Novigrad and Oxenfurt NPCs

[Sigma_Primaris]

Novigrad and Oxenfurt NPCs

Hello all, I ran into a little annoyance today, I came for the first time in Novigrad (I took my time ) and I was surprised to see that there were very ( I mean VERY) few people in the city (No matter the time of day), like one or two beggars, a guard and two merchants at the fish market place for example. But there's still loud sounds of busy crowd all over the place.

The question is, is this some sort of bug ? Or just technical limitation ?

Oxenfurt is even more empty, but at first I thought it was due to the proximity of the front. Maybe it'sjust because the ps4 can't display more NPCs.

Oh, and another ''glitch'' happened : in the first cutscene in novigrad, when we witness two executions in the square, I saw that in the crowd there were only nine NPCs and three of them were strictly identical.

That's all, not any gamebreaking bugs, just a bit disturbing for such an immersive game. Otherwise, amazing game. A-MA-ZING.

 

[Panzer_Baboon]

I'm still on the first update and the streets have quite a lot of NPCs everywhere. I was shocked to see how many people were on the streets after I've read similar posts like yours saying there weren't many...

 

[Wah_Gwaan]

This is a bug that has been introduced in patch 1.03. Prior to this patch these cities were bustling, it was fantastic.

Since patch 1.03 NPC spawning has been tweaked for some reason, and it's been totally messed up. Both these cities are where it's most noticeable, but you will also notice it in many other locations if you've visited them prior to the patch. It destroys the immersion for me, and almost ruins the game. If you haven't been to an area prior to the patch, you wouldn't even be aware just how many NPC's are missing. Some area's which previously had small populations (<10) will be completely deserted.

I wish I'd never installed the latest patch, aside from some minor issues with performance I had no problems with 1.02. I'm on the verge of uninstalling the game and playing it without any patches at all. Despite the fact I've already sunk 40 hours into it.

Does anyone know a way to go back to patch 1.02? I know it'll invalidate my saves but I'm strongly considering doing it.

 

[CyberOps]

Hello all, I ran into a little annoyance today, I came for the first time in Novigrad (I took my time ) and I was surprised to see that there were very ( I mean VERY) few people in the city (No matter the time of day), like one or two beggars, a guard and two merchants at the fish market place for example. But there's still loud sounds of busy crowd all over the place.

The question is, is this some sort of bug ? Or just technical limitation ?

Oxenfurt is even more empty, but at first I thought it was due to the proximity of the front. Maybe it'sjust because the ps4 can't display more NPCs.

Oh, and another ''glitch'' happened : in the first cutscene in novigrad, when we witness two executions in the square, I saw that in the crowd there were only nine NPCs and three of them were strictly identical.

That's all, not any gamebreaking bugs, just a bit disturbing for such an immersive game. Otherwise, amazing game. A-MA-ZING.

that is exactly what I made a topic about, before patch 1.03 the fish market was crowded but after hardly anyone around there same goes for other locations in Novigrad, have not checked out oxenfurt again but in any case i hope they fix this in The 1.04 patch

btw I also wish i could go back to patch 1.01 for me since we never had a 1.02 here in europe, but the game became a big let down after 1.03 patch when it comes to spawning npc's

 

[Wah_Gwaan]

that is exactly what I made a topic about, before patch 1.03 the fish market was crowded but after hardly anyone around there same goes for other locations in Novigrad, have not checked out oxenfurt again but in any case i hope they fix this in The 1.04 patch

btw I also wish i could go back to patch 1.01 for me since we never had a 1.02 here in europe, but the game became a big let down after 1.03 patch when it comes to spawning npc's

I've looked into it and the only option is to either play version 1.00 or play with the latest patch. Unlike PC users we don't have the option of choosing which patch to download and you can't separately delete patch files.

Unfortunately version 1.00 has a lot of bugs and the water looks much worse. Plus there are other improvements that were made in the day one patch (1.01) that are more subtle, such as balancing tweaks and NPC behaviour.

Hopefully this is rectified very soon as I want to continue playing, but NPC's are a huge part of the immersion for me so patch 1.03 has had a significant negative impact on my enjoyment of the game.

 

[CyberOps]

I've looked into it and the only option is to either play version 1.00 or play with the latest patch. Unlike PC users we don't have the option of choosing which patch to download and you can't separately delete patch files.

Unfortunately version 1.00 has a lot of bugs and the water looks much worse. Plus there are other improvements that were made in the day one patch (1.01) that are more subtle, such as balancing tweaks and NPC behaviour.

