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[BigTnaples]

Yeah I guess we'll see, I wasn't implying they sold out just taking a look at this made it seem they had a lot more on their plate.

Previous enhanced versions included new npc models, animations, quests, CGI intro and outro, tutorial. This game seems to have it all from the get go, additional content will come in the form of DLC and expansions pack and fixes in the form of patches so I don't see what could they be doing with an enhanced edition.

Indeed, hoping they do one, but I guess we will have to wait to see.

I mean, if they added a ton of graphical enhancements, integrated the DLC, added some more monsters to the ecosystem some loot, DX12, and maybe some combat tweaks/improvements.

That alone would be more than enough to warrant an enhanced edition. Hell, even half of that.

 

[ufo8mycat]

Yeah. What I would really love to know is if these cases of downgrades like Watchdogs are due to actual development issues or if they are just a case of executives or developers not wanting different platforms to be different in fear of fanboy backlash. I guess what I'm asking is this: In the hypothetical case that Watchdogs on consoles looked like it does now and Watchdogs on (powerful) PCs looked like the reveal trailer, would owners of that game on console be upset?

I think it comes down to time & costs. It would cost a lot to create high-end quality assets for PC and then a totally different set of assets for consoles.

Just makes more sense money wise to use the same assets and just have the PC ones be higher-res/detail/AA/Af etc.

 

[BigTnaples]

I think it comes down to time & costs. It would cost a lot to create high-end quality assets for PC and then a totally different set of assets for consoles.

Just makes more sense money wise to use the same assets and just have the PC ones be higher-res/detail/AA/Af etc.

The hing is, the stuff that was downgraded has nothing to do with assets.


In fact, many of the assets, character models, textures, etc look better in the final version than they did in the 2013 version.


What set the 2013 version apart, was global graphical effects, like forward lit particles, screen space decals, volume based translucency, water simulation and tesselation, volumetric clouds and lighting,etc.


What this is asserting is these effects were toned down, and in many cases removed for the sake of running on consoles, instead of just being a toggle like Hair Works on vs off.

 

[cripterion]

Indeed, hoping they do one, but I guess we will have to wait to see.

I mean, if they added a ton of graphical enhancements, integrated the DLC, added some more monsters to the ecosystem some loot, DX12, and maybe some combat tweaks/improvements.

That alone would be more than enough to warrant an enhanced edition. Hell, even half of that.

Yes, that alone would make for an enhanced edition.

Can devs easily port their games from DX11.2 to DX12? I remember hearing talk of 6 months but for a game of this scale wouldn't it more time consuming?

 

[velociraptor]

Is it me or does this look worse than the Witcher 2? The art style looks horrendous.

This is a more criminal downgrade than Watch_Dogs, and it's almost as bad as Dark Souls II.

I'm shocked at the difference between the release day and E3 builds. I personally don't think TW3 looks like a 'next-gen' game anymore.

It's so disappointing to see how expectations for major games have come below par. Even the latest AC trailer doesn't look so hot.

edit: Just saw the PC v PS4 comparison. Console version looks pretty atrocious, but the PC footage isn't a patch of what we were seemingly promised.

 

[Ostinatto]

Is it me or does this look worse than the Witcher 2? The art style looks horrendous.

This is a more criminal downgrade than Watch_Dogs, and it's almost as bad as Dark Souls II.

I'm shocked at the difference between the release day and E3 builds. I personally don't think TW3 looks like a 'next-gen' game.

It's so disappointing to see how expectations for major games have come below par. Even the latest AC trailer doesn't look so hot.

 

[LabouredSubterfuge]

Is it me or does this look worse than the Witcher 2? The art style looks horrendous.

This is a more criminal downgrade than Watch_Dogs, and it's almost as bad as Dark Souls II.

I'm shocked at the difference between the release day and E3 builds. I personally don't think TW3 looks like a 'next-gen' game anymore.

It's so disappointing to see how expectations for major games have come below par. Even the latest AC trailer doesn't look so hot.

:lol

 

[viveks86]

CDPR's official response on the recent downgrade article:

Ok guys, I belive a word of clarification is required. These are just rumors, and as we've said before we don't comment on such. Secondly you have to remember that our game is a big release - a lot of people have been anticipating it and quite a few would like to gain some publicity from it even when it means talking about things which are not true. Wild Hunt comes out in a few days and you will be able to find out for yourself if the game is up to your standards. We believe so - we've worked really hard for 3 years to deliver you best possible experience - we love The Witcher as much as you do. To conlude we'd rather have you focus on the game and the fact that it's going to be in your hand in a matter of days. And one more thing - whenever we say something officially, we always put a person behind it.

http://forums.cdprojektred.com/threads/35851?p=1651261#post1651261

 

[Coflash]

We believe it's up to your standards

We'd rather you focus on the game

Haha.

