This is an exact copy of another post of mine in the TW3 wishlist thread that got buried very quickly. I don't think I can add much more to it so I hope it's OK to repost it so it can be seen by more people (and CDPR hopefully). It took me quite a while to write this, so thanks in advance for reading 
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Here are some gripes of mine with The Witcher 2 and my ideas on how to address them. From what I've read in the thread, these problems are not brought up (except the UI part), but as far as I'm concerned they are very important things that the developers should look at.
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A better user interface that is unified and suited to PC (like in the first game). In TW2 you can't switch between the different UI screens (inventory, character screen, journal, map) unless you exit them and there is no visual cue as to the interfaces available.
The ESC key should open one single tabbed interface for all of these functions (with hotkeys for each tab of course). It might even include the current "system" menu with opens up with escape (save, load, etc). Many games have used this system and it is indeed very good.
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Pausing during gameplay or a cutscene should completely pause everything. In TW2 when you pause the dialogue line continues playing and you miss it if you pause. The best way to pause and not miss anything is to wait until the line is almost finished (subtitles), which is extremely inconvenient.
On a similar note, potions should not have their timers tick down during cutscenes in such a cutscene-heavy game.
PS: I very much hope this (engine?) limitation will be overcome for TW3, I found it to be one of the most irritating things in the game.
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Less items in the game and a better crafting system. In TW2 there are so many containers with tons of materials that are not worth anything. By the end of the game I had like 300 twine and 150 timber in storage.
1) Crafting materials should be more meaningful and valuable. A very good idea would be to omit rudimentary and plentiful materials like wood, twine, and iron, and maybe replace them with a higher gold cost for crafting the item itself. Only the rare materials should be real items that you find and collect(silver ore, meteorite ores, etc).
2) Monster parts in TW2 are alchemy ingredients and optionally crafting items, which makes things more complicated than necessary. They should be one or the other, not both. The two item types remain in their respective section of the inventory. In the current system you might use up valuable crafting materials if you don't pay attention while making potions.
3) Completely get rid of the formula and design sheet items. As an experienced witcher Geralt shouldn't need a formula at hand to make a simple swallow potion. In a gameplay perspective my idea should make everything more organised and easier. Formulas and designs should be acquired/learned from NPCs and added to the journal like they are in both Witcher games, completely avoiding any formulas or designs as "physical" items. In TW2 you can buy or loot duplicate formulas, and you might accidentally sell them for a measly amount of orens.
4) Furthermore, books should be "consumable" items which add information to the journal. After reading a book for the first time in TW2: (1)you can read some of them in the glossary and in the inventory (what's the point? have just one location); OR (2)others are added to the monster info part of the character screen (that levels up as you kill them or read a book), the monsters section in the journal AND you can read them from the inventory itself as well. Buying books, designs and formulas that you've already acquired (info is already in the journal) should not be possible.
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A better map. The map screen should have two parts: world map and area map.
The world map should be similar to the current TW2 world map, although a readable script would be much preferred. On the in-game map the only thing I could barely make out was "Temeria". The GOG.com extra downloadable PDF map, on the other hand, is excellent.
In TW2 the area maps have some very big usability problems. While it may look good, from a gameplay perspective it is very unpractical and hard to read, the main offender being the Loc Muinne map. The hand drawn maps in their current state do not clearly indicate which areas are explorable and in some cases do not represent the player position correctly. This can be fixed by making maps that focus on usability instead of aesthetics - make an accurate and clear representation of where the player can go within the game world.
This is a very good example(link) of what I mean by clear map and unified interface.
In fact, I think the map shown on the minimap in TW2 is pretty good and fits my description for the most part, if only we could see it in its entirety and not just a small area around us...
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Here are some gripes of mine with The Witcher 2 and my ideas on how to address them. From what I've read in the thread, these problems are not brought up (except the UI part), but as far as I'm concerned they are very important things that the developers should look at.
-----
A better user interface that is unified and suited to PC (like in the first game). In TW2 you can't switch between the different UI screens (inventory, character screen, journal, map) unless you exit them and there is no visual cue as to the interfaces available.
The ESC key should open one single tabbed interface for all of these functions (with hotkeys for each tab of course). It might even include the current "system" menu with opens up with escape (save, load, etc). Many games have used this system and it is indeed very good.
-----
Pausing during gameplay or a cutscene should completely pause everything. In TW2 when you pause the dialogue line continues playing and you miss it if you pause. The best way to pause and not miss anything is to wait until the line is almost finished (subtitles), which is extremely inconvenient.
On a similar note, potions should not have their timers tick down during cutscenes in such a cutscene-heavy game.
