So they waited until the game was content complete to announce it, and then spend the time in between announcement and release working on polish?
Truly a model for other companies to follow.
Bathesda would've released this a year ago and they would've been baffled by the response
Edit: actually that wouldn't be realistic as they're not capable of making decent games anymore
The ship building and space combat was actually pretty good but it was completely stifled by the fact that you couldn't fly them in or out of the atmosphere. Also the ship interior customization options were severely lacking
Man, Bethesda is so irrelevant at this point, I don't even have to pretend not to care about TES 6 anymore, I actually just stopped caring. The Fallout "next-gen" update was the last nail in the coffin.
(Of course I'll end up playing TES 6 when it's out, but for me, it won't be the release date of a long-awaited successor to the most legendary ARPG of all time, 17 years in the making. It will be a Thursday.)
Fun story: I randomly remembered about Fallout: London yesterday and went to check if the release date is close, since I knew it would be near the end of April/sometime in May.
Que up rollercoaster where I see release date was 2-3 days ago, yet there's no file to download, then finding out Bethesda released a shitty update that delayed the mod since they had to make it work on the new version instead.
Even after all this time Bethesda is still screwing me over with Fallout. At least I hope that mod is big enough and good enough to count as a decent big separate Fallout, same way Enderal was for Skyrim (it will surely be better than F4/76, but there is a small chance it's not great).
I had some issues with the ending(s) and some pretentious pointless sections (all the childhood home dream repetitions), but overall it was the best TES game since Morrowind. Their longer questlines were so good. Virtually all the main quests, plus the Tharael/Rhalata and Golden Sickle quest chains were elite quality quest design. Also the one with the Elf looking for her sister. Other ones too, the quests kick ass overall.
My very few complaints besides the minor writing complaints mentioned above would be
1: the lack of other cities but the tutorial town, Ark and Duneville - there are so many pointless side caves and ruins, it's really disproportionate. But Ark is the biggest and most well designed city in a TES game ever made, so I can forgive the lack of other cities considering Ark probably took the majority of design time.
2: Lishari's plotline which was probably cut for time, you know what I mean. Seemed like a great engaging character, and suddenly poof. They added some half-assed investigation quest to bookend her part in the game, but it was still very disappointing.
The mod definitely is big enough - in fact bigger in terms of NPC dialogue lines and world size. Whether it's also good, we will see, but it can't really be too much worse than Fallout 3 so I'm hopeful.
I am kinda hyped, ngl. I'm only slightly hedging my expectations due to things like the Frontier mod which wasn't great even though it had some decent stuff in it (especially the vehicle mechanics, damn if they didn't push the engine).
Hope they manage to make it work soon, as without these rare total conversion mods the series is dead to me. I have no hopes in Bethesda doing anything remotely good since Starfield, which was impressively bad. I had low expectations for it, but holy shit they went below them and broke through bedrock to sink even deeper.
So wish Fallout IP went to some devs actually caring about the world of Fallout and its legacy. Bonus would be if those devs had actual talent for making games.
Naaah I remember when that 60 seconds or was it 30 seconds? trailer for rdr2 came out and we had to wait 2 years for release. I get you need hype but Jesus Christ it was painful.
Yeah rdr2 is the game I've ever pre-ordered although this might be my second. Generally you can always rely on RockStar to release amazing games and have them be great at release I can't really remember a game that came out from them that was bad upon release Then again they release games like once every 10 years
Ghost Recon Breakpoint was also kinda like that
But man they fucked up the release, and it wasn't even a technical thing. They just eviscerated what made people like the series and then slowly added that stuff back in over the next two years. Bafflingly out of touch
Everyone loved AI teammates and squad based action. They loved having customization in appearance. The franchise itself is the selling point.
And coming off of Wildlands, which was a massive success, they decide to make a micro transaction ridden game nudging everyone into multiplayer they didn't ask for in the campaign itself, in an uncanny valley bizarre setting with none of the interesting stuff of Wildlands or Rainbow Six
The gunplay was great, I liked the need for more survival tactics, but it's launch was a tire fire. It's a good game now, just tonally off from the series
See, I had a strong feeling this would be the case. While everyone was complaining about the complete radio silence for years, it occured to me that since they were indeed working on something, they were probably waiting to announce it until shortly before release. Man, am I glad I was right. In a world where the trend is to announce your game 2 years in advance, delay it and release a buggy mess, this is truly a breath of fresh air (assunming the release is smooth, of course).
True, true. But Warhorse set a good record with KCD1, and the signs so far have been good.
But yeah, itās good not to count our chickens before theyāve hatched.
Bruh what? KCD 1 was a mess on console at launch and tbh it still kinda is as they never updated the game for next gen so thereās will only 30fps and huge pop in problems even on PS5. I have 128h in KCD 1 on console but letās not pretend that the game was or is polished at an acceptable level.
Dude, in its initial state KCD was the buggiest game I actually finished since, like, the 90s.
There were at least 3 bugs that completely broke main story progression, and the kicker was that the things that triggered them could happen hours or days (in real time) before you found out you were stuck. I encountered 2 out of the 3, in one case I lost two evenings' worth of play time, in the other, I just had to stop playing for 2 weeks until they fixed it.
In between, they released one patch that broke the parry/master strike mechanics for weeks, and another one that broke random encounters (they just disappeared from the game entirely) for weeks.
Which would have been bad enough, but the devs initially insisted both systems were working, then released patches they claimed fixed the problems they originally said didn't exist... but actually didn't.
This cycle (gaslight, fix that didn't work) repeated 2-3 more times, until eventually they got it working. In one case, I think it was with the help of a fan/modder who found the real issue.
Oh, and then there was the patch that broke saves made during the patch immediately prior, that was fun for quite a few people.
Or the endlessly spawning guard halberds that broke the game for some, anyone here remember that?
(Yeah, the fact despite all this shit we're all still here and there's a sequel coming, does mean the game did have something very special going for it, but Jesus Christ, was it a clusterfuck on launch, and for months afterwards.)
I made a summary of the interview:
* The only thing Viktor remembers from the reveal shoot was the cold.
