The Witcher 3 Official thread

.QQ. said:
It seems the rumored downgrade is true.

Comparison between Gamescon 2014 vs PS4 Release.

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

Really disappointing that the pc version has been gimped due to lackluster console hardware, I expected better from CD Projekt Red.
Click to expand...

Watched a clip on this the other night.
The debate seems to revolve around "In engine" which was shown off in the 2013 clips, versus "In game" shown in the most recent ones.

Beyond that, the debate extended to "what is considered a downgrade". The comparison there being drawn between Watchdogs and Witcher 3. Watchdogs was shown being 'played' with all the bells and whistles, showing us the living world we all wanted. The Witcher footage was more cinematic, with some elements considered "in game". The arguement put forth was that it can't really be called a downgrade if it was just CDPR toning the game down to what can actually be achieved?

I think it was in that same clip that the group having this debate mentioned that CDPR said they wouldn't tone back the PC version, to pander to the console's ability.
 
PhreeMe said:
Watched a clip on this the other night.
The debate seems to revolve around "In engine" which was shown off in the 2013 clips, versus "In game" shown in the most recent ones.

Beyond that, the debate extended to "what is considered a downgrade". The comparison there being drawn between Watchdogs and Witcher 3. Watchdogs was shown being 'played' with all the bells and whistles, showing us the living world we all wanted. The Witcher footage was more cinematic, with some elements considered "in game". The arguement put forth was that it can't really be called a downgrade if it was just CDPR toning the game down to what can actually be achieved?

I think it was in that same clip that the group having this debate mentioned that CDPR said they wouldn't tone back the PC version, to pander to the console's ability.
Click to expand...

CDPR definitely wouldn't say they toned down the pc version, that would impact sales and as the guy pointed out in the article, portray the new consoles as not really being all that next gen (which they aren't).

Comparing in-engine vs in-game is a pretty thin comparison, in-engine merely means that the player wasn't controlling things. The clincher for me is that people who attended the PC event in Warsaw are saying that the PC version looks exactly the same as the console versions.

It seems pretty apparent that the PC version has been watered down to compensate for consoles not being powerful enough.

I'm sure the game is going to be really great, I have my preload ready and waiting, I just hate this trend Ubisoft has started of dumbing down the pc version for the "same experience" on all platforms.
 
PhreeMe said:
Beyond that, the debate extended to "what is considered a downgrade". The comparison there being drawn between Watchdogs and Witcher 3. Watchdogs was shown being 'played' with all the bells and whistles, showing us the living world we all wanted. The Witcher footage was more cinematic, with some elements considered "in game". The arguement put forth was that it can't really be called a downgrade if it was just CDPR toning the game down to what can actually be achieved?
Click to expand...

The 2013 images can be achieved, just not by the console. CDPR decided to have the same version for all platforms and had to cater to the lowest performing system...Consoles again causing us to not have nice things...:(
 
stefan9 said:
Mods can do only so much if those options were removed from the engine and this shouldn't be needed....
Click to expand...

it happened with Watch dogs where some smart people found the hidden code and it improved the graphics dramatically. granted CDPR should never be compared to Ubisoft but its already shown amazing graphics so i suspect they will still be there just hidden away.
 
diabolus said:
BTGames also got it for that price, fyi.
Click to expand...

Yup just pointing out if anyone maybe wanted to buy it from CNA. CNA and BTGames are the only stores that sell it for R699.90. The rest are all more and since vouchers from takealot.com is so scarce those are most likely the best options to use.
 
 
XML Will Let You Enable Sharpening – “Uber” Terrain, Textures & LOD Options Found

http://www.dsogaming.com/news/the-w...errain-textures-lod-options-found/#more-77119

The Witcher 3 – XML Will Let You Enable Sharpening – “Uber” Terrain, Textures & LOD Options Found
May 13, 2015 John Papadopoulos

The GOG version of The Witcher 3 is available for pre-loading, and some users found the XML options via which PC gamers will be – most probably – able to tweak the game’s graphics settings. Via the game’s XML files, PC gamers can enable the Sharpening filter (that was used in most early screenshots). Not only that, but there is an “Uber” quality for a lot of graphics options (including the game’s Terrain, Textures and LOD settings).

As we can see, the game comes with Low, Medium, High and Uber settings for a variety of options. The game will feature “Uber” textures that will be 2048×2048 in size. Moreover, Grass Density can also be increased to “Uber” quality, as well as Foliage Visibility, Shadow distance scaling and Water tessellation. Moreover, the game will support NVIDIA’s HBAO technique.

Kudos to our reader ‘beq-beq’ for informing us.

