• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Witcher 3 PC Performance Thread

didamangi

Member
Are you guys playing with a controller or kb/m? Trying to figure out which is better.

kb/m, switching signs without popping up menu and one key shortcuts to sub menu without going through another screen in an 100+ hours rpg where you'll probably doing combat, reading, equipping, taking items, etc numerous times is a bit better than missing out on vibration. Just a bit. Also the input lag atm is bugging me out.
 

JBourne

maybe tomorrow it rains
I'm trying to take a video of the settings I've been using to get 55-60 fps with Hairworks on using a 970 and 3570k, but Shadowplay is costing me a few frames per second and giving me stutter that's not present during normal gameplay.

Here's my last attempt to record something. Stuttering, pop-in, and an invisible bridge.

EDIT: after watching the video, it's obvious that something is up with Shadowplay and not the game itself. The video freezes and drops audio at certain parts, which definitely wasn't occurring in-game.
 
Are you guys playing with a controller or kb/m? Trying to figure out which is better.

Keyboard and mouse; I tried the controller though and it feels more natural for the game. The Witcher 2 on the other hand was more Kb/m friendly with its TARGETING system. There is no doubt that The Witcher 3 has console-like controls.


You have to change a lot of things to get a proper Kb/m setup in TW3. I changed sprinting and horse running to left control (Ctrl), and dodging to shift. Also, lock-on, which I never fucking use, to "T". Strong attack to Alt but I am thinking of changing it to right mouse button.

Adjusting the control is a cluster fuck of trial and error. There are functions that share the same button but the game doesn't highlight them nor assigns the same button if you change it for one of them; you have to memorize them and select them individually. You will understand once you try to change the binding keys for running and dodging.

kb/m, switching signs without popping up menu and one key shortcuts to sub menu without going through another screen in an 100+ hours rpg where you'll probably doing combat, reading, equipping, taking items, etc numerous times is a bit better than missing out on vibration. Just a bit. Also the input lag atm is bugging me out.

Yep, input lag is very noticeable. And what exacerbated the issue of controls and responsiveness is the frame-timing of the game and constant fps drops; a lot of us had to set maximum pre-rendered frames to 1 which introduces extra input lag. Also, EVERYTHING has startup frames, which makes combat clunky and stupid.
 

ISee

Member
Are you guys playing with a controller or kb/m? Trying to figure out which is better.

I am useing the XONE controller. But atm I am thinking about switching to the PS4 controller so I can access the map more easy.

Does the game supports PS4 button layout like AC:Unity or GTA:V?

Hm, it looks fine to me (Vanilla, no SweetFX) after the washed out colors that GTAV had by default.

Maybe it is just me...
 

Schlomo

Member
Are there hotkeys for casting the different signs? I'm thinking about making a controller profile that makes it easier to use them.
 

Bl@de

Member
Are you guys playing with a controller or kb/m? Trying to figure out which is better.

KB/M. Played the first 5h with a Xbox 360 Controller. Then switched to KB/M. So much better. Just like in Witcher 2 suddenly it's much more direct. Faster turning with the mouse, better riding, better inventory, better everything ... in my opinion there is no other way.
 

Derp

Member
Yeah what you guys are saying about input lag seems to be correct, which is why I wanted to see what people were using. I guess i should give the KB/M a try to see the difference. Also being able to use the signs without having to switch to each one with the little menu would be nice.

I played Witcher 2 with a KB/M and found it perfect so I'm hoping it's still fine.

Also to the people who are playing on death march, are you guys using kb/m or controller?
 
I have done this using Pinnacle Games Profiler. It is awesome.

In fact I took it several steps further, so I now have:

- press Xbox guide button for map
- hold Xbox guide button for quest log
- hold left analogue stick down for quick save (this was one of the only other buttons that is not already mapped by the game, so made use of it!)

Works flawlessly and has improved my experience gaming on PC with an Xbox controller immeasurably.

EDIT - if anyone wants my PGP profile just shout. Although it's pretty simple.

I've been trying to do this with DS4Windows which does have its own button remapping but I haven't been able to get any of my remapped buttons to work.
 
Yeah what you guys are saying about input lag seems to be correct, which is why I wanted to see what people were using. I guess i should give the KB/M a try to see the difference. Also being able to use the signs without having to switch to each one with the little menu would be nice.

I played Witcher 2 with a KB/M and found it perfect so I'm hoping it's still fine.

Also to the people who are playing on death march, are you guys using kb/m or controller?

kb/m. I mapped a number of things to the mouse and it feels great.
 

Yaska

Member
I am useing the XONE controller. But atm I am thinking about switching to the PS4 controller so I can access the map more easy.

Does the game supports PS4 button layout like AC:Unity or GTA:V?



Maybe it is just me...

