The Witcher 2 - Patch 1.1 Released, Now DRM-Free

You guys seriously couldn't see the difference with ubersampling enabled?

I could, even at 1920x1200. To me it just looked like an extremely high degree of AA, like x16 or something. Easy to understand why there's such a performance hit with it.
 
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We'll see once sales figures are released a month down the line… my money's on TW2 beating DA2, even with little DRM.

I don't think anybody expects the lack of DRM to increase sales. But what we're looking for here is little to no negative impact in sales numbers when DRM is removed. If a game without DRM sells as well as another game in its genre with DRM, then the argument can be made: Why have DRM at all? Why punish paying customers if the end result is the same?

I know there are two sides to this argument, and many folks think that no DRM will reduce sales dramatically (this is certainly the stance of every other publisher on the planet). But what's really admirable about what CDPR is doing is that they are willing to take a chance on the other side of the argument and provide a tangible data point that will go a long ways in either confirming or refuting the notion that the presence of DRM has anything at all to do with the sales numbers of a AAA PC game.

I applaud them for taking on this grand experiment…

I think it clear that piracy does reduces sales (At least to me) after reading tweakguides.com article about it(its 10+ pages of example after example). Check it out it very enlightening, it change my views on DRM and piracy.
 
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You guys seriously couldn't see the difference with ubersampling enabled?

I could, even at 1920x1200. To me it just looked like an extremely high degree of AA, like x16 or something. Easy to understand why there's such a performance hit with it.

We're just pretending not to notice it, for the hell of it ;)

You may very well be right - and I wouldn't have thought "Ubersampling" was about AA. I generally think 4xAA is more than sufficient - so taking such a huge hit for almost nothing would be pointless - to me.

So, I kinda hope it's about more than AA.
 
The only nice thing I've found about the patch is that now I can invert the look around on my Xbox controller. And the game plays INFINITELY better with a controller than with a mouse. (This is coming from an exclusively PC gamer who normally uses the mouse).

Still, can't play. Sent an email to tech support last night describing the issue. It's almost like a bug that has nothing to do with my graphics processing capabilities - I can turn ubersampling on and still get the exact same horrible frame rates inside rooms as I can at ultra low settings.
 
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You may very well be right - and I wouldn't have thought "Ubersampling" was about AA. I generally think 4xAA is more than sufficient - so taking such a huge hit for almost nothing would be pointless - to me.

So, I kinda hope it's about more than AA.

It's about AA+AF+LOD.

"The whole scene is rendered multiple times to give best possible texture and object details and antialiasing (better than antialias and anisotropy even on highest settings)."

Since I always keep AF at x16 anyways, it didn't make a difference to me there. I could see a noticeable difference in edge aliasing though. Fwiw, I also think x4 is sufficent for *most* games.
 
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It's about AA+AF.

"The whole scene is rendered multiple times to give best possible texture and object details and antialiasing (better than antialias and anisotropy even on highest settings)."

Since I always keep AF at x16 anyways, so it didn't make a difference to me there. I could see a noticeable difference in edge aliasing though. Fwiw, I also think x4 is sufficent for *most* games.

I've yet to play a game where I could detect any benefit of going above 4xAA and 4xAF - which are the settings I always use for games. That's regardless of resolution and monitor.

That said, I'm not sure what AA/AF settings The Witcher 2 uses without ubersampling on. It seems both are set at 2x or something, which is slightly too low for my tastes.

I see you added LOD - which makes no sense if it's about multiple renderings of the same image. At least, not as I understand the concept.
 
This game sounds like a mess. Glad I'm waiting it out. Hopefully the "enhanced" version (the playable one) comes out before I get my new system next year.


You should never base your opinion on internet forums. The people who are always the first to post something are normaly to complain.

People who are playing the game with major enthusiasm and nothing is wrong normaly dont feel much urge to post on forums.

I'm playing the game now, on my 2nd playthrough and have zero problems with it.

Only mild complains are the very basic inventory UI and realy weird mini-map orientation (i tend to get lost a lot).

I disable AA, uberspampling and motion blur (by personal taste only) on my gamming rig and game has no problem. On my laptop (normaly very complicated setups to run games), i lower everything and still plays quite decently.

The problem with PC gamming is not DRM, nor piracy. Its that every PC owner thinks because they spent $500-$2500 on a PC they are all special snowflakes and every developer has to make a game that is 100% compatible with every millionth special hardware/software configuration out there, wich is basicaly impossible.
 
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I've yet to play a game where I could detect any benefit of going above 4xAA and 4xAF - which are the settings I always use for games. That's regardless of resolution and monitor..

I've played many games where I could see a difference in x4+, especially with AF.

It makes no sense to not max out AF, as it has very little performance impact on newer graphics cards.


I see you added LOD - which makes no sense if it's about multiple renderings of the same image. At least, not as I understand the concept.

I'm going by the developer's description above, as they refer to improving "object details". It would be nice if they could provide a more thorough explanation though.
 
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You seem to mention the story as the key thing, and that makes sense. If you primarily go for the "experience" of the story - then I can definitely understand a more relaxed position being preferable. Personally, I consider a good story "icing on the cake" - and I'm generally much more into the gameplay and the immersion of "being there" as that character. I like to "pretend" I'm the one in the world, and I prefer being as active a participant in the story as possible.

Well, yeah. That's also part of it. Running around town, exploring and talking to everybody is the same thing. It's still taking in the environments and listening to dialogue and it's better when I am in a relaxed position. I do have to admit that I often get frustrated by combat in a game, just because it's in the way of story progression and laid back exploration. That's the difference between how we play our games.

Not that I find combat unimportant... I'm just not much of a math/min-max/strategy guy. I die three times, I get annoyed and hop on the internet to find the best way to kill the motherfucker. :) However, in this game, it hasn't happened yet.

Glad to hear I'm not the only one hating most stuff on TV :)

I'm done with TV that's not on-demand, anyway. Nowadays it feels like I'm forcefed what the stations want me to see. Or I've got to get real "lucky" and find a good program by accident. But Animal Planet can be fun on a Sunday with a hangover. :)
 
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I've played many games where I could see a difference in x4+, especially with AF.

It makes no sense to not max out AF, as it has very little performance impact on newer graphics cards.

Even if performance is only minimally affected, I see no point in it - if there's no detectable benefit.

I've looked at comparison screenshots of many games - and I've tested hundreds myself. My brain might be able to "detect" that there's some kind of difference - but I just can't see it.

However, if you can - I understand why you wouldn't mind.

Many people claim they can detect the difference, and I have to assume they're not just telling themselves that.

I'm going by the developer's description above, as they refer to improving "object details". It would be nice if they could provide a more thorough explanation though.

Well, object details is a pretty vague thing - and I too would like a more thorough explanation.
 
Well, yeah. That's also part of it. Running around town, exploring and talking to everybody is the same thing. It's still taking in the environments and listening to dialogue and it's better when I am in a relaxed position. I do have to admit that I often get frustrated by combat in a game, just because it's in the way of story progression and laid back exploration. That's the difference between how we play our games.

Not that I find combat unimportant… I'm just not much of a math/min-max/strategy guy. I die three times, I get annoyed and hop on the internet to find the best way to kill the motherfucker. :) However, in this game, it hasn't happened yet.

Yup, we're definitely different in that way :)

I'm done with TV that's not on-demand, anyway. Nowadays it feels like I'm forcefed what the stations want me to see. Or I've got to get real "lucky" and find a good program by accident. But Animal Planet can be fun on a Sunday with a hangover. :)

I've felt like that for 15 years or so. To me, it's like mass hypnosis or something :)
 
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