Now that the Witcher 2 developer CD Projekt RED has opened its mod tools beta to the public, we get to see some of what was going on behind the scenes during the closed-beta phase. Moddb.com has an interview with the author of the closed beta's best mod, Philipp Weber aka Benzenzimmern.
Benzenzimmern reports that he worked in tandem with his girlfriend to complete the mod, called Lykaon , but he also got some help that was, for him, unexpected. He says the participants of the closed beta were in direct contact with the Witcher 2 developers as they figured out how to take advantage of the new mod tools.
"I imagined that I don't work with them at all," said Benzenzimmern in the interview. "I thought they would just give us some tools, maybe some tutorials and that's it. In reality we had a lot of help from CD Projekt, especially from one guy known as "Banan"—Paweł Panasiuk. I guess I couldn't have done anything if it wasn't for him. Sometimes we talked everyday about questions and ideas."
Lykaon has also been selected as the REDkit's first mod of the month, according to the beta's official page. Although technically unfinished, Benzenzimmern's mod offers new quest content and geography to explore within the Witcher universe of Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski. And yes, your favorite sidekick Dandelion is involved. Despite writing new dialogue for Geralt and company, the mod currently lacks voice acting and Benzenzimmern is on the hunt for voice talent to help him finish the project.
With CDProjekt RED having already outlined its development roadmap as we await the release of the Witcher 3 , it's great to see such close collaboration between the modding community and a developer.
