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[MatrixMan.EXE]

Foliage quality looks to have taken the biggest hit in density and transparency resolution, along with LOD culling, and really disappoints me. "But it still looks good / who cares" is the shittiest fucking counter argument.

On the other hand, older shots are super sampled and probably use the sharpening filter, so who knows what's what.

It's not a counter argument. The game has clearly been downgraded, and it's bad that CDPR lied about it not being downgraded. But, I think people are within their right to say that despite that it STILL looks incredible, which is more than I could have said for Dark Souls II on PS3/360 or Watch Dogs on consoles. Fuck all to do with making a counter argument, at least for me.

 

[m_shortpants]

I just want to see what this looks like maxed out on a beast PC, then I'll judge.

Currently playing Witcher 2 at 1080p with ubersampling, looks great.

 

[AmyS]

I'm sure it's been discussed already but what are the chances that there will be files found in the PC version with some or all of the earlier / better graphics systems, textures lighting, etc., and that these will be found and modded into the PC version, as has happened with other games in recent years?

 

[orthodoxy1095]

The image originated from /v/, that's all you really need to know. They love to stir shit up.

Oh jeez. I mean the game probably did change its graphics in many ways, and it'd be awesome to analyze that. But not if we're taking crap from terrible sources.

 

[golem]

Foliage quality looks to have taken the biggest hit in density and transparency resolution, along with LOD culling, and really disappoints me. "But it still looks good / who cares" is the shittiest fucking counter argument.

That's my biggest disappointment too. Let us torture our systems if we wish CDPR! I look forward to your foliage mod

 

[WetTreeLeaf]

Foliage quality looks to have taken the biggest hit in density and transparency resolution, along with LOD culling, and really disappoints me. "But it still looks good / who cares" is the shittiest fucking counter argument.

On the other hand, older shots are super sampled and probably use the sharpening filter, so who knows what's what.

On the other hand I really like the new NPCs and Geralt himself looks much better than "reveal Geralt" who looked identical to The Witcher 2 model.

 

[Chris Murphy]

Only difference from the old trailers to now is the lighting engine and sharpness.

The old trailers were sharpened either in-engine, which is likely, given how you can do it bloody unity, or post trailer.

The lighting is obviously affecting everything in the scene in the old trailers. It's only a few settings that need to be changed for it to do that again. The engine is capable of it but they obviously scaled it back a little for the sake of framerate.

They didn't quite hit their target but they got close. This is much better than bullshots of the old Ubisoft variety that don't resemble the actual game at all.

All of the assets are the same. Whether or not the resolution of textures has been compressed to reduce the size a little remains to be seen. I'll wait for release to make a judgement on that.

 

[viveks86]

Foliage quality looks to have taken the biggest hit in density and transparency resolution, along with LOD culling, and really disappoints me. "But it still looks good / who cares" is the shittiest fucking counter argument.

On the other hand, older shots are super sampled and probably use the sharpening filter, so who knows what's what.

Agreed. Can't wait to see how this holds up at 4k. The real 1:1 comparisons are gonna be intereating...

 

[Crossing Eden]

The image originated from /v/, that's all you really need to know. They love to stir shit up.

Oh my lord are you serious? We're using /v/ images as a point of comparison?

 

[gypsygib]

Well, I'll be happy how much better it looks on my PS4 than Witcher 2 looked on my 360.

For me, graphics are relative. I don't care if the edge it's as rounded as it was before. It passes my graphics threshold, it's all gameplay and story now.

I haven't seen a game with "bad" graphics for a few years now.

 

[Dunkley]

Who cares.

It's CDPR after all, which is a bomb ass developer, so let's try to NOT treat them the same way like we treat any of those evil big publishers like Ubisoft and Capcom.

Also, I really have no clue why it mattered in those other neverending downgrade threads then, but let it be known that this time, the downgrade does not matter at all.

 

[Self_Destructive]

It can be accepted and still discussed from a technical and curiosity standpoint, hence the purpose of this thread.

I agree. However, stating that it still looks good and that they don't care about the downgrade is still discussion about the point. There's nothing about this thread that states people must agree that a downgrade took place to present their opinion on the matter.

Basically what I'm saying is that some people wont care, some will, and some people from both sides will discuss the technical differences. There's room for all.

 

[LookAtMeGo]

Agreed. Can't wait to see how this holds up at 4k. The real 1:1 comparisons are gonna be intereating...

Do you have a beastly gaming PC Vivek?

 

[MatrixMan.EXE]

Question - Where were all of the people calling 'downgrade! fuck CDPR! Pre-order cancelled' a couple of weeks ago when we got hours of PC footage? Serious question. The game still looks the same as then.

