Suggestion: Update some assets, because LOD are too low in polygons.

[link_chiu]

Hi everyone, I hope you all are having a very nice day or night.

Like you already suppose, I'm new at forums and I want to create a thread about TW3 on the Nintendo Switch, but first of all, I want to thank for all the effort that this port entails, to run in this little console. I been obsessed with this game from the very first time I played 5 years ago, and now play it in portable mode with my own save file, what can I said?, is a dream come true.

But now the cons, I'm mostly a PC player and the abrupt changes on environment or the lack of them bothers me a little, and don't get me wrong, play The Witcher 3 on portable is fantastic and was a great achievement, but to do that sacrifices were taken.

One of them and one of the more obvious is the use of the LOD (Level of Detail) with higher number, as base LOD, i.e., if someone wonder and are not familiarized with 3D modeling concepts, the LOD0 (base LOD) is the highest poly model and from there the consecutive LODs have less polygons, so the highest LOD number is, less polygons has.

So, the problem is not the LOD with high number as a base per se, because in the little screen of the Switch that is not so evident, the problem is when the used LOD, have missing polygons or have so few that seems like a plane.

And for that reason I make this thread, I know this games is not your priority anymore, has more than 5 years for other consoles, may be you guys are working on patches for Switch that fix more severe problems, and Cyberpunk 2077 is around the corner (which I'm waiting patiently ), but please can you guys fix this little details on nintendo console?

I have taken some captures where I saw this problems, 2 in Novigrad and 2 in Toussaint (missing polygons) and one of each with plane look, I can take more but I don't know if this thread will get your attention. I will include the Switch capture, PC capture (my version is heavily modded, so please not compare the quality, is only for the LOD or missing polygon reference), and the place in the map where the glitch is.

Thanks for your time and effort, I wish the best of luck for the next project and beyond, CDPR you are the best!!

Regards!!

Part 1/2...(were to many captures)

Post automatically merged: Jul 1, 2020

Part 2/2

 

[4RM3D]

@link_chiu, post moved to a new thread. Feel free to edit the topic, if you have a better descriptor.

 

[link_chiu]

@link_chiu, post moved to a new thread. Feel free to edit the topic, if you have a better descriptor.

Thank you 4RM3D, for posting the thread so quicky.

 

[SigilFey]

Hey, @link_chiu !

While what you're displaying -- for example, the missing window in the shop -- could be a bit of data corruption (verifying / repairing / reinstalling the game might help there), I think this is more a limitation of just how much the Switch can reasonably be expected to do.

Think of it this way:
When I increase the LoD, the amount of data that the hardware needs to process increases exponentially the further away I push the details. Just like real-life, stereo vision, the further away something is in space, the more and more and more details we see. (I can fit exponentially more stuff in the far field than I can in the near field. 100 soldiers 5 feet from me means only 10-20 soldiers will be in my field of vision. But at 200 yards away, I would be able to see 10 groups of 100 soldiers each.)

So, the hardware would need to be able to process, draw, and render the data for all 1,000 soldiers in the distance. A powerhouse PC might be able to handle that smoothly, whereas the hardware in a hand-held device might be brought to its knees trying to render even a full 50 soldiers.

To get around this, LoD will cull graphical detail, decreasing the amount of physical polygons and textures that need to be processed, rendered, and drawn to the screen. This is a finite budget (hardware does not have unlimited processing power). So, once I reach the limit of my hardware, in order to increase the LoD for one thing, I'll need decrease it somewhere else.

As most games in the modern day try to handle this procedurally, it doesn't always work out perfectly. Leaving the gaps in the polygons that you see here and there. Fixing it would, technically be possible, but I think the sheer amount of work required would make it largely not worth it.

Mods are possible on the Switch, however. So, you might want to raise this in the Mod Discussions section and see if anyone knows how to rebuild the meshes and textures for the Switch. (Not sure how far the mod functionality on the Switch goes.)

 

[link_chiu]

Hey, @link_chiu !

While what you're displaying -- for example, the missing window in the shop -- could be a bit of data corruption (verifying / repairing / reinstalling the game might help there), I think this is more a limitation of just how much the Switch can reasonably be expected to do.

Think of it this way:
When I increase the LoD, the amount of data that the hardware needs to process increases exponentially the further away I push the details. Just like real-life, stereo vision, the further away something is in space, the more and more and more details we see. (I can fit exponentially more stuff in the far field than I can in the near field. 100 soldiers 5 feet from me means only 10-20 soldiers will be in my field of vision. But at 200 yards away, I would be able to see 10 groups of 100 soldiers each.)