Hopefully this is rectified very soon as I want to continue playing, but NPC's are a huge part of the immersion for me so patch 1.03 has had a significant negative impact on my enjoyment of the game.

i'm with you on that, it just doesn't feel the same without the NPC's

 

[Sigma_Primaris]

Thanks for your answers, it's a pity that they had to remove NPCs for performance.
So the disappearance of many guards and peasants in Crow's Perch isn't tied to the ending of the quest but to the patch ?

 

[Wah_Gwaan]

Thanks for your answers, it's a pity that they had to remove NPCs for performance.
So the disappearance of many guards and peasants in Crow's Perch isn't tied to the ending of the quest but to the patch ?

The thing is the number of NPC's on screen had no noticeable impact on the FPS for me. I seriously hope this is a bug and not a conscious design decision, because if it's the latter I may as well restart the game in 1.00 now.

 

[SeriousSam123]

Is it just 1.03? I still use DAY-ONE-PATCH and have the same problem. Nothing going on in Novingrad or Oxenfurt. Enpty streets, just a few traders and priest. Not much people. I dont understand this. Is it a bug or not? Maybe its just to ensure the fps?

 

[Sigma_Primaris]

Is it just 1.03? I still use DAY-ONE-PATCH and have the same problem. Nothing going on in Novingrad or Oxenfurt. Enpty streets, just a few traders and priest. Not much people. I dont understand this. Is it a bug or not? Maybe its just to ensure the fps?

Maybe it isn't due to the patch, but pre-patch, there were plenty of people next to the bridge guarded by Redanian soldiers, south of Oxenfurt. Now there's no more than seven or nine NPCs. Maybe it's just a bug on its own.

 

[GM1991]

remove npc to improve the frame does not seem to be an acceptable compromise! I point Geralt let alone with a few merchants and good night .. more realism with lots of enemies and effects the stuttering is still huge, and we do not say that the PS4 can not support so many npc because in assassin's creed unity (I speak of patched version "final") the roads were full of nPC and the frame was acceptable .. however the 1.03 patch has worsened the whole thing! with the previous version I had far fewer problems of both frame that bug and cities were full

 

[Adamastor]

that is shame

 

[Wah_Gwaan]

Maybe it isn't due to the patch, but pre-patch, there were plenty of people next to the bridge guarded by Redanian soldiers, south of Oxenfurt. Now there's no more than seven or nine NPCs. Maybe it's just a bug on its own.

Well that's another place to add to the list. I remember going there pre-patch and there were about 30 NPCs, maybe more. I loved the atmosphere created when you see so many refugees trying to flee the war.

I'm really struggling to find the enthusiasm to continue playing the game in this state.

 

[doudoudi]

Hello everyone,
I'm a french PS4 player with the same problem. I can't tell for Oxenfurt but Novigrad is very, very disappointing with so few people in the streets.
I'm quite sure I did not mix 1.01 saves with 1.03 ones, but I could be wrong. Anyway I wish I knew what happens to the game that made me buy a next gen console.

I'm really struggling to find the enthusiasm to continue playing the game in this state.

I feel the same, we need it to be fixed or at least some information about the issue.

 

[Valkyre4]

Τhis is a bug, they did not remove NPCs my Novigrad and Oxenfourt are full of people. Novigrad has 30-40 people at once everywhere I look. This seems to be some kind of bug for some people. Hopefully they will fix it.

 

[The_Pounty]

I have the same issue. Suddenly Novigrad is extremely empty for me? Only 2 or 3 Merchant NPCs left and only one Armor NPC and my discovered Barber is also not available anymore. I don't know what happened here

 

[Geber]

Τhis is a bug, they did not remove NPCs my Novigrad and Oxenfourt are full of people. Novigrad has 30-40 people at once everywhere I look. This seems to be some kind of bug for some people. Hopefully they will fix it.

Could you post a screenshot of your Novigrad?Thanks

 

[Ashii]

I also don't think it's a bug. After patch 1.03 spawning is somehow messed up. While running through the city to finish quest I had to talk to Zoltan outside the tavern. I pressed X and nothing happened. Guess what? I had to wait like 30 seconds, so his character could fully LOAD. Same goes with normal NPC in cities. Stand in one spot, wait 30 seconds or more and eventually they'll show up. As many as before 1.03.

 

[jayjayj]

A lot of the time they won't even show up. You have to mediate for them to show up, like the blacksmith...

 

[Wah_Gwaan]

I also don't think it's a bug. After patch 1.03 spawning is somehow messed up. While running through the city to finish quest I had to talk to Zoltan outside the tavern. I pressed X and nothing happened. Guess what? I had to wait like 30 seconds, so his character could fully LOAD. Same goes with normal NPC in cities. Stand in one spot, wait 30 seconds or more and eventually they'll show up. As many as before 1.03.

I'm fairly certain it's a bug too. What I want to know is if CDPR are aware of it and if it's something that will be fixed in the patch next week.