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[aravuus]

How 3 skill trees look (one skill tree is missing)

At first I thought I'd be able to get pretty much every skill by the end of the game since you can reach, what, level 60? Which sounds really high.

But apparently that's not true. Now that consuming potions and using oils is (for the better) easier and more streamlined than ever, it's gonna be hard to choose where to use the skill points you get.

I don't really like how the general UI looks, it's way too simplistic for my taste. A mix between the old and the current UI would be bettter I think.

I love it. Clean and simple is always better, TW2 menus looked nice, but they were a pain in the ass to navigate with a controller

 

[tuxfool]

If we look at the grass in The Witcher 3's most direct competitor, Dragon Age Inquisition, I'd say The Witcher 3 easily has the better looking foliage.

The foliage in DA:I is better. You picked some awful screenshots to demonstrate it.

 

[axb2013]

As I'm watching the videos I lay my hand on WASD keys lol. The game seems to be easy to get immersed in, I think it's showing through the videos too.
So much attention to detail in an open world game...

 

[SaberEdge]

The foliage in DA:I is better. You picked some awful screenshots to demonstrate it.

Are you serious? The foliage in those screenshots, particularly the grass (which is mainly what we've been talking about) is not impressive and certainly doesn't look better than the grass in The Witcher 3. Even though some of those are essentially bullshots. Here are some actual screenshots:

I own Dragon Age Inquisition on PC and I don't see how you can say it has better foliage than The Witcher 3.

 

[Moodz]

My hype is really through the roof with this game.
I don't remember feeling like that since Ocarina of Time, but I was a kid back then haha, I'm about to be 30 and feeling like a kid waiting for christmas again!

I really hope the PS4 version looks and runs well...

 

[tuxfool]

Are you serious? The foliage in those screenshots, particularly the grass (which is mainly what we've been talking about) is not impressive and certainly doesn't look better than the grass in The Witcher 3. Even though some of those are essentially bullshots. Here are some actual screenshots:

I own Dragon Age Inquisition on PC and I don't see how you can say it has better foliage than The Witcher 3.

Still using terrible screenshots. But generally grasses and bushes have much more volume in DA:I. My impression is also that AO works better with the DA:I grasses.

 

[Summer Haze]

Are you serious? The foliage in those screenshots, particularly the grass (which is mainly what we've been talking about) is not impressive and certainly doesn't look better than the grass in The Witcher 3. Even though some of those are essentially bullshots.

I own Dragon Age Inquisition on PC and I don't see how you can say it has better foliage than The Witcher 3.

I'm not really sure which game's vegetation I prefer, I think I may have to see more of TW3's before I make a proper judgement, but either way, you're using some pretty bad shots to prove your point imo. Here are some of my DA:I shots to use in comparisons (PS4 version captured via share button btw, so sorry for the compression):

 

[tuxfool]

I'm not really sure which game's vegetation I prefer, I think I may have to see more of TW3's before I make a proper judgement, but either way, you're using some pretty bad shots to prove your point imo. Here are some of my DA:I shots to use in comparisons (PS4 version captured via share button btw, so sorry for the compression):

Yeah. Those are terrible too. Better source:

http://www.pcgamer.com/dragon-age-inquisition-5k-screenshot-gallery/

 

[Summer Haze]

Yeah. Those are terrible too.

Feel free to provide better examples.

 

[-SD-]

I really, really LOVE that you can ACTUALLY see into the inside of houses, buildings

Oh, yeah, that was an awesome thing to behold... in Gothic, way back in the year 2001.

 

[ChocolatePuddin]

Just found a fresh interview with the game director, seems like it may have been the same event or soon after. Game looks insane, I like the new gore added to combat, looks brutal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDFM_GFpwVY

 

[Yasae]

The grass in that game would actually look pretty great if it had any kind of render distance whatsoever.

Yep. And the grass casts shadows, which is my biggest problem with how TW3 is doing it.

