageable sections.

[Babli]

slimgrin said:

They quoted Skyrim. Be prepared. ›››

What? Never read about that. Must missed something... *goes to google*

"Skyrim (2011) – One of the best implementations of an open, sandbox world."

[Nomzter]

Honestly I think CD project can The Witcher 3 fantastic wether it is Open World or not. Personally I think open world witcher game would be kinda cool.

[Daywalker30]

gregski said:

I agree that open-world and sandbox are different things. I am all for some more spacious locations allowing access to more places but I'm against sandbox approach to Witcher games (and CP2077 too). ›››

Exactly.

Since both the Witcher Games have a somewhat open world (but small), I think we shouldn't worry that much about it. They said it would be fully open world so I think the open world will be quite larger than the first two games and you can go from one place to another place without loading screens and such.

So the Locations and Buildings aren't separated by loading screens when you enter it, you should keep that in mind too as this could also be detail that CDP Red sees in as an open world game.

[Zanderat]

An urgent dramatic story line (see TW2) would be serioulsy undermined by open world fetch quests or dungeon diving(Triss has been kidnapped! Oh, by the way could you deliver this letter to my granny for me? Ooh, what's in this cave?) I hope that they stay with TW2 structure.

[Tuco Benedicto]

Daywalker30 said:

Exactly.

Since both the Witcher Games have a somewhat open world (but small), I think we shouldn't worry that much about it. ›››

Well, that's arguable.
I know many are going to disagree with me, but I'm not exactly enthusiast about how CDPR handled their "open worlds" so far. There's a LOT of room for improvements in their formula.

What I would like to see the most: an open world designed more closely to what Gothic 1-2/Risen did than to Skyrim/Mass Effect.
No invisible walls, many possibilities of interaction with environment and NPCs, less lifeless anonymous NPCs wandering around for the sake of it.

Really, Floatsom and Vergen were both two of the prettiest towns I ever seen in a RPG but they also felt more like "backgrounds" than part of the experience.
They were pretty to look at, they were colorful and nice, sure, but there wasn't really much you could do in those places.

CDPR should use Khorinos or Harbor Town as models of how to build a "quest hub". Places that despise their limited size felt lively and populated by unique characters, which offered unique interactions.

Also, beside NPC interaction, more climbing/crouching/sneaking/platforming, more vertical building less "walk on this flat landscape and click on the hot spot where the mouse pointer changes its shape".
Make the environment part of the gameplay, not just a passive backdrop that looks nice and little else.
Once again, like Gothic or Risen did before. Or Dark Souls, if you want a more recent example.

[Daywalker30]

Tuco Benedicto said:

Well, that's arguable.
I know many are going to disagree with me, but I'm not exactly enthusiast about how CDPR handled their "open worlds" so far. There's a LOT of room for improvements in their formula. ›››

Sure the open world in the Witcher games aren't really an open world games and could definitely use some improvements like you said,
but if the Open World in TW3 is only bigger and a bit more fleshed out than I wouldn't have anything against it. If it would turns out to be like the elder scroll games, two worlds and other similar open world games which are basically the same, than I sure as hell wouldn't like it (but that's mainly of because the boring quest and non-existent main story).

What I really liked in the Witcher 1 (ACT1), was the comments from the NPCs like "Oh, no I have to take the laundry in...." and they also went into search for a shelter of the rain.

[gregski]

I don't know about the Dark Souls example.

Witcher 2 was confined but at the same time I could focus on environments not having to worry that I'm gonna fall down a cliff. I appreciate that when I look at it now.

[Tuco Benedicto]

gregski said:

I don't know about the Dark Souls example.

Witcher 2 was confined but at the same time I could focus on environments not having to worry that I'm gonna fall down a cliff. I appreciate that when I look at it now. ›››

i don't, but that wasn't even my point.
I was referring more specifically about building the maps vertically, not just expanding them in size.

[alextyc1]

Well i am kinda ok with everything that cdproject is planning but i would prefer them to continue the with the different acts build and just add acts and make them bigger both area and their length.

[Gordianus1]

Skyrim is one of the most overrated game ever. One of my first rpg i ever played was gothic 1 (I know i'm young and i got into games late) and i LOVE Gothic 1 and 2 if i wanted W3 to be like it, it would be gothic 1 and 2, elder scrolls is simply too big and not enough stuff to fill it, making it boring i hope W3 doesn't go the same route as elder scroll

[SlimeDynamiteD]

I only played Gothic 2 form the Gothic series, and I thought it was WAY too effing hard... (So I played it on God mode xD) I was pretty young when I played it which is probably why I thought it was so tough.
Anyway, I do get what you mean with an open world like Gothic 2, that would be way better than an open world like Skyrim.

[AnthonyF1227]

I'd rather the scale of the game be about the same as TW1 or TW2, but with just more to do and more going on in each town. More places within each town/city to explore kind of deal.

[ZinuX]

AnthonyF1227 said:

I'd rather the scale of the game be about the same as TW1 or TW2, but with just more to do and more going on in each town. More places within each town/city to explore kind of deal. ›››

I think there was enough to do in a town in TW2 and TW1, adding more could make things tedious/overwhelming. I'd like to see more places to go to instead, if they expand upon stuff to do.

[Wallhailm]

Why should they change the style of game? I like the idea that, for example you are in chapter I and you are in some city and outskirts. In chapter II you are somewhere else, like Witcher 2, but i also liked the Outskirts of Vizima (maybe because that was the first thing i saw from witcher). They are great at what they are doing, let it be like it was to this date.