Witcher 3 downgrade arguments in here and nowhere else

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Sanctuary

Member
I think a lot of the shock comes from the fact that CDPR were widely "trusted" as developers in the sense that they were very pro-consumer and always honest.

Where does all of this unrestrained gushing come from? They've released exactly two games since 2007 (three if you count TW3, but it's too early to judge). It's like, because of all of the crap that Ubisoft, EA, Bioware, Activision, Blizzard, Irrational etc. have done over the years, a company that has yet had enough time to fall as hard is somehow gaming's new messiah?

They might be "pro-consumer" with the way GOG games work, but the most recent debacle with GMG and keys should have opened more than a few eyes that they aren't above lessening choice.
They quickly became my favorite new developer after the release of the first two Witcher games, but they aren't above reproach.
 

tuxfool

Banned
Where does all of this unrestrained gushing come from? They've released exactly two games since 2007 (three if you count TW3, but it's too early to judge). It's like, because of all of the crap that Ubisoft, EA, Bioware, Activision, Blizzard, Irrational etc. have done over the years, a company that has yet had enough time to fall as hard is somehow gaming's new messiah?

They might be "pro-consumer" with the way GOG games work, but the most recent debacle with GMG and keys should have opened more than a few eyes that they aren't above lessening choice.
They quickly became my favorite new developer after the release of the first two Witcher games, but they aren't above reproach.

Just give over. Some people are more likable than others same goes for anything else. You're not really looking for an answer to your question, people will give you whatever answer they will, I doubt any will satisfy.
 

Mandon

Banned
I did a little digging myself guys. And in regards to the Novigrad walls being less detailed and more boxy, I found something interesting.

x1GwK2t.png


Top is old bottom is new. As you can clearly see, the opposite is true for some locations - and you can actually see an improvement from previous builds. Just something to think about.
 
I did a little digging myself guys. And in regards to the Novigrad walls being less detailed and more boxy, I found something interesting.

x1GwK2t.png


Top is old bottom is new. As you can clearly see, the opposite is true for some locations - and you can actually see an improvement from previous builds. Just something to think about.

this post will go overlooked.
 

15strong

Member
this post will go overlooked.
This actually highlights why this stuff is pretty silly. It's the same geometry and same texture. The only difference is they added a few more edges to the side or just blended the smoothing groups so you do not get that sharp of lighting difference. We are talking about a difference of a couple of polygons.
 
I did a little digging myself guys. And in regards to the Novigrad walls being less detailed and more boxy, I found something interesting.

x1GwK2t.png


Top is old bottom is new. As you can clearly see, the opposite is true for some locations - and you can actually see an improvement from previous builds. Just something to think about.

Wall looks bad in both to me. I barely tell there's even a corner there in the bottom pic.
 
This actually highlights why this stuff is pretty silly. It's the same geometry and same texture. The only difference is they added a few more edges to the side or just blended the smoothing groups so you do not get that sharp of lighting difference. We are talking about a difference of a couple of polygons.


Pretty much this, you can tell they have even added a few new brick models over the edges but the uvw unwrapping is a little poor and looks like a bad photoshop job.
 
I did a little digging myself guys. And in regards to the Novigrad walls being less detailed and more boxy, I found something interesting.

x1GwK2t.png


Top is old bottom is new. As you can clearly see, the opposite is true for some locations - and you can actually see an improvement from previous builds. Just something to think about.

The lighting took a hit, though, as the self casting shadows, which seems to be partially there but now without the nice filtering.
 
The lighting took a hit, though, as the self casting shadows, which seems to be partially there but now without the nice filtering.


Well the lighting appears to be overcast so you wouldn't expect there to be hard shadows let alone any shadows except for AO and other such contact shadows.

The only true way to compare these two screenshots would be to take them at the same time of day under the same weather conditions.
 

DOWN

Banned
I did a little digging myself guys. And in regards to the Novigrad walls being less detailed and more boxy, I found something interesting.

x1GwK2t.png


Top is old bottom is new. As you can clearly see, the opposite is true for some locations - and you can actually see an improvement from previous builds. Just something to think about.
They both look like post-downgrade weak tho

We already knew from the famous unfinished cliff comparison that some of the world was not finished. But that was also post-downgrade. Bad wall looks fine next to worse wall. Okay.

Thankfully I'd be looking at the character models in that moment.
 

Mandon

Banned
The lighting took a hit, though, as the self casting shadows, which seems to be partially there but now without the nice filtering.

