Dude! Geralt!

!link


Roach is just being Roach-y.

!link


With no fast travel, I'm riding around a lot more (naturally), and have come across a few other things that I hadn't noticed before. Like when I randomly walked into this location while blindly going around Novigrad. Recognise them?

!link

Spoiler, click me

It's two brothers who are artists, sculpting statues. One of them will later get murdered. The brother said something like "All this womanising is going to be the end of you". Definitely not 100% correct, because I'm just going by memory, and didn't hear everything all that well. Not like we can make them repeat it either. It's just random chatter, and some of it only happens once I think (but maybe not this, if I happened to go back out and in a few times)

This is from a small group of people sat by the roadside somewhere while I came riding along. Turns out they talked about different things, and then the topic turned to whether one of them was a spy or not. Pretty sure I've never seen this before. If I did, it was in the first playthrough and I've forgotten about it.

!link

Honestly don't remember any more how the Shrieker fight was in the vanilla game, but in Ghost Mode, it's freakishly difficult. Hands down the most difficult boss fight in the game, probably also more so than the very last fights (spoiler-free).

I tried maybe 10 times while at level 8 (it's a level 8 or 9 quest in Ghost Mode (GM) iirc), and I died and died, without ever really being close. Came back at level 10 and tried again. Excruciating fight, and I'm "only" on BBB difficulty (next highest). The bird causes bleeding all the freaking time, and Swallow doesn't stop it unless the instant you take the potion. It won't stop bleeding caused while Swallow is active (don't remember if the vanilla game handles it like this too). It's quick, attacks non-stop really, aggressively walks or dodges/jumps after you. I'm using potions left and right, only to heal a little (the "potion heals" skill has been nerfed, with all points it heals 15% of max vitality). Had to use White Honey just to remove health degeneration from over-toxicity, and then go again.

Don't know how many hits were needed to bring the bugger down, but around 50 I reckon. The health bar barely moves upon hits. Very, very tricky fight, but eventually I managed to bring it down, and Geralt was able to meditate and bring his badly bruised body back into balance. Phew!


As you can see, toxicity is very high (max is 173-ish at this point) and health is in bad shape.

!link


This shows that I'm bottomed out of most potions. Some were just to heal up a little bit along the way.

!link


It's finally over, and Geralt can sit down and enjoy the sight of entrails and bloodied dirt.

!link

Last edited by Pangaea on 1 Jul 2021 at 8:57 pm UTC

Finally managed to get Sapphire Pulse RX 6800 XT. Major performance boost for TW3 on max settings (2560x1440):

Sapphire Pulse RX 5700 XT:

~80 fps in the wild

Sapphire Pulse RX 6800 XT:

~150 fps in the wild

Last edited by Shmerl on 2 Jul 2021 at 9:00 pm UTC

Now with this new GPU TW3 is rendering above my monitor refresh rate. But built in framerate limit is capped at 60 fps in the UI.

You can fix it by adding 144 fps option to bin/config/r4game/user_config_matrix/pc/rendering.xml

<Var id="FPSLimit" displayName="framerate_limit" displayType="OPTIONS" tags="refreshViewport">
  <OptionsArray>
    <Option id="0" displayName="framerate_limit_unlimited">
      <Entry overrideGroup="Engine" varId="LimitFPS" value="0"/>
    </Option>
    <Option id="1" displayName="framerate_limit_30">
      <Entry overrideGroup="Engine" varId="LimitFPS" value="30"/>
    </Option>
    <Option id="2" displayName="framerate_limit_60">
      <Entry overrideGroup="Engine" varId="LimitFPS" value="60"/>
    </Option>
    <Option id="3" displayName="framerate_limit_144">
      <Entry overrideGroup="Engine" varId="LimitFPS" value="144"/>
    </Option>
  </OptionsArray>
</Var>

The label for it is messed up in the UI, but it works.

Last edited by Shmerl on 4 Jul 2021 at 2:52 am UTC

Do you play with that HUD up, or is it just for testing?

*plug* I've loved playing the game with nothing on the screen at all (except when combat kicks in), which is possible with Friendly HUD mod :)

PS: Depending on the fallout of the NexusMods powergrab, it's possible the mods from that author will be removed or hidden, or at least not updated any more, but in that case they will be available elsewhere, like for example GitHub.

About that config change (very nice!), it's possible to make the text show up properly as well, by making a small mod and changing the localisation. Probably not worth it for such a small thing, mind you.

I switch off in-game HUD for screenshots to make it look nice. I use it most of the time but minimize things in the settings. Sometimes I turn it off for fun during playing.

The DXVK HUD is just for testing / benchmarking.

Last edited by Shmerl on 6 Jul 2021 at 9:26 pm UTC

About that config change (very nice!), it's possible to make the text show up properly as well, by making a small mod and changing the localisation. Probably not worth it for such a small thing, mind you.

Oh, I was looking into how to do that. Do you know what has to be added for it?

About that config change (very nice!), it's possible to make the text show up properly as well, by making a small mod and changing the localisation. Probably not worth it for such a small thing, mind you.

Oh, I was looking into how to do that. Do you know what has to be added for it?