So, the hardware would need to be able to process, draw, and render the data for all 1,000 soldiers in the distance. A powerhouse PC might be able to handle that smoothly, whereas the hardware in a hand-held device might be brought to its knees trying to render even a full 50 soldiers.

To get around this, LoD will cull graphical detail, decreasing the amount of physical polygons and textures that need to be processed, rendered, and drawn to the screen. This is a finite budget (hardware does not have unlimited processing power). So, once I reach the limit of my hardware, in order to increase the LoD for one thing, I'll need decrease it somewhere else.

As most games in the modern day try to handle this procedurally, it doesn't always work out perfectly. Leaving the gaps in the polygons that you see here and there. Fixing it would, technically be possible, but I think the sheer amount of work required would make it largely not worth it.

Mods are possible on the Switch, however. So, you might want to raise this in the Mod Discussions section and see if anyone knows how to rebuild the meshes and textures for the Switch. (Not sure how far the mod functionality on the Switch goes.)

Hi SigilFey,
Thanks for the the interest in the topic and thanks for the answer, but could you can show me the same shop running on other Switch without the bug?, because I have the physical copy of the game, is not an installation on SD card.
I know the Switch has limited power, for that so, it's amazing to have it in the console, I'm not compare the raw power of the PC with this little console, that's why I said not compare the captures.

For other side, the problem that I have is not because the Switch can't handle the assets with more polygon count, is because I think that it can, and seems inconsistent the number of polygons that is used in some places, not for the complex of the environment and neither the numbers of NPC on screen, to be honest, I would prefer less NPC's (-25%) and a little more detail in poly count, because I read an article which said than the "SWitcher" version has the same number of NPC's on screen than the other consoles. For me, at least, that is not so important, cause so many people wouldn't barely notice the difference.

(This captures exemplifies my point, may be all this stairs are different assets, but all of them have wood like material, and they are in different spots in game, with few NPC's, with a lot of them or without any. Some stairs with his railing in the city, are more complex, that those who are in the windmills)​

And may be this low LOD asset thing isn't a big deal too, and the other players doesn't bother, like me, but well I only wanted toss a coin to CDPR (...nobody laughs?? ),and see if this topic would be interest for them or Saber Interactive (you guys did a terrific job!!), somehow.

Like I said is only a suggestion, I never said to they do it, because they have now other priorities and this would be involve a huge amount of effort to fix the problems, and like you well said too, may be for them is not worth it.

Anyway, thanks again for the interest and the bump.

Regards!!

Oh sorry!!, I almost forgot, a mods on the game needs a modded Switch, while CDPR (or may be is a Nintendo thing), if they don't allow mods officially, this option is out of the question.

 

[SigilFey]

Thanks for the the interest in the topic and thanks for the answer, but could you can show me the same shop running on other Switch without the bug?

Can't -- I don't have a Switch.

My main point was trying to explain why this is unlikely to change soon if at all. I'm fairly certain that if it's not a data corruption issue, then it's likely that the same bug appears for everyone. You can but send it in to CDPR Support and see what they say. (It's not impossible that it can be fixed. I don't think support for the game on Switch has reached an end yet. There will likely be future updates, I believe.)

Oh sorry!!, I almost forgot, a mods on the game needs a modded Switch, while CDPR (or may be is a Nintendo thing), if they don't allow mods officially, this option is out of the question.

And that's understandable. (The only mod I ever used on PC was the one that prevented Geralt from sommersaulting down staircases. ) Once again, go ahead and identify it as a graphical error (which it is!) and send that into Support, officially. Just be sure you follow the steps in the FAQ first, though. I wish I could be of more particular help here, but I'm not familiar with the Switch.

 

[link_chiu]

Can't -- I don't have a Switch.

My main point was trying to explain why this is unlikely to change soon if at all. I'm fairly certain that if it's not a data corruption issue, then it's likely that the same bug appears for everyone. You can but send it in to CDPR Support and see what they say. (It's not impossible that it can be fixed. I don't think support for the game on Switch has reached an end yet. There will likely be future updates, I believe.)




And that's understandable. (The only mod I ever used on PC was the one that prevented Geralt from sommersaulting down staircases. ) Once again, go ahead and identify it as a graphical error (which it is!) and send that into Support, officially. Just be sure you follow the steps in the FAQ first, though. I wish I could be of more particular help here, but I'm not familiar with the Switch.

Hi @SigilFey,
Thank you very much again, to show interest in my topic, I will try to contact the official technical support, but I wanted to try here first, because is not a game issue that prevents you to continue with the history, neither a major technical issue and I think than the graphical errors aren't contemplate in the technical support area.

Once more, thanks for the advise and the bump.

Regards!!