While I know people questioned the visuals late last year, the general consensus was that the game looked incredible still. Does it suddenly not look incredible because of a comparison made up of compressed to fuck screenshots put together by a guy on 4chan, and thus invalidate weeks of media that most people on this forum have been drooling over?

 

[WetTreeLeaf]

Do you have a beastly gaming PC Vivek?

He didnt say how many frames he was going to be getting. All you need is 1.

 

[ArkkAngel007]

This is going to be a real miserable generation if every game gets its own |DGOT|

But only if pre-alpha footage is representative of the final game.


Battlefront is here to remind us that target CG renders are alive and well.

If the BF downgrade thread hinges on that instead of our first look at gameplay at E3, the OP deserves a perma for their stupidity.

Who cares.

It's CDPR after all, which is a bomb ass developer, so let's try to NOT treat them the same way like we treat any of those evil big publishers like Ubisoft and Capcom.

Also, I really have no clue why it mattered in those other neverending downgrade threads then, but let it be known that this time, the downgrade does not matter at all.

I feel like this is overblown by some here in this thread, but it doesn't matter what awesome things a dev/publisher does. If it's an issue for one to do, it's an issue for anyone to do.

On the flip-side, a company like Ubisoft hitting the right note should get the credit for hitting that note, and not have it waved off because of say their recent track record.

 

[120v]

The game as it stands looksgood but as somebody who just got a new PC and wants to fire it on all cylinders the "downgrade" is sort of a let down. But I'm not really going to judge til its playing on my own monitor

I think one thing to remember is this is open world (and a massive one at that) so naturally there's going to be some drawbacks. Also it's the first open world rpg of this gen so it's not going to be a gargantuan leap over something like skyrim

 

[heringer]

Right now GTAV is the most impressive game on PC. If Witcher 3 doesn't surpass that I'll be a little disappointed, I'll admit.

On the other hand, SweetFX\ReShade did wonders to Watch Dogs and Dark Souls 2, so I'm sure Witcher 3 will look even better with some tweaking.

 

[ArkkAngel007]

Question - Where were all of the people calling 'downgrade! fuck CDPR! Pre-order cancelled' a couple of weeks ago when we got hours of PC footage? Serious question. The game still looks the same as then.

While I know people questioned the visuals late last year, the general consensus was that the game looked incredible still. Does it suddenly not look incredible because of a comparison made up of compressed to fuck screenshots put together by a guy on 4chan, and thus invalidate weeks of media that most people on this forum have been drooling over?

Pretty sure those people have been around since the first footage where the new design of the King of the Wild Hunt was shown.

Difference is that this is a dedicated thread where the OP set the tone for this to be a torch and pitchforks thread, rather than a general one about footage where the tone is more focused on excitement.

Pretty typical of new games, where there are 'positive' threads and 'negative' threads. The latter generally spawn because no one wants to nut up and stand up in the OTs, and thus turn tail to make a 'criticism' thread.

This one is more-so that downgrade discussion derails things in a disastrous manner, and thus here's a space where people don't have the risk of being banned for that.

 

[Steel]

Really really hate graphics downgrades. Not because I care about graphics at all, or that I'm upset about "being lied to". No, not that. Rather, I hate them because they generally overshadow all of the other good points or massive problems a game has and sticks with them the longest.

Like this:

Is this going to be another Watch Dogs?

The problem with Watch_Dogs wasn't that it didn't look pretty. Despite the downgrade, it didn't look bad at all. No the problem was that it was a soul-crushingly average game that magnified all of the flaws of Ubisoft game design to mammoth proportions. And yet people are still mad about the downgrade when it was the least of the game's problems.

 

[Slixshot]

I'm sure the game will look better when being played directly on your own TV, but I'm sure it won't be at the standard that the original demos looked. Even then, game is gorgeous. End of story.

 

[krizzx]

This is what I call prime "console nerfing". In other words, when a game gets downgraded to the level of console even on the PC in favor of easy and cheap porting. This is why I miss the days of big PC exclusives.

This is the end results of making games easily portable to consoles from the PC. Most of the advantages of PC hardware and modern PC technology will go unused. Tesselation hardly saw in major use from what I saw thanks to consoles last gen. Games that prioritized mouse and keyboard input almost ceased to exist.

 

[SaberEdge]

Foliage seems 2D, with no shadows now.

With regards to that, there is an extreme downgrade.

It's unfortunate too, because many of the game's environments seem to have dense foliage (from what's been shown, at least).

