Windows The Witcher 3 Graphics

[Washac]

I was watching somebody play a pre release PC version of this game last night on YouTube and when the player was entering houses etc the graphics where bending andmoving about and blurring like it was shot through some strange fish eye lens to give a dream like effect. There was a similar effect going on outside also. He did have motion blur turned off in options, you see him do that because he said he did not like motion blur but made no comment about the effect I was seeing on screen. From the effect I was seeing I really could not look at it for to long it was just disconcerting to watch.

 

[garnerx]

There's a wide-angle camera effect at all times, but it's more exaggerated when you use 'witcher vision' to reveal objects in the room.

It's quite a nice looking game but I'm not sure why the system requirements are so high - it's not *that* nice. It makes the graphics cards on my PC/Hackintosh run flat out just to get 40-50 fps, the fan noise is pretty excessive. It would totally melt a laptop.

 

[Washac]

There's a wide-angle camera effect at all times, but it's more exaggerated when you use 'witcher vision' to reveal objects in the room.

It's quite a nice looking game but I'm not sure why the system requirements are so high - it's not *that* nice. It makes the graphics cards on my PC/Hackintosh run flat out just to get 40-50 fps, the fan noise is pretty excessive. It would totally melt a laptop.

Thanks for that, yes he was using witcher vision, may just get it for PS4

 

[Dirtyharry50]

Thanks for that, yes he was using witcher vision, may just get it for PS4

I'm thinking I may well wind up doing the same thing. I do want to see what happens with a Mac version and its requirements, feedback on it, etc. first though.

 

[Nunyabinez]

I'm thinking I may well wind up doing the same thing. I do want to see what happens with a Mac version and its requirements, feedback on it, etc. first though.

Nothing wrong with playing games on a Mac, but there is no way you'll get a comparable experience gaming in OS X. If it's hammering PC hardware that has video derivers optimized for gaming you can bet that on OS X it will crawl.

 

[Dirtyharry50]

Nothing wrong with playing games on a Mac, but there is no way you'll get a comparable experience gaming in OS X. If it's hammering PC hardware that has video derivers optimized for gaming you can bet that on OS X it will crawl.

I'll reserve judgement on that for when there is a released Mac version to judge. As you noted, if it is hammering PC hardware and it turns out that Mac version doesn't look good to me (I am willing to make some compromises within reason) then like I mentioned, PS4 will be the way to go around here.

I'm not into Windows anymore. I want to get rid of it. That doesn't mean I want to tell everybody else how to live. That's just what I personally want to do.

By the way, while it is admittedly a rarity the recently released Elite: Dangerous has been shown to perform better on OS X currently although the work done to achieve that is going to be back ported to the Windows version. This demonstrates that it is not consistently impossible to achieve decent performance on OS X. It depends on the game and how it was made.

Realistically though, I will concede the Mac ports of the previous Witcher games were half-baked afterthoughts basically so I have my doubts about how well things will go here. Then again, with SteamOS looming in the future and gaining a lot of support the Linux version and by association the Mac version of this game may get better treatment. We'll see how it all plays out coming up.

For me, this is the beauty of having a console. If a major release won't run decently on my iMac or doesn't even release for it, chances are for the high profile games that I'd be able to play it on a PS4, not every time but enough to keep me happy. I don't even own a PS4 yet. I'm still busy working on my backlog and will be for some time. I am planning to purchase one in the future though and already have an Amazon.com wish list of various titles I want to play on it, including some very cool PS4 exclusives.

 

[blesscheese]

I'm not into Windows anymore. I want to get rid of it. That doesn't mean I want to tell everybody else how to live. That's just what I personally want to do.

I'm with you on that...I want to play games only on my Mac. My only recent deviation from that has been The Witcher 3, and man, it is a great game.

I'm not sure how my hardware compares, but my feeling is that W3 is much better on release than Skyrim was (that's for sure). I'm crossing my fingers that GOG / CDProjekt Red brings out a Mac version as soon as possible, so I can ditch booting my Mac into Windoze...

 

[Dirtyharry50]

I'm with you on that...I want to play games only on my Mac. My only recent deviation from that has been The Witcher 3, and man, it is a great game.

