OT: Witcher 3 - Wild Hunt

[dbdynsty25]

Not really the thread, but how do you like the ROG monitor? I picked up a BenQ 27" a few months ago because it was one of the highest rated for video and photo editing that does pretty good w/ games, but I always wonder what the ROG would do for me. Probably won't matter in the grand scheme of things since I used my last Dell 24" (one of the first ever made, that cost me 1500 bucks at the time) for 11 years. LOL. So clearly monitors aren't my upgrade path usually.

[TCrouch]

The biggest draw for me was the G-SYNC gimmick, but it's actually incredible. I don't think I'm close to being on the same level as you, technology-wise, though. If my phone works, it works. I don't really notice huge differences.

But what I see in the Swift is a really high refresh rate (which I needed with the frames per second I was getting), and the ability for the monitor to sync directly with my video cards without using Windows built-in method. Across the board, it's smoother and more crisp than enabling Vsync. It almost has a 3D-like effect, like it's not on my screen but just a window through to another location. Hard to explain, but it makes sense when you see it in action.

The drawback to it is that it ends to have dulled portions of the monitor from certain angles. I've read it's because of the panel that they chose to use, but I haven't been affected by it. It sits about a foot and a half away from my eyes, so the only hints I get of it are in the extreme corners of the monitor. But if I get up and walk around the desk, I can see it's almost got that old-school TV issue where the picture is almost invisible from some angles. It's very odd.

One thing that HAS happened that I'm concerned about is it does some sort of "reset" from time to time and it's still going at 144Hz, but it downsamples everything to like 1024x768. It's bizarre. Everything is extremely pixelated and I have to reboot to fix it. My other monitor is fine when this happens. Could be a bad Display Port cable, I haven't dug into it too deeply since it rarely happens.

But overall, it's an amazing monitor with a couple of minor (although one could be pretty major if it happened more--yet I'm not sure if it's the monitor itself or the cable yet) quibbles.

[J_Cauthen]

My biggest problem is the camera is ultra touchy and it making me feel a bit sea sick when playing too long.

I was watching a guy play this on Twitch this morning and it looks like they've got some sort of fisheye lens effect going. I was actually getting motion sickness within minutes of viewing this stream. Is this an option that can be turned off?

[Sudz]

How accessible is this game to somebody you sucks at games like these?

[Danimal]

My biggest problem is the camera is ultra touchy and it making me feel a bit sea sick when playing too long.

I was watching a guy play this on Twitch this morning and it looks like they've got some sort of fisheye lens effect going. I was actually getting motion sickness within minutes of viewing this stream. Is this an option that can be turned off?

I'm not at home so I don't recall. there is a graphics section and also another processing section for things like motion blur etc. Honestly there were so many options I just kept clicking on defaults. i was hoping there would be an Nvidia Geoforce experience optimization but didn't see one yet.

As Terry said the game looks incredible I just feel motion sick like you do after about 20 minutes.

[Danimal]

I was doing some research on this because this is the 3rd game in recent memory causing this for me. I need to figure out what kind of frame rate I am getting and see if that's the problem. Also some tips I found.

Motion blur, depth of field, and the camera effect that brightens the middle of the screen should be turned off.

[Macca00]

It definitely has a little bit of a wide-angle FOV with a twitchy camera, which could do it, I'm sure.

Installed on the SSD.
INTEL CORE i7-4930K on an ASUS Sabertooth X79 mobo
32GB DDR3/2133MHz RAM
4GB NVidia GTX 970 x2 SLI
Asus ROG Swift PG278Q G-SYNC 27" 1440p 144Hz

Wow. Awesome set-up!

Thanks for the impressions on the G-Sync monitor. Hoping to buy a new system this fall and was considering that.

Hope to get a chance to play the Witcher tonight.

[RobVarak]

How accessible is this game to somebody you sucks at games like these?

I'd say try another RPG like Skyrim or Dragon Age. This game has systems on top of systems. Crafting is pretty unintuitive and the inventory management is clunky.

The top of my head almost blew off yesterday when I realized that they have multiple currencies and that merchants only accept one or the other. Seriously? What a pedantic, stupid idea.

I love the game a lot so far, but it's got a few of my pet peeves baked in. Why games like this or Skyrim have weapons that degrade is beyond me. It's a completely arbitrary and unnecessary mechanic that does nothing except make you waste time on tedious resource management. Somehow it's a world where people can routinely work sorcery and which is filled with fantastic monsters, but they still haven't worked out how to keep a longsword from dulling in 2 days?

That said, I'm really enjoying the game so far. It just might not be the best entrance point to the genre.

[Danimal]

I agree with Rob (mark the date!) I think Dragon Age Inquisition is a better game to jump in on. This is game is probably one of the most living open world games you can get. I ran into a quest yesterday where I needed to chase someone I caught lying. I was still learning the system and trying not to puke so I didn't even know where he went and before I could blink the quest was over.

I ran into a gambling game that i could see being an actual card game and I hear there are more than one type of those. I didn't even know about the currency thing.

[Aristo]

Speaking DA:I, it's $30 right now as part of the Games with Gold promo.