 

[Dmented]

CDPR's official response on the recent downgrade article:


http://forums.cdprojektred.com/threads/35851?p=1651261#post1651261

Yes they really clarified it!

 

[Ostinatto]

CDPR's official response on the recent downgrade article:


http://forums.cdprojektred.com/threads/35851?p=1651261#post1651261

What rumors?

 

[BigTnaples]

Yes, that alone would make for an enhanced edition.

Can devs easily port their games from DX11.2 to DX12? I remember hearing talk of 6 months but for a game of this scale wouldn't it more time consuming?

Massive, the debs behind The Division did this ages ago with World at War, a relatively small title. It went from DX9 to DX10 with all the added features, for free. There was even a cool trailer showing it off.

a
Crytek did it with Crysis 2 and the DX10-11 patch that also added a ton of graphical features.

Also many MMO's and Free to play games have made DX transitions.


So it's definitely not some colossal undertaking. And would be worthwhile for this game. Especially if XBO owners actually see any benefit with DX12.

 

[GazzaScotland]

Developer Insider: The Witcher 3 Was Downgraded From 2013 List of All Features Taken Out &Why

http://whatifgaming.com/developer-i...-from-2013-list-of-all-features-taken-out-why

For what its worth they ran a pretty similar story last year about The Division: http://whatifgaming.com/the-division-developer-insider-we-already-downgraded-a-few-things

Edit: Seems its already been linked. My bad.

 

[viveks86]

What rumors?

Developer Insider: The Witcher 3 Was Downgraded From 2013 List of All Features Taken Out &Why

http://whatifgaming.com/developer-i...-from-2013-list-of-all-features-taken-out-why

.

 

[velociraptor]

:lol

Oh yes, amusing indeed.

The fact remains is that the game looks significantly worse than what was promised.

 

[Faith]

CDPR's official response on the recent downgrade article:


http://forums.cdprojektred.com/threads/35851?p=1651261#post1651261

So we can't have nice things because the "nextgen"-consoles are just too weak?

 

[BigTnaples]

CDPR's official response on the recent downgrade article:


http://forums.cdprojektred.com/threads/35851?p=1651261#post1651261

Interesting.


I guess we will see in 6 days.


I wonder if it will be similar to Watchdogs, where some of the nicer stuff is tucked away in the files and not accessible via the UI.

The anticipation is killer.

 

[samurai1226]

CDPR's official response on the recent downgrade article:

http://forums.cdprojektred.com/threads/35851?p=1651261#post1651261

So it's too hard to say that they still have all the effects shown in the 2013 NVIDIA trailer in the game?

 

[Chariot]

CDPR's official response on the recent downgrade article:


http://forums.cdprojektred.com/threads/35851?p=1651261#post1651261

That's a whole lot of nothing. Isn't that a fancy "we neither deny nor confirm"?

Position is the same. We still have to wait until it's released and people will still post pictures and comparisons. A simple "No, that's not true" or "Yes, but it's not entirely true" would've given me more comfort.

 

[Coflash]

So it's too hard to say that they still have all the effects shown in the 2013 NVIDIA trailer in the game?

Considering they already promised last year that there hadn't been a downgrade, why should we expect anything less?

 

[BigTnaples]

So it's too hard to say that they still have all the effects shown in the 2013 NVIDIA trailer in the game?

They don't. Unless they are really keeping to the whole, "we want you to be surprised at launch" thing.


Which would be amazing and make them heroes in the eyes of PC gamers.

But the thing is, we haven't seen fluid simulation, and the like in the game since 2013. Or at least, new footage of it. It was in the Nvidia trailer last month, which gives hope, but it was still 2013 footage.


Then again, the bear with hairworks was also 2013 footage for whatever reason, and we know those are still in.


Bah. So complex.

 

[Tworak]

gosh darn it. scho schad

 

[Kaze2212]

With this vague statement I believe there is something up.

Be it positive or negative I don't know.

All I know is that the game doesn't look like a total mess according to the high quality PC screenshots released so far.

 

[Sanctuary]

So we can't have nice things because the "nextgen"-consoles are just too weak?

Last-gen redux and pretty much par for the course. There's no real monetary incentive for them to create PC exclusive assets when they know PC gamers will buy it regardless since it will typically run better and has slightly more tweaking options over the console versions.