I'm not sure how my hardware compares, but my feeling is that W3 is much better on release than Skyrim was (that's for sure). I'm crossing my fingers that GOG / CDProjekt Red brings out a Mac version as soon as possible, so I can ditch booting my Mac into Windoze...

Yeah, I'd like very much to see a Mac version on GOG. Hopefully it turns out well and is a real native port. That would be wonderful.

 

[Washac]

I'm not into Windows anymore. I want to get rid of it. That doesn't mean I want to tell everybody else how to live. That's just what I personally want to do.

I have to agree with this also, even I will try witcher 3 on Mac or PS4, do not like that graphic effect it uses under witcher sight but will try to tolerate it.

 

[antonis]

Yeah, I'd like very much to see a Mac version on GOG. Hopefully it turns out well and is a real native port. That would be wonderful.

No worries for that, it will be native and it will be on GOG. GOG site is owned by CDPR, they are the same guys behind both. However, I had the impression that Windows and Mac versions would be released at the same time. Anyway, the Mac version should be around the corner.

 

[Renzatic]

Here's a few screenshots I took of a couple of particularly neat scenes in the game.

This first one was really interesting. I won't get too spoilery, but there's a gathering on a little island you're asked to play spiritual bouncer to. If you arrive there during the daytime, you'll see the people gathering, about two or three dozen in all, walking about, taking their place in the little amphitheater. Unfortunately, it's laid out in such a way that it's hard to get a good shot of it, but this shot gives you a slight idea of it.

Here

...and what happens when the little show starts in earnest is even better.

I have no idea what these next two lead up to. I happened across it while exploring, and thought it looked pretty cool.

Mysterious Stone Steps

Even More Mysterious Door

It's such a cool game.

 

[erayser]

I would have posted in the underpowered system thread... since my this game made my 1.5 year old machine obsolete... LOL. But this thread is prefixed with Windows... so here I am.

I liked TressFX in Tomb Raider... but I'm better off playing without HairWorks in Witcher3. If Mac users can play Tomb Raider without TressFX... I guess I can survive without HairWorks... LOL. I'm definitely upgrading my GPU's soon with a couple of Titan X's. This game plays better with 980's... but it's only one game. Maybe I'll try and get on the list for Titan X 2.0 pascal edition.

When I upgraded my rig... I never thought a game 1.5 years later would play at sub 20's in ultra settings. Seems playable if I don't look at fps on OSD... but I will play at high settings at 30 fps. I can get to close to 60's if I play on one monitor... but I need my NVidia Surround...

(My screenshot from last night - early in the game so no spoiler)

 

[garnerx]

You'd be fine if you weren't trying to run it on three monitors.

I just found a two-headed horse, rooted to the spot, grazing on two different patches of grass.

 

[blesscheese]

I have to agree with this also, even I will try witcher 3 on Mac or PS4, do not like that graphic effect it uses under witcher sight but will try to tolerate it.

I get what you mean about the graphic effect with the witched sight, but I haven't turned it off. It seems to emphasize the fact you aren't really looking with your eyes or only your eyes...kinda like the motion blur, it tries to make things "more real than real" in a fantasy game.

The effect I found *really* annoying was the one in Skyrim, where after you looked up toward the sun, you were temporarily blinded and things kinda slowly oozed back into shape. I think I turned that off as soon as I realized it wasn't really a defect with my computer.

 

[Renzatic]

...kinda like the motion blur, it tries to make things "more real than real" in a fantasy game.

I'd say they're going with a movie-like look than more real than real. The simulated chromatic aberration, and smudges you see on the "lens" when you look at the sun kinda point towards that.

Oh, and let's not forget the out of focus water droplets that lay on the screen when it's raining or you're out sailing. If there's one thing I wish I could turn off, it'd be that. Once you get past the oh-neat factor, it's more distracting than anything.

 

[Renzatic]

I just found a two-headed horse, rooted to the spot, grazing on two different patches of grass.

Please tell me that's an actual two-headed horse, and not just two horses spawned on top of each other.

Actually, don't. I wanna keep this fantasy going.

 

[erayser]

You'd be fine if you weren't trying to run it on three monitors.

Gave up on NVidia surround. Using one monitor now... should have bought it for one of my consoles. I was planning on updating my GPU's anyway... but still not sure if I want to spend the money on Titan X's now, or get 980's... and wait for NVidia Pascal's next year.

