Author Topic: The Witcher 1 thread.  (Read 40533 times)

Offline MysterD

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Re: Witcher screenies.
« Reply #80 on: Friday, October 26, 2007, 01:57:39 PM »
From The Witcher's Boards
(NOTE: must be a member to see this post)

The Witcher's SDK and New Mods to be released in a few weeks, guys.
Quote from: Brysui of CD Projekt RED
The Djinni SDK along with first mods will be available for everyone in just few weeks.

IGN Preview
IGN has a new preview on this game.

Some Americans Are Buying The Uncensored UK's Pay-To-Download" Version from Metaboli
I see that The Uncut UK version of The Witcher is also out for pay-to-download now over Metaboli.

And from what I read in this thread on Witcher's official board (must be registered w/ their boards to see the thread), some Americans are buying this pay-to-download UK Version, too. Which, well -- is 49.99E; that's around 70 US Dollars, approximately, people have said. Yeah, kinda expensive. People have been having a hella tough time, w/ getting decent DL speeds, though.

Quote from: Metaboli
Download the full game
--Super-fast download
--No need to be online to play
--Re-download the game if you need to
--Burn the game to CD/DVD if you want to
--Free customer support 7 days a week

Forget the super-fast DL part, right now, from what I've read on the boards -- probably too many ordering it and DLing from it! :P So, yuh, so what's the damn catch here w/ the DRM?? Does the game bind itself to one PC and IP or something? What's the DRM on this thing???

Or are you paying around 49.99E / $71 US to download this and not have ANY protection around it?

I'll see what more I can find out on this version, guys...

Patch 1.1 A Released
NEW Patch 1.1A Released for The Witcher, namely to fix-up a nasty bug that was in Act 5.

YouGamers Review
87 from YouGamers.com (out of 100)
« Last Edit: Saturday, October 27, 2007, 09:45:35 PM by MysterD »

Offline MysterD

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Re: Witcher screenies.
« Reply #81 on: Sunday, October 28, 2007, 07:46:42 AM »
In Regards for those wondering some of what you will be able to do w/ The Witcher's Djinni SDK/Toolkit, once they release it...
Tańczący na Zgliszczach of CD Projekt RED answers a handful of my questions, in regards to the upcoming The Witcher SDK

Quote from: Tańczący na Zgliszczach of CD Projekt RED
Quote from: MysterD
1. Can and will you show us screenshots or videos of what The Toolkit might actually look like??
I think you will be able to see it soon.

Quote from: Tan of CDPR
Quote from: MysterD
2. Would you say The Witcher's SDK is harder or easier to use than The Aurora Engine from NWN1 or NWN2? Will it have a steep learning curve? Easy to learn, but hard to master??
Harder. It's rather a protool.

Quote from: Tan
Quote from: MysterD
3. Will there be lots of "scripting" involved?
If you want to make something really good - yes, you must use some scripts.

Quote from: Tańczący na Zgliszczach of CD Projekt RED
Quote from: MysterD
4. Will we be able to implement our own "Collectible Cards" into the game?
Sure.

Quote from: Tańczący na Zgliszczach of CD Projekt RED
Quote from: MysterD
Will there be Easy Game-Making Wizards (a la NWN) in the SDK for creating such things easily...?
No, surely not in the first toolset release version. Maybe later it will be added.

Quote from: Tańczący na Zgliszczach of CD Projekt RED
Quote from: MysterD
5. Regular Quests and Side Quests?
Yes, you can create both there.

Quote from: Tańczący na Zgliszczach of CD Projekt RED
Quote from: MysterD
6. Quests just based around "Collectible Cards"?
It's up to you what about quest will be.

Quote from: Tańczący na Zgliszczach of CD Projekt RED
Quote from: MysterD
7. In-Game Cut-Scenes?
Yes, Djinni have buildin cutscene editor.

Quote from: Tańczący na Zgliszczach of CD Projekt RED
Quote from: MysterD
8. Creating new objects (Armor, Spells, Weapons, Misc)?
Sure.

Quote from: Tańczący na Zgliszczach of CD Projekt RED
Quote from: MysterD
9. Creating new NPC's and dialogue trees?
Sure.

Quote from: Tańczący na Zgliszczach of CD Projekt RED
Quote from: MysterD
10. Anything else you want to tell us about the Toolkit/SDK, guys?
Not yet. You'll be given new informations soon

Offline Pugnate

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Re: Witcher screenies.
« Reply #82 on: Sunday, October 28, 2007, 08:12:13 AM »
I think you just reached a whole new level with your quoting. :P

Offline MysterD

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Re: Witcher screenies.
« Reply #83 on: Sunday, October 28, 2007, 09:35:53 AM »
To Pug:
I think you just reached a whole new level with your quoting. :P

Well, thank you...!

*bows*

EDIT, 10/29/2007:
GameBanshee Interview w/ CD Projekt Red
GameBanshee talks w/ CD Projekt on the Witcher

EDIT #2:
IGN Review
8.5 from IGN

Quote from: IGN
The resulting game is pretty strong thanks to an interesting world rife with moral divides in a story progression that makes for hard choices when creating an identity for Geralt, the protagonist. It's a well realized and detailed world with excellent music to fill in the mood. If it wasn't for some story inconsistencies, crashing issues, and snore-inducing load times, The Witcher would be higher on our list of must-haves. As it is, we still recommend the game, but want to note for buyers to beware of the technical problems.
8.5 is a pretty good score for a game that they feel has some issues around it...