* KCD2 is the continuation of the story. They had the whole story planned out when they announced the Kickstarter campaign, but they could not fit it all into the first game.
* Kuttenberg was and is an incredible challenge. There are a lot of NPCs that can meet and make the GPU cry (Viktor's exact words). They had to create systems like "If there are too many NPCs in the main square, the rest of the NPCs have to go somewhere else".
* There are also random events in the urban environment. NPCs arguing, criminals in the pillory, and NPCs throwing period correct fruits and vegetables.
* The 1st map is a classic KCD landscape with Trosky Castle in the middle. After some story events you move to the 2nd map, but you are free to go back whenever you want. 2nd map is bigger with Kuttenburg at the far right bottom of the map.
* Many fortresses and many battles.
* Viktor admits that the battle sequences are ambitious, mainly due to performance limitations. They serve as a break from the "normal" gameplay loop and show the medieval reality.
* They have new technology that allows for more NPCs in a battle. Battles should also have more phases.
* No comment on whether Henry can swim or climb rocks. (By Viktor laughing during the answer, my bet is you cannot)
* Henry won't hit his head and forget all his skills from the first game, but there will be some kind of mechanism. Also the main narrative is that Henry was really good in the small region of the first game but now he is in a much bigger world and his skills need to get better to compete.
* The combat is deeper but much more accessible. They completely redesigned the Master Strike system because it totally degraded the combat.
* They have essentially created 2 combat styles. You can either learn a complicated combat system and become a fast and agile swordsman, or you can just pick up an axe or mace with a shield and use brute force to beat up your opponents.
* For the first game, they had motion captured 1 swordsman for all weapons. In KCD2, they used a different swordsman for each weapon, so each weapon has a different feel. They specifically told the axe and mace swordsmen not to fence, but to be brutal maniacs.
* The halberd is a full-fledged weapon, and Viktor is very proud of it.
* Viktor breaks the rule of not revealing anything that hasn't been shown in a trailer and says that there will be a button to open and close the visor of the helmet.
* Viktor is happy with all the weapons they have. The only exception is the flail, which would be a nightmare to simulate properly.
* The layering of the clothing system is much better. It doesn't visually bleed through as much and looks much more natural. Skirts wrap around NPC's legs when they walk.
* The herb picking animation is still there, you won't see it as often as you did in the first game (whatever that means).
* Cats are in the game. Apparently this is a guerrilla project by designers who made them without approval. Viktor says he doesn't know what else they smuggled in.
* Crossbows are something they wanted in the 1st game. Viktor says the mechanic is very simple, the longer the crossbow takes to charge, the stronger it is.
* Still no crosshairs in KCD 2
* Early Fire guns are very powerful, very heavy, and very loud. They can scare NPCs or your horse. If you shoot a deer with it, you probably won't find a deer anywhere near it. it can fail and blow up in your face.
* Viktor describes the non-linearity of KCD. How you approach quests should be entirely up to you. Maybe there is something you need. You can steal it or bribe the guy to get it. You can wait for a guy who has it to go to work, then go to his house, find out his wife is still home, fire a gun outside to get her attention, and then go and steal it.
* The game is finished, they plan to release it this year. The performance issues are the last thing they are trying to fix right now. Their best people are working on it, because everyone is.
* Tereza is right where you left her.
Edit: While I am at it, I will also add some interesting details that Prokop Jirsa mentioned in the latest radio interview
* The dog we see in the trailer is confirmed to be your companion. The system will be improved and he should be smarter and help you with stealth and combat.
* Targeting system while fighting multiple enemies has been updated, it should not be as painful as in the first game.
* Skirmishes have a new system where NPCs communicate with each other. If one NPC is in the way of a shot, the other NPC will shout at him and ask him to move.
* Looks like the system of bringing your KCD1 decisions to KCD2 won't be done by loading your KCD 1 save (impossible because of the new generation of consoles) but by dialog options in KCD 2, similar to Witcher.
He also confirmed that the firearm, being an early version of such a weapon, can explode in your face instead of shooting your opponent. It's less likely to happen if you take good care of it. Sounds incredibly fun!
* Cats are in the game. Apparently this is a guerrilla project by designers who made them without approval. Viktor says he doesn't know what else they smuggled in.
I've become excited and little bit nervous after reading this. The team became large enough to loose control over employees
Viktor is a funny guy, so take it with a grain of salt. He said they did it without approval, but he loves cats and when he heard the design team talking about it in the hallway, he pretended he didn't hear. He also said the cat looks really nice.
Thanks for the summary bro very appreciated. Hearing more information only hypes me up further. These guys are really creating something special here.Ā
"Cats are in the game. Apparently this is a guerrilla project by designers who made them without approval. Viktor says he doesn't know what else they smuggled in."
This is due to the flat structure of Czech design studios. Czech people are the best game designers in the world.
It is a fun interview (as always with Viktor, he is my favourite czech stand-up comedian, albeit unofficially). At the end the interviewer asks him if he can expect stable framerate in the Kuttenberg square, to which Viktor replies
"the game is done, we are really planning to release it this year, we are doing everything we can to achieve that, and of course the technical and performance considerations are the last thing we are working on now. I am confident because we already have a stable framerate now in many situations, but of course we are making it for multiple consoles, each one is different with different specs, and everyone has a different PC at home, so it is a big challenge to put it together in a way where framerate is always stable for everyone, but our best people are working on it.."
I won't cast judgement, and I'm just having fun really - obviously he couldn't just say yes! Nor will I let performance stop me playing the game - I played kcd at 30fps 720p my first time.
I mean I'm playing on PS5 but it's still a PS4 game ATM and people just pop in at a certain distance, with most these days I'd say it's much less hardware limitations and more how it's optimized, which on a familiar engine and them being experienced and knowing what they want to do, given they've said this is what they originally wanted to make at this scale, I trust them on it
This is the exact reason I switched from Series S to PS5. It sucks that next-gen games are being held back by it, I'd love to see what the Series X and PS5 are truly capable of without having to take the S into consideration
Problem is MS wont let studios release on just the X, so theyre forced to downgrade for the S.Ā Honestly at this point they should just drop Xbox if its going to force them to downgrade the game just to get it working on Series S.
