The Witcher 3 : Wild Hunt

IceBear · Post by **IceBear** » Wed May 20, 2015 2:32 pm

Yeah, would like to upgrade to something similar, but very, very doubtful at this time as no cash

Jag · Post by **Jag** » Wed May 20, 2015 2:43 pm

Really nice overview of the backstory and situations going into Witcher 3.

A Beginner’s Guide To The World Of The Witcher

Normann · Post by **Normann** » Wed May 20, 2015 5:49 pm

No remapping of keys for the PC?

Fishbelly · Post by **Fishbelly** » Wed May 20, 2015 6:32 pm

If you're playing on a PS4, go to SETTINGS and then click on ACCESSIBILITY. Enable the zoom option by placing a check in its box. Start the game, and when you're having trouble reading something due to font size, press the PS4 button and the square button. It will zoom in and allow you to scroll around. You can't do anything else while zoomed, but it does give you a workaround for the small fonts they used.

Thank you! It's not perfect, but I can now keep my lazy butt camped on the couch while playing.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Wed May 20, 2015 6:37 pm

Kotaku is featuring a piece about how Witcher 3 looks different after release than during promotional videos from the last few years -- it's not just your imagination. Sounds like they lowered the bar to get it to run on the XB1 and PS4. From the article's post-script:

Update - 6:10pm: Shortly after we published this article, the head folks at CD Projekt Red spoke out about these graphical controversies and announced some developments. In an interview with Eurogamer, the studio bosses said that they have sent a patch to certification today that will include some 600 changes, including, in the publication’s words, “improvements to graphics and graphical settings.” They say that soon, PC users will be allowed to edit .ini files to change everything from vegetation density to draw distance.

The developers said that changes in the game’s graphics were a byproduct of getting it to perform as well as possible and noted that making console versions may have lowered the game’s graphical potential but literally allowed them to afford to make it by selling to a broader market. As for why they didn’t warn gamers that the game’s launch-day graphics would be inferior to those in trailers, CD Projekt Red’s Marcin Iwinski said, “Frankly speaking, because we didn’t see it as a problem.” He said feedback on the matter has been “touching and we’ll do our best to make it up. But if you didn’t play it and you’re trolling: think twice please.”

I know this happens all the time, but quite frankly I expected better from them.

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Wed May 20, 2015 7:57 pm

This happened with Watch Dogs and I thought it was a pretty huge thing. Cant believe they did it too and thought it was so small a deal.

naednek · Post by **naednek** » Wed May 20, 2015 9:56 pm

The way I see it, what they showed you last year was a work in progress. You can't expect it to be the same when it releases. Things are going to change, whether it's features, graphics, sound, gameplay, or script. Regardless of the differences, what came out looks great.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Wed May 20, 2015 10:00 pm

I think you have it backwards. It looked unbelievably awesome in the preview trailers, screenshots and demo movies they were showing - presumably running them on a PC. Now that it's out, the quality is substantially lowered from what they were showing off as far back as 2011. They weren't doctored screenshots or "work in progress" labeled media - everything was specifically labeled as "in game footage". However, in order to sell more copies and expand the brand, they had to drop the quality to get the game to run on the newest generation consoles -- and as released, the previously demonstrated high quality shots are not available to PC gamers nor was it advertised as having been changed prior to release. That's not cool.

naednek · Post by **naednek** » Wed May 20, 2015 10:04 pm

No I don't have it backwards, I understand your points. My point is, it's not a final product, and I wouldn't expect things to be exact when it came out.

e1123 · Post by **e1123** » Wed May 20, 2015 10:12 pm

It's still the best-looking RPG in town. This has been a problem since TES Oblivion, at least. Not the graphic quality, but that was one empty world compared to Morrowind.

TiLT · Post by **TiLT** » Thu May 21, 2015 12:23 am

Smoove_B wrote:I think you have it backwards. It looked unbelievably awesome in the preview trailers, screenshots and demo movies they were showing - presumably running them on a PC. Now that it's out, the quality is substantially lowered from what they were showing off as far back as 2011. They weren't doctored screenshots or "work in progress" labeled media - everything was specifically labeled as "in game footage". However, in order to sell more copies and expand the brand, they had to drop the quality to get the game to run on the newest generation consoles -- and as released, the previously demonstrated high quality shots are not available to PC gamers nor was it advertised as having been changed prior to release. That's not cool.

The new generation of consoles hadn't even been announced back in 2011. Almost all games start out with way more graphical ambition than it can have by the end of development, and then it is scaled back during development. This is not trickery or a scam; It's a necessity.