Quote
Geralt as the deciding factor in events is one of the reasons The Witcher works as a narrative and a game. The first couple of chapters of the adventure will offer up some moral decisions that may seem a little more cut and dry but when chapter three rolls around, the choices offered up are many shades of gray and it's hard to ever know that what you're doing is "right" by the video gaming standard of black and white right and wrong. Are you helping elves fighting for freedom and equality or terrorists that have just as much hatred of humans as humans have of them? Do the ends of preserving and protecting humanity really justify the potentially horrific means? Do I love Triss or Shani or just view them as toys for my amusement? These ideological, political, and personal decisions make the story and the game more engrossing as you sit there and wonder "what did I just do?"
Well, that's interesting....it basically sounds like after a while, it throws the whole "good" and "evil" thing out the window and what we really have here is "decision" and "consequence." I like the sound of that.

Quote
The story works itself out mostly through conversation though there is the occasional action cutscene at bigger moments as well as art "slideshows" of flashbacks to previous choices when a branch of the story comes to fruition.
Oooooh...."Art slideshows" sounds cool to me.

Quote
You'll see how your decision affected you and the environment/people around you. Their intention was to provide players with a chance to see that their actions have consequence whether it's good or bad but it also proved to be a powerful tool to get us to want to play again to see outcomes from different choices.
Good deal.

Quote
Consequences aren't always immediately understood and it's not unusual for one of these scenes to play several acts in the past and relate it to current happenings. While it's generally pretty well done, it can occasionally be a little confusing. Whether it's the translation or just occasionally disjointed story progression is hard to say.
Hmmm...I dunno, I guess I'll have to see for myself, when I get the game...

Quote
The slideshows aren't the only odd and disjointed bits of the story. There are some presentation issues in the cutscenes that cause some disconnect from the adventure.
Spoilers coming....
(click to show/hide)

Quote
Potions play a pretty huge role in the game, especially on the high difficulty setting, which is why we're a little sad it wasn't implemented better. It's not that the system itself is broken. On the contrary, the amount of potions and effects are varied and support a variety of play styles. The problem is almost entirely with the inventory system. Everywhere you go in the world, you can collect ingredients for potions off of plants, mineral deposits, killed creatures, or stashes. Each substance has one or two possible ingredient uses. The problem is, you can't sort them easily by ingredient type, you can't look before you go to brew potions if you have enough of any type, and you'll have to constantly look back to your journal to have any clue what you need to make a potion. This is especially aggravating after you start stashing stuff at the inns (inns act as a universal bank so that you can grab your stuff from any of them). There's no sorting tool at the inns at all so you'll have to mouse over and constantly check back and forth between substances to see if you've got the right ones. Since alchemy is such a huge part of the game, the interface for it (and especially the inventory) should have been given more careful consideration. It leads to a lot of aggravation when you constantly have to run back and forth to the inn and load in and out of areas in order to get the right amount of potion made.
A sorting system implemented into a patch sounds like a good idea...

Sorting systems are always a good idea for games where you pack all kinds of crazy amounts and all kinds of types of inventory.

Quote
And it's that loading in and out of areas that is probably the biggest problem The Witcher has. Load times are loooooonnng, which can be a real bitch when running in and out of buildings inside a city since you're often conveying messages, trying to get to your stash, or completing quests. One of the main problems is that the game doesn't keep the greater area in memory when loading into a house. The load into the house will be quick, but then when you turn around and go back into the city proper, you'll have that long wait waiting for you. This is a problem even on high end computers.
That stinks that high-end PC's have a nice wait for load times. I hope they got something good on-screen to entertain us, as we wait. :P

One thing I do like about NWN2: Mask's load screens -- they often will be like a nice-detailed one paragraph on something. Could be a description of an area you're going into; could be about a NPC or enemy you are about to confront; anything important to the game to keep you into it. That just helps keep the player immerse RIGHT into the story and atmosphere of the game.

Quote
Closing Comments
The Witcher really is a good game and one that PC RPG fans will surely enjoy. It combines some entertaining and fast-paced combat with a well realized world and pretty decent story that branches and can end in three different fashions. With a load of choice in character creation on a point assignment and morality level, there’s plenty of reason to want to come back and play the 40-50 hour game again. The big problems mainly sit with the technical issues like crash bugs and long load times can be very frustrating. If it wasn't for those things The Witcher would have scored better here. If you can look past the technical side of things (which are still not as bad as some other RPGs released recently) The Witcher is definitely a game you’ll remember well over the years.



« Last Edit: Monday, October 29, 2007, 08:53:35 PM by MysterD »

Offline Pugnate

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Re: Witcher screenies.
« Reply #84 on: Tuesday, October 30, 2007, 11:44:31 AM »
IGN gives it 8.5

http://pc.ign.com/articles/831/831264p1.html

One of their better reviews. At least he gave a taste of what the game is like rather than the obligatory mumbo jumbo he usually writes.

The review gives me hope again. In fact the game sounds quite awesome, and with the patches it should easily get better. I just hope it isn't too preachy with the real world political influence on its storyline.

Quote
The Witcher really is a good game and one that PC RPG fans will surely enjoy. It combines some entertaining and fast-paced combat with a well realized world and pretty decent story that branches and can end in three different fashions. With a load of choice in character creation on a point assignment and morality level, there’s plenty of reason to want to come back and play the 40-50 hour game again. The big problems mainly sit with the technical issues like crash bugs and long load times can be very frustrating. If it wasn't for those things The Witcher would have scored better here. If you can look past the technical side of things (which are still not as bad as some other RPGs released recently) The Witcher is definitely a game you’ll remember well over the years.
IGN Ratings for The Witcher (PC)

Offline MysterD

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Re: Witcher screenies.
« Reply #85 on: Tuesday, October 30, 2007, 01:42:12 PM »

Offline Pugnate

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Re: Witcher screenies.
« Reply #86 on: Tuesday, October 30, 2007, 01:49:57 PM »
You are like a machine. I can't keep up!

