The E3 gameplay demo. What do you think needs to be worked on? What did you like?

[WFMS2]

Did i hear that correctly? Source? That would be great honestly. I thought of getting myself a 780Ti when the price is right though. It's just too expensive at the moment.

Under Features Tab: "Hardware agnostic DirectCompute implementation."
http://physxinfo.com/wiki/HairWorks

And near the bottom of the interview here they talk about it:
http://physxinfo.com/news/12197/introducing-nvidia-hairworks-fur-and-hair-simulation-solution/

 

[Lieste]

Imho it lacked in emphasis. I mean, it needed about 5 secs to set the potion to use, crossbow and darts. I think some emphasis, with some animation, is needed. Maybe skippable ones. I mean something like the small sequence in which Geralt, examining that human corpse, finds a griffin feather. Nothing more than a few secs (I really loved "52 and a half" sequence, when Geralt checks the silver swords and drinks the potion before he enters that cave). I think sequences like that would fit a lot.

About combat itself, I think Geralt should swing the sword slightly slower than now because in the video it looked like swords had no weight. It's OK to be faster than normal humans but that fast with those big swords? Uhmm...I don't know.

Lastly, the griffin has to be able to perform at least one or two flying attacks. It is fine to me that Geralt has a crossbow to hit flying monsters and force them to land but it makes no point if a flying monster comes on land by its own. Not with that frequence, at least.

Swords are not heavy. That is why they don't work well on rigid armour, they have little weight and it is concentrated in the hilt area (the balance point is at or very near the cross guard, normally). An axe or hammer of the same length and weight has a lot more effect on rigid armour because the bulk of the weight is concentrated near the head... plus they tend to have twice to three times the weight (if not more), and momentum of a blow is based on the weight distribution and speed.

Swords are relatively easy to move fast, lethal cuts can be made from the wrist or elbow, and 'heavy' blows through the shoulder and back are not really needed against light armours. I think that 'around' 1 - 1.5kg is a good range for a good quality sword... with little correlation with size, and more with quality.
For this reason, the long sword, which can be used two handed if necessary is a better choice for smaller or weaker fighters than a rapier or short sword ~ they get longer reach, more control, a faster cut (with increased length and the same swing/acceleration)... the purely one handed swords need more strength and technical ability to obtain their full effectiveness.

There is no downside to the longer sword either ~ it can be used with the pommel or guard, or half-handed to stab with the point in a close fight, along with checks and kicks. (This admittedly isn't how in game Geralt fights, nor I assume typical of his fighting in the books, but *does* form a strong part of European Mediaeval Martial Arts)

 

[Rudlee]

That NPC womin he talked to after rescuing her sounded rather generic/boring/uninterested, hope only a few of them will sound like that, not digging the crossbow, combat looked a bit stiff.

I liked everything else.

 

[l4nz10]

What I didn't like:
- Hunter mode: it's too invasive, it needs to be toned down. The trails the griffin left are huge, and the red glare is way too big. They should be more subtle and less visible, I think a barely visible glow would be great.
- Crossbow's darts: first of all, the white traces should go, no need of that. A more transparent, gray trace would be nicer, just the right amount of visibility to see where the darts are going. Also, I really didn't like the fact the darts go on a descending path: it's a crossbow, it should fire darts in a nearly straight trajectory.
- Movement: Geralt should have different running animations when he is running on a plain or a descending/ascending slope. Also movements should feel more natural, in more than one occasion Geralt felt like a robot when running.
- Combat: The combat animations felt a little too wonky, they need more polishing in general. Loved the dismembering and the sign's effects though.

What I did like:
- Facial animations: absolutely nice, they are a huge step forward from W2. Great job with that.
- Enviroment: everything I seen is great, the forests, rivers, waterfalls... just awesome. Knowing this is XBone material, I cannot wait to push the graphic settings to the max on PC.

Minor complaints:
Maybe I'm becoming too demanding here but...
- Hairs: I think they should stick a little more with the surfaces they touch to appear more real, currently they seem to float around.

 

[MaxDue]

Nope I dont see anything wrong with the game to be honest, except things I already said. Just looking forward seeing finished product running with all the effects on PC.

