"The Witcher" by CD Projekt

[SpaceAlex]

I had assumed that they didn't want to insult our intelligence by spoon-feeding it to us.

 

Yeah, they probably wanted us to feel good about ourselves for figuring out the mystery.

 

IIRC, it was something like, "Oh, come on. You know you love her" followed by a few dialog choices. It may have only been unlocked via another dialog choice or something though. Who knows?

 

I'll have to pay more attention to it in my next playthrough.

[Achilles]

Yeah, they probably wanted us to feel good about ourselves for figuring out the mystery.

Heh, just met up with Alvin again in Lakeside...

he mentioned wanting to play "kill the elf" and commented that he always gets to be "the Grand Master" when he plays with the other kids

 

I'll have to pay more attention to it in my next playthrough.

FWIW, your response to Dandelion's comment is the very last step in the Identity quest, however the game ends at the end of the dialog, so you never get to see a completely empty journal.

[SpaceAlex]

Heh, just met up with Alvin again in Lakeside...

he mentioned wanting to play "kill the elf" and commented that he always gets to be "the Grand Master" when he plays with the other kids

 

Hehe, yup, nice clue there. But just like with KOTOR (though admitively, the clues are far more obvious there, and not that well hidden), the dialogues that contain clues usually look just like normal dialogues on the first playthrough. You don't usually notice these stuff unless you already know what will happen, or are paying very close attention to the game.

[Achilles]

Yep. The beginning of Chapter 5 has a whole different meaning now that I have context.

[oldflash]

Few times I've heard something like a small piese of star wars audiotrack so I search-it and found-it.

[Char Ell]

OK. Based on the positive comments many people whose opinion I respect have made in this thread I decided to buy this game. Haven't been reading any of the spoilers in this thread though.

 

I had a hard time adjusting to the combat system until about halfway through Chapter 1. I'm still not real comfortable with it but can operate it decently now. I just finished Chapter 1 yesterday and due to the events at the end of that chapter thought I had lost all the loot I stored at the inn. Luckily I found out that wasn't the case. *phew* What a relief!

 

It has also taken a while for me to warm up to the story. It wasn't until the latter part of Chapter 1 that I started getting pulled in. I'm not sure about the potion/sword greasing/bomb making system. IMHO it's already fairly complex and I'm guessing it's only going to get moreso as the game continues.

[Achilles]

OK. Based on the positive comments many people whose opinion I respect have made in this thread I decided to buy this game. Haven't been reading any of the spoilers in this thread though.

Congratulations on the purchase!

 

I had a hard time adjusting to the combat system until about halfway through Chapter 1. I'm still not real comfortable with it but can operate it decently now.

Yeah, it is a little different: not quite turn-based and not quite button-mashing. Keep in mind that as you add points into your swordsmanship skills, your attacks will become more complicated, thereby throwing off your timing.

 

It has also taken a while for me to warm up to the story. It wasn't until the latter part of Chapter 1 that I started getting pulled in.

Sounds about right. Parts of the story won't make much sense until the 2nd playthrough (ala Sith Lords).

 

I'm not sure about the potion/sword greasing/bomb making system. IMHO it's already fairly complex and I'm guessing it's only going to get moreso as the game continues.

Err...ok. You need strong alcohol for potions, grease for sword grease, and powder for bombs. As you go through the game you can gain recipes for each via a myriad of means (books, plot points, NPC dialogs, etc). If you know the recipe then all you have to do is click on the recipe name from the list after clicking on the alchemy button while meditating.

 

The engine will automatically load the ingredients for you, so all you have to do is click the create button to actually make the potion/grease/bomb.

 

Once you understand the process, then secondary attributes should become self-evident. I hope that helps.

[Aash Li]

I wish I could play a female chara in this game... :| Wonder if it can be modded... >.>

[Char Ell]

You need strong alcohol for potions, grease for sword grease, and powder for bombs. As you go through the game you can gain recipes for each via a myriad of means (books, plot points, NPC dialogs, etc). If you know the recipe then all you have to do is click on the recipe name from the list after clicking on the alchemy button while meditating.

