The Witcher (game)

The Witcher (Polish: Wiedźmin) is a computer role-playing game for the PC by CD Projekt. Based on the book series of the same name by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski, the game utilizes BioWare's proprietary Aurora Engine and was released in October 2007. A special edition of the game, containing the editor and two premium modules, "The Price of Neutrality" and "Side Effect", will be released on May 16, 2008.

The Witcher follows the story of Geralt, a mutant "witcher" — a traveling monster hunter for hire gifted with unnatural powers. Taking place in a medieval world, the game implements detailed visuals. The natural light during various phases of the day is realistically altered, and the day and night transitions serve to enrich the game's ambiance. The weather can dynamically change from a light drizzle to a dark, stormy downpour accompanied by thunder and lightning, and the people react to the rain by hiding under roofs out of the rain.

Production history
To be written

Storyline
The game is centered around Geralt the witcher, who at the beginning of the game suffers from amnesia. He gradually learns that he was a very renowned witcher, and that he had friends and enemies almost everywhere who remember him but whom he does not remember. Through the player's actions, he will redefine those relationships and choose his path in the political intrigue that surrounds him.

Story Motivations
The developers have often said that their main goal with the game's storyline was to give choices to the player where there was no clear good or evil, and where the player would have to choose the lesser of two (or more) evils.

Also, the story was designed so that the consequences of the player's choices are often not immediately visible, and may only become apparent a few chapters later. This was done to prevent the "save, choose, reload" type of gameplay that is often used in similar computer role-playing games.

Inconsistencies with Andrzej Sapkowski's works

 * According to the "Temerian Dynasty" additional material written by Andrzej Sapkowski and published on his official website, Adda the White, the daughter of Foltest, after her striga curse was lifted by Geralt, was white-haired and mentally retarded. In the game however, her hair is red (possibly dyed), and there is no explanation for the change of her mental state.
 * The 1270 date given in the intro is incorrect - the game is actually set in 1273 (5 years after the end of the Nilfgaard Wars, which ended in 1268 and during the second Catriona outbreak, which started in 1272)
 * The inclusion of the books Fairytales and Stories and Encyclopaedia Maxima Mundi is an anachronism, since these books were written hundreds of years after the times depicted in the game.

Gameplay
There are three camera styles available when playing The Witcher. The game can be played from one of two top-down perspectives, in which case the mouse is used to control everything, or it can be played from an over-the-shoulder view, which brings the player closer to the ingame combat, but limits visibility. In all three views the keyboard and mouse controls can be changed to be primarily mouse focused or a combined keyboard and mouse approach.

The combat system in The Witcher represents a departure from most RPGs. Players choose one of three fighting styles. The quick style allows for faster, less-damaging attacks with a greater chance of hitting faster enemies; the heavy style deals more damage in exchange for a slow attack speed, and a lower chance to hit faster enemies; and the group style, which features sweeping attacks best used if the player is surrounded. The player can switch between the styles at any point.

Each of these stances has its own unique combat style. Both of Geralt's main swords - the steel and silver - have distinctively different combat styles from the rest of his weaponry, and serve very distinct purposes: where the steel blade is used to fight humans and other flesh-and-blood beings, the silver is more effective against supernatural monsters and beasts (some of which may be completely unaffected by steel).

Alchemy is a major part of gameplay. The player can create potions that increase health or endurance regeneration, allow Geralt to see in the dark, or provide other beneficial effects. The recipes for these potions can be learned through scrolls, or by experimentation. Once the player creates an unknown potion he can choose to drink it, but if the potion is a failure it will poison the character. Each time Geralt drinks potions they increase the toxicity level of his body. This can be reduced by drinking a special potion or by meditating at an inn or fireplace.

In addition to potions, the player can also create oils and bombs, respectively used to augment the damage done by weapons, or as weapons in combat. Neither can be created until talent points have been allocated into the corresponding skills.

Soundtrack
The soundtrack for The Witcher was composed by Adam Skorupa and Paweł Błaszczak. In some editions of the game (see: list of editions) the soundtrack CD is included with the game. It consists of 29 tracks with the total lenghth of 73 minutes 13 seconds.

An additional CD, Inspired by The Witcher, featuring e.g. Vader is sold separately in some countries and also included with the game in some editions.

Technical information
The Witcher is powered by a new version of the BioWare Aurora Engine, modified for a single-player experience. A number of changes have been introduced to the original BioWare Aurora Engine, as well as troubleshooting and modding information, also described in the Technical information article.

Geographical variations
All the female portrait cards shown after Geralt's "conquests" were retouched to a more modest standard for the US release version. The in-game Dryad was also reskinned so her hair covered more of her body in this release.

Colorful dialogue between characters was cut in the English releases — not merely the US release — especially through shortening of dialogue. Lead Designer Michał Madej has disputed claims by fans that this was due to the sometimes crude language, but that the decision to edit down dialogue occurred because of production-related concerns in game development. Proof reader Martin Pagan noticed this shortened version during his work and writer Sande Chen confirmed that it was not due to censorship. Fans have theorized that it may have been done for voice acting cost savings, especially since much of the vulgar language has been retained. Such cost savings would normally occur during any shortening of dialog, even in cases where no major crudity was involved. To unlock the long version of the dialogs (text only), see: Unlocking original dialogues.

Contents of each edition
The following table lists the contents of each edition in addition to the game DVD itself. Help us by adding information about missing editions! "CE" means "collector's edition" and "LE" means "limited edition".

Ports to other platforms
No ports of The Witcher to platforms other than the PC have been announced yet. However, CD Projekt is currently looking for XBox 360 producers and programmers on its career page.

Additional Information

 * Bugs
 * Easter Eggs
 * Spoilers