Say what you will about Cyberpunk 2077 but the game took a ton of work to develop. After all, this is a video game that was based on Mike Pondsmith’s pen-and-paper RPG, Cyberpunk 2020. While the development team had a base to start crafting their video game on, there was plenty of blanks that CD Projekt Red needed to fill in. If you enjoyed the in-game world and the different designs that were built by CD Projekt Red then there’s an interesting new interview that’s worth reading through.
Ben Andrews is a senior concept designer at CD Projekt Red and he recently sat down with 80 Level to talk about his time building up Cyberpunk 2077. Throughout the interview, Ben made note of how much effort was put into crafting this futuristic world and that everything made had a design that fit the in-game world. Cyberpunk 2077 is a massive world and there’s a ton to stop and look at such as the different hardware, weaponry, along with vehicles. For instance, we can take a look at the Militech Basilisk which is this massive hover tank. The creative team had to think about what the tank was used for, if the player was going to drive it, the different animations it would showcase, what quests it could be used in, and most importantly, how to make players believe this was something that could actually exist within the in-game world.
Of course, there’s more than just vehicles to design. CD Projekt Red hyped up the in-game setting of Cyberpunk 2077 for years. Night City was a rough area to live in and crime spewed all over the streets to the city outskirts. That’s where weapons came into play along with the different companies that were manufacturing them. Just about everyone is packing heat in Night City whether they are carrying an expensive firearm to a cyberware tech that could be kept hidden away. Much like the Militech Basilisk, the designers had to craft each weapon to be realistic, logical, and had a purpose within Night City.
According to Ben Andrews, one of the ways the designers helped convey Night City as a dangerous place was a very undesirable weapon. Budget Arms Slaughto-Matic is certainly not the first weapon of choice in Night City. However, you’ll easily come across Budget Arms in different vending machines on the street. Throw some credits into the machine and out pops a below-par uzi. It’s poorly made, not accurate, and made to be thrown away as soon as your ammunition clip empties. Having areas of Night City littered with weapon vending machines and discarded Slaughto-Matic was an effective means to highlight crime along with the tone of Cyberpunk 2077.
