Witcher 3 - Insider on the Graphics Downgrade

you said:

Well cdprojek new license allows them to revoke the player's game if they dislike the mod (hack)

And don't you dare cheat (not sure what is considered cheating) that will also break the license.

Click to expand...

I'm still not really sure how they are going to revoke the license of a DRM free game…..(On PC of course, but uh where else would you mod at the moment)

I'm not much of a graphics fanatic so it doesn't bother me that much but marketing doesn't seem to be at a high point in Poland. (Good news everybody!)

I'd give them a break, but their statements about it looking better than PR material - and this denial afterwards is weak and not worthy of them, really.

Not that I care all that much, but I won't be a child and go on the defensive for a game I'm emotionally invested in.

Not my style, really.

CelticFrost said:

As for the person that wants to say the sold you a Golden goose and all you got was fucked up graphics.

Then you have a few days to cancel……

Click to expand...

I did cancel. Not to try to punish them, I dont think my one order is much of a punishment. I will also be buying at a later stage. But I explained why in my cancellation request and asked for a big upgrade to PC edition, because I hope that if they get enough of that message they may respond to it.

Fair enough.

Personally I wouldn't be surprised to find a lot of hidden optimisation options which allow for time consuming but effective graphics enhancements.

JDR13 said:

I know the enthusiasts would love to have a game that could only run on the top 10% of high-end systems, but that's not practical or feasible from a business standpoint.

Click to expand...

Just to say I'm not that bothered about this whole downgrade stuff but it is unfair to suggest that this is what vurt etc. are complaining about. It's perfectly standard these days to have very high/ultra settings available to PC Gamers that perhaps only 10% of PC Gamers would be able to avail of but in no way would limit other platforms or lower end PCs. Anyway vurt will sort all this out with a texture package right

BrianOConnell said:

Just to say I'm not that bothered about this whole downgrade stuff but it is unfair to suggest that this is what vurt etc. are complaining about. It's perfectly standard these days to have very high/ultra settings available to PC Gamers that perhaps only 10% of PC Gamers would be able to avail of but in no way would limit other platforms or lower end PCs. Anyway vurt will sort all this out with a texture package right

Click to expand...

I wasn't suggesting anything, I was stating a fact. All three versions of the game will share the same basic textures, and the PC version will be limited by that. That has nothing to do with an ultra setting which I expect TW3 will have.

It would be great if the PC version could have a completely different (superior) set of textures and different lighting, but something tells me that wasn't feasible for the devs.

BrianOConnell said:

Anyway vurt will sort all this out with a texture package right

Click to expand...

Should never fall to modders to patch up the shortcomings of a title. And it doesn't seem to be simply a matter of textures here regardless; plenty of lighting/shadowing effects have been chopped out entirely.

BrianOConnell said:

Anyway vurt will sort all this out with a texture package right

Click to expand...

It is certainly ripe for a Flora Overhaul! Such things combined with some ENB post processing could still make it quite impressive.

I have to admit I am oddly fascinated by this story/situation. I would normally call myself someone who puts gameplay way above graphics but I find myself not just fascinated but also a little upset I have to admit. (A guy can't love Knights of the Chalice, Spiderweb games, etc and care that much about graphics can he?)

Sure I'll still buy the game. I'm confident I will enjoy the game. My current rig can't run the game maxed out anyway (a year/year and a half from now when I actually get around to playing Witcher 3 who knows).

Old gameplay footage/trailers: Yes I know in the real world "everyone" doctors things. That said, I am going to be a little bit happy anytime a company gets hammered for making fake/BS trailers that are not representative of actual gameplay even if "everyone" does it.

CDPR has handled this very badly. A lot is their own fault for saying the game would would look as good or better than the old footage. Part is the loose/loose situation they are in by either going back on what they said in the past or having to admit that consoles held them back. (whether they took out things already in or just decided to aim for a lower target and never put in things they originally thought they could doesn't matter).

Of course companies are going to make business decisions with consoles in mind, they sell a lot of copies. Of course an up to the second, cutting edge $3000 computer will vastly outperform a console. Of course companies need to design with the average consumer in mind. We all know this intellectually.

But it's not just intellectual anymore. Here is the evidence of just how much "next gen" consoles are holding things back. Here it is easy to see exactly what is missed out on. Other examples like Watchdogs fuel the fire. Even for those of us who can't run things maxed it's nice to see at least some companies pushing the envelope and now that almost can't happen because to sell tons of copies you have to do consoles. So even if you see the realities it is still frustrating. Add to that most people saw CDPR as above that, rightly or wrongly.

