The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

TimJames · 2015-05-23T20:27:34.000Z

That bit character in the back is more interesting to me than the cast of most videogames.

triggercut · 2015-05-23T20:53:29.000Z

So here’s my Witcher 3 confession: you’re all probably much further ahead than I am!

Tempering my enthusiasm with the game releasing on Monday evening was the air conditioning conking out here at my house. Oof. I’ve moved my computer and office upstairs too, which means it can get warm there. Real warm. Especially if the A/C is on the fritz and it’s 90 degrees out.

So, I played a bit of the game here and there, but not as much as I’d have liked, simply because it was too damn hot to play and have the computer exhausts adding extra temperature. I had to wait until nightfall when I could get a bit of a breeze going. It finally got cool here for a run of days, and I ended up restarting. Twice. Because I’m a dummy.

And so I’m finally past the prologue area, and some stuff is working for me, and other stuff isn’t. I was in some serious like for the game, but I’m not sure I was in love with it just yet.

Two things happen.

I learn to dodge all the damn time in combat. Like always. Suddenly, the combat system is totally working for me. It isn’t Batman, it isn’t AC. It’s this. And now it’s totally come together for me, and I’m not fighting it. Same with the movement controls. I’m in the game world now, instead of thinking about controlling TrigGeralt.
The, um, flashback scene. With, uh,
you know

Ciri. Ciri is so well done here, she really is. In that one little “King of the Wolves” sequence, I got to know her as a character, and I really, really like her. I love the way she takes care of the little girl, and the way she talks to her. Ciri is awesome. And I couldn’t help but feel a sense of fatherly protectiveness for her, even as she’s kicking ass and taking names. Such a genius plot device, because that was when I was all “OK, Witcher 3. Now you have me. Totally have me.” When it switched back to Geralt, I wanted nothing so much as to FIND CIRI DAMMIT.

Seriously, if CDP don’t make a dedicated Ciri expansion or even just make the next game in this universe revolve around Ciri–and yes, I realize they’re going to have to fiddle with some lore to do that–they’re going to have missed a huge opportunity.

(Oh, and new central A/C system being installed on Tuesday, after some major negotiations. Turns out that R22 Freon is about to get mega-expensive, and they never should’ve sold a service warranty on this system three years ago like they did, and rather than repair this one, they ended up deciding to put a new one in. Score, me.)

Scotch_Lufkin · 2015-05-23T20:59:20.000Z

Eric Majkut:

Maybe I should clarify. Maybe Witcher 3 would look better than GTA V if I were able to turn the graphics up beyond medium-low. But at fairly low settings it struggles to pull 30fps at times. Meanwhile GTA V has everything 75%+ of the way up and I pull 60+fps at most times. So, is the optimization just not as good with Witcher?

Core i5 4670 @ 3.4ghz
8GB RAM
Geforce GTX 660

Not a top of the line system, but certainly no slouch. I’ve never run into any other game that taxed it like this. What the actual fuck? :P

A 660 is a low end card from 4 generations ago. I hate to break that to you, I’ve been there myself, but you may change your tune about the games visuals if you invested in a bigger card. I have a 780 and it’s just freaking stunning.

Richard_Holt · 2015-05-23T21:23:38.000Z

Eric Majkut:

Maybe I should clarify. Maybe Witcher 3 would look better than GTA V if I were able to turn the graphics up beyond medium-low. But at fairly low settings it struggles to pull 30fps at times. Meanwhile GTA V has everything 75%+ of the way up and I pull 60+fps at most times. So, is the optimization just not as good with Witcher?

Core i5 4670 @ 3.4ghz
8GB RAM
Geforce GTX 660

Not a top of the line system, but certainly no slouch. I’ve never run into any other game that taxed it like this. What the actual fuck? :P

Odd, I have a GTX 670 and can run the game in 1080 at ~45 fps with everything set to high. That said, I don’t really know the difference between a 670 and a 660, nvidia do some funny maths magic. Ignore this if it’s a stupid questions, but you did update to the Witcher 3 drivers right?

HRose · 2015-05-23T21:27:05.000Z

As I said, Eurogamer confirms that PS4 is at “high” settings where it matters, and not medium:

Purely in visual terms, PS4 and Xbox One miss out on PC’s ultra-grade settings in several areas, but the game still looks complete on each. At its core, REDengine 3 drives a high level of foliage detail on console - perhaps the greatest density of plant-life since the original Crysis, rendering trees in at a surprisingly long range.

