'Classic' Gameplay Mode / Difficulty Setting

[Pajkes]

Yeah we need to hear and see more.

General feeling I got is mix of great stuff like using enviroment,how surroundings react with signs,big enemy variety,crossbow if tweaked a little bit etc.

But there are also some bad things like for example: dismemberment.I like it.I love it in fact.They have maybe slightly overdone it but still it looks awesome.What I don't like about it ? It doesnt feel satisfactory.

Let me explain.Geralt chopping of bandit's arm when he is unconscious or stunned or by using that VATS system they unfortunately dropped feels great because you had to work in order to achieve that.

But him just slicing them with their health bar half full feels like AC to me.Just..press x,y,z for swag and awesooooome.

He should more you know parry,block do piruets (like you could jump over bandits and smaller enemies like drowners for example in Witcher 1) do that kind of stuff.

Plus I think that VATS system whcih was suposed to be optional really sounded deep and awesome as you had to know what was weak spot of the monster and use specifing oil or whatever to attack that spot and then monster wouldn't be able to use special attacks or see etc..

I dunno.As much as I hate Rock,Paper,Shotgun they were right when it comes to combat.

Dragon Age : Inqusition with it's different body parts attacks when it comes to dragons is something very nice and I was pleasantly suprised.I just expected.....more from Witcher (when it comes to gameplay,everything else blew me away but gameplay is half of game).

 

[Nucta.397]

... when you letting me to use fast travel, I will give up eventually and start using it. (And it is bad, Bad, I'm telling ya!)

As much as I tried NOT using fast travel in Skyrim I always ended up using it.
If I can toggle "Fast travel" on/off I will be happy.

Seems so. Care to explain?

1st game was unique and had some clever features (alchemy system, travel, UI) which were NOT transfered in the 2nd game.
From the announcement of the 3d part many people confirmed that and wanted to see features from W1returned in W3.
But contrary to this, the game gets dumbed down - "press A to win" style.
Why mend something that was not broken?

 

[Aegis_Kleais]

I don't like the idea of anything ever FULLY pausing combat, however. I'm fine with their being skills that can be advanced where, let's say that by default, when you bring up an item selection wheel, it slows the game world by 25%. Then as you put more points into a skill, you can slow the game world up to like 90% when you're making selections (indicating that Geralt has more enhanced reflexes at this point)

Being able to target weakened parts of an enemy is nice, and very strategic; we just have to be sure that combat doesn't become too overwhelming. Truly, there is a lot of breadth that a good combat system could give the game.

 

[Pajkes]

I don't like the idea of anything ever FULLY pausing combat, however. I'm fine with their being skills that can be advanced where, let's say that by default, when you bring up an item selection wheel, it slows the game world by 25%. Then as you put more points into a skill, you can slow the game world up to like 90% when you're making selections (indicating that Geralt has more enhanced reflexes at this point)

Being able to target weakened parts of an enemy is nice, and very strategic; we just have to be sure that combat doesn't become too overwhelming. Truly, there is a lot of breadth that a good combat system could give the game.

Yeah I agree.Not Fallout kind or Dragon Age which stops time.But slowing down like with weapons and signs wheel in Witcher 2.

 

[Nucta.397]

Hi Nucta! How are you? Long time no see! :welcome: I actually agree with much of what you say, and I would love the return of Witcher 1 alchemy system and new elements in what I would call a Hardcore mode. But I also want to update your 'On the other hand' section. So on the other hand not all western gamers are gamers that want handholding, to be catered to, or games to be dumbed down.

I never found alchemy in Witcher 1 difficult, but you would probably still call me a westerner since I live where I live. It's getting pretty tiresome to hear it to be honest, so can you dial it down please? East or west, north or south, the ones you really are referring to are gamers that want devs to cater to them because they can't play games without being led safely all the way. Don't pin that on any nationality.

I, a westerner, play many games on highest difficulty and would love a Hardcore mode or even a Unforgiving mode as you would call it.
As long as I can choose my own difficulty and path, and see that the devs implement player choice victory I'm all game!

Hello there, I'm usually in some other threads but I see you here.
Well, if you ask the question " Do you want the W3 game to be more hardcore?" on any Eastern-European gaming forum, you will hear the only answer - Yes!
I remember some body from Red team talking about difficulty of the game in the sense that "well, for us we will have harder modes".
So, it's a fact of life.

 

[val.mitev]

Yeah I agree.Not Fallout kind or Dragon Age which stops time.But slowing down like with weapons and signs wheel in Witcher 2.

I guess it all comes to personal preference, but I personally don't think that such limb targeting system has place in the game.
I don't want turning it into something like Metal Gear Revengeance.