Gotcha and thanks. I think the main part I was struggling with was the potion bases. I did some reading on the Witcher Wiki last night after I posted this and discovered that there are three levels of alcohol strengths for potions. Now I'm going to see if the recipe system pulls in the appropriate alcohol strength for the potion and doesn't pull in the higher level if it isn't needed.

 

The other thing I discovered was those ingredients with secondary components (albedo, nigredo, rubedo) give the potion some nice bonuses if the same secondary component is present along with all the primary components the potion requires. See, this is the problem I had with TSL too. I'm an, how shall I say, enhancement addict? I've just got to use all the methods available in-game to make my PC as strong/powerful as possible. So like with TSL's item upgrade system, where I just had to figure out which upgrade combinations gave my characters the best bonuses for armor, weapones, et al., now I'm going to have to identify all the potion ingredients with albedo, nigredo, and rubedo that I can use to make potions with accompanying bonuses. But of course when I do this I annoy myself by spending too much time on figuring out how to maximize enhancements instead of playing the game. It's a personal problem, I know, and most likely much more info than anybody here wanted to know.

 

Any tips on fist fighting?

 

I wish I could play a female chara in this game... :| Wonder if it can be modded... >.>

You just know someone has gotta give Geraltia some hooters!!!

[Achilles]

Gotcha and thanks. I think the main part I was struggling with was the potion bases. I did some reading on the Witcher Wiki last night after I posted this and discovered that there are three levels of alcohol strengths for potions. Now I'm going to see if the recipe system pulls in the appropriate alcohol strength for the potion and doesn't pull in the higher level if it isn't needed.

It doesn't, however if you want to make a low-level potion but only have a high-level alcohol, then it will.

 

You can also make top-level alcohol, called White Gull, out of low-level alcohol via the alchemy system.

 

On one final note, I can't determine any kind of rhyme or reason as to how it pulls ingredients. Being anal retentive, I do find myself spending quite a bit of time removing the ingredients it defaults to and replacing them with more common equivalents.

 

The other thing I discovered was those ingredients with secondary components (albedo, nigredo, rubedo) give the potion some nice bonuses if the same secondary component is present along with all the primary components the potion requires. See, this is the problem I had with TSL too. I'm an, how shall I say, enhancement addict? I've just got to use all the methods available in-game to make my PC as strong/powerful as possible. So like with TSL's item upgrade system, where I just had to figure out which upgrade combinations gave my characters the best bonuses for armor, weapones, et al., now I'm going to have to identify all the potion ingredients with albedo, nigredo, and rubedo that I can use to make potions with accompanying bonuses. But of course when I do this I annoy myself by spending too much time on figuring out how to maximize enhancements instead of playing the game. It's a personal problem, I know, and most likely much more info than anybody here wanted to know.

I do the same thing. Tawny Owl with Albedo is pretty easy to do (Drowner brains and White myrtle petals). Pop one of those before a boss fight and all subsequent potion toxicity will be reduced. Also if you can find another useful potion (like Cat or Willow) to pair with Rubedo, then you really don't need to make any more Swallow potions (Rubedo effect lasts much, much longer).

 

This is more of an exploit, but I'll share it anyways. When you rest your toxicity drops to zero, even though potion effects will still be there if they have time left on them. Taking a few long lasting potions then resting then taking a few more allows you to really potion-up to a ridiculous degree.

 

Any tips on fist fighting?

Well I won't attest to how accurate or true this is, but I've found it best to simply repeat punch-block-punch-block. Seems that if you block just as soon as the fist pops up the yellow crosshairs, you'll never take any damage. Allegedly that's the cue for some sort of mega ultra super duper fist fighting moves, but I've never been able to get it to work (yes, I put bronze points into the necessary skills). So left click when it's a fist, right click when you get the fist with the yellow cross hairs. Hope that helps.

[Darth333]

now I'm going to have to identify all the potion ingredients with albedo, nigredo, and rubedo that I can use to make potions with accompanying bonuses.

tk102 already took care of that for you: http://witcher.wikia.com/wiki/Ingredients_CSV

[J_Slash]

Hey everyone, i've been poking around in the game files, thanks tk102 by the way, but most of them don't change any thing in the game..

