The Witcher 1 Thread

[Hermilion]

You think they'll ever do it again? Next game will be simultaneously released, guaranteed. PC version will be screwed.

Chances are they will stay with PC as main platform - my reasoning:
- Adult players are rather PC gamers
- In Poland PC is still the most popular game platform

 

[MasPingon]

- In Poland PC is still the most popular game platform

Who gives a fuck about that? Take for example People Can Fly. After the succes of Painkiller, which was true PC game, they did XBox conversion. Now they are working on console only project. In the latest interview,their lead designer- Adrian Chmielarz, said that he wish PC market to die and he want to focus on developing console games. It works like that - new guys in industry show what they can by making good PC game. If it's really good there is a chance that they could be noticed by a big publisher. Big publisher is not interested in making a game which won't sell well and we all know console market is better to make a big money. If The Witcher 2 will be made as PC game with a plan to convert it on consoles then I have no problem. If they are planing to do console>PC hybrid like Fallout 3 than I'll say goodbye witcher

 

[Longshanks]

Why would they make the game PC exclusive?
Simultaneous console/PC release maximises sales.

I don't see the problem with a console release, if the developers have a high degree of autonomy, and they don't want to make the usual consolisation mistakes. There's little inherently wrong with consoles, the problem's with the developers.

 

[Morbus]

Because simultaneous console/PC release damages the PC version, because it has to be dumbed down to match console levels of stupidity.

 

[Lethal Weapon]

console market is better to make a big money

That's not neccessarily true. Microsoft and Sony have been loosing milliions in their effort to promote their new consoles, hoping that they will get even enentually. The problem with consoles right now is that they don't stay where they belong, ie sport and similar games. And the PC is the most popular platform in Europe. But when Microsoft shows up and spits a shitload of money in the devs' face, the devs find it hard to refuse.

There's little inherently wrong with consoles.

True. Only retarded controls, small amount of main memory and inferior hardware in general. Xbox360 is outdated already. No need to mention their target audience.

the problem's with the developers.

CDP is a publisher. It's only natural they will go console.They're not like PB or other small dev teams who have been sticking with the PC for years.

 

[Longshanks]

True. Only retarded controls, small amount of main memory and inferior hardware in general. Xbox360 is outdated already. No need to mention their target audience.

Granted, though I believe controls are less of a problem than they have been.

I do agree that there are concerns, especially target audience, was including this under "problem with the developer" in that they underestimate the intelligence of their audience, though there's little doubt that the console gaming experience is a more relaxed, social and casual experience in general than PC gaming.

Was more pointing out that a developer with good intentions can make a good cross-platform game. Psychonauts is probably the best example I can think of (think it was a simultaneous release), Bioshock wasn't bad (though it was dumbed down), Thief 3 was also quite good, if not as good as its predecessors.

So, while I'm concerned about a cross-platform release, I do think it's possible to do it well.

 

[Atrokkus]

Xbox360 can EASILY handle graphics of Witcher level. It's about optimization, and it's always easier to optimize the engine for a SET system configuration -- that is, for a console. No varying/unsupported hardware parts, no varying memory quantities or outdated drivers -- consoles have ONE permanent set of features, so I can assure you they can make Witcher run much smoother on Xbox360 than it would even on a good PC.

 

[Micmu]

I'm pretty sure they'll have massive problems fitting that memory consuming beast of an engine into 512MBs of shared memory.
Besides, casual gamers utterly hate frequent and long loading times. There were quite some critics about o_livi_n's LOADING... engine on HD-less Xbrick and it's loading times weren't nearly as long as The Witcher's.

But rendering alone shouldn't be a problem at all.

 

[Lethal Weapon]

I do think it's possible to do it well.