 

[Bellator Pius Gratus]

Hello there, I'm usually in some other threads but I see you here.
Well, if you ask the question " Do you want the W3 game to be more hardcore?" on any Eastern-European gaming forum, you will hear the only answer - Yes!
I remember some body from Red team talking about difficulty of the game in the sense that "well, for us we will have harder modes".
So, it's a fact of life.

I do like the thought of the devs giving us hardcore mode, that would be so cool! But just because you know Eastern-European opinions and what kind of difficutly they say they prefer, does not mean you can pin the opposite opinion on Western-Europeans. What, has there been a survey? So what is fact of life? That you generalise and don't base these generalisations on actual facts? I'm quite sure there are many gamers out there, no matter where they live or come from, that will play Witcher 3 on a easy difficulty setting. As they should, if they prefer it, and all should be entitled to making their own choice. So what I'm saying, not speaking for anyone but myself, is that I alone prove you can't generalise like you did.

On topic, has the devs confirmed anything on Dark mode or Insane difficulty? Do we have confirmation that there won't be edibles(food and drink ergo Hardcore mode) in Witcher 3? :crybaby:

 

[Nucta.397]

I do like the thought of the devs giving us hardcore mode, that would be so cool! But just because you know Eastern-European opinions and what kind of difficutly they say they prefer, does not mean you can pin the opposite opinion on Western-Europeans. What, has there been a survey? So what is fact of life? That you generalise and don't base these generalisations on actual facts? I'm quite sure there are many gamers out there, no matter where they live or come from, that will play Witcher 3 on a easy difficulty setting. As they should, if they prefer it, and all should be entitled to making their own choice. So what I'm saying, not speaking for anyone but myself, is that I alone prove you can't generalise like you did.

On topic, has the devs confirmed anything on Dark mode or Insane difficulty? Do we have confirmation that there won't be edibles(food and drink ergo Hardcore mode) in Witcher 3? :crybaby:

Let's drop this east/west discussion, it's pointless.

Back before the glorious revelations they confirmed Dark mode (after release, based on reception and gamers feed back), nothing about insane.
Edibles are still not excluded- we didn't see Geralt drinking - eating anything, but...
To tell you the truth, I love Witcher 1 and don't like the way they are changing the game.
Visuals are great, that's for sure, but I can't say it about game mechanics.

 

[schinderhannes.999]

Thanks everyone for voicing your thoughts on the matter so far, seems like there's some actual demand for either customization of certain aspects/mechanics through gameplay options/settings or even an altogether special game mode combining those certain features/mechanics with their unchanged, 'non-streamlined', 'classic' functionalities.

Adding a poll isn't necessary at this point, I think. Already having 5 pages worth of fairly constructive thoughts on the subject is probably enough to get this on CDPR's radar.

What I think the issue is still lacking at the moment are more good reasons that would justify the matter to actually be considered for implementation. For now I personally would consider only 2 of the announced features/mechanics worthy of either being customizable or being made available with alternative 'non-streamlined' functionality.

1. Alchemy and potion preparation currently vs. Alchemy and potion preparation in the previous games

2. Integration of (unnecessary) highlighting of interactive objects (ledges for instance) into the Witcher Senses system that, from a contextual standpoint, should only accentuate tracks, blood trails, droppings, creature noises, etc.

Something like the Fast Travel system for example is already optional and can easily be ignored.

Like some of you already mentioned - we need to see more of the (not even announced or shown) features/mechanics and how much they are streamlined (if at all) in The Witcher 3 before making more ado about the matter, so to speak.
As I said earlier, it probably already came through that there's demand for the option of less or no hand holding in The Witcher 3.

 

[Bellator Pius Gratus]

Let's drop this east/west discussion, it's pointless.

Let's. And perhaps it is, but I don't consider learning and getting perspective pointless.

Back before the glorious revelations they confirmed Dark mode (after release, based on reception and gamers feed back), nothing about insane.
Edibles are still not excluded- we didn't see Geralt drinking - eating anything, but...
To tell you the truth, I love Witcher 1 and don't like the way they are changing the game.
Visuals are great, that's for sure, but I can't say it about game mechanics.

Still not excluded? You mean it's neither confirmed nor ruled out. So there is a chance then for those who want immersion? :happy:

I can't say anything about the mechanics as of yet. I have faith in the devs and think it will be great. But yeah, Witcher 1 holds a special place in my heart, and there are some things I miss in Witcher 2, and I hope to see back in Witcher 3. But I guess change is inevitable. Or should I say evolution?

 

[maciekka09]

1st game was unique and had some clever features (alchemy system, travel, UI) which were NOT transfered in the 2nd game.
From the announcement of the 3d part many people confirmed that and wanted to see features from W1returned in W3.
But contrary to this, the game gets dumbed down - "press A to win" style.
Why mend something that was not broken?