I was trying to add a button to the inventory to be able to meditate anywhere, so i tried the .gui files but no luck! anyone knows how to do that?? is it scripted or hardcoded or is there something i'm missing?? thanks..

[Char Ell]

It doesn't, however if you want to make a low-level potion but only have a high-level alcohol, then it will.

Makes sense. It's nice to have people who have already played the game available to answer these questions. Saves me time so thanks.

On one final note, I can't determine any kind of rhyme or reason as to how it pulls ingredients. Being anal retentive, I do find myself spending quite a bit of time removing the ingredients it defaults to and replacing them with more common equivalents.

Yes. I noticed that too once I started paying attention to the components of the ingredients.

Tawny Owl with Albedo is pretty easy to do (Drowner brains and White myrtle petals). Pop one of those before a boss fight and all subsequent potion toxicity will be reduced. Also if you can find another useful potion (like Cat or Willow) to pair with Rubedo, then you really don't need to make any more Swallow potions (Rubedo effect lasts much, much longer).

Excellent tips. Thanks again.

 

Well I won't attest to how accurate or true this is, but I've found it best to simply repeat punch-block-punch-block. Seems that if you block just as soon as the fist pops up the yellow crosshairs, you'll never take any damage. Allegedly that's the cue for some sort of mega ultra super duper fist fighting moves, but I've never been able to get it to work (yes, I put bronze points into the necessary skills). So left click when it's a fist, right click when you get the fist with the yellow cross hairs. Hope that helps.

Yeah. That is what confused me as well. I put the bronze points into the fistfighting skills and now sometimes during fistfights get what appears to be the same little status bar when I click and hold the right mouse button for a powered up attack using a sign. But the combat doesn't seem to do anything differently when that happens and of course right click only causes my PC to duck. Meh. I hope there is just something we're missing with this and that fist fighting skills aren't a waste of bronze points.

tk102 already took care of that for you: http://witcher.wikia.com/wiki/Ingredients_CSV

Suh-weet! More time savings. Thanks tk. Like always, you da man!

[Darth333]

Hey everyone, i've been poking around in the game files, thanks tk102 by the way, but most of them don't change any thing in the game..

I was trying to add a button to the inventory to be able to meditate anywhere, so i tried the .gui files but no luck! anyone knows how to do that?? is it scripted or hardcoded or is there something i'm missing?? thanks..

I haven't really looked into it but adding a button to the gui will likely not change anything. I'd rather look at the campfire placeables (like ob-fireplace01.utp ). There is an onused script ( ob_fireonuse.ncs ). I didn't decompiled the script as there is no nwscript.nss provided with the game but you could try with the nwn or kotor nwscript.nss. Tt seems that it works with some simple scripts. I have both games uninstalled so I can't tell . ob_fireonuse.ncs does seem to refer to waypoints though...which means you will not be able to get it working by simply attaching the script were you want. Until we have a way to compile new scripts, I think you're out of luck.

[J_Slash]

ob_fireonuse.ncs does seem to refer to waypoints though...which means you will not be able to get it working by simply attaching the script were you want. Until we have a way to compile new scripts, I think you're out of luck.

 

Maybe the waypoints are used in conversations like with the innkeeper, and several other characters that have the "rest/meditate" icon, which i wanna add, but you are right there seems to be no way to attach the script to the .gui files, that is if they are used.... thanks Darth333.

 

One more thing, does anyone know of a way to remove the restriction of being unable to use weapons or signs when it's "safe"?? It's really bugging me, sometimes i need to use Igni to start a fire and have no room for flint, or use the torch, or even start a rampage when i'm bored!!

[tk102]

On one final note, I can't determine any kind of rhyme or reason as to how it pulls ingredients. Being anal retentive, I do find myself spending quite a bit of time removing the ingredients it defaults to and replacing them with more common equivalents.

