Optimal Witcher 3 performance requires mid-to-high specifications.
Optimal Witcher 3 performance requires mid-to-high specifications.
It's not too surprising, but perhaps we should slightly increase the zoom. Like, maybe avoid setting the shadows to their maximum, etc...
Avoid confusing it with "the game is a terrible console port."
However, when you consider it this way, the console is targeting at least medium performance with 30 frames per second. The suggested PC requirements match medium to high settings at 30fps. It seems obvious this will likely be a poor console adaptation.
PC offers a lot more detail in open worlds compared to consoles. Ubersampling is common in Witcher titles, and pushing the game to 60fps would barely make a difference for Witcher II at that setting. The series is mainly designed for PC, as Marcin Iwinski has emphasized. People should know this before jumping in. Based on my experience, both Witcher I and II ran smoothly on my PC without issues, and I don’t think that will change now that the game is a big hit. Delays are expected due to various reasons, especially with upcoming releases.
It's unreasonable to guess the specs based only on 30fps and medium settings. The original Witcher 2 was notoriously tough on hardware. CD Project Red is a PC-focused studio. Witcher 1 was available only on PC/Mac, while Witcher 2 launched for PC first. Evidence suggests this title will deliver stunning visuals that match the demanding nature of its predecessor.
GG Nvidia. My R9 290 bandwidth and GPU performance really outshine the GTX 770 I owned before. I plan to play the game at 1440p/3k (depending on CPU load on my 4770k) using an AMD VSR in R9 290, which could give a better experience than someone running it on a GTX 980. I won’t mind the tessellation of objects since CDPR mentioned they wouldn’t do it and they did. Money matters, obviously. It doesn’t matter. We’ve got Game Works turned off. Enjoy the tessellation effects on textures—it makes shadows look worse than downsampling, just like the tree tessellation issue in Far Cry 4’s last day update that messed up shadows. That was an option in the menu, though... I checked PCGH and Balázs Török confirmed similar concerns about tessellation causing performance drops and visual flaws. It’s a known problem, rarely discussed but definitely present. So it’s best to stick with tessellation only for scenery and water, leaving other elements untouched. Bottom line? CDPR sold out. I don’t care. They won’t get my CE edition money. They can’t mess with my setup enough. I can cap the PC at 30 FPS with software fixes and still beat consoles at the same frame rate. That’s how I win. Greedy companies lose. I’d prefer a PC first game, and I hope Nvidia Game Works doesn’t interfere. Sadly...
It’s reasonable to guess what people might think. Do you want me to explain what a silly assumption would be about...? The project remains a PC company. I can confirm now they aren’t, and we’ll see proof when the game launches. Haha, such an idiot! You say the game will have great visuals? Yes—it did at first, but there’s been a downgrade. Many forum users initially thought it was a console experience. If they’re still a PC company, why make this change? Stop dwelling on the past—console gaming is now the trend, while PCs are falling behind.
CDPR nearly ran out of money with Witcher 2 (PC first release). I don’t resent them for accepting fees or from Nvidia for their mistakes. As I mentioned, I can skip that nonsense. Still, I find their refusal hurtful. They collected a lot while you did what you had to. What does this mean? You don’t get my CE edition payout. The PC version will still be superior to the console. Your GTX 980 is fine. Lower the tessellation, stick to 30 with adaptive half vsync (it won’t handle locked 60 like AC Unity), and run it at a high downsample in Nvidia DSR. The game will appear terrible on your card. What was most affected? Textures. How do you create poor-looking textures? By reducing resolution. Basically, the only way to make something decent from scratch is through heavy downsampling. Now if this was a racing or multiplayer FPS that couldn’t maintain 60 FPS after downgrade, I’d be furious and wouldn’t buy it. Open world, no low-level APIs, and console-optimized? If you want 60 FPS here, brace yourself for disappointment.
Playing a PC game doesn't guarantee performance. The Witcher 2 struggles with modern hardware, barely running on DX9. The Witcher 3 falls short of meeting those requirements.