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Talking quest (and party) design with CD Projekt Red - Maria Mazur DevGAMM Interview

She couldn't talk Hadar as of yet, but Maria Mazur was glad to have a conversation with Gamereactor in Gdańsk, about missions on Cyberpunk 2077 and some other topics.

Audio transcription

"Hi Gamereactor friends, I'm at DevGAMM in Gdańsk, this is day two and I'm here joined by Maria, thank you so much for joining us. Thank you. From CD Projekt Red so you "threw" a panel yesterday, which if I'm correct was titled how to throw a secret Night City concert. Yes. Without like spending? Without any budget."

"Without any budget, so how did you do that? How do you do that? Basically you just want it really, really bad and you just don't tell anyone that you're working on it. Try to learn as much as possible from other disciplines and yeah you just hide it, hide it until it's perfect and then you can show it to people and say please, please let's release it and that's how it happens basically. What is the main like sort of feedback you got from the audience yesterday? Did they realize this is something that is normally done with studios and projects like this? Yeah, so I had a question whether I am a modder or not because I guess it fits the general... Like the passion and the effort you put into it, right?
Oh and yeah, I heard that well it's very clear that I am passionate about my job so that was nice to hear. Exactly. Yeah, so I think passion and modding that's the feedback I got. How do you think this sort of details and bonus content for players that is normally not part of the original idea and budget, how do you think it is, how important do you think it is for the community and well potentially new players? I know how important it is for me because I am a bit obsessive and I just keep thinking about all the things that I could do for the players so you know I'm standing in the shower and I'm like oh five years ago I was working on something and now I would really really want to just jump in for five minutes do something else with that and yeah leave a little nugget. Like I absolutely love leaving those things that are not communicated at all and they just you know come up when when someone happens upon it so that's that's like my favorite thing. You know I don't know if you played Phantom Liberty? A little bit, yeah."

"Okay, so no spoilers. This is last year's? No, 2023 was it? No, last year's.
I'm not sure, Jesus. Time after the pandemic is just difficult to get. I know, that's the same for me.
I think it was last year. Honestly, it's embarrassing. No, it is not. No, I think it might have been two years ago.
It's part of your life every day so that makes sense that you really don't know."

"Yeah, and as you said the pandemic hit me right when we were working on Cyberpunk because it was released in December 2020, that's the date I remember. So yeah, I think I just blacked out from that point.
You know, home office and stuff just comes into one.
So for people who really don't know the concert we're talking about, can you please explain what went into creating this content?
Yeah, for sure. So basically Idris Elba. Yeah, I was about to ask about him so yeah, please continue."

"So he is also a DJ. I know, I know. You know, we can cut this off. I don't know. I'm an amateurish DJ in my free time.
So he is also a producer. That's so cool. Some of the Afro vibes I've been mixing myself are from Elba.
Yeah, for sure. We have three tracks that are actually his in the game. Exactly.
I didn't know he was a producer and then I was, you know, searching around Beatport and I got these tracks by him and I was like, well, this guy not only is a DJ, but also a producer. Yeah, exactly. So please go on."

"So we have three tracks by Idris, but also he wanted to include like a custom DJ set just for the game. Fantastic.
Exactly. So yeah, when I heard about it, I was so excited. I was like, oh my God, we have to do something great with that.
But it was so late in the production timeline that literally I had no budget. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But it was a great idea."

"Honestly, you know, it was an idea that was born out of necessity because I felt like, no, that's something very custom.
That's something very special. I want to organize something unique for our players to just experience the DJ set as they would in real life.
Probably most people won't be able to go to an actual party thrown by Idris, so I just wanted them to have something in Night City to experience themselves."

"And yeah, I would recommend, because the talk was recorded and I have a lot of pretty... Yeah, you can watch it, right? I guess, I hope.
I don't know. Well, at some point. Yeah, at some point in the future. So there's a lot of examples of what I did there.
But yeah, the whole thing was basically driven by the need to make something unique. Of course."

"What do you think about working with real life actors such as Idris and also, of course, Cyberpunk had Keanu, which was like the big thing.
I was there when he showed up on stage in LA. It was like reading the prompter and he was so, so lovely.
So for quest design, how would you say, how much of the actor's personality do you want to sort of convey into the design of these quests?
Or is this character based, you focus on the character and then the actor will have to portray that character?
That's actually funny because both in a way. For Idris, at least, we had this character that Solomon Reed in the expansion and that's a specific character."

