Graphic downgrade

[GuyNwah]

I've heard from a a few different sources a couple of things. One was that, like you said, they were still optimizing Ultra. That sounds pretty reasonable to me.
However at GDC, the presenter said that they just wanted to "wow" the players with Ultra on release.

It's possible for both of those to be true. Holding Ultra until release, for the stated "wow" factor, could be making a virtue of necessity. Showing Ultra with noticeable bugs would be deadly. Then because you don't air your dirty linen in public, the announcement you make is the "wow" one.

 

[Phinnway]

I suspect it was Microsoft asking them to not showing off better material than Xbox One could possibly render...

Considering they already showed off PC footage on high, they already have shown off better material than Xbox One could possible render.

 

[dragonbird]

I also suspect (pure speculation) that there's still too many variables in Ultra, and that they may have problems at the moment with explicit statements like "If you have THIS ultra-high-end system, you can turn on THESE ultra-settings and it will play at THIS framerate". Consistently. That's effectively what they're doing with the "High"/"Recommended" settings (although I'd accept that they haven't been quite as explicit as many would like).

If they do show ultra, they really need to be able to make those statements for it to be meaningful, and for it to be true for almost every gamer affected. Otherwise, that really would be false advertising. If they can't give those sorts of guarantees, it's better for them to say nothing for now. And it's probably also better for them to concentrate on fixing stuff that affects 90% of PC gamers before launch rather than spending a lot of time on that last 10%.

 

[Vixraine]

It's possible for both of those to be true. Holding Ultra until release, for the stated "wow" factor, could be making a virtue of necessity. Showing Ultra with noticeable bugs would be deadly. Then because you don't air your dirty linen in public, the announcement you make is the "wow" one.

All the research that I've done points towards this being the case.

The thing that I'm on the lookout for at the moment is the Nvidia technical demonstration video they love releasing for games that heavily use their proprietary api calls just before release. At least one distributor has stated that copies of TW3 are going to be given for free with high end 9series cards, which makes me more hopeful of such a video.

If/when that video is released, and there is confirmation that at least the majority of the previously advertised effects/features are still in the game, that will go a long way towards calming everyone down. At that point, it's a couple of texture packs, some settings tweaks, and hardware from the future to get whatever fidelity is desired (up to and including the early 'gameplay' trailer footage).

 

[yann3805]

It's possible for both of those to be true. Holding Ultra until release, for the stated "wow" factor, could be making a virtue of necessity. Showing Ultra with noticeable bugs would be deadly. Then because you don't air your dirty linen in public, the announcement you make is the "wow" one.

That makes senses. Here's why I think this is correct:

• Reviewers weren't allowed to play the game on Ultra (locked, unavailable)
• the PC version did host better textures and shaders than its console counterpart, as a matter of fact the grass reportedly did look better on PC (= not all platforms share the same assets)
• One dev stated in the previous (locked) thread that there was no downgrade, that Ultra was in fact being optimized, and that the visuals from the first gameplay trailers would be reproducible on PC
• Another representative on the board at PAX also said that they're optimizing Ultra and waiting until release for 'a slap on the face'
• Previewing a broken, non polished version of the current Ultra settings isn't representative of the final product

IMO, there is a strong chance that Ultra is being optimized for PC because it is probably power hungry and most likely unplayable on most builds. Or at least that's what I would wish for.

Source:

http://forums.cdprojektred.com/threads/32644-Obvious-Downgrade?p=1525774&viewfull=1#post1525774

 

[DinkyDino]

and that the visuals from the first gameplay trailers would be reproducible on PC

Sorry to burden you but do you remember the username of the dev or the thread? I sort of want to read it myself.

 

[yann3805]

Sorry to burden you but do you remember the username of the dev or the thread? I sort of want to read it myself.

http://forums.cdprojektred.com/threads/32644-Obvious-Downgrade?p=1525774&viewfull=1#post1525774

 

[Vixraine]

http://forums.cdprojektred.com/threads/32644-Obvious-Downgrade?p=1525774&viewfull=1#post1525774

That's the most useful and relevant piece of information I've read all week. I'd give you like, 10 red points if I could.