Combat looks solid. Just kill the bugs and make world even more beautiful. W3 will have to compete against games like Uncharted 4 for best looking console game.

 

[tw3fanapp]

My critique

UI:
- the health, stamina and adrenaline bars have a clean look and are not displayed when no monsters are around
- the minimap is very detailed and you can alway see the quest goal
- the inventory looks organized and there are filters
- the discriptions dawn/clear, fiend, swallow and crossbow for instance are unneccessary
- the medallion has no effects during a fight
- in the inventory there is no comparison to equipped gear, only a symbol for "this is better"
- also the description of the items is relatively small compared to the right column where the stats are displayed, but really how many times the players look at the stats?
- in the normal HUD there is no indication about experience points and leveling up
- in the meditation tab the text about the griffin could have more contrast or be displayed on another place, because the text is written over the image

Witcher Senses:
- the bending screen effect
- the highlighting of clues, visual and audible
- Geralts comments on clues
- no time constraints using the witcher senses like 5 seconds, after that Geralt is tired for 10 seconds
- by the godling the quest marker was visible to find him, inthat case the witcher senses makes no sense
- some clues are too visible
- no VATS system to target specific body parts during monster fights

What's unclear, is how you get to the recommended potions to kill this monster. Do you have to read books or just gather three clues on a monster with you Witcher Senses?

Atmosphere
- matchin colors and light to the sceneries
- great music and audioeffects
- incredible amount of details
- smoke or fog effects
- wet shaders
- birds (and maybe other wildlife)
- great sky and clouds
- absolutely believable terrain and vegetation and city life
- text lines over NPC's floating all over the place

Combat
- signs recharge
- combat looks very fluid with the sword smashes, sign uses and crossbow or special weapon use
- finishers
- using environment like flammable gas
- distant weapon for flying monsters
- monster special attacks
- hard blow need stamina unlike fast blows
- good visibility of health bars of monsters
- blood splatters
- blood in water
- horseback combat
- enemies attacking simultaniously
- not enough strike feedback on geralt, I couldnt see when geralt took a hit
- no pirhouettes
- too much blood and gore with dismembering overall
- crossbow attached on Geralts back

Graphics / Technology
- level of detail
- distance
- animations of monsters and facial animations
- colors and light
- blood and water splatters
- physics of tangling things, hair, flora and other stuff lying around
- shadows in general
- character design and faces
- PBR
- cloth simulation
- tearing
- occasional popups
- some fur and hair (probably not all with NVIDIA Fur yet)

Dialogues / Cutscenes
- interesting and believable dialogue
- camera in cutscenes outstanding
- depth of field
- facial animations can deliver feelings accordingly
- good pacing with speaking and gestures

Music / Sound
- great fusion of medieval instruments with modern orchestra
- great soundeffects
- atmospheric sounds like frogs, birds and owls...
- seemless transition to battle music
- the yelling at the battle scene by the herbalist sounded amateurish and did not build up tension
- a little monotous using the same keynote

Additional I have to say that I am really impressed with the overall quality so far. The monster design for the royal wyvern for instance is just gorgeous.
For the Interface I like to have the option to turn features off at will.

 

[sidspyker]

Did i hear that correctly? Source? That would be great honestly. I thought of getting myself a 780Ti when the price is right though. It's just too expensive at the moment.

Yeah HairWorks is DirectCompute. They confirmed it more than a few times.

 

[Mohasz]

Spoiler

UI:
- the health, stamina and adrenaline bars have a clean look and are not displayed when no monsters are around
- the minimap is very detailed and you can alway see the quest goal
- the inventory looks organized and there are filters
- the discriptions dawn/clear, fiend, swallow and crossbow for instance are unneccessary
- the medallion has no effects during a fight
- in the inventory there is no comparison to equipped gear, only a symbol for "this is better"
- also the description of the items is relatively small compared to the right column where the stats are displayed, but really how many times the players look at the stats?
- in the normal HUD there is no indication about experience points and leveling up
- in the meditation tab the text about the griffin could have more contrast or be displayed on another place, because the text is written over the image

Witcher Senses:
- the bending screen effect
- the highlighting of clues, visual and audible
- Geralts comments on clues
- no time constraints using the witcher senses like 5 seconds, after that Geralt is tired for 10 seconds
- by the godling the quest marker was visible to find him, inthat case the witcher senses makes no sense
- some clues are too visible
- no VATS system to target specific body parts during monster fights

What's unclear, is how you get to the recommended potions to kill this monster. Do you have to read books or just gather three clues on a monster with you Witcher Senses?

