Witcher 3 Dev: Gamers Are Wary of Poorly-Polished Next-Gen Games

[Steven Bogos]

Witcher 3 Dev: Gamers Are Wary of Poorly-Polished Next-Gen Games

CD Projekt Red says The Witcher 3's delay [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/138950-The-Witcher-3-Wild-Hunt-Delayed-To-May-2015] was well received by fans who don't want another bug-riddled game.

It's no secret that quite a few big-name next-gen triple A blockbusters have been a little more time [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/138619-Ubisoft-Working-on-Assassins-Creed-Unity-Bugs] to polish up The Witcher 3, the decision was met with praise, rather than criticism from gamers.

"Gamers ..." said CD Projekt Red's Adam Kiciński [http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-12-10-witcher-3-dev-market-is-afraid-of-badly-polished-games-on-next-gen], "took our decision very well. [The] market is afraid of badly polished games on next-gen platforms." Kiciński admitted that his team set the initial release date for the game too hastily, which is what led to the multiple delays.

"There's a lot of small errors though, because the game is huge. It's the only reason behind the delay. We didn't assume it will be this big. Only after putting all the pieces together it turned out it's bigger than the two first put together. Let me remind you: it's open and not linear. We are just learning how to play it and we have to catch the little pieces. We know what to do, we just have to do it. We don't want to release the game with bugs that undermine the gameplay."

Kiciński's statement that the February release date was set too hastily does undermines the sentiment from CDP co-founder Marcin Iwiński who in May 2014 promised "no more delays" to the game. "This is not our first game; we are not newbies," he said then - "we planned [the February 2015 date] well".

Nonetheless, I would rather CD Projekt Red take their time and get it right.

Source: Eurogamer [http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-12-10-witcher-3-dev-market-is-afraid-of-badly-polished-games-on-next-gen]

Permalink

 

[Aerosteam]

These guys know what's up. Wish that was the case with more devs.

 

[blackrave]

Let's be real, there will be bugs anyway.
But certain amount of debugging and optimizing is never bad, so more power to CDPR

 

[totheendofsin]

"a delayed game is eventually good, but a rushed game is bad forever" -shigeru miyamoto

seriously it says alot about the current state of gaming when a delay is met with praise from most gamers rather than bitching

 

[Aiddon_v1legacy]

The thing is, you'd people would get it by now. Thus far, despite the sales figures, the current gen's first few years have turned out to be a giant turkey, which is how it has been with EVERY generation. These aren't games, they're glorified tech demos because, once again, designers clearly don't get the writing on the wall: you blame the hardware all you want, but at the end of the day your skill (or lack thereof) is the deciding factor. And that's before we get into how the new generation is doing nothing to rectify the mistakes of the last one. Or, as Yahtzee would say: "let's all laugh at an industry that never learns anything, tee hee hee"

 

[Lagslayer]

We're STILL calling it next gen? Who wants to bet it will not end until the *next* gen arrives? Cue name inflation.

 

[CardinalPiggles]

Personally if I could get my hands on it now I wouldn't say no.

But I suppose patience is a virtue. I can wait.

 

[dragongit]

"a delayed game is eventually good, but a rushed game is bad forever" -shigeru miyamoto

seriously it says alot about the current state of gaming when a delay is met with praise from most gamers rather than bitching

Miyamoto has apparently never heard of Duke Nukem Forever. Delayed for ages, and still terrible. Watch Dogs, turned out to be mediocre at best. It doesn't matter how much time is put into a project, if it doesn't have competent people behind it, it'll be crap, no matter how much you try to polish it.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

The thing is, you'd people would get it by now. Thus far, despite the sales figures, the current gen's first few years have turned out to be a giant turkey, which is how it has been with EVERY generation. These aren't games, they're glorified tech demos because, once again, designers clearly don't get the writing on the wall: you blame the hardware all you want, but at the end of the day your skill (or lack thereof) is the deciding factor. And that's before we get into how the new generation is doing nothing to rectify the mistakes of the last one. Or, as Yahtzee would say: "let's all laugh at an industry that never learns anything, tee hee hee"

actually across many different console releases has their been gems that went on to be some of the best selling games, look at the ps1, xbox, ps2, nintendo, gameboy, n64, and there might even be more. if you care to look (I did look, but piecing and posting every individual link to popular games released within the first year of a consoles release would take too much time that I don't care to give.) you'll find some great games. All depended on if the developer had a great idea to be implemented and the time to do it. Granted, now a days, development times are years long (for most games that are worth it, at all.) due to increased budgets and details, so I won't argue the current gen.

