CD Projekt Red Developer Believes CDPR Need To Adopt Dishonored’s Approach To Level Design

Update:

Following on from this story CD Projekt Red today announced a brand-new Overdrive Mode update for Cyberpunk 2077 set to release on April 11th, 2023.

Original Story:

Cyberpunk 2077 definitely had a rocky launch but through continuous updates and the popularity of its transmedia approach to the franchise including the release of Cyberpunk: Edgerunners on Netflix CD Projekt Red’s project has made a stunning resurgence in the last year. Back in January a Quest Designer at CD Projekt Red, Paweł Sasko spoke on Twitch about the game’s shortcomings when it came to Cyberpunk 2077‘s story saying that fans’ criticism of the game’s linearity was “completely justified.”

There are many things that happened. First of all, players expected more, they expected more because of how The Witcher 3 is built, and I think Cyberpunk has an insane amount of non-linearity, but I think expectations were higher… Second thing is, the expectations were specifically regarding big branches [in the narrative]. And again there are a bunch of big branches in Cyberpunk… but you are thinking about branches in a different manner.

Paweł Sasko – Quest Designer at CD Projekt Red

The conversation surrounding Cyberpunk 2077‘s linearity has again resurfaced as another Level Designer at CD Projekt Red Miles Tost spoke at a GDC panel about the lessons the Cyberpunk team learned on non-linear level design. Speaking on the panel Tost spoke about how he believes that the branching paths of Cyberpunk 2077 should be given more importance akin to something like Arkane’s Dishonored series.

We need to treat paths as special. This is what creates value in the choices players make.

Miles Tost – Acting Lead Level Designer at CD Projekt Red

Tost noted that CD Projekt Red prides itself on “being storytellers.” However, this approach became its key stumbling block as the team at CD Projekt Red created a “generic path” to act as a way for players who didn’t want to engage in side content to still experience a fulfilling story. While this sounds fine on paper Tost noted that this meant a lot of players regardless of dedication to the game ended up picking the path of least resistance further pushing away from the idea that Cyberpunk 2077‘s choice-based system was meant to include a robust selection of playstyles. Citing Dishonored 1 and Dishonored 2 as examples Tost noted that the level of choice in those projects is what “creates value in the choices players make.” Tost created three basic principles to follow when focusing on game design including ‘perception of distance’,’ exclusivity, and ‘validation.’ He noted:

All three principles [perception, exclusivity, and validation] are not restricted to, but particularly effective at enhancing the powers of two different level design beats, designed to maximize choice and reward: that is, discovery and exploration

Miles Tost – Acting Lead Level Designer at CD Projekt Red