The Weather of The Witcher 3
NOTE: This thread is not meant to insult, cause a graphics or console war, act as troll/flame bait, attack any individuals, users, mods, or devs, or dismiss the game in its entirety in any way. Rather, this is an informative little piece created using only fact and my experiences with the game after extensive gameplay focusing on this topic (watching rain for 30 minutes in a dozen different regions/locations on the map to properly evoke the scientific method and confirm a thesis). I am always open to constructive arguments and criticism, but I wish to not be dragged into a war. If you find my post to be unacceptable or in violation of a forum rule, please report the thread, PM me, or notify a moderator, but please refrain from attacking me in this thread itself.
The Weather of Witcher 3
Is anyone else kinda..underwhelmed by the rain and precipitation n the game? I mean, this "beautiful dynamic weather system” is one of the main advertising points, yet..everything about it is off.
I don’t know if this is necessarily a “graphics” thing. Just like how physx smoke, water tessellation..those aren’t “graphical” things like textures, lighting and models.
But it is a large LARGE issue in a game that relies so much on ambience.
The rain particles themselves are weird. They all flow in a uniform diagonal angle that is just really realign strange. The drops themselves slow down and curve a bit before hitting the ground. It doesn’t even look like the effects are hitting the ground. Rather they slow down and “dissipate”.
The shaders are terrible. The water impact effect on land is very very uninspired, with each little ripple looking flat, slow motion, and uniform. (each effect is the same exact small little expanding circle-and an insult to injury is how slow the effects play out). There is no 3d impact effect, which is incredibly disappointing. Many MANY open world games in the past half decade have been able to achieve something of this sort.
The combination of awkward, slow rain effects with awkward, slow shaders makes the rain seem..well..slow, awkward, and immersion breaking.
I am trying to say that the rain effects occurring on the ground and the ones occurring in the air look disconnected.
Rain drops clip through many walls and barriers.
The drops themselves are low resolution and strangely "white", not translucent like they should be.
The “trickle down” effect on walls during rain are horrendous, flat looking, and once again, weirdly slow motion. Slow seems to be a pattern here.
The trickle effect occurs on ALL walls during a storm, even the ones protected by ceilings or other barriers, except for big main buildings and points of interest, or buildings with doors. But, like, an area about 10 feet wide under a stone arch during a storm, the walls on the inside are covered with water.
Water impact effects on other bodies of water are completely missing to begin with.
Shadow of Mordor and GTA5 are games with exceptional weather and rain systems. The drops are properly lit. The particles hit the ground with satisfying 3d effects.
I find that a pattern in Witcher 3 is how flat everything can get. The shaders really are quite…underdeveloped for a next gen game, even a game of this size.
Then the snow is a separate issue. Mostly because there is no shader on the terrain for snow impact, making snow look like it is clipping through the floor. The particles themselves, once again, are barely even “particles”. Rather, most of them I have found to be pretty blatant large white hexagon and circles .
The flurries have no depth to them, while in earlier trailers the wind accurately carried snow particles in differing directions and speeds.
The weather effects are uniformly..slow, awkward, unrealistic, and curiously inept.
Luckily, a clear pattern is present, so fixing it is that much easier.
If worse comes to worse and this isn’t fixed in a patch, hopefully someone will decide to mod it. I have seen plenty of brilliant Skyrim mods pertaining to rain.
Thank you all for reading. I bolded the main facts and points I noticed in my research for convenience. This thread is meant to inform, and if we get a nice, constructive discussion going, it may even get the attention of some RED developer-gods who have the power to change the course of history itself!
---------- Updated at 03:56 AM ----------
Really? Did you really have to give my thread 1 star simply because you disagree, and not even comment on why you disagree?
Wonderful bunch you all are.
NOTE: This thread is not meant to insult, cause a graphics or console war, act as troll/flame bait, attack any individuals, users, mods, or devs, or dismiss the game in its entirety in any way. Rather, this is an informative little piece created using only fact and my experiences with the game after extensive gameplay focusing on this topic (watching rain for 30 minutes in a dozen different regions/locations on the map to properly evoke the scientific method and confirm a thesis). I am always open to constructive arguments and criticism, but I wish to not be dragged into a war. If you find my post to be unacceptable or in violation of a forum rule, please report the thread, PM me, or notify a moderator, but please refrain from attacking me in this thread itself.
The Weather of Witcher 3
Is anyone else kinda..underwhelmed by the rain and precipitation n the game? I mean, this "beautiful dynamic weather system” is one of the main advertising points, yet..everything about it is off.
I don’t know if this is necessarily a “graphics” thing. Just like how physx smoke, water tessellation..those aren’t “graphical” things like textures, lighting and models.
But it is a large LARGE issue in a game that relies so much on ambience.
The rain particles themselves are weird. They all flow in a uniform diagonal angle that is just really realign strange. The drops themselves slow down and curve a bit before hitting the ground. It doesn’t even look like the effects are hitting the ground. Rather they slow down and “dissipate”.
The shaders are terrible. The water impact effect on land is very very uninspired, with each little ripple looking flat, slow motion, and uniform. (each effect is the same exact small little expanding circle-and an insult to injury is how slow the effects play out). There is no 3d impact effect, which is incredibly disappointing. Many MANY open world games in the past half decade have been able to achieve something of this sort.
The combination of awkward, slow rain effects with awkward, slow shaders makes the rain seem..well..slow, awkward, and immersion breaking.
I am trying to say that the rain effects occurring on the ground and the ones occurring in the air look disconnected.
Rain drops clip through many walls and barriers.
The drops themselves are low resolution and strangely "white", not translucent like they should be.
The “trickle down” effect on walls during rain are horrendous, flat looking, and once again, weirdly slow motion. Slow seems to be a pattern here.
The trickle effect occurs on ALL walls during a storm, even the ones protected by ceilings or other barriers, except for big main buildings and points of interest, or buildings with doors. But, like, an area about 10 feet wide under a stone arch during a storm, the walls on the inside are covered with water.
Water impact effects on other bodies of water are completely missing to begin with.
Shadow of Mordor and GTA5 are games with exceptional weather and rain systems. The drops are properly lit. The particles hit the ground with satisfying 3d effects.
I find that a pattern in Witcher 3 is how flat everything can get. The shaders really are quite…underdeveloped for a next gen game, even a game of this size.
Then the snow is a separate issue. Mostly because there is no shader on the terrain for snow impact, making snow look like it is clipping through the floor. The particles themselves, once again, are barely even “particles”. Rather, most of them I have found to be pretty blatant large white hexagon and circles .
The flurries have no depth to them, while in earlier trailers the wind accurately carried snow particles in differing directions and speeds.
The weather effects are uniformly..slow, awkward, unrealistic, and curiously inept.
Luckily, a clear pattern is present, so fixing it is that much easier.
If worse comes to worse and this isn’t fixed in a patch, hopefully someone will decide to mod it. I have seen plenty of brilliant Skyrim mods pertaining to rain.
Thank you all for reading. I bolded the main facts and points I noticed in my research for convenience. This thread is meant to inform, and if we get a nice, constructive discussion going, it may even get the attention of some RED developer-gods who have the power to change the course of history itself!
---------- Updated at 03:56 AM ----------
Really? Did you really have to give my thread 1 star simply because you disagree, and not even comment on why you disagree?
Wonderful bunch you all are.
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