Then again, we're arguing about how nice grass looks.... Enough Skyrim mods or perhaps the Kingdom Come: Deliverance alpha can beat both of these (even if that's cheating).

 

[Faith]

Some really good use of shaders here. This water looks fantastic to me.

Stop posting such amazing gifs. I can't handle it anymore :O

 

[SaberEdge]

Still using terrible screenshots. But generally grasses and bushes have much more volume in DA:I. My impression is also that AO works better with the DA:I grasses.

We'll just have to agree to disagree then. I really don't see either of those things being true.

I'm not really sure which game's vegetation I prefer, I think I may have to see more of TW3's before I make a proper judgement, but either way, you're using some pretty bad shots to prove your point imo. Here are some of my DA:I shots to use in comparisons (PS4 version captured via share button btw, so sorry for the compression):

I understand your point, but I chose that screen capture from a downloaded youtube video because that is what some people are judging The Witcher 3 off of. They are two similar open areas surrounded by trees and a battle with a winged beast. They're on completely even footing there.

I'm sure you understand that comparing your best screenshots from a game you're already able to play to an unreleased game with only a little bit of crappy youtube footage isn't a very reasonable comparison. I guarantee when we get The Witcher 3 in our hands and can choose from all the myriad places in the game to take screenshots we're going to see some incredible stuff.

 

[Tovarisc]

Lazygamer - How much has actually changed? (Spoiler warning between 6:30 to 7:00)

Super2bit Interview

Added links to the OP too for visibility, thanks

Rocket Beans TV I found from other place so that is there too.

 

[EatChildren]

Unless they've changed something (and they might have, but I suspect not), once the editor is out tweaking the HQ foliage rendering distance wont be hard, so I wouldn't worry about it.

I'm just happy they've managed to make forested areas that look properly dense.

 

[misho8723]

Oh, yeah, that was an awesome thing to behold... in Gothic, way back in the year 2001.

Well yeah, and after Gothic no other RPG series did it .. so this is still like a new thing in this times

 

[Savitar]

Considering the past games have had some mods before has there been much said about how modable this game is? I believe I have missed any talk about that.

 

[Tankshell]

Well yeah, and after Gothic no other RPG series did it .. so this is still like a new thing in this times

Technically you could enter buildings in Fable 2/3 without load times right? And windows etc. were see through, at least some of them. Not that the game was any good, but...

 

[DOWN]

We'll just have to agree to disagree then. I really don't see either of those things being true.



I understand your point, but I chose that screen capture from a downloaded youtube video because that is what some people are judging The Witcher 3 off of. They are two similar open areas surrounded by trees and a battle with a winged beast. They're on completely even footing there.

I'm sure you understand that comparing your best screenshots from a game you're already able to play to an unreleased game with only a little bit of crappy youtube footage isn't a very reasonable comparison. I guarantee when we get The Witcher 3 in our hands and can choose from all the myriad places in the game to take screenshots we're going to see some incredible stuff.

You really shouldn't use bitrate hell images

Witcher 3's official high res shots (click for full scale):

From a trailer:

DAI high res:

W3 leaves have more billboard effects like uniform or basic lighting and shadowing, blending of leaf and twigs into an obvious texture facing the camera.

DAI has good shadows in the PC Gamer shots (http://www.pcgamer.com/dragon-age-inquisition-5k-screenshot-gallery/) and placements that help it a lot, and the grass doesn't look flat or paper like in the frequency W3 has shown so far.

This one below in particular from their 4K lighthouse shot illustrates the issue clearly. What should look like subtle changes from shadows makes it look more like one layer of grass texture simply is as uniformly lit as the next and is facing the camera, and they just clearly turned the brightness down on it so that there's no smooth transition between one group of foliage textures and another. The plants also don't seem lit like others around them or the ground. What's with all the near black shadowed grass over well lit ground? Or the bright textures in shade?

 

[aravuus]

Considering the past games have had some mods before has there been much said about how modable this game is? I believe I have missed any talk about that.

