OFFICIAL The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (Discussion)

[rtwjunkie]

Makes you wonder if Nvidia is prioritizing Maxwell optimizations over Kepler intentionally, planned obsolescence style.

I believe they are. You've got a line that still includes several Highly capable GPU's, yet no more optimization.

As to the hairworks, I finally turned it off, which is why I've been getting predominately 60fps. I see no real difference. The hair still looks pretty decent, and even moves around with the windand with movement.

 

[Lopez0101]

It's most on the monsters where the hair effects are the biggest. But I'm too worried about not dying to look at their flowing manes.

 

[64K]

I've been hearing the same thing that W1zzard had to say in his Conclusion on the benchmarks for Witcher 3

"On the NVIDIA side, recent cards based on the Maxwell architecture are doing much better than their Kepler predecessors, which is due the Tessellation improvements in the new architecture."

 

[the54thvoid]

The game graphics truly are appalling... I can see why people are rabidly foaming at the mouth.

It's just shit with this quality at a perfectly smooth in game fps level (45 fps - ultra 1440p).

 

[dyonoctis]

I've been hearing the same thing that W1zzard had to say in his Conclusion on the benchmarks for Witcher 3

"On the NVIDIA side, recent cards based on the Maxwell architecture are doing much better than their Kepler predecessors, which is due the Tessellation improvements in the new architecture."

The same is true for amd. The R9 285 may just look like a R9 280 with true audio and a nerfed 256 bit bus, but the improved tesselation make it even faster than a 280x in this particuliar game.

 

[MxPhenom 216]

Makes you wonder if Nvidia is prioritizing Maxwell optimizations over Kepler intentionally, planned obsolescence style.

Well a lot of support for Kepler just dropped like suddenly, so yes I would say so.

The game graphics truly are appalling... I can see why people are rabidly foaming at the mouth.

It's just shit with this quality at a perfectly smooth in game fps level (45 fps - ultra 1440p).

Yes, the lighting on trees is terrible!

 

[erocker]

I don't even know what FPS I'm getting in the game. It's playable, I notice no performance issues and I'm absolutely loving the game.

 

[Steevo]

The game graphics truly are appalling... I can see why people are rabidly foaming at the mouth.

It's just shit with this quality at a perfectly smooth in game fps level (45 fps - ultra 1440p).

http://kotaku.com/5961994/what-skyrim-looks-like-when-youre-running-100-mods-at-once

http://www.asot.es/2001/09/skyrim-mods.html

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3779/13791348213_4f1e205a19_o.jpg

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7063/13791677814_4cd6680a4f_o.jpg

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3674/13364769244_f20b58b942_o.jpg

The mod community has set the benchmark very high, and I believe dev would do well to hire out some of the modders to work on graphics while the developer makes terrain, game story, and opens the engine up for more tweaking under the hood by people. But that is going against everything that Nvidia GameWorks is about..... and they are asserting themselves on the gamers behalf with the profits they make on the hardware gamers buy to make sure a game runs like shit on competitive hardware, and kinda crappy on one generation old hardware of theirs.

 

[rtwjunkie]

I'm a little confused about all the posts I've seen about TW3 running crappy on Keplers. I honestly don't see it.

 

[Steevo]

I'm a little confused about all the posts I've seen about TW3 running crappy on Keplers. I honestly don't see it.

780Ti SLI is OK at 45FPS?

The same setup that should dominate this game, and for equal looks in Skyrim with mods would be at 100FPS?

 

[rtwjunkie]

780 SLI is OK at 45FPS?

The same setup that should dominate this game, and for equal looks in Skyrim with mods would be at 100FPS?

I certainly see your point, but here's how I look at it. I can run at visual settings that are still awesome to see, and get between 45 and 60fps. If it plays completely smooth for me without glitches at that speed, it doesn't matter what the fps is. Fluid movement and smooth play, which mine has been are the most important to me. Indeed, for me, it is one of the smoothest running games I have seen at launch in a long time.

Everyone I guess has different definitions of what a well-optimized game is, and that's ok.

 

[dyonoctis]

I'm a little confused about all the posts I've seen about TW3 running crappy on Keplers. I honestly don't see it.

well, although The 780 and higher can play the game with decent framerate, if you look for exemple how a gtx 760/770 is doing against a R9 270x in other games, you'll see that kepler isn't really doing that well... My R9 270 x should have been uterly crushed by a gtx 770, not being slower by only 3 fps. An oc R9 270 x was never equal to a gtx 770. And the 760 wich is usually faster/equal,is now getting crushed.

 

[rtwjunkie]

well, although The 780 and higher can play the game with decent framerate, if you look for exemple how a gtx 760/770 is doing against a R9 270x in other games, you'll see that kepler isn't really doing that well... My R9 270 x should have been uterly crushed by a gtx 770, not being slower by only 3 fps. An oc R9 270 x was never equal to a gtx 770. And the 760 wich is usually faster/equal,is now getting crushed.

Ok, I see then. So 780 and above Kepler are pretty much just doing fine because of brute horsepower, otherwise they would be hurt as well. However, is this crippling based on the new driver, or driver-independant? Because I am still using 347.88 (March I think?). I always mistrust the latest driver release just to optimize for a new game. Maybe that is also what is helping me in my case.

 

[Steevo]

I certainly see your point, but here's how I look at it. I can run at visual settings that are still awesome to see, and get between 45 and 60fps. If it plays completely smooth for me without glitches at that speed, it doesn't matter what the fps is. Fluid movement and smooth play, which mine has been are the most important to me. Indeed, for me, it is one of the smoothest running games I have seen at launch in a long time.