Here are the most important XML configs. You can visit The Witcher 3’s forum for the complete list of XML configs available in the game.

Postprocess.xml

Fullscreen / Window Mode
Gamma
AllowBloom
AllowShafts
AllowAntialias
AllowBlur
AllowDOF
AllowCutsceneDOF
AllowVignette
AllowSharpen
Virtual_SSAOSolution
AllowMSAA
AllowMotionBlur
AllowFog
AllowChromaticAberration

Rendering.xml

Vysnc
Hairworks
Shadows
Terrain
Water Quality
Grass
textures
foliage_visibility
level_of_detail

Shadow distance scaling

<Option id=”3″ displayName=”uber”>
<Entry varId=”CascadeShadowFadeTreshold” value=”1.0″/>
<Entry varId=”CascadeShadowDistanceScale0″ value=”1.0″/>
<Entry varId=”CascadeShadowDistanceScale1″ value=”1.0″/>
<Entry varId=”CascadeShadowDistanceScale2″ value=”1.5″/>
<Entry varId=”CascadeShadowDistanceScale3″ value=”1.5″/>
<Entry varId=”CascadeShadowQuality” value=”1″/>
<Entry varId=”CascadeShadowmapSize” value=”3072″/>
<Entry varId=”MaxCascadeCount” value=”4″/>
<Entry varId=”MaxTerrainShadowAtlasCount” value=”4″/>
<Entry varId=”MaxCubeShadowSize” value=”512″/>
<Entry varId=”MaxSpotShadowSize” value=”512″/>
<Entry overrideGroup=”Rendering/SpeedTree” varId=”FoliageShadowDistanceScale” value=”54.0″/>
</Option>

Water tessellation

<Var id=”Virtual_WaterOptionVar” displayName=”water_quality” displayType=”OPTIONS” tags=”refreshEngine”>
<OptionsArray>
<Option id=”0″ displayName=”low”>
<Entry varId=”GlobalOceanTesselationFactor” value=”8″/>
</Option>
<Option id=”1″ displayName=”medium”>
<Entry varId=”GlobalOceanTesselationFactor” value=”16″/>
</Option>
<Option id=”2″ displayName=”high”>
<Entry varId=”GlobalOceanTesselationFactor” value=”32″/>
</Option>
<Option id=”3″ displayName=”uber”>
<Entry varId=”GlobalOceanTesselationFactor” value=”64″/>
</Option>
</OptionsArray>
</Var>

Grass density

<OptionsArray>
<Option id=”0″ displayName=”low”>
<Entry varId=”GrassDensity” value=”1400.0″/>
</Option>
<Option id=”1″ displayName=”medium”>
<Entry varId=”GrassDensity” value=”1600.0″/>
</Option>
<Option id=”2″ displayName=”high”>
<Entry varId=”GrassDensity” value=”2000.0″/>
</Option>
<Option id=”3″ displayName=”uber”>
<Entry varId=”GrassDensity” value=”2400.0″/>
</Option>
</OptionsArray>

Textures

<Option id=”3″ displayName=”uber”>
<Entry overrideGroup=”TextureStreaming” varId=”MaxResidentMipMap” value=”6″/>
<Entry varId=”MaxTextureSize” value=”2048″/>
<Entry varId=”MaxAtlasTextureSize” value=”2048″/>
<Entry varId=”TextureDownscale” value=”0″/>
<Entry varId=”DetailTextureDownscale” value=”0″/>
<Entry varId=”AtlasTextureDownscale” value=”0″/>
<Entry varId=”TextureMemoryBudget” value=”800″/>
<Entry varId=”TextureMemoryGUIBudget” value=”80″/>
<Entry varId=”TextureTimeBudget” value=”10″/>
<Entry varId=”TextureInFlightBudget” value=”128″/>
</Option>

Foliage Visibility

<Option id=”3″ displayName=”uber”>
<Entry overrideGroup=”Foliage” varId=”MaxVisibilityDepth” value=”24″/>
</Option>

LOD

<Option id=”3″ displayName=”uber”>
<Entry overrideGroup=”LevelOfDetail” varId=”DecalsHideDistance” value=”80″/>
</Option>

