CD Projekt's Cyberpunk 2077 Update 2.0 + Phantom Liberty Expansion Thread

[Gargaune]

GTA has better production values and very importantly - it puts the main character in the center of the camera's viewport, which is where a main character should be and has been in the history of visual media. This way you put this character's development in the center of the story, and in the center of the audience's attention

Gotta disagree there, Cyberpunk might've benefitted from a third-person perspective, at least in cinematics, but that's just because there's so little else for you to sink your teeth in, it's not an inherent flaw. Just consider the counterexamples, I don't see people complaining that Half-Life or Thief or, hell, Bioshock sucked story-wise because you didn't see the protagonists doing stuff. If anything, first-person is the more prestigious perspective for videogames because it better represents the medium's unique selling point of agency.

The problem you're actually feeling with Cyberpunk in this respect is that pervasive failures in gameplay and narrative design, even in V's own design, make it so that the best way to engage the player in the protagonist would be to roll one of the opposite sex and stare at her ass in third-person. Alas, that's not an option, so here we are.

Though I gotta say I'm not sure why you're comparing to GTA, I found it to be worse across the board. With Cyberpunk, I at least felt like the main plot may have been worthwhile if better supported by peripheral writing and gameplay, whereas GTA V's only value was aping Reservoir Dogs during its heists, and that got old right quick.

 

[AwesomeButton]

This is a very bad change then, I think a headshot should down every normal enemy that is not wearing a helmet or similar. Especially out of stealth...

I agree but the good changes outweigh the bad, in my experience. And maybe one-headshot kills do become possible at a later point, with more skill grinding.

Though I gotta say I'm not sure why you're comparing to GTA, I found it to be worse across the board

Because they are comparing themselves to Rockstar. I think with cutting almost any C&C from their side missions (and I guess their main story, apart from the ending) they thought they are following "the Rockstar way" better.

 

[Gargaune]

Because they are comparing themselves to Rockstar.

Fair point, that's an unfortunate and publicly assumed aspiration for CDPR. I just think that even with the obvious decline, Cyberpunk is still a more worthwhile and compelling game than Grand Theft Tarantino.

 

[AwesomeButton]

Interactive movie with popamole to interactive movie with popamole, I think GTA V is easier to swallow.

 

[CrunchyHemorrhoids]

[...] main character in the center of the camera's viewport, which is where a main character should be and has been in the history of visual media. This way you put this character's development in the center of the story, and in the center of the audience's attention. If someone is ignorant of that principle, wilfully or no, then he deserves to fail.

If they really wanted the next-gen console re-release to act as a second chance at life/sales/reputation for the game they'd really need to implement the third person mode it was originally designed with so that it can look like a different/improved product in the mass marketing materials. And give up on a jerkoff VR version which undoutedly played a part in that terrible call.

 

[Perkel]

This is a very bad change then, I think a headshot should down every normal enemy that is not wearing a helmet or similar. Especially out of stealth...

? This is cyberpunk. metal in your head is common thing.

This page in the Cyberpunk wiki paints a very depressing picture: https://cyberpunk2077.wiki.fextralife.com/Side+Jobs
Classifying the different stages of the same quest as separate quests is misleading. Even though one stage is a hard prerequisite for the next stage, insisting to count them as separate quests. Desperation, straw-clutching, is what this is.

Even after you combine the falsely portrayed as different sidequests to get a realistic number, the vast majority of these, with only a few exceptions, fall into the category which in GTA is called "Strangers and freaks".

You are forgetting about all other content. Here is full list of named main/sidequest/gigs. This does not include unnamed and other content like say robbery at the dinner. Morover the mentioned romance thing etc. is entirely optional after main quest initialization. I mean there are shitload of people who never met Kerry or River.

Witcher 3 had more sidequest with expansions but c77 is close to vanilla witcher3 without expansions. Moreover GIGs very much in quality, some of them get near side quest quality to simple quests.