Offline MysterD

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Re: Witcher screenies.
« Reply #87 on: Tuesday, October 30, 2007, 02:10:13 PM »
TVG Review
TVG gives it an 8 (out of 10)

Quote
The Finest Swordplay In A Videogame

Taking one look at the battle-scarred Geralt it comes as no surprise to find the witcher can hold his own in a fight. Using a combination of silver and steel blades (to fight monsters and humans respectively) along with two additional slots for extra weapons, combat in The Witcher provides a deeply engaging and clever setup. Switching between one of three different styles (Speed, Strong, Group), combat requires careful timing to string together combos with the required style dependant on the opponents. Dodging is also a crucial technique to master, with a double tap on any of the direction buttons unleashing a range of rolls, jumps, and other life-saving evasive manoeuvres. Because you're controlling the point dictating Geralt's orientation instead of manual taking control, swordplay in The Witcher offers a greater fluidity than we've seen in any other such game. It's effortless to switch between targets, manoeuvring like a ballet-dancer with a big sword until you've strung enough blows together to perform a deadly yet impressive killing move.
I always thought the combat system sounded interesting, but damn -- that makes it sound freaking awesome! heh!

Quote
Magic takes the form of five different Signs to master, each unleashing a wide variety of spells that compliment the blows, slashes, and pirouettes that Geralt specialises in as opposed to standing out on their own merit. Unlocked as Geralt progresses through the adventure, the manner in which they compliment the fighting ensures the action is always entertaining, visceral, and requires a thoughtful approach throughout
Y'know, I've heard a lot about the regular fighting (melee), but not mush about the magic....hmmmm...I wonder if you can really bank off some cool magic-to-weapon combos and vice versa. :)

Especially since there's like 250 skills Geralt can actually learn.

EDIT:
Strategy Informer Review
7.7 from StrategyInformer

EDIT #2:
ShackNews' Review
ShackNews gives no score, but they give it a pretty good and glowing review, to say the least.

EDIT #3, on Halloween:
GameDaily Review
6 from GameDaily (out of 10)

EDIT #4:
GamesXtreme Review
GamesXtreme gives it a 9.0
Quote from: GamesXtreme
This is one game that I can truly say deserves to be the best PC RPG of the year, even though 2007 is almost over, if not that then the best PC RPG period.

Other Reviews
9 from GamesRadar (out of 10)
Hooked Gamers gives it a 8 (out of 10)[/b]
8 out of 10 from GameInformer
7 from BitTech (out of 1) -- they love the game, but are VERY frustrated w/ the technical issues...
Gamers With Jobs reviews it w/out a score -- though, they like it quite a bit
« Last Edit: Wednesday, October 31, 2007, 02:15:59 PM by MysterD »

Offline Pugnate

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Re: Witcher screenies.
« Reply #88 on: Wednesday, October 31, 2007, 11:40:09 PM »
Well this game is reviewing all over the radar. I guess the point is that if you can put up with the numerous technical flaws, then the game is gold, but if not then it is really frustrating.

Of course another option is to wait till it is patched.

Offline Xessive

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Re: Witcher screenies.
« Reply #89 on: Thursday, November 01, 2007, 12:39:40 AM »
As MyD noted the first patch (v1.1a) was released (I think the same day as the game).

Are all these reviews based on the game before or after that patch?

Offline Pugnate

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Re: Witcher screenies.
« Reply #90 on: Thursday, November 01, 2007, 04:26:47 AM »
The IGN review talked about before and after the patch.

Offline MysterD

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Re: Witcher screenies.
« Reply #91 on: Thursday, November 01, 2007, 02:24:17 PM »
Atomic Gamer.com's Review
88% from AtomicGamer

Quote
And it's amusing to me that the only thing missing from The Witcher in the context of the European RPG stereotype is the difficulty.

...

Usually the game gives you a nice, smooth difficulty curve and only a couple of small tactical options, many of which are almost forced on you, will make the difference between win and loss. In some ways, The Witcher is too easy, like the developers championed story above all and wanting to reward any gamer with the requisite number of hours to get through it all. This might rub some RPG fans the wrong way, but I think it's a fresh look at what these games really mean to the people that love them the most.
I wonder what difficulty the reviewer put this on, since there are Three to pick from ONLY at the start of a new game -- Easy, Normal (default), and Hard.

Quote
Your main weapons can be improved, but you're pretty much stuck with them, and you won't be finding a ton of loot with all kinds of configurable enchantments or the like.
But how come no one mentions, how much upgrading can we do on the main weapon??? Is it a lot? A little? A fair amount?

Quote
Yes, The Witcher still follows the stereotype of a European RPG when it comes to bugs and issues. The first patch for the game has dozens of small fixes for the story and gameplay, but unfortunately it doesn't seem to do anything for the memory leaks or crashes.
Bleh.

Quote
I highly recommend you use the game's save system heavily, and the auto-save is sometimes not quite enough to stop you from getting frustrated at replaying the odd several-minute-long chunk of the game. Hopefully the next major patch can let go of the smaller stuff and start working on the big picture. As far as performance goes: while the system requirements might seem a bit steep for a game using the Neverwinter Nights Aurora engine, the game does look pretty good and the minimum system will play the game well enough.
Good. My aging PC won't be crying too much, hopefully. :P

Quote
But to me, the biggest problem is with the nasty load times - it's not so bad at the beginning of the game, but when you start visiting houses in a city, you'll be spending almost as much time staring at the Loading screen as you will actually playing.
Ick.

