The Witcher 2 Has Gone Gold, Releases In 3 Weeks

[Dankk]

I'm glad I imported my Witcher 1 save so I got the best armour and silver sword in W2.

Awesome. So now I know there really is a good reason to import my old TW1 save. I'll remember to do this when I finally have the game next week.

 

[Mem]

Awesome. So now I know there really is a good reason to import my old TW1 save. I'll remember to do this when I finally have the game next week.

I should say from your W1 save endings (in my case best silver sword and armour) are carried over into Witcher 2...... I've not found any better weapons /armour yet,but its nice to start W2 with decent gear .

 

[bl4ckfl4g]

So scared to get this for my laptop after reading all of the performance issues. What do you guys think?

2.30 GHz Intel Core i5-2410M “SB” dual-core processor
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460M with 1.5 GB GDDR5
4GB DDR3 1333MHz
500GB (7200 RPM); Serial ATA hard disk
18.4″ diagonal widescreen TruBrite TFT display at 1680 x 945

 

[Mem]

So scared to get this for my laptop after reading all of the performance issues. What do you guys think?

2.30 GHz Intel Core i5-2410M “SB” dual-core processor
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460M with 1.5 GB GDDR5
4GB DDR3 1333MHz
500GB (7200 RPM); Serial ATA hard disk
18.4″ diagonal widescreen TruBrite TFT display at 1680 x 945

Should be fine,might have to tweak a few video settings but I have it running on my old AMD 3800+ x2 cpu @1920x1080.

 

[Mem]

I'll say you get some nice armour and weapons later on in W2 so don't worry too much if you have not played W1(I still recommend you play it for story etc..).

 

[PUN]

Should be fine,might have to tweak a few video settings but I have it running on my old AMD 3800+ x2 cpu @1920x1080.

Running
2630QM
6GB
GT525M

unplayable under any resolution over 1280x768 Low Setting.

 

[Mem]

Running
2630QM
6GB
GT525M

unplayable under any resolution over 1280x768 Low Setting.

I'm using AMD 3800+ x2 CPU,ATi 4870 (only 512mb) and 4GB@1920x1080, not had a single crash yet,remember to tweak the video options you might have to put a lot of things low or disabled but its playable for sure.

 

[mooncancook]

I begin to hate the frustration of combat in normal difficulty. Fighting 3 bandits took me several tries. A group of drowner took me out in a couple of seconds. Maybe I don't know how to use the group parry skill, when I use block, I was able to deflect the first attacker, but the next will hit me. When a drowner hit me from behind I lose half of the life. It is almost impossible to single one out because they all come after you like crazy. Signs not helping much either. I hope it gets easier later on when Garald get some better weapons, armors, and skills.

 

[Demo24]

I begin to hate the frustration of combat in normal difficulty. Fighting 3 bandits took me several tries. A group of drowner took me out in a couple of seconds. Maybe I don't know how to use the group parry skill, when I use block, I was able to deflect the first attacker, but the next will hit me. When a drowner hit me from behind I lose half of the life. It is almost impossible to single one out because they all come after you like crazy. Signs not helping much either. I hope it gets easier later on when Garald get some better weapons, armors, and skills.

It does get easier and you can upgrade to a full cover block.

 

[Fenixgoon]

this game is awesome, and i only finished the prologue.

edit: 1080p on high (used "adjust settings to my system") with rig in sig, runs great, looks great.

 

[Merad]

The UI is disappointing to me. A lot of things are a step backwards from TW1.

-Can't tell if you've read a book or scroll already
-Can't learn formulas for alchemy or crafting (have to keep them in inventory)
-No notification when reading a book adds a journal entry
-List style inventories suck
-Poker dice sucks now

The UI choices say pretty strongly that a console port is coming in the future, IMO. Oh well.

 

[Mem]

The UI is disappointing to me. A lot of things are a step backwards from TW1.

-Can't tell if you've read a book or scroll already
-Can't learn formulas for alchemy or crafting (have to keep them in inventory)
-No notification when reading a book adds a journal entry
-List style inventories suck
-Poker dice sucks now

The UI choices say pretty strongly that a console port is coming in the future, IMO. Oh well.

That's true some of the great things about Witcher 1 that a lot of people overlook because W2 in its own right is a great game, however could of been even better if they had moved the best things over from W1 to W2.

I expect W3 they will change a few more things in this area hopefully for the better .


You notice now in W2 that you have a lot more hunting skills when looting creatures,before in W1 you had to learn those skills via books so you could get more items from dead mobs,I think this is because you have already learned skills these from W1 so would be kind of pointless having to relearn them again.


I do miss my inventory chest,I was kind of loot monkey that liked to leave no stone unturned plus exploring every spot (fighting was kind of secondary to me).

