In a recent PC Gamer interview, CD Projekt RED developers have described how they're creating quests in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and what it takes to make 36 different endings.
Both the quest design team and writing team can pitch ideas for missions in the game and this sometimes leads to conflict between the two over whether a quest is feasible or not. Writer Jakub Szamalek commented:
“On the one hand it’s nice to have as many different paths and different possibilities as possible, but on the other you have to keep in mind that you have to implement it, think of consequences within the constraints of the budget.''
Lead quest designer Mateusz Tomaszkiewicz added:
“It differs on specific cases – sometimes the input comes from them, so they give us very broad scenarios of what’s going to happen, and we’re supposed to add those details and design it in a way that will fit the game, that you can actually implement it. They’re writers. They don’t, at times, understand what you can and can’t do in a game, so we have to do that.”
“We also design from scratch and talk it through with the storytelling guys so they know what’s in there. They have to give us opinion on if they are able write good dialogue for that, if they see potential in this quest.”
There are 14 quest designers working on The Witcher 3 compared to just four on the original game and six on the sequel and this is evident in the 36 unique endings which will be present in the game.
Mateusz says the ending and beginning of a game are the hardest parts of a game ot make because the start needs to engage people for the whole game while the ending must not leave people disappointed. He also added that some take more work to achieve than others but all were ''tough'' to make. The first game's ending was changed six or seven times while The Witcher 2's conclusion was altered four or five times, Mateusz revealed.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt has been delayed until February 2015.
