"The Witcher" by CD Projekt

[Lance Monance]

I'm so glad they found a way to decrease the loading and saving time. I've just finished the second chapter and I'm very impressed with the game so far. I consider the quest "Vizima Confidential" with its numerous sideplots and twists among the very best quests of all RPGs I know. Compelling quests like that and the highly interesting character Geralt keep me playing.

[Corinthian]

My lord. My brother and I played this game, and I felt it was horrendous. The women dress like hookers, and act like them, Geralt is such a hideously cliche ridden character - white hair and glowing yellow eyes? With a big scar over one eye that somehow DIDN'T blind him? The combat's incredibly stupid, about a step up from Neverwinter Nights combat except without the strategy of using significant magic or even strategy. It's just run in, hit, dodge back, hit, dodge back. Good gravy.

 

I rate this game a 4/10.

[Char Ell]

Interesting. So did you and your brother finish playing The Witcher? And if you did finish playing this game about how many hours would you say it took you?

[Corinthian]

Nah, didn't finish it. He got fed up around Act III, I got fed up before I even finished Act I. A good game should grab you well before your first couple hours playing are up. The game was nauseatingly...BAD.

[Acleacius]

tk102, I was wondering if there was any hope of you making one of your famous Save Game Editors?

 

Thanks.

[tk102]

Hi Acleacius, I considered that... I did make the save game extractor/repacker utility that will let you GFF edit Geralt as you like. That's essentially what a savegame editor does, only that it provides an interface for performing the GFF editing.

[Acleacius]

I did download the Extractor it but haven't tried it yet, was afraid it might be too difficult for me. The game seems rather popular with the RPG crowd world wide, even garnering several GotY awards, especially after the 1.2 patch helped all the loading times.

 

I guess I was hoping you would have the time but it's completely understandable if you don't, not to mention this is holiday season for many.

Though if you do ever get time I am sure many people would enjoy it and appreciate it especially since there has been no editor released yet.

 

I will give the Extractor a try and hope I don't blow up the lab!

[Char Ell]

I've been seeing a few reports of CTD with patch 1.2 for The Witcher. I checked the official Witcher forums because I started experiencing the problem myself, CTD after 2+ hours playtime. I didn't have any crashing problems with 1.1a. My guess is a memory leak.

 

Anybody else experiencing crashes to desktop after playing The Witcher v1.2 for more than a couple of hours?

[Wookiee Rrudolf]

I've been seeing a few reports of CTD with patch 1.2 for The Witcher. I checked the official Witcher forums because I started experiencing the problem myself, CTD after 2+ hours playtime. I didn't have any crashing problems with 1.1a. My guess is a memory leak.

 

Anybody else experiencing crashes to desktop after playing The Witcher v1.2 for more than a couple of hours?

Haven't seen anything like that. I had only one crash with The Witcher (unpatched) when I removed my disk from DVD-ROM while playing and Tages driver sent me to desktop :/

I use patch 1.2 now (it made loading times bearable) but I can't play for longer than 3-4 hours becous my computer gets overheated... But than again I had no CTD witch patch 1.2.

[Acleacius]

Char Ell, yes I noticed the same thing, I don't think it's video card related, I have a ATI in case, but think it's more to do with the way the cut down the Save data, to increase the Load times, but like you I didn't have this problem with 1.1a.

 

I noticed in the Outskirts everything was much faster as promised, in the Temple District the second area, some of the speed benefit had decreased in the Main hub yet still fast in the chunks. By the time I got to Market district it seemed all the speed increase in the Main hub had disappeared and even the chunks had not much sign of improvement any longer.

[Char Ell]

I started a second playthrough of this game. Of course I had a much better idea of what I wanted to do the second time, now that I know how the game flows and such. Only problem is for the life of me I can't get past the 1st level boss now.

 

I remember having this problem during my first playthrough but after poking around and reading about how others defeated this chapter 1 foe I used some of those strategies and was able to defeat it. Now when I try those strategies they no longer work and my PC always ends up succumbing to death's scythe. The only difference is the first time I was on patch 1.1a and now I'm on patch 1.2. I'm thinking to myself, "Did they seriously make this encounter more difficult with 1.2 than it already was ?!?!" Anyway, this portion of the game gives me the greatest cause for grief. IMHO the designers just didn't get this part right, what with all the dialog and long cutscene followed immediately by the boss battle with no opportunity to save. Very irritating.

[Darth333]

Did you upgraded Aard? It's the most useful power for that battle. On medium difficulty a Blizzard potion + Aard + strong style = 1 hit kill.

 

I also tried it on hard but it wasn't as easy (maybe it was the patch!). Right after the end of the cutscene I take a Blizzard and a swallow potion and I use Aard on the boss but after 2-3 sword hits, while the boss is still stunned, I run away until Geralt's powers and health are replete (and to avoid being blinded and killed by the boss and its minions)...rinse and repeat until either Geralt or the boss dies

[Char Ell]

Did you upgraded Aard? It's the most useful power for that battle. On medium difficulty a Blizzard potion + Aard + strong style = 1 hit kill.

Thanks for the tips, D3. It finally worked!

