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[SomTervo]

Playing on normal then lol, I want to be overpowered to be cuting fools left and right

Nice stuff man.

No worries buddy - ask away if you're curious about anything else.

Also, that's totally fair enough. A couple of fights have been a bit tough for me to handle on Blood and Broken Bones or whatever it's called (I don't think the difficulties are named intelligently at all).

However, this does make The Withcer 3's one of the most compelling open world games I've ever played. I never have enough money that I get comfortable, I never have enough gear that I feel comfortable. I have to explore the world and go out of my way to ensure I'm kitted up to the nines. The stories and quests are all phenomenal and the "detective" mechanics out-do Batman Arkham's Detective Mode tenfold. It's so amazing. One time a guy at the end of a quest even mentioned another character's name. I remembered her cos I liked her, not because the game told me she was important, so when I went and spoke to her off my own initiative I got some XP and unique dialogue. Entirely because I paid attention and liked the world. No checklisting objective mechanics involved.

The money system alone ensures that it never falls into the GTA "money is meaningless" trap.

I've decided that I'm going to sit on the game and wait for it to be patched if there are framepacing issues on PS4. I can deal with the odd drop below 30fps, but if the game stutters every time I pan the camera (which I'll be doing a lot due to dem views), then I won't be able to enjoy it. And I've waited too long for something to get in the way of me enjoying this game.

Lord give me strength.

I'm playing on PS4 and I have noticed no framepacing issues. It is seriously fine and looks amazing. I pan the camera while horseriding very often and maybe every 5-6 times there's a moment's frame-loss. But that's very rare.

 

[BLunted]

GOG Galaxy says unlocks in 16 hours. Uh oh

Mine says that as well, but if you check the storefront, there is a countdown clock stating that it unlocks in just over 7 hours from now. You'll be fine.

 

[KINGofCRA5H]

Still showing just over 7 for me.

I'm starting to become worried. Don't fuck me GOG

 

[therealminime]

I'm starting to become worried. Don't fuck me GOG

Actually the game page says 13 hours but the store page, both on Galaxy and GOG.com, says 7 hours.

 

[bombshell]

I've decided that I'm going to sit on the game and wait for it to be patched if there are framepacing issues on PS4. I can deal with the odd drop below 30fps, but if the game stutters every time I pan the camera (which I'll be doing a lot due to dem views), then I won't be able to enjoy it. And I've waited too long for something to get in the way of me enjoying this game.

Lord give me strength.

It's the Xbox One version that has framepacing issues, because they've unlocked the framerate in that version for some bizarre reason.

Here's blimblim's analysis:

Well the comparison thread has been locked as I was posting this, hopefully this will be ok in here, otherwise please feel free to remove this post.
Anyway, I've just finished the first prototype of my frame rate analysis system, it's extremely rough right now, but I think it's not too bad in terms of accuracy.
So I use the two clips from the comparison video I did yesterday, and it yielded some pretty interesting results:
This is PS4:

This is X1:

Quick explanation for the last 3 info. Max dupes is the maximum of times a frame was duplicated in the video, the two pace info show how many times (and why) the game deviated from a perfect 29.97 fps. Short pace means a frame was shown immediately after the one before (at 29.97 each frame is supposed to be duplicated once), long pace means that a frame has been duplicated at least twice. Obviously you want these to be as close to 0 zero as possible for the game to look smooth.
So yeah, the X1 version is unlocked, and (at least for me) it leads to very very ugly frame pacing problems, and in the end it looks way less smooth than on PS4.

 

[KINGofCRA5H]

Mine says that as well, but if you check the storefront, there is a countdown clock stating that it unlocks in just over 7 hours from now. You'll be fine.

Actually the game page says 13 hours but the store page, both on Galaxy and GOG.com, says 7 hours.

Ok, yeah, I see what you guys are saying. Main store page says 7 hours.

 

[Summer Haze]

It's the Xbox One version that has framepacing issues, because they've unlocked the framerate in that version for some bizarre reason.

Here's blimblim's analysis:

Thanks for this. Very reassuring.

 

[AdanVC]

So hyped for this and I don't even have a PC or PS4X1 to play this hah.

 

[okaygeraldo]

Pre-loading on my PS4 right now.