PC sets itself apart in several key areas though. With foliage visibility range set to ultra, we get trees, plants and accompanying shadows rendered at a range far beyond anything possible on console.

Only that for foliage on ultra you need a video card that costs as much the entire PS4.

Though, caveat:

trees use an equivalent to its medium setting, while foliage is on high, and shadow draw distance is low

Plus medium foliage density and shadow quality.

We’re still looking into PC performance in more depth, but right now, our feeling is that to surpass console-quality visuals and still hit and maintain 60fps, something like a GTX 970 or an R9 290 is required, unless you’re happy to explore lower quality presets.

triggercut · 2015-05-23T21:32:16.000Z

Richard Holt:

Odd, I have a GTX 670 and can run the game in 1080 at ~45 fps with everything set to high. That said, I don’t really know the difference between a 670 and a 660, nvidia do some funny maths magic. Ignore this if it’s a stupid questions, but you did update to the Witcher 3 drivers right?

The 670 is a more powerful GPU than the 660, by much more than the numbering system would indicate.

TimJames · 2015-05-23T21:34:52.000Z

Ciri is very well done. A less-confident developer would have had her making wisecracks, questioning everyone’s manhood, huge tits, etc. She seems like a very confident woman, but also a real person. Like everyone else in The Witcher 3.

I’m extremely impressed with how believeable it is to hear the adults in this game talk to children. I mean, has this been done in videogames outside of The Walking Dead? Usually dopey kids are the kiss of death for something like an epic adventure movie. Here they’re so well-integrated.

Richard_Holt · 2015-05-23T21:35:04.000Z

triggercut:

The 670 is a more powerful GPU than the 660, by much more than the numbering system would indicate.

Ah, figures. I recall that my last graphics card was exactly the same chip as one released under a completely different numbering system. Shenanigans.

olaf · 2015-05-23T22:22:22.000Z

HRose:

Another good news (maybe) for those not on 9xx but still Nvidia:
https://forums.geforce.com/default/topic/833016/geforce-700-600-series/gtx-780-possible-fail-as-performance-in-the-witcher-3-wild-hunt-/post/4537394/#4537394

They are saying they might have figured out why 7xx class videocards perform poorly with The Witcher.

They figured out that they were intentionally gimping last gen cards via driver updates? Good to know.

lordkosc:

Anyone else think there is a developer on the team that is a sick twisted individual, who likes to put candles on objects that can be looted. Just so you accidentally extinguish the candle? :p

Not only do I loot the object, I usually re-light the candle. That’s 3 freaking times I had to push the use button!

Man this drives me fucking nuts!

Gorath · 2015-05-23T22:23:22.000Z

Richard Holt:

Ah, figures. I recall that my last graphics card was exactly the same chip as one released under a completely different numbering system. Shenanigans.

To put it into perspective:
The 660 is a nice Audi while the 670 is a Porsche 911.

triggercut · 2015-05-23T22:38:01.000Z

Tim James:

I’m extremely impressed with how believeable it is to hear the adults in this game talk to children. I mean, has this been done in videogames outside of The Walking Dead? Usually dopey kids are the kiss of death for something like an epic adventure movie. Here they’re so well-integrated.

YES. A thousand times this.

I mean, early in the tutorial when I realized that Geralt was going to talk to Ciri I was thinking “This is going to be pretty bad.” I mean, bless Doug Cockle’s heart, but I sort of was expecting that now that we’re using some pretty professional voice actors, his Batman Eastwood reading of Geralt was going to be pretty bad. And…sometimes it is; he sounds pretty wooden in comparison to the outstanding VO work on offer by so many other characters in this world.

But that initial scene with Ciri he’s broody Geralt…but with juuuuuuuust enough inflection and light enough a touch that it’s a terrific interplay between he and Ciri, and you totally believe that she’s his ward and he really cares for her like she was his daughter. It completely sells it, and it’s important, because it has to.

TimJames · 2015-05-23T22:46:45.000Z

You can rebind the ignite and extinguish keys. I don’t know why I didn’t think of this earlier until I saw it on reddit.