 

[nemanja_pozega]

And it's probably also better for them to concentrate on fixing stuff that affects 90% of PC gamers before launch rather than spending a lot of time on that last 10%.

I think that's a reasonable statement looking at it that way. However...

Those Ultra settings can also be considered future proofing the game. When you think about this game, the very last one with Geralt as the PC, a RPG which should raise the bar for all other "AAA" RPGs of recent memory, etc. you'd think it deserves those Ultra settings to be implemented well, does it not?

In the olden days, i played W2 800x400 windowed on a laptop, lowest possible settings. 30FPS at best. 2 years later, new PC, ultra without Ubersampling. I cannot even begin to explaine how i felt when I first ran the game at those settings. Case in point, I understand your argument and I agree to a degree, but i think it would be a shame if none of us in the 90% won't be able, in some time in the future, to experience the game as the team intended at first.

 

[joacko_1990]

That's the most useful and relevant piece of information I've read all week. I'd give you like, 10 red points if I could.

Well ; Thanks for all the information you share guys . I will be more relax waiting for the game . But here is my last question . I really want a good answer if you can .

The guy ask this question : 3) Before the game releases, are you going to put out gameplay footage - and not just cutscenes - on maxed out PCs on Ultra explicitly labelling it «PC footage on Ultra»?

Cd projekt red

Marcin Momot response : Not sure but that's a good idea and something we will definitely look into

Did you think they are waiting to show ultra when te game comes out ; so people who run the game at 1920x1080 or higher resolution will think there is not big change ?
i MEAN is not so hard a week or month before release Show the ultra settings right ? They dont have to make any tweak in that time . That is why i feel the answer is quite strange
I praised they managed to use Texture streaming for Ultra . ​

hopefully it uses no more than 3gb Vram .

 

[yann3805]

Well ; Thanks for all the information you share guys . I will be more relax waiting for the game . But here is my last question . I really want a good answer if you can .

The guy ask this question : 3) Before the game releases, are you going to put out gameplay footage - and not just cutscenes - on maxed out PCs on Ultra explicitly labelling it «PC footage on Ultra»?

Cd projekt red

Marcin Momot response : Not sure but that's a good idea and something we will definitely look into
Did you think they are waiting to show ultra when te game comes out ; so people who run the game at 1920x1080 or higher resolution will think there is not big change ?
i MEAN is not so hard a week or month before release Show the ultra settings right ? They dont have to make any tweak in that time . That is why i feel the answer is quite strange
I praised the managed to use Texture streaming for Ultra . ​

hopefully it uses no more than 3gb Vram .

That's not correct. He said:

Q : 3) Before the game releases, are you going to put out gameplay footage - and not just cutscenes - on maxed out PCs on Ultra explicitly labelling it «PC footage on Ultra»?

A: "3. Not sure but that's a good idea and something we will definitely look into"

 

[Vixraine]

Did you think they are waiting to show ultra when te game comes out ; so people who run the game at 1920x1080 or higher resolution will think there is not big change?

i MEAN is not so hard a week or month before release Show the ultra settings right ? They dont have to make any tweak in that time . That is why i feel the answer is quite strange

I praised the managed to use Texture streaming for Ultra, hopefully it uses no more than 3gb Vram .

TW3 has been stated to be 'Feature Complete' since February of LAST year, and that the latest delays have been purely for polishing and detail work.

Given that information, the explicit deny of downgrade, the now explicit confirmation of VGX level graphics to high enough end computing hardware, and the way they've kept Ultra locked on review platforms, my best guess is that they are currently in full steam on ironing out optimizations for Ultra-level content, and they don't want to release any videos this close to launch that won't be representative of what will be available in the release build.

Given the size of TW3, it's very difficult to say if maxxed out settings would stay under 3GB of VRAM, though I feel confident in saying that a large part of the optimization work on settings like those would be getting maximum graphical fidelity at the lowest VRAM usage possible.