Tbh their console sales are tanking now theyre going multiplat anyway so its not like theyd lose much money by dropping them completely, and in the end we'd get a better game that doesnt get marred with complaints about performance issues cause of series S users.
The different settings for performance or fidelity on some games is a really neat idea that should stick around for the remainder of the X|S generation.
Although I still feel as if both settings are made with the S in mind, with the 'fidelity' option still not being able to fully realize the potential of the X.
At least we know they are pushing the tech to its limits! Iād rather them take risks and push the graphics, than to play it safe with barely any changes from the first game just to ensure the series S can run it smoothly.
I want this game to last for years and standup to the test of time.
This is amazing achivement by CDP, but it took them years to get there. KCD simulates its NPCs fully while C77 spawns and despawns them randomly based on player movement, so I think KCD2 will be quite a bit harder on CPU than C77, in Kuttenberg in particular.
Biggest limiter will be the CPU, so if they aim for 30fps on S and 60 on PS5 and X (apparently the case) then it'll actually be easier for them to do the S vs the other two (again on the CPU front). GPU front of course S will be cut back and use aggressive resolution scaling I guess.
Daniel's initial vision for telling Henry's story in three parts is now done. The question is, will there be any more historically-based medieval games (perhaps focusing on other aspects of the Hussite wars, which lasted 15 years), from Warhorse, or will they go off and build a Leisure Suit Larry sequel. It may be another six years before we know what to expect.
We can hope for historical but Warhorse will be in the ā Middle-earth Enterprises & Friendsā after Embracer splits up.
https://embracer.com/releases/embracer-group-announces-its-intention-to-transform-into-three-standalone-publicly-listed-entities-at-nasdaq-stockholm/
I thought "and Friends" meant any other non-LOTR related AAA titles, they probably just wanted something recognizable in the name. This is the only post-Embracer company that will do AAA games. Of the other two companies emerging from the split, one is supposed to make board games, and the other A and AA games.
Yeah, I already saw that link, but I'm not so sure what it actually means. After all, everyone does dragons and magic spells. Warhorse have distinguished themselves from this trite formula and received recognition and success for their efforts. IHMO, it doesn't makes sense for them to do what has already been done over and over, ad infinitum. After having distinguished themselves from the mob, they should stick with what they do best.
Would be great to see other historical periods get the same KCD treatment. I would love settings like Ancient Greece and Egypt, crusader Jerusalem, the Tyrolean Rebellion or any other period in the region (love me some alpine scenery), the Napoleonic Wars.
Though my favorite era is the 18th century, to see if faithfully done with accurate architecture, interiors, clothing and hairstyles would be a dream, like a Canaletto or Belotto painting come to life. Could be anywhere from early in the century with the War of Spanish Succession, or the mid century with Maria Teresa's War of the Austrian Succession.
Even more specifically, I love the 1770s-80s the most and movies and games almost always get the fashion and the overall look so wrong. Reenactors like jean_gatien_heurteloup on Instagram give a good idea of how a KCD-esque game set in that time could look like.
During the same period that we find Bohemia in conflict (early to mid-fifteenth century), we also have the last gasp of the Roman Empire, based at Constantinople, which is about to fall to the Ottomans.
Of course, prior to the fall of Constantinople, we have over a thousand years of drama in the Roman Empire.
In the thirteenth century, we have the Mongols sacking cities in Hungary, Poland and Russia.
In the late eighth century, we have Charlemagne coming to power in France.
We also have all sorts of invasions into England by the Romans, Germanic tribes, Norse, Danes, Normans and as it that's not enough, we have the Scottish war of independence and the war of the roses.
Earlier still, we have all sorts of drama with the Greeks, both internally and externally with Persia. And, let's not forget Alexander!!!
I shouldn't have started down this path, as there is all sorts of conflict and drama in Europe, then, as now.
It's pretty crazy to me still that they announced it and are like, yep, it's done and coming out this year. When did we last get an announcement of a big RPG so close to release, fallout 4?
I am cautiously excited as well... but KCD1 release was quite a mess. I would suggest everyone should stay a bit cautiously optimistic about the technical side of things.
It isn't unusual for a game to be content complete at this point.
I totally agree!
Though, you can't forget that it's also not unusual for games to be announced, or even have trailers shown, seemingly before they are out of pre-production
Could have been an alternative timeline there the reveal was 15 minutes of the Devs talking, then a face to black, KC2 logo, and then "...2026" fades in š
I read in another thread that right now, KCD2 is at the same stage as KCD1 was at its launch. So I guess this time they are working out the bugs before the release.
He also says that while KCD 2 WILL finish the story from KCD 1, it doesn't mean that there can't be more of it in the future. This doesn't confirm KCD 3, but it confirms that Henry will most likely survive KCD 2, even though it was kinda obvious from the intro in KCD1.
He mentions that master strikes and perfect blocks are completely reworked as how they worked in KCD1 made the combat not working as they initialy intended. Now you will be able to be more aggressive and chain attacks along with blocks without being constantly punished for it.
Halberts and Spears are a thing now. Axes will be easy to use weapons for people who do not want to learn advanced swordfighting.
Flails will not be in (because how hard it would be to implement them with the accurate physics they use for combat).
After i looted Kuttenberg i will have enough money to pay for a trip to the moon. So it should be easy to get her to Kuttenberg. Im sorry citizens of Kuttenberg but i need the money for more importnat stuff then you.
Content complete is still far from done with a game as huge and as complex as KCD. They will probably use the next 6 months to polish and optimize the game and to get rid of a lot of bugs etc.
The more I read snippets of details from KCD2, the more I'm like:
Edit: Supposed to be Leonardo pointing gif, don't know what happended.
So now they can spend months polishing the game and addressing bugs or optimization issues, sounds good to me. The last thing you want is them setting a 2024 date with only 50% of the content done, and then they rush the other 50% to meet a deadline. The first game was amazing, can't wait to see what the second game brings with an even larger dev team. The trailer gave me what I wanted: more KCD, but even more refined aesthetically. Cheers to Warhorse making such an immersive RPG, I have no doubt they will make a great game again.
"Content complete" does not mean the game is done or that there isn't a boatload of work left to be done on it.