Atmosphere
- matchin colors and light to the sceneries
- great music and audioeffects
- incredible amount of details
- smoke or fog effects
- wet shaders
- birds (and maybe other wildlife)
- great sky and clouds
- absolutely believable terrain and vegetation and city life
- text lines over NPC's floating all over the place

Combat
- signs recharge
- combat looks very fluid with the sword smashes, sign uses and crossbow or special weapon use
- finishers
- using environment like flammable gas
- distant weapon for flying monsters
- monster special attacks
- hard blow need stamina unlike fast blows
- good visibility of health bars of monsters
- blood splatters
- blood in water
- horseback combat
- enemies attacking simultaniously
- not enough strike feedback on geralt, I couldnt see when geralt took a hit
- no pirhouettes
- too much blood and gore with dismembering overall
- crossbow attached on Geralts back

Graphics / Technology
- level of detail
- distance
- animations of monsters and facial animations
- colors and light
- blood and water splatters
- physics of tangling things, hair, flora and other stuff lying around
- shadows in general
- character design and faces
- PBR
- cloth simulation
- tearing
- occasional popups
- some fur and hair (probably not all with NVIDIA Fur yet)

Dialogues / Cutscenes
- interesting and believable dialogue
- camera in cutscenes outstanding
- depth of field
- facial animations can deliver feelings accordingly
- good pacing with speaking and gestures

Music / Sound
- great fusion of medieval instruments with modern orchestra
- great soundeffects
- atmospheric sounds like frogs, birds and owls...
- seemless transition to battle music
- the yelling at the battle scene by the herbalist sounded amateurish and did not build up tension
- a little monotous using the same keynote

Additional I have to say that I am really impressed with the overall quality so far. The monster design for the royal wyvern for instance is just gorgeous.
For the Interface I like to have the option to turn features off at will.

Nice, I agree with almost everything.

- the yelling at the battle scene by the herbalist sounded amateurish and did not build up tension
- a little monotous using the same keynote

By this you mean the singing in the music or the "Sod off, freak!" shouted by the deserter? If the latter, I agree, it's too loud as well. And wasn't it used in TW2? I hope they won't use the same battle cry voices as in TW2, especially because they were some of the few annoying sounds in the last game. - Oh I see you meant the yelling by the girl, nevermind.
And I hope they won't reuse a lot of the NPC recordings in general (we can hear the famous "Let's go kill some monsters!" in the Novigrad demo. I don't mind if there's a few of them, but I want a fresh experience.

The same goes for the inventory which looks too much like in TW2 right now (the icon for the bombs is identical e.g.), but at least now it seems much more functional.

 

[tw3fanapp]

Nice, I agree with almost everything.

By this you mean the singing in the music or the "Sod off, freak!" shouted by the deserter? If the latter, I agree, it's too loud as well. And wasn't it used in TW2? I hope they won't use the same battle cry voices as in TW2, especially because they were some of the few annoying sounds in the last game. - Oh I see you meant the yelling by the girl, nevermind.
And I hope they won't reuse a lot of the NPC recordings in general (we can hear the famous "Let's go kill some monsters!" in the Novigrad demo. I don't mind if there's a few of them, but I want a fresh experience.

The same goes for the inventory which looks too much like in TW2 right now (the icon for the bombs is identical e.g.), but at least now it seems much more functional.

You have a point there, the shouting of the deserters is in fact too loud, but the xbox video was recorded with a lot of reverb. I meant the music though.

The repetition on the other hand could very well kill the atmosphere. I hope there is no Arrow to the Knee - joke going around after the release.

