The Witcher 3 Mod Restores Cut Content

CD Projekt Red recently introduced official modding tools to The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, and since the REDkit has been added there have been a number of exciting mods built to introduce content that didn’t quite make it into the final game, alternate versions of particular storylines and quests, and of course all of the typical mod creations that widen the aesthetic options of the game. If you’ve ever been sailing around in Wild Hunt and thought “I wish there was more to do in the ocean” (not that this would happen in Skellige’s waters…), a new mod allows players to experience a piece of cut content that’ll put their sailing speed to the test. 

Simply titled “Boat Races,” the mod created by MerseyRockoff currently allows players to experience four boat races, much like the various horse races that take place across the map. The various regattas are each triggered by visiting a notice board, including the Novigrad Regatta at the Novigrad Harbor notice board; the Oxenfurt Regatta at the Oxenfurt notice board; the Helmsman’s Dash at Kaer Trolde village notice board; and the Rally of the Wrecks, which starts from Holmstein’s notice board but takes place on Faroe. Once you know where the races are you can revisit the locations directly to start the races from there rather than the notice boards. 

Boat Races’ overall description reads, “The mod restores the original CDPR’s idea of Boat Races. They were planned during the development of the game, but cut from the final version. With the release of REDkit, 100% of the boat race script was found in the game files, which allowed for the restoration process to begin. Only the text and audio files were found, the rest was created from scratch based on CDPR’s writing and careful examining of the files. Which means that all the conversations, characters, notices and journal entries featured in the mod were originally written by CDPR, but re-created and brought to life by me using REDkit.”

The mod’s page on Nexus Mods also notes that the mod is fully translated into 17 languages with the audio currently only available in English, though it’s noted they intend to add audio to other languages. Additional updates to the mod in the future intend to introduce random routes for each race, as well as repeatable races.