Game performance during development is usually horrible, and not at all representative of the final version. Only as they get closer to a final product and can truly start optimizing (something that is pointless early on), they'll start to see what works and what doesn't. That's the point when they can start to dial back graphical options and make changes to the art design to make the best out of the new vision. This is much, much easier than dialing up from lower settings at this point in development, which is why they move in this particular direction.

The reason graphics were different during the first videos is simply because the developers had no idea what their game would be able to handle, so they added more rather than less to both demonstrate their ambition and to increase the odds that they would be able to scale back rather than the other way around later in the process. They also had no idea what specs they should be aiming for with the new generation of consoles.

Reemul · Post by **Reemul** » Thu May 21, 2015 3:19 am

Normann wrote:No remapping of keys for the PC?

I swppaed dodge and roll keys, just double click the keys in the key mapping.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Thu May 21, 2015 7:45 am

TiLT wrote:all correct stuff

I can't really disagree with anything you've written, however it doesn't change the fact that it was represented as [X] during pre-orders and then [Less than X] was delivered without any indication as to why the previously demonstrated quality was missing. The reason it's nonsense is because after being caught, now magically there is a PC patch incoming that will address the graphical discrepancies that were noted by various gamers and the gaming media.

Somehow it didn't come up while the pre-orders were being processed, which is something I'd expect from an EA. CD Projekt Red? Not so much.

TiLT · Post by **TiLT** » Thu May 21, 2015 7:51 am

Smoove_B wrote:
TiLT wrote:all correct stuff
I can't really disagree with anything you've written, however it doesn't change the fact that it was represented as [X] during pre-orders and then [Less than X] was delivered without any indication as to why the previously demonstrated quality was missing.

Oh yeah, absolutely. This is one of many reasons why pre-orders are bad for consumers and the industry as a whole.

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Thu May 21, 2015 8:47 am

Explaination

I love a dev thats new and comes out for PC only like CD did back in the day. Other devs have done it too. Its a little sad that even they need console sales these days too. PC used to didn't need them.

Reemul · Post by **Reemul** » Thu May 21, 2015 9:04 am

I just don't follow any games that closely, in fact until they are a few months out and just ignore everything about them.

I hate all the hype that goes with games that are a year+ from release, it's just not worth getting to attached to anything but it seems nowdays you need to be fully invested in a game from the minute it's first mentioned.

Jag · Post by **Jag** » Thu May 21, 2015 9:08 am

Regardless, this is clearly my front runner for GOTY. It's got a Skyrim feel to it already. I'm playing so slow, it will take me forever to finish and I love that.

Reemul · Post by **Reemul** » Thu May 21, 2015 12:57 pm

Jag wrote:Regardless, this is clearly my front runner for GOTY. It's got a Skyrim feel to it already. I'm playing so slow, it will take me forever to finish and I love that.

Yeah os much to see and do in the first area alone.

Frost · Post by **Frost** » Thu May 21, 2015 12:59 pm

Daehawk wrote:Explaination

I love a dev thats new and comes out for PC only like CD did back in the day. Other devs have done it too. Its a little sad that even they need console sales these days too. PC used to didn't need them.

what's really sad is that PC gaming is doing better than it was a few years ago, but still needs the console sales to stay in the black.

Reemul · Post by **Reemul** » Thu May 21, 2015 2:30 pm

Frost wrote:
Daehawk wrote:Explaination

I love a dev thats new and comes out for PC only like CD did back in the day. Other devs have done it too. Its a little sad that even they need console sales these days too. PC used to didn't need them.
what's really sad is that PC gaming is doing better than it was a few years ago, but still needs the console sales to stay in the black.

Well the specs arent very low and numbers on the nex gen can't be that big but the ease of porting makes it a shoe in for pretty much every game coming from a pc i reckon.

baelthazar · Post by **baelthazar** » Thu May 21, 2015 4:47 pm

hepcat wrote:
baelthazar wrote: The font size is a bigger problem for me. That has to be fixed. From the PC version pics, it looks like the fonts there are also sort of small.
If you're playing on a PS4, go to SETTINGS and then click on ACCESSIBILITY. Enable the zoom option by placing a check in its box. Start the game, and when you're having trouble reading something due to font size, press the PS4 button and the square button. It will zoom in and allow you to scroll around. You can't do anything else while zoomed, but it does give you a workaround for the small fonts they used.

Hopefully they'll add an option for larger fonts in a future patch though.

You sir, are a great man!

Octavious · Post by **Octavious** » Thu May 21, 2015 5:07 pm

It amazes me how many games mess something up so obvious as fonts. The Total War series has driven me bonkers over the years with their total lack of grasp on how to use fonts.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Thu May 21, 2015 5:18 pm

I remember trying to play Dead Rising on my Xbox360 using my old 27" CRT television (no HD). Font size? Son, you don't know bad font size until you've seen Dead Rising on a regular TV. Unplayable.

