The Witcher 3′s PS4/Xbox One Optimization Going Better than Expected; Differences with PC Explained

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is one of the most anticipated titles for the beginning of next year, and many are wondering how it’ll hold up on consoles compared to PC.

DualShockers had a chance to chat with Viausl Effects Artists Jose Teixeira at Gamescom, and he gave some more color on the issue.

[vishmarx]

getting it on ps4 day 1 regardless of the extra goodies in xb,parity,resolution and all that bs.
i dont care what the specifics are so long as the game has a stable fps .that is all
hope theyre able to boost up the xb1 to 1