Also, the pc doesn't have a generation...so mentioning this on a news post with a developer that is primarily pc focused doesn't really do much for your post..

 

[Raziel]

Well that statement is going to bite them in the ass.

 

[Fulbert]

"a delayed game is eventually good, but a rushed game is bad forever" -shigeru miyamoto

seriously it says alot about the current state of gaming when a delay is met with praise from most gamers rather than bitching

I think the quote has become somewhat obsolete with the current trnd of releasing half-finished games and fixing them with patches and updates. It does hold up however in that it's the initial release that draws the most attention and if people see a bug-ridden mess of a game, many of them will just walk away and no amount of patching will bring them back.

 

[Rozalia1]

Poppycock. Those that whine about them either don't play them, or they (secretly) live and breath them so will buy them regardless.

The thing is, you'd people would get it by now. Thus far, despite the sales figures, the current gen's first few years have turned out to be a giant turkey, which is how it has been with EVERY generation. These aren't games, they're glorified tech demos because, once again, designers clearly don't get the writing on the wall: you blame the hardware all you want, but at the end of the day your skill (or lack thereof) is the deciding factor. And that's before we get into how the new generation is doing nothing to rectify the mistakes of the last one. Or, as Yahtzee would say: "let's all laugh at an industry that never learns anything, tee hee hee"

What is this? Tech demos aren't games? Granted some have little substance, but to make a sweeping statement like that applying it to all generations is tripe. For example Parasite Eve 1 is classed as a "tech demo game", and yet its considered a classic.
Its very disappointing that so many people think just because something is a tech demo that no serious effort was put into making it an actually good game.

 

[blank0000]

The thing is, you'd people would get it by now. Thus far, despite the sales figures, the current gen's first few years have turned out to be a giant turkey, which is how it has been with EVERY generation. These aren't games, they're glorified tech demos because, once again, designers clearly don't get the writing on the wall: you blame the hardware all you want, but at the end of the day your skill (or lack thereof) is the deciding factor. And that's before we get into how the new generation is doing nothing to rectify the mistakes of the last one. Or, as Yahtzee would say: "let's all laugh at an industry that never learns anything, tee hee hee"

I'd argue it's more on the publisher then the developers not having the right chops. Even a seasoned programming wizard needs time to learn new technologies and techniques. Computer science is always changing, it's not something you learn once and then everything builds off of for all time. Engines may ultimately offer incremental improvements over earlier ones. but THE WAY those systems work can be radically different from what someone was used to. Hell, part of the reason you had so many games on xbox 360 vs ps4 was probably because it worked more like a PC.

Solution? Action item?

I danno!

 

[Casual Shinji]

You know, I may not like their games, but I really like their attitude toward making games.

 

[Strazdas]

let me correct you a bit here: Gamers Are Wary of Poorly-Polished Next-Gen Games

CDP always seem to know the right thing to say, and they seem to be doing it as well. one of the few developers i really cant say anything bad about.

Let's be real, there will be bugs anyway.
But certain amount of debugging and optimizing is never bad, so more power to CDPR

Oh, sure, you cant catch them all, even the Oblivion bug fixer project didnt in 7 years. But its unlikely we will see Unity's missing faces or Watch Dogs functionally broken, or FC4 horrible performance or.... you get the point.

 

[mysecondlife]

Everytime I hear something of Witcher 3, I like it more and more

...and Skyrim less and less.

 

[kuolonen]

I would love to say that this is nice to hear, but I still remember what Witcher 2 was like at launch. They did do and admirable job of polishing it afterwards, but colour me very surprised if Witcher 3 is going to be without at least few major bugs.

