The Witcher custom content reviews and walkthroughs

[Wizd3m]

The Witcher custom content reviews and walkthroughs

Hey guys!

I recently had the urge to play through the custom content available for The Witcher, and noticed that there appears to be very little information on the available adventures outside this forum. Seeing as how my hobby consists of writing reviews and recording walkthrougs of various user-generated material for but my favourite PC titles, I took this opportunity to do just that. Having written and recorded all I wanted for what I believe to be the first adventure released (What a Man Needs), I simply thought to share what I have in case you might be interested.

(This one's for you Flix! Sorry it took so long, and thanks for the support, bud!)
Medical Problems Review: Coming Soon!
Medical Problems Video part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YDbUe2h7fY

Damn Those Swamps! Revew: http://themasterfoundry.com/the-witcher-damn-those-swamps/
Damn Those Swamps! Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W55TEZSGwNI

John's Diary Review: Coming Soon!
John's Diary Video: http://youtu.be/_UkW3beAfBo?list=UUry1op01bJeIXDItcTT0GrA

Wraiths of Quiet Hamlet Review: Coming Soon!
Wraiths of Quiet Hamlet Video part 1: http://youtu.be/mX9waMhnUf0?list=UUry1op01bJeIXDItcTT0GrA
Wraiths of Quiet Hamlet Video part 2: http://youtu.be/0o3FBCdjNiU?list=UUry1op01bJeIXDItcTT0GrA
Wraiths of Quiet Hamlet Video part 3: http://youtu.be/25BBjXazNcU?list=UUry1op01bJeIXDItcTT0GrA

Yennefer's Valentine Review: Coming Soon!
Yennefer's Valentine Video: http://youtu.be/1uH--QQqxGc

Graveyard Party Review: Coming Soon!
Graveyard Party Video: http://youtu.be/1Qj2hX_8ezU

The Wedding Review: Coming Soon!
The Wedding Video part 1: http://youtu.be/oANtUTdtSew
The Wedding Video part 2: http://youtu.be/xKFAQfVY8f0
The Wedding Video part 3: http://youtu.be/VpractZNZhU

Evil Decision Review: Coming Soon!
Evil Decision Video part 1: http://youtu.be/_W13KlPBniA
Evil Decision Video part 2: http://youtu.be/p4ZdKcUz0u0
Evil Decision Video part 3: http://youtu.be/QNQqMmfsZ1o
Evil Decision Video part 4: http://youtu.be/lz7RP5UVZrI

Red Silk Review: http://themasterfoundry.com/the-witcher-red-silk/
Red Silk Video part 1: http://youtu.be/iZNYvBTYOfI
Red Silk Video part 2: http://youtu.be/jtobn6udt3c
Red Silk Video part 3: http://youtu.be/tFXxFHfgBMc

Deception Review: http://themasterfoundry.com/the-witcher-deception/
Deception Video: http://youtu.be/luhicGPi0VY

What a Man Needs Review: http://themasterfoundry.com/the-witcher-what-a-man-needs/
What a Man Needs Video: http://youtu.be/WTV7LvgG_xk

My ultimate goal is to cover all the available fan content for this wonderful series and help their creators by spreading the word of their work. Finally, though it's just a hobby, I strive to improve with every piece of content I release. If you have any comments or criticisms, provided it's constructive and not mean-spirited, please share and I promise to listen.

Wizd3m

...oh and if this is the wrong section for me to post this, or if I'm not allowed to do so at all on this forum for whatever reason, I apologise.

 

[bengeddes]

Damn that's awesome of you. That will be an impressive endeavor if you do them all - there are 21 adventures and they will require many, many hours of your time to play in total. I wish such a thing existed when I set out to play adventures for TW1. There are nice detailed reviews for some of them but they're scattered around the web.

I wrote reviews myself for all 21 of them - check my signature for the link. It's not a very well-known guide as I wrote it only a few months ago. The reviews also aren't super extensive, just a nice paragraph for each. I always meant to add screenshot galleries for each but I'm stuck in a rural area right now with DSL so uploads are soooo slow. Uploading videos are out of the question for me, so kudos to you.

Anyway, good luck. I also recommend you try to play the shortest/smallest ones first (for the most part this will mirror the chronological order). There's much less chance of getting bogged down.

 

[Wizd3m]

Damn that's awesome of you. That will be an impressive endeavor if you do them all - there are 21 adventures and they will require many, many hours of your time to play in total. I wish such a thing existed when I set out to play adventures for TW1. There are nice detailed reviews for some of them but they're scattered around the web.

I wrote reviews myself for all 21 of them - check my signature for the link. It's not a very well-known guide as I wrote it only a few months ago. The reviews also aren't super extensive, just a nice paragraph for each. I always meant to add screenshot galleries for each but I'm stuck in a rural area right now with DSL so uploads are soooo slow. Uploading videos are out of the question for me, so kudos to you.

Anyway, good luck. I also recommend you try to play the shortest/smallest ones first (for the most part this will mirror the chronological order). There's much less chance of getting bogged down.