Not sure why CDPR are adamant about the "no downgrade" thing, since all it does is place them in the same tier of bullshit as Ubisoft PR :/

Will wait for deep discounts via steam sales next yea, these misleading practices shouldn't be awarded with full price purchases.

I don't know what you're on about. Trees and shrubs all cast shadows. They also self-shadow.

The vast majority of games use essentially flat alpha textures for foliage, so it makes no sense to call out The Witcher 3 for that. Especially considering the huge amount of foliage being rendered in the game.

Nor is there any evidence of a downgrade in that regard, because there is no evidence the game was ever using anything different.

 

[Momentary]

Only difference from the old trailers to now is the lighting engine and sharpness.

How about all that tesselation missing from that 2nd set of pictures, and the degradation of foliage which is shown on the same picture and most of the others. I don't know how lighting affects tessellation.

 

[viveks86]

Do you have a beastly gaming PC Vivek?

He didnt say how many frames he was going to be getting. All you need is 1.

Hmmm, I don't know. Does titan X SLI qualify?

 

[OmegaDL50]

Question - Where were all of the people calling 'downgrade! fuck CDPR! Pre-order cancelled' a couple of weeks ago when we got hours of PC footage? Serious question. The game still looks the same as then.

This is a very good question, and unfortunately it's likely to be not answered because of a select few people would rather jump to erroneous conclusions.

Perhaps it would be a good thing to post links to these videos so get some semblance of reasonable discussion rather then people assuming the worst.

I definitely want to see them.

 

[Fezan]

I would say the game still looks wonderful But downgrades are so obvious compared initial reveal I dont know why people deny that. Vegetation is very obvious one where difference is noticeable.

 

[Skux]

the graphics may have been downgraded, but the biggest thing is the change in art style.

went from dark and gritty to quite colorful.

Definitely. The WoW-style palette is the most noticeable change, and the removal of fog and post processing effects makes the image look clean and almost cartoon-like.

Not the direction I would have antipated for this series.

 

[LookAtMeGo]

Hmmm, I don't know. Does titan X SLI qualify?

0_o

Jebus. I need to get on building one.

 

[ss_lemonade]

Just because you're a developer does not make you an fps expert. Anyway, I want your magic PC.

Doesn't he deal with vr development? If so, I would expect him to know and recognize framerates better than your average gamer. What maps produce the heaviest load in Crysis anyway? I would like to try it again when I have the chance.

Back on topic, I think Witcher 3 still looks amazing and I really can't wait to start playing it on my pc. Its just disappointing that there seems to be downgrades, especially when the devs repeatedly said that nothing has been downgraded.

 

[Tovarisc]

This is a very good question, and unfortunately it's likely to be not answered because of a select few people would rather jump to erroneous conclusions.

Perhaps it would be a good thing to post links to these videos so get some semblance of reasonable discussion rather then people assuming the worst.

I definitely want to see them.

Here: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1036594

All videos supposedly are recorded on Ultra preset.

 

[Mastperf]

This is what I call prime "console nerfing". In other words, when a game gets downgraded to the level of console even on the PC in favor of easy and cheap porting. This is why I miss the days of big PC exclusives.

This is the end results of making games easily portable to consoles from the PC. Most of the advantages of PC hardware and modern PC technology will go unused. Tesselation hardly saw in major use from what I saw thanks to consoles last gen. Games that prioritized mouse and keyboard input almost ceased to exist.

"PC" isn't a single high-end configuration and this had to run on multiple configurations. Blaming consoles while ignoring the majority of PC's is sily.

 

[Poimandres]

It's not a counter argument. The game has clearly been downgraded, and it's bad that CDPR lied about it not being downgraded. But, I think people are within their right to say that despite that it STILL looks incredible, which is more than I could have said for Dark Souls II on PS3/360 or Watch Dogs on consoles. Fuck all to do with making a counter argument, at least for me.

This pretty much sums it up for me. It clearly doesn't look as good as it did, but it still looks very impressive compared to almost everything else out there.

Maybe the console versions had something to do with it, but it might also be that they just couldn't get decent performance out of the PC version with the extra effects etc that are now missing. I'm sure with mods people will be able to tweak it to be closer to the original footage.

 

[Chris Murphy]

How about all that tesselation missing from that 2nd set of pictures, and the degradation of foliage which is shown on the same picture and most of the others. I don't know how lighting affects tessellation.

I'm not sure what you mean and what pictures you are referring to.

There may be a higher volume of foliage, but a slider will sort that. I'm not sure what you mean by lacking tessellation? I'd need to see the picture. Pretty hard to compare that type of thing without shots from the same area.

