Okay, it has been out a week, reviews are great. Some performance issues but the game is so damn beautiful. Okay, it is an "adult" game but who is playing and your thoughts on it!
The Witcher 2 Bandwagon Thread
- Thread starter Hand of Evil
- Start date
Really thought I was posting this in the media sub-forum...not sure how it ended up here?
I've purchased it, but haven't opened it yet. I'm a little concerned by what I'm hearing about performance issues.
I'm salivating to play it though....the first one was so, so good. And this is supposed to be better.
I'm running an AMD Phenom x4 3.2 GHz, with an ATI Radeon HD 5770, and I've heard from some people that that's not enough. However....there were apparently driver issues, and I'm not sure if "not enough" is because my system is too puny, or simply because, with the driver issues, it was insufficient.
At the moment, I'm just to wrap up a playthrough of Crysis 2 before starting this.
I have to finish Dragon Age 2, but I have to say...I'm more eager to play the Witcher 2. Dragon Age 2 feels more like homework. I loathe the direction they took with this sequel, and hate the endlessly spawning enemies that make tactical preparation for battles pretty much useless.
Banshee
I'm salivating to play it though....the first one was so, so good. And this is supposed to be better.
I'm running an AMD Phenom x4 3.2 GHz, with an ATI Radeon HD 5770, and I've heard from some people that that's not enough. However....there were apparently driver issues, and I'm not sure if "not enough" is because my system is too puny, or simply because, with the driver issues, it was insufficient.
At the moment, I'm just to wrap up a playthrough of Crysis 2 before starting this.
I have to finish Dragon Age 2, but I have to say...I'm more eager to play the Witcher 2. Dragon Age 2 feels more like homework. I loathe the direction they took with this sequel, and hate the endlessly spawning enemies that make tactical preparation for battles pretty much useless.
Banshee
I tried the original Witcher and found it be incredibly clumsy, control-wise, to the point where I gave up even trying to get used to it a few minutes into the game. It was just so awkward that I felt any attempt to normalise myself to it will be a painful experience that I didn't want to engage in when I'm supposed to be playing a game for enjoyment.
That, and the length of the cut-scenes were stupidly long. I'm not watching a movie, I'm playing a game.
So I'm curious to hear what they've changed in #2 and if it's progressed and matured into a good game or if it's maintained the worst aspects of the original or made them even poorer.
One thing that pisses me off about development studios is that they don't put even remotely close to near enough effort into refining their graphics and engines for peak performance. The difference in performance between a well-tuned game and a poorly tuned game is night and day. I often get the feeling that game developers slap these things together like a jury-rigged, Jerry-built house and just hope the building inspector never comes by before they can sell it.
That, and the length of the cut-scenes were stupidly long. I'm not watching a movie, I'm playing a game.
So I'm curious to hear what they've changed in #2 and if it's progressed and matured into a good game or if it's maintained the worst aspects of the original or made them even poorer.
One thing that pisses me off about development studios is that they don't put even remotely close to near enough effort into refining their graphics and engines for peak performance. The difference in performance between a well-tuned game and a poorly tuned game is night and day. I often get the feeling that game developers slap these things together like a jury-rigged, Jerry-built house and just hope the building inspector never comes by before they can sell it.
If this is anything like Mass Effect 2 (which from what I understand, they use the same basic engine, Unreal 3 I think), then I highly, highly, highly recommend a very aggressive approach. My first play-through of ME2 was with a soldier where I used the same mentality as I had in ME1, ie. sit behind cover and pick off enemies with AS fire. I died quite a lot. I then switched to playing a Vanguard (who are built around charging into melee), and quickly found it to be the superior tactic because the sooner I got past a certain 'respawn zone', the sooner the respawns stopped and the less enemies I had to deal with. It's now become a standard tactic for me in the game regardless of what class I play.
Interface has been completely re-worked from W1 to W2. The only issue I have had, has been slow load times (will post my system specs when I get home but it is two years old)
Patch 1.1 s to be out tonight and addresses the following:
Patch 1.1 s to be out tonight and addresses the following:
Internal tests of Patch 1.1 are well under way. Our current target is to release it this evening. Please note that although we are doing our best to have it ready by then, the time still may change in order to be completely sure that the patch will function properly. This is our primary concern since there are significant changes and upgrades that will affect many users.
