A question of mods

[yosomith]

A question of mods

My question is fairly simple, for a first play though are there any "must have" mods? I figure I'd mention that for some reason my computer lags during cutscenes but it's fine elsewise. I'm not very far in the game so if a restart is needed I don't mind.

I'll add here that this is for both Witcher and Witcher 2, but starting with the first one.

 

[SMiki55]

My question is fairly simple, for a first play though are there any "must have" mods? I figure I'd mention that for some reason my computer lags during cutscenes but it's fine elsewise. I'm not very far in the game so if a restart is needed I don't mind.

I'll add here that this is for both Witcher and Witcher 2, but starting with the first one.

• Full Combat Rebalance (FCR)
• Scabbard Mod
• The Witcher: Rise of the White Wolf

 

[dragonbird]

Ummm. I would strongly recommend NOT using FCR for a first playthrough. It's intended mainly for people who have already played the game. If you use it with a first playthrough, you will find that a lot of the information available in wikis and so on about How Things Work no longer apply.

 

[yosomith]

I tend to no look at wikis all that much as I try to figure out things in game. Thanks for the suggestions I'll take a look at them.

 

[dragonbird]

It's not just that - FCR changes the game significantly. There are some older games out there where it's necessary to use game-changing mods just to get them to work, but The Witcher doesn't fall into that category. If you use FCR on your first playthrough, you're not playing the game as it was intended to be played.

It's a great mod, but the target audience is people who can say "OK, I've played it, now I want to play it differently".

 

[Sam44]

Well you should play it once you are a "pro" in witcher 1 combat. I got my butt kicked constantly and some foes are just immortal until you upgrade some skills that I don't remember being explained to me so you really risk of not finishing the game because of it.

 

[dragonbird]

Well you should play it once you are a "pro" in witcher 1 combat.

Agreed.

 

[Lieste]

I couldn't play the vanilla game. I really hated the original combat.

It languished unplayed for 6 months or so, before I retried with FCR 1.6a, and I found it among the most enjoyable gaming experiences.
While it may not be to everyone's tastes, I would say that if you are bothered by how The Witcher plays, or want something closer in feel to the books (no 'high magic' for Geralt, more balanced monster/experience etc and less "wading through a sea of monsters", then FCR may be just what you need, even for a first playthrough).

Take a look at the mod's manual, available in the same places as the mod to see what is covered. It *does* fundamentally alter certain aspects, but it is well thought out within the limitations of the engine.

 

[Sam44]

I might give it another shot with the White Wolf mod. I actually liked a lot what the mod did until I ran into an enemy which was simply unbeatable because I was missing some stats that caused Geralt dealing 0 dmg to it.

 

[bengeddes]

There are no must-have mods for TW1 except for some of the fixes, like the Celina Wraith fix, the Han plant fix, etc. Rise of the White Wolf guts the entire UI and HUD and replaces it with TW2 style graphics, not to mention replacement textures for characters. FCR is an extremely radical change to many major aspects of the game: combat, weapons,monsters, rewards, etc. Both are fine creations but you won't know how much you would want them without first playing the vanilla game (which is great as is).

 

[Gilrond-i-Virdan]

I recommend only the "walk" mod as a must have (since it helps the immersion). Certainly not the FCR for first time players.

I can't find the link to the mod though. Here is the original thread: http://forums.cdprojektred.com/threads/25934-TW1-mod-Walk-in-OTS-mode
But the link got lost somehow. Forum migration must have dropped it.

 

[Lieste]

I have to say that I disagree. FCR 1.6a transforms the game, from my perspective making it playable ~ I really, really didn't like the vanilla game, but took to FCR immediately.

There were so many aspects that made more sense after the changes (consistency of monster stats, consistency of rewards with monster difficulty, consistency of weapon effects and a more "Lore" based level of magic, consistency of monster spawn frequencies and locations with the ecology system. There is also a simpler, more consistent set of character upgrades.

Less important, but still visible are improvements to the animations used in attacks ~ the default has a lot of rolling and leaping that looks a bit daft, while FCR is using more structured combinations of movements, with mostly pirouettes and dodges rather than endless rolling.

I wouldn't ever have finished the basic game, despite really liking the setting and mood, as there were too many things that for me didn't work. Since installing FCR I've played it through 3 times, and am part way through a 4th.

I'd strongly recommend FCR as a replacement to the vanilla game, forget that the original ever existed and live in the world of the Witcher as it should have been.


My personal opinion, and the 'play it as intended' is valid too if you can bear it... I couldn't.

 

[Kinley]

I can't find the link to the mod though.

Here's a working one.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/o0rm9po1vtj1llw/walk mod.zip