PS: I very much hope this (engine?) limitation will be overcome for TW3, I found it to be one of the most irritating things in the game.
-----
Less items in the game and a better crafting system. In TW2 there are so many containers with tons of materials that are not worth anything. By the end of the game I had like 300 twine and 150 timber in storage.
1) Crafting materials should be more meaningful and valuable. A very good idea would be to omit rudimentary and plentiful materials like wood, twine, and iron, and maybe replace them with a higher gold cost for crafting the item itself. Only the rare materials should be real items that you find and collect(silver ore, meteorite ores, etc).
2) Monster parts in TW2 are alchemy ingredients and optionally crafting items, which makes things more complicated than necessary. They should be one or the other, not both. The two item types remain in their respective section of the inventory. In the current system you might use up valuable crafting materials if you don't pay attention while making potions.
3) Completely get rid of the formula and design sheet items. As an experienced witcher Geralt shouldn't need a formula at hand to make a simple swallow potion. In a gameplay perspective my idea should make everything more organised and easier. Formulas and designs should be acquired/learned from NPCs and added to the journal like they are in both Witcher games, completely avoiding any formulas or designs as "physical" items. In TW2 you can buy or loot duplicate formulas, and you might accidentally sell them for a measly amount of orens.
4) Furthermore, books should be "consumable" items which add information to the journal. After reading a book for the first time in TW2: (1)you can read some of them in the glossary and in the inventory (what's the point? have just one location); OR (2)others are added to the monster info part of the character screen (that levels up as you kill them or read a book), the monsters section in the journal AND you can read them from the inventory itself as well. Buying books, designs and formulas that you've already acquired (info is already in the journal) should not be possible.
-----
A better map. The map screen should have two parts: world map and area map.
The world map should be similar to the current TW2 world map, although a readable script would be much preferred. On the in-game map the only thing I could barely make out was "Temeria". The GOG.com extra downloadable PDF map, on the other hand, is excellent.
In TW2 the area maps have some very big usability problems. While it may look good, from a gameplay perspective it is very unpractical and hard to read, the main offender being the Loc Muinne map. The hand drawn maps in their current state do not clearly indicate which areas are explorable and in some cases do not represent the player position correctly. This can be fixed by making maps that focus on usability instead of aesthetics - make an accurate and clear representation of where the player can go within the game world.
This is a very good example(link) of what I mean by clear map and unified interface.
In fact, I think the map shown on the minimap in TW2 is pretty good and fits my description for the most part, if only we could see it in its entirety and not just a small area around us...
About dialogues.... Id like if there was more "reality sim" dialogues, in which you have different paths, you choose one (as in ONE line) of several available, then you move forward(as with Triss's first scene), so you can´t choose ALL the fricking options, like in those ridiculous adventure games of old.
And enough with the information dumpster, when you dont need it or it feels awkward (as in Letho's final scene: "I want to kill you, but first let's talk half an hour about EVERYTHING, as we were the best friends"./>/>/>/>/>).
That scene could ve worked if you actually TALKED about everything, but AFTER you made peace with Letho... So if you rather choose to kill him, you would ve lost many details of the story (broad main plot points could ve been delivered in a short letter, in Letho's bag, in that case).
And enough with the information dumpster, when you dont need it or it feels awkward (as in Letho's final scene: "I want to kill you, but first let's talk half an hour about EVERYTHING, as we were the best friends".
/>/>/>/>/>).That scene could ve worked if you actually TALKED about everything, but AFTER you made peace with Letho... So if you rather choose to kill him, you would ve lost many details of the story (broad main plot points could ve been delivered in a short letter, in Letho's bag, in that case).
1) Bring Alcolic beverages back. For pleasure and for alchemy (Yep, i love TW1 Alchemy system. I love i A LOT, quite better than TW2's one.
2) Give us whetstone (plenty of them! Craftable! Buyable!) back... with cool animation. I like also the old oil thing.
3) Give us Food and Drink Back! Just as TW1, a little Vitality/Vigor regeneration effect. I think they want to implement but have just to cut that content down due to time (Food is present in games and in game files).
4) I'm fine with diagrams/book not in the journal but AT LEAST let them have no weight!
5) It would be cool if junk would have a purpose. Looking in the game file the would like to implement a sort of dismantle system for junk and armor/weapons so you could pay a fee and gain some resources from them. It could be really cool and it could ease up the gathering of material from shop.
6) I'd like that throwing knife/claw and whatever would be displayed on the armor..don't know, near the belt, near a bootm, on the leg, just gave the a visual feedback.