Here is full list of quests in the game:

 

[rusty_shackleford]

Read what AwesomeButton said previously, many of those are parts of the same mission.
Cyberpunk's side-missions don't get anywhere close to the quality of Witcher 3, despite having a good reason for them to be more interesting compared to the basis of Witcher 3 side-missions essentially being the equivalent of a 'monster of the week' episode.

 

[AwesomeButton]

Gigs? Please! They do vary in complexity, there is a two-story building with multiple entrances and there is a scrapyard with 5 goons, and for some of them there is "reactivity" whether you stealthed them or not. And that's it. They are "mini-dungeons", or "monster nests" depending on the size. No connection between them, no story, no real motivation to clear them except grinding XP and street cred if you even need to.

You could argue that if you read all the datashards, there is something like an overarching motive for all the gigs directed against a particular gang, but that's a really cheap way to cover for the lack of a real story to tie them together.

A monster hunt in Witcher 3 costs much more in terms of narrative and providing motivation, and there are occasional C&C, like the werewolf husband tricked into killing his wife by her sister, so she could live with him. The only gig where I remember a conversation is the one where you can choose to kill the father-and-son implant thieves or not.

 

[Wesp5]

This is a very bad change then, I think a headshot should down every normal enemy that is not wearing a helmet or similar. Especially out of stealth...

? This is cyberpunk. metal in your head is common thing.

Really? I can't remember being able to buy a protectional implant...

 

[AwesomeButton]

Come to think of it, the only reason that the whole line of quests beginning with "I fought the law" is so developed is... because it's related to the straight female romance NPC in the game. And if you compare all the "Side Jobs" as they are listed in the wiki, the "I fought the law" line has to be in its own subcategory. My suspicion is that it's by chance of having the romanceable NPC involved, that we get to see a Side Job as envisaged. Probably it was decided that they couldn't release the game without a romance option, and the quest was prioritized before the big rush started from January to September 2020.

I don't believe CDPR planned to produce 50-odd side jobs and it was someone's decision that one or three, five of these quests will be disproportionately more detailed.

The speculation I've been making since December and January is that the whole disproportion that we see in how much side content is fleshed out relative to main story content - explicitly the opposite of what CDPR were claiming and the opposite of the approach in Witcher 3 - is due to to time restrictions. IMO this Cyberpunk 2077 is not nearly the game CDPR wanted to make, before or after getting Keanu onboard. It goes so strongly against what CDPR had stated that I can't believe we can attribute the difference to marketing cynism.

 

[Justicar]

The only gig where I remember a conversation is the one where you can choose to kill the father-and-son implant thieves or not.

Man there are more gigs that can be solved with conversation only examples:

Freedom of the press with the journalist friend of Regina jones you can solve it just by talking to him.
BACKS AGAINST THE WALL with veteran who stole med supplies for cyberpsychos can be solved just by talking to the guy.
Hippocratic Oath with riperdoc kidnapped by maelstrom you can just sneak through talk to her and lead her out to safety without killing anyone. There is reactivity to this too she is treating a wounded maelstrom member if you shoot him and dont help her save his life next time you meet her in rancho coronado she is pissed and wont talk to you. If you help her save him she will talk to you no problem.
WOMAN A LA MANCHA with the female cop that got set up by her police buddies you can solve it with dialouge and no combat.
BRING ME THE HEAD OF GUSTAVO ORTA you can sneak through his apartment and solve the quest just by talking to him.
AN INCONVINIENT KILLER where you have to kill a club owner you can just sneak through his security and solve this quest by talking to him.

There are more but I dont care to look up their names and I agree with you that gigs should have been expanded even further saying that there is only one gig with a conversation is BULLLLLSHIIIEEEEETTTT

 

[Gargaune]

Gigs? Please! They do vary in complexity, there is a two-story building with multiple entrances and there is a scrapyard with 5 goons, and for some of them there is "reactivity" whether you stealthed them or not. And that's it. They are "mini-dungeons", or "monster nests" depending on the size. No connection between them, no story, no real motivation to clear them except grinding XP and street cred if you even need to.