I guess I was under the impression that I needed to slay the barghests before I could start hacking on the hellhound. I had upgraded Aard some but maybe I didn't upgrade it enough to knockout the beast. I did visit a Place of Power right before I went in the cave so I felt that should compensate for my Aard not being as upgraded as it could have been. In any case, I used a Swallow and a Blizzard and then concentrated on the hellhound, ignoring all the other barghests chewing on my PC. Didn't get the one hit kill but I knocked the hellhound down a couple of times and used strong style instead of fast, per your suggestion and finally made it through.

[andyd]

Is there any way to edit the save to get the first two trophies in the game? I didn't find out about the other two in the chapter 1 till much later in chapter 2. I definitely won't bother restarting but I hope there is a way to trick the game into thinking that I did earn the trophies

[Darth333]

It's a bit of a hassle but it's feasible (I did it to get the werewolf ingredient).

 

With k-gff can edit the player.utc file in your savegame to add the trophies to your inventory...or if you don't want to bother with editing the savegame (you'll need WitchSav to extract player.utc from your savegame). You can also add them to a container somewhere or in the inventory of another creature to get them later. If you are somewhat familiar with gff files that shouldn't be difficult. If not, I'll try to explain it further.

 

You'll have to find the item code for the trophies first...it's one of the *.uti files (packed in the bifs). You can search for it with WF v0.4

 

You can get all the tools you need here: http://mods.starwarsknights.com/tk102/

 

Edit: just found out that there is a savegame editor now (http://www.thewitcher.com/forum/index.php?topic=9940.0) but from the description it doesn't seem to handle the player's inventory yet.

[tk102]

Edit: just found out that there is a savegame editor now (http://www.thewitcher.com/forum/index.php?topic=9940.0) but from the description it doesn't seem to handle the player's inventory yet.

 

Good, one less thing for me to do. I'm glad someone picked up the documentation and ran with it.

[stoffe]

Good, one less thing for me to do. I'm glad someone picked up the documentation and ran with it.

 

But that one is a java application.

 

Java applications are generally a pain to use. But I guess it's better than nothing if you really need savegame editing.

[tk102]

I wholeheartedly agree. Java is for chumps and I will do whatever I can to avoid touching it. I'd rather go .NET than Java and that's saying something. (Woot, I feel lighter after releasing that nerd rage.)

 

In a way though, I'm glad savegame editing is still a little difficult to accomplish. It's much easier now than direct GFF editing, but it still requires some user effort and a bit of 1337ness.

 

It encourages intelligence.

[Quanon]

Isn't Java seen as C++ for dummys/ idiots ( Something about hiding Constructers in header files ? And Cloning/ Object orienting stuff... )

 

Though I drowned in C++ when Win32K codes got involved to get a basic engine running... ugh, still have nightmares about that

 

 

Plus on topic : I can't get The Witcher to run, my sytem is to low on power

 

*bugger* I bought the game after screening this thread as you guys liked it so much, I felt positive this game is great to play.

 

Ow, well games don't "spoil" over time like food does

 

And I've found an other game to play => Overlord ! Yaaarrghhh, forward Minions !

[Pavlos]

Source

The Witcher: Enhanced Edition will be a completely polished product. A product that is rarely found on the PC market. Of course, it would be best if the premiere edition could look that way. For different reasons that was not achieved, now we're trying to make up for it. It should be easier for the fact that there aren't that many elements in the game which need improvement. Work is being done on two levels. One concerns the removal of technical obstacles that hinder the player from properly using the game and thus gaining enjoyment from it. By that I mean level loading times, which will be reduced by 80%, the stability of the game on different configurations, as well as a whole array of smaller fixes that will increase interactivity and precision in combat. The other level consists of very important changes that are not usually found in patches. First and foremost, the English language version will be, for the most part, completely re-done. The amount of text in that version was reduced compared to other language versions and that was said to cause a significant decrease in immersion and atmosphere. Now the English version will be as polished and atmospheric as the other language versions. Speaking of language versions, most of them will be more or less improved. Significant changes will also be made in the German version, where we are planning to re-record the voices for many of the characters. The most important improvements concern those elements of the game that the players criticized the most. So for example, over 50 new supporting character models will be added, so that the player won't run into the same person too often. The inventory panel will be re-designed and improved, and some elements of the main game screen will be polished. However, one of the biggest changes that will greatly increase the player's immersion in the game world will be improvements concerning dialogue scenes. Both Geralt and the NPCs will get over 100 new animated gestures which will make their "body language" during a conversation much more natural. Additionally, the face animation and lip-sync system will be re-created, making the faces of the speakers now even more natural as well. Of course, I've mentioned only the most important changes, and that's still a lot. There will be many smaller changes that will make the game more fun. I'm convinced that, thanks to them, The Witcher will be an almost ideal game.

 

Sounds awesome and it comes at a time when I've decided to pick this game up again and give it a second chance. Despite some, nay a lot of, examples of poor writing - which, it seems, will be fixed - I'm quite enjoying the amount of choice I have throughout the game .

[Corinthian]

Well, reducing the load times would be nice. Now, if only they could make the game not suck.