Quote
While just about every RPG out there has lots of dialog, The Witcher is unique in that the dialog becomes one of the more compelling reasons to play. Yes, the combat is good, and your character does gain new tactical options and cool abilities as he improves, although the lack of new gear will turn off those for fans of games like Diablo.
Diablo has a ridiculous amount of items you can get. So does TQ. But, that is really what those games are about -- since, you don't have nowhere as much choice in the matter of questing as say a Planescape or Fallout 2.

Quote
The world design is realistic but interesting and the enemies you fight are generally worthy opponents, but it's the story of Geralt and how he affects his world that will keep you playing. Some technical problems plague the experience, but overall I think you will have a hard time finding a better fleshed-out story in any game released in 2007. The Witcher is not for everyone, and even some hardcore RPG players might find this a disappointment, but it's still an excellent fantasy game with enough merits for me to recommend it for any fan of the genre.
I can't wait to play this one.


Steel_Wind, who is known for his NWN1/2 DLA Content loves The Witcher
Linky to Steel-Wind's impressions

EDIT:
Yay! My copy of The Witcher shipped out today!
« Last Edit: Thursday, November 01, 2007, 05:50:27 PM by MysterD »

Offline MysterD

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Re: Witcher screenies.
« Reply #92 on: Friday, November 02, 2007, 08:09:39 PM »
Jolt UK Review
8.2 from Jolt UK

Quote
While your initial character setup is pretty limited, being a good step away form what you might expect from an RPG, the levels and powers you can work your way through during the game more than make up for it. Whichever way you choose to take your version of Geralt, there are 250 skills and abilities to unlock through the game’s six chapters, which is huge.
Even though Geralt can basically be either a warrior, mage, or a mix of the two, having around 250 skills/abilities at your disposal could make each warrior even quite different.

Quote
It's a monster of a game that gives you plenty of time to explore your own moral fibre, while at the same time exploring the massive world taking on god only knows how many quests. With so much content you'll be glad of some occasional downtime to give you a chance to gather your thoughts and think about which way you want to play out the missions.
Sounds like my kind of game.

Quote
Damn those morals, always getting in the way.
That's no fun! :P

Quote
After all is said and done, The Witcher is actually one of the best RPGs we've come across in a long time. It may not quite be Oblivion in scope and all-round greatness, but it earns the right to call itself a must try RPG that will immerse you in its dark and mysterious world. For depth of gameplay and the sheer amount of things to see and do, this is potentially one of the sleeper hits of 2007 and easily recommendable to anyone with an interest in the genre.
I can't wait for this one to arrive. It can't get here to my house soon enough, to suit me!!! :P
Sometime next week, I'd suppose...

Offline Quemaqua

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Re: Witcher screenies.
« Reply #93 on: Friday, November 02, 2007, 08:35:45 PM »
I really want this, but I just can't right now.  Too much to do in November.

天才的な閃きと平均以下のテクニックやな。 課長有野

Offline Pugnate

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Re: Witcher screenies.
« Reply #94 on: Friday, November 02, 2007, 11:24:42 PM »
I've basically held off on my purchase because I bought a few other things, and this seems like the sort of game that will get better with patches.

Offline MysterD

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Re: Witcher screenies.
« Reply #95 on: Saturday, November 03, 2007, 06:40:38 AM »
I really want this, but I just can't right now.  Too much to do in November.

Quote from: Pug
I've basically held off on my purchase because I bought a few other things, and this seems like the sort of game that will get better with patches.

I'll give some impressions of course, once the game gets here, sometime probably this week. I am pumped for this one, to say the very least.

Pug, I'm sure it'll only get better w/ patches. CDPR already mentioned on their official boards that they're ALREADY working on a patch to allowing "Enabling And Disabling Option" for Autosaving more so than anything right now -- they are also working on improving load times, as well.

Here's that link, on their official boards to what I'm gonna quote below
Quote from: Brysui of CD Project RED
We are currently working on improving loading times a bit, but we are more focused on adding a "disable autosave" option, which should drastically reduce intervals between each location. It's not 100% sure, but very, very likely Wink.

EDIT #1:
Expect the next patch probably sometime near the end of the month (of November).

Quote from: Brysui of CDPR
We are currently working on it. Do not take it as granted, but according to our calculations it should be released by the end of the month, probably in about two/ three weeks.
« Last Edit: Saturday, November 03, 2007, 07:37:59 AM by MysterD »

Offline JacksRag(e)

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Re: Witcher screenies.
« Reply #96 on: Sunday, November 04, 2007, 01:05:12 AM »
Picked it up earlier in the afternoon.  I put in maybe an hour so far.  I've been having a bit of fun with it.  The combat took a little getting used to, since I'm still stuck in Diablo click-clicky combat mode.  But once I figured the basics of it, I've been doing better.  The story has, so far, been pretty compelling and I've been sitting through the numerous cutscenes rather than skipping them.  And it's a pretty game, too.
I've only got a few gripes for right now.  The screen can at times get too busy.  There are quite a few icons on the screen at any given moment.  Granted it's all in the top corners, but still.  And the menus are even more cluttered.  But I can certainly live with it.  Another issue is performance.  My computer's no slouch, but the cutscenes are all herky jerky and the action sometimes slows down too.  The camera can get annoying too and the controls feel bi-polar.  Sometimes its too sensitive, and sometimes it feels too slow.
Apart from that, I'm enjoying the game very much so.