No it doesn't :(. I use ds4windows to get my DS4 to work with the game.
 

Derp

Member
kb/m. I mapped a number of things to the mouse and it feels great.
Ah, and then there's that as well. I can macro and map buttons to my G502... Yea what the hell why not.

KB/M here we go. Death March should be fun :p

Starting playthrough now lol. Done with tweaking and stuff.
 

Salaadin

Member
Yeah what you guys are saying about input lag seems to be correct, which is why I wanted to see what people were using. I guess i should give the KB/M a try to see the difference. Also being able to use the signs without having to switch to each one with the little menu would be nice.

I played Witcher 2 with a KB/M and found it perfect so I'm hoping it's still fine.

Also to the people who are playing on death march, are you guys using kb/m or controller?

I think you can scroll through signs while parrying by using the d pad. I didn't try it myself but the game told me that I could yesterday.
 

slash3584

Member
I think you can scroll through signs while parrying by using the d pad. I didn't try it myself but the game told me that I could yesterday.

Will try this.

Also I would love that they remove the need to press a button to select an item/sign on the radial menu.
 
Are you guys playing with a controller or kb/m? Trying to figure out which is better.

I am seriously thinking of going KB/M. The controller lag just feels awful and it feels so staccato; I am hoping this control method will ease the problems I am feeling.

I always go controller in 3rd-person games but I used KB/M for Lords of the Fallen (because of some weird running glitch with the controller) and it was a real eye opener as to how well it can work. Being able to quick select stuff with hot keys is a massive plus point.

Between the crashing and the fiddling with settings I really am not feeling this game at the moment. I just have to stop messing around and start playing the game properly. The control scheme is something I need to sort out before knuckling down with the game.

Did Nvidia do or say anything about Kepler cards, aside from "we are investigating it"?

If it is anything like their response to the GTX 970 VRAM issue then you will have a long wait with a load of bollocks at the end of it.
 

Tankshell

Member
I have done this using Pinnacle Games Profiler. It is awesome.

In fact I took it several steps further, so I now have:

- press Xbox guide button for map
- hold Xbox guide button for quest log
- hold left analogue stick down for quick save (this was one of the only other buttons that is not already mapped by the game, so made use of it!)

Works flawlessly and has improved my experience gaming on PC with an Xbox controller immeasurably.

EDIT - if anyone wants my PGP profile just shout. Although it's pretty simple.

I've been trying to do this with DS4Windows which does have its own button remapping but I haven't been able to get any of my remapped buttons to work.

Yeah it would be amazing!

Just downloaded Pinnacle and have 0 idea how it works :p

No worries, just exported and uploaded it here:

https://mega.co.nz/#!UhZwmaII!cPZrcnfgRcM42bWqAxY-N3YpmpAG21l98r4KeL4vTA4

EDIT - also bear in mind my profile is setup to work with the default game keyboard assignments, so if you have changed them it might not work correctly.
 
Not had any issues with the PC version although I don't ever use in game vsync etc.

Will wait and see what these changes do, hopefully they don't bring in more issues or lower the quality of some stuff.
 

Kyaw

Member
If anyone is still having microstuttering issues, try dxtory to limit your fps to 30fps.

http://exkode.com/home-en.html

I tried all kinds of tricks (setting pre rendered frame to 1 in Nvidia panel, vsync on, vsync off, in game limiter) to get rid of microstuttering and nothing worked until I tried Dxtory to limit it to 30fps.

Under "Advanced Settings" limit FPS to 30. You can use the software to monitor your FPS too.

I've limited it to 30 and tried with both in game Vsync on and off, no microstuttering anymore. I have a 60Hz monitor btw.
 

Beepos

Member
Haiworks will dip you. It's going to have to be off if you want closer to constant 60.

Shadows to High
Grass to High
Foliage Detail to Hgih
Hairworks off

Everything else on/max

This will net you 60fps almost constantly in the open world with dips to 50-60 in certain towns/areas.



Hairworks and everything to Ultra? Which resolution?

If Hairworks on and anything over 1080 then yes, of course it's going to struggle.

Thanks to you and everyone else for replying - so far I have made it without any town/city and having constant 60fps 100% of the time. Yeah turned hairworks off that ~10 frame drop is so not worth it and is just a massive frame killer.

Apart from that all I had to do was turn shadows to high and Foliage view to high with the ultra preset.

It's perfect 60 - but again at a city I will see how it holds up!
 

mdsfx

Member
OK this seems to be working great for me.

G1 970
3570k

Removed OC on GPU (at factory OC)
Removed OC on CPU
Nvidia power option set to max performance
Turned off Geforce streaming service
Running exe directly without GOG galaxy
Unlimited frames
No vsync
Full screen
Ultra settings, no hair, high foliage
High post processing, SSBO
Adjusted fan curve in afterburner to hit 100% at 70° (doesn't run that hot though)

Averaging around 55-75 fps
 

The_Poet

Banned
Game reliably crashes if I try to OC my gtx780 using evga precisionX.