I think it chooses the ingredients whose oldest stack is newer than the other ingredients of the same type. Sort of a last-in-first-out type of thing based on the first item #1 in the stack. That was my impression. Usually that means it chooses the ingredient that will run out first. I'd rather it treat them like a suit in cards: no secondary, negredo, rubedo, albedo. Or something.

 

Meh. I hope there is just something we're missing with this and that fist fighting skills aren't a waste of bronze points.

Well the fistfighting system is due for an upgrade. Hopefully the next patch will address it because you can win any fight by blocking-punching-blocking-punching. Therefore it is a waste of a bronze talent IMO.

thanks tk102

Thanks tk

You're welcome. I'm sure someone else would've done the same soon enough.

[Char Ell]

I had a moment in Chapter 2

 

In the Temple Quarter where you enter the house across from the warehouse and get a quest to rid another house of its ghosts. Of course for those that have already played the game you know that this is a set up and Geralt gets ambushed at the "haunted" house. But of course I saved the female half-elf held captive there and she told me where I could find her. Now, I guess I should have had a clue as to what was going to happen but I innocently (or naively if you prefer) went to her place and in the course of conversation thought my PC was learning the elvish tongue from her. I thought, "Cool. I wonder what this will do for my PC?" Next thing I know my PC has bedded the wench. I was seriously like, "What the...??!! How did my PC go from learning elvish to romping in the hay?!"

 

[tk102]

Geralt has a mind of his own.

[Achilles]

I had a moment in Chapter 2 <snip>

I thought the exact same thing. Woulda thunk there was such a thing as

accidentally getting laid

.

[Achilles]

Demo now available for anyone that wants to try it out.

 

Linky

[tk102]

Patch 1.2

 

 

======================================================

5a. Patch 1.2 Major Fixes

======================================================

 

Gameplay and text bugs fixed:

- Fixes for Alina not being at her home when she should (Act 4).

- Wife's Tears Potion fixes.

- Fixes for usable doors on the swamps (Act 5).

- Fixes for Alchemist in manufacture giving quest items to Geralt (Act 3).

- Fixes for some items to be found in Fields (Act 4).

- Fixes for a disappearing enemy in quest Haunted House (Act2).

- Fixed problems with Alvin's spawn (Act 1).

- Few minor text fixes for all languages.

 

Code bugs fixed:

- Loading times are much faster!

- Saving is much faster!

- Another portion of stability improvements.

- Fix for rare "red rectangle" effect on loading bar.

- Quest tracking fixes.

- Some cursor fixes connected with finishers in tight places.

- Quest now won't update when Geralt is dead causing multiple problems.

- Autosave mechanism fixes (numeration).

- Savegame files fixes – some irrelevant information was sometimes generated inside.

- The game won't make an autosave if Geralt has an effect preventing him from talking (like knockdown, stun, push) - the result would be no talking at all for the rest of the game.

- Now you can't attack neutral NPCs if you input the second (etc.) sword sequence in them, while first attacking a hostile.

- Dandelion's music won't be 'echoed' while changing location twice.

- The game can handle broken savegames now – it returns to main menu.

- Motion blur effect won't stay active despite Blizzard potion wearing off – drinking, then changing location, then cutscene.

- Final fixes for weapons disappearing from enemies’ hands.

- Grass and small stones being multiplied – fixed.

- Fixes for receiving damage from Striga while being far away.

 

Art bugs fixed:

- Few level decoration fixes.

- Fixes for barghest attack animation.

 

======================================================

5b. Patch 1.1 Major Fixes

======================================================

 

Gameplay & text bugs fixed:

- Fixed character development issues with some abilities and skills.

- Fixes for some storyline related progression breaks.

- Fixes for druids' day-night cycle in Act 5.

- Fixes for sex scene with nurses in Act 5.

- Signet fixes (some signets were received twice).

- Fixed story incoherency regarding Erkyn in Act 3.

- Experience gain indication localization fixes.

- Mutagen potion - new fixes for showing up a message.

- Fixed items used in eating animations.

- Geralt's allies fixed to always react properly to all mosnters.

- Bounty Hunter is Agent Smith no more (he doesn't replicate). Mr. Geralt, we missed you...

- Echinopses and Archespores now use their own spikes instead of arrows.