Still, among the game developers CD projekt Red is one of the few devs I consider to still have the gamer in mind while developing game s, so I am rooting for them.

 

[Uhuru N'Uru]

CD Projekt Red are not special or exceptional as developers who want to finish a game before releasing, most developers want to do that. The one real difference is they have no Publisher saying release it now, they learned that lesson after Witcher 2, Publishers don't care about the game quality at all, AAA are the worst of all. Not a single AAA game from Ubisoft or EA has released without major issues for years, they rely more and more on pre-orders based on hype and hiding the truth.

They won't ever get every single bug on PC, not with open world games, consoles should be much easier, due to one set of hardware.
The immense variety of hardware setups that make up the group "PC's", reveals many bugs, that only appear for that setup.
Skyrim Modders have fixed thousands of original bugs over the three years since release, the Unnofficial Patches Team only fix original game bugs, they are no where near done.
Additionally many reported "Bugs" are not actually caused by the Game, but are bugs of other software on that setup, I recently had real trouble playing "Dragon Age: Inquisition, in about 200 attempted starts, I only got as far as actually starting the game 3 or 4 times, CTDing without warning at various random points, many reported the same issue, Reinstalling Windows fixed it for me, I've not had a single Startup CTD since, The game is still a buggy mess released too early by EA, but the bugs are in Game now not out of it.

SO don't damn well Pre-Order a Publisher's game, ever.

I've Pre-ordered the Witcher 3, but from GOG.com to support that sites DRM free policy, it's also owned by CD Project Red, all the money goes to them with no Publisher involvement. Crowdfunding a game is another way to back Publisher free Developement, never think you've bought the game, it may be part of the promidsed return on your investment, it may be a great game. It may also fail. So back the developer first and Game may come, I've backed
Wasteland 2 (inXile)
Dreamfall Chapters (Red Thread Games)
Star Citizen (Roberts Space Industries)
Obduction (Cyan makers of Myst Series)

All Developers with an established Pedigree, Star Citizen shows how to sell the Concept yet not rely on hype, the open modular developement process they use is the best method for a Crowdfunded game.
Contrast all that's available forStar Citizen with what's known about Fallout 4, both started at about the same time,. Yet Zenimax (Bethesda) won't even admit they are making Fallout 4 at all.

Spoiler: Side Note - How Long will they call it Next Gen

They will call them "Next Gen" until replaced. Why? Because they were actually Last Gen from the start. Time was (PS1 and PS2 Eras) the new consoles were actually better than the best PC about at the time of release, but PS3 Era was roughly only equal best PC and now PS4 Era only as good as a mid Range PC at simlar price level.
The biggest improvements are due to moving to 64-bit, the new hardware is mediocre and even that isn't fully used, the main reason is to be a "Console" requires a Power source of 300W Maximum.

Can't they just increase the power? Not and remain a Console, the inevitable result of inreasing the power is, cooling and airflow needs also increase requires bigger fans and cases, that's a PC, not a Console. Valve's "Steam Box" is the inevitable result of this necessity. Not convinced? To increase the XBox One's Power, simply trying match the PS4's slight Hardware advantage, Microsoft had to remove the "essential" Kinnect, they are already at Maximum Power Capacity.

Consoles are Power Limited, without a 128-bit CPU, any new gen will fall much further behind PC, to bargain bucket level.
With 4k and 8k monitors and Virtual Reality on the horizon, power needs are increasing even more rapidly than normal.
Consoles may be on their "Last Gen" ever, without an answer to the power shortage. They delayed the "Next Gen" release, for years, trying to solve this problem, it may never be solved.
Of course I don't think they'll just give up, marketing may carry them along, for a while, with the help of the fanboys blind faith.

Sooner than they like customers will leave for PC, VR is on the horizon and 4k Monitors here already. If 4k TV's become the Norm, Sooner will become now.

 

[lordloss217]

CD Projekt Red are not special or exceptional as developers who want to finish a game before releasing, most developers want to do that. The one real difference is they have no Publisher saying release it now, they learned that lesson after Witcher 2, Publishers don't care about the game quality at all, AAA are the worst of all. Not a single AAA game from Ubisoft or EA has released without major issues for years, they rely more and more on pre-orders based on hype and hiding the truth.

