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[j-wood]

Finally finished the Witcher 1 last night and immediately booted up the Witcher 2 as Ive been waiting to play it since I bought it during the steam summer sale.

I got to say the game runs like crap on my machine even at medium (crap meaning 20-30 fps), but with the custom user config file in the OP I was able get the game running at an acceptable 30+ fps with decent image quality.

Though after having just come off of playing the first Witcher at a constant 60+ fps, I really want the same experience in Witcher 2...though I may have to settle for low settings =(

Im just not willing to sacrifice AA and vsync ( I hate image tearing more than low framerate), but I guess even low will still look better than the Witcher 1 ever did...

My rig:
i7 @ 2.93 GHz
Windows 7 Enterprise x64
8GB Ram
GTX 460 1GB

You should have much better rates. I basically have the same rig as you (2600k i7, gtx 460, 4 gb of ram, windows 7 x64) and I run the game on default high at 1680x1050. Haven't checked exact fps, but I haven't noticed any lag or slowdown and I just reached chapter 1

 

[ss_lemonade]

Finally finished the Witcher 1 last night and immediately booted up the Witcher 2 as Ive been waiting to play it since I bought it during the steam summer sale.

I got to say the game runs like crap on my machine even at medium (crap meaning 20-30 fps), but with the custom user config file in the OP I was able get the game running at an acceptable 30+ fps with decent image quality.

Though after having just come off of playing the first Witcher at a constant 60+ fps, I really want the same experience in Witcher 2...though I may have to settle for low settings =(

Im just not willing to sacrifice AA and vsync ( I hate image tearing more than low framerate), but I guess even low will still look better than the Witcher 1 ever did...

My rig:
i7 @ 2.93 GHz
Windows 7 Enterprise x64
8GB Ram
GTX 460 1GB

At what resolution do you run the game? I was able to get some pretty good fps before with my 275 but had to lower resolution from 1920x1080 to 1600x900, disabled AA and scatter DOF. I just used NV's aspect ratio options to play with borders to keep things from getting blurry

 

[AEREC]

At what resolution do you run the game? I was able to get some pretty good fps before with my 275 but had to lower resolution from 1920x1080 to 1600x900, disabled AA and scatter DOF. I just used NV's aspect ratio options to play with borders to keep things from getting blurry

Started off at 1920x1080 but after lowering to 1600x900 I am having much better results.

 

[Max]

How did a topless woman get into the torture chamber during the prison escape mission, she wasn't there my first playthrough!

 

[Kyaw]

How did a topless woman get into the torture chamber during the prison escape mission, she wasn't there my first playthrough!

Multiple paths for the dungeon escape part bro!
You will see even more paths throughout the game.

 

[Foliorum Viridum]

I posted this in the OT, but then I remembered about this thread:

Having an issue with the Steam version

- I go to run it, does the install etc, then I click play and it says loading game and then nothing.
- Tried verifying files, it says 9gb had to be re-downloaded. I did that.
- Tried to run it again, first time setup, etc, still didn't load.
- Tried to go to the folder and do "run as admin" etc, still nothing.

Common problem? Solution?

The OP didn't seem to mention this issue.

 

[Foliorum Viridum]

And now I've verified the files again and it's forcing me to download 9gb. Again.

Great.

 

[Minsc]

Here's what I'd try (in this order):

1) Not sure if this applies to you, but move steam the heck out of C:\Program Files...
It does not belong there. Get everything that is a game out of that folder, this is really easy if you only use steam, because you can just drag the entire Steam directory to a new folder, C:\Games\Steam or wherever, other games you have to uninstall/reinstall.

2) Try running both Steam & TW2 as admin (it looks like you just tried TW2?), worked here and earlier in the thread, problem sounds similar to yours.

If you do have success with either method, which hopefully you do, I'll add it to the OP, but it's never been very clear to me exactly what is causing Steam copies to do this.

 

[Majima Everywhere System]

And now I've verified the files again and it's forcing me to download 9gb. Again.

Great.

I had the same problem and it wanted me to re-download 2 gigs. After that didn't fix it, I re-downloaded the whole game and had the same problem on multiple attempts of trying to start the game.

I then went into the steam folder and found the .exe for the game. I ran as administrator and waited it out. It eventually pulled up the launcher. After that, no issues.