I've asked this question a couple of times now and iirc, never gotten an answer, so I assume CDPR hasn't really been talking about it.

Seems that people are expecting it to be pretty moddable, though, and I hope they're right. There are some things about the game I wouldn't mind seeing "fixed" with mods.

 

[JumPeRJumPzZ]

So can we expect some Console footage this week?

 

[Tovarisc]

Considering the past games have had some mods before has there been much said about how modable this game is? I believe I have missed any talk about that.

Modability should be at level of Witcher 2, at least, and tools for Witcher 3 allegedly will be more efficient and easier to use.

Edit: I wonder when we can start comparing games of same scale graphically and not pick and choose ones that fit best to our argument? I'm surprised W3 character models aren't put against Order etc.

 

[Rixxan]

Even if DA:Is grass looks slightly better, it's a non open world game with a stagnant weather system and no day night cycle, apples and oranges imo

 

[misho8723]

Technically you could enter buildings in Fable 2/3 without load times right? And windows etc. were see through, at least some of them. Not that the game was any good, but...

Hmmm, never played Fable 2/3.. only the first one

Anyway, the guys from Rocket Beans TV could play other areas that others didn't have access to? Because there is footage from Novigrad, around Oxenfurt, and more.. they have some pretty great scenes in that video, but even after I downloaded 1,02 GB big video file, the footage from the game looks worse than from other Youtuber's

 

[tuxfool]

Even if DA:Is grass looks slightly better, it's a non open world game with a stagnant weather system and no day night cycle, apples and oranges imo

This discussion pertained solely to foliage.

Anyway, the guys from Rocket Beans TV could play other areas that others didn't have access to? Because there is footage from Novigrad, around Oxenfurt, and more.. they have some pretty great scenes in that video, but even after I downloaded 1,02 GB big video file, the footage from the game looks worse than from other Youtuber's

They could go anywhere. It just happened that most people chose to do the same things.

 

[d9b]

So can we expect some Console footage this week?

CD have exclusive deal with Microsoft, so as long as XboxOne version is not ready, I guess it'll be no show.
I would like to see some PS4 gameplay, but there you go. Let's hope ...

 

[MaLDo]

Hmmm, never played Fable 2/3.. only the first one

Anyway, the guys from Rocket Beans TV could play other areas that others didn't have access to? Because there is footage from Novigrad, around Oxenfurt, and more.. they have some pretty great scenes in that video, but even after I downloaded 1,02 GB big video file, the footage from the game looks worse than from other Youtuber's

That fraps number is on your end or from the source?

 

[boeso]

Stop posting such amazing gifs. I can't handle it anymore :O

Yeah the water looks incredible. I kind of have a thing for water in games, W3 should hopefully satisfy that thing.

 

[Locke Lamora]

Anyway, the guys from Rocket Beans TV could play other areas that others didn't have access to? Because there is footage from Novigrad, around Oxenfurt, and more..

RBTV and the PR Manager (?) of CDR know each other for a long time and he (Fabian Döhla) promised them to let them play the game for 7 days without any restrictions.

Fun fact: Döhla is the same guy who leaked the XBox design back in 2000 and nearly got fired for his mistake. One of his supervisors got fired instead.

 

[tuxfool]

That fraps number is on your end or from the source?

You think the game is running at 13 fps?

 

[SaberEdge]

You really shouldn't use bitrate hell images

Witcher 3's official high res shots (click for full scale):



DAI high res:



W3 leaves have more billboard effects like uniform or basic lighting and shadowing, blending of leaf and twigs into an obvious texture facing the camera.

DAI has good shadows in the PC Gamer shots and placements that help it a lot, and the grass doesn't look flat or paper like in the frequency W3 has shown so far.

This one below in particular from their 4K lighthouse shot illustrates the issue clearly. What should look like subtle changes from shadows makes it look more like one layer of grass texture simply is as uniformly lit as the next and is facing the camera, and they just clearly turned the brightness down on it so that there's no smooth transition between one group of foliage textures and another. The plants also don't seem lit like others around them or the ground. What's with all the near black shadowed grass over well lit ground?