Really excited to play this game and enter this world. Have never played a Witcher game but have only heard great things about CD Projekt Red. I was interested in Cyberpunk 2077 already, hopefully this game shows the shine and polish of their games.

 

[Raptor]

No worries buddy - ask away if you're curious about anything else.

Also, that's totally fair enough. A couple of fights have been a bit tough for me to handle on Blood and Broken Bones or whatever it's called (I don't think the difficulties are named intelligently at all).

However, this does make The Withcer 3's one of the most compelling open world games I've ever played. I never have enough money that I get comfortable, I never have enough gear that I feel comfortable. I have to explore the world and go out of my way to ensure I'm kitted up to the nines. The stories and quests are all phenomenal and the "detective" mechanics out-do Batman Arkham's Detective Mode tenfold. It's so amazing. One time a guy at the end of a quest even mentioned another character's name. I remembered her cos I liked her, not because the game told me she was important, so when I went and spoke to her off my own initiative I got some XP and unique dialogue. Entirely because I paid attention and liked the world. No checklisting objective mechanics involved.

The money system alone ensures that it never falls into the GTA "money is meaningless" trap.



I'm playing on PS4 and I have noticed no framepacing issues. It is seriously fine and looks amazing. I pan the camera while horseriding very often and maybe every 5-6 times there's a moment's frame-loss. But that's very rare.

When you are on the wild doing something, it will start out of nowhoere to rain? creating and incredible atmosphere similar to RDR?

 

[Justinh]

a paper manual (so rare these days)

yeah, it's really nice to see, even though it's only like 8 pages thick.
Honestly. I think I like that it didn't psyche me out by being all thick but ended up having only like 10 pages of actual manual with it repeating in 6 other languages.

pls GOG

sigh...it says 13 hours for me...

 

[roytheone]

I just did some maintenance on my witcher 2 savegame map (it had more than 1,2 gig of savegames in it), now I just hope I didn't accidentally removed the end game auto save.....

 

[thequickandthedead]

So hyped for this and I don't even have a PC or PS4X1 to play this hah.

How do you plan on playing it?

 

[BumRush]

No worries buddy - ask away if you're curious about anything else.

Also, that's totally fair enough. A couple of fights have been a bit tough for me to handle on Blood and Broken Bones or whatever it's called (I don't think the difficulties are named intelligently at all).

However, this does make The Withcer 3's one of the most compelling open world games I've ever played. I never have enough money that I get comfortable, I never have enough gear that I feel comfortable. I have to explore the world and go out of my way to ensure I'm kitted up to the nines. The stories and quests are all phenomenal and the "detective" mechanics out-do Batman Arkham's Detective Mode tenfold. It's so amazing. One time a guy at the end of a quest even mentioned another character's name. I remembered her cos I liked her, not because the game told me she was important, so when I went and spoke to her off my own initiative I got some XP and unique dialogue. Entirely because I paid attention and liked the world. No checklisting objective mechanics involved.

The money system alone ensures that it never falls into the GTA "money is meaningless" trap.



I'm playing on PS4 and I have noticed no framepacing issues. It is seriously fine and looks amazing. I pan the camera while horseriding very often and maybe every 5-6 times there's a moment's frame-loss. But that's very rare.

Are there "farming" spots, or once the prey is dead, it's dead?

 

[Deadbeat]

So how does the witcher 2 savegame import pan out? Does it have a bunch of hidden variableds or does the questionaire at the beginning of witcher 3 cover the jist of it?

 

[ironcreed]

Are there "farming" spots, or once the prey is dead, it's dead?

I believe enemies respawn after three in-game days.

 

[BLunted]

yeah, it's really nice to see, even though it's only like 8 pages thick.
Honestly. I think I like that it didn't psyche me out by being all thick but ended up having only like 10 pages of actual manual with it repeating in 6 other languages.


sigh...it says 13 hours for me...

that's glitched. Check the storefront.

 

[Xater]

They are really putting that 1.02 patch up at the very last minute aren't they? I want the improved framerate bevause right now it always tanks in every combat encounter and it sucks.

 

[VE3TRO]

So with Heart of Stone releasing in October I suppose there isn't a need to get the expansion pass at the moment right?

 

[AdanVC]

How do you plan on playing it?

Not gonna play it unfortunately ... at least not in the upcoming months until I save for a decent PC. I just enjoy the hype this game brings to GAF

 

[Shining Sunshine]

Is there no lock on in this game? All the streamers seem to be playing like there's no lock on.