D.A.Lewis · Post by **D.A.Lewis** » Thu May 21, 2015 5:29 pm

Got my game from Amazon. ( I wanted the physical map). What I didn't know at the time was that the Amazon purchase made me install the game with the GOG client. And an easy install, it was not. Ended up installing the game twice. And even though I have played for about 2 hours, there is nothing showing how much time I have played in the GOG client, nor is it showing any achievements. I'm not bitter yet, but I did not get to experience the day-one joy . . .

Oh, and the fonts on the paper map are horrible too. The faded out white font on the mediocre coloration scheme make the notated cities/areas practically invisible at only 6' away. Sadly there will be no upcoming update for that . . .

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Thu May 21, 2015 10:39 pm

They just announced on their Twitter page that the next patch will address the font size issue.

naednek · Post by **naednek** » Fri May 22, 2015 12:10 am

D.A.Lewis wrote:Got my game from Amazon. ( I wanted the physical map). What I didn't know at the time was that the Amazon purchase made me install the game with the GOG client. And an easy install, it was not. Ended up installing the game twice. And even though I have played for about 2 hours, there is nothing showing how much time I have played in the GOG client, nor is it showing any achievements. I'm not bitter yet, but I did not get to experience the day-one joy . . .

Oh, and the fonts on the paper map are horrible too. The faded out white font on the mediocre coloration scheme make the notated cities/areas practically invisible at only 6' away. Sadly there will be no upcoming update for that . . .

You should apply for the GOG Galaxy Beta client. It gives you everything you just listed. And no problems installing.

D.A.Lewis · Post by **D.A.Lewis** » Fri May 22, 2015 1:37 am

naednek wrote:
D.A.Lewis wrote:Got my game from Amazon. ( I wanted the physical map). What I didn't know at the time was that the Amazon purchase made me install the game with the GOG client. And an easy install, it was not. Ended up installing the game twice. And even though I have played for about 2 hours, there is nothing showing how much time I have played in the GOG client, nor is it showing any achievements. I'm not bitter yet, but I did not get to experience the day-one joy . . .

Oh, and the fonts on the paper map are horrible too. The faded out white font on the mediocre coloration scheme make the notated cities/areas practically invisible at only 6' away. Sadly there will be no upcoming update for that . . .

You should apply for the GOG Galaxy Beta client. It gives you everything you just listed. And no problems installing.

I am in the GOG Galaxy Client ver. 1.0.2.958. And it was the Galaxy client giving me all the install problems - It is no where near as clean as Steam.

However in exploring the Galaxy interface, the settings (the widget icon on the bottom left) states that achievements and game time tracking are coming soon . . . .

EDIT: Just as I was about to play the game, from the Galaxy client - it is now showing my game time and one achievement. However the settings still state time and achievements are still to come.

naednek · Post by **naednek** » Fri May 22, 2015 1:42 am

Weird time works form. Achievements are all greed figured I haven't earned them yet

ChuckB · Post by **ChuckB** » Fri May 22, 2015 4:55 am

D.A.Lewis wrote:
naednek wrote:
D.A.Lewis wrote:Got my game from Amazon. ( I wanted the physical map). What I didn't know at the time was that the Amazon purchase made me install the game with the GOG client. And an easy install, it was not. Ended up installing the game twice. And even though I have played for about 2 hours, there is nothing showing how much time I have played in the GOG client, nor is it showing any achievements. I'm not bitter yet, but I did not get to experience the day-one joy . . .

Oh, and the fonts on the paper map are horrible too. The faded out white font on the mediocre coloration scheme make the notated cities/areas practically invisible at only 6' away. Sadly there will be no upcoming update for that . . .

You should apply for the GOG Galaxy Beta client. It gives you everything you just listed. And no problems installing.
I am in the GOG Galaxy Client ver. 1.0.2.958. And it was the Galaxy client giving me all the install problems - It is no where near as clean as Steam.

However in exploring the Galaxy interface, the settings (the widget icon on the bottom left) states that achievements and game time tracking are coming soon . . . .

EDIT: Just as I was about to play the game, from the Galaxy client - it is now showing my game time and one achievement. However the settings still state time and achievements are still to come.

Agree - the GOG Galaxy Client is certainly a work in progress and not actually ready for prime time (but to be fair, it took Steam several years to get where it is now). I got Witcher 3 as a free goodie when I bought my gaming laptop and that's when I tried the Galaxy client first time. I also had a couple of issues (it did install itself to the wrong location and after uninstalling it would refuse to install again - apparently, some of the Windows services are not shut down properly upon reinstall and you have to manually disable them to be able to install again).
Also, there is some stuff continue to run in the background (which I hate) even I shut down the client.