Not my point.

so I can assure you they can make Witcher run much smoother

Smoother? How can they make it run 'much smoother'? It runs silk smooth for me, it doesn't get any smoother than that. And my PC is not even next gen. I did spent some extra cash and running Witcher off a RAMdrive though, so I have zero problem with loading times. Couldn't have done that with a console I guess. Just name one cross-platform title that doesn't look better and doesn't run smoother on the PC.

And since you're talking graphics, sure, the XBox360 might be able to handle Witcher level graphics for now. But what about in 6, 12 or 18 months that an expansion or sequel will come out? Or are we to take your word for it?

 

[Troll]

well consoles promote the idea of having simple fun. no intelligence is required, you just play the games to have a good time, generally implying a lot of action. this works for me from time to time ( and only when i'm tired and don't want to work my brains out to have a little fun )

When a geme is developed having consoles in mind, every feature that can provide a real challenge is considered to bring a lot of frustrations and therefore taken out. There is practically no difference between a game developed only for consoles and one developed for both consoles and pc, while some of the games developed originally for pc and afterwards ported to consoles are greately superior.

History showed us that whenever a game was ported on consoles, the sequel appeared for both platforms at the same time and prooved to be a failure ( at least from the pc gamer's point of view ) and i'm pretty sure this will happen in this case too.. so everybody enjoy the witcher now, it's an excellent game and don't expect the same quality from the sequel

 

[Jeff Graw]

I find all this talk about "the horrible load times" quite funny as it's not very often that I need to wait even ten seconds for any area to load. Most areas load under 5. Granted, I have lots of memory and a quick raid 0 array, but I can't see how people can get 3-5 minute load times as there's no way my system is *that* much more powerful than anyone else's, so I'm thinking the problem might be in hard drive fragmentation (my partition is about a month and a half old). Anyone who has loading troubles should probably try defragmenting their hard drive to see if that helps at all.

 

[Troll]

yeah, i think i posted around here that you can play the game quite resonably with an old athlon xp processor and 1 gig of ram...

Defragmenting is a must...
As is closing useless processes - in windows xp you can have around 20-22 small processes running. basically if you can close it and the sistem works... you're on the right track ( i can free up to 890 MB.. this includes killing the explorer process for instance, firewall and antivirus... and also temporarily removing the netowork cable to be safe without a firewall)

 

[Hory]

The whole "platform doesnt matter for great games" argument is old and tired. No, it DOES matter and I dont need to even clarifry it.

No, it DOESN'T.
Seriously, with enough determination, you could port pretty much any RPG to a console, even Fallout. Would it be smart to bring such a game to a console with a different market? Maybe not, but if the devs want it, they could transfer it 99% the same.


So, what are codexers' predictions regarding Witcher's success on consoles?

 

[Solaris]

Yes, defragging the drive helps, with a good defragger. It certainly helped me. I only get 5- 10 secs loading times also, which I find acceptable. Occassionly 15-20 secs if I've just started a new session and loading a save in an outdoor area. My rig is pretty high spec though. E6600 oc'ed a lot, 2gb oc'ed Ram and 8800gtx, etc

As for the talk of going to console...hmm, not sure what to think of that. It does sound similiar to Bethesda's position after Morrowind was released....and we all know what happened there. Big bucks for Beth, at the expense of a dumbed down Oblivion on PC. Although the game had more shortcommings than just being dumbed down....unless you class it as an action/adventure romp in a sandbox enviroment, which it handled reasonably well.

 

[Texas Red]

Hai guys!

Whenever I defragg with different programs, my desktop starts flashing and then disappears(only the wallpaper remains). I can run stuff only through task manager. I have to make a system restore to get everything back the way it used to be.

What gives? It worked before but doesnt now after windows reinstall.

 

[Troll]

TWD, that's weird, perhaps your hard drive is living its last days... or maybe something went wrong during the reinstall... so i'll say what i say when i don't know what to do: try another reinstall?

 

[WhiskeyWolf]

TWD, that's weird, perhaps your hard drive is living its last days... or maybe something went wrong during the reinstall... so i'll say what i say when i don't know what to do: try another reinstall?