Oh, so I did get your point, just disagreed with it. Well, that's fine. We don't all have to agree with each other.
Also, since I can't help myself - getting around in the first game was actually terrible. I shiver at the thought of the second act. And that's after finishing the game approximately 6 times. Ugh, those swamps.

 

[Nucta.397]

Also, since I can't help myself - getting around in the first game was actually terrible. I shiver at the thought of the second act. And that's after finishing the game approximately 6 times. Ugh, those swamps.

Oh, I LOVE those swamps!
Better experienced at night, don't forget to bring your own potions...

 

[schinderhannes.999]

Alright, received some more (external) encouragement to add a poll, so there it is.

 

[Username.]

No, those "old-school" modes are a waste of time because the games aren't balanced around them.

 

[Pedrolago]

They could have two types of settings "Dificulty" (easy, normal, hard, insane) and "Gamer Type" so we could customize our experience and everyone would be happy.
something like

Casual mode: Hand holding, quest arrows, recommended potions, "press this button to do this", auto refill potions etc

Veteran mode: less hand holding, quest arrows, and no auto refill potions

Hardcore mode: No quest arrows, no auto refill potions, game gives you the info you need to complete tasks and thats it, no constant reminders

 

[BlackWolf500.298]

Oh guys, why can't they do it for the core audience and try to convince people to like it?
I mean what is the sense of accommodating to the casuals if the core mechanics of the game will be changed and with them it's charm.

I mean I am open for new stuff but some of the things I heard are just too oversimplified and just make the experience more boring and less atmospheric or immersive.

 

[thislsmadness]

The unfortunate truth is that videogames are expensive and a studio like CDPR does not have limitless resources.

What that means is that they have to be able to balance the "hardcore" and "casual" aspects of the game to make it appealing to as wide an audience as possible. Providing players with the option to fast travel is a great example of that. Streamlining is not an entirely bad thing, often times developers will streamline less important areas of a game so that they can focus on the bigger parts. In a game that is nearly as big as both its precedessors combined, I'm not going to shed a tear if some of the more menial aspects of the old games don't make it.

 

[ONLY_ONCE]

I agree. My fear is that it is starting to feel possibly dumbed down to gain a wider audience.... We will see. In CDPR we trust! Don't let me down.

What I heard from a Dev @ E32014 was They are doing the best they can to be kind to all the new gamers this includes console. They are doing their very best to introduce Geralt the witcher and all these new mechanics in a such a way that folks like you will forgive and understand some of these changes for the sake of new folks that really want to play and enjoy this game for the very first time. They are doing all they can to make things flow as we upgrade but they are not going to dumb stuff down by any means. The demos we saw @ E3 were set up to be real easy just for time & show. Now yes we get an easy mode option and I do believe that was it for the casual gamers on console. It makes sense why they are doing this and It's fine hardcore gamers will have the hardcore modes it will not be a total walk in the park if you don't want it too. I forgive them and for what? I don't know, because they are doing nothing wrong by doing what they are doing. This is the way it's got to be and it all works out in the end. CDPR WE TRUST.

They could have two types of settings "Dificulty" (easy, normal, hard, insane) and "Gamer Type" so we could customize our experience and everyone would be happy.
something like

Casual mode: Hand holding, quest arrows, recommended potions, "press this button to do this", auto refill potions etc

Veteran mode: less hand holding, quest arrows, and no auto refill potions

Hardcore mode: No quest arrows, no auto refill potions, game gives you the info you need to complete tasks and that's it, no constant reminders

HaHa
Hey just because I want to play console casual easy mode does not mean I want hand holding. I can't stand the visual hints, all easy mode should do is make Geralt more of a badass I don't mind the potion refill after meditation I think that is way fair and we will need this and like it when we play it that is my true gut feeling

 

[tw3fanapp]

I would really like to have the choice to turn some features off at my personal taste. I'm not against features that make the game more convenient or accessible, but I like them to be optional.

I like the system in Thief 4 from Eidos Montreal, where you can customize anything. So if I want the minimap in The Witcher 3: optional, if I want the tooltips for actions: optional...

 

[Scholdarr]

Hm, I don't like the poll options that much tbh...

Imo there is a big difference between "various options/sliders for customization" and "a hardcore game mode". Imo two completely different animals merged into one poll answer.

If they implement a hardcore game mode it would very likely include stuff that I personally don't want in my game (like disabling free saving or other stuff usually connected to a hardcore mode) so I wouldn't choose it. Flexible sliders/options instead enable me to customize my gaming experience how I want it. I could for example make combat harder or disable HUD elements or whatever while maintaining free saving.

So my answer is: yes, give us as many flexibility and customization as possible if it generally fits to your vision. But no, don't merge them into a special fixed mode (or at least, give us both).