Everyone I guess has different definitions of what a well-optimized game is, and that's ok.

Well, are we at that point now, where lower frame rates are acceptable? If we are then why bother upgrading at all, and why not just get a console?

I will agree that if I can run a game and the difference between 60FPS and 40FPS is it looks OK, VS it looks stunning... well, that is a fair trade off. But we have just seen one of the pinnacles of what hardware can do with GTA5, and the use of high quality textures in mods combined with AF and other effects in older games... well that blurry crap looking tree textures, pixelated grass, water that looks like blue jello, and hair that kills framerates so it too can look unrealistic and overprocessed.... how about no.

 

[MxPhenom 216]

Im honestly just annoyed by the fact that Nvidia is pretty much dropped support from Kepler series in general, like ALL OF A SUDDEN. 770 and above are still perfectly capable cards. I think this might be the quickest turn around time for a graphics card series in general from Nvidia. like a year or 2 of some solid drivers, then boom, some new games come out, new Maxwell is released, and F**** you Kepler owners.

 

[Lopez0101]

Well, are we at that point now, where lower frame rates are acceptable? If we are then why bother upgrading at all, and why not just get a console?

I will agree that if I can run a game and the difference between 60FPS and 40FPS is it looks OK, VS it looks stunning... well, that is a fair trade off. But we have just seen one of the pinnacles of what hardware can do with GTA5, and the use of high quality textures in mods combined with AF and other effects in older games... well that blurry crap looking tree textures, pixelated grass, water that looks like blue jello, and hair that kills framerates so it too can look unrealistic and overprocessed.... how about no.

You know, I see this a lot. Perhaps some of the visual choices are part of the setting. This isn't our world, it's a fantasy one. It's kind of like complaining that a cartoon doesn't look realistic enough. I don't think the devs were aiming for realism, but were going for a certain visual design.

 

[rtwjunkie]

You know, I see this a lot. Perhaps some of the visual choices are part of the setting. This isn't our world, it's a fantasy one. It's kind of like complaining that a cartoon doesn't look realistic enough. I don't think the devs were aiming for realism, but were going for a certain visual design.

A design which focuses on the central characters involved in any scene. Kind of like spotlights on stage in a theater. The focus of this series has always been the story and gameplay, whith graphics just a bonus.

 

[RCoon]

To all Maxwell users:

Change your resolution down a few notches, exit the video menu and go back and set it to windowed. Then go back and change it to full screen.

This caused my game to crash on load every single time until I set it back to windowed and then set it to 1440p, then set it to full screen.

 

[Xzibit]

The game graphics truly are appalling... I can see why people are rabidly foaming at the mouth.

It's just shit with this quality at a perfectly smooth in game fps level (45 fps - ultra 1440p).

Even Half-Life 2 on Android water looks better and thats a gimped version of a 10+ year old game

 

[Lopez0101]

Even Half-Life 2 on Android water looks better and thats a gimped version of a 10+ year old game

I think the water perfectly suits the game's setting and looks good, with rich color instead of flat and gray like HL2. Especially, when you're out on a boat on the water at sunset.

 

[Steevo]

You know, I see this a lot. Perhaps some of the visual choices are part of the setting. This isn't our world, it's a fantasy one. It's kind of like complaining that a cartoon doesn't look realistic enough. I don't think the devs were aiming for realism, but were going for a certain visual design.

A design which focuses on the central characters involved in any scene. Kind of like spotlights on stage in a theater. The focus of this series has always been the story and gameplay, whith graphics just a bonus.

So why buy new hardware then? Why did we ever get excited about hardware T&L, and sprites, and why did we ever move beyond text based gaming, or books? Why have a car that goes fast since the speed limit is fast enough?

Gameplay is necessary, but last I checked immersion is also part of it and I know that I am not able to fly, cast spells, don't have a sword of doom, don't steal cars.... I do enjoy when trees in the game don't look like smudged skid marks.

Devs are looking for realism, its why shadows have become more and more important, and hair is becoming more important, and tessellation is being used more.

 

[rtwjunkie]

I think the water perfectly suits the game's setting and looks good, with rich color instead of flat and gray like HL2. Especially, when you're out on a boat on the water at sunset.

And screenshots always look like crud compared to the real thing. I take awesome shots of Skyrim, then I see the screenshot, and I'm like, "where's all the lighting, the reflections, the rich color variations."

Xzibit has been making negative assessments of the game's visual quality since released, all based completely on hearsay. No firsthand experience. So, take it FWIW.

 

[Lopez0101]

I'm just talking about the visual style. You can have fancy hair, fancy lighting, tesselation, all that shit. Honestly, I think the game looks great. I don't stare at the bushes. I take in the scenes as a whole. Could some things be better? Could that grass be grassier. Sure. I don't really remember anybody complaining about Skyrim when it came out. Modders just made it look even better over time.

 

[the54thvoid]

Loving all this weirdly misguided graphical hatred.

It looks good to me. Better than GTA V, Comparable to Dying Light (which I couldnt run at maximum), Equivalent to Shadow of Mordor (which I couldn't run at maximum) etc etc etc.

I'm just happy my 41 yr old eyes see the graphics as being really pretty decent. I have my huge, open world, magicky hack'n'slash rpg to romp around in. I hope those that are crying about it find some peace in their own gaming environments.

 

[Steevo]