Agreed, there are a lot of things that CAN go wrong and probably will go wrong (remember it's windows you are dealing with).

 

[suleo]

Run a disk check with surface scan enabled. Depending on the size of the HD, you might want to do this overnight. If any bad blocks show up, it's time to get a new drive.

Also, check the event logger (even before doing the disk check). Check out any red flags you see. If something funny like "Data from drive <hard> could not be read" comes up, that means trouble.

 

[muds_animal_friend]

Hai guys!

Whenever I defragg with different programs, my desktop starts flashing and then disappears(only the wallpaper remains). I can run stuff only through task manager. I have to make a system restore to get everything back the way it used to be.

What gives? It worked before but doesnt now after windows reinstall.

1. STOP defragging.
2. Run scandisk right now. NOW!
3. You may have to reinstall Windows, but only do so after the integrity of your hard disk has been ensured.

 

[Darkflame]

I'm really interested in the SDK - supposedly we will be able to create our own quests though I'm wondering how that will turn out since the main game is voiced...

 

[Mayday]

There are a few non-voiced moments.
So you just turn subtitles on and it's ok.
Though I believe we have to give them a heads-up that the display of the player's speech should be disabled if it isn't voiced. (as in- you click the proper dialogue option and get the response immediately).

 

[Xi]

In Discussion of PC/Console dumbing down:

I've always thought that Dumbing down was because controllers are too simplistic compared to keyboard/mouse. It's difficult to have involved control schemes, which can definitely bleed into gameplay, when dealing with a 6 button controller. Plus, the much slower cursor movement and general mobility of in-game menus and options further devolves the games interaction into dumbfuckery. The UI and game interaction almost always suffer in the case of controller/mouse-keyboard comparison. Maybe one day when your average console ships with the same controls as a PC, we'll start to see a return to the older PC depth we all love.

Not that the average console gamer is any more intelligent than a rock either, but there's plenty of PC/Console gamers who enjoy a dose of depth and retardation at differing times. It's not that anyone is targeted either, just that dumbing something down ensures the majority of retards understand what's going on. Shooting for the least common denominator will not make any money - obviously enough.

That said, money will always win this debate. The moment the publisher/owners realize they can make a killing on one platform vs another. All creative design stops and copy cat tactics set in. It's only a matter of time. Of course, a developer could always design a game for the PC first, then make a second dumbed down version for consoles. Given that the market is ridiculously bigger on the console side, any added costs in doing a port like this would be easily payed for. This would ensure some form of intelligent design. Starting on consoles is proven to create a mostly depthless lifeless product. Not that there aren't a few gems here and there. Console games are just different because you have less control of the game in comparison to a PC. IMHO

Order of history in DepthMost to least, left to right)

Single-Player PC -> Multi-player PC(Including MMO) -> Single-player Console -> Multi-Player Console(Including MMO).

We could probably switch the order around if we were referring to use-ability and ease-ability. Which is where the consoles controller sets in. It's harder to be a retard when it comes to 6 buttons. It seems like the mouse alone contributes a LOT of what a game is able to produce in terms of interaction and depth. RTS games are probably the most difficult. They are too difficult to port because it's hard to encompass the control scheme to a contoller. Same goes for RPGs which often require far more complexity in controls because of the amount of information the game has to sort and of which the player has to be able to interact with.

Edit: The Wii controls are probably a good example of this too. It's capable of quite a bit more then the average console controller simply because it functions to a degree like a mouse. I wonder if Wii games have more depth because of this? It's probably mostly capitalized on in action games where targeting is superior and much quicker - much like a mouse.