I tried running the game from the steam folder before re-downloading the whole game and it didn't work. I'm not sure, but it seemed like a combination of restarting, running as admin and running steam as admin. People also mentioned turning off UAC for a moment.

 

[teiresias]

I posted this in the OT, but then I remembered about this thread:

Having an issue with the Steam version

- I go to run it, does the install etc, then I click play and it says loading game and then nothing.
- Tried verifying files, it says 9gb had to be re-downloaded. I did that.
- Tried to run it again, first time setup, etc, still didn't load.
- Tried to go to the folder and do "run as admin" etc, still nothing.

Common problem? Solution?

The OP didn't seem to mention this issue.

Trying shutting down Steam and then restarting it by running it as administrator and trying to start the game.

 

[Foliorum Viridum]

Looks like running Steam as admin is the way to do it. I didn't think of that. That's worked for loads of people in this thread too.

Unfortunately, I can't re-download that 9gb yet to try myself because of bandwidth limitations in the day, so I'll have to grab it overnight and try tomorrow.

It's really stupid that verifying the files reverts it back to before the 9gb patch :\

 

[Kattbuss]

Edit: Wrong thread, oops!

 

[Bradach]

Looks like running Steam as admin is the way to do it. I didn't think of that. That's worked for loads of people in this thread too.

Unfortunately, I can't re-download that 9gb yet to try myself because of bandwidth limitations in the day, so I'll have to grab it overnight and try tomorrow.

It's really stupid that verifying the files reverts it back to before the 9gb patch :\

I had this exact problem, even down to the multiple re-downloads. Running steam as admin and the the game as admin fixed the problem and strangely it fixed it for good. Now I just launch it from steam as normal.
Best of luck

 

[Sanjay]

My steam downloaded a 80 MB patch today, anyone else? wonder what it is.

 

[R1CHO]

My steam downloaded a 80 MB patch today, anyone else? wonder what it is.

Yep, its patch 1.3.5, a hotfix:

1) Issue with shadows in 3D Vision mode has been resolved.
2) Screenshots to savegames made in 3D Vision are now visible in load menu.
3) Issue with Steam achievements not being registered has been resolved.
4) Blood texture glitches in game with ubersampling option turned on have been fixed.
5) Pocket item counter is properly updated after picking up an item which is already selected.
6) Issue with ingredient counter when brewing multiple Thunderbolt potions has been resolved.
7) Finished “Scent of incencse” quest is no longer marked as failed when entering Loredo’s residence at the end of Chapter 1.
8) Corrections have been made in the greater mutagen drop rate.
9) Deleting savegame after entering memories and flashbacks menu no longer causes “Loading available flashbacks” message to appear.
10) Game exe files are no longer treated as a threat by popular antivirus software.
11) Patching the game automatically right after installation no longer causes Launcher.exe error on Windows XP systems.
12) Game installation folder is not recognized if diacritic signs were used in folder name on Windows which doesn’t support them. Patch now properly informs about the cause of the problem.
13) Name of two scientists in Flotsam have been corrected.
14) Storage chest description have been corrected.
Description of Mahakaman Rune Sihill imported from The Witcher savegame have been corrected.

 

[SOLDIER]

So has the pop-in been fixed?

 

[Max]

My steam downloaded a 80 MB patch today, anyone else? wonder what it is.

mines 9,568 MB

didn't they fix this

 

[garath]

Update on performance. I finally used fraps to look at framerate to compare my old GPU to my new one and here's what I ended up with:

i5 2500k @ stock speeds
8gigs DDR3 1600

EVGA GTX260 Superclocked 898mb
Witcher 2 on high in Floatsam
max fps 40, avg fps 30

PNY GTX460 1gig
Witcher 2 on high in Floatsam
max fps 48, avg fps 35

Not too shabby. A few ini tweaks could possibly squeeze some better performance out. I'll be OC'ing the CPU soon and probably the 460 as well. I'll be happy with an average > 40 fps on high.

 

[Snuggles]

d'oh, it was already posted

disregard this prease

 

[SOLDIER]

Is no one going to confirm whether the hotfix fixed the pop-in issues and such?