That area looks properly shadowed to me, it's on the other side of the mountain in deep shadow. You're really reaching.

The lighting of this scene looks great.


And stop with the whole "billboarding" thing. It's simply not true. Billboarding occurs when something is 2d sprite based and it turns to face you at all times. That plainly and clearly doesn't apply here. Mainly that's used on very distant objects at lowest LOD nowadays, or with certain fire or explosion effects in some games.

"and the grass doesn't look flat or paper like"

Except when it often does...

 

[misho8723]

That fraps number is on your end or from the source?

yeah, that's on my side

 

[Genio88]

All i want is an uncompressed video of PC version running on ultra/1080p, these youtube videos are so compressed that you couldn't even tell the difference from the console version if it wasn't for 60fps

 

[tuxfool]

"and the grass doesn't look flat or paper like"

Except when it often does...

I can't help but think you're being dishonest when you're using shots like this for comparison.

 

[heringer]

I'm shocked some people think Witcher's grass look better than Dragon Age's. I think it looks far worse.

 

[Tovarisc]

I can't help but think you're being dishonest when you're using shots like this for comparison.

And I think a lot of comparisons in Witcher threads, no matter who is posting it, are dishonest as they tend to cherrypick stuff from both sides of argument. Something to make aspect X of Witcher 3 look stunning or shait and then counter pick.

 

[EatChildren]

so how bout that game

 

[SaberEdge]

I can't help but think you're being dishonest when you're using shots like this for comparison.

Why? This is from one of the shots someone shared above to show how good it looks.

It doesn't matter how you look at it, though, that grass is not looking better than the grass in The Witcher 3. Despite some people wanting to jump to all kinds of conclusions about the Witcher 3's graphics based on compressed youtube videos we're supposed to use only the highest quality bullshots of other games to compare to?

How about we all just wait until the game is out and we have plenty of quality material to draw from before making specious comparisons?

 

[DOWN]

That area looks properly shadowed to me, it's on the other side of the mountain in deep shadow. You're really reaching.
http://i.imgur.com/g9Te13V.jpg[/IG]
The lighting of this scene looks great.


And stop with the whole "billboarding" thing. It's simply not true. Billboarding occurs when something is 2d sprite based and it turns to face you at all times. That plainly and clearly doesn't apply here. Mainly that's used on very distant objects at lowest LOD nowadays, or with certain fire or explosion effects in some games.

"and the grass doesn't look flat or paper like"
[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/hJ5zsWg.jpg[/IG]
Except when it often does...[/QUOTE]

If I'm reaching, you're reaching at far more posters for their graphical comments.

Try using sharp images for both games in a comparison if you are being serious. Not surprised your choice of obvious low quality source DAI pics. I wouldn't consider a source like that flattering for W3 either, and it's easy to catch when you are not comparing quality like for like.

W3 in the 'make it look flatter with a blurry and or low bitrate shot' technique:

[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/fxwXJ6m.png?1

Everyone knows already that DAI has well done static lighting and voluminous foliage. Trying to post a shady spot and having it blurry doesn't change how it actually looks in game.

Excuse me if my wording was too subtle, but I said billboard effects rather than trying to actually point out any spots that were billboarded because firstly, I have no real certainty of where or how billboarding is used in W3 other than knowing it certainly isn't the central technique used for foliage in detail, and because there are effects on the foliage in W3 that look like the weaknesses you see with billboarding.

 

[zonezeus]

so how bout that game

Get out of my NeoGRASS.

 

[Tovarisc]

Here is radical idea, why not to make own thread for blade of grass comparisons and other graphical comparisons? Seems like all Witcher 3 threads get derailed super hard into pickering over stuff like what game has most realistic light reflections on eyes.