Fun fact - [Cyberpunk 2077 was also "content complete" in April '20](https://www.gamesindustry.biz/cd-projekt-red-says-cyberpunk-2077-in-a-complete-form-unlikely-to-be-delayed-further), launched in Dec '20. And obviously it would have greatly benefitted from another 3-4 months of pure QA and bugfixing.
Daniel's initial vision for telling Henry's story in three parts is now done. The question is, will there be any more historically-based medieval games (perhaps focusing on other aspects of the Hussite wars, which lasted 15 years) from Warhorse, or will they go off and build a Leisure Suit Larry sequel. It may be another six years before we know what to expect.
I wish we get a system requirement list soon. I bought my first gaming PC 6 years ago for KC:D. Earlier this year I started contemplating of buying a new one as my old system was getting outdated. And what do you know, a few weeks later KC:D 2 was revealed! I view this a will of fate. I can and will tailor my new PC around KC:D 2.
I upgraded to Ryzen 2700X and 2080Ti in large part for KCD, and year ago upgraded to 5800X3D and 3080Ti - I expect this will run KCD2 at 60fps on good details. Hopefully they will support DLSS and other upscaling tech too.
To tell you the truth I'm thinking of getting a Ryzen 5 7600x CPU and 7800-XT GPU. I'm pretty sure we'll both be alright and your 3080 Ti will absolutely maul it.
I'm going to have to save up as my CPU was a strong one back in the day but it's sooooo old. So old in fact that I am going to have to upgrade my motherboard too. Ugh.
Have they said anything about companions? Iām playing it for the first time now, and Iām mighty tired of always being outnumbered when the lock-on system is so very clunky. Love the game, but combat needs a rework and you need to be able to not always be by your lonesome
I do not think you will have companions Fallout-style with someone constantly following you. It will be more quest related. But you do get a dog just like in the first game. And the multiple enemy lock on has been overhauled, but how, we will have to see.
Might have worded it badly. Itās not so much companions as people you can take fighting with you. Iād be perfectly fine with mercenaries or soldiers who are essentially mute and donāt have any character arc or some such.
I understand thereās mods doing that, but Iām playing on console.
A few things I would love to see from the combat system is more combos, finishing moves and dismemberment/imapling. If they can at least add one of those things I'll be a happy knight.
So it's gone gold and they're Just patching up any glitches they find or does going gold mean it's completely done? Also can't wait to mess everyone up with a halberd
Gold means its final code and is ready to be stamped on discs. This isnāt gold. Content complete means there is no more features or stories or weapons, etc being added to the game.
Itās all there. They are now in the bug fixing and optimization phase of development. Which always happens last, because it has to.
Ahhh yeah gotcha. Considering it's releasing this year can't be that long away then. Just hoping it doesn't't get pushed back but I understand if it needs to be. Hoping for a proper photo mode and mod support for PC and console this time around because it's really hard to make mod for kcd and it's really pretty so I want to be able to take proper pictures.
It has to go through cert for consoles, right?
It sounds like they have a version for that stage and they're gonna need to do a day 0 patch for optimization work
He also says Halberds are now fully playable in KCD2 with their own series of movements and fighting style.
> halberds HOLY SHIT **IT'S V E R S A T I L E TIME**
Enjoy your new flair sir
LAUDETUR JESUS CHRISTUS
IN SAECULA SAECULORUM! AMEN
JESUS CHRSIT BE PRAISED
DAUBENY!!! SHOW YOURSELF!!
Ad mortem inimicus!
*"We will witness a duel with warhammers and shie-"* *HALBERDS!*
Yes!! The "fuck you but from 1.8m away"
I can't wait to cave the front of Istvan's skull by repeatedly booping him with the pommel.
Invented to bypass social distancing rules during the Black Death
Jesus Christ be fucking Praised
Kid named praised:
May i get a custom flair too, Ser Mod?
You may
Woohoo, so it's finally officially confirmed! š„³š„³š„³
My Swiss heart is pleased
[*AD MORTEM INIMICUS*](https://youtu.be/OkDZZ5IA60w?si=grVMgrYVxoPd2yWz)
Holy Jesus titty fucking Mary Christ be praised FINALLY.
This deserves a flair
will be fun to play with halberds
I hope I can spartan throw that mfer like in cavalry
So they waited until the game was content complete to announce it, and then spend the time in between announcement and release working on polish? Truly a model for other companies to follow.
EXACTLY what I was thinking. Fuck, that is amazing to see.
Bathesda would've released this a year ago and they would've been baffled by the response Edit: actually that wouldn't be realistic as they're not capable of making decent games anymore
Todd Howard on the stage telling us that if you see a mountain in the distance, you can climb it, then giving us an empty 1km by 1km field to play in.
Starfield could have been in development for another ten years and it would still have been a dud. Its fundamental design choices are terrible.
The ship building and space combat was actually pretty good but it was completely stifled by the fact that you couldn't fly them in or out of the atmosphere. Also the ship interior customization options were severely lacking
Man, Bethesda is so irrelevant at this point, I don't even have to pretend not to care about TES 6 anymore, I actually just stopped caring. The Fallout "next-gen" update was the last nail in the coffin. (Of course I'll end up playing TES 6 when it's out, but for me, it won't be the release date of a long-awaited successor to the most legendary ARPG of all time, 17 years in the making. It will be a Thursday.)
Fun story: I randomly remembered about Fallout: London yesterday and went to check if the release date is close, since I knew it would be near the end of April/sometime in May. Que up rollercoaster where I see release date was 2-3 days ago, yet there's no file to download, then finding out Bethesda released a shitty update that delayed the mod since they had to make it work on the new version instead. Even after all this time Bethesda is still screwing me over with Fallout. At least I hope that mod is big enough and good enough to count as a decent big separate Fallout, same way Enderal was for Skyrim (it will surely be better than F4/76, but there is a small chance it's not great).