 

[Dennis]

I will soon embark on this game after my new PC arrives so I would like to thank Minsc for keeping the OP updated, making it easy to get the relevant info.

Great job.

All games should have a dedicated tweak thread!

 

[SneakyStephan]

Getting a hd6870 pcs+ (heavily oced version) this weekend, can't wait to finally play this game after finishing witcher 1 a month before release.

Judging from the graph in the op it should run pretty well too.
Anyone happen to run it with a phenom II x3 720BE (or other 3 core cpu?)

Hard to make anything of the cpu graph where the closest comparisons are a shitty athlon II and a super high clocked phenom II.
Mine is only running at 3,2 Ghz.

 

[Minsc]

Is no one going to confirm whether the hotfix fixed the pop-in issues and such?

I loaded up a few of my older games, and they seem fine to me. One spot I get some pop-up, but I can't say for sure if it's new to v1.3, I've gotten pop-up in the past with the 1.2 patch, when I thought the patch was responsible for the pop-up, but restoring back to 1.1 was the same, so I don't know. I didn't notice a huge thread on GOG or TW forums about it either (and TW forums are very thorough), but I need to look a little harder, maybe there is one with some answers in it. It seems to be a mix of placebo (old problems) and new problems to me though, if anything.

I will soon embark on this game after my new PC arrives so I would like to thank Minsc for keeping the OP updated, making it easy to get the relevant info.

Great job.

All games should have a dedicated tweak thread!

You should be in for a treat with this game, once you get past the few flaws of the engine (mainly pop-up and shadow dithering, and don't forget to turn off bloom) and also that it's not an open-world to run around freely (much like TW1)! If you end up giving it a shot with a 360 pad, you may not end up using keyboard + mouse at all. The pad implementation isn't perfect, but with the storage at inns and better inventory sorting now, it should be much more manageable.

 

[Dennis]

aaargh...I don't like the sound of that. I HATE pop-in and shadow dithering. They are a some of the worst problems with graphics!

Any word on coming fixes for that? Either form CD Projekt or some modders?

 

[Exuro]

The dithered shadows are absolutely horrible. Some cutscenes just look terrible when there are shadow edges going across people faces. So many lines and crosses. Would be nice if someone was working to mod them or if CDPR were planning on putting in new shadows.

 

[Minsc]

aaargh...I don't like the sound of that. I HATE pop-in and shadow dithering. They are a some of the worst problems with graphics!

Any word on coming fixes for that? Either form CD Projekt or some modders?

Well, the good news is it's not in your face the entire time, I really don't notice the dithering all that much, maybe like 10% of the time, though I think I might be less prone to it than others because it never bothered me in RE4 on the gamecube either, and I know people have said that it's horrible. It's not like every scene has pop-up and dithering though, it's just unfortunate the ones that do, well do. Maybe the next version of the engine that uses DX11 will solve it, sooner or later we've got to leave DX9 behind.

 

[mileS]

aaargh...I don't like the sound of that. I HATE pop-in and shadow dithering. They are a some of the worst problems with graphics!

Any word on coming fixes for that? Either form CD Projekt or some modders?

If you use FoliageDistanceScale=1.6 and MeshDistanceScale=2.2 in the user file the pop-in isn't as bad, but its still the biggest downside of the new engine with all the streaming they have to do. As for the shadow dithering, well as most have said here, you don't really notice it after a while. I guess it depends on the person really. I wouldn't get any hopes up for fixes for any of them though. They would probably need to make a new engine to fix both.

Pop-in really takes me out of the experience.

 

[InternHertz]

Steam achievements fixed means I can resume playing.

 

[j-wood]

Can someone give me some tips on the best settings for the best performance/IQ?

My rig is a i7 2600k, GTX 460 (1GB), 4 GB of DDR3, and just a regular 7200rpm HDD.

Currently running the game on default high settings, at 1680x1050 resolution. For the most part performance has been fantastic.

I'm currently in chapter 2 on Roche's side, so I'm at the battlefield. When I go out into the area behind the brothel with all the foliage on the ground, the game gets slightly sluggish. If I go anywhere else it's fine, so I suspect all the foliage is causing the slight slowdown. It's still playable by all means, but I think it's dipping into the high 20s at the point.

Anything below 30 you can tell with human eyesight right?