- Fixes for alchemical ingredients extracted from some monsters.

- Raven Crypt - few fixes for geometry and placeables.

- Fixed few places where player was supposed to meditate, but couldn't.

- Fixed story incoherence in Berengar quest.

- Berengar won't disappear on sight when sparing him.

- A whole lot of localization fixes (some of them won't work with old savegames!).

 

Code bugs fixed:

- Fixed all diagnosed stability issues and crashes.

- Fixed few gameplay issues with WSAD and mousedrive controls.

- Alt-Tab related issues fixed (random crashes, hang-ups, cursor blocking).

- Cat potion estimated time display - fixed.

- Dropping items from the inventory fixes for better spread.

- Weapon visual FXes fixed during dialogues.

- Confirmation box shown when player uses Quick Load.

- Tooltip fixes for lower resolutions (for example 800x600).

- All read books now have the appropriate note in description.

- Sitting animation fixes for few characters that sat beside the chair.

- Alt-Tab fixes for dialogue lines and gameplay options.

- Savegame option blocked around Aard throwing time.

- Audio: rat squealing sound fixes for minimized mode.

- Movies and cutscenes fixes for Alt-Tabbing.

- AI: fixed NPCs chasing enemies that were no more.

- AI: few poker fixes.

- Fixed problems with items appearing back in storages.

- Fixed blizzard problems with cutscenes and dialogues.

- Fixed toxicity effect for Alt-Tabbing.

- Finishers fixes - animation sometimes did not play.

- When taking out an unknown item of the storage, the user can no longer see the name of the potion. Good one...

- Fixed saving in tight places (player got teleported after load... sometimes).

 

Art & sound bugs fixed:

- Vizim's Temple Quarter: ~30 physics fixes; corrected barrels; ~10 decoration fixes.

- Kaer Morhen: Wild animals fixes.

- Sewers: commoners sleeping fxes; ~5 item properties fixes; ~10 skeleton placement fixes.

- Vizim's Temple Quarter/Burning Vizim:The banner on the tower is no longer black.

- Old Manor: Koschey boss movement fixes.

- Mutants fixes for decapitation. That means no decapitation now.

- Werewolf physics fixes.

- Chainmail stand placeable now has collision surface (player/npc can't pass through it).

- Celina brightness fixes for interiors.

- Order knights lighting fixes.

- Bread item fixes for eating animation.

- More detailed model of Horse+Wagon for opening cutscenes.

- Journal entry for crypts fixed now.

- A child in epilogue cutscene doesn't look like badly sewn young Frankenstein.

- Old lady and dwarves - idle animation fixes.

[Achilles]

- Loading times are much faster!

- Saving is much faster!

Can't wait to find out what this means

[Char Ell]

I would very much like to see quicker loading and saving times as well. My only concern is applying the patch when I'm in the middle of my first play through of the game. Well, I guess there is only one way to find out.

 

3) The following video cards should be set to run at 1024x768 with High Detail settings:

ATI RADEON X1950 XTX, ATI RADEON HD 2900 XT, NVIDIA GeForce 7800 GTX, NVIDIA GeForce 7950 GX2, NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS, NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTX

I've been running at 1920x1200 and the game seems to be working just fine. It just won't let me run any anti-aliasing at that resolution.

[Darth333]

I would very much like to see quicker loading and saving times as well. My only concern is applying the patch when I'm in the middle of my first play through of the game. Well, I guess there is only one way to find out.

From what the devs posted, it shouldn't create any problems. Some fixes will only take effect when you start a new act (or restart the current act), like kotor or nwn (modules).

 

eyeraise: I've been running at 1920x1200 and the game seems to be working just fine. It just won't let me run any anti-aliasing at that resolution.

They've been a bit conservative with that. I've been running the game in 1650x1080 with a x1950xtx with everything maxed out (except the amount of small animals which is set to medium ) and 4xAA without problems.

[HappyMojo]

1,2 really helped my loading/saving times to the almost bearable. All they need to do now is include the ability to jump, and a few more details to make the game feel more smooth. But the story is so damn good. I love it.