Hey Flixster and thank you so much for your comment!

I'm definitely going to try and cover all the 21 adventures, I just wish I had more time to dedicate to them between school, work and the rest. Part of my reason for doing this is actually your set of reviews that I've looked at extensively and really enjoyed! If it wasn't for them, I wouldn't even know where to start, so thank you! And I'm also hoping to play the shorter adventures first, as I can get through and write about them quicker. That should also help generate some buzz, though I'll still stick to my chronological order regardless.

Finally, if there's anything you'd like to see me add to my reviews/walkthroughs, by all means share. Also, if you have any criticisms about what I've posted so far, please let me know so i can try and improve things for the future. I'd really appreciate the feedback.

Anyway, thanks again and I guess I'll just keep posting updates to this thread if it's alright with the moderators.

 

[bengeddes]

Sorry it took so long to reply. I've read and watched all the stuff you posted. Great work! I've never heard of The Master Foundry before now but I bookmarked it and I'll be keeping an eye on it.

Thoughts on "On the Hunt Intro":

-It's good to see not just praise for the game but also praise for CDPR, who really do inspire loyalty and kick ass.

-Don't feel too bad about losing the increased difficulty of FCR. You'll have some easy moments, but when the mods get hard they get HARD.

-I should also note that most of the optional FCR/FlashMod tweaks (increased stack sizes, visible wounds, walk in OTS mode, 1st person camera, toggle HUD, changes to the mouse cursor) all work just fine with fan adventures. I leave these installed all the time. It's the core changes that really throw things out of whack (not just with balance but with story progression too) and should definitely not be installed.

-I too have never fired up D'jinni but I remember a modder saying that building new maps from scratch was next to impossible, and that they could only edit existing ones. So, every adventure will use familiar maps from the game. The real treat is seeing how much the mod-makers transform those maps into new places. The one exception to this is "Deception," and I think RedFlame got some special resources from CDPR or something to make a unique map.

About "What a Man Needs":

I'm not a big fan of this adventure really and I agree with your rating. It feels really sloppy, especially compared to what came later, and the content doesn't click with me. I don't have much good to say about it other than it made me laugh, especially at the end when Triss is screaming at Arkray for making the mod. And I actually think he did get a lot of hateful feedback after making it. But it was a pioneer adventure after all, and you certainly gave it its due with a solid, thorough review.

I can't say that there's anything you should do differently with the reviews. It's your project and it's looking fine to me. It was pleasant to watch. I don't know how much hype this will get since it seems the heyday of TW1 modding has passed, but I'll do what I can to spread the word.

All in all, this was really great to see. Looking forward to the continuation.

 

[Wizd3m]

No worries Flixster, thank you for taking a look.

And thank you once more for all the wonderful feedback, I really appreciate it! I'll see about using some of those optional FCR tweaks you mention, as I did find them quite useful in the campaign. Glad to hear they're compatible with the adventures. And it's good to know about D'jinni, I'll keep that in mind for future reviews. Also, I wanted to ask you about the polish only adventures briefly described in your list of TW1 fan made content. Are they worth playing? How about if you don't speak the language?

 

[bengeddes]

I think the two Polish-only adventures (King of Beggars and Stan wyjątkowy) have been lost, so I didn't review them. I guess they're included in the master list just to let people know that at some point they existed. Even if I could find them I doubt I could play them without a translation.

 

[Wizd3m]

Oh I see, well that's ok, I have plenty more quests to take on. If I do happen to stumble upon them though, I'll be sure to write something about them. Thanks again Flixster! I'll get to playing through the next adventure soon. As you've probably noticed, I like to mix things up with a variety of user made content reviews for my writing not to go stale. There's just so much good fan material out there!

 

[Rustine]

I think the two Polish-only adventures (King of Beggars and Stan wyjątkowy) have been lost

Lost? Here they are:
http://www.moddb.com/downloads/krl-ebrakw
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0Bwtl_njWyYyMZjhDRjg4NjR4WVE/edit?usp=sharing

 

[bengeddes]

Lost? Here they are:
http://www.moddb.com/downloads/krl-ebrakw
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0Bwtl_njWyYyMZjhDRjg4NjR4WVE/edit?usp=sharing

Oh, cool. According to the sticky thread with the master list of links there was no source for them. I didn't really bother hunting for them since I personally wouldn't be able to play them anyway. You should let some mod know so they can add the links to the download thread.

 

[Wizd3m]

Sweet! Maybe I'll check them out after all, learn some polish

 

[Wizd3m]

I've been thinking, in order to significantly speed up content upload rate, I could post my written reviews and video walkthroughs consecutively rather than simultaneously. For instance, I could have the next Witcher adventure review out by the end of the day, but the video will only be ready when I get back from Fan Expo. Thoughts?

EDIT: For now, I see no reason why I shouldn't upload the text before the video, as this way, I get to bring you some content sooner. So here's Deception, a big step-up from my initial venture into The Witcher's custom library. Expect the video on Monday, once I return from Fan Expo. Thank you for reading and feedback is greatly appreciated, as always.