Offline Quemaqua

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Re: Witcher screenies.
« Reply #97 on: Sunday, November 04, 2007, 01:48:17 AM »
Do keep us updated.  Appreciate the impressions.

天才的な閃きと平均以下のテクニックやな。 課長有野

Offline JacksRag(e)

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Re: Witcher screenies.
« Reply #98 on: Sunday, November 04, 2007, 03:58:56 AM »
Ok, so I went through a little bit more.  The storytelling feels disjointed.  It kinda jumps ahead and leaves you a bit confused.  And there are a lot of cutscenes.  I mean, a lot.  Most of the time, they're short little 30 second cutscenes.  But there are so many it starts to drag.  Do you really need start a new cutscene from a different angle?  Meh.
I also spent about 30 minutes running around looking for a shrine, but the map's so confusing to me that I got lost several times.  Mind you, this is something that happens to me often.  Game maps have never been kind to me.  It may not even affect you.  Doesnt help that I was falling asleep through it.
But I'm sure figuring out where everything was is gonna be quite simple and I was just too arsed to notice it.

Offline Pugnate

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Re: Witcher screenies.
« Reply #99 on: Sunday, November 04, 2007, 04:08:20 AM »
Meh... that's not good. I don't mind cutscenes, but I hope they can fix the rest.

On a side note, I remember you bought Titan Quest. Did you enjoy it?

Offline Xessive

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Re: Witcher screenies.
« Reply #100 on: Sunday, November 04, 2007, 05:09:46 AM »
I don't mind cutscenes in general, but too much of anything is bad.

Hopefully the patches will fix some of the performance issues.

Offline MysterD

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Re: Witcher screenies.
« Reply #101 on: Sunday, November 04, 2007, 07:30:51 AM »
Quote from: Jack
Picked it up earlier in the afternoon.  I put in maybe an hour so far.  I've been having a bit of fun with it.  The combat took a little getting used to, since I'm still stuck in Diablo click-clicky combat mode.  But once I figured the basics of it, I've been doing better.  The story has, so far, been pretty compelling and I've been sitting through the numerous cutscenes rather than skipping them.  And it's a pretty game, too.
So, now that you're used to it a bit -- how do you like the combat system???

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I've only got a few gripes for right now.  The screen can at times get too busy.  There are quite a few icons on the screen at any given moment.  Granted it's all in the top corners, but still.  And the menus are even more cluttered.  But I can certainly live with it.  Another issue is performance.  My computer's no slouch, but the cutscenes are all herky jerky and the action sometimes slows down too.
I dunno' if this'll help much or not, but look at this post here...

...This is from the dev's, in the patch 1.1 and patch 1.1A Readme notes, telling you what they believe what settings you should actually be running the game in, depending on basically what vid card you own.


I hope it does help performance, if you ain't tried it yet.

If you already tried this or you do try this and it didn't help you, then bleh! :(

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The camera can get annoying too and the controls feel bi-polar. Sometimes its too sensitive, and sometimes it feels too slow.
I think that part always came w/ the territory of the Aurora Engine, myself. :P

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Apart from that, I'm enjoying the game very much so.
Awesome! :)

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I also spent about 30 minutes running around looking for a shrine, but the map's so confusing to me that I got lost several times.  Mind you, this is something that happens to me often.  Game maps have never been kind to me.  It may not even affect you.  Doesnt help that I was falling asleep through it.
But I'm sure figuring out where everything was is gonna be quite simple and I was just too arsed to notice it.
I usually prefer the big map in games over the mini-maps -- like in say Two Worlds, Oblivion and NWN2, I love their big maps. But, most mini-maps, there's too many "notes of interest" on the mini-map and it's a pain to see what's what on there -- like NWN2 and Two Worlds. I'm better off looking at the big map, here and there.

Oblivion's compass was pretty good, though -- always pointed me in the right area, w/out looking much at the big map.

Dungeon Siege 2's mini-map was pretty good b/c there was a compass arrow that went w/ it, too. And, they really didn't over-litter the mini-map w/ "points of interest."



Offline JacksRag(e)

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Re: Witcher screenies.
« Reply #102 on: Sunday, November 04, 2007, 12:01:06 PM »
Meh... that's not good. I don't mind cutscenes, but I hope they can fix the rest.

On a side note, I remember you bought Titan Quest. Did you enjoy it?

Titan Quest I actually enjoyed very much.  I'm a fan of the whole Greek mythos and whatnot.  And with the the expansion the game was even better.  Though nothing really beats going through the game with a group.

After I got the hang of it, I'm startin to enjoy the combat.  You've got different styles to choose from when battling particular enemies, like fast, strong and groups so far. 

What I'm not enjoying is the unresponsiveness of the movement sometimes.  I'll try to click on Geralt to move somewhere and he'll just stand there doing nothing.  Or he won't attack a monster and he'll just stand with his back to them allowing them to strike him. 

I'll give the notes a try.  Didn't take a look at it yet, but I'll see what more I can tweak.

Offline Pugnate

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Re: Witcher screenies.
« Reply #103 on: Sunday, November 04, 2007, 12:15:09 PM »
I have a question. The problems... do you think they can be ironed out with patches, or are they too deeply part of the system?

Offline MysterD

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Re: Witcher screenies.
« Reply #104 on: Sunday, November 04, 2007, 01:53:19 PM »
Titan Quest
Titan Quest I actually enjoyed very much.  I'm a fan of the whole Greek mythos and whatnot.  And with the the expansion the game was even better.  Though nothing really beats going through the game with a group.
Ooooh, TQ is fun. And the expansion even enhances the original game, too -- which  is great. I still ain't finished TQ, but it's loads of fun. And the ridiculous varying amounts of enhanced loot you can pick-up is crazy!