 

[Sutton Dagger]

So I just finished downloading the W2 on Steam and plan to play it this week but I have a concern. I have a 27" iMac so 2560x1440 res, and I'm not going to be able to play it in native res right? Even on lowest settings? I just hate the look of anything but native, it looks so blurry to me, I would rather have lower settings and higher res so I hope that's possible. Should I be tweaking the ini settings for better performance?

 

[Tony Danza]

Can I run this game adequately on my laptop?

Intel Core i5-480M 2.66GHz
AMD Radeon HD 6550M
4 GB DDR3

 

[Kyaw]

Not very well at all. Low settings 20fps or lower?

 

[Corky]

How has the performance changed since day 1 witcher 2 for nvidia + SLI users? I remember having to fiddle around with inspector and remove drm and stuff like that in order to get out as much as possible from my pc. Any progress?

 

[Zzoram]

Not very well at all. Low settings 20fps or lower?

My HD4870 512MB and E8400 3.0GHz dual-core can play The Witcher 2 1680x1050 medium just fine. I think he should be able to play it medium too, assuming the HD6550 is similar to the HD4870 in performance, which is entirely possible.

 

[Tony Danza]

My HD4870 512MB and E8400 3.0GHz dual-core can play The Witcher 2 1680x1050 medium just fine. I think he should be able to play it medium too, assuming the HD6550 is similar to the HD4870 in performance, which is entirely possible.

Idk, this is the only information I could find for it.

http://www.notebookcheck.net/AMD-Radeon-HD-6550M.41143.0.html

If I ran the game in 1280 x 720 wouldn't that help a lot?

 

[bee]

so they finally fixed it in 3D vision eh, only took them 2 months. definitely worth waiting for though, looks stunning in 3D now, also tried maxed with uber in 2D and triple screen with no uber but the 3D blows them away tbh. still plays fine too max settings except uber, 1080p, 16xaf forced and 3D and still average around 35fps

edit: oh but for anyone who tries it in 3D, you need to add these settings to user.ini to make the 3D look really good

ConvergenceClose=0
ConvergenceCutscene=2
ConvergenceInside=3
ConvergenceOutside=3

 

[Saren is Bad]

How has the performance changed since day 1 witcher 2 for nvidia + SLI users? I remember having to fiddle around with inspector and remove drm and stuff like that in order to get out as much as possible from my pc. Any progress?

Haven't kept up a lot but I don't think any progress has been made.

 

[K.Jack]

Can I run this game adequately on my laptop?

Intel Core i5-480M 2.66GHz
AMD Radeon HD 6550M
4 GB DDR3

My HD4870 512MB and E8400 3.0GHz dual-core can play The Witcher 2 1680x1050 medium just fine. I think he should be able to play it medium too, assuming the HD6550 is similar to the HD4870 in performance, which is entirely possible.

Idk, this is the only information I could find for it.

http://www.notebookcheck.net/AMD-Radeon-HD-6550M.41143.0.html

If I ran the game in 1280 x 720 wouldn't that help a lot?

The 6550M is only an overclocked mobile 5650, which puts it a solid 50% slower than the 8800 GT, and not in the same stratosphere as the desktop 4870.

Expect to run TW2 on the lowest of settings, at best.

 

[BadTaste]

There isn't a demo for The Witcher 2? I had a look on Steam but to no avail.

I'd rather try a demo than buying the game and getting shitty performance results.

i7 920 @ 2.67GHz
HD5850
6GB RAM
Windows 7 Home Premium

 

[Red]

There isn't a demo for The Witcher 2? I had a look on Steam but to no avail.

I'd rather try a demo than buying the game and getting shitty performance results.

i7 920 @ 2.67GHz
HD5850
6GB RAM
Windows 7 Home Premium

5850 is a capable card. You'll be able to run it nearly maxed out with no problems. Might have to knock back one or two effects, but you'll be rocking a solid 30+ fps all through the game.

Not sure how cpu intensive it is, but I can't imagine an i7 would give you any problems. I have the same one, but OCed to 4GHz so can't speak to how you'll perform at default. Going to assume you'll be fine though.

 

[BadTaste]

5850 is a capable card. You'll be able to run it nearly maxed out with no problems. Might have to knock back one or two effects, but you'll be rocking a solid 30+ fps all through the game.