 

[aravuus]

so how bout that game

It's shit

The grass is shit

 

[batman2million]

so how bout that game

Lololol exactly what is was thinking.

 

[b0uncyfr0]

I dont give a rats arse about grass. But i care about pop-in, and that PC ULTRA 10 min video has ALOT of it. Its very noticeable and this is a big distraction when playing for me.

If this is ultra setting, i expect lower quality settings to be worse and that's not helping. Hopefully it is improved since this is not final build and modders can have a go at it.

 

[DOWN]

Here is radical idea, why not to make own thread for blade of grass comparisons and other graphical comparisons? Seems like all Witcher 3 threads get derailed super hard into pickering over stuff like what game has most realistic light reflections on eyes.

I already have! http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?p=159667243

But grass conversation was already started here too.

Why? This is from one of the shots someone shared above to show how good it looks. [url]https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7650/17054603031_f28c903200_o.jpg[/url][/ig]

It doesn't matter how you look at it, though, that grass is not looking better than the grass in The Witcher 3. Despite some people wanting to jump to all kinds of conclusions about the Witcher 3's graphics based on compressed youtube videos we're supposed to use only the highest quality bullshots of other games to compare to?

How about we all just wait until the game is out and we have plenty of quality material to draw from before making specious comparisons?[/QUOTE]

The problem with that shot is that it is nowhere near the resolution of the other image I compared with fairly, and you chose that low quality source to zoom with a total loss of detail.

And then I post W3 bullshots (4K from CDPR themselves) up against actual consumer release shots of Dragon Age, yet you suggest DAI is the bullshot and W3 screens didn't get a fair shake?

You make [I]illustrated[/I] comparisons and outright denials of other posters' impressions to many, many comments in W3 threads that have disappointments or critiques regarding W3 visuals they are showing us.

We're supposed to be judging the game and its visuals. That's what they talk about Ultra and resolutions for, and then blast out tons of images and videos that often don't advertise new content.

 

[Savitar]

Thanks to this thread I now want a mod where you have Geralt going around trimming the grass.

Depending on how well you do you get scored.

Make it happen internet.

 

[Ramenman]

so how bout that game

Here is radical idea, why not to make own thread for blade of grass comparisons and other graphical comparisons? Seems like all Witcher 3 threads get derailed super hard into pickering over stuff like what game has most realistic light reflections on eyes.

It's shit

The grass is shit

Seriously, this is incredible.
And here I was on page 5 thinking that there was nothing more pointless than trying to compare open-world map sizes.

I can't even imagine if this game was also a platform exclusive :')

 

[SaberEdge]

If I'm reaching, you're reaching at far more posters for their graphical comments.

Try using sharp images for both games in a comparison if you are being serious. Not surprised your choice of obvious low quality source DAI pics. I wouldn't consider a source like that flattering for W3 either, and it's easy to catch when you are not comparing quality like for like.

W3 in the 'make it look flatter with a blurry and or low bitrate shot' technique:

Everyone knows already that DAI has well done static lighting and voluminous foliage. Trying to post a shady spot and having it blurry doesn't change how it actually looks in game.

Excuse me if my wording was too subtle, but I said billboard effects rather than trying to actually point out any spots that were billboarded because firstly, I have no real certainty of where or how billboarding is used in W3 other than knowing it certainly isn't the central technique used for foliage in detail, and because there are effects on the foliage in W3 that look like the weaknesses you see with billboarding.

Except I didn't post a shady spot, I posted a well lit spot. And my previous comparison was using mostly bullshots of DAI. I gave it every reasonable advantage and the foliage still doesn't look better than The Witcher 3. I don't know what else you want.

Look, I'm not saying DAI is a bad looking game. Actually, it's a really great looking game. I think it's one of the better looking games on PC. I just think a few of you are really downplaying The Witcher 3's foliage and somewhat overhyping other games' foliage.

 

[Lockjaw333]

We are really comparing screenshots of grass right now?

We could be talking about the game, which looks GLORIOUS.