1. Simpler and more reliable game installation and activation. Details to be revealed soon.
2. Fixed the free Troll Trouble DLC download. It is now included n the patch so there's no need to download and install it separately.
3. Fixed an issue that prevented some users from downloading other free DLCs (the ones given out with some pre-orders, special promotions, etc). The launcher now properly refreshes the list of available DLCs and allows for installation.
4. Performance improvements: approximately 5% to 30% better framerate and faster game loading for many users, depending on their individual systems and game versions. Owners of retail versions can expect the biggest improvements.
5. Fixed random crashes occurring on some systems, especially after saving and loading saves.
6. Key mapping – allows the arrow and number keys to be used for movement.
7. Added the option to invert the mouse.
8. nVidia surround vision now works properly.
9. More accurate assessment provided by the "auto-detect settings" option will help improve game performance.
10. Removed a bug that prevented completion of the “Blood Curse” quest.
11. Fixed a bug that prevented the additional link in "Extras" from being unlocked after winning the dice game against the GOG.com monk.
12. GOG.com credits now work properly.
The full list of all changes will be available upon the release of the patch. If you have experienced any issues that are not on the list above, please don't worry. We have already started working on the next patch, which will address other difficulties and bugs, including those related to specific hardware setups; e.g.. Logitech g35. You may expect this second patch to be ready next week.
Patch 1.1 will be available for all the versions of the game, both retail and digital, except for Russian. However, we would like to assure our Russian fans that we are aware of the problems with the your version of the game (thanks for your reports!) and we are talking with 1C about possible solutions.
1. Simpler and more reliable game installation and activation. Details to be revealed soon.
2. Fixed the free Troll Trouble DLC download. It is now included n the patch so there's no need to download and install it separately.
3. Fixed an issue that prevented some users from downloading other free DLCs (the ones given out with some pre-orders, special promotions, etc). The launcher now properly refreshes the list of available DLCs and allows for installation.
4. Performance improvements: approximately 5% to 30% better framerate and faster game loading for many users, depending on their individual systems and game versions. Owners of retail versions can expect the biggest improvements.
5. Fixed random crashes occurring on some systems, especially after saving and loading saves.
6. Key mapping – allows the arrow and number keys to be used for movement.
7. Added the option to invert the mouse.
8. nVidia surround vision now works properly.
9. More accurate assessment provided by the "auto-detect settings" option will help improve game performance.
10. Removed a bug that prevented completion of the “Blood Curse” quest.
11. Fixed a bug that prevented the additional link in "Extras" from being unlocked after winning the dice game against the GOG.com monk.
12. GOG.com credits now work properly.
The full list of all changes will be available upon the release of the patch. If you have experienced any issues that are not on the list above, please don't worry. We have already started working on the next patch, which will address other difficulties and bugs, including those related to specific hardware setups; e.g.. Logitech g35. You may expect this second patch to be ready next week.
Patch 1.1 will be available for all the versions of the game, both retail and digital, except for Russian. However, we would like to assure our Russian fans that we are aware of the problems with the your version of the game (thanks for your reports!) and we are talking with 1C about possible solutions.