Terrain options

<Option id=”0″ displayName=”low”>
<Entry varId=”TerrainErrorMetricMultiplier” value=”30″/>
<Entry varId=”TerrainScreenSpaceErrorThreshold” value=”4.0″/>
</Option>
<Option id=”1″ displayName=”medium”>
<Entry varId=”TerrainErrorMetricMultiplier” value=”20″/>
<Entry varId=”TerrainScreenSpaceErrorThreshold” value=”3.0″/>
</Option>
<Option id=”2″ displayName=”high”>
<Entry varId=”TerrainErrorMetricMultiplier” value=”10″/>
<Entry varId=”TerrainScreenSpaceErrorThreshold” value=”2.0″/>
</Option>
<Option id=”3″ displayName=”uber”>
<Entry varId=”TerrainErrorMetricMultiplier” value=”6″/>
<Entry varId=”TerrainScreenSpaceErrorThreshold” value=”1.6″/>
</Option>

Post-Processing presets in-depth

<Preset id=”0″ displayName=”low”>
<Entry varId=”AllowBloom” value=”true”/>
<Entry varId=”AllowShafts” value=”false”/>
<Entry varId=”AllowAntialias” value=”false”/>
<Entry varId=”AllowBlur” value=”false”/>
<Entry varId=”AllowDOF” value=”false”/>
<Entry varId=”AllowCutsceneDOF” value=”true”/>
<Entry varId=”AllowVignette” value=”true”/>
<Entry varId=”AllowSharpen” value=”false”/>
<Entry varId=”Virtual_SSAOSolution” value=”0″/>
<Entry varId=”AllowMotionBlur” value=”false”/>
<Entry varId=”AllowFog” value=”true”/>
<Entry varId=”AllowChromaticAberration” value=”false”/>
</Preset>
<Preset id=”1″ displayName=”medium”>
<Entry varId=”AllowBloom” value=”true”/>
<Entry varId=”AllowShafts” value=”false”/>
<Entry varId=”AllowAntialias” value=”false”/>
<Entry varId=”AllowBlur” value=”true”/>
<Entry varId=”AllowDOF” value=”false”/>
<Entry varId=”AllowCutsceneDOF” value=”true”/>
<Entry varId=”AllowVignette” value=”true”/>
<Entry varId=”AllowSharpen” value=”false”/>
<Entry varId=”Virtual_SSAOSolution” value=”1″/>
<Entry varId=”AllowMotionBlur” value=”false”/>
<Entry varId=”AllowFog” value=”true”/>
<Entry varId=”AllowChromaticAberration” value=”false”/>
</Preset>
<Preset id=”2″ displayName=”high”>
<Entry varId=”AllowBloom” value=”true”/>
<Entry varId=”AllowShafts” value=”true”/>
<Entry varId=”AllowAntialias” value=”true”/>
<Entry varId=”AllowBlur” value=”true”/>
<Entry varId=”AllowDOF” value=”true”/>
<Entry varId=”AllowCutsceneDOF” value=”true”/>
<Entry varId=”AllowVignette” value=”true”/>
<Entry varId=”AllowSharpen” value=”true”/>
<Entry varId=”Virtual_SSAOSolution” value=”1″/>
<Entry varId=”AllowMotionBlur” value=”true”/>
<Entry varId=”AllowFog” value=”true”/>
<Entry varId=”AllowChromaticAberration” value=”true”/>
</Preset>
</PresetsArray>

Rendering presets in-depth

<Preset id=”0″ displayName=”low”>
<Entry varId=”Virtual_TexturesOptionVar” value=”0″/>
<Entry varId=”Virtual_LevelOfDetailOptionVar” value=”0″/>
<Entry varId=”Virtual_WaterOptionVar” value=”0″/>
<Entry varId=”Virtual_TerrainOptionVar” value=”0″/>
<Entry varId=”Virtual_ShadowsOptionVar” value=”0″/>
<Entry varId=”UseHairWorks” value=”false”/>
<Entry varId=”Virtual_GrassOptionVar” value=”0″/>
<Entry varId=”Virtual_FoliageVisibility” value=”0″/>
</Preset>
<Preset id=”1″ displayName=”medium”>
<Entry varId=”Virtual_TexturesOptionVar” value=”1″/>
<Entry varId=”Virtual_LevelOfDetailOptionVar” value=”1″/>
<Entry varId=”Virtual_WaterOptionVar” value=”1″/>
<Entry varId=”Virtual_TerrainOptionVar” value=”1″/>
<Entry varId=”Virtual_ShadowsOptionVar” value=”1″/>
<Entry varId=”UseHairWorks” value=”false”/>
<Entry varId=”Virtual_GrassOptionVar” value=”1″/>
<Entry varId=”Virtual_FoliageVisibility” value=”1″/>
</Preset>
<Preset id=”2″ displayName=”high”>
<Entry varId=”Virtual_TexturesOptionVar” value=”2″/>
<Entry varId=”Virtual_LevelOfDetailOptionVar” value=”2″/>
<Entry varId=”Virtual_WaterOptionVar” value=”2″/>
<Entry varId=”Virtual_TerrainOptionVar” value=”2″/>
<Entry varId=”Virtual_ShadowsOptionVar” value=”2″/>
<Entry varId=”UseHairWorks” value=”false”/>
<Entry varId=”Virtual_GrassOptionVar” value=”2″/>
<Entry varId=”Virtual_FoliageVisibility” value=”2″/>
</Preset>
<Preset id=”3″ displayName=”uber”>
<Entry varId=”Virtual_TexturesOptionVar” value=”3″/>
<Entry varId=”Virtual_LevelOfDetailOptionVar” value=”3″/>
<Entry varId=”Virtual_WaterOptionVar” value=”3″/>
<Entry varId=”Virtual_TerrainOptionVar” value=”3″/>
<Entry varId=”Virtual_ShadowsOptionVar” value=”3″/>
<Entry varId=”UseHairWorks” value=”true”/>
<Entry varId=”Virtual_GrassOptionVar” value=”3″/>
<Entry varId=”Virtual_FoliageVisibility” value=”3″/>
</Preset>

