It’s been years, Gerry from the Riviera, but you can finally stop knocking on a certain Duchess’ door in the hopes she’ll let you see whether some Elven staircases are as spirally as you remember. A Witcher 3 modder has used REDKit to open those doors and had a crack at making a lore-accurate interior for Beauclair Palace, the posh setting of the fantasy game’s Blood and Wine expansion.
It’s the latest in an ongoing series of location revamps by snappily-named modder “OlivierR45455566465”, after getting their hands on the RPG’s handy modding tools. They’ve previously done stuff like restoring Kaer Morhen to the glory it might have had before it hosted ten million witchery fights. The modder also rebuilt the manor that ends up a bit on fire in the game’s other DLC, Hearts of Stone.
For the last few months, OlivierR’s been working on this latest project, which is all about letting players waltz through some doors to explore “an expanded and book-accurate Beauclair Palace”. It’s something folks have been requesting for years, and to make it possible, the modder’s built a full interior for the upper section of the palace.
These newly explorable sections comprise two main buildings, with the likes of the three-floor main tower, plus the Duchess’ bedroom and throne room. That’s in addition to a bunch of areas described in the Witcher books, such as the knights’ hall, the library, and a secret chamber. You can also take a gander at the treasure room or just chill in one of the many living rooms.
“Even though I had to work under severe restrictions, due to the fact I was once more working inside an already built exterior, I have tried to remain as faithful as I possibly could to the books and the game, both in the aspects and in the content of the modifications I made,” wrote OlivierR.
They’ve even taken extra steps like setting up a bunch of new NPCs with their own routines to patrol the rooms, tweaked the volume of each area, and “corrected some structural inconsistencies” the palace had. Plus, some dynamic changes will happen when you finish certain Blood and Wine quests.
Once the mod’s installed and you’ve launched the game with Blood & Wine enabled, you’ll be able to wander into the palace at any time. It’s a cool addition to the sightseeing I know I always do whenever I arrive in Beauclair, even though I’ve already seen every nook and cranny of not-France a million times.
Plus, it makes sense Gerry would want to reminisce about his adventures in bookland. Now all we’re waiting for is a massive palace slide.