 

[Fallout_Wanderer]

*** I would also like to add this because I have not seen it mentioned or I missed it. ***
I'm assuming the different,varying moves for sword combat and evading will more than likely be within the skill tree. They have already stated there will be 96 + combat animations compared to the twenty or so from Witcher 2 .
They have also said that this time around we will have a lot more active skills rather than passive. This leads me to believe we will see many more sword animations/combinations,evasion moves and so forth. The rest of the animation and/or repetition worries I believe will be resolved with polish and refinement before release.

Take a deep breath. come on,do it. I just did,feeling better already!

I didn't see that either. If it's really the case, than i'm getting alarmed. This would be horrible. Why not just include a button named "Press X to automatically go to the next quest"?? Where is the barf icon, lads?

Thank god i can cancel my preorder at any time, if there's too much from this stuff in the PC version...

If the very short gameplay you have seen is enough to warrant you canceling your pre-order then I honestly call into question what exactly you are/were expecting and why you are here with the attitude you and a few others show from time to time. Nothing but negativity. CDPRED are busting their asses to bring us the masterpiece they want to create and that we want to play. Be a bit more patient and less unreachable expectations. Trust me,you will be better off for it. Hype kills a lot of games. I know from experience.

This has been met with no fanfare across the RPG community.

Oh really. Like where? as if they really matter. Most of these sites are full of pretentious assholes who have no clue what they are talking about. They like the sound of their own voice. I know because I have covertly spied on all of them. My detailed report is of course - Classified. I did give you a tiny hint though.

I haven't seen that famous focus / lock on target / danger camera in this demo. It looked so cool on trailers (Geralt looking at the nearest wolf or other monster or preparing to slice a siren). Where is it ? I really hope the fight will be more cinematic just like in the trailers.

I would love to see more of that as well. Geralt does look at the blood stains on the trees though. I am not positive if that only occurs while using Witcher senses or not. I need to see more gameplay and to also examine the footage we do have more closely.

Did anyone else think that women looked kind of like the one in the CGI trailer? Especially when she's got her arms folded looking down. I dunno. did they say who she was?

No,not at all. The girl from the killing monsters trailer had darker eyes and looked a bit different all around imo.Anything is possible of course.

On the topic of the Herbalist -
I personally looked at it as the girl is lonely,living out in the wilds all by herself in a savage,unforgiving ,war torn NML, (assuming of course she was alone and that there is not more to this girl than meets the eye. C'mon,this is Witcher we are talking about here.) she is almost potentially hurt/killed and gods knows what else. She was grateful to have been saved and more than likely found Geralt attractive and the notion of him coming back to check on her, gave comfort. Nothing more,nothing less. That is not to say that nothing else can become of this situation. time will tell.
Another detail - The dialogue exchange,notice he does not pick " who were they?" I think this would of led to a more in depth conversation and I'd bet a couple hundred Orens some type of Quest.

Personally, I think there's a problem if we've reached a state where a woman's smile is interpreted as an offer of sex.

Agreed. Great post Dragonbird

I agree about this part. What we saw is that Geralt quite accidentally stumbled upon a group of rogues, killed them, and some damsel in distress is instantly ready to drop her skirt and everything else for him. Given our recent sexism discussion, such behavior is NOT something I want to ever see in TW3. And in general, a woman who was assaulted and in danger, is not ready for a romance with a total stranger. A perspective of a gang rape does not bring anyone in the mood, you know, and she should be shaken up for quite some time. Making her willing, ready, and able right on a spot was bad.

I am sorry I have to disagree. I did not come to that conclusion that she was waiting and ready after this fabricated "gang rape" I understand the odds were not in her favor but still,imo,a stretch. More importantly,yes,believe it or not,there are plenty of women and men, that no matter the negative sexual attempt or action, still have the potential to be sexually interested. Not to say it is common or something I can personally explain doesn't disregard the fact it is possible and happens. This is all I will say on that subject.

Dislike
-Crossbow white streaks, camera needs to be closer in combat, (maybe an option to see oponents and than mouse wheel to get you closer)
-To much mark clues for griffin(Senses)

Everything else looks very good, i expected more movement of trees and grass but I know it would be to much for open world

I believe the crossbow recoil and white streaks needing toned down and refined is pretty much unanimous at this point. I agree.