Well, not sure I meant to write quite that much. And even reading my own post I feel some "get over it already dude!" But I'll keep following this topic non the less

xenocide said:

But it's not just intellectual anymore. Here is the evidence of just how much "next gen" consoles are holding things back. Here it is easy to see exactly what is missed out on. Other examples like Watchdogs fuel the fire.

Click to expand...

Which begs a question as to why do console owners make so little fuss about crappy graphics of their "new generation" and "cutting edge" consoles?

Because they don't have proper means to create fuss.
Noone invented morse with only A-B-X yet. And even if someone did, who'd care for that crap?

Plus on average a more casual gamer and a lot of the more serious probably have a PC also. And even if Sony and Micro advertise as cutting edge I think a lot of people know that ease of use/plug and play is the advantage of a console, not up the second graphics.

zahratustra said:

Which begs a question as to why do console owners make so little fuss about crappy graphics of their "new generation" and "cutting edge" consoles?

Click to expand...

In many games new console graphics are very good, in cases where the game is more limited. But games like Watchdogs and W3 are trying pushing multiple boundaries at the same time. Next gen graphics and lighting, huge and complex open world etc. This is too much and there must be compromises on consoles.

PCs can handle much more even in the amount of memory because they don't have to share main memory with graphics like consoles. But scope of such games are limited by the single design across consoles.

kobold said:

Had no choice but to fit consoles, and now restricted in what they can say by deals they made with the various powers.

Click to expand...

You know, I'm more and more inclined to believe in such conspiracy theories when I look at how poorly CDP has been addressing the issue. The way they are trying to weasel out of the situation is pretty unprofessional and reinforces my belief that there might indeed have been financially supported "requests" from MS to withhold HD textures/graphics from the PC version for a set amount of time.
CDP just can't give a good reason because there really is no good reason except money and deals.

I wouldn't be surprised at all if six months down the line we will be getting an official HD texture patch for PC and when Windows 10 is out maybe even a DirectX 12 patch (the latter also sponsored by Microsoft). Thinking about it more... a deal with MS for both Xbone and PC (DX12) seems actually very likely. MS doesn't have any PC flagship titles of their own to advertise Win 10 and DirectX 12 so a super buffed up The Witcher 3 would be a perfect candidate to advertise the power of Windows 10.

I think it's likely. I don't go for paranoid conspiracy theories but I work in commerce and I know how very sensitive big corporations are about their brands. Ridiculous down to the tiniest detail. Could easily be conditions in some sort of promotional deal that other platforms won't get preferred versions. Also sometimes not even spelled out, but sort of veiled threats in conversations about "good relationships".

From Steam, an interesting comparision display (all german):
http://steamcommunity.com/app/292030/discussions/0/617335934135846904/

HAnthinG said:

http://www.pcgameshardware.de/The-Witcher-3-PC-237266/Specials/Technik-Test-1158845/

Some bullet points:

Performance is "very good", regardless if you're using Radeon-GPUs or Nvidia-GPUs.
GTX 770 or R9 280X are sufficient for Ultra Settings @ FullHD

2 GiByte VRAM is enough for the (still very good and diverse) Max Textures.

Config File lets you tweak the game extensively, like Distance Scaling (I know some of you were worried) and higher res shadows.

Every thread is getting some love. So get your 6 cores out . Still, the game is playable with just 4 cores @ 2GHz.

Graphics-Comparsion Min vs Max PC
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKadTifTRlY

4k, ultra settings video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NASfzt1C7aY

PC vs PS4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Cn-ekHLqEY

Gameplay in 4k (GTX TITAN X)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MuskgsmIe6k

Click to expand...

A bit off topic, I was just reading Moriendor's post and saw the +1 at the bottom and thought "that's a bit weird to like your own post".

Then I was shocked to see that +1 was by Morrandir. Not sure I ever realized there were 2 of you, always read both your posts thinking you were the same person. Sorry 'bout that!

nVidia is preparing a driver and says this:
http://www.geforce.com/whats-new/articles/the-witcher-3-wild-hunt-is-your-system-ready

we’ll be releasing a Game Ready GeForce GTX The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt driver shortly before the eagerly-anticipated title goes live next Tuesday. Optimizing performance, the Game Ready drivers ensure the best possible experience, and come loaded with a SLI profile for peerless performance in multi-GPU systems.

Click to expand...

xenocide said:

A bit off topic, I was just reading Moriendor's post and saw the +1 at the bottom and thought "that's a bit weird to like your own post".

Then I was shocked to see that +1 was by Morrandir. Not sure I ever realized there were 2 of you, always read both your posts thinking you were the same person. Sorry 'bout that!

Click to expand...

It's his evil twin :lol: