"Witcher 4": First engine scenes from the new role-playing game
At an Epic event, CD Projekt showed the first sections of the upcoming "Witcher 4". The game runs in Uneal Engine 5.6.
(Image: CD Projekt Red)
CD Projekt Red has shown the first scenes from “The Witcher 4”, which show protagonist Ciri and her horse moving through the open game world. Among other things, she visits a village and talks to a client. User interface sections are not shown – CD Projekt is concentrating primarily on the technical aspects of the upcoming role-playing game.
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The scenes were shown at an Unreal Engine event organized by developer Epic Games. CD Projekt and Epic refer to the sections as a “technical demo” – meaning that they originate from the engine, but are not necessarily to be found in this form in the finished game.
Nevertheless, CD Projekt suggested that the scenes could actually have been played in this way: A developer stood on the Epic Games stage with a gamepad and mimed button inputs, even though it was almost certainly a pre-recorded video given the repeated camera cuts. Meanwhile, the contradictory disclaimer “no actual gameplay” can be seen on screenshots published in parallel. Ultimately, CD Projekt seems to want to protect itself with this reference.
Played on a standard PS5
According to CD Projekt, the sections were rendered on a normal Playstation 5 – i.e., the basic model, not the more expensive and more powerful PS5 Pro. The game runs at 60 frames per second with ray tracing graphics effects. CD Projekt did not reveal exactly which rendering functions ray tracing performs. It is obvious that at least reflections in lakes and puddles are still displayed in the classic way using screen space reflections because they exhibit typical artifacts.
For 60 fps, you obviously pay with a comparatively low resolution: On the PS5, the tech demo of “The Witcher 4” still looks a little washed out, which is probably due to the low render resolution in combination with the limited upscaler of the basic PS5. On the PS5 Pro and modern PCs, “The Witcher 4” should run in a higher resolution at release.
One of the main focuses of the developers' tech demo is on the Unreal Engine's Nanite technology, which enables a wide view without obvious LOD pop-in. The whole thing will also work with trees and plants in the future, including movements in the wind. In addition, the muscle movements of Ciri's horse, lifelike animations and the large number of people in a marketplace are emphasized. The faces of the people themselves were built using Epic's Metahuman technology.
(Image:Â CD Projekt Red)
First Unreal game from CD Projekt
“The Witcher 4” runs on Unreal Engine 5.6, the latest version of Epic's engine, in the tech demo. The Unreal Engine is known for its impressive graphics, but also for its regular stutters, which can be observed in open-world games such as “The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remaster”. “The Witcher 4” is CD Projekt's first game in the Unreal Engine; previous games ran in the company's own RedEngine.
Videos by heise
CD Projekt released the first story trailer for the upcoming “The Witcher 4” last December. There is no release date yet.
(dahe)