7) A hideble more detailed log/combat log/inventory log (for rewards, looted things etc, often in tw2 i have to compare things to understand what kind of reward and how many orens i get from a quest)
And that's all...i think.
2) Give us whetstone (plenty of them! Craftable! Buyable!) back... with cool animation. I like also the old oil thing.
3) Give us Food and Drink Back! Just as TW1, a little Vitality/Vigor regeneration effect. I think they want to implement but have just to cut that content down due to time (Food is present in games and in game files).
4) I'm fine with diagrams/book not in the journal but AT LEAST let them have no weight!
5) It would be cool if junk would have a purpose. Looking in the game file the would like to implement a sort of dismantle system for junk and armor/weapons so you could pay a fee and gain some resources from them. It could be really cool and it could ease up the gathering of material from shop.
6) I'd like that throwing knife/claw and whatever would be displayed on the armor..don't know, near the belt, near a bootm, on the leg, just gave the a visual feedback.
7) A hideble more detailed log/combat log/inventory log (for rewards, looted things etc, often in tw2 i have to compare things to understand what kind of reward and how many orens i get from a quest)
And that's all...i think.
Have I missed something? Is there some kind of general consensus on the combat being bad or what? Personally, I absolutely love it. It's truly beyond amazing. It can be improved, obviously, but by reading the posts here, I get the impression that people hate TW2 gameplay. Which is mindboggling. It's consistant, it packs a punch, there's oomph behind every slash, it's fast, it flows great and most importantly, it's so much fun! The combat really does engage you. Maybe I've missed something here but eh.
As for stuff that didn't work out all that good. Well, I guess equipment becomes obsolete a little too fast? That's kinda annoying. I'd like to see a system where one could morph the design of a particular weapon that strikes your fance with any stats of any other weapon. That way we could look however we want without compromising aesthetic appeal. Other than that, I'm all game! Bring it on Red, I'm curious to see what kind of masterpiece you'll create
As for stuff that didn't work out all that good. Well, I guess equipment becomes obsolete a little too fast? That's kinda annoying. I'd like to see a system where one could morph the design of a particular weapon that strikes your fance with any stats of any other weapon. That way we could look however we want without compromising aesthetic appeal. Other than that, I'm all game! Bring it on Red, I'm curious to see what kind of masterpiece you'll create
It depend, it work also for books in your inventory and usually i have all the books in my inventory, cause the have no weight.Maerd said:
I could make sense to have all the book but for formulas and diagram it could be nice if geralt "write" them off in his journal everytime he found a new one.
At the behest of Maerd I will magically transform my post into "things that annoyed me from TW2" instead of the subtly implicit "Things they could do better in TW3".
BRING STATS BACK! Less streamlining!. The lack of attributes in TW2 and the streamlining of the character sheet. This could be addressed by adding At least a minimal set of non-numeric (talent based) attributes like strength, stamina, dexterity and intelligence like in TW1.
I wished in TW2 In-game actions could be stat driven. For example, give Geralt a chance of opening/breaking locked containers or doors based either on Strength, Dexterity or Aard. Intelligence could be used to feed social skills, like intimidation, coercion, etc.There could still be an Axii hex could be used also to calm wild animals (I never enjoyed killing dogs and wolves in TW1).
If they are going to TW2 shows some numbers in items, weapons and armor, things like +30% damage, damage 50-58, critical chance, etc, let us I wish we could CLEARLY see the supposed die rolls, for Geralt AND his opponents. Same with the "die rolls" for other desirable actions, like the aforementioned door/chest opening and social skills.
TW2 is already done, but for future games Ifthe game is going that happen to be much longer than TW2, then please give us more meaningful character development. Let us create a Geralt based on more options than just magic, alchemy or swordsmanship.
***
And now the destructive forces of chaos lie dormant once again.
I wished in TW2 In-game actions could be stat driven. For example, give Geralt a chance of opening/breaking locked containers or doors based either on Strength, Dexterity or Aard. Intelligence could be used to feed social skills, like intimidation, coercion, etc.
TW2 is already done, but for future games If
***
And now the destructive forces of chaos lie dormant once again.
Uh, what? This is not thread about combat, are you sure you posted in right thread?FoggyFishburne said:Have I missed something? Is there some kind of general consensus on the combat being bad or what? Personally, I absolutely love it. It's truly beyond amazing. It can be improved, obviously, but by reading the posts here, I get the impression that people hate TW2 gameplay. Which is mindboggling. It's consistant, it packs a punch, there's oomph behind every slash, it's fast, it flows great and most importantly, it's so much fun! The combat really does engage you. Maybe I've missed something here but eh.