Anybody else having this problem? Or have alternate ways of over-clocking which aren't causing them crashes?
 
What does terrain quality do? I can't see any difference between low/ultra so just put it down to low but feel I'm missing something.

Also, the nvidia guide to use ultra textures if you have over 2GB VRAM. i can't see any difference between high/ultra. should i keep it on ultra or back to high? they said it helps streaming or something.
 
Game reliably crashes if I try to OC my gtx780 using evga precisionX.

Anybody else having this problem? Or have alternate ways of over-clocking which aren't causing them crashes?

I'm sure it's just exposing an instability at whatever clock speed your attempting to use if your crashing only occurs while overclocking.
 

Awntawn

Member
Man, I fucking give up. Waiting for the patch now. Crashing is more rampant than any game I can remember in recent history. Borderline unplayable.

And if the patch doesn't fix the crashing, I better see some god damn pitchforks. The free pass this game and developer is getting is sickening.
 
Man, I fucking give up. Waiting for the patch now. Crashing is more rampant than any game I can remember in recent history. Borderline unplayable.

And if the patch doesn't fix the crashing, I better see some god damn pitchforks. The free pass this game and developer is getting is sickening.

Are you crashing every 5 minutes or something? I crash every two or three hours, which just forces me to take a break and stretch my legs =P "Unplayable" is pretty strong from what I'm seeing.
 

mdsfx

Member
Are you crashing every 5 minutes or something? I crash every two or three hours, which just forces me to take a break and stretch my legs =P "Unplayable" is pretty strong from what I'm seeing.
Agreed. I mean, it's not fun to crash, but I'm back in the game 30 seconds later even with a standard HDD. As long as you save often enough, it's manageable and still enjoyable.
 

ys45

Member
Decided to change config yesterday , Turned off the hair work (because seriously it's not worth the fps hit IMHO) and changed the SSAO to HBAO+ and I'm down sampling at 1080
I have a steady 55-60 fps .

I also removed the FPS lock at 60 and it seems to have fixed my crash issue or maybe I was just lucky yesterday and did not crash , but I saw on Reddit it was causing the crash/freeze for some persons.
 
I have only had one crash, when I had the framerate limited in game to 30. It wasn't in a menu either, it was whilst riding my horse. I have since capped the framerate with Riva and haven't had a crash since.
 

Awntawn

Member
Are you crashing every 5 minutes or something? I crash every two or three hours, which just forces me to take a break and stretch my legs =P "Unplayable" is pretty strong from what I'm seeing.

I've gone stretches of hours without any crash. I've gone periods of a crash every 10 minutes. Reliability Monitor counts 8 crashes within 10 hours of gameplay. Feels like there were more. Even if not, that's just shy of 1 crash every hour.

How is crashing every two to three hours acceptable to you? This is the free pass I'm talking about. AC:U and Battlefield 4 people were demanding their money back. This game, people say to just rollback your drivers, downclock your OC that's 100% stable for every other game in existence, use third party programs for v-sync and framerate lock instead of ingame, and make sure you always save before going into your inventory to make sure you don't lose progress WHEN, not IF, you crash.
 
For control preference, I've been using an x1 controller and it's been great other than having to turn stick sensitivity down to 0.80. I tried kb&m a bit last night and similar to Witcher 2 it offers more precise control and much better camera manipulation, however the key mapping seems really bad. The controls in this game seems to be built for a controller.

I do wish a ds4 worked natively as I would love to have the touch pad for map/inventory.


As far as the crashes, they are still bad for me. I'm good for at least 2 an hour. My last resort is to remove my 4.0ghz oc on my 2500k, but I highly doubt that's the issue.
 
I've gone stretches of hours without any crash. I've gone periods of a crash every 10 minutes. Reliability Monitor counts 8 crashes within 10 hours of gameplay. Feels like there were more. Even if not, that's just shy of 1 crash every hour.

How is crashing every two to three hours acceptable to you? This is the free pass I'm talking about. AC:U and Battlefield 4 people were demanding their money back. This game, people say to just rollback your drivers, downclock your OC that's 100% stable for every other game in existence, use third party programs for v-sync and framerate lock instead of ingame, and make sure you always save before going into your inventory to make sure you don't lose progress WHEN, not IF, you crash.

It's not great, but it's not unplayable. It's an open world game though, so I expected bugs at launch. If it isn't patched within a week or two I'll join in with my own pitchfork, but until then I can deal with a crash every hour or two and still (mostly) enjoy the heck out of this amazing game.
 
Top Bottom