[XXXIV]

I agree with Rob (mark the date!) I think Dragon Age Inquisition is a better game to jump in on.

Yeah...

A few minutes into the tutorial I decided that right before Hawks Ducks was not the time...

This appears quite involved. I am ALL for that ....but not today.

[Danimal]

Just thought I would follow up. I re-installed my Nvida Geoforce Experience and Driver fresh. Then let it optimize the game and the game ran well and I didn't feel like puking. It's no where near top details graphically but I'm fine with that.

[Danimal]

On a non-technical note this could be one of the most engrossing games I've ever played. I'm just amazed by the various quest and interactions and how they play out later. Big thing to keep in my for this game is you really can't tell if something you are doing will affect you later. There are certain events you know they will but something as simple as buying someone a drink may come into play later.

[TCrouch]

I've been trying not to post anything to avoid another "new release gush session", but absolutely. Everything about the game feels "real", if that makes any sense. Conversations you have in taverns don't feel like a scripted conversation just for the sake of driving a quest forward. Issues you run into out in the streets seem legit.

Coming to the edge of a town and seeing the fields and outskirts different than the center of town is an easily overlooked thing in games. Usually, there's a wall of a town, and 2 feet inside of it is a bustling metropolis. Riding up to a town has a subtle shift in wild, untamed wilderness to civilization starting.

Combat is a dance--it's not quite on the level of a Souls game, but there's definitely a rhythm to it that you get into where you're barely slipping outside of a swing, darting back in with a twirling-sword-move, and cutting guys in half. Once I could deflect arrows with my sword (find those Places of Power on the map, each one unlocks a skill point!!), I started tearing through bandit camps and felt all-powerful.

But everything about the game feels rooted deeply in realism. Monster hunts where I spent a bunch of time learning about the creature before starting the fight ended up as a 30-second slaughter. I tried it again on a new game (playing simultaneously on PS4 and PC) on PC, and tried to just fight straight up---and it was significantly harder. Without learning the weaknesses of your target and just swinging, it's a much more difficult fight.

And little things, like just holding the X Button on PS4 for your horse to simply follow a road without messing with controls, are wonderful.

The one nag I have is the durability issue like Rob mentioned, as repairing gear can get quite expensive, and money doesn't exactly roll in early on. I had to stop dismantling gear I found and selling it instead, but even that wasn't much of a cash generator. And the inventory system is a bit convoluted. The interface itself is a bit clunky. You can hold the button to go to inventory, or tap it to get the general screen, but unless you're on PC, there's no simple way I found to jump to character or mediation or map quickly. You have to scroll through the tabs to get to the right one, and navigating the UI with the sticks is bizarre.

But after the hundreds of hours I'm likely to spend on this one, I'm sure those nags will disappear after a while, because it's so completely engrossing, it's not even fair to compare it to other games I've played. I'm not funneling myself from quest objective to quest objective--instead, I'm exploring, coming across (seemingly) random events that turn into an hour-long subquest line, tracking monsters, unlocking journal notes to learn more about the things I'm killing, finding ingredients for powerful potions, and upgrading gear.

I ALMOST started on the story, after 6 or 7 hours

[Danimal]

Perfect post Terry, I love that (at least until now) there is no big find X to save the world theme. the world is going on, people are being shitty to each other, one kingdom is fighting another and your just a guy looking for someone and doing his normal business of hunting monster for cash.

I'd go far as to say at this point, there is no other open world game that comes even close to this one.

[XXXIV]

Glad you broke down Terry.

You guys make it sound so good that I may even skip TB-NYR GM 3. At least a period or two.

I do want to dig into this sucker.

[Danimal]

34 the advantage of having a flat screen hanging in the same room as your PC means you don't have too.

[XXXIV]

Great point. I should have bought it for the PC.

[TCrouch]

PC is absolutely ridiculous with all the settings turned up, too. I spent more time just walking along going "wow" than actually doing anything, I think.

[Danimal]

I turned it off last night right before diving in a well, Terry might know the spot I'm talking about. It was one of those spots where I said, if I dive in here am I screwed.

[TCrouch]

I turned it off last night right before diving in a well, Terry might know the spot I'm talking about. It was one of those spots where I said, if I dive in here am I screwed.

If he says "I hope I don't break my leg" before you jump in, yeah---I know that place well haha

[TheTruth]

To jump straight to the map, on Xbox, hold down the menu button. This saves a click or two.

Really liking the game so far. They made it so easy to get engrossed in the world. So many things to do or explore. Control wise, I turned down my aiming and look sensitivity all the way down and that seemed to help the jerky jerky movement some.

I need a crossbow. Anybody know where I can get one?

[RobVarak]

I need a crossbow. Anybody know where I can get one?

I got one in the main storyline, not too far into the game. Still in White Orchard.

[TCrouch]

To jump straight to the map, on Xbox, hold down the menu button. This saves a click or two.

I need a crossbow. Anybody know where I can get one?

When I hold down the button on PS4, it jumps to inventory. Same thing happens on PC. Weird.

You get the crossbow as part of a story mission. Not sure you can get one before that point.

[Phototropic]

Swiping the touch button will pull up the map. It's still a clunky system but that helps.