The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

[Dirk Diggler]

I've installed the HD project and not really noticing a big difference, I think texture overhauls can be like that. I also installed fast travel from anywhere, which I think is essential.

The game still looks great and performs really well, so I'm not sure I'll bother with any more mods.

 

[Daytrader]

Looks awesome with zero mods anyway, i wont be installing anything, like my movies, i want to play it as the developers/directors intended

 

[Musty Pie]

Looks awesome with zero mods anyway, i wont be installing anything, like my movies, i want to play it as the developers/directors intended

From what i understand some gameplay mods have been made and released by the original Dev team! So maybe the game is not released as the devs intended...

 

[Daytrader]

Would the dev team then not have added them in a patch ?

 

[Musty Pie]

Would the dev team then not have added them in a patch ?

I would assume not all developers have a say on what is released to the wider audience officially.

Usually a publisher's etc. are involved (to a degree) whereby decisions dev's would want or push for are overlooked for financial or other reasons.

Also, im sure many devs (if given more time) would quite happily add many QOL improvements to games. Seems silly to not consider some mods because of your understanding that its vanilla or as the devs intended...

 

[Daytrader]

Well, mainly the reason i wont be installing also is, i think it looks awesome as is anyway.

 

[Musty Pie]

But what if it looks even better ... Seems silly not to even consider it.

 

[Daytrader]

Nah, im happy if it looks good enough, i aint got time to install mods really, and games like this and skyrim with its 1000+mods, to much for me, wouldn't know where to start and finish, i understand if it can make games look a lot better, but when a game looks awesome anyway, dont really see much point in making it look just a little bit better myself.

 

[Vern1961]

Played a bit more into this last night having finished the tutorial level and got access to the quest board in the first village.

There's no doubt the graphics are very nice, even being forced to run at 1920 x 1080 (as detailed in my previous post). However there are more than a few niggles with the game which, at the risk of offending the purists, are stopping it from being a 5 star experience (so far).

Mainly the combat, which seems to consist of circling madly while mashing the LMB hoping you get hit points in before your opponent(s) with slightly less mashing of the Q key to generate Idli or one of the other magical powers.

How do I fast travel back to a previously discovered location, or do I have to walk/ride everywhere?

Every few yards I'm stopping to pick up flowers or herbs but apart from a few high end items in the Alchemy menu these seem to serve no useful purpose I can see, nothing listed uses the stuff I've gathered. Where are the basic health or magicka potions? Where do I find recipes for these if they need to be added to the inventory? Otherwise it seems the only way to restore health is via food items (which it appears can't be cooked or combined to improve effect) that either have to be stolen from the starving peasants or purchased from the scantily stocked merchants. Likewise crafting, picking up various objects and items but no indication of how or where to use these.

And having finally ascended to Level 2, the perk and promotion menu makes FO4 look good. One measly point which you have to allocate and then start dragging icons over to a sub menu.

I know TW3 isn't Skyrim or FO4 but being frank, if it wasn't for the fact I've probably played over 2 hours and only paid a tenner for the game in the Steam sale, I would seriously consider refunding.

 

[JJimmyJ]

I can maybe answer a few

Mainly the combat, which seems to consist of circling madly while mashing the LMB hoping you get hit points in before your opponent(s) with slightly less mashing of the Q key to generate Idli or one of the other magical powers.

Combat is a love/hate thing. I personally have no problems with it. Just put up Quen for a shield (can get a better version later). Use dodge then hit. Can also use Aard to disorient etc, lots of options.

How do I fast travel back to a previously discovered location, or do I have to walk/ride everywhere?

If you unlocked the green sign post in a location then you can travel to your nearest green post and use fast travel from there. There is a mod for fast travel from anywhere, but not tried it myself. Use Roach if you want to ride everywhere and use the paths when galloping fast as it means he doesn't lose stamina

Every few yards I'm stopping to pick up flowers or herbs but apart from a few high end items in the Alchemy menu these seem to serve no useful purpose I can see, nothing listed uses the stuff I've gathered. Where are the basic health or magicka potions? Where do I find recipes for these if they need to be added to the inventory? Otherwise it seems the only way to restore health is via food items (which it appears can't be cooked or combined to improve effect) that either have to be stolen from the starving peasants or purchased from the scantily stocked merchants. Likewise crafting, picking up various objects and items but no indication of how or where to use these.

You can buy or find recipes. You'll need these for potions like swallow etc. Also bombs. Restore health can be done by meditating. Also one of the powers can restore health during daylight. Alchemy can be very potent at high levels with one of the powers 'Euphoria' which basically makes you invincible. I do agree there is a lot of pointless herbs and objects

And having finally ascended to Level 2, the perk and promotion menu makes FO4 look good. One measly point which you have to allocate and then start dragging icons over to a sub menu.

Perks are a bit messy at the start. You may have to decide what type of a character you want, fast attacks or hard attacks. An alchemy build or focus on signs. There's lots of options, but maybe only relevant on harder settings.

