The Witcher 3 Nex-Gen Experiences - yours and mine

[mainer]

I think I remember that noonwraith quest!

Yeah, that was one of the Witcher Gear schematics treasure hunt quests. I don't remember much of my original playthrough back in 2015, but I'm definitely finding that getting all those schematics and making my gear is better than most anything I've found.

Here's an effect to watch for:

I think that's actually from the Blood & Wine DLC, but the problem could be everywhere. The new moon in the mist has a reflection in the water that is brighter than the moon itself! I guess the reflection is set for 'full moon' and never changes in the old version.

You're definitely right, that reflection is way too strong for such a thin crescent moon, especially when its in mist or fog. I'll keep an eye out for some moon and water reflection shots, as well as that Novigrad shot you posted awhile back. I finally made it to Novigrad this week, and I forgot how big that city seems and I get turned around frequently. I also love the fact that there are no loading screens when you enter a building, like in Bethesda games.

As a side note, I got another small 82 KB updated to the game this morning.

 

[mainer]

2.2 GB patch dropped today, changing the version number to 4.02 and seems to be primarily a stability & performance patch, although there were a few bug fixes as well. I probably won't get back in the game until tomorrow, so I won't know much myself until then. The W3 Steam Discussions are loaded with posts about crashing, but that's not unusual, as that nearly every post there tends to be extremely negative.

The Witcher® 3: Wild Hunt - Patch 4.02 — list of changes - Steam News

Patch 4.02 for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is now available! Among various fixes, it also improves the overall stability and performance of the game. Below you can find a list of the most notable changes for this update: PC-SPECIFIC Improved CPU core utilization in the DX 12 version. Restored...

store.steampowered.com

 

[Zloth]

It's a game where people often use mods. Every patch that can break mods in some way will always result in a bunch of people screaming in the forum.

 

[mainer]

It's a game where people often use mods. Every patch that can break mods in some way will always result in a bunch of people screaming in the forum.

Very true, and I've seen similar comments on the Steam forums for other games that are frequently modded. I think that encompasses many of the negative comments I've seen. Personally, after playing 20+ hours on version 4.02 I haven't had a single crash, failure to load game, or loading a saved game issue. It's completely stable in my opinion.

In terms of positive experiences from the 4.02 patch, I can't definitively say that I've seen too much of a difference, though some of those changes may be so subtle that I just haven't noticed them. If anything, the frame rate may be more consistent with fewer noticeable FPS drops, and it's possible that the memory leak issue that I experienced consistently is fixed or mitigated, as I haven't had that issue since patch 4.02 dropped. Even in Novigrad.

Speaking of Novigrad, it's much smoother than I feared it would be with RT & Hairworks turned on. There are some slower FPS at times, but it seems to depend mostly on how many NPCs are on screen, number of shadows, number of light sources, and the angle and contrast of the lighting, just like any game would, even without RT.

Number of NPCs can be configured in the options (ultra+, ultra, high, medium, low). This is on Ultra:

I forgot how big Novigrad feels compared to other RPG cities, and with no loading screens when entering a building. I find it easy to get lost, and exploration is vertical as well as horizontal. It feels like a real city. It's also the place where you'll see more noticeable RT effects.

Triss (I like the kickback reflection from the water on the underside of the bridge):

The Bathhouse (all my other Bathhouse shots contained some level of nudity, so I went this this one):

Some recent characters I've encountered recently. Samara, a Succubus. She seems a bit horny to me (sorry, I had to say that):

Sigismund Dijkstra. I can't help but like this guy, even in the books, though I'd never trust him:

Triss ("So you like Yennifer better than me? How about some fire scarecrow!")

 

[Zloth]

Triss knows how to control just where that fire goes, too. Be afraid.

Be VERY afraid.

 

[mainer]

I've put Witcher 3 on hold for awhile as I needed a break, but I noticed yesterday that there was a large patch issued, about 2 gb, bringing the game to version 4.03. Looks like a lot of PC-specific improvements, especially with RT enabled.

The Witcher® 3: Wild Hunt - Patch 4.03 — list of changes - Steam News

Patch 4.03 for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is now available!

store.steampowered.com