 

[Renzatic]

Three more shots from a particularly eerie part of the game. Forewarning, the last shot might be a tiny bit spoilery, so keep that in mind before clicking on it.

Eerie Sunset

Eerie Village In The Light of a Full Moon

Just all around sinister

edit: BONUS SCREENSHOT!

 

[garnerx]

Gave up on NVidia surround. Using one monitor now... should have bought it for one of my consoles. I was planning on updating my GPU's anyway... but still not sure if I want to spend the money on Titan X's now, or get 980's... and wait for NVidia Pascal's next year.

Titans don't seem like great value to me, they're twice the price of anything else and outdated just as quickly. I'm going to wait until next year before considering an upgrade. I've got 670s but this is the first game they haven't been able to max out.

 

[antonis]

At 1440p a single GTX 980 can run it around ~35 fps with everything on ultra, all effects enabled. I expect things to get better, though, with the next drivers.

 

[Nuttydev]

Not really sure how they'd bring this game over to OS X. I'm playing on a 2013 iMac with an overclocked GTX 780m and only get 30-40fps on low/medium at 1080p, although they have said there are issues with kepler drivers so hopefully it will all be fixed soon. But still, games do perform poorly on OS X in comparison to Windows so I don't see it ever running well.

Despite these issues though it is an awesome game.

 

[erayser]

Titans don't seem like great value to me, they're twice the price of anything else and outdated just as quickly. I'm going to wait until next year before considering an upgrade. I've got 670s but this is the first game they haven't been able to max out.

Maxing out 2 generation old cards for that long is really good. Sucks that my 780's that are little over a year... can't max out witcher 3 in NVidia surround. Still having fun with the game, but a bit discouraged.

From what it appears from witcher 3 benchmark scores I've seen... Maxwell architecture cards are in the upper half of the scores. Even the first gen Maxwell GTX 780 ti cards are beating the Titan Kepler GK110 cards... so ram doesn't seem to be a factor. Kepler seems to be on it's way down... so it's time to move on to Maxwell.

I agree with you... Titan series cards are not for everyone because they are pricey. Unfortunately, I'm not very good at budget builds... but I do have a rule I follow. I must have the cash to cover cost of the components I purchase. I hate owing money for technology that gets outdated fast. I rather pay cash and own it... then I kick myself when the next thing comes out a few months later... LOL. It's sad... but that's a reality I understand every time I purchase something new.

 

[schwadorf]

Maxing out 2 generation old cards for that long is really good. Sucks that my 780's that are little over a year... can't max out witcher 3 in NVidia surround. Still having fun with the game, but a bit discouraged.

From what it appears from witcher 3 benchmark scores I've seen... Maxwell architecture cards are in the upper half of the scores. Even the first gen Maxwell GTX 780 ti cards are beating the Titan Kepler GK110 cards... so ram doesn't seem to be a factor. Kepler seems to be on it's way down... so it's time to move on to Maxwell.

I agree with you... Titan series cards are not for everyone because they are pricey. Unfortunately, I'm not very good at budget builds... but I do have a rule I follow. I must have the cash to cover cost of the components I purchase. I hate owing money for technology that gets outdated fast. I rather pay cash and own it... then I kick myself when the next thing comes out a few months later... LOL. It's sad... but that's a reality I understand every time I purchase something new.

https://forums.geforce.com/default/...l-as-performance-in-the-witcher-3-wild-hunt-/

There are several threads about this issue on Geforce forums. Apparently nVidia is deliberately crippling Kepler performance to force people to upgrade to 9xx series.

 

[blesscheese]

I'm remembering now the articles a year or so back, about how CD Projekt Red wanted Witcher 3 to be the new "Crysis," i.e., push graphics cards hard so that it could be used for benchmarks for years...

Now that I googled it to see if my memory is faulty, I'm seeing that mentioned now on various websites.

 

[erayser]

https://forums.geforce.com/default/...l-as-performance-in-the-witcher-3-wild-hunt-/

There are several threads about this issue on Geforce forums. Apparently nVidia is deliberately crippling Kepler performance to force people to upgrade to 9xx series.

And after all the Kepler card owners sell off all their GPU's to move to Maxwell... NVidia will put out a patch to support Kepler to retain all the new NVidia owners the previous owners sold them to. LOL...