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The Witcher |OT| Damn all dissonances
- Thread starter Bossman
- Start date
Minsc
Gold Member
jett said:
Sometimes you find it in the cupboards, but you can usually buy it off an innkeeper or sometimes a wealthy vendor. It's very plentiful later on past the prologue.
Alchemy stuff is easy, just grab whatever you're walking by if it's something you don't have a lot of, you don't need to go out of your way for stuff, and use the scrolls to make potions, it's actually pretty tame. Items generally don't do a whole lot, minor healing, etc, sometimes things are good for selling, but you'll be right at home if you're a pack rat!
razgriz417
Member
jett said:
Once you have a potion recipe, alchemy essentially is all about matching color stones. You need a base (something to mix it in) usually some alcohol or a white gull potion. Then for the ingredients, you just pick plants you pass by and off mobs. Drinking them is toxic though (the green bar) so don't over do it. If you want to get rid of the toxins just meditate somewhere for an hour and you'll be good.
There's also certain abilities that you get only after making special potions from the corpses of bosses. I'm in chapter 3 and I just made one that makes my magic 100% more powerful at night
If you wanna read up on it, go here:
http://witcher.wikia.com/wiki/Alchemy
Yup. Crysis on high settings runs much smoother on my rig than da witcher..;<jett said:Witcher 2 hype got to me! I just witched for about an hour, seems like I'm still in the tutorial area. Controls are janky as hell, presentation is kinda bad and has all kinds of technical issues...but I guess I'm not saying anything new there.
Witcher 2 looks like such an insane improvement over the first game it's pretty ridiculous.
Hey I'm currently playing this too. I played it a couple of years ago but couldn't get through the first chapter. I think it had to do with the ridiculous load times each time you entered/left a house. This was before the enhanced edition though and those load times seem almost instant now. Thank god.
Combat is still clunky and pacing very uneven, but I'm nonetheless finding myself drawn into the world and loving it. I'm currently in chapter 2, probably near the end as I explored most of the swamp and I'm almost done with the investigation. The wiriting gets a lot better as you near the end of chapter 1.
I would not skip alchemy by the way. It adds a much needed RPG element to the combat and healing potions are mandatory for some fights and cat potions for some areas. It also gives more of an incentive to read books and get the herbalism skill.
Combat is still clunky and pacing very uneven, but I'm nonetheless finding myself drawn into the world and loving it. I'm currently in chapter 2, probably near the end as I explored most of the swamp and I'm almost done with the investigation. The wiriting gets a lot better as you near the end of chapter 1.
I would not skip alchemy by the way. It adds a much needed RPG element to the combat and healing potions are mandatory for some fights and cat potions for some areas. It also gives more of an incentive to read books and get the herbalism skill.
Im not sure where else to ask but gaf seems to know a lot of stuff. What order do I read the Witcher books in? I just got Blood of Elves and The Last Wish from amazon. According to wiki, BoE is the first novel and TLW is the first short story collection. Which comes first?
The second novel (Times of Contempt) is due out this year.
You can try and tweak other graphics settings to see if they help but, for the most part, this game just runs shitty in some areas. I can play most current games almost maxed out and still get 60FPS but TW1 framerate is always bouncing around.
The second novel (Times of Contempt) is due out this year.
li bur said:Uhh is there anyway to increase the framerate in chapter 3? I know my computer is a bit dated, but it manage to run chapter 1&2 smoothly at 1360x768. Lowering the resolution didn't help
You can try and tweak other graphics settings to see if they help but, for the most part, this game just runs shitty in some areas. I can play most current games almost maxed out and still get 60FPS but TW1 framerate is always bouncing around.
Minsc
Gold Member
Salaadin said:
I played through the entire game maxed on a 5870 + i7 3.3ghz, and got mostly > 45-60fps (which is silky smooth), maybe 20% 30-45fps, which is a little rougher but still fine, and maybe 10% under 30fps, which was annoying.
I felt no desire to lower settings though, the atmosphere in the game looks best maxed and adds a lot to it, if the frame rate were under 30fps any more than it was, I may have been thinking about lowering settings as well.
Minsc said:
My rig is a little less than yours (5850 and i5 750 @ 3.4ghz) and my framerate was about the same. I would bounce from 40 - 60 and drop to 30 or below when there was a lot going on.
Snuggler said:
I have a funny story about that bar wench.
Some assholes were about to rape her when I intervened and saved her ass. She asked me to escort her home (which I did) but she was mauled by dogs and died on the way. It was a rough night for the poor woman
haha holy shitSalaadin said:My rig is a little less than yours (5850 and i5 750 @ 3.4ghz) and my framerate was about the same. I would bounce from 40 - 60 and drop to 30 or below when there was a lot going on.
I have a funny story about that bar wench.
