The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

[mid_gen]

Well, if they couldn't have pulled off those graphics even on PCs then I'd be ok with that but, as the guy said, PCs had more than enough grunt to stay true to CDProjekt's original vision.

I don't get this, why should we suffer because consoles are weak? And what's with saying they didn't have the resources to make the best out of each platform? If you don't have the money/manpower to utlise/cater to each platform's strengths/weaknesses then simply don't release games on all three platforms. What's the bloody point (besides teh monies)? Abandoning your vision to release something on platforms which clearly weren't suited to running it decently without a crapload of compromises seems like an utterly daft idea. At least let me max it with tablet-level hardware so that I won't be ashamed I fell for yet another clever marketing ploy and upgraded my rig in anticipation of what I thought would be an exceptionally good looking game.

Rant over, waiting for the PC release to see how good or bad the game really looks.

As the guy explains, the difficulties in supporting all three platforms weren't apparent until later on in the development cycle.

 

[ICEx21]

As the guy explains, the difficulties in supporting all three platforms weren't apparent until later on in the development cycle.

Yes at which point they could have told their PR people to stop saying it won't be downgraded tell the rest of the community about the latest developments.

That would have saved a lot of the negativity happening now.

 

[Sega Mega Dave]

As the guy explains, the difficulties in supporting all three platforms weren't apparent until later on in the development cycle.

So an established developer was unaware of the difficulties of supporting 3 platforms.

What they really mean is we took the lazy option and developed it at the same level for all 3 platforms. Clearly shows a lack of respect for the much smaller PC market.

 

[razorpakk]

They don't owe anything. They work and put their product for sale. That's where it begins and ends, you're not entitled to anything ._.

 

[Sega Mega Dave]

They don't owe anything. They work and put their product for sale. That's where it begins and ends, you're not entitled to anything ._.

With that attitude they will end up like a lot of devs.

They deliberately showed videos of a game looking far better and told us it wont get downgraded.

This was done to generate hype and preorders, has absolutely nothing to do with difficulties of multiplatform.

If this was EA or as in the case with Ubisoft, they'd be getting torn to bits.

 

[rwm24]

I hope you guys like grass that looks like pieces of cardboard wobbling side to side. I am disappointed with the downgrade, but that won't stop me enjoying the game.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9hcctt8qus is a great video showing PS4 footage taken from a capture card, it looks better than other YouTube gameplay videos I have seen. Unfortunately the guy playing it as absolutely useless.

I only briefly played Witcher 1 when it was released, but I LOVED Witcher 2.

Pre-ordered, pre-loaded, bring on the 19th.

 

[robmol]

This was done to generate hype and preorders.

They are a business first and foremost and want to make as much money as possible. If people are silly enough to preorder the practice of generating "hype" in this way will continue

 

[Moothead2]

They don't owe anything. They work and put their product for sale. That's where it begins and ends, you're not entitled to anything ._.

Yes they do. They owe the people that pre-ordered the game based on their original screenshots and trailers what they pre-ordered. Not entirely sure how you can't see that.

 

[northwestdakota]

I'm not going to get all that upset; all it really means for me is that CDPR will now join every other developer in my eyes that gets my money upon release.

We all know pre-ordering is actually a bad thing for consumers to do, but I did it for TW3 just because I wanted to show CDPR that the PC gaming community was worth putting the effort into. At a time when developers like to treat PC gamers as second classed citizens, I felt like CDPR had PC gamers in mind. I was not dumb enough to think they did this out of the goodness of their own hearts, I thought it was actually clever marketing. Be the 1 AAA developer to talk up PC gaming and then watch PC gamers lap it all up and set pre-order records. Kind of like how Cities: Skylines just tried to do everything EA had promised us with Simcity but never did. We get the game we want and the developer gets hero worshipped for just doing their job.

IF, and yes I’m keeping in mind that we know nothing until at least PC reviewers have got a hand on the early copies… but IF it’s all true then PC gaming for me means simply waiting for games to be released and basing my buying decision from reviewers I trust and then orders placed with companies at the cheapest source. TW3, I purchased with GoG, only because I wanted the developers to get as much from me as possible.

I know there will be people saying stop whining, you’re so “entitled” but to those people I say you’re missing the point. I choose to pre-order and buy direct from developers because I believe if a developers stands up and says actually they want to promote PC gaming and help us get better games, then those developers deserve my thanks, the only way I can do that is to give them money early. If they end up letting me down, I will lose faith and wait for reviews. In turn, they lose out on pre-orders. It’s not really a whine, it’s my reaction to their actions.

I will love this game, this I have no doubt about; it will probably be my favourite game this year. But it might not be what I felt I was promised when I paid early and paid a premium price. If my 780’s run the game really well and there are no settings I’m missing out on, it also tells me to leave video card upgrades for another year.

 

[kinger8938]

Wonder when digital foundry will do there thing? That may prove interesting and may clear some things up for folks

 

[Witcher1979]

but IF it’s all true then PC gaming for me means simply waiting for games to be released and basing my buying decision from reviewers I trust and then orders placed with companies at the cheapest source..