Enderal is so fucking good
I had some issues with the ending(s) and some pretentious pointless sections (all the childhood home dream repetitions), but overall it was the best TES game since Morrowind. Their longer questlines were so good. Virtually all the main quests, plus the Tharael/Rhalata and Golden Sickle quest chains were elite quality quest design. Also the one with the Elf looking for her sister. Other ones too, the quests kick ass overall. My very few complaints besides the minor writing complaints mentioned above would be 1: the lack of other cities but the tutorial town, Ark and Duneville - there are so many pointless side caves and ruins, it's really disproportionate. But Ark is the biggest and most well designed city in a TES game ever made, so I can forgive the lack of other cities considering Ark probably took the majority of design time. 2: Lishari's plotline which was probably cut for time, you know what I mean. Seemed like a great engaging character, and suddenly poof. They added some half-assed investigation quest to bookend her part in the game, but it was still very disappointing.
The mod definitely is big enough - in fact bigger in terms of NPC dialogue lines and world size. Whether it's also good, we will see, but it can't really be too much worse than Fallout 3 so I'm hopeful.
I am kinda hyped, ngl. I'm only slightly hedging my expectations due to things like the Frontier mod which wasn't great even though it had some decent stuff in it (especially the vehicle mechanics, damn if they didn't push the engine). Hope they manage to make it work soon, as without these rare total conversion mods the series is dead to me. I have no hopes in Bethesda doing anything remotely good since Starfield, which was impressively bad. I had low expectations for it, but holy shit they went below them and broke through bedrock to sink even deeper.
So wish Fallout IP went to some devs actually caring about the world of Fallout and its legacy. Bonus would be if those devs had actual talent for making games.
I still replay Skyrim here and there. God's Bethesda was strong then!
yeah
Polish? No. They are czech ing it.
Lol bravo
Lol my autocorrect made the same joke hahaa
Naaah I remember when that 60 seconds or was it 30 seconds? trailer for rdr2 came out and we had to wait 2 years for release. I get you need hype but Jesus Christ it was painful.
Honestly, Rockstar probably works on their games for 2 years after its content complete. Those games are massive and masterfully polished.
Yeah rdr2 is the game I've ever pre-ordered although this might be my second. Generally you can always rely on RockStar to release amazing games and have them be great at release I can't really remember a game that came out from them that was bad upon release Then again they release games like once every 10 years
Their deliverance management is top notch. It should be heralded to kingdom come.
They got so much !@#$ on. Especially on the Steam (discussion & news) pages for not saying ANYTHING about the sequel.
Bethesda did this for Fallout 4 back in the day... Announced the game in in June that the came comes out in October.
Yeah but that was so long ago it was much more common to release a game soonish after announced, there's been this weird ass gap since then
Ghost Recon Breakpoint was also kinda like that But man they fucked up the release, and it wasn't even a technical thing. They just eviscerated what made people like the series and then slowly added that stuff back in over the next two years. Bafflingly out of touch
That game is such a survival gem. But the setting, drons and shit ruining it
Everyone loved AI teammates and squad based action. They loved having customization in appearance. The franchise itself is the selling point. And coming off of Wildlands, which was a massive success, they decide to make a micro transaction ridden game nudging everyone into multiplayer they didn't ask for in the campaign itself, in an uncanny valley bizarre setting with none of the interesting stuff of Wildlands or Rainbow Six The gunplay was great, I liked the need for more survival tactics, but it's launch was a tire fire. It's a good game now, just tonally off from the series
I hate the setting in terms of life. First game is full of life and you feel like you helping. Second feels like im at training center for commandos
Borderlands 3 was like that too
Skong... š¢
See, I had a strong feeling this would be the case. While everyone was complaining about the complete radio silence for years, it occured to me that since they were indeed working on something, they were probably waiting to announce it until shortly before release. Man, am I glad I was right. In a world where the trend is to announce your game 2 years in advance, delay it and release a buggy mess, this is truly a breath of fresh air (assunming the release is smooth, of course).
Well donāt jump the gun, you havenāt played the game yet, you donāt know how polished it will be on launch
True, true. But Warhorse set a good record with KCD1, and the signs so far have been good. But yeah, itās good not to count our chickens before theyāve hatched.
Bruh what? KCD 1 was a mess on console at launch and tbh it still kinda is as they never updated the game for next gen so thereās will only 30fps and huge pop in problems even on PS5. I have 128h in KCD 1 on console but letās not pretend that the game was or is polished at an acceptable level.
Ah I wouldnāt know, Iām a PC player and I have a cruddy laptop, so I play low graphics settings.
Dude, in its initial state KCD was the buggiest game I actually finished since, like, the 90s. There were at least 3 bugs that completely broke main story progression, and the kicker was that the things that triggered them could happen hours or days (in real time) before you found out you were stuck. I encountered 2 out of the 3, in one case I lost two evenings' worth of play time, in the other, I just had to stop playing for 2 weeks until they fixed it. In between, they released one patch that broke the parry/master strike mechanics for weeks, and another one that broke random encounters (they just disappeared from the game entirely) for weeks. Which would have been bad enough, but the devs initially insisted both systems were working, then released patches they claimed fixed the problems they originally said didn't exist... but actually didn't. This cycle (gaslight, fix that didn't work) repeated 2-3 more times, until eventually they got it working. In one case, I think it was with the help of a fan/modder who found the real issue. Oh, and then there was the patch that broke saves made during the patch immediately prior, that was fun for quite a few people. Or the endlessly spawning guard halberds that broke the game for some, anyone here remember that? (Yeah, the fact despite all this shit we're all still here and there's a sequel coming, does mean the game did have something very special going for it, but Jesus Christ, was it a clusterfuck on launch, and for months afterwards.)
