[DISCUSSION] Witcher 3 Screenshots and Artwork

[Gadfly_Jim]

After looking at the comparison pictures I think I've found out the main reason behind the downgraded look : parallax (or something similar). Here is an example of what it does :

parallax mapping does not play well with open world games where you blend multiple textures together. the transition areas look muddy and disjointed so I don't think they would use it here.

In my experience its better to have world displacement map combined with tessellation when blending textures. However, as soon as you have general tessellation used on water and terrain (the way they are using it in the Witcher 3) you cannot use tessellation to get the kind of detail that you get from the images people are posting of DA:I. it takes too much computing power at that point unless CDP Red have found a magical way of optimizing it that I have yet to discover. In the end a good normal map goes a long way and is probably what they are using most of the time.

As much as I love talking tech this is probably a discussion for another thread.

 

[Pinkribbonscars11]

"Ohh myyyyyy!"

Is that gif ingame?

 

[caspartine]

Is that gif ingame?

Yes.

 

[Juniip]

If, by 'extension', you mean the first DLCs, then, yes, it is.

I mean, it is Hearts of Stone ?

 

[Kinley]

I mean, it is Hearts of Stone ?

DLC ≠ Expansion

We get 16 free DLC and 2 paid expansions.

 

[Juniip]

DLC ≠ Expansion

We get 16 free DLC and 2 paid expansions.

Damn it, I'm realy an idiot. I did an article, and I said it's the first expansion (extension in french). :/

 

[Riven-Twain]

In context, from the 'Buy' page:

http://buy.thewitcher.com/?lang=en&country=US
View attachment 13961

 

[Juniip]

Thanks

 

[Riven-Twain]

Thanks

Very sorry about your article! That is awkward.

 

[Juniip]

Very sorry about your article! That is awkward.

Yeah, I change everything but I don't know, maybe I'll do an another article for my apologizes.
I don't know how many articles I did for The Witcher 3, but this is the first time. I just do TW3 article.

 

[TonyGreen]

View attachment 13967
I hope pc version will be amazing.

 

[Fronko32]

I really, really hope you are right, but I doubt it. Excellent post in any event!

Some PS4 beauty shots of Kaer Mohren. Very flat, very unimpressive. :-

Spoiler

Spoiler

At least it looks the same as in TW1. Still I hope the pc version can crank the graphics up a bit.

 

[val.mitev]

At least it looks the same as in TW1. Still I hope the pc version can crank the graphics up a bit.

You do realize that time of day and lighting conditions dramatically change how a scene looks?

So those screenshots are deliberately picked when there is no sun to try and reinforce the argument of the poster, but if he/she wants to have any credibility, he/she should also post the same scene, but when the sun is illuminating it, otherwise it's just BS. Then you'll see how incorrect that statement is.

This post by Vigilance illustrates that perfectly.

 

[Fronko32]

You do realize that time of day and lighting conditions dramatically change how a scene looks?

So those screenshots are deliberately picked when there is no sun to try and reinforce the argument of the poster, but if he/she wants to have any credibility, he/she should also post the same scene, but when the sun is illuminating it, otherwise it's just BS. Then you'll see how incorrect that statement is.

This post by Vigilance illustrates that perfectly.

You have a point there. But still the post Vigiliance still looks good even without the sun.

 

[val.mitev]

You have a point there. But still the post Vigiliance still looks good even without the sun.

The thing is that for a lot of games, situations when there is no direct sunlight or no light sources close by, the scene could look a bit flat. The lighting and the shadows is what makes us consider it realistic.

My point is that this is just a cherry picked screenshot that is in the shade of the castle and in the Vigilance post there is always some kind of light source that illustrates what difference that makes.

 

[soldiergeralt]

You have a point there. But still the post Vigiliance still looks good even without the sun.

it had moonlight, and strong light contrast provided by torches whereas the kaer mohren screenshots were either overcast or the entire scene was under shade

 

[MisterGibson]

I really, really hope you are right, but I doubt it. Excellent post in any event!

I hope too. It's pure speculation so far but they said multiple times we would be able to reproduce vgx trailers' look so I'm confident.

parallax mapping does not play well with open world games where you blend multiple textures together. the transition areas look muddy and disjointed so I don't think they would use it here.

In my experience its better to have world displacement map combined with tessellation when blending textures. However, as soon as you have general tessellation used on water and terrain (the way they are using it in the Witcher 3) you cannot use tessellation to get the kind of detail that you get from the images people are posting of DA:I. it takes too much computing power at that point unless CDP Red have found a magical way of optimizing it that I have yet to discover. In the end a good normal map goes a long way and is probably what they are using most of the time.

I mentioned parallax because that's the technique I know (and use in Skyrim) but I also said it could be something else. I went with it because it's a "simple" file to add for every texture and would be consistent with what they said so far about using the same textures and meshes for all platforms. As for normal maps I doubt it can give you that kind of depth and volumetric effects. Anyway, whatever it is, they use something to give textures depth and it's absent from the console gameplays which gives a flat/downgraded look. We'll see but I'm optimistic since they've shown gameplay with parallax (or whatever it is).

 

[soldiergeralt]

parallax mapping is fairly easy to identify, because there's tons of flaws with it, and none of the supposed superior early screenshots feature anything resembling parallax mapping.

that depth of the texture is always there. it's just more apparent in publicity shots that show them off, while less so in random screenshots not meant to show anything in particular.

 

[Canuckodile]

I hope pc version will be amazing.

It will be.

Since we're being forced to mod it anyway, really. My main gripe with the game is the oversaturated colors, which we can fix day one with SweetFX, so I'm looking forward to actually making the game look... normal.

 

[dragonbird]

Reminder of the thread topic, everyone.