I see TQ as basically a modernized 3D version of Diablo II w/ a setting of Greek mythology -- with a fair amount of side quests.

Though, I love how open TQ's class system is. There is no class system, really. Just upgrade any skills you want, when you level up.

Pug, if you liked Diablo 2, TQ's right up your alley -- no doubt! You cannot go wrong w/ this action-packed hack-n-slash RPG.

Back to The Witcher...
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After I got the hang of it, I'm startin to enjoy the combat.  You've got different styles to choose from when battling particular enemies, like fast, strong and groups so far.
Sweet. I really liked how the combat system sounded, to me. It sounds like a cross b/t a Diablo AND a Bioware (real-time mixed with turn-based) game. 

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What I'm not enjoying is the unresponsiveness of the movement sometimes.  I'll try to click on Geralt to move somewhere and he'll just stand there doing nothing.  Or he won't attack a monster and he'll just stand with his back to them allowing them to strike him.
That's crummy. :(

I guess the "Pause" key really helps and comes into play then, eh? :P

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I'll give the notes a try.  Didn't take a look at it yet, but I'll see what more I can tweak.
Hope it runs better for you, bro!

EDIT:
Debate on The Witcher's dialogues, which some who have the Polish Version and those who have the English version are comparing the dialogues.

The English versions (UK and USA) look like they lost a lot of "wordiness", in translation from Polish to English.

Sounds like it was namely done by Atari, so they can save $ on the English voice-acting...

Offline JacksRag(e)

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Re: Witcher screenies.
« Reply #105 on: Sunday, November 04, 2007, 02:17:14 PM »
I have a question. The problems... do you think they can be ironed out with patches, or are they too deeply part of the system?

I think some of it is too much a part of the system to change.  Like the camera views I think will stick.  And the combat just took a little bit to get used to, since I'm used to a more Diablo style way of playing.  A lot of the problems I have with the game stem from a preconception of what I imagined this kind of a game to be.  So, slowly I'm getting more used to it and enjoying it.  I just wish they wouldn't have so many cutscenes and load screens.  Do we really need to load every single time we leave and enter a house?
Cause you have to remember, I'm a casual gamer (i.e. lazy) so I get a little grouchy when I'm sent on all these errand and fetch quests.

Offline Pugnate

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Re: Witcher screenies.
« Reply #106 on: Sunday, November 04, 2007, 02:19:03 PM »
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Do we really need to load every single time we leave and enter a house?

Yea that should be at the most a 3 sec. load... not as long as everyone says.

Offline MysterD

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Re: Witcher screenies.
« Reply #107 on: Sunday, November 04, 2007, 02:26:44 PM »
From my post a few up...

CDPR said somewhere on their boards for the next patch due end of Nov, that they are working on the option for allowing the gamer to disable autosaving if they want -- b/c they think that is what they think is killing the load times.

Jack, does the game autosave every time you enter or exit a location???

Offline JacksRag(e)

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Re: Witcher screenies.
« Reply #108 on: Sunday, November 04, 2007, 02:36:32 PM »
It does autosave almost every time you enter a new location, but not when you reload a save when you die (sadness) and not when you enter certain houses, for some odd reason.

Offline MysterD

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Re: Witcher screenies.
« Reply #109 on: Sunday, November 04, 2007, 04:39:07 PM »
It does autosave almost every time you enter a new location
That's crazy.

Shit, no wonder CDPR is deciding to give the player the option to turn Autosave ON or OFF w/ each next patch. I bet that IS what's killing the load times.

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but not when you reload a save when you die (sadness) and not when you enter certain houses, for some odd reason.
Thanks, bro.

How quick is it when you enter houses that don't autosave?
A lot quicker I bet, eh???



Offline JacksRag(e)

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Re: Witcher screenies.
« Reply #110 on: Sunday, November 04, 2007, 11:32:51 PM »
Eh, I'd say so.  Some more than others it seems.  Sometimes its as quick as 5 seconds, sometimes it takes maybe 20 to 30.  Just random.

Offline MysterD

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Re: Witcher screenies.
« Reply #111 on: Monday, November 05, 2007, 02:40:01 PM »
Eh, I'd say so.  Some more than others it seems.

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Sometimes its as quick as 5 seconds, sometimes it takes maybe 20 to 30.  Just random.
Yeah, that explains everything.

No wonder they're gonna make an option for enabling and disabling auto-save.

I liked what Two Worlds: SP portion did. In the options menu, you could set the game to auto-save anywhere from every minute to every 30 mins.

Offline MysterD

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Re: Witcher screenies.
« Reply #112 on: Monday, November 05, 2007, 05:32:43 PM »
Butchered Script
Confirmed by Lead Designer of The Witcher that around 20% of the dialogues were cut down for The English version of Witcher, to meet an agreement w/ Atari for them to publish it

Quote from: CDPR's Lead Designer
I can't judge English translation. Dialogs were trimmed (we had to shorten it by roughly 20% to meet agreements with ATARI) so maybe it spoiled them slightly. Polish conversations are brilliant  and, from what I've heard, English voice acting is quite good.