Deception review: http://themasterfoundry.com/review/tw1-adventure-deception/

 

[Sam44]

Good review, Its good to see a more critically approached review for big mods like these, comprising the gameplay and design stuff.
Would be cool if you do some W2 stuff too when the REDkit modding truly kicks off.

 

[bengeddes]

Great read. Posting the text first is a nice way to build anticipation for the video, and keep a more steady stream of content.

I'll be interested to see how you solved the mystery. I'm not sure I ever really got it right.

Also, the quality of your screenshots look really damn good. You must be using the high-res texture mods - I can tell because the tips of Geralt's hair looks kinda weird and blocky...otherwise it's a great improvement on visuals though. Are you doing anything else with your graphics settings to make it look that good?

 

[Wizd3m]

Good review, Its good to see a more critically approached review for big mods like these, comprising the gameplay and design stuff.
Would be cool if you do some W2 stuff too when the REDkit modding truly kicks off.

Thank you Red0oG, really happy to see people enjoying the reviews so far. I definitely plan to write about The Witcher 2 and even 3 fan content at some point, it's just a matter of time. Hope to see you around the site />

Great read. Posting the text first is a nice way to build anticipation for the video, and keep a more steady stream of content.

I'll be interested to see how you solved the mystery. I'm not sure I ever really got it right.

Also, the quality of your screenshots look really damn good. You must be using the high-res texture mods - I can tell because the tips of Geralt's hair looks kinda weird and blocky...otherwise it's a great improvement on visuals though. Are you doing anything else with your graphics settings to make it look that good?

Thank you Flixster, much appreciated /> And yea, I'm using a SweetFX preset I found online for The Witcher to make the game look better, on top of the highres texture packs. The thing is, SweetFX only looks better in some cases with this game. didn't use it at all in my first video, but I'll be sure to explain it better in this next one, and maybe even play with it enabled. I'll also link to the tool and preset when I complete the video, if anyone wants to check it out.

Anyway, I should have more later today, though the actual time it takes to upload the video may push it until tomorrow. Either way, please stay tuned /> and thanks again!

 

[Wizd3m]

Took forever to upload, but here it is

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luhicGPi0VY

 

[bengeddes]

Great job on another video! Yeah, I never solved this one correctly. Every time I played it someone ended up running outside and dying. It was actually somewhat more interesting than the "correct" ending.

Speaking of which, what is it with mod authors' inability to make endings to their mods? You may notice this trend as you play on. Some nail it, but others...not so much. The beginning of Deception seemed to promise an epic adventure, I mean it had that long cinematic montage and then all the opening slides with Geralt's gritty narration. Then 30 minutes later, you solve a little mystery and Geralt just looks at Dandelion, shrugs, and- roll credits!

I can't wait for you to play Corylea's and Fantasta's adventures. They have some of the most satisfying story-telling of all the authors.

It strikes me how thorough you have been with each video. They were a full playthroughs both - what are you gonna do when you get to the big adventures? Make an 8 hour video and split it up?

Nice to know about SweetFX. I noticed better contrast and anti-aliasing. I couldn't really watch it in higher resolution because of low bandwidth. Where it really shined for me was your screenshots.

So it looks like Red Silk is next? Good luck on that one - this is the one adventure I could never finish, so I'm actually looking forward to the review for multiple reasons this time.

 

[Wizd3m]

Thank you as always Flixster. It's so nice to see someone enjoying what I do. I was also a little surprised by the effort that went into the intro in comparison to the finale, especially for a relatively short mission. Maybe they just wanted to get it out there and move on to other projects.

As for the longer upcoming adventures, I don't think I really have a choice but to do what you suggest, uploading parts. I'd really hate to do otherwise, and I'd rather take my time and release something in its entirety.

Anyway, I should be back soon enough with the next one, and as always appreciate the feedback.

 

[Wizd3m]

Wow Flixter, you weren't kidding about this one.

Red Silk Review: http://themasterfoundry.com/review/tw1-adventure-red-silk/
Red Silk Video: http://youtu.be/iZNYvBTYOfI

 

[bengeddes]

Ha! You actually finished this one. Great review. I think your first sentence sums it perfectly: "highly entertaining albeit often dysfunctional." Watching the video now...I'm curious to see how far I actually made it through this one before I gave up.

 

[Wizd3m]

Ha! You actually finished this one. Great review. I think your first sentence sums it perfectly: "highly entertaining albeit often dysfunctional." Watching the video now...I'm curious to see how far I actually made it through this one before I gave up.

Thank you Flix! Here's part 2 of the video walkthrough for Red Silk. Part 3 should be up soon too, this one's a long sucker. http://youtu.be/jtobn6udt3c

EDIT: and part 3: http://youtu.be/tFXxFHfgBMc

Also, if you want, check out my new little trailer that I compiled for the channel: http://youtu.be/ApffkkYb1lg