 

[Darkflame]

In Discussion of PC/Console dumbing down:

I've always thought that Dumbing down was because controllers are too simplistic compared to keyboard/mouse. It's difficult to have involved control schemes, which can definitely bleed into gameplay, when dealing with a 6 button controller. Plus, the much slower cursor movement and general mobility of in-game menus and options further devolves the games interaction into dumbfuckery. The UI and game interaction almost always suffer in the case of controller/mouse-keyboard comparison. Maybe one day when your average console ships with the same controls as a PC, we'll start to see a return to the older PC depth we all love.

Not that the average console gamer is any more intelligent than a rock either, but there's plenty of PC/Console gamers who enjoy a dose of depth and retardation at differing times. It's not that anyone is targeted either, just that dumbing something down ensures the majority of retards understand what's going on. Shooting for the least common denominator will not make any money - obviously enough.

That said, money will always win this debate. The moment the publisher/owners realize they can make a killing on one platform vs another. All creative design stops and copy cat tactics set in. It's only a matter of time. Of course, a developer could always design a game for the PC first, then make a second dumbed down version for consoles. Given that the market is ridiculously bigger on the console side, any added costs in doing a port like this would be easily payed for. This would ensure some form of intelligent design. Starting on consoles is proven to create a mostly depthless lifeless product. Not that there aren't a few gems here and there. Console games are just different because you have less control of the game in comparison to a PC. IMHO

Order of history in DepthMost to least, left to right)

Single-Player PC -> Multi-player PC(Including MMO) -> Single-player Console -> Multi-Player Console(Including MMO).

We could probably switch the order around if we were referring to use-ability and ease-ability. Which is where the consoles controller sets in. It's harder to be a retard when it comes to 6 buttons. It seems like the mouse alone contributes a LOT of what a game is able to produce in terms of interaction and depth. RTS games are probably the most difficult. They are too difficult to port because it's hard to encompass the control scheme to a contoller. Same goes for RPGs which often require far more complexity in controls because of the amount of information the game has to sort and of which the player has to be able to interact with.

Edit: The Wii controls are probably a good example of this too. It's capable of quite a bit more then the average console controller simply because it functions to a degree like a mouse. I wonder if Wii games have more depth because of this? It's probably mostly capitalized on in action games where targeting is superior and much quicker - much like a mouse.

Isn't it obvious? PC Titles are more depthful because players must go through more than the consoler to make it run.

Console = plug and play

PC = plug and troubleshoot, then play and build it better.

 

[Circuitbreaker]

A few aeons ago in this thread, a problem was mentioned by people playing The Witcher on machines that were below the minimum specs, say Athlon XP rather then Athlon 64 based PC's.

After finishing the Prologue, the screen would turn black and nothing appeared to happen rather then the game properly kicking off Chapter 1. Being one of the people with a low-end machine, I suffered this problem as well. However recently I loaded up the game again (specifically the auto-save at the end of the Prologue) to show someone else (who has a proper machine) that the prologue worked fine. Surprisingly the game continued without any issues and loaded Chapter 1 as if there was no problem at all despite the fact that all earlier attempts had failed ?!

I have gone through Chapter 1 now for a bit and performance seems quite alright. As far as loading times go, I think it's the combination of auto-saving + loading areas that sometimes bogs down things quite a bit. Apart from that even with special effects in place, being drunk, using Blizzard and/or Cat potions, my machine seems to be holding up quite well.

So there's hope yet for people without the latest and greatest machines.

 

[Xi]

Isn't it obvious? PC Titles are more depthful because players must go through more than the consoler to make it run.

Console = plug and play

PC = plug and troubleshoot, then play and build it better.

Ahh, so you think that OS format/reinstalls, driver installation and updates, general knowledge of PC functionality - defrag, chkdsk, RAM/Swap file, performance tweaking including: .ini, hex, graphics driver, in-game options, msconfig, cmd, system properties, active running services, internet research/analysis, and use of the keyboard and mouse were the building blocks of modern PC gamers?

So consolers must be the PEBKAC that couldn't understand the PC wasn't even plugged into a power outlet. Hrmm, this is starting to make a little bit of sense.

L