I just love the lore, scenery and the story. Also, some of the side quests are just immense. There's probably too much to do sometimes, so you can easily level up too fast, but you can still complete the side quests, treasure hunts etc

 

[Vern1961]

Thanks Jimmy, that helps a lot. Hopefully in time I will come to really love this game but it is a bit hard going at first.

Part of the issue is that this is my first encounter with the Witcher world - well concurrent with the TV show - so being thrust into a world where the devs kind of assume a bit of background knowledge, can be disorientating. It's a bit like picking up Mass Effect 3 without having played ME1 or ME2 first.

 

[uncle_rufus]

Thanks Jimmy, that helps a lot. Hopefully in time I will come to really love this game but it is a bit hard going at first.

Part of the issue is that this is my first encounter with the Witcher world - well concurrent with the TV show - so being thrust into a world where the devs kind of assume a bit of background knowledge, can be disorientating. It's a bit like picking up Mass Effect 3 without having played ME1 or ME2 first.

Everything you mentioned in your first post is (I think) tweaked or remedied in some way by the "developer" patch people have mentioned above (things like the herbs + oils being kind of useless)

If I recall correctly it's a developer patch because it's "a developer" i.e. one specific guy from the dev team who had ideas about how the game could be rebalanced but they were turned down or at least deemed not worthy of the release, so he/she has put them together as a mod to restore their own vision of how the game should have been. One thing I noted is that they've tweaked the way the "Qwen"(?) sign works so that you can't just upgrade it to lvl2 and then let it carry you through the entire game (as I and most people likely did to some extent). That was my biggest issue with the game; on Nightmare difficulty it was quite hard at first but as soon as you got your powers and stuff to a good level it was just way too easy and forgiving

 

[Egon]

At 1080p maxed setting this 3D guru chart shows the 1650 Super, but also comparable cards like RX 590, 1660 Super etc: https://www.guru3d.com/articles-pages/msi-geforce-gtx-1650-super-gaming-x-review,19.html

comparable Nvidia cards do slightly better in witcher 3, but the RX590 in general at current prices preforms very well and will still average over 60 FPS at 1080p with settings cranked up in witcher 3 so max out your monitor, then jump ahead in plenty of other titles. Right now available for pretty nice price with a few games. https://www.overclockers.co.uk/pc-components/graphics-cards/amd/radeon-rx-590 if your looking to run the game in its full glory.

If your happy to knock off a few demanding settings, could settle for something slightly less down the tier.

Awesome thanks for the info

 

[Vern1961]

Well it is kind of starting to gell now. I managed to kill the first map "boss" (the gryphon) on the first attempt much to my surprise. Mainly because I made sure I visited all the accessible ? markers on the map which got me up to L3 plus a few ability points from the power source areas. Also managed to gather some slightly better armour and weapons so with Vesimir running interference, the battle was over very quick. I didn't even need to use the crossbow more than once, just kept chasing with the sword.

 

[Musty Pie]

Well it is kind of starting to gell now. I managed to kill the first map "boss" (the gryphon) on the first attempt much to my surprise. Mainly because I made sure I visited all the accessible ? markers on the map which got me up to L3 plus a few ability points from the power source areas. Also managed to gather some slightly better armour and weapons so with Vesimir running interference, the battle was over very quick. I didn't even need to use the crossbow more than once, just kept chasing with the sword.

Im a bit ahead of you (first play through) but still enjoying it. I do find the combat really odd, sometimes i get murdered so quick like my Parry is not working at all, even though i have my finger down on LT most of the time...? Oh well.

 

[JJimmyJ]

Im a bit ahead of you (first play through) but still enjoying it. I do find the combat really odd, sometimes i get murdered so quick like my Parry is not working at all, even though i have my finger down on LT most of the time...? Oh well.

Use Quen. It's probably archers doing the damage from distance? I usually rush them first. They run away and try to set up again, but can fairly knock down the hot points as you're too busy tackling the close quarters attacks.
Hex is also handy for stunning allowing a quick kill

 

[Vern1961]

I have actually had to stop playing at least for a bit as I found the repeated and constant mouse mashing was giving me quite bad RSI pain in my right hand. I do suffer from peripheral neuropathy but that's never been a problem with other titles like Skyrim or FO4, even the GTA's. Suppose I could try a joypad.

 

[Dirk Diggler]

I wouldn't play this game with K&M.

 

[Vern1961]

I wouldn't play this game with K&M.

How is it with a 'pad, as I think that's probably the only way I'm going to be able to continue.

 

[JJimmyJ]

How is it with a 'pad, as I think that's probably the only way I'm going to be able to continue.

I originally played with M&K, but now play with pad. It's pretty intuitive and don't miss the M&K at all. I find myself using the pad more and more for games now. Just wish I could have snagged a second steam controller before they went out of commision