Not sure how cpu intensive it is, but I can't imagine an i7 would give you any problems. I have the same one, but OCed to 4GHz so can't speak to how you'll perform at default. Going to assume you'll be fine though.

Good to know thanks.

I can be pretty PC illiterate at times, my computer tells me I'm at 2.67 GHz but when I run an application it goes as high as 3.7 GHz.

 

[Red]

Good to know thanks.

I can be pretty PC illiterate at times, my computer tells me I'm at 2.67 GHz but when I run an application it goes as high as 3.7 GHz.

That's due to a feature of i-series processors called turbo boost.

 

[Lasthope106]

The game runs a little below what I was expecting on my rig:

1440x900
E6750 DC2D OC @ 3.3 GHz
560 Ti Factory OC
4GB DDR2 SDRAM
Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit

Running Ultra with no ubersampling.

Fps drop below 30 when loading areas, when the little icon appears on the lower right section of the screen. FRAPS says the average is 44 fps when no combat is involved. However I would still like to squeeze a little more performance. Hopefully, more patches and nvidia drivers will make the game run better.

Can't wait to see what version 2.0 fixes.

 

[AwesomeSauce]

The game runs a little below what I was expecting on my rig:

1440x900
E6750 DC2D OC @ 3.3 GHz
560 Ti Factory OC
4GB DDR2 SDRAM
Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit

Running Ultra with no ubersampling.

Fps drop below 30 when loading areas, when the little icon appears on the lower right section of the screen. FRAPS says the average is 44 fps when no combat is involved. However I would still like to squeeze a little more performance. Hopefully, more patches and nvidia drivers will make the game run better.

Can't wait to see what version 2.0 fixes.

TW2 loves quad core processors.

You would gain a lot more by upgrading your processor. I noticed a huge boost upgrading my old C2D to a Phenom II X6 even on my old gtx 260.

 

[Corky]

Haven't kept up a lot but I don't think any progress has been made.

Oh that's a huge bummer, was planning to start my 2nd playthrough but I thought that they by now had fixed most of the shit. So do I have to do that drm "fix" again? Since I own the D2D version and not Steam.. :/

 

[Minsc]

Oh that's a huge bummer, was planning to start my 2nd playthrough but I thought that they by now had fixed most of the shit. So do I have to do that drm "fix" again? Since I own the D2D version and not Steam.. :/

That seems unlikely as they removed DRM out a while ago, back in 1.1. Also patch 1.3 introduced " Assorted improvements have been made in the game’s 3D Vision, SLI and Crossfire functionality." But other than that, I haven't seen much more news on the issue. You could always wait a few more days to see what's planned for The Witcher 2 v2™ and save your replay for that as well.

 

[Domcorleone]

With my 5770m in my i5, I can get 50-60 on High settings and only motion blur off when in 720p but once I choose 1080p even with SSAO off I get about 25-30. It's depressing. Why such a huge drop?

 

[Corky]

That seems unlikely as they removed DRM out a while ago, back in 1.1. Also patch 1.3 introduced " Assorted improvements have been made in the game’s 3D Vision, SLI and Crossfire functionality." But other than that, I haven't seen much more news on the issue. You could always wait a few more days to see what's planned for The Witcher 2 v2™ and save your replay for that as well.

Ooooh qu'est-ce que c'est this v2? Is it coming soon? As in within the week? :O

 

[Kyaw]

With my 5770m in my i5, I can get 50-60 on High settings and only motion blur off when in 720p but once I choose 1080p even with SSAO off I get about 25-30. It's depressing. Why such a huge drop?

More than twice the amount of pixels to render.

 

[Kinan]

Ok, i finally upgraded processor in my PC and was able to play Witcher yesterday smoothly.
FullHD is still a no go (need a new video card for this), but in 1280x1024 on monitor or 1280x720 on my TV it is now rather enjoyable experience. I have also connected gamepad from the start now and boy, its so much better than kb+m in this game its not even funny.

On the drawback side I notice some annoying texture pop-in now constantly, I dont remember seing this previously. Is it something with my setup or some novel bug with 1.35? Maybe I should tweak some parameters in configuration, didnt have time to play with those yet.

All in all, looking forward to play more today. Finally can enjoy it.