Some assholes were about to rape her when I intervened and saved her ass. She asked me to escort her home (which I did) but she was mauled by dogs and died on the way. It was a rough night for the poor woman
It does get a bit more challenging. I'm on chapter 3 and, a few good times now, it's come to to a point where I was actually forced to use the signs and maneuver around the playing field, vs swinging till nothing.
I'm liking this game a ton, the setting, characters, and choices really make it, but the thing is a damn technical mess. Load screens/glitches for days. I'm not playing on any beast of a rig though, if it makes a difference.
and. fck. those. fetch. quests. Chapter 2 almost had me giving the game up.
I'm liking this game a ton, the setting, characters, and choices really make it, but the thing is a damn technical mess. Load screens/glitches for days. I'm not playing on any beast of a rig though, if it makes a difference.
and. fck. those. fetch. quests. Chapter 2 almost had me giving the game up.
Jay Shadow
Member
I'd usually lower the lighting quality when I spent time in the trade quarter. It's the daytime lighting in that section that kills performance the most.li bur said:Uhh is there anyway to increase the framerate in chapter 3? I know my computer is a bit dated, but it manage to run chapter 1&2 smoothly at 1360x768. Lowering the resolution didn't help
Salaadin said:I have a funny story about that bar wench.
Some assholes were about to rape her when I intervened and saved her ass. She asked me to escort her home (which I did) but she was mauled by dogs and died on the way. It was a rough night for the poor woman
Oh, I dealt with that but I couldn't remember where I was supposed to meet her afterwards and it seems it's a one-shot deal. I've visited her at the Inn since then and she just repeats the same lines to me. Women can be so spiteful.
Great game, though.
Salaadin said:
The Last Wish first, Blood of Elves follows up on events from The Last Wish.
Didn't know about Times of Contempt, good stuff, cheers.
Couple hours in Chapter 2, loving the OTS cam, you guys were right indeed! Switched to high iso yesterday for a couple seconds and I was like "OK, that's why I've never finished the game in all these years..."
Almost ready to go to the swamp, some pretty clever writing in chapter 2 so far, I love how everything is starting to fall together
Brilliant game. Just a shame I started on normal/medium as well, combat is feeling way to easy... :-(
Ah well, I really feel like a badass though
How linear or non-linear is this game? I gave up on STALKER because it was too non-linear.
Also how accessible is the game to those us new WRPGs? Is it fairly straight forward or is there a lot of learning to do?
Also how accessible is the game to those us new WRPGs? Is it fairly straight forward or is there a lot of learning to do?
isamu said:
You're basically given a large area and a nudge on your main quest(s). Then you can go explore that area to kill monsters, find sidequests, talk to NPCs, gather alchemy incredients etc. You can't progress to the next act areas until you've finished the main quest(s) in that act.
And the game is fairly accessible. The combat is relatively straightforward, although it'll take some time to get used to.
isamu said:
Uhm, it's fairly non-linear (to a certain degree, it's not open-world/freeform), but it works a lot better if you just follow the main quest and discover shit as you do that. As in not talking to everyone and not exploring everything when you enter a new area, just follow the main quest.
I "broke" a couple things in Chapter 2 while OCD playing like that...
It's pretty straightforward, has a nice intro bit and a combat system that's exclusive to this game, there's also no hardcore number crunching or uber stats combos you need to figure out.
Skill upgrades like +20 % dmg with a steel sword and that kinda stuff. It's very light on real RPG mechanics but it makes up for that with its awesome story and depth.
The Witcher is a pretty good game to start with if you're unfamiliar with WRPGs, requires no D&D background or anything like that.
Minsc
Gold Member
isamu said:
It's easy (spare a couple fights) so I'll agree with those saying it's accessible.
The plot is non-linear, and you're free to do whatever quests you'd like (usually you'll have ~10 or so to pick from), but it's not too scary since every quest has a marker that shows you exactly where to go, so there's very little thinking involved. Follow the arrow, get to the quest and then it usually even tells you were to go back to finish the quest too!
Just like following the directions of a rally game!
As much as I love the game for its general feel it is a buggy mess. I just had to load 30 minutes back because I received a crucial item for a quest, but my inventory was full so the damn item got lost. These are '80s mistakes for fuck's sake.
Be very careful and save every 2 minutes with this game.
The signet ring from the Reverend
Be very careful and save every 2 minutes with this game.
Minsc
Gold Member
poisonelf said:
It usually tells you when you receive items you can't carry as a brief pop up, are you sure it didn't just fall to the floor? But yea, bad idea to complete quests with a 100% full inventory... sell/drop some of that stuff off before finishing quests!
In the game's defense, there are numerous times I can recall having a full inventory and having the reward just fall to the floor to be picked up. I blame mostly the user though, you shouldn't take such little care of your inventory.
