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Only thing I noticed so far is some texture pop in at weird times, like it will start a cutscene before it's fully rendered the scene and so textures will go from ugly to pretty mid conversation sometimes. Besides that, everything seems really well done so far. Interesting characters, and I don't think I've heard the same voice twice, although a few do sound similar.
Like MechDeus said, get in the habit of striking and then rolling out of the way. Also, unlike other RPGs where alchemy and using anything other than life/magic-replenishing potions is largely pointless, it actually serves a purpose in this game. Using them to regularly buff yourself can make fighting a lot more manageable. So get in the habit of grabbing whatever ingredients you come across and keeping your reserves well-stocked. And I know this is the basics of the basics, but make sure you're using the correct sword for the job. A surprising number of people wonder why their silver sword sucks against human enemies and vice versa.Quote:
Originally Posted by icarusfall
This game is really kick ass. I just arrived at Flotsam so I'm not even far into it but I'm loving it so far. This is the game I was hoping for when I bought Oblivion, great stuff.
It's getting pretty fucking irritating figuring out what to do in Chapter 2. The town is laid out like shit and the way points are terrible. Other than that it's pretty rad.
Once you remember which doors and paths take you to the other parts of the city, Vergen isn't that bad. One of the things I really like about the game is that it doesn't hold your hand the entire way like some of the more recent RPGs have. Sort of a throwback to how RPGs (even the Japanese variants) used to be. There's no golden pathways or giant arrows pointing to the next objective. You need to pay attention during conversations, keep an eye on your journal and solve problems logically instead of the game doing all the work for you and just pointing the stick in whatever direction it tells you to.
It's been amusing watching people cry about the combat in Witcher 2. I've actually seen people compare it to Dark Souls.
Is the stuff labeled junk literally just throwaway stuff you can pick up, or can it be used for crafting later? I got a grappling hook and felt really bad selling it off because I figured there would be some use for it, but it's labeled as junk, so...
It is literally just junk to be sold. I think the iron frame is the only thing that can actually be used for crafting (for a kayran trap).
Dice poker is the worst.
Luckily it's entirely optional I think. It got me some easy money and a 30 point achievement, not to mention some XP for getting certain items.
Ugh, that five of a kind achievement is a bitch. I've played a lot more dice poker than I really want to trying to get that to pop.
The Kayran is awesome looking.
I had to play Dice Poker to get a quest item in Veyran.
I need to play this more than I have. Just beat the Kayran.
That's the best fight in the game. I wish the other boss battles were as clever as that one.Quote:
Originally Posted by Korly
That does not bode well if true, why have the coolest fight at the start of the game? The kayran killed me about 12 times before I realized what to do, then he didn't even hit me. Same thing happened with the Letho fight. Trial and error I guess.
I think the Witcher 2 might be totally inversed since the last fight is as dumb as the first is neat. But there are much better reasons to play this game than the boss fights.
Indeed, the last fight is silly and also totally optional.Quote:
Originally Posted by MechDeus
Started a new game on Dark mode, man, it got a lot tougher! I like the inclusion of the special armor/weapon sets in each chapter, but it takes some serious coin to get the diagrams/materials/craft the items, and the game isn't very good at rewarding you with money. I'm at the point where I can go fight the Kayran again but I'm trying to do all the quests so I can hit 35 by the end, and I've encountered my first wraiths at this difficulty and they are fucking bastards. Hoping to clear Act 1 tonight after I try a few things to get past the wraiths, I can't wait to try the other parts of the story that I didn't get the first time. This game is so well done, even with its rough spots.
Are you talking about the rival guy or the dragon? I was referring to the latter which I didn't think was optional. The other one, yeah, but I think I talked my way out of it and skipped it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Pineapple
Oh yeah I meant the actual last fight, the latter you mentionIed is definitely not optional, but how you choose to end it is I decided to not kill it, I was trying to "be nice" on that playthrough.
I could justify it either way despite also being a good guy, but I think I did the same.