More extras

AllowSharpen=false
TextureMipBias=0
Click to expand...

More http://forums.cdprojektred.com/threads/35728-A-quick-look-at-the-game-configs-XML
 
.QQ. said:
CDPR definitely wouldn't say they toned down the pc version, that would impact sales and as the guy pointed out in the article, portray the new consoles as not really being all that next gen (which they aren't).

Comparing in-engine vs in-game is a pretty thin comparison, in-engine merely means that the player wasn't controlling things. The clincher for me is that people who attended the PC event in Warsaw are saying that the PC version looks exactly the same as the console versions.

It seems pretty apparent that the PC version has been watered down to compensate for consoles not being powerful enough.

I'm sure the game is going to be really great, I have my preload ready and waiting, I just hate this trend Ubisoft has started of dumbing down the pc version for the "same experience" on all platforms.
Click to expand...

stefan9 said:
The 2013 images can be achieved, just not by the console. CDPR decided to have the same version for all platforms and had to cater to the lowest performing system...Consoles again causing us to not have nice things...:(
Click to expand...

If my addled brain remembers, I'll try link the clip in question.
In engine and ingame are the same in principle, not in practice. By that I mean they both obviously use the same engine, but in engine refers to what the engine is capable of, in a pre-rendered sequence generally set up by developers. Take a look at that new Witch tech demo, illustrating her crying. Sure it's achievable.... you just need 4 Titans to run it. That engine will be scaled back to give us what will be ultimately seen 'in game', until such time as one card can provide the necessary real-time grunt.

Edit: just to clarify, I'm with you when you say it's sad to see the "downgrading" that happened. Just trying to give another viewpoint that was given in the aforementioned clip.
 
Last edited:
ponder said:
http://www.dsogaming.com/news/the-w...errain-textures-lod-options-found/#more-77119



More http://forums.cdprojektred.com/threads/35728-A-quick-look-at-the-game-configs-XML
Click to expand...

That looks likes the file settings are saved to, most likely all those options will be available in the ingame settings menu.

PhreeMe said:
If my addled brain remembers, I'll try link the clip in question.
In engine and ingame are the same in principle, not in practice. By that I mean they both obviously use the same engine, but in engine refers to what the engine is capable of, in a pre-rendered sequence generally set up by developers. Take a look at that new Witch tech demo, illustrating her crying. Sure it's achievable.... you just need 4 Titans to run it. That engine will be scaled back to give us what will be ultimately seen 'in game', until such time as one card can provide the necessary real-time grunt.

Edit: just to clarify, I'm with you when you say it's sad to see the "downgrading" that happened. Just trying to give another viewpoint that was given in the aforementioned clip.
Click to expand...

I hear what you're saying but keep in mind in this scenario the in engine demo showed Geralt moving around the world etc, most likely one of the devs played the demo build they had and recorded the session for editing.
 
.QQ. said:
That looks likes the file settings are saved to, most likely all those options will be available in the ingame settings menu.



I hear what you're saying but keep in mind in this scenario the in engine demo showed Geralt moving around the world etc, most likely one of the devs played the demo build they had and recorded the session for editing.
Click to expand...

I with you on that... but when we can (hopefully?) agree that the entire game world could never have been completed that early in development, you're only left rendering exactly what you want to be seen, as opposed to everything that could be seen.