 

[Mem]

Looks like patch 1.1 will be here maybe next week,read this over@gamebanshee,

CD Projekt RED has once again promised a version 1.1 patch for The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings next week, but in the meantime, they've also sent out a technical FAQ for common problems that people are having with the RPG sequel. In fact, there's even an email address included below for direct support if you're having issues:
The Witcher 2 Patch 1.1 Next Week, Technical FAQ

CD Projekt RED, the developer of The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings, announces that patch 1.1 is nearing completion and will be available shortly. It will address a number of issues reported by players such as keymapping, inverting the mouse, sudden crashes, problems with activation, difficulties with the game`s DLC, and more.

The company has also compiled a list of actions that may help in certain circumstances:

Difficulties with activation code
There have been quite a few instances that involved entering the number zero (0); you should use the capital letter “o” (O). Also there have been cases where the number one (1), the lower-case letter “el” (l) and the capital letter “eye” (I) have been mixed up. Please try all possible permutations.

CRC Errors when installing the game
1)Please make sure that any antivirus software is disabled during the installation process.
2)It's possible that your DVD drive is not compatible with DVD9 standard. Please manually copy the files to your HDD and try to install the game from there, with antivirus software disabled.
3)If this doesn't work, please try and install the game on another machine - also trying to copy the files manually and disabling any antivirus software.
4)If the above does not help and the DVD disc is in fact damaged, please ask for a refund at the store where bought the game. If this is not satisfactory, please contact us at help2start@thewitcher.com

Game doesn’t start, goes back to launcher
Please try the following possible solutions:
1)Turn all settings to Application-Controlled in the Catalyst Control Center.
2)Disable the second GPU from Crossfire configurations until ATI officially adds support for The Witcher 2 in Catalyst drivers.
3)Try running the game in windowed mode.
4)Run the game with horizontal resolution no higher than than 1920, and set the desktop to the same resolution as the game.
5)Ensure that the game was installed with administrator privileges - Windows UAC settings set to minimum or setup.exe from DVD opened with privileges.
Also: Go to User Account Control Settings.
Type in UAC, or go to the System and Security applet.
Click on the "Change User Account Control Settings" link.
(You can also type in this command from the Run menu: C:\Windows\System32\UserAccountControlSettings.exe)
To turn off UAC, move the slider to the Never Notify position, and then click OK. If you're prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.

Poor performance on a high-end GPU
Please install the latest drivers for your graphic card, and for nVidia cards, uninstall 3D Vision.
If you are experiencing low efficiency, please make sure you have disabled UberSampling in the game's graphic configuration in the Launcher. If you have an nVidia graphics card, please update your driver to the 275.27 beta as of May 17th.
As for ATI users:
1)Install latest drivers ATI Hotfix.
2)DIsable anisothropic filter, antialiasing and adaptive antialiasing and Catalyst A.I.; this can be done in the CCC panel.
3)Try running the game in windowed mode.
4)For dual cards linked into crossfire, turn off one of the cards or use the Dirt 2 profile.

AMD/ATI plans to release hotfix drivers dedicated to The Witcher 2. They will resolve problems with game's efficiency for crossfire users. This information will appear on: http://support.amd.com/us/Pages/Catalyst-Hotfixes.aspx"

Game Director Adam Badowski commented the launch of the game. "While we did our best to avoid complications for our players, it`s clear that on the complex PC platform, we need to go the extra mile to ensure that everything works flawlessly. We are aware of the issues. And there`s one very important promise I can make today. Next week`s patch will solve the majority of them, including those involving activation and DLC. For now, I can also recommend the many walkarounds available on our tech support page, and promise that a much more complete solution will arrive next week. And of course, we kindly ask anyone having problems to accept our sincere apology."

CD Projekt RED also confirmed that a special e-mail address has been set up to provide help as quickly as possible to those who bought the game, but cannot get it to run. Anyone in this position can write to help2start@thewitcher.com . Support staff will reply as soon as possible.

The Witcher 2 is selling faster than the company expected – a couple hundred thousand users have already activated it. The vast differences in hardware and software configurations among this huge number of users has brought to light some previously unknown technical issues. CD Projekt RED assures its fans that it will support the game with all available resources and promptly remove all known issues.

Further information on The Witcher 2 is available at the recently re-launched official site, www.TheWitcher.com.

 

[Zanovar]

Spoiler

Wtf,has anyone completed Meliteles heart quest in chapter 1?its the part were you need to protect that girl from the wraiths while she performs her ceremony.the first few time i tried this was getting spanked as the wraiths keep on respawning and there is always 3,tried running off to heal up and returning to kill a few but they keep respawning and ceremony is still going for 10 mins:S.is this ceremony on a timer?or will she complete the ceremony after a certain ammount of wraiths killed?

sorry for this spoiler :S

 

[Mem]

Wtf,has anyone completed Meliteles heart quest in chapter 1?its the part were you need to protect that girl from the wraiths while she performs her ceremony.the first few time i tried this was getting spanked as the wraiths keep on respawning and there is always 3,tried running off to heal up and returning to kill a few but they keep respawning and ceremony is still going for 10 mins:S.is this ceremony on a timer?or will she complete the ceremony after a certain ammount of wraiths killed?