"So everything we did with him was dedicated to the vision of the character. But for the concert, I am actually portraying Idris, right?
Yeah, because that's the whole point.
It's like a meta character because he's a character inside a character in his real life, right?
That's why I couldn't use his real face because it would be so weird if you had a secret spy."

"What was the face like? I didn't know. What was the DJ like?
It's a helmet.
It's a helmet. So it's a Daft Punk mode.
Exactly. So Idris created the set and there is one track by him, but the rest of it was created by this Polish musical duo, Private Press."

"That's Adam Brodsky and Jan Wycicki.
So I really wanted them to also be included in that because I figured if I had any talent in terms of the musical area, I would definitely want to get some spotlight from Idris, right?
Of course.
If I have this cooperation. So yeah, I actually put them there. There is a Daft Punk reference."

"There is a Daft Punk sort of twist to it, right?
Exactly. They are posing on a red carpet and you can take a selfie with them and with Keanu.
Actually, it was something that I really wanted to do. Just throw a party where you can dance around and have fun with Keanu and Idris.
I would love to do that in real life. We should try and make that happen somehow."

"For sure, yeah.
So we've been talking Cyberpunk so far, but also, of course, with CD Projekt Red, there is The Witcher.
So how would you say it differs going from these two very different fantasy settings in terms of quest design?
Of course, the possibilities you have in Night city are different. It's always futuristic. Tech-based."

"And then there's fantasy with The Witcher and sort of medieval dark fantasy that you can use.
So how would you say that impacts a role like yours?
Well, honestly, I think it was a very valuable experience for me to switch to Cyberpunk because it showed me that basically I am a quest designer anyway.
No matter what."

"Yeah, exactly. So I just immersed myself in the lore of it all. Obviously, I am Polish, so The Witcher is kind of in my blood.
But yeah, when I switched to Cyberpunk, I honestly wasn't sure at the beginning because I was like, that's kind of new.
But I fell in love. It was so easy to transfer my skills into this new IP. And similarly with Hadar."

"Exactly. I can't talk Hadar. It's so forbidden. But I know you're in charge of the quest design for Hadar or Hadar.
Yes, Hadar, Hadar.
Some people pronounce it like Hadar or Hadar. And that's the next big thing by CD Projekt Red.
And we are really looking forward to learning more about it."

"But I will say nothing.
For now, we know that you're in charge of that and you will say nothing else.
Yes, but be excited.
Be excited. All right. And final one. So as a main takeaway of your whole presence here at DevGAMM, how would you advise other studios, big and small, to work efficiently with budget?
Of course, you told me this very clear example of no budget, but we've got to get the same, right?
Absolutely. No budget example for my lecture. I actually just try to include that mindset in all the things I do."

"So basically, if I have an X amount of budget, I will try to double it with my own creativity.
Your input. Okay.
Exactly.
So make the most of every single penny."

"It's hard. I mean, it's perfectly easy and also very hard to teach someone.
Because it's just, I think, part of our DNA as quest designers.
We have this approach to everything that if no one will help me, I will do it myself.
Yeah."

"And that makes it easier to work without budget and overall just efficiently.
All right. All right. Thank you so much for your time, Maria.
Thank you so much.
And yeah, again, I'm looking forward to learning more about Hadar and to actually experiencing that concert myself."

"Oh, you have to, yes.
I haven't yet, so sorry about that.
No, no worries. But for me, it feels like considering how much thought and energy I've put in there, honesty into everything."

"You can tell. You can tell. That's fantastic.
I am enthusiastic.
So yeah, just go there because it feels to me like I am there in a way.
Like the past me is kind of hanging out."

"Well, actually, I have an NPC that's like my scan, so I might be there.
What is their name?
Oh, it's a random person.
Yeah, exactly."

"But she is generated in the crowds.
So to be perfectly honest, I've had those nights when I would just run around my city with a katana to murder myself.
Okay, that's interesting.
Yeah, there is a psychological issue in there."

"A little bit twisted, but interesting.
All right. Thank you so much, Maria.
Thank you so much.
Enjoy the show.
Thank you."

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