If they had done a run across the Entire rendered map in that 2013 demo, I would obviously be eating my words :D
 
PhreeMe said:
I with you on that... but when we can (hopefully?) agree that the entire game world could never have been completed that early in development, you're only left rendering exactly what you want to be seen, as opposed to everything that could be seen.

If they had done a run across the Entire rendered map in that 2013 demo, I would obviously be eating my words :D
Click to expand...

Sure I do agree there, 2013 was 2 years ago I doubt they had the game world fully fleshed out at that point. Keep in mind though, that the entire world isn't rendered when you're playing, that would just be a waste of resources.

Things like view distance being reduced and texture quality dropping are a direct result of scaling back due to console limitations.
 
PhreeMe said:
If my addled brain remembers, I'll try link the clip in question.
In engine and ingame are the same in principle, not in practice. By that I mean they both obviously use the same engine, but in engine refers to what the engine is capable of, in a pre-rendered sequence generally set up by developers. Take a look at that new Witch tech demo, illustrating her crying. Sure it's achievable.... you just need 4 Titans to run it. That engine will be scaled back to give us what will be ultimately seen 'in game', until such time as one card can provide the necessary real-time grunt.

Edit: just to clarify, I'm with you when you say it's sad to see the "downgrading" that happened. Just trying to give another viewpoint that was given in the aforementioned clip.
Click to expand...

Dev/Studios are abusing the term. If you look at the latest Star Wars:Battlefront Trailer, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwWLns7-xN8 . You will notice it starts off with saying "Game Engine Footage" ,
but clearly this is pre-rendered stuff and not GamePLAY footage. So the engine might be able to do that when scripted, but sure as hell not while you play, so alot of people getting confused with the usage.
 
diabolus said:
Dev/Studios are abusing the term. If you look at the latest Star Wars:Battlefront Trailer, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwWLns7-xN8 . You will notice it starts off with saying "Game Engine Footage" ,
but clearly this is pre-rendered stuff and not GamePLAY footage. So the engine might be able to do that when scripted, but sure as hell not while you play, so alot of people getting confused with the usage.
Click to expand...

Really ?

Game engine and in game is one and the same thing.The big difference between the two, is shaders used to get the cinematic effects, full screen shaders will be different as well as the amount of specular and other textures maps used to fit cinematic effects.

What it can do what you generally can't do in game is control rendering of objects to some extent, but because you have complete control of the camera angles used, you can effectively delete and objects that will not be rendered again, or reduce to LOD of an object up to 3 levels. LOD adds a lot more polygons to an object, but doesn't render all the LOD levels at once, LOD levels works based on distance and if the object is being rendered or not.

Secondly in engine can use smaller levels, as it's camera controlled, meaning that you have more headroom to play with additional shaders as well as effects.

There are still companies that render cinematic's in a 3D editor as it often provides more headroom and can be rendered 1 frame at a time, however now days it's just as easy to render cinematic's with the use of the game engine. But other than that in game, in engine is one and the same thing.

Game play footage refers to, camera footage directly from the players perspective and does not contain any scripted actions, as where in game or in engine footage refers to different camera angle's and scripted actions.As a result people confuse the two, and imply the rendering engine is completely different. It's not, in game and in engine is still one and the same render. Changing out shaders or tweaking shaders for cinematic effects doesn't change the engine render, it just changes how a scene, level ect is rendered.
 
Last edited:
wizardofid said:
Really ?

Game engine and in game is one and the same thing.The big difference between the two, is shaders used to get the cinematic effects, full screen shaders will be different as well as the amount of specular and other textures maps used to fit cinematic effects.

What it can do what you generally can't do in game is control rendering of objects to some extent, but because you have complete control of the camera angles used, you can effectively delete and objects that will not be rendered again, or reduce to LOD of an object up to 3 levels. LOD adds a lot more polygons to an object, but doesn't render all the LOD levels at once, LOD levels works based on distance and if the object is being rendered or not.

Secondly in engine can use smaller levels, as it's camera controlled, meaning that you have more headroom to play with additional shaders as well as effects.

There are still companies that render cinematic's in a 3D editor as it often provides more headroom and can be rendered 1 frame at a time, however now days it's just as easy to render cinematic's with the use of the game engine. But other than that in game, in engine is one and the same thing.

Game play footage refers to, camera footage directly from the players perspective and does not contain any scripted actions, as where in game or in engine footage refers to different camera angle's and scripted actions.As a result people confuse the two, and imply the rendering engine is completely different. It's not, in game and in engine is still one and the same render. Changing out shaders or tweaking shaders for cinematic effects doesn't change the engine render, it just changes how a scene, level ect is rendered.
Click to expand...

That read like a youtube comment
 
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