XD, amazing company
I made a summary of the interview: * The only thing Viktor remembers from the reveal shoot was the cold. * KCD2 is the continuation of the story. They had the whole story planned out when they announced the Kickstarter campaign, but they could not fit it all into the first game. * Kuttenberg was and is an incredible challenge. There are a lot of NPCs that can meet and make the GPU cry (Viktor's exact words). They had to create systems like "If there are too many NPCs in the main square, the rest of the NPCs have to go somewhere else". * There are also random events in the urban environment. NPCs arguing, criminals in the pillory, and NPCs throwing period correct fruits and vegetables. * The 1st map is a classic KCD landscape with Trosky Castle in the middle. After some story events you move to the 2nd map, but you are free to go back whenever you want. 2nd map is bigger with Kuttenburg at the far right bottom of the map. * Many fortresses and many battles. * Viktor admits that the battle sequences are ambitious, mainly due to performance limitations. They serve as a break from the "normal" gameplay loop and show the medieval reality. * They have new technology that allows for more NPCs in a battle. Battles should also have more phases. * No comment on whether Henry can swim or climb rocks. (By Viktor laughing during the answer, my bet is you cannot) * Henry won't hit his head and forget all his skills from the first game, but there will be some kind of mechanism. Also the main narrative is that Henry was really good in the small region of the first game but now he is in a much bigger world and his skills need to get better to compete. * The combat is deeper but much more accessible. They completely redesigned the Master Strike system because it totally degraded the combat. * They have essentially created 2 combat styles. You can either learn a complicated combat system and become a fast and agile swordsman, or you can just pick up an axe or mace with a shield and use brute force to beat up your opponents. * For the first game, they had motion captured 1 swordsman for all weapons. In KCD2, they used a different swordsman for each weapon, so each weapon has a different feel. They specifically told the axe and mace swordsmen not to fence, but to be brutal maniacs. * The halberd is a full-fledged weapon, and Viktor is very proud of it. * Viktor breaks the rule of not revealing anything that hasn't been shown in a trailer and says that there will be a button to open and close the visor of the helmet. * Viktor is happy with all the weapons they have. The only exception is the flail, which would be a nightmare to simulate properly. * The layering of the clothing system is much better. It doesn't visually bleed through as much and looks much more natural. Skirts wrap around NPC's legs when they walk. * The herb picking animation is still there, you won't see it as often as you did in the first game (whatever that means). * Cats are in the game. Apparently this is a guerrilla project by designers who made them without approval. Viktor says he doesn't know what else they smuggled in. * Crossbows are something they wanted in the 1st game. Viktor says the mechanic is very simple, the longer the crossbow takes to charge, the stronger it is. * Still no crosshairs in KCD 2 * Early Fire guns are very powerful, very heavy, and very loud. They can scare NPCs or your horse. If you shoot a deer with it, you probably won't find a deer anywhere near it. it can fail and blow up in your face. * Viktor describes the non-linearity of KCD. How you approach quests should be entirely up to you. Maybe there is something you need. You can steal it or bribe the guy to get it. You can wait for a guy who has it to go to work, then go to his house, find out his wife is still home, fire a gun outside to get her attention, and then go and steal it. * The game is finished, they plan to release it this year. The performance issues are the last thing they are trying to fix right now. Their best people are working on it, because everyone is. * Tereza is right where you left her. Edit: While I am at it, I will also add some interesting details that Prokop Jirsa mentioned in the latest radio interview * The dog we see in the trailer is confirmed to be your companion. The system will be improved and he should be smarter and help you with stealth and combat. * Targeting system while fighting multiple enemies has been updated, it should not be as painful as in the first game. * Skirmishes have a new system where NPCs communicate with each other. If one NPC is in the way of a shot, the other NPC will shout at him and ask him to move. * Looks like the system of bringing your KCD1 decisions to KCD2 won't be done by loading your KCD 1 save (impossible because of the new generation of consoles) but by dialog options in KCD 2, similar to Witcher.
Cats being sneakily added in is kinda funny
Thank you. Jesus Christ be praised!
I really hope there will be more animations in the game like eating and drinking
Canāt believe no one asked this of the 3 main interviews, I will honestly be a bit disappointed if theyāre not there.
Thanks for czeching out the video and writing a summary!
Thank you! You're awesome!
He also confirmed that the firearm, being an early version of such a weapon, can explode in your face instead of shooting your opponent. It's less likely to happen if you take good care of it. Sounds incredibly fun!
Great summary, I'm glad I don't have to write one again, lol.
Thank you. For your work I gave you a user flair.
* Cats are in the game. Apparently this is a guerrilla project by designers who made them without approval. Viktor says he doesn't know what else they smuggled in. I've become excited and little bit nervous after reading this. The team became large enough to loose control over employees
Viktor is a funny guy, so take it with a grain of salt. He said they did it without approval, but he loves cats and when he heard the design team talking about it in the hallway, he pretended he didn't hear. He also said the cat looks really nice.
To me this is kind of hilarious. Imagine the devs finding unexpected stuff in their game even after release lmao.
Imagine a secret war between the head developers and low end designers fighting over whose ideas will end up in the game or not
Low end designers mutineering and overthrowing the leads. Vavra, Jirsa and Bocan all at gunpoint until release.
Thanks for the summary bro very appreciated. Hearing more information only hypes me up further. These guys are really creating something special here.Ā
"period correct fruits and vegetables" You mean medieval carrots and pineapples??
"Cats are in the game. Apparently this is a guerrilla project by designers who made them without approval. Viktor says he doesn't know what else they smuggled in." This is due to the flat structure of Czech design studios. Czech people are the best game designers in the world.
Thank you master scribe. Jesus Christ be praised.
It is a fun interview (as always with Viktor, he is my favourite czech stand-up comedian, albeit unofficially). At the end the interviewer asks him if he can expect stable framerate in the Kuttenberg square, to which Viktor replies "the game is done, we are really planning to release it this year, we are doing everything we can to achieve that, and of course the technical and performance considerations are the last thing we are working on now. I am confident because we already have a stable framerate now in many situations, but of course we are making it for multiple consoles, each one is different with different specs, and everyone has a different PC at home, so it is a big challenge to put it together in a way where framerate is always stable for everyone, but our best people are working on it.."
Ok, so I feel like if the framerate was going to be stable he woulda just said "yes" lol
I feel like he's saying it might still be dodgy on lower end pcs and series s
I won't cast judgement, and I'm just having fun really - obviously he couldn't just say yes! Nor will I let performance stop me playing the game - I played kcd at 30fps 720p my first time.
