At CD Projekt Red, we collaborate with Epic Games to push the design of games in the world open more than ever before, and we wanted to share our progress with the community of games through the demo of the 5 Unreal engine of Witcher 4 – a display case of the way in which we bring more life, depth and responsiveness to the continent than ever.
It is not a gameplay of The Witcher 4, but we always wanted to incorporate the signature narration of CD Projekt Red in the technological demo, showing our new Ciri protagonist in the midst of a dangerous monster contract. We also reveal the unprecedented region of Kovir, an accidental land where cities are built on trade and keep a cautious distance from military conflicts that afflict the rest of the North.
But the objective of this technological demo is only that – Tech – and we were proud to show it live on stage, operating at 60 frames per second on a PlayStation 5. The tools highlighted are not content to propel the Witcher 4, but will also be shared with the wider video game development community through a Unreal engine.
Deficator ML
At the beginning of the technological demo, we present the Kelpie of the Ciri horse in the world – and how it is much more complex than our old friend Roach. In addition to technology that makes Kelpie control much more anchored and realistic, we worked hard to develop high quality and real -time characters.
The ML distorter allows elements like Kelpie muscles to move and flex with high fidelity data, which gives it the opportunity to effectively get closer to complex deformations during the gameplay. This allows these incredibly realistic movements to take place without the game taking a performance.
Quick geometry streaming
We also pay attention to the large scale. The streaming of rapid geometry allows technological demo – snow -capped peaks with deep valleys and large forests – to take care of performance without compromising performance. He is present throughout the technological demo, and the fact that he cannot be noticed proves that he does his job.
Consider when we catch CIRI before reaching Valdrest's animated trading center, for example. We quickly pass through the world, in and around the different elements of the environment, but there is no stuttering or pop-ins. Rapid geometry streaming is optimized to quickly load static geometry, using a light method to record and not record assets. The result is what we show throughout the technological demo: the fluid and seamless world load that allows Kovir's beauty to shine.
Nanite foliage
Speaking of Kovir, we take a detour through one of its dense forests while Ciri rolls in Valdrest. The technology of nanite foliage that we develop with Epic, and how it allows the artistic vision of our developers to be fully carried out in a unreal 5 engine. This technology makes trees and vegetation incredibly detailed and realistic in terms of density and loyalty, without compromising performance.
Nanite foliage is a new technology that effectively makes large quantities of foliage during execution, which makes it possible to effortlessly fill landscapes with complex assets – such as lush trees with individual branches that swing in the wind.
Unreal animation framework
We always want to make our open worlds feel alive and live, and the unreal animation framework shown in the technological demo allows us to add more life than ever to the villages, villages and cities of the continent. This technology feeds the advanced mixture, state machines and procedural animation workflows, allowing us to ensure that many complex characters interact with the world at the same time.
When we place a group on the stage in Valdrest, for example, we use a unreal animation framework to considerably increase the number of NPCs on the screen. And they are not only simple spectators standing or operating on a loop; Everyone reacts to what is happening around them. We want the gap between Ciri and the WITCHER 4 NPCs to be as small as possible.
Mass frame
Another tool which adds to the credibility and the feeling of life of the world, the mass environment simulates large crowds and an AI behavior as those observed on the occupied market of Valdrest. The design based on mass data manages thousands of agents with a minimum performance cost, which makes it ideal for creating realistic and dynamic populations in games.
It also allows intelligent objects and complex interactions to operate. While Ciri approaches the market, we see it falling on a man carrying an apple box, for example. Notice how he does not react only to his collision; He loses his place and drops several apples, which ride on the hill and is triggered further, unicated chain reactions like children running to steal one or more pigs looking for a early lunch. The implementation of interactions like these is a way we play Witcher 4 game the most immersive Witcher game to date.
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