[Pavlos]

This is a nice list. It includes all the stuff that will be in the enhanced edition.

 

A more full press release:

Source

CD Projekt RED is pleased to announce that in May of this year, a completely new and improved version of The Witcher will appear in stores, a game considered by many players as well as the media as the best cRPG of 2007!

 

Michał Kiciński, CEO of CD Projekt described the idea behind the Enhanced Edition:

 

"The leading idea during the development of the Enhanced Edition of The Witcher is to create a game that is devoid of all "first-time" problems found in the premiere edition. The Witcher was received very warmly by both the players and the media, but we are well aware that it is not a product without its faults. There was just not enough time to perfect certain elements, while we learned that some things needed to be changed from the players themselves. Now we have the opportunity to introduce changes that will allow The Witcher to provide even more fun. I hope that, as a result, the game will come even closer to the ideal RPG game."

 

Maciej Szcześnik – Project Manager from CD Projekt RED, spoke about the content provided in the new edition:

 

"The Witcher: Enhanced Edition will be a completely polished product. A product that is rarely found on the PC market. Of course, it would be best if the premiere edition could look that way. For different reasons that was not achieved, now we're trying to make up for it. It should be easier for the fact that there aren't that many elements in the game which need improvement. Work is being done on two levels. One concerns the removal of technical obstacles that hinder the player from properly using the game and thus gaining enjoyment from it. By that I mean level loading times, which will be reduced by 80%, the stability of the game on different configurations, as well as a whole array of smaller fixes that will increase interactivity and precision in combat. The other level consists of very important changes that are not usually found in patches. First and foremost, the English language version will be, for the most part, completely re-done. The amount of text in that version was reduced compared to other language versions and that was said to cause a significant decrease in immersion and atmosphere. Now the English version will be as polished and atmospheric as the other language versions. Speaking of language versions, most of them will be more or less improved. Significant changes will also be made in the German version, where we are planning to re-record the voices for many of the characters. The most important improvements concern those elements of the game that the players criticized the most. So for example, over 50 new supporting character models will be added, so that the player won't run into the same person too often. The inventory panel will be re-designed and improved, and some elements of the main game screen will be polished. However, one of the biggest changes that will greatly increase the player's immersion in the game world will be improvements concerning dialogue scenes. Both Geralt and the NPCs will get over 100 new animated gestures which will make their "body language" during a conversation much more natural. Additionally, the face animation and lip-sync system will be re-created, making the faces of the speakers now even more natural as well. Of course, I've mentioned only the most important changes, and that's still a lot. There will be many smaller changes that will make the game more fun. I'm convinced that, thanks to them, The Witcher will be an almost ideal game."

 

Adam Kiciński – the head of CD Projekt RED spoke about publishing and the availability of the Enhanced Edition in different parts of the world: "Our goal is to make the Enhanced Edition available to all players all over the world. Of course, in the end, that depends on our publishers with whom we are currently negotiating. I believe that thanks to the interest shown by players, it will be possible to convince publishers worldwide to release the game in conjunction with the premiere in Eastern Europe, that is May 16. This is important because aside from improvements to the game itself, this edition is also to be improved in terms of how it's released, which for the most part depends more on the publishers than us, the authors. For example, aside from the game DVD, we are planning to include a DVD with a Mod Editor D'jinii, as well as two additional adventures, a video DVD with extended material concerning the making of the game, a music CD with 29 tracks from the game, a music CD with 15 tracks of music inspired by the game, an 80-page instruction booklet, a 112-page official guide written by the authors of the game, and a 50-page short story written by Andrzej Sapkowski. There will also be a map of the game world. As you can see it is quite an elaborate release and it is important to us that fans all over the world be able to buy this version of the game. Especially considering it will not be more expensive than the standard edition of the game! Fans that have already bought the game need not worry, however, because the new content and improvements will be available to them in the form of a downloadable update "

 

The Witcher: Enhanced Edition does not only mean changes in the game's mechanics or better graphics, however. There's also an included mod editor called D'jinni that allows players to create or modify their own adventures in the world of The Witcher, as well as two completely new adventures created by CD Projekt RED. First adventure “The price of neutrality” tells the story of Geralt coming back to Kaer Morhen and finding mysterious camp near stronghold (3 new quests) while second one focus on Dandelion and his troubles in Vyzim City (5 quests)

 

Edit: Source

All expanded content would be downloadable for people with registered game.

 

Woo.

[2Cold Scorpio]

I'm looking at possibly getting this in the coming months, maybe during the summer game drought and especially if TSLRP isn't out yet. The demo for The Witcher did intrigue me, but I haven't spent much time with it....

[Char Ell]

So I guess it's safe to assume that "expanded content would be downloadable for people with registered game" means that it will be downloadable at no additional charge? That is the impression I get but it's not 100% clear to me.

 

I'm glad to hear CD Projekt RED will be offering further enhancements to The Witcher. I'll definitely check this out when the time comes.

[Lantzen]

Anyone know when that special edition will come ? Didnt like this game so much i first time i tryed it, but in that new edition they gonan release most of the things i though was annoying is getting fixed So think i will maybe give it a second chance then