The same goes for the Witcher senses. I think the best way for it to be implemented is making it completely optional. At the very least - 80-90% of the time with 10-20% or so with necessity of use for some unique quests that utilize the ability in creative,interesting ways.

If we are stuck using it for every single monster quest,tracking & hunting situation,ledge to climb and important quests,then for me,that is not good. As it looks now, It needs to be visually toned down and hopefully not being used as any sort of "easy mode crutch" for casual gamers new to the series and those who" just can't be bothered to do some exploring and use their brains".

The trees and foliage were not moving a lot for a few reasons:
1.) Not really the best video quality to gauge a proper opinion or scenes are moving too fast to notice.
2.) It depends on the region,altitude and so forth. Think of how windy parts of Skellige will be? I might be wrong here but from everything we've seen ,read and heard so far from CDPRED everything leads me to believe they would not leave out these kinds of details
3.) I believe the main culprit has been the weather conditions or better yet,the lack thereof. Every video we have watched up until now has had clear weather. If the "leaked" footage from Skellige with trees & foliage is anything to go by, we have nothing to worry about. The previous previews have raved about the dynamic weather and how much was happening on screen at once,with particles floating,blowing in the air and the foliage interacting to the wind realistically.

the bad-
- graphics (well it sure is better then W2 but not near what other next gen games offer, the engine donse´t show me almost nothing that i can say this is next gen, the spells effects are very poor, the game looks like a remaster like GTA 5 or TLOU) not impressive at all, we saw in e3, AC unity, batman, the order, the division, all look miles ahead, unity just looks dam real life).
- Animations...ok i don´t want to be mean here but c´mon guys that jumping and holding on the ledge looks like 2008.
- combat system looks chaotic with little tactics and more button mashing.

i´m disapointed becouse like many here my hype and hopes wore very high, with all this silent and lack of footage i was hoping the big jaw droping presentation in e3 and guess what not really impressed, and i´m not the only one, ign. gamespot, polygon other gaming sites almost din´t talk about the presention of the witcher, they are all hyped about other games

you guys need to do more and better to this game be a landmark in gaming industry, and we fans deserv it.

I do not even know where to start . No offense. You are completely entitled to your opinions but come the hell on! Are you even following and watching the same game,It is called The Witcher 3:Wild Hunt...No? phew! that's what I was thinking. it's cool bro.happens all the time. The game you were looking at and somehow got the info mixed up on,with outrageous expectations is not the same game I've been waiting for with baited breath.

BTW, this game,Witcher 3, looks fucking bonkers. More than likely GOTY 2015. Might wanna check it out,if you are into rpg games. I am sure whatever the game is that you are talking about will do okay, I guess. We will see. Stiff competition and huge difference when we are talking about Gods against men.

You had some good points I will add but some of you guys & gals are setting yourselves up for automatic failure with astronomical expectations and hype.

I should not of came at you as harsh as I did. Sorry about that. When I see comments about how ac:unity,the division and all these other games looking better,I cannot help it,it truly bothers me. Maybe I am just that hardcore and love the witcher series and Witcher 3. None of those games IMO can hold a candle to W3. Some look impressive but not one of them is looking or has the potential to be as groundbreaking,not for me at least.

CD Projekt RED are doing their very best. I honestly,sincerely believe the best is still to come.Witcher 3 is going to be stellar. There was a delay for a reason. Everything they are doing is calculated and coordinated for legitimate reasons. Come feb. 24th 2015 most if not all of our concerns will be erased. Not that I advocate or am I insinuating they will release a incomplete game but even post-release we all know they will be working their asses off even more to give us patches,dlc and the Enhanced Edition.

We all need a little patience and understanding. Constructive criticism is a wonderful tool that the developers can use. Flat out negativity, disrespect, full of doubts and borderline insults is not helping. Including ourselves,the fans and gamers looking forward to the finished product. I know I sure as hell wouldn't want to be a dev looking at some of these exaggerated complaints. It can hurt morale for some individuals,potentially taking things the wrong way.U;timately doing the opposite of what is intended.