I'm trying to go through this time being a dick to everyone, and I still find myself talking out of some fights. Its tough to be evil all the time.
A lot of it is ambiguous enough that you could probably rationalize the major decisions both ways for each outcome. Like the leader of the first village is a completely horrible person, but is also doing something really good through his greed and corruption by providing for a lot of other people. If you're evil you could let him live because he's also an asshole and profit off him, or kill him because it would be fun and hurt a lot of others. If you're good you could let him live because you don't want to kill people unless necessary and it would help a lot of other people, or you could kill him because he's a horrible person and the ones living off him should be able to eventually handle their own problems.
If you're going to RP it it's better to think about what personality traits Geralt would have and abide by those, instead of strictly good and evil like Bioware does.
Agreed, and I really enjoy that sort of moral ambiguity in this game, its very well done.
Finished crafting the Blasphemer's Set last night, holy shit its awesome. Getting all the ingredients wasn't as troublesome as I thought it may be, and once completed it makes Dark mode a breeze. Both swords deal good damage with a chance of instant kill, plus both give you health while hacking it off foes. The armor itself boosts resistances like crazy (85% fire, big portion for others) while boosting sign damage, Vitality and equip load. Made it possible to launch into the middle of a group of 7 guys and come out with full health a few seconds later. So cool! Iorveth's path starts tonight.
If you happen to have the GOG version of The Witcher 2, the art book has been updated with a higher quality version that also includes the new areas from the Enhanced Edition.
Mod tools inc: http://en.thewitcher.com/community/entry/275
Best developer ever.
In a world where Valve exists this is a false statement.Quote:
Originally Posted by Yoshi
I'd call that a dead heat. You'll never see a day one DRM free Valve game, but you also won't see The Witcher on Mac and Linux. Both have free DLC, and both make awesome games. Hell, even GOG and Steam are the pinnacles of DD for different reasons.Quote:
Originally Posted by Opaque
Yeah but the day the Wither DLC comes out will the main game be on sale for 75% off?
That's irrelevant, because I'll buy every Valve and CD Projekt Red game day one.Quote:
Originally Posted by Opaque
It was like half off, anyway.Quote:
Originally Posted by Opaque
I agree with Yoshi's statement. CD Projekt does everything right.
If we're just talking about stuff to support their fans like no DRM and offering huge free updates, I agree. If we're talking about their actual games then they still have a ways to go.
This thread reminded me that I'd like to see Valve handle an RPG. Or maybe a Deus Ex-style immersive sim.
That could be cool, though if they did I wish they would get over their character-is-a-disembodied-camera-box. Or did they have that in Portal? I think they might've but I don't really recall.
Both Portal games still feature this as the main character: Attachment 66636
But the characters in the Left 4 Dead games have legs and everything.
Only the first one.
I can't say it has ever bothered me, though.
It actually bothers me more in Valve games than in most FPS. Valve tends to like throwing in platforming and other types of challenges that require precision, which would really benefit from being able to see exactly where you are standing.
You can shoot at a Portal at the wall if you want to see yourself.Quote:
Originally Posted by bVork
Yeah, I know I responded to a two month old post.
Oh, right: Mod tools early next year.
But you can't look down and see your own legs. Which I think is actually a significant problem, because Portal involves a lot of careful positioning. Dishonored does this too! Argh!Quote:
Originally Posted by dave is ok
Not once have I played either game and wished I could see my feet. I've never really understood that complaint for anything but a few old and very platformy games. New stuff is a lot more friendly when it comes to ledge positioning.
I find it freakish and weird, like in HL2 when you're driving the buggy and there's pedals and a steering wheel and you can see right through the vehicle... but nothing's there. It makes me feel like I'm playing as The King of the Moon and using mind control powers to move around.
It isn't just about being able to see your feet, it's about the way your whole body and the camera itself animates. Mirror's Edge is a great example of how giving the player a body lent a great sense of physicality not normally present in first-person games. That game wouldn't have been as good otherwise.