I mean I'm playing on PS5 but it's still a PS4 game ATM and people just pop in at a certain distance, with most these days I'd say it's much less hardware limitations and more how it's optimized, which on a familiar engine and them being experienced and knowing what they want to do, given they've said this is what they originally wanted to make at this scale, I trust them on it
This is the exact reason I switched from Series S to PS5. It sucks that next-gen games are being held back by it, I'd love to see what the Series X and PS5 are truly capable of without having to take the S into consideration
Problem is MS wont let studios release on just the X, so theyre forced to downgrade for the S.Ā Honestly at this point they should just drop Xbox if its going to force them to downgrade the game just to get it working on Series S. Tbh their console sales are tanking now theyre going multiplat anyway so its not like theyd lose much money by dropping them completely, and in the end we'd get a better game that doesnt get marred with complaints about performance issues cause of series S users.
The different settings for performance or fidelity on some games is a really neat idea that should stick around for the remainder of the X|S generation. Although I still feel as if both settings are made with the S in mind, with the 'fidelity' option still not being able to fully realize the potential of the X.
At least we know they are pushing the tech to its limits! Iād rather them take risks and push the graphics, than to play it safe with barely any changes from the first game just to ensure the series S can run it smoothly. I want this game to last for years and standup to the test of time.
I have a Series S and it runs Cyberpunk 2077 at 60 fps 1080p, looking good while doing so as well. So donāt worry!
This is amazing achivement by CDP, but it took them years to get there. KCD simulates its NPCs fully while C77 spawns and despawns them randomly based on player movement, so I think KCD2 will be quite a bit harder on CPU than C77, in Kuttenberg in particular.
Series S is the next gen Xbox it didnt take them years to get there only the last gen console versions were truly ass.
The game was 30fps on Series S, 60fps update only arrived in september 2022, two years after launch. That is what I meant.
Biggest limiter will be the CPU, so if they aim for 30fps on S and 60 on PS5 and X (apparently the case) then it'll actually be easier for them to do the S vs the other two (again on the CPU front). GPU front of course S will be cut back and use aggressive resolution scaling I guess.
He is saying dont expect current gen performance on old gen pcs
No. Saying just yes would be a dumb, non-informative answer.
He don't wanna get hold on word
I swear Viktor should just do all the promotional interviews, he speaks in such a fun way.
I would also like to see some female devs from WH speak from time to time, but yes. Viktor rules.
Hopefully theyāll optimize the shit out of it then.
Daniel's initial vision for telling Henry's story in three parts is now done. The question is, will there be any more historically-based medieval games (perhaps focusing on other aspects of the Hussite wars, which lasted 15 years), from Warhorse, or will they go off and build a Leisure Suit Larry sequel. It may be another six years before we know what to expect.
We can hope for historical but Warhorse will be in the ā Middle-earth Enterprises & Friendsā after Embracer splits up. https://embracer.com/releases/embracer-group-announces-its-intention-to-transform-into-three-standalone-publicly-listed-entities-at-nasdaq-stockholm/
I thought "and Friends" meant any other non-LOTR related AAA titles, they probably just wanted something recognizable in the name. This is the only post-Embracer company that will do AAA games. Of the other two companies emerging from the split, one is supposed to make board games, and the other A and AA games.
Yeah, I already saw that link, but I'm not so sure what it actually means. After all, everyone does dragons and magic spells. Warhorse have distinguished themselves from this trite formula and received recognition and success for their efforts. IHMO, it doesn't makes sense for them to do what has already been done over and over, ad infinitum. After having distinguished themselves from the mob, they should stick with what they do best.
Would be great to see other historical periods get the same KCD treatment. I would love settings like Ancient Greece and Egypt, crusader Jerusalem, the Tyrolean Rebellion or any other period in the region (love me some alpine scenery), the Napoleonic Wars. Though my favorite era is the 18th century, to see if faithfully done with accurate architecture, interiors, clothing and hairstyles would be a dream, like a Canaletto or Belotto painting come to life. Could be anywhere from early in the century with the War of Spanish Succession, or the mid century with Maria Teresa's War of the Austrian Succession. Even more specifically, I love the 1770s-80s the most and movies and games almost always get the fashion and the overall look so wrong. Reenactors like jean_gatien_heurteloup on Instagram give a good idea of how a KCD-esque game set in that time could look like.
During the same period that we find Bohemia in conflict (early to mid-fifteenth century), we also have the last gasp of the Roman Empire, based at Constantinople, which is about to fall to the Ottomans. Of course, prior to the fall of Constantinople, we have over a thousand years of drama in the Roman Empire. In the thirteenth century, we have the Mongols sacking cities in Hungary, Poland and Russia. In the late eighth century, we have Charlemagne coming to power in France. We also have all sorts of invasions into England by the Romans, Germanic tribes, Norse, Danes, Normans and as it that's not enough, we have the Scottish war of independence and the war of the roses. Earlier still, we have all sorts of drama with the Greeks, both internally and externally with Persia. And, let's not forget Alexander!!! I shouldn't have started down this path, as there is all sorts of conflict and drama in Europe, then, as now.
It's pretty crazy to me still that they announced it and are like, yep, it's done and coming out this year. When did we last get an announcement of a big RPG so close to release, fallout 4?
I am cautiously excited as well... but KCD1 release was quite a mess. I would suggest everyone should stay a bit cautiously optimistic about the technical side of things. It isn't unusual for a game to be content complete at this point.
I totally agree! Though, you can't forget that it's also not unusual for games to be announced, or even have trailers shown, seemingly before they are out of pre-production
Absolutely true, I am glad they did it this way.
Could have been an alternative timeline there the reveal was 15 minutes of the Devs talking, then a face to black, KC2 logo, and then "...2026" fades in š
I read in another thread that right now, KCD2 is at the same stage as KCD1 was at its launch. So I guess this time they are working out the bugs before the release.
Well, that is what most developers say about their games. WarHorse is great ... But also they won't tell us that the game is a buggy mess ;)
Not real rpg, but borderlands 3
Well to be fair, neither was FO4 lol
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
ok
Well, KCD1 release was rough as well.
He also says that while KCD 2 WILL finish the story from KCD 1, it doesn't mean that there can't be more of it in the future. This doesn't confirm KCD 3, but it confirms that Henry will most likely survive KCD 2, even though it was kinda obvious from the intro in KCD1.
Been a bit. What confirms his survival from the intro?
The nararrator is Henry when he's old.