I missed that one somehow,anyway spoiler warning here http://witcher.wikia.com/wiki/Melitele's_Heart .

 

[Zanovar]

I missed that one somehow,anyway spoiler warning here http://witcher.wikia.com/wiki/Melitele's_Heart .

Cheers for the link,after reading it it seems like its kill based rather than time

 

[Stumben2]

The UI is disappointing to me. A lot of things are a step backwards from TW1.

-Can't tell if you've read a book or scroll already
-Can't learn formulas for alchemy or crafting (have to keep them in inventory)
-No notification when reading a book adds a journal entry
-List style inventories suck
-Poker dice sucks now

The UI choices say pretty strongly that a console port is coming in the future, IMO. Oh well.

The poker dice thing had me baffled, how could they screw this up?

Fantastic game overall however.

 

[Merad]

Getting deeper into Chapter 1 now, starting to agree with a lot of the complaints about combat. Trying to take on a dozen or so nekkers at once is a nightmare. I also just finished killing one of the endrega queens, which only took me about 10 tries. What's particularly brutal is that you have to spend so much time dodging and running, but if a mob ever catches you from behind while you're doing that, you're dead (backstabs deal double damage).

Once thing I have discovered that's helpful tho - using the fast attack will automatic advance to the enemy, if you're out of range. If you're a bit to far out and use strong, it'll whiff and get nothing but air.

 

[Dumac]

I begin to hate the frustration of combat in normal difficulty. Fighting 3 bandits took me several tries. A group of drowner took me out in a couple of seconds. Maybe I don't know how to use the group parry skill, when I use block, I was able to deflect the first attacker, but the next will hit me. When a drowner hit me from behind I lose half of the life. It is almost impossible to single one out because they all come after you like crazy. Signs not helping much either. I hope it gets easier later on when Garald get some better weapons, armors, and skills.

Quen is crazily good, and makes the game easy even on hard. Aard can allow you to get insta-kills if you are lucky. Upgrade parry to make it more useful (100% damage block), and also upgrade vigor when you can so you can parry more. Also, bombs are extremely viable and extremely easy to make, especially grapeshots. Don't forget to be making/swallowing potions regularly as well, as well as using oils for tough fights.

 

[GodlessAstronomer]

Does the bonus DVD contain spoilers? I picked this game up but won't have a chance to play for a couple of days, but I want to watch the bonus DVD on a plane trip this afternoon.

 

[GoodRevrnd]

Is it just me or does the game not teach you how to play very well? Granted I started on hard difficulty but I'm getting my ass kicked in the beginning where you fight down to the ballista, and it seems like my only choices are attack, power attack and dodge/roll. And dodge/roll is a very tedious way to avoid incoming attacks; shouldn't there be a block or something?

 

[Nintendesert]

This game is hard. It definitely doesn't hold your hand through it. Combat is getting easier though as I get the hang of it. It's about dodging and avoiding hits, snaring some, using explosives on others and just keeping moving. Hit and move, hit and move. Think of it more like boxing and picking off the weak ones and then focusing on the big guys last. The Ballista part got me good for a while until it clicked with what it takes to win in combat.

 

[Dumac]

Is it just me or does the game not teach you how to play very well? Granted I started on hard difficulty but I'm getting my ass kicked in the beginning where you fight down to the ballista, and it seems like my only choices are attack, power attack and dodge/roll. And dodge/roll is a very tedious way to avoid incoming attacks; shouldn't there be a block or something?

They tell you that E is block/parry, and if you time it right it has better effects I believe. They tell you in the game, and it is also in the tutorial in the journal, as well as in the game manual.

Blocking/parrying takes up vigor (yellow bar), and you still receive damage unless you upgrade it (which is ideal).

 

[ixelion]

I finally got to Flotsam but the game still feels too linear, the forest around that town is SMALL you can walk the whole place in just minutes, kind of disappointing. I know it's not Oblivion but EG: DKS did a better job with the exploration.

Also compared to the combat systems in Shatter Dimension and Arkham Asylum, this one isn't as fluid or precise, kind of clunky and awkward at times, still fun though.

Oddly enough the most fun I've had was doing the bulletin board quests everything else is just OK.

As for performance my fps doesn't change much regardless of graphics settings, the good news is is that it's always 30-40fps which is quite playable for an RPG.

 

[StrangerGuy]

So, in the sequel the game prevents me from drinking potions in combat. Sounds like not a bad idea at first, until it expects you to drink them before you engage in a serious, lengthly conversation and immediately after: Boss fight!

Didn't drink your potions? Oh shit, you can't do that now, you are expected to be a Jesus and predict this will happen! As an additional slap in the face, potion effects expends their duration during conversations.

To quote AVGN: "What we they thinking!"