Time of day is a HUGE factor in this. I saw in a preview build Jesse Cox played that at sunset, the lighting is breathtaking and it has a lot of the ambience from previous footage. Like I said to others before.. it's impossible to know if this really is downgraded until we play it for ourselves. I specifically remember Peter Gelencser stating that they aren't going to show the "highest" settings to the public until the game is released, and I'm quoting him when he says that their reasoning is to add to the "slap in the face" value. Furthermore, the settings were locked off to Cox so I assume the same is for the rest of the people that got to fly to poland to play. With that being said, it's a possibility that CD is intentionally keeping us in the dark about the game's "ultra" settings just to troll all the downgrade accusers.. but then game development is a complicated process and you should feel stupid if you ever expected that pre-rendered bullshit in previous trailers to be actual gameplay. Optimization, my friend.. it can make a game look worse than what trailers insinuate.
 

Mandon

Banned
They both look like post-downgrade weak tho

We already knew from the famous unfinished cliff comparison that some of the world was not finished. But that was also post-downgrade. Bad wall looks fine next to worse wall. Okay.

Thankfully I'd be looking at the character models in that moment.

"Post-downgrade weak" ? The facial textures and LoD are comparable to what we've been shown, if we're strictly talking about character models and not plantation. There's hardly anything to go on to assert a downgrade in those two photos - I simply brought them up in response to the Novigrad images.
 

DOWN

Banned
"Post-downgrade weak" ? The facial textures and LoD are comparable to what we've been shown, if we're strictly talking about character models and not plantation. There's hardly anything to go on to assert a downgrade in those two photos - I simply brought them up in response to the Novigrad images.
They are both from after the downgrade. And my last line was a compliment to the character models.
 

Vitor711

Member
review embargo lifts in a few hours, is that correct?

Correct. Should get something in a few. Can't wait. I'd be shocked if this isn't universally praised.

I'm slightly worried about the combat but I doubt it'll be anything worse than just 'decent'.

I mean, hell, look at Skyrim - abysmal combat and people still loved it.
 

BigTnaples

Todd Howard's Secret GAF Account
Yep. They've tried to put a nice spin on it, but they also aren't denying that they changed the lighting system. We've known for a long time it doesn't used anything advanced like global illumination though, so maybe it shouldn't have been a surprise that all we saw previously were advanced lighting techniques at specifically selected times of day, and what we're ending up with is a cheaper lighting system for performance, with assets that don't always perfectly match up with the time of day:



http://www.gamepressure.com/e.asp?ID=73


Good interview. Hope they reconsider DX12 support for the inevitable Enhanced Edition.
 

Trojan

Member
Wow, over 50 pages now. Have I missed anything exciting in the last 15 pages? I hit the parachute when things devolved into a console vs PC war and was wondering if the ship got righted.
 

Mandon

Banned
They are both from after the downgrade. And my last line was a compliment to the character models.

Still too early to say for certain if there even is a downgrade. Certainly it looks different in certain areas, and the Novigrad image does scare me a little.. but I'm on the fence.

After all, there is a difference between optimizing an unplayable build, which will obviously require some sacrifices along the way - and downgrading a game outright for bullshit platform parity, which is the opposite of RED's design philosophy.
 

RedAssedApe

Banned
i wish it were always sunset. i know its them trying to be true to life but overcast lighting always looks bad just like in real life lol
 
Correct. Should get something in a few. Can't wait. I'd be shocked if this isn't universally praised.

I'm slightly worried about the combat but I doubt it'll be anything worse than just 'decent'.

I mean, hell, look at Skyrim - abysmal combat and people still loved it.
Awesome thanks. Big fan of the Witcher 2 but not so much the combat. Interestingly the closest comparison I see to the combat in W3 is Bloodborne, what with both their reliance on backsteps and dodges and timing attacks just right.
 

kingwingin

Member
I did a little digging myself guys. And in regards to the Novigrad walls being less detailed and more boxy, I found something interesting.

x1GwK2t.png


Top is old bottom is new. As you can clearly see, the opposite is true for some locations - and you can actually see an improvement from previous builds. Just something to think about.
the bottom pic looks wrse if you notice the bricks overlapping.
 

Mandon

Banned
the bottom pic looks wrse if you notice the bricks overlapping.

...Are you kidding? The old pic looks like the bricks were pasted on and it's really ugly and noticeable. In the new build, the bricks still look pasted on but at least it's subtle and hidden somewhat, and the bricks are re-arranged to look more realistic. It's not perfect, but it's better than it was.
 