For the record, I think the game looks nice. But it's clear as day how much of a downgrade it got.

 

[Totobeni]

CDPR's official response on the recent downgrade article:


http://forums.cdprojektred.com/threads/35851?p=1651261#post1651261

These are just rumors, and as we've said before we don't comment on such

just like the time they didn't commented on Anaxymenes posts but still went on multiple times to reply and insists it was not going to be downgraded. and now it's " is up to your standards". this is just another non response from them.

 

[Serandur]

No tesselated water in storm weather is a real fucking shame.

They used the same water shader as Morrowind 13 years ago for waves simulation. Incredible.

The particles and foliage downgrades were bad, but the water...

How hard can it be to test and include a few additional settings with some higher quality foliage, particles, and more advanced water shaders for their loyal PC fanbase... that were demoed to us two years ago?

 

[BigTnaples]

Last-gen redux and pretty much par for the course. There's no real monetary incentive for them to create PC exclusive assets when they know PC gamers will buy it regardless since it will typically run better and has slightly more tweaking options over the console versions.

This isn't about assets, it's about effects. Which is what makes this odd.


The assets even on PS4 are higher quality than the 2013 assets. With the possible exception of vegetation.

 

[tuxfool]

But the thing is, we haven't seen fluid simulation, and the like in the game since 2013. Or at least, new footage of it. It was in the Nvidia trailer last month, which gives hope, but it was still 2013 footage.

I wouldn't judge things from a Nvidia trailer. It is clear that their marketing department doesn't know anything about anything.

 

[alexandros]

I think it comes down to time & costs. It would cost a lot to create high-end quality assets for PC and then a totally different set of assets for consoles.

Just makes more sense money wise to use the same assets and just have the PC ones be higher-res/detail/AA/Af etc.

I remember some developers saying that assets are generally created at high quality and then downscaled to different platforms according to the hardware. If that is the case then there doesn't seem to be any reason whatsoever to not have the highest possible assets in the PC version. You would have to decide to not include them on purpose, right?

 

[Inkvoterad]

So the game is 21 gigabytes for me on the GoG preload. Wasnt it supposed to be like 60? I'm starting to think the pc version might have some new stuff in the day 1 patch.

 

[Sanctuary]

This isn't about assets, it's about effects. Which is what makes this odd.

The assets even on PS4 are higher quality than the 2013 assets. With the possible exception of vegetation.

What? The early town shots are using completely different assets. Did you just not notice? It's not just shaders and particle effects missing.

 

[tuxfool]

I remember some developers saying that assets are generally created at high quality and then downscaled to different platforms according to the hardware. If that is the case then there doesn't seem to be any reason whatsoever to not have the highest possible assets in the PC version. You would have to decide to not include them on purpose, right?

The problem then stands that if you cannot downscale assets in a way that looks good, then you have to change assets. Once you start changing assets you are now forking the game.

 

[viveks86]

The coming week is going to be interesting to say the least. I wonder if they plan to release a launch trailer.

 

[DOWN]

CDPR's official response on the recent downgrade article:


http://forums.cdprojektred.com/threads/35851?p=1651261#post1651261

This basically just says they didn't tell their employees to talk about it, but they don't deny it either. The anonymous source being anonymous already told us it wasn't official so this doesn't clarify at all.

They basically just said they have no official comment but please buy the game anyway.

 

[dlauv]

All I wanted was for it to look like the Sword of Destiny trailer. I would have been ok with that.

2013 build seemed a tad unrealistic.

Most companies I have read about have a policy not to comment on rumors. Otherwise, they would be obligated by their consumers to answer all rumors that come to them, and never hear the end of anything.

 

[viveks86]

LOL. Someone personally attacked Marcin on the witcher forum and thread got locked. Crazy.

 

[Dmented]

So the game is 21 gigabytes for me on the GoG preload. Wasnt it supposed to be like 60? I'm starting to think the pc version might have some new stuff in the day 1 patch.

I doubt the day 1 patch will have really anything besides bug fixes. However, I think CDPR will release a HQ texture/asset pack in the future after the dust has settled a bit.

 

[velociraptor]

Now I've just scanned through this thread. Some of the screenshots look nice but I'm not 'blown away' by the videos - I suppose I'll wait for Gamersyde; the compression may hide a lot of the detail. Regardless, everything looks far too bright and far too colourful. I personally think the art style is one of the biggest issues. The 'downgrade' may be less evident if the colour palette matched the previous builds. Maybe I'll just wait a couple of years for TW3 to hit steam sales, just like I did with TW2.