 

[DinkyDino]

Did you think they are waiting to show ultra when te game comes out ; so people who run the game at 1920x1080 or higher resolution will think there is not big change ?
i MEAN is not so hard a week or month before release Show the ultra settings right ? They dont have to make any tweak in that time . That is why i feel the answer is quite strange

Yes that part is sketchy imo. Reading through that specific thread, the guy that gave those answers was a community manager who might not recognize every single possible graphical detail or changes since he likely tests it everyday. So I am still a bit apprehensive. A few ultras screenies wouldn't really show any bugs like a video would. Heck their first trailer had amazing detail without any bugs and that was way back. He did say the visuals from the first trailers would be reproducible so there's that but I'm not entirely convinced. More time to play the waiting game I suppose and take any scraps of info tossed to us.

 

[Vixraine]

By no means is that Dev-statement a cure-all, certainly.

The fact that they are still having optimization problems more than a year after feature complete is worrying in itself, but I'll at least take it as a another hopeful sign. (There have been more than a couple, such as the picture linked below being released this week as a '1080p Screenshot'.)

http://www.dsogaming.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/10572076_10152803205194331_6196769880162038580_o.jpg

 

[sidspyker]

Ubersampling obviously, all those newer promo shots have it, you will never get a picture that clear, crisp and 'well shaped' on a 1080p framebuffer. We're talking about 2 vs 8 megapixels here(assuming it's a 2x2 grid).

And no the game hasn't been in beta(feature complete) for more than a year, that was mentioned December. Earlier they said the story content was done IIRC. Correct me if wrong, obviously but I remember in Jan or Feb Mr.Iwinski said the story was done or close to done, not that the entire game was done.

 

[Gilrond-i-Virdan]

By no means is that Dev-statement a cure-all, certainly.

The fact that they are still having optimization problems more than a year after feature complete is worrying in itself, but I'll at least take it as a another hopeful sign. (There have been more than a couple, such as the picture linked below being released this week as a '1080p Screenshot'.)

http://www.dsogaming.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/10572076_10152803205194331_6196769880162038580_o.jpg

Where is this picture from?

 

[GuyNwah]

By no means is that Dev-statement a cure-all, certainly.

The fact that they are still having optimization problems more than a year after feature complete is worrying in itself, but I'll at least take it as a another hopeful sign. (There have been more than a couple, such as the picture linked below being released this week as a '1080p Screenshot'.)

http://www.dsogaming.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/10572076_10152803205194331_6196769880162038580_o.jpg

Very noticeable antialiasing halos, especially on the woman's right shoulder and hand. So I'd say that was rendered in engine at 1080p with Ubersampling. That doesn't by itself mean the mode is well playable, but the shot would mean that it exists.

 

[Vixraine]

Ubersampling obviously, all those newer promo shots have it, you will never get a picture that clear, crisp and 'well shaped' on a 1080p framebuffer. We're talking about 2 vs 8 megapixels here(assuming it's a 2x2 grid).

And no the game hasn't been in beta(feature complete) for more than a year, that was mentioned December. Earlier they said the story content was done IIRC. Correct me if wrong, obviously but I remember in Jan or Feb Mr.Iwinski said the story was done or close to done, not that the entire game was done.

Sorry, that's likely a mis-usage of the term on my part. In the development cycles I'm familiar with, 'Feature Complete' is all of the main story written into the game, and all of the gameplay mechanics programmed in and working with /very/ minimal bugs. It doesn't include all of the sidequests, but should include all of the major geographical areas. It also doesn't include bugfixing, polish work, or much of the non-required content for central plot/story.

---------- Updated at 04:54 AM ----------

Where is this picture from?

https://www.facebook.com/thewitcher/photos/a.165254449330.117240.9659019330/10152803205194331/?type=1

 

[Gilrond-i-Virdan]

https://www.facebook.com/thewitcher/photos/a.165254449330.117240.9659019330/10152803205194331/?type=1

Some private post:

The page you requested cannot be displayed right now. It may be temporarily unavailable, the link you clicked on may have expired, or you may not have permission to view this page.

 

[Vixraine]

Released Mar 3, 2pm from this Facebook account: https://www.facebook.com/thewitcher

It's been taken and put up on 2 or 3 gaming sites since then, and that profile has another 2 or 3 promo shots released since that time.