DOWN

Banned
Still too early to say for certain if there even is a downgrade. Certainly it looks different in certain areas, and the Novigrad image does scare me a little.. but I'm on the fence.

After all, there is a difference between optimizing from an unplayable build and downgrading a game outright.
Not when you claim there won't be a downgrade after showing off an early build with better lighting, LOD, fire, and foliage at the very least.
 

BigTnaples

Todd Howard's Secret GAF Account
The lighting took a hit, though, as the self casting shadows, which seems to be partially there but now without the nice filtering.


The lighting took no hit. It's a ToD thing.

We see the exact same shadowing and lighting on NPC's faces as the top pic in all of the other footage.

The sun is in a different spot.
 

Mandon

Banned
Yeah. Your looking at near twice the performance of a 660ti.

Well I still had a better card than a 660ti before I upgraded. lol Not by much, but I still felt it worth the upgrade. I'm not ashamed to say I prepared a lot for this game. I'm glad it'll pay off.
 

Mandon

Banned
Not when you claim there won't be a downgrade after showing off an early build with better lighting, LOD, fire, and foliage at the very least.

Half of those burning building screenies were from a cinematic with the King of the Wild Hunt looking at the camera. The others were pre-rendered bullshit, rather than anything from an actual gameplay build. Incomparable. Compare what we were shown at e3 last year to the current build and that's one thing.. anything before that isn't actually gameplay, rather just a pre-rendered concept preview. As anyone that knows anything about game development will tell you, games can and do change drastically through development. Sometimes for the worse.. but more often than not that's because what was initially shown can't be feasible in a playable build. Was it downgraded from gameplay we were shown, though? The only thing that worries me is the novigrad screen because that actually does show a significant alteration from a legitimate gameplay video.
 

Derp

Member
they just sold a million copies of a game that's not even out, pretty sure there's no love lost.
Pretty sure Watch Dogs broke some kind of sales record for a new IP when it launched yet every man and his dog on a forum hated Ubisoft before the game launched thanks to the downgrade. There's more to this game than graphics, so just because a downgrade happened doesn't mean everyone isn't going to buy the game. That also doesn't mean there is none of what you call "love lost". They're personally still one of my favourite developers and i'm still getting the game day one, but there's definitely a loss in trust and i'm sure plenty of others feel the same way.

Also we're a minority. The "casual consumers" make up most of the sales, and these people either have no idea there was a downgrade or don't care to begin with. A lot probably don't even know the company that made the game. So i don't think sales figures are an indication of everyone's perspective of a company.
 

Dajanksta

Banned
I did a little digging myself guys. And in regards to the Novigrad walls being less detailed and more boxy, I found something interesting.

x1GwK2t.png


Top is old bottom is new. As you can clearly see, the opposite is true for some locations - and you can actually see an improvement from previous builds. Just something to think about.
I like this post
 

Helznicht

Member
I did a little digging myself guys. And in regards to the Novigrad walls being less detailed and more boxy, I found something interesting.

x1GwK2t.png


Top is old bottom is new. As you can clearly see, the opposite is true for some locations - and you can actually see an improvement from previous builds. Just something to think about.

Did you dig into some photoshop? Thats some crazy mortar:

HTnHgMb.jpg
 

BigTnaples

Todd Howard's Secret GAF Account
Did you dig into some photoshop? Thats some crazy mortar:

HTnHgMb.jpg


You really didn't need to highlight in paint what was already the focus point of the comparison. We have eyes.


"Hey guys look at the corners of the walls in this image comparison!"


"Hey guys, in case you don't know what the corner of a wall is, I have circled it and added arrows to guide you!!!"
 

Helznicht

Member
You really didn't need to highlight in paint what was already the focus point of the comparison. We have eyes.


"Hey guys look at the corners of the walls in this image comparison!"


"Hey guys, in case you don't know what the corner of a wall is, I have circled it and added arrows to guide you!!!"

Hey clueless, the bricks have been copy/pasted over the corner edge in the bottom pick.
 

cripterion

Member
That was a really good preview. It looked great to me, especially those sunset shots. Also, he talks about some really cool stuff that are in the game, can't wait to try it.

Why is it such a good preview? He didn't say anything that we didn't know before. Gopher did higher quality videos without all the gushing and beat him to the punch too.
 

kingwingin

Member
You really didn't need to highlight in paint what was already the focus point of the comparison. We have eyes.


"Hey guys look at the corners of the walls in this image comparison!"


"Hey guys, in case you don't know what the corner of a wall is, I have circled it and added arrows to guide you!!!"
the arrows are needed since everyone thinks that's the better looking shot,
 
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