As for stuff that didn't work out all that good. Well, I guess equipment becomes obsolete a little too fast? That's kinda annoying. I'd like to see a system where one could morph the design of a particular weapon that strikes your fance with any stats of any other weapon. That way we could look however we want without compromising aesthetic appeal. Other than that, I'm all game! Bring it on Red, I'm curious to see what kind of masterpiece you'll create
I also loved witcher2 combat
this, but Maerd is right.FoggyFishburne said:
As they come to my mind, in no particular order:
1. Shadow dithering (not very much though)
2. No back pedal or sidestep
3. QTEs (especially in the Kayran fight)
4. Cumbersome to navigate UI
5. No cursor
6. Using the medallion to detect items
7. No sex cards
8. Geralt's hair looks to me more like grayish than white (looked better in 1st game IMO).
9. The whey foliage gets sometimes between the camera and the action.
10. No jumping and restricted up/down movement to specific locations (the 1st game was limited by the Aurora engine but I was expecting a little more from the Red Engine).
11. Dice poker mini game (better in the 1st game IMO)
12. The doors (a little)
13. Using traps (you set it right in the front of an enemy who is stupid enough to walk right into it).
14. Useless knife throwing (and associated skill for that matter).
15. The skill tree (a bit shallower compared with the 1st game).
1. Shadow dithering (not very much though)
2. No back pedal or sidestep
3. QTEs (especially in the Kayran fight)
4. Cumbersome to navigate UI
5. No cursor
6. Using the medallion to detect items
7. No sex cards
8. Geralt's hair looks to me more like grayish than white (looked better in 1st game IMO).
9. The whey foliage gets sometimes between the camera and the action.
10. No jumping and restricted up/down movement to specific locations (the 1st game was limited by the Aurora engine but I was expecting a little more from the Red Engine).
11. Dice poker mini game (better in the 1st game IMO)
12. The doors (a little)
13. Using traps (you set it right in the front of an enemy who is stupid enough to walk right into it).
14. Useless knife throwing (and associated skill for that matter).
15. The skill tree (a bit shallower compared with the 1st game).
My very trivial complaints
1. "Let me tell you about the woman who fell from the sky." No! I've heard enough about flying women!
2. No empirical potion making
3. Dice Poker stakes far too low.
4. Clothed Bruxa
5. No hilarious fat thugs and obese merchants.
6. No old woman
7. Triss entering the Council in Act III and no one saying, "Yikes! What happened to you!". I thought that part was a bit rushed. I wish there had been some sort of time passage, like the council was later that day, or the next or something so Triss could have had time to recover, or at least looked presentable. If her plan was "Look! Look what they have done!" No one seemed to really care or mention it. Maybe I'm just dumb.
1. "Let me tell you about the woman who fell from the sky." No! I've heard enough about flying women!
2. No empirical potion making
3. Dice Poker stakes far too low.
4. Clothed Bruxa
5. No hilarious fat thugs and obese merchants.
6. No old woman
7. Triss entering the Council in Act III and no one saying, "Yikes! What happened to you!". I thought that part was a bit rushed. I wish there had been some sort of time passage, like the council was later that day, or the next or something so Triss could have had time to recover, or at least looked presentable. If her plan was "Look! Look what they have done!" No one seemed to really care or mention it. Maybe I'm just dumb.
Many things are already mentioned, I could add some minor complaints:
-TW2 maps were nice but almost unusable
-Dice game design was better in TW1, stakes could be really much higher
-Make all other mini games really difficult on higher levels, because it was really too easy.
-Door problems
-Crafting items could be better. I wanted to craft some great items in the last part of the game, but the game ended so unexpected that I didnt get a chance to craft them.
-Difficulty curve was really strange, the first act was the most difficult one, later I found it too easy.
-TW2 maps were nice but almost unusable
-Dice game design was better in TW1, stakes could be really much higher
-Make all other mini games really difficult on higher levels, because it was really too easy.
-Door problems
-Crafting items could be better. I wanted to craft some great items in the last part of the game, but the game ended so unexpected that I didnt get a chance to craft them.
-Difficulty curve was really strange, the first act was the most difficult one, later I found it too easy.
Yep! I TOTALLY hate the new Bruxa model too!Glaroug said:My very trivial complaints
1. "Let me tell you about the woman who fell from the sky." No! I've heard enough about flying women!
2. No empirical potion making
4. Clothed Bruxa
5. No hilarious fat thugs and obese merchants.
6. No old woman
If there's a sex scene with a succubus, take advantage of the tail and make Geralt pull on it. TW2 didn't do it and I was disappointed.
What
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