CD Projekt Red wants to create something special with The Witcher 4 that takes advantage of modern gaming technology. The team studied how much better computers and game engines have become since The Witcher 3 came out years ago. They plan to use these improvements to make a gaming experience that feels completely new and advanced.
The developers showed off their progress at Unreal Fest with a tech demo featuring the village of Valdrest. This virtual town packed over 300 computer-controlled characters into one area. The crowd density matches what players saw in Novigrad, the biggest city from The Witcher 3.
Engineering Production Manager Jan Hermanowicz explained how his team analyzed old footage from Novigrad before building Valdrest. The developers wanted to understand what worked well in the past and what they could not accomplish back then. They used this research to create better crowd systems for the new game.
The tech demo ran smoothly on a basic PlayStation 4 console at 60 frames per second with ray tracing effects turned on. CD Projekt Red focuses on making console versions work properly from the start. The company learned hard lessons from Cyberpunk 2077's troubled launch on older gaming systems and wants to avoid similar problems.
The developers showed off their progress at Unreal Fest with a tech demo featuring the village of Valdrest. This virtual town packed over 300 computer-controlled characters into one area. The crowd density matches what players saw in Novigrad, the biggest city from The Witcher 3.
Engineering Production Manager Jan Hermanowicz explained how his team analyzed old footage from Novigrad before building Valdrest. The developers wanted to understand what worked well in the past and what they could not accomplish back then. They used this research to create better crowd systems for the new game.
The tech demo ran smoothly on a basic PlayStation 4 console at 60 frames per second with ray tracing effects turned on. CD Projekt Red focuses on making console versions work properly from the start. The company learned hard lessons from Cyberpunk 2077's troubled launch on older gaming systems and wants to avoid similar problems.