 

[Dictator93]

One thing you can see in the PS4 and xb1 builds is that the particles for igni and what not move at what appears to be half framerate (quite obviously).

Let's hope the PC version is not gimped in such a manner.

 

[robertsan21]

All I wanted was for it to look like the Sword of Destiny trailer. I would have been ok with that.

2013 build seemed a tad unrealistic.

Most companies I have read about have a policy not to comment on rumors. Otherwise, they would be obligated by their consumers to answer all rumors that come to them, and never hear the end of anything.

So the Ultra settings is not as good as the Sword of Destiny trailer?

 

[dark10x]

On top of everything else, I do get the feeling that they could have hit their original targets by sticking to the narrow design of The Witcher 2. When TW2 was released, it looked incredible...but it could not have looked as it did had it been an open world game. It still feels like they, perhaps, overestimated what they could do in an open world game. Is Witcher 3 is completely seamless? I haven't seen any loading screens in footage whereas, previously, TW2 featured loads between areas quite regularly.

Between their inexperience with open world games and unknown capabilities of the new consoles, it certainly seems like they were overreaching.

One thing you can see in the PS4 and xb1 builds is that the particles for igni and what not move at what appears to be half framerate (quite obviously).

I noticed that as well. Really dislike when effects or physics are updated at half rate. That makes it hard for me to enjoy Bioshock 1 and 2 on the PC these days at 60fps - the low update of the ragdoll physics looks awful.

 

[dlauv]

So the Ultra settings is not as good as the Sword of Destiny trailer?

That's mostly the crux of what's been going on these past months. CDPR says there has been no downgrade since the Sword of Destiny trailer if the settings are on Ultra, while many on the forums, after having seen Ultra footage, think there definitely has been a downgrade.

I don't know why anyone expects the 2013 target render stuff. That stuff looks like a completely different game.

 

[BigTnaples]

What? The early town shots are using completely different assets. Did you just not notice? It's not just shaders and particle effects missing.

Take a look at some screens from the 2013 version.

http://www.gamersyde.com/news_images_of_the_witcher_3-13837_en.html

Textures were lower res in many places, character models for main characters, NPCs, and horses, were much less detailed.

What was leaps and bounds better was the lighting, particles, reflections, water, LoD, Draw Distance, and possibly vegetation density.

2013

2015

I expect when I go to that exact spot in the PC version, Ultra settings, the assets will be every bit as detailed as that 2013 screen.

I think you are mistaking the sharpening filter for asset detail.

 

[dark10x]

Take a look at some screens from the 2013 version.

http://www.gamersyde.com/news_images_of_the_witcher_3-13837_en.html

Textures were lower res in many places, character models for main characters, NPCs, and horses, were much less detailed.

What was leaps and bounds better was the lighting, particles, reflections, water, LoD, Draw Distance, and possibly vegetation density.

Goodness, I still hate that 2013 shot. Who the heck thought sharpening the image to that level was a good idea? Just awful.

 

[Houndi101]

Witcher 3 4k Remake coming to PS5, Xbox Two and PC 2017

I myself am getting the Enhanced Edition from a sale on Christmas if the Expansions are out by then

 

[Dictator93]

Goodness, I still hate that 2013 shot. Who the heck thought sharpening the image to that level was a good idea? Just awful.

A number of people in this thread think that it was a good idea given some of the comments regarding the downgrade.

I still am going to wait on the DF thread and my personal image comparisons in te same TOD settings. I wouldn't be surprised if certain things got uglier due to having to hit 30 on consoles or the nature of procedural placement in openworld games.

 

[Kenzodielocke]

Lol if you try cross the level borders you get the message that it's too dangerous because of dragons.

 

[icecold1983]

Guys, I'd strongly advise to take that website with a humongous grain of salt. It's the kind of unverifiable rumor that gets people banned if they do it directly on GAF. It reads like it's specifically checking off every item in the list that would reinforce our worst fears. Classic rumor mongering technique. Don't let it get to you. We will have the facts soon enough.

i hear you, i personally believe its exactly what happened. it lines up perfectly with the comparisons we have of 2013 footage to now.

 

[KingSnake]

CDPR's official response on the recent downgrade article:


http://forums.cdprojektred.com/threads/35851?p=1651261#post1651261

This is so similar to Ubisoft's statements regarding Watch_Dogs. I'm really looking forward to the DF article on this one.

 

[the_batman]

Take a look at some screens from the 2013 version.

the stupid sharpening feature is ugly. the 2015 screens look much better.