My personal advise – if you already bought The Witcher… give it second chance and try to play a little more. I promise you will find that it goes beyond “dwarf cock”

GameSpot gives it a glowing review
8.5 from GameSpot

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Don't be afraid of change. Even though The Witcher may scare off some people with inventive combat that replaces comfortable old rapid-fire clicking with rhythmic sword swinging, there is no need to avoid one of the deepest, most adult role-playing games to hit the PC in years. Polish developer CD Projekt has crafted one of those landmark games that moves the goalposts for everybody, a truly grown-up take on swords and sorcery that breaks just about every fantasy tradition in the book. Once you experience a grimy medieval world so realistic that you can practically smell it, quests that reject simplistic good and evil for ambiguous "decisions and consequences," and, yes, newfangled battle mechanics that add welcome twists to left-click scrapping, you'll find it awfully hard to go back to the usual D&D rip-off.
Wow.....what an opening from GameSpot...

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Built on a 2007 edition of the Aurora Engine that powers Neverwinter Nights, The Witcher is something of a cross between action RPGs such as Diablo and more complex plate-mail potboilers such as Neverwinter Nights. Essentially, the developers work both sides of the street. On the one hand, you have exactly one character choice in the form of greasy-haired Geralt of Rivia, the monster-hunting mercenary "witcher" of the title, along with other ostensibly dumbed-down features such as big bunches of combat and Gatling-gun-quick leveling up. But on the other hand, you also get a postwar fantasy world called Temeria that feels lived in (if not postapocalyptic), as well as plot points that involve serious moral choices. Story and setting have been borrowed from The Last Wish, a Polish fantasy novel published way back in 1990 by Andrzej Sapkowski, and for once such an adaptation has been pulled off successfully.
How many times do we all look at what a product a game is "based off" and just say, "Well, that wasn't done justice, now was it?"

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So no, The Witcher sure isn't all sunshine and lollipops. But even though you might need a few Prozac pills to handle the game's bleak tone, the story becomes incredibly compelling when you have so much riding on your actions. Characters seem like real people, not the good-evil-neutral triad of stereotypes that populate most fantasy games. Only a few aspects of the story and setting remind you that you're just playing a game.

A lot of this is probably due to poor translation from the original Polish. Dialogue seems truncated in many spots, which leaves you in the dark as to character motivations. You know something important has just taken place, and the interface clearly points out what you're supposed to be doing, but the big picture doesn't completely come together.
And we know why, too -- see my few posts above, in which Atari butchered 20% of the dialogue. Bah!

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Swearing and bizarre word choices are another issue. One moment you're cruising along listening to fairly standard RPG conversations, and then you're hit with out-of-the-blue modern slang and "F" bombs. It's pretty jarring to hear the leader of your witcher band calling a female team member "babe," let alone to hear Geralt disgustingly grunt "Abso-f***ing-lutely!" Voice acting often lacks authority as well, which highlights these strange lines. Fellow adventurers look like grizzled warriors but sound more like high schoolers. The actor who voices Geralt tries too hard, like a kid attempting a deep, gravelly voice so he can fool the counter jockey at the corner store into selling him a six-pack. Likewise, the youngest member of your group has all the gravitas of Potsie Weber (for a reason, it soon turns out).
I bet Atari didn't spent a lot of $$ on having great English voice-acting, eh....?

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Interactions between the sexes are also risqué in a corny way that would rev up only Beavis and Butthead. It's ridiculous enough that the side quests in every act let Geralt get horizontal with virtually every woman he meets, but it's just pathetic that each conquest is rewarded with a playing card that depicts the lovely lass in a come-hither pose. There isn't even any real payoff with these pics, either, given that the nudity that appeared in the European version of the game has been censored due to prudish Stateside sensibilities. (Thank you, Hot Coffee controversy.) At any rate, the sex is ludicrous and out of place, and is apparently there only to give game geeks hope that a fellow guy with lanky, unwashed hair and corpse-pale skin can score with hot babes.
 
Okay.

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Nevertheless, even with the poor introduction, it's hard not to love the combat system. Battles are only a little more involved than the standard clickfest stuff, yet the mechanics always make you think about what you're doing and provide real satisfaction when you take out tough foes. Attacks also simply look cool, especially when you're jumping around while slinging your sword in all directions in the middle of a pack of monsters.
Sounds good to me!!!

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As you might expect from the grim moments catalogued above, The Witcher is pretty dour when it comes to look and sound. The Aurora Engine has never looked better, and it's hard to believe that this thing dates back to Neverwinter Nights in 2002. Landscapes are generally gorgeous, and the characters are all distinctive (if a bit cartoonish), but the graphics deal in awfully bleak scenery. Many stone buildings in the game are either run-down or falling down. Villages consist of ramshackle huts constructed with wattle and daub and topped with straw roofs. Skies always seem to be a dim steel gray, and rain pours down pretty much every other day. NPCs are filthy, and often come with various scars and minor disfigurements. There are two main camera angles, over-the-shoulder and isometric, although the former is the best choice because it provides the best perspective on everything. The controls are smooth even close-up.
I always thought Witcher looked great in screenies and vids -- they really did a great of gutting out the graphical side of things, to say the least.

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Audio effects and music are perfect counterparts to the look of this shattered world. Little kids skip around while talking about death and playing crude pranks like pissing in the dwarf's bellows. Women can be overheard setting up assignations with their lovers. And all of this is surrounded with subtle, creepy tunes loaded with offbeat tones and sparse organ notes. The superb soundtrack is particularly effective at night; the gothic organ plinking under the moonlight makes you shiver like someone just walked over your grave.
Ooooh! Background sounds sound pretty good, too -- how immersive! I can't wait for this.

Too bad they didn't spend a lot of money on great voice acting...thanks, Atari! I'm sure that like other foreign RPG's that lose something in translation when put into English w/ not-so-expensive voice-acting -- Divine Divinity, Gothc series, and Two Worlds,  all come to mind -- that it'll have its moments.