For gamepad users, try the left or right thumb button. Do a replace all:

IK_Pad_X_CROSS=(Action=Ignite)
IK_Pad_LeftThumb=(Action=Ignite)

IK_Pad_X_CROSS=(Action=Extinguish)
IK_Pad_LeftThumb=(Action=Extinguish)

Documents\The Witcher 3\input.settings. Make a backup. I tried to bind it to SQUARE and it didn’t like it, but then it removed the entry from each category. Oops.

triggercut:

I mean, early in the tutorial when I realized that Geralt was going to talk to Ciri I was thinking “This is going to be pretty bad.” I mean, bless Doug Cockle’s heart, but I sort of was expecting that now that we’re using some pretty professional voice actors, his Batman Eastwood reading of Geralt was going to be pretty bad. And…sometimes it is; he sounds pretty wooden in comparison to the outstanding VO work on offer by so many other characters in this world.

But that initial scene with Ciri he’s broody Geralt…but with juuuuuuuust enough inflection and light enough a touch that it’s a terrific interplay between he and Ciri, and you totally believe that she’s his ward and he really cares for her like she was his daughter. It completely sells it, and it’s important, because it has to.

Agreed on both points. The tutorial was the first time I noticed it too.

HRose · 2015-05-23T22:48:09.000Z

If you have some impossibly powerful PC, from GAF:

http://pastebin.com/zdEKBw5t
http://pastebin.com/KGPDrrP7

Balasarius · 2015-05-24T00:13:41.000Z

Holy shit.

You have to equip your talents on that vague, meaningless area on the right or they don’t actually do anything. Fucking sigh.

Remember when we use have manuals? Yeah, good times.

Also - I guess GoG purchasers are penalized in that they can’t take screenshots?

Paul_cze · 2015-05-24T00:18:25.000Z

I woke up by myself at 6 AM today with my brain actively wanting to play Witcher 3, now it’s 9:14 and I played those 3 hours. This game is insane quality. The atmosphere in Velen, those battlefields, refugee camps…

I am so glad I got 970 for this, it has been 100% worth it. It is utterly captivating.

HRose:

As I said, Eurogamer confirms that PS4 is at “high” settings where it matters, and not medium

These are the PS4-like settings according to EG:

V-Sync: On
Resolution: 1920x1080
Nvidia Hairworks: Off
Number of Background Characters: Low (console actually seems lower than this)
Shadow Quality: Medium
Terrain Quality: Medium
Water Quality: High
Grass Density: Medium
Texture Quality: Ultra
Foliage Visibility Range: Medium
Detail Level: Medium
Ambient Occlusion: SSAO
All post effects on except vignetting.

TurinTur · 2015-05-24T00:52:30.000Z

Balasarius:

Holy shit.

You have to equip your talents on that vague, meaningless area on the right or they don’t actually do anything. Fucking sigh.

Remember when we use have manuals? Yeah, good times.

Also - I guess GoG purchasers are penalized in that they can’t take screenshots?

The interactive tutorial explains it very well, step by step…

and I can take screenshots with my GoG version… see

XQA79VP.jpg1031×794

Paul_cze · 2015-05-24T01:30:48.000Z

The ingame tutorial is great. It explained pretty much everything and it did not even need to be an extra part of the game.

Paul_cze · 2015-05-24T01:44:20.000Z

Took a few 4K everything ultra incl. hairworks screenshots (DSR), Prologue mostly:

http://abload.de/img/witcher3_2015_05_24_1ihxq5.png
http://abload.de/img/witcher3_2015_05_24_1q5x1i.png
http://abload.de/img/witcher3_2015_05_24_1afl7y.png
http://abload.de/img/witcher3_2015_05_24_1apajy.png
http://abload.de/img/witcher3_2015_05_24_174b6u.png
http://abload.de/img/witcher3_2015_05_24_1xhymk.png
http://abload.de/img/witcher3_2015_05_24_1n2ann.png
http://abload.de/img/witcher3_2015_05_24_10izzz.png
http://abload.de/img/witcher3_2015_05_24_1a8z41.png

triggercut · 2015-05-24T01:49:54.000Z

Balasarius:

Holy shit.

You have to equip your talents on that vague, meaningless area on the right or they don’t actually do anything. Fucking sigh.

Remember when we use have manuals? Yeah, good times.

Also - I guess GoG purchasers are penalized in that they can’t take screenshots?

The tutorial also tells you this very explicitly. Even shows you step by step how to do it. Or you could read the manual.

It’s actually a pretty intuitive concept even just looking at it.

schurem · 2015-05-24T01:56:44.000Z

Eric Majkut:

What am I missing? :(

Have you fiddled with the graphics settings like a true PC master übermensch? if not, Bad eric!

My 770 runs most of the stuff on high/ultra and it looks de-fucking-licious