This is what I do now, my last pre-order was skyrim. Now I wait until games are out for a few months and pick them up for under a tenner. I have plenty to play so I can normally wait, but Witcher 3 and the new Batman are just to much to wait for

 

[Andy__C]

I really am not bothered about graphics tbh, I just love the series and can't wait to play the 3rd. One thing that does bother me though, if all 3 platforms will pretty much look the same why do I need a £500 GPU to do that?

.

That's a good point, and why I am thinking that the PC version will be a pleasant surprise compared to the console screenies that are everywhere.

Most of the PC review sites still quote that they cannot review the PC version as it's still not out yet.

 

[Omaeka]

I'm really not sure why people are accusing PC gamers of whining about graphical downgrades. When a developer shows footage of PC gameplay as impressive as Witcher 3 or Watchdogs was in their trailers, and then release a final product vastly below that level of quality due to Sony/Microsoft wanting to have parity between platforms, PC gamers have the right to say wtf. That's coming from someone who some weeks spends way more time on his PS4 than his PC... The only people in my eyes who use terms like elitist or entitled are apologists that sit on the devs D.

Watchdogs and Witcher 3 (assuming we aren't being trolled and shown console images of the game) are prime examples of how consoles are just slowing down the progression of technology. That isn't elitism, that's a gamer watching something he loves getting throttled and held back for absolutely no logical or good reason. Can you imagine if TV shows like Game of Thrones weren't quite as popular as they are, and the most popular shows like the Kardashians, TOWIE and X factor completely took over television just to pander to the majority?

Granted that comparison isn't completely accurate because console gaming is still of a high & adequate quality in of itself, but we're being shown how it is arbitrarily holding the industry back. If consoles never existed we'd have graphics like W3 7 years ago, but then again if consoles never existed would gaming be as popular/profitable as it is, and warrant the level of investment from companies to create amazing games? Meh.

 

[Haggisman]

As the guy explains, the difficulties in supporting all three platforms weren't apparent until later on in the development cycle.

Later on?

Does less than 4 months ago really count as later on in the development cycle? Surely at that point they'd have an inkling that maybe they'd set their sights a little high, and would have to scale things back a bit, rather than stating outright that there would be no downgrade?

I'm not going to get all that upset; all it really means for me is that CDPR will now join every other developer in my eyes that gets my money in a sale a few months/years down the line

Seconded/fixed

On the plus side, it does look like I've potentially saved ~£300 by waiting for my GFX card upgrade until this is out, as judging by the shots I've seen so far it barely looks better than TW2...

 

[northwestdakota]

The sad thing is developers breaking promises, releasing shoddy DLC, making games online for DRM reasons and other anti-consumer practices will only end in one way, and that is eventually gamers as a majority will spend less. More and more people will wait for sales.

I actually feel sorry for developers when I see people buy games from another country through a proxy, I don't think it's remotely fair on the developer and I even feel sorry for them when I see sales 3 months later selling the game for 50%+ discount. But this is all inevitable, at some point a consumer will just think enough is enough and ditch pre-orders, dlc etc and then wait for the sale.

 

[Boomstick777]

I hope you guys like grass that looks like pieces of cardboard wobbling side to side.

This is the worst thing with modern games, supposedly good graphics and focus on resolution but we still have grass that looks like cardboard.

In many ways graphics are still awful, nice from a distance, as soon as you look closely at something you can see just how poor it is.

I think we're about 20 years away from anything approaching realism. Probably 20 years away from grass that actually looks like grass

Oh well won't stop me enjoying the game, I just wish people would stop saying things have amazing graphics when really there not lol.

 

[Witcher1979]

Project cars has amazing graphics

 

[dacads]

Disappointed with this graphic downgrade, it's actually a game I looked forward to because it looked good. But how many games have looked good in trailers then being downgraded?

I'm sure the gameplay will make up for it though and although not amazing graphics will still be amazing enough for most people.

 

[Haggisman]

I actually feel sorry for developers when I see people buy games from another country through a proxy, I don't think it's remotely fair on the developer and I even feel sorry for them when I see sales 3 months later selling the game for 50%+ discount.

This is because the majority of people who are prepared to pay full price for the game will have done so at/close to release anyway.

But this is all inevitable, at some point a consumer will just think enough is enough and ditch pre-orders, dlc etc and then wait for the sale.

Precisely, and as you say, developers are bringing it upon themselves by "breaking promises, releasing shoddy DLC, making games online for DRM reasons". I think a lot of people's problem with this is the fact that CDPR are/were supposedly one of the remaining few who can/could be trusted.

I have no qualms about buying Ubisoft and EA games from the cheapest possible source, but I pre-ordered TW3 for full price due to wanting to support the developer, and show that treating your customers with respect actually pays.

 

[FlapR]

I've never played The Witcher 1 or 2 before. Considering how old the first one is now, is it worth playing from the start or going straight into the second game?