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Memorable story, immersive combat, fascinating characters--what's not to like? A few fit-and-finish issues mean that The Witcher isn't quite an all-time classic RPG. Regardless, it's awfully, awfully close, warts and all, and it provides a new benchmark for future developers that are looking to lift their games out of the done-to-death elf-and-orc ghetto.
I can't wait...this game better get here tomorrow or Wed!! :P
« Last Edit: Monday, November 05, 2007, 10:01:07 PM by MysterD »

Offline Quemaqua

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Re: Witcher screenies.
« Reply #113 on: Monday, November 05, 2007, 10:07:03 PM »
Stop making me want this.  No, seriously.  Because I really do.

天才的な閃きと平均以下のテクニックやな。 課長有野

Offline JacksRag(e)

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Re: Witcher screenies.
« Reply #114 on: Tuesday, November 06, 2007, 01:18:15 AM »
Right when it's really starting to get good it begins crashing on me, now.  It's crashed 5 times on me today.  Twice at the same spot, so I ignored that and went on.  Then three more times in the middle of a battle.  It wouldn't be so bad if the loading hadn't gotten incredibly worse.  Honestly, it's like "Walk into a room.  Load for two minutes.  Talk to one person.  Leave the room.  Load for another two minutes.  Then walk into a cave.  Load for two minutes.  Cutscene.  Load for two minutes.  CRASH."  AIYA.  I'm done with it for the night. 

I even went and changed the settings and did all the stupid things they suggested for the crashes.  I should want to play through the game, I shouldn't have to feel put upon to restart a whole sequence because it randomly crashes.  Now I have to save every few minutes out of fear of another crash.

Offline Pugnate

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Re: Witcher screenies.
« Reply #115 on: Tuesday, November 06, 2007, 03:35:48 AM »
I first read that review and then Jack's post. It was like getting an erection and then scared into losing it.
« Last Edit: Tuesday, November 06, 2007, 11:30:16 PM by Pugnate »

Offline MysterD

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Re: Witcher screenies.
« Reply #116 on: Tuesday, November 06, 2007, 02:38:19 PM »
It arrived here.
Gonna go install it.

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Re: Witcher screenies.
« Reply #117 on: Tuesday, November 06, 2007, 06:42:30 PM »
People need to stop updating this thread.  Every time I forget about the game, you make me remember it.

I'm sort of debating whether or not I care about the Euro edition, though.  Did they censor anything aside from the boobies?

天才的な閃きと平均以下のテクニックやな。 課長有野

Offline MysterD

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Re: Witcher screenies.
« Reply #118 on: Tuesday, November 06, 2007, 08:47:31 PM »
People need to stop updating this thread.  Every time I forget about the game, you make me remember it.

I'm sort of debating whether or not I care about the Euro edition, though.  Did they censor anything aside from the boobies?
The game-designers have said before that the UK version is uncensored and that it is the definitive version for the North American gamers, basically. And basically, yeah -- I can confirm this; game's patched up to 1.1A, as well. I've seen some cussing, some of the uncensored "collectible cards", and a good deal of head-rolling violence -- and I'm already a few good 3 hours or so into the game.

Language-wise, I'll still very early in the game -- but, I've seen a bunch of swears and whatnot. Sure don't look like it, Que. I've seen things like "Shit!", "balls," and "fuck" already. Yes, the violence is definitely there. Heads can roll and arms can fly, depending on how good you are in combat and what you decide to learn and use for skills.

Combat's awesome, once you get the gist of it. Took a little bit of time to catch on and all, but yeah -- it's pretty sweet. Basically, when you swing, you get a one hit swing, then you get an attempt to combo, if you get the timing right on the combo when it tells you to swing. Keep it going right, you can stun. Stun right, you can finish them off, if they're hurt bad enough. In OTS view, You can double-tap a direction (Left, Right, Forward, Back) to move out the way and do a dodge OR if you're in Iso view, you double-click on the ground to do a dodge. Basically, left button does weapons, right weapon does magic.

For camera views, I find myself using OTS for when the combat's pretty much not loaded w/ enemies (say there's like 2 on screen) and when I'm just running around towns; but I'm often using the Closer Isometric View when there's a good handful of enemies on the screen and trying to keep up w/ it and al.

Yes, Jack was right -- there's loads of cut-scenes, even though they're often not long at all. They really do use them a lot, too. There's definitely no shortage of them, as they use them often to push the main story quest ahead. It gives the game this very cinematic feel -- which goes right along w/ the very cinematic looking combat.

I am running in 800x600 w/ most stuff on Medium, myself. Runs quite well in this res', I might add, too -- around 35-40 frames right now, in the Outskirts of Vizima. in the first area, I could be anywhere from 20-35 frames. Indoors, I can crack around say 40-60 frames. Not bad at all.

Load times are -- eh, they'd be okay, if they didn't always "autosave" after it says it's done w/ the "load". The biggest problem is not the actual loading of the level, as those don't take long too long. It's that right after it loads a level and takes around 20 secs, it then takes another 20 or so secs of time to Autosave, most of the time -- 20 seconds to load, then 20 secs or so to autosave; so, always 40 seconds loads in total for me. Though, I think that if you handled NWN2's load times, you can probably handle these.

I must go play s'more. I'm quite impressed w/ this game, to say the least.

Offline JacksRag(e)

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Re: Witcher screenies.
« Reply #119 on: Wednesday, November 07, 2007, 01:24:27 AM »
I would play some more, but for some reason, every few minutes the game will crash.  I've just got to chapter 2 and I'm roaming around and it crashes every single time.  Eff this game.  I'm just gonna wait for a patch or some such.