Review in progress but 20 minute video of game play:
The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings Review - PC Review at IGN
The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings Review - PC Review at IGN
My System:
OS Name Microsoft® Windows Vista™ Home Premium
Version 6.0.6002 Service Pack 2 Build 6002
System Manufacturer HP-Pavilion
System Model NC684AA-ABA a6750y
System Type x64-based PC
Processor AMD Phenom(tm) 9650 Quad-Core Processor, 2300 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s)
Installed Physical Memory (RAM) 8.00 GB
Total Physical Memory 7.74 GB
Available Physical Memory 6.00 GB
Total Virtual Memory 15.7 GB
Available Virtual Memory 13.3 GB
Name ATI Radeon HD 3200 Graphics
PNP Device ID PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_9610&SUBSYS_2A7F103C&REV_00\4&8530825&0&2808
Adapter Type ATI Radeon HD 3200 Graphics (0x9610), ATI Technologies Inc. compatible
Adapter Description ATI Radeon HD 3200 Graphics
Adapter RAM 256.00 MB (268,435,456 bytes)
Installed Drivers atidxx32,atidxx64.dll,atiumdag,atiumdva,atiumd64.dll,atiumd6a.cap,atitmm64.dll
Driver Version 7.01.01.830
INF File oem50.inf (ati2mtag_RS780 section)
Color Planes Not Available
Color Table Entries 4294967296
Resolution 1440 x 900 x 59 hertz
Running Witcher 2 - high settings and other than long load times, running rather well but I may change some settings
OS Name Microsoft® Windows Vista™ Home Premium
Version 6.0.6002 Service Pack 2 Build 6002
System Manufacturer HP-Pavilion
System Model NC684AA-ABA a6750y
System Type x64-based PC
Processor AMD Phenom(tm) 9650 Quad-Core Processor, 2300 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s)
Installed Physical Memory (RAM) 8.00 GB
Total Physical Memory 7.74 GB
Available Physical Memory 6.00 GB
Total Virtual Memory 15.7 GB
Available Virtual Memory 13.3 GB
Name ATI Radeon HD 3200 Graphics
PNP Device ID PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_9610&SUBSYS_2A7F103C&REV_00\4&8530825&0&2808
Adapter Type ATI Radeon HD 3200 Graphics (0x9610), ATI Technologies Inc. compatible
Adapter Description ATI Radeon HD 3200 Graphics
Adapter RAM 256.00 MB (268,435,456 bytes)
Installed Drivers atidxx32,atidxx64.dll,atiumdag,atiumdva,atiumd64.dll,atiumd6a.cap,atitmm64.dll
Driver Version 7.01.01.830
INF File oem50.inf (ati2mtag_RS780 section)
Color Planes Not Available
Color Table Entries 4294967296
Resolution 1440 x 900 x 59 hertz
Running Witcher 2 - high settings and other than long load times, running rather well but I may change some settings
Thanee
First Post
I have heard people complain about the controls in W2, so you might want to check (isn't there a demo available?) before buying, whether it works for you.
Got the box lying there, but havn't found the time to fully set up my new computer, yet.
Bye
Thanee
Wow....maybe I'll go ahead and install it to see, then. My system seems to have a processor that is a full GHz faster, and a video card that is two generations newer....but 4 GB RAM instead of the 8 you have.
Hopefully that would be sufficient.
Maybe with patching and everything, the game is running better. Either that, or people complaining about it are on older PCs? I'll install, and see what happens.
Banshee
It's too bad you couldn't get more into it....I found the first one a little tricky at the beginning, but then I just got sucked into it, and it was one of the best CRPG's I've played....probably right up there with Baldur's Gate II and Planescape: Torment. It was just that good.
As much as I love Bioware games, I thought the Witcher 2 blew Neverwinter Nights (1 and 2) out of the water.
I want to be clear...my concerns about performance are based on reading what I've read online.....which might be stuff that is largely hearsay. I'll post here what I find.
Frankly, I find lately that very few games seem to come out as unplayable due to system specs....it's not like the 80's and 90's where if your PC was older than 12 months, you were literally unable to play games with frame rates better than 5 fps. Back then, when you played the newest Wing Commander games (Origins was brutal for this) you just couldn't play it. We were always being driven to upgrade, just to play each Christmas's flock of new games.
Now? I think on my last PC, which was already old, when the Witcher came out, my PC rated as unable to play it. But I was actually able to play the entire game on high settings, *except* for a few boss battles with big pyrotechnics, where I had to turn settings down....but that was usually for individual battles, so I could play for hours on high settings with no problems.
If this is anything like Mass Effect 2 (which from what I understand, they use the same basic engine, Unreal 3 I think), then I highly, highly, highly recommend a very aggressive approach. My first play-through of ME2 was with a soldier where I used the same mentality as I had in ME1, ie. sit behind cover and pick off enemies with AS fire. I died quite a lot. I then switched to playing a Vanguard (who are built around charging into melee), and quickly found it to be the superior tactic because the sooner I got past a certain 'respawn zone', the sooner the respawns stopped and the less enemies I had to deal with. It's now become a standard tactic for me in the game regardless of what class I play.[/QUOTE]
I'll likely give it another try.....but I'm not liking the changes I've seen so far. Sure, the graphics are better....but I loathe respawns in the middle of a battle.
Banshee
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