Gigs seem to be the same class of filler content as Bethesda's radiant quests, minus the randomisation and the part where Bethesda had the sense to allocate levels that take more than five minutes to clear. CDPR could've at least sequenced them in strings of four or five at a time with common plots and some more NPC interactions, but no, you gotta hit those quest numbers, baby.

 

[typical user]

This is a very bad change then, I think a headshot should down every normal enemy that is not wearing a helmet or similar. Especially out of stealth...

? This is cyberpunk. metal in your head is common thing.

This page in the Cyberpunk wiki paints a very depressing picture: https://cyberpunk2077.wiki.fextralife.com/Side+Jobs
Classifying the different stages of the same quest as separate quests is misleading. Even though one stage is a hard prerequisite for the next stage, insisting to count them as separate quests. Desperation, straw-clutching, is what this is.

Even after you combine the falsely portrayed as different sidequests to get a realistic number, the vast majority of these, with only a few exceptions, fall into the category which in GTA is called "Strangers and freaks".

You are forgetting about all other content. Here is full list of named main/sidequest/gigs. This does not include unnamed and other content like say robbery at the dinner. Morover the mentioned romance thing etc. is entirely optional after main quest initialization. I mean there are shitload of people who never met Kerry or River.

Witcher 3 had more sidequest with expansions but c77 is close to vanilla witcher3 without expansions. Moreover GIGs very much in quality, some of them get near side quest quality to simple quests.

Here is full list of quests in the game:

In Table-top RPG one burst from Uzi could kill a full-chrome solo.

 

[AwesomeButton]

The only gig where I remember a conversation is the one where you can choose to kill the father-and-son implant thieves or not.

Man there are more gigs that can be solved with conversation only examples:

Freedom of the press with the journalist friend of Regina jones you can solve it just by talking to him.
BACKS AGAINST THE WALL with veteran who stole med supplies for cyberpsychos can be solved just by talking to the guy.
Hippocratic Oath with riperdoc kidnapped by maelstrom you can just sneak through talk to her and lead her out to safety without killing anyone. There is reactivity to this too she is treating a wounded maelstrom member if you shoot him and dont help her save his life next time you meet her in rancho coronado she is pissed and wont talk to you. If you help her save him she will talk to you no problem.
WOMAN A LA MANCHA with the female cop that got set up by her police buddies you can solve it with dialouge and no combat.
BRING ME THE HEAD OF GUSTAVO ORTA you can sneak through his apartment and solve the quest just by talking to him.
AN INCONVINIENT KILLER where you have to kill a club owner you can just sneak through his security and solve this quest by talking to him.

There are more but I dont care to look up their names and I agree with you that gigs should have been expanded even further saying that there is only one gig with a conversation is BULLLLLSHIIIEEEEETTTT

Ok. It was the only one I could remember off the top of my head.

 

[AwesomeButton]

The other stuff i noticed are screen space reflecions that are weirdly lower FOV than it used to ending usually before edges of screen instead of properly at edges of screen.

Yep, they were screwing around with lighting and reflections and broke most of them in 1.3. Then they put out a patch that restored them... partially. At least that's what I gathered off YouTube, I'm still on 1.22.

I imagine I'll have to update eventually, once they bring out some worthwhile DLC or for mods, so I hope they'll fix it by that point. Because, honestly, if I gotta put up with a visual downgrade for the sake of console parity post-launch, CDPR's going on my discount list. Visuals are genuinely the only thing great about this game.

Today I got the idea to try to downgrade my game to 1.22 and dump the game options again, then go back to 1.31 and compare the differences, with the aim to restore LoD distance of shadows and lights, as well as probably cars.

It turns out that there are no older versions available to downgrade to. Then I remembered you saying you are running on 1.22.

Could you please install the Cyberpunk Engine Tweaks: https://www.nexusmods.com/cyberpunk2077/mods/107?tab=files I guess the newest version would work, but there is one for 1.22 if you happen to need it.