 

[BLunted]

So how does the witcher 2 savegame import pan out? Does it have a bunch of hidden variableds or does the questionaire at the beginning of witcher 3 cover the jist of it?

I am curious about this as well, and do any of your witcher 1 choices matter if you imported them in to your witcher 2 save?

 

[hemo memo]

Is there no lock on in this game? All the streamers seem to be playing like there's no lock on.

R3

 

[Xater]

Is there no lock on in this game? All the streamers seem to be playing like there's no lock on.

Pressing R3 locks on.

 

[Courage]

Is there no lock on in this game? All the streamers seem to be playing like there's no lock on.

There is but I mostly don't use it since you fight enemies in groups.

 

[fierrotlepou]

Preloading on Steam at the moment. Will I be able to play this with a controller from the get-go?

 

[freernnur5]

Is there a full skill set tree up somewhere to browse? I am curious about all the skills and would like to plan my build a little bit.

 

[SomTervo]

Are there "farming" spots, or once the prey is dead, it's dead?

I'd like to look into this closer myself - can't atm as my gf is using the screen to play Syberia - I'm pretty sure there are mob enemy types who spawn generally in a region. I guess these are for farming - but one of the achievements of TW3 is that everything has a place in the world. The mobs don't feel like they're just there for the sake of it. They have a real place in the world. Same goes for every character and quest.

These mobs will respawn endlessley. Eg wolves, drowners, nekkers. Over a large area, probably a kilometre squared, they will appear in different places in different variations. Nearby humans will fight them (if you're losing it's genuinely a good strategy to run off and find a guard who will lay into the monster to help you). If you kill them they will be dead, but more beasts will appear somewhere else. Sometimes these mobs have a stronger enemy among them. I haven't seen any "special" or "unique" enemies like this.

However there seem to be larger beasts who appear in certain places at certain times of day, that are usually tied to contracts/missions. But you can still beat them outside of missions. And they will stay dead. (These fights are usually amazing.)

When you are on the wild doing something, it will start out of nowhoere to rain? creating and incredible atmosphere similar to RDR?

Oh yes. I haven't actually seen rain specifically, but there are a LOT of weather variations. The lighting is just unbelievable. I've retread ground while thinking I was in a totally new area because it looks so different with evening light, or dusk light, or fog, or high wind.

 

[Shining Sunshine]

Pressing R3 locks on.

I don't get why they aren't using it.

They're having so much trouble with cameras and enemies moving behind them.

 

[PLASTICA-MAN]

Should you install The Witcher 3's day one patch? Digital Foundry investigates the pros and cons of update 1.01 on Xbox One.

 

[MrRoflWaffles]

Pressing R3 locks on.

(or Z on PC)

 

[bombshell]

They are really putting that 1.02 patch up at the very last minute aren't they? I want the improved framerate bevause right now it always tanks in every combat encounter and it sucks.

There's nothing performance related in the small 1.02 patch.

Yea its a new little update:

Version 1.02

- Cross country support for DLC

 

[Conezays]

Came in here worried after seeing GOG Galaxy telling me 16 hours til release, only to find others with the same worry Hoping we get to play today, but not the end of the world if not I suppose.

 

[Ricker]

7 hours to go...oh yeah.

 

[SomTervo]

Is there no lock on in this game? All the streamers seem to be playing like there's no lock on.

Just like in Bloodborne, if you're against 1-2 enemies, lock-on really helps, but if you're against 3 or more, lock-on can get you killed easily.

I've started to find that fighting without lock-on is easier.

I don't get why they aren't using it.

They're having so much trouble with cameras and enemies moving behind them.

I've found that getting surrounded by enemies usually comes down to not moving enough. Lock-on doesn't help with this. You need to start using X (PS4) to do long roll-dodges to make sure you control the crowd. Some of the fights are damn hard! I even encountered a bunch of bandits early-game and they were Level 10 and killed me in 2-3 strikes. They were like mundane bandits near one of the early towns.

 

[Xater]

There's nothing performance related in the small 1.02 patch.