I apologize for the rant or if I offended anyone. Some posts are depressing and completely unwarranted in my humble opinion. Please, let us be considerate of one another and the developers who are creating the game we all are here because we enjoy and love the series,universe and lore.

so her we go-
View attachment 3949

-To much senses marks, not only on jump place, but even on the hill slope

View attachment 3950I

Tree in background looks really odd (maybe it's a landmark but on top of mountain ,strange and somehow out of place)

Is that the huge Tree from the concept art awhile back? With one image showing the landscape burning and desolated ?
Not so sure,does look different in-game hmmmm.

I agree with you about the Witcher sense and climbable objects. Then again, you can argue that it is optional. We do not have to activate the W.S. unless we are absolutely lost and dumbfounded,then before a headache sets in,click/push and wallah. Not sure how I feel abut this though.You bring up a valid point.

P.S. - I read the entire thread,along the way I noticed many posters remarking about the lack of wildlife. Well.for everyone who missed it,as I did myself a few times - If you rewatch the twitch stream,the alternative version of the Microsoft conf. with the Griffin/Gryphon chase,right after Geralt leaves meditation,to his right through the trees positioned below where the griffin is,you will see a white blip circle,looks like a deer. When Geralt is coming around the hill right before he shoots the crossbow,you will notice a few animals to you're left,another deer and what might be either a rabbit or another small type of animal(s).

 

[ONLY_ONCE]

Yeah HairWorks is DirectCompute. They confirmed it more than a few times.

Sorry for asking, but is there still a chance that we will still get some hairworks on consoles. Because I didn't see it in the xbone demo.??

 

[The_Crow.410]

What i like:
The combat it looks fluid and faster,yes its right that some animations need to be polish,but if i´m not bad they are still working in animations,right?
The living world
Witcher sense
The dialogues
The facial expressions
Johnny
Geralt´s beard
The graphics

What i don´t like
The running walking animations
Tearing

 

[sidspyker]

Sorry for asking, but is there still a chance that we will still get some hairworks on consoles. Because I didn't see it in the xbone demo.??

Based on what I've read I don't think so but HairWorks hasn't been shown yet at all as far as I can tell it looks like regular hair except it's well animated, so the hair you've seen in the demos so far will be there on consoles I reckon.

 

[SoullessMadness]

View attachment 4235 I want this face for Geralt. Make me happy.

 

[ONLY_ONCE]

Based on what I've read I don't think so but HairWorks hasn't been shown yet at all as far as I can tell it looks like regular hair except it's well animated, so the hair you've seen in the demos so far will be there on consoles I reckon.

Watch the other horse demo again.. the griffin trophy has hairworks. I just hope it comes to consoles too that's all.

 

[sidspyker]

Watch the other horse demo again..

And which one is... "horse demo"?

 

[ONLY_ONCE]

And which one is... "horse demo"?

the ign demo I believe, it's the only one with Geralt on the horse going into the city. Sorry I would post it but I'm on my 360 right now.

 

[Vigilance.492]

Sorry for asking, but is there still a chance that we will still get some hairworks on consoles. Because I didn't see it in the xbone demo.??

I'm going to go ahead and say 99.99% not. There's still 8 months and a lot of optimizing can be done in that time, but I doubt they're going to push the Graphics on the X1 much further than it already is. It'll mostly be working on keeping the Framerate steady, reducing pop-in, bug fixing etc.

Hairworks seems like a feature that will simply be too straining for probably both consoles. John Mamais also mentioned in the Eurogamer interview that the extra "Ultra" setting for PC would include the Hair/Fur Tech.

I hope I'm wrong, but at the very least I definitely wouldn't be getting my hopes up for the Hairworks stuff if you're planning to play the game on a Console.

 

[jonesy1138]

It wasn't shown in the E3 demo but I really hope they have developed a good persuasion/intimidation system for the game this time around. The diplomacy system in TW2 was unbelievably rudimentary for an RPG, especially compared to the one used in Deus Ex: HR which was released a few months after TW2.