Edit: I also hate that term. It's essentially normal map +. Tessellation is an already used term that is nothing to do with that texture/shader effect.

 

[Primethius]

I don't know what you're on about. Trees and shrubs all cast shadows. They also self-shadow.

The vast majority of games use essentially flat alpha textures for foliage, so it makes no sense to call out The Witcher 3 for that. Especially considering the huge amount of foliage being rendered in the game.

Nor is there any evidence of a downgrade in that regard, because there is no evidence the game was ever using anything different.

The Sword of Destiny trailer features far better foliage then what we are seeing right now.

 

[Gaz_RB]

Hmmm, I don't know. Does titan X SLI qualify?

Damn Viveks, I didnt know you were packing heat.

 

[BeEatNU]

let's hope PC version is legit

Hmmm, I don't know. Does titan X SLI qualify?

i'll show you mines if you show me yours

 

[Huff]

I recommend reading the books. As these games arn't that fun to play. At one point at least they were the graphics king

 

[Self_Destructive]

let's hope PC version is legit



i'll show you mines if you show me yours

Damn, how many of us have Titan X SLIs here?

 

[Gaz_RB]

I recommend reading the books. As these games arn't that fun to play. At one point at least they were the graphics king

Damn the only thing I agree with in this post is the fact that people should read the books.

 

[GatticusFinch]

I recommend reading the books. As these games arn't that fun to play. At one point at least they were the graphics king

Yeah, I don't get it. I don't see what about the gameplay everyone is trumpeting was so good. I've tried playing both Witchers and eventually I just couldn't do it anymore.

 

[ColonialRaptor]

I honestly believe that there has been no downgrade specifically just modifications to the art style the coloring and the way the grass appears. The grass I softer rather than sharper now because for all we know the old grass looks terrible aliased when not running at a supersampled 4k level resolution.

I also think there are many other things that have been added that make the game so much more immersive and beautiful.

I just hope that they didn't scrap the butterflies and the different airborn things.

I agree maybe the fire part looks a little less "special" but who knows exactly what it is.

Anyone who thinks this isn't going to look better than the witcher 2 is insane and yes flotsam is and will be one of the primarily best looking areas in any game and that's because of the art style. I am certain we will see places that compare to flotsam in this game.

Remember we've only really seen the tutorial / intro area so far.

This is likely my last post in this thread.

 

[Hypron]

Yeah, I don't get it. I don't see what about the gameplay everyone is trumpeting was so good. I've tried playing both Witchers and eventually I just couldn't do it anymore.

What people are praising is the actual role playing part of the games.

 

[benzy]

Hmmm, I don't know. Does titan X SLI qualify?

 

[Inuhanyou]

I thought it was somewhat obvious that every major game was a console port to PC unless stated otherwise?

Its just easier to do with a fixed spec, especially when you are talking about lower end PC's as well that go even lower.

We knew this was going to happen as soon as devs got their hands around current gen architecture. DICE themselves have already said PS4 is their lead dev platform, i think it it'll go for pretty much everyone this gen, similar to how 360 was. Scale down to XB1 and cull resolution and some effects, scale up to higher end PC configurations with Nvidia specific stuff+ higher res/fps seems like par the course if we're considering what happened in the 7th gen.

The very early trailers were all on PC's for marketing purposes anyway, that fidelity was never going to be in the base game, i think. AAA games are 90% marketing these days anyway.

 

[Derp]

It's quite clear its been downgraded significantly... The question should be what has been downgraded and by how much. The foliage is a standout to me. It just looks bad.

And to those who firmly believe there was no downgrade or the difference is minimal...

Replicate that. We'll compare.

 

[LowParry]

I recommend reading the books. As these games arn't that fun to play. At one point at least they were the graphics king

No. Nooooo. Books are bad!

 

[SaberEdge]

Definitely. The WoW-style palette is the most noticeable change, and the removal of fog and post processing effects makes the image look clean and almost cartoon-like.

Not the direction I would have antipated for this series.

How much of the footage have you watched? There clearly is a lot of alpha effects and particle effects for things like fog, dust, fire, etc. I also would like to know what post process effects you think were there before that are missing now.

I do agree there was a shift in art direction, but I wouldn't describe it as cartoon-like.

 

[viveks86]

Damn Viveks, I didnt know you were packing heat.

Hehe. Yeah built one from scratch a month ago. Will post proper comparison shots to see how well it holds up. The fact that people at CDPR have claimed no downgrade ever happened deserves scrutiny (minus the shit-flinging)

 

[sgs2008]

Damn, how many of us have Titan X SLIs here?

Im running titan x slis on an acer xb207Hu 1440p ips 144hz gsync monitor