That is not what every article about the Day 1 patch has been saying. They specifically mention improvement of the performance:

Major changes:

Support for DLCs
Multiple stability issues fixed
Overall performance improvements

Quests and game:

Variety of cosmetic quest improvements
Journal objective fixes
Quest mapping fixes
Dialogue flag fixes
Quest balancing issues
Scene triggering improvements

Gameplay systems:

Boat behaviour
AI improvements
NPC spawn strategy improvements
Combat balancing
UI optimizations

I don't get why they aren't using it.

They're having so much trouble with cameras and enemies moving behind them.

If i fight more than one enemy I don't use lock on either.

 

[BumRush]

I'd like to look into this closer myself - can't atm as my gf is using the screen to play Syberia - I'm pretty sure there are mob enemy types who spawn generally in a region. I guess these are for farming - but one of the achievements of TW3 is that everything has a place in the world. The mobs don't feel like they're just there for the sake of it. They have a real place in the world. Same goes for every character and quest.

These mobs will respawn endlessley. Eg wolves, drowners, nekkers. Over a large area, probably a kilometre squared, they will appear in different places in different variations. Nearby humans will fight them (if you're losing it's genuinely a good strategy to run off and find a guard who will lay into the monster to help you). If you kill them they will be dead, but more beasts will appear somewhere else. Sometimes these mobs have a stronger enemy among them. I haven't seen any "special" or "unique" enemies like this.

However there seem to be larger beasts who appear in certain places at certain times of day, that are usually tied to contracts/missions. But you can still beat them outside of missions. And they will stay dead. (These fights are usually amazing.)



Oh yes. I haven't actually seen rain specifically, but there are a LOT of weather variations. The lighting is just unbelievable. I've retread ground while thinking I was in a totally new area because it looks so different with evening light, or dusk light, or fog, or high wind.

Great, thank you. I love to be OP in RPGs, so I usually spend a good deal of time grinding.

 

[bombshell]

That is not what every article about the Day 1 patch has been saying. They specifically mention improvement of framerate during combat.

Day 1 patch was the 1.01 patch. That people are calling it the day 1 patch doesn't mean that it literally has to drop on launch day.

 

[Admiral Woofington]

That is not what every article about the Day 1 patch has been saying. They specifically mention improvement of framerate during combat.



If i fight more than one enemy I don't use lock on either.

Day 1 patch is 1.01 which is 400 or so mb. 1.02 is apparently much smaller and only deals with dlc

 

[BFIB]

Just got the notification, Amazon shipped my order!

 

[Palette Swap]

Has anyone with a PS4 tried adding an Australian account to their PS4 to see if it can unlock the game early? That or a DNS like unblock.us?

 

[Xater]

Fuck that means the framerate in combat will stay this way. Well that is not good. The game is great but feels incredibly sluggish in combat because of that.

 

[veloxStrix]

Can I change my location through a VPN and get it early...? >.>

 

[jett]

Welp I got a GOG code, pre-loading now. I hope it runs well on my machine. :<

 

[TraBuch]

Good. deeper and better than I expected for an optional card game and very fun.

Cool cool. I don't know much about it. Can you go around like collecting cards? Any kind of tournament or something?

 

[SomTervo]

Great, thank you. I love to be OP in RPGs, so I usually spend a good deal of time grinding.

No probs mate.

I'll check again for you - but I'm not 100% certain you get experience from killing low-level mobs. We didn't in The Witcher 2. But near the beginning of TW3 it told me "you can get experience from finishing quests and killing monsters", so surely you can.

I'll go slay a few Drowners or Corpsers and let you know if I can level much then again, I'm struggling to survive in general. It takes a lot of work to get ingredients together to make healing potions (the Swallow potion) and it's relatively costly to buy healing foodstuffs.

You may be better playing on Normal, too. That'll still have the odd challenge and should let you feel very OP.

 

[Anung]

Whoa man. If you don't pay attention to what missions you take on you can end up in some brutal places. Just had to roll my save back a few times because I got ambushed by level "??" dwarves...I'm level 9.

 

[TheAusHulk]

Is collecting/playing the card game essential? Doesn't look like a good time to me.

 

[beanman25]

Just got a GOG review code! Awesome stuff.

 

[bombshell]

Fuck that means the framerate in combat will stay this way. Well that is not good. The game is great but feels incredibly sluggish in combat because of that.

You can see that you already have all those performance related improvements by pressing options on the game tile and look under update history. The 1.02 patch only includes a DLC region compatibility fix, like I posted above.