The first time after you install it, the console will open when you start the game and ask you for a key/combination to toggle it. After doing that, please run "GameOptions.Dump()" and check the log file which should be in the root dir of the mod. Send me the whole list of options, it should be around 1000 lines.

If I happen to make something out of those options, I'll make an ini tweak mod on the nexus with them.

 

[Gargaune]

After doing that, please run "GameOptions.Dump()" and check the log file which should be in the root dir of the mod. Send me the whole list of options, it should be around 1000 lines.

Sure, here you go I'll send you a PM.

 

[Daedalos]

Is it good yet?

I see WESP posting in the thread

Negga, get crackin on dat RESTORATION PROJECT PATCH to restore the game to its original promised glory.

I will donate u money

 

[Wesp5]

I see WESP posting in the thread

Negga, get crackin on dat RESTORATION PROJECT PATCH to restore the game to its original promised glory.

I will first wait what the other modders are doing. In case I can't find what I think is missing I might take a look sooner or later...

 

[AwesomeButton]

I've compared the two sets of options, but all the properties I imagined would be different actually have identical values. There are occasionally properties present in one dump and missing in the other. There are still two properties which seem relevant and have different values, so I'll try adjusting them:

Rendering/DepthPrepassDistanceFactor = 100.000000 12.000000 (in 1.22)

Streaming/Culling/Fallback/DistanceTreshold = 64.000000 32.000000 (in 1.22)

There is also this one which may be relevant and is missing from the 1.22 options:
Rendering/DepthPrepassTriangleCountFactor = 0.005000

The good news is that I've found a torrent with 1.22 (and 1.04 actually), so I can now play around with comparing and swapping files.

It's curious for me as a complete 3D noob, at what level did the downgrade happen.

 

[Justicar]

 

[AwesomeButton]

I've compared the options dump from 1.04 to 1.31, but except for the differences I've pointed out above, there is nothing else of significance. And changing those options doesn't produce any noticeable effect either.

What's the more curious finding is that graphics and LoD actually don't look too different when I start up 1.04. My conclusion is that I've been suffering from rose tinted glasses effect and the downgrade only affected consoles. So, if graphics seem downgraded, they are not, that's just the best CDPR could do for PC.

 

[Justicar]

I've compared the options dump from 1.04 to 1.31, but except for the differences I've pointed out above, there is nothing else of significance. And changing those options doesn't produce any noticeable effect either.

What's the more curious finding is that graphics and LoD actually don't look too different when I start up 1.04. My conclusion is that I've been suffering from rose tinted glasses effect and the downgrade only affected consoles. So, if graphics seem downgraded, they are not, that's just the best CDPR could do for PC.

I told you most of the pop in was here from day 1 they actually improved the load of bilboards and street signs a bit in the newer patches. Anyway the graphics and art direction are one of the few good things about this game.

 

[AwesomeButton]

Seeing your screenshots, I'm thinking of removing the mod that removes the green filter and re-enabling the cinematic post-processing. Apparently the way to make present day graphics better is to add blurring post-processing. I think they are doing this to accomodate TVs with bad pixel density.

 

[just]

new roadmap
no more delays after this one

 

[gurugeorge]

I've compared the options dump from 1.04 to 1.31, but except for the differences I've pointed out above, there is nothing else of significance. And changing those options doesn't produce any noticeable effect either.

What's the more curious finding is that graphics and LoD actually don't look too different when I start up 1.04. My conclusion is that I've been suffering from rose tinted glasses effect and the downgrade only affected consoles. So, if graphics seem downgraded, they are not, that's just the best CDPR could do for PC.

I told you most of the pop in was here from day 1 they actually improved the load of bilboards and street signs a bit in the newer patches. Anyway the graphics and art direction are one of the few good things about this game.

It's this unique character and flavour that make me pretty confident that CDPR will try to milk the game as much as they can. There are a lot of people who want the game to be good just because it's the strongest realization of this type of setting, and the game could have a decent afterlife if they get it up to a good enough standard that modders can properly build off.