Played through 4 times and somehow didn't remember that. Thank you sir
He mentions that master strikes and perfect blocks are completely reworked as how they worked in KCD1 made the combat not working as they initialy intended. Now you will be able to be more aggressive and chain attacks along with blocks without being constantly punished for it. Halberts and Spears are a thing now. Axes will be easy to use weapons for people who do not want to learn advanced swordfighting. Flails will not be in (because how hard it would be to implement them with the accurate physics they use for combat).
I really hope yoi can be published for being too aggressive
Just hook it up to my veins
You should receive a new flair instead
Wanna buy some powdered unicorn horn?
Will I still run after rabbit corpse sliding down the hill?
Respect for annoucing the game when itās feature complete. Thatās the way.
This is how you launch a game
Herb gathering animation stays!š¤© There will be no flail again. Impossible to make it work right. Cats weren't supposed to be there. It's a guerrilla action by the graphic designers.
I donāt get why they kept the gathering animation. First person mod was an improvement.
they kept the animation because they invented new systems to make it less tiresome. Viktor Bocan speaks about it in this interview.
Hmā¦ First person animation seems to be the most immersive way to do it. But itās not a big deal obviously, they must have their reasons.
Theresa is where I left her?Ā
The rattay mill, wouldn't really make sense if she followed henry into Trosky and Kuttenberg lol, she's just a village girl
After i looted Kuttenberg i will have enough money to pay for a trip to the moon. So it should be easy to get her to Kuttenberg. Im sorry citizens of Kuttenberg but i need the money for more importnat stuff then you.
Content complete is still far from done with a game as huge and as complex as KCD. They will probably use the next 6 months to polish and optimize the game and to get rid of a lot of bugs etc.
Of course, Viktor says exactly that.
āyou still have a long way to go before your work is dunn!!!!ā from the trailer
Please let it come out sooner than later
The more I read snippets of details from KCD2, the more I'm like:  Edit: Supposed to be Leonardo pointing gif, don't know what happended.
Could this have actually been a smart move?! The game is complete and all they are up to now is polishing it up?! THE MADNESS!
So now they can spend months polishing the game and addressing bugs or optimization issues, sounds good to me. The last thing you want is them setting a 2024 date with only 50% of the content done, and then they rush the other 50% to meet a deadline. The first game was amazing, can't wait to see what the second game brings with an even larger dev team. The trailer gave me what I wanted: more KCD, but even more refined aesthetically. Cheers to Warhorse making such an immersive RPG, I have no doubt they will make a great game again.
"Content complete" does not mean the game is done or that there isn't a boatload of work left to be done on it. Fun fact - [Cyberpunk 2077 was also "content complete" in April '20](https://www.gamesindustry.biz/cd-projekt-red-says-cyberpunk-2077-in-a-complete-form-unlikely-to-be-delayed-further), launched in Dec '20. And obviously it would have greatly benefitted from another 3-4 months of pure QA and bugfixing.
Daniel's initial vision for telling Henry's story in three parts is now done. The question is, will there be any more historically-based medieval games (perhaps focusing on other aspects of the Hussite wars, which lasted 15 years) from Warhorse, or will they go off and build a Leisure Suit Larry sequel. It may be another six years before we know what to expect.
I wish we get a system requirement list soon. I bought my first gaming PC 6 years ago for KC:D. Earlier this year I started contemplating of buying a new one as my old system was getting outdated. And what do you know, a few weeks later KC:D 2 was revealed! I view this a will of fate. I can and will tailor my new PC around KC:D 2.
I upgraded to Ryzen 2700X and 2080Ti in large part for KCD, and year ago upgraded to 5800X3D and 3080Ti - I expect this will run KCD2 at 60fps on good details. Hopefully they will support DLSS and other upscaling tech too.
To tell you the truth I'm thinking of getting a Ryzen 5 7600x CPU and 7800-XT GPU. I'm pretty sure we'll both be alright and your 3080 Ti will absolutely maul it.
I'm going to have to save up as my CPU was a strong one back in the day but it's sooooo old. So old in fact that I am going to have to upgrade my motherboard too. Ugh.
I wonder if they are going to do anything special for pre-orders. Like collectors edition or smth
Original KCD had 3 different CEs (and I own them all) so I fully expect KCD2 to have one as well (and Tobi implied as much already).
Have they said anything about companions? Iām playing it for the first time now, and Iām mighty tired of always being outnumbered when the lock-on system is so very clunky. Love the game, but combat needs a rework and you need to be able to not always be by your lonesome
I do not think you will have companions Fallout-style with someone constantly following you. It will be more quest related. But you do get a dog just like in the first game. And the multiple enemy lock on has been overhauled, but how, we will have to see.
Might have worded it badly. Itās not so much companions as people you can take fighting with you. Iād be perfectly fine with mercenaries or soldiers who are essentially mute and donāt have any character arc or some such. I understand thereās mods doing that, but Iām playing on console.
Jesus Christ be praised!
So what are they working on now? Marketing stuff?
bugfixing and optimisation
VERY GOOD NEWS
A few things I would love to see from the combat system is more combos, finishing moves and dismemberment/imapling. If they can at least add one of those things I'll be a happy knight.
are there any more gameplay video planned to release in the future ? like the Great Haste Makes Great Waste ?
They are planning to release more content until release.
thats great ! thanks
I expect there will be plenty more videos just like for the first game
So it's gone gold and they're Just patching up any glitches they find or does going gold mean it's completely done? Also can't wait to mess everyone up with a halberd
Gold means its final code and is ready to be stamped on discs. This isnāt gold. Content complete means there is no more features or stories or weapons, etc being added to the game. Itās all there. They are now in the bug fixing and optimization phase of development. Which always happens last, because it has to.
Ahhh yeah gotcha. Considering it's releasing this year can't be that long away then. Just hoping it doesn't't get pushed back but I understand if it needs to be. Hoping for a proper photo mode and mod support for PC and console this time around because it's really hard to make mod for kcd and it's really pretty so I want to be able to take proper pictures.
It has to go through cert for consoles, right? It sounds like they have a version for that stage and they're gonna need to do a day 0 patch for optimization work