They won't ever get every single bug on PC, not with open world games, consoles should be much easier, due to one set of hardware.
The immense variety of hardware setups that make up the group "PC's", reveals many bugs, that only appear for that setup.
Skyrim Modders have fixed thousands of original bugs over the three years since release, the Unnofficial Patches Team only fix original game bugs, they are no where near done.
Additionally many reported "Bugs" are not actually caused by the Game, but are bugs of other software on that setup, I recently had real trouble playing "Dragon Age: Inquisition, in about 200 attempted starts, I only got as far as actually starting the game 3 or 4 times, CTDing without warning at various random points, many reported the same issue, Reinstalling Windows fixed it for me, I've not had a single Startup CTD since, The game is still a buggy mess released too early by EA, but the bugs are in Game now not out of it.

SO don't damn well Pre-Order a Publisher's game, ever.

I've Pre-ordered the Witcher 3, but from GOG.com to support that sites DRM free policy, it's also owned by CD Project Red, all the money goes to them with no Publisher involvement. Crowdfunding a game is another way to back Publisher free Developement, never think you've bought the game, it may be part of the promidsed return on your investment, it may be a great game. It may also fail. So back the developer first and Game may come, I've backed
Wasteland 2 (inXile)
Dreamfall Chapters (Red Thread Games)
Star Citizen (Roberts Space Industries)
Obduction (Cyan makers of Myst Series)

All Developers with an established Pedigree, Star Citizen shows how to sell the Concept yet not rely on hype, the open modular developement process they use is the best method for a Crowdfunded game.
Contrast all that's available forStar Citizen with what's known about Fallout 4, both started at about the same time,. Yet Zenimax (Bethesda) won't even admit they are making Fallout 4 at all.

Spoiler: Side Note - How Long will they call it Next Gen

They will call them "Next Gen" until replaced. Why? Because they were actually Last Gen from the start. Time was (PS1 and PS2 Eras) the new consoles were actually better than the best PC about at the time of release, but PS3 Era was roughly only equal best PC and now PS4 Era only as good as a mid Range PC at simlar price level.
The biggest improvements are due to moving to 64-bit, the new hardware is mediocre and even that isn't fully used, the main reason is to be a "Console" requires a Power source of 300W Maximum.

Can't they just increase the power? Not and remain a Console, the inevitable result of inreasing the power is, cooling and airflow needs also increase requires bigger fans and cases, that's a PC, not a Console. Valve's "Steam Box" is the inevitable result of this necessity. Not convinced? To increase the XBox One's Power, simply trying match the PS4's slight Hardware advantage, Microsoft had to remove the "essential" Kinnect, they are already at Maximum Power Capacity.

Consoles are Power Limited, without a 128-bit CPU, any new gen will fall much further behind PC, to bargain bucket level.
With 4k and 8k monitors and Virtual Reality on the horizon, power needs are increasing even more rapidly than normal.
Consoles may be on their "Last Gen" ever, without an answer to the power shortage. They delayed the "Next Gen" release, for years, trying to solve this problem, it may never be solved.
Of course I don't think they'll just give up, marketing may carry them along, for a while, with the help of the fanboys blind faith.

Sooner than they like customers will leave for PC, VR is on the horizon and 4k Monitors here already. If 4k TV's become the Norm, Sooner will become now.

You know what, they should focus less on the consoles and more on the portable gaming market. While it is true the PS vita was classed as a commercial flop, it did however show the possibilities of portable/mobile gaming.

P.S: did you know total biscuit has a PS vita.

 

[Nixou]

"a delayed game is eventually good, but a rushed game is bad forever" -shigeru miyamoto

"Who cares? modders will fix our mess for us and for free" -too many lazy PC game devs

***

You know what, they should focus less on the consoles and more on the portable gaming market.

That's pretty much what happened with JRPGs: many developers reached a point where they simply couldn't sustain the costs of developing 40 to 80 hours long games of home consoles and many migrated to handheld consoles.