Amidst the pop up window about how to use signet rings in conversation, the texts popping up about how my quests are updated and how I now carry quest-specific items, perhaps there was also a pop up telling me that the crucial item fell to the floor. I missed it. Actually, I went back to his house and searched, couldn't find it.Minsc said:
Which I have admit adds to the game's realism and suspension of disbelief, since anyone in Geralt's place receiving such a valuable small item would do just that. Let it drop to the floor because his pouch is full... (/s).
I like this game too, a lot so far, but blaming the user for such bad design? Come on
water_wendi
Water is not wet!
Maybe there should just be a Win button so all the thought is taken out of the players hands?poisonelf said:Amidst the pop up window about how to use signet rings in conversation, the texts popping up about how my quests are updated and how I now carry quest-specific items, perhaps there was also a pop up telling me that the crucial item fell to the floor. I missed it. Actually, I went back to his house and searched, couldn't find it.
Which I have admit adds to the game's realism and suspension of disbelief, since anyone in Geralt's place receiving such a valuable small item would do just that. Let it drop to the floor because his pouch is full... (/s).
I like this game too, a lot so far, but blaming the user for such bad design? Come on
tmacairjordan87
Banned
I basically have the opposite impressions of all the new ones. I'm in the middle of chapter 2 and I'm bored to tears with the game, just nothing is latching on to me at all. Please tell me it gets better gaf, I'd like to have a completed save file for TW2
water_wendi
Water is not wet!
If you dont like the game by that point, the game just isnt for you. The good news about finding this out now is that youll save money from not buying TW2.tmacairjordan87 said:
Really? Because a crucial quest item falls to the ground instead of opening up the inventory screen, or placing it in the special "quest items slots" that does exist, but for some reason not all quest items go to?water_wendi said:
I was crying foul and "all thought is taken out of the players hands" when Sierra stopped using typing and opted for clicking in its adventures, trust me, I'm not supporting hand holding.
But having items that are so important, and that the game tells you that you have (as in "you just received so and so from X), drop to the ground due to a full pouch, is simply bad design.
I mean really? You disagree?
water_wendi
Water is not wet!
All of that wouldnt have mattered if you were paying attention. What you are experiencing is a problem brought on by quest waypoints and excessive hand-holding. Some people call it streamlining. i call it dumbing down.poisonelf said:
Sorry, but this is getting irrational. I wanted to warn anyone still playing the game, which I think I did.water_wendi said:
Now, arguing how I'm at fault and how I can't think because I didn't double check to see if the quest item that the game told me I received was actually placed in the quest items slots, as it should have, or whether it dropped to the ground, is too much for me.
tmacairjordan87
Banned
water_wendi said:
That's too bad since it does look much better. At the very least the combat looks much improved, which would make battles not so grating and dull. I'll still try to at least complete Witcher 1 in hopes it will get more interesting.
Minsc
Gold Member
poisonelf said:
I think it's good you mentioned it, for others. If you have a full inventory, just get rid of a few things. It's not hard to not have a full inventory. You don't need to take all those stones for enchancing swords with you (leave them at the inn), or have 20 different kinds of breads and drinks. Just make sure when you get quest alerts, nothing is on the floor if you think you may have a full inventory. Just holding alt brings up all the selectable items, so it takes 1 second to check.
I was generally able to leave 1 whole grid of items open for most of the game, spare disposable stuff I go through rather quickly. I think the game gives you three sets of inventory + 3 sets of alchemy inventory right? I'm pretty sure I had 1 set for disposable trash that I cleared as needed, 1 set for mixed potions and 1 set for bottles/wines to use for mixing/misc.
The really important quest items go in to a separate category, I'm pretty sure that ring isn't required to finish the prologue, but even if it were, I was checking the witcher wikia site / google and you can get another from helping an old lady, so you weren't totally screwed, assuming the old lady was still around.
tmacairjordan87 said:
I personally found the game's high points to be Chapters 4, 5, and the Epilogue. I did enjoy it throughout though.
PoisonElf, you should take note that a lot of items you come across are very much useless. A max inventory at that point of the game pretty much means you stocked up on a lot of bread found on corpses. I prefer to use the wiki for items so I know if something is worth keeping around or not. A lot of rings, monster pieces, and small things like robes are just to sell. Since time is rarely a factor in game I just brew a ton of potions to get rid of ingredients and sell everything else.
Thanks for the advice regarding useless items. It's true that I pick up everything. I've found that each time I collect hundreds of items they turn out to be useless, and when I say "fuck it, I'll just ignore/sell them" I end up needing something.
So it's good to know early on that I can rid of all the fish and chicken I'm carrying.
So it's good to know early on that I can rid of all the fish and chicken I'm carrying.