I think they'll figure it out but I (admitting to love Steam) feels it'll needs quite some work to get it where it should be

Oh - regarding Witcher 3 itself: I switched everything to "Ultra" and was surprised how very well it ran (my machine, especially video card, is good but not great) until I found out that there were a couple of settings I had to manually ramp up to get to the true "everything on highest" setting. It now runs less great but I haven't tried much, to be honest (still working on the first Witcher ...)

Normann · Post by **Normann** » Sat May 23, 2015 11:19 am

Reemul wrote:
Normann wrote:No remapping of keys for the PC?
I swppaed dodge and roll keys, just double click the keys in the key mapping.

Thanks but I actually ended up getting it on ps4 as well. After I saw how the graphics is basically the same I figured I might as well play it on the big TV. I must say this will be one of the best games par with Elder Scroll series. So far no disappointment. At least that is my first impression after like 10 hours. So well done.

I am playing on the 3rd difficulty level and it is challenging. I feel leveling is a bit slow. I run a lot. I am also forced to use many thing beside slashing to survive. So battles are complex, which is awesome. I love this game so far.

Btw I did not end up finishing 1 and 2. I played both a bit years after release but the lack of free roaming just turned me down especially after playing open world RPGs for the past ten or more years.

naednek · Post by **naednek** » Sat May 23, 2015 12:15 pm

Witcher's PS4 graphics are about equal to the medium settings on the PC. Don't really consider that to be basically the same. Needless to say, it's pretty at medium, but unbelievable at Ultra. Wow it's pretty.

TiLT · Post by **TiLT** » Sat May 23, 2015 4:51 pm

naednek wrote:Witcher's PS4 graphics are about equal to the medium settings on the PC. Don't really consider that to be basically the same. Needless to say, it's pretty at medium, but unbelievable at Ultra. Wow it's pretty.

They're supposed to be roughly the same as the PC version set to High, not Medium.

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Sun May 24, 2015 12:29 am

HERE are some tips on importing your old saves and some info on answering the first few questions to see older characters if you answer the questions instead.

HERE is a comparison of 3 graphical mods to vanilla. I think the 2nd one...the Better 1.2 ....make it look cleaner but removes a bit of color.

Jag · Post by **Jag** » Sun May 24, 2015 5:05 pm

Best brothel simulator ever. You even earn XP for ploughing.

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Sun May 24, 2015 5:12 pm

Speaking of brothels in the game..... A guide to finding love in the game

D.A.Lewis · Post by **D.A.Lewis** » Sun May 24, 2015 8:21 pm

How safe is it to loot the boxes & chest that are not guarded? All my goodie two shoes actions aren't getting me squat. And goodwill ain't paying for a cup of coffee, tet alone repairs and crafting.

e1123 · Post by **e1123** » Sun May 24, 2015 8:29 pm

D.A.Lewis wrote:How safe is it to loot the boxes & chest that are not guarded? All my goodie two shoes actions aren't getting me squat. And goodwill ain't paying for a cup of coffee, tet alone repairs and crafting.

Just do it where no one else can see you.

D.A.Lewis · Post by **D.A.Lewis** » Sun May 24, 2015 9:24 pm

e1123 wrote:
D.A.Lewis wrote:How safe is it to loot the boxes & chest that are not guarded? All my goodie two shoes actions aren't getting me squat. And goodwill ain't paying for a cup of coffee, tet alone repairs and crafting.
Just do it where no one else can see you.

Thanks, then all I gotta say is . . .

A looting I will go
a looting I will go
Heigh-ho, the derry-o
a looting I will go

tra, la la, la la
first I had six cookies, then I ate one. Now I have five.

Jag · Post by **Jag** » Sun May 24, 2015 9:49 pm

D.A.Lewis wrote:
e1123 wrote:
D.A.Lewis wrote:How safe is it to loot the boxes & chest that are not guarded? All my goodie two shoes actions aren't getting me squat. And goodwill ain't paying for a cup of coffee, tet alone repairs and crafting.
Just do it where no one else can see you.
Thanks, then all I gotta say is . . .

A looting I will go
a looting I will go
Heigh-ho, the derry-o
a looting I will go

tra, la la, la la
first I had six cookies, then I ate one. Now I have five.

You can take pretty much everything as long as a guard isn't sitting right on top of it.

Even then, you can just run away and they don't remember.

Normann · Post by **Normann** » Tue May 26, 2015 8:12 am

naednek wrote:Witcher's PS4 graphics are about equal to the medium settings on the PC. Don't really consider that to be basically the same. Needless to say, it's pretty at medium, but unbelievable at Ultra. Wow it's pretty.

I cranced everything to ultra on my PC. I only did the tutorial and the first 30 mins after. I did not see a hige diference may be because I was frustrated trying to get used to WASD.