I'm not entirely sure, because I haven't tried it myself. Something like this thread may be a good place to start: https://forums.cdprojektred.com/index.php?threads/utility-strings-encoder-for-adding-new-strings-new-ids-and-keys-as-standalone-w3strings-file.62959/

Know I looked at strings with a program I downloaded, either from CDPR forums or Nexus. Seem to recall one could add new strings with it too, but I don't really know the details. After that, I suppose you need to "cook" the mod so the game can properly compile and include it.

PS: Looking at downloaded mods, it may be one called "w3strings_encoder". It's an exe, but I'm sure a pro like you can get it working in Linux :)

!link

What?! Are you crazy? Of course not!




PS: I was more honest this time, to see what would happen, and ended up having to pay 1000 crowns. To Vivaldi.

Last edited by Pangaea on 8 Jul 2021 at 9:36 pm UTC

WitcherCon is on, for those interested: https://www.twitch.tv/cdprojektred

I only dropped in half an hour ago or so. It's been okay, if a little awkward at times.

I suppose it's news that the show will start on December 17? They seemed to make a big deal out of it.

On Youtube too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEJuLDR_NrE

Thought the interview with Cavill was the most interesting part. Seems really passionate about the whole universe, and knows what he's talking about - a genuine fan.

I keep hearing that some people disliked the show, but I actually rather liked it. So far anyway. Look forward to season 2. And keep hoping they won't "GOT" it up. But for now it's been good, and hopefully they learn from what mistakes were made and improve on it, instead of crapping all over the rest like a certain other series did.

I too look forward to seeing Vesemir in the show, and hopefully they do him justice.

Yeah, the interview was interesting. I think the show could be better in some ways, but in general they are doing a good job.

There is also animated film about Vesemir and sacking of Kaer Morhen coming out in August - Nightmare of the Wolf.

Last edited by Shmerl on 9 Jul 2021 at 8:19 pm UTC

Don't know about you, but I wouldn't feel safe here with no railings or anything, and the wind biting in my shoulders

!link
(I hadn't noticed this path before)

Hopefully Geralt has Aard at the ready, because this could quickly get out of control

!link


This one wasn't that well-hidden to be honest, but I've never come across it before. Think it even showed up in the journal.

!link

I'm sure there must be different ways of handling it, but I ended up killing the bloke inside.

!link

Yeah, the best way to handle it is not to open it the second time.

Yeah, the best way to handle it is not to open it the second time.

Nice. Just by waiting then? I just had an "open sarcophagus" or "exit/do nothing" conversation option.
Oh well, something to do for a next playthrough, if I do yet another one. For now I want to do the expansions again, as I've only played them once.


Don't mess with Geralt, or he'll turn you into his favourite race: dwarves.

!link


Also, we're working on Roach's stairs descending ability

!link
(this was Holmstein or some place like that, and we walked down a bunch of stairs.)

I'm trying to learn Roach how to walk down more stairs. Sadly she completely locked up here

!link

!link


With Roach refusing to carry me down that long, winding path, let's change strategy. Let's skinny-dip!

!link

I died about 8 times, but finally.... success!

Unfortunately I can't turn the camera up when in the water, but that's a loooong way up!

!link

I see you went with Cat school armor this time.

I see you went with Cat school armor this time.

I like how it looks. Plus, it goes well with Ghost Mode with how I like to play the game, because in Ghost Mode all combat actions have a stamina cost (surely intended for vanilla too, but they dropped it at some point, it's half-implemented for enemies). Light armour has lower stamina costs, so then I'm able to dodge and cast the odd sign while using Cat armour, while with Medium weight and especially Heavy weight, this would be a big problem. When you run out of stamina, Geralt will struggle to move, and you are more vulnerable to attacks. This aspect is one of the big changes with the mod, and it took a little getting used to, but it makes for a more realistic and fun combat experience now when I'm used to it. With the vanilla game, apart from looks, you're kinda incentivised to go with Heavy armour, because it has better protection, with no real downsides. But when the game has stamina costs for combat actions, this suddenly is a factor to consider, and the game is probably turned on its head in a way, by incentivising Light armour instead.

It's a funny old game. I keep coming across small things here and there that I haven't seen before, or only rarely. Like currently, I want to do the Cery quest, but it's on the other side of the world. The marker shows 3000-something to travel by boat.... So I stop here and there on the way, probably going ashore to small islands I've never set foot on before. And I really did explore thoroughly before too, it's just that the game world is MASSIVE, and they've left small bits and pieces everywhere. Truly a labour of love, despite all the faults with CDPR and its development process, crunch forever and so on.

The last run I did was a couple of months ago... I paid special attention to that shadow... When Udalryk raises his arms, while speaking to you, you should see the Hym doing the same, on the wall behind him, but no, it wasn't there. Anyway, it might be a problem depending on the Proton version used... I think I'll create a save point at this special spot and test different versions of Proton. Who knows, it might be solved with the latest builds?

Remembered there was a discussion about that shadow, and I recently played that section. Took some pictures that showed the Hym. Now I see you meant during conversation when Udalryk raises his arms, however. The room is very dark here because all lights and candles are off, so it's possible I missed it, but more likely there wasn't a Hym shadow during that particular sequence.

Unless it's this one? Think this was while talking to Udalryk, but I'm not entirely sure as you can't really tell what persons are part of the screen.

!link

!link