Dishonored actually did a good job with the camera animation, but your arms look ridiculous the way they're fixed in place and clearly not attached to anything. It does break the illusion of being a person in the game world.
I just see it as another of those videogamey things that doesn't affect me in the least, even in the most immersive (for lack of a better word) games. Other examples: No hands to hold shit in HL2, practically every small object in Dishonored is baked into the geometry. It's nice when a game goes out of its way to break those conventions though!
edit: I think I just have a high tolerance for jank.
It honestly doesn't bother me in most games, but in games like Dishonored where you're playing this very physical character, I think it would add a lot.
I actually disagree with bVork about Portal, though, you can't have feet obscuring your view in that game, especially considering the frequency with which you have to shoot where you're about to land.
I really don't care much about the whole "disembodied head" thing, as it's a very minor aesthetic quibble. It does become noticeable on games with lighting effects where an enemy can project a shadow, but the player can't. It's even weirder in games with selectable viewpoints where in 3'rd person mode your avatar projects a shadow, but not in first person. I imagine it's more to do with resource management rather than lazy programming.
It's both. Making convincing first person animations is tough, and they have to be made specifically to be viewed in first person or it won't look right. Try looking for videos of Mirror's Edge or Dead Island in third person to see what I mean.
Oh man, I wish I never did this.Quote:
Originally Posted by epmode
Unfinished as it is I think it gives a much better sense of the player character occupying actual space in the world than the armed camera box ever did.Most of the glaring flaws are because the torso generally doesn't move but they still animate the arms and legs as though it is. There's really not many animations which would be that out of place if the rest of the body had been "finished."Quote:
Originally Posted by epmode
Witcher 2 SDK: http://redkit.cdprojektred.com/
The site is probably down at the moment.
So this game is getting a full combat overhaul complete with new animations: http://forums.cdprojektred.com/threa...at-Rebalance-2
Full changelog is here: http://forums.cdprojektred.com/threa...ull=1#post2348
However, it's being released as a mod put together by a developer currently working on The Witcher 3. It's free, of course. June 20.
CDPR is so rad.
...and its up! I have yet to fully play the game..yes I know..for shame! Now with this patch I think its time to finally play the entire game. I'll start from the very beginning.
Overhaul patch download!
Mirror: http://wpc.4d7d.edgecastcdn.net/004D...ds/TW2_FCR.zip
I still haven't played through Iorveth's path. This gives me a good excuse to reinstall!
It's kind of weird but I didn't really get all the love for the Witcher games until I kept seeing the Witcher 3 trailer a bunch of times over and thought it looked really cool.
So in some reverse way it got me to want to pick up Witcher 2 for 360.....and I WILL!
Witcher 1 is terrible. I heard it got a cool story and all but plays like chapped ass.
Witcher 2 is much better.
Good enough endorsement of 2 for me!
I really don't like the combat overhaul. It adds more problems than it solves. Instead of combat being a rollfest, now it's simply a matter of doing Aard/Igni -> hit -> dodge. This makes combat feel slower and less responsive, as you don't really think about positioning anymore and just have to focus on breaking defences. Autoparry seems worthless against more than one or maybe two foes, and the majority of the combat in the game is against multiple opponents. It seems like active quen only works some of the time. Combos seem to break if you have the analogue stick pressed while attacking. I don't think the modder took into account friendly spellcasters when creating the new AOE effects, as characters like Triss seem quite happy to catch you in an Igni AOE and kill you. And there are shitload of bugs: Geralt ended up in the Jesus pose at least a half dozen times in my brief play with the mod.
This actually has me really worried about Witcher 3. I can't tell if the problems are due to the mod trying to deviate too far from the original combat within an engine that can't handle such drastic changes, or if this designer really does think all of these changes are beneficial and we will see them in the third game.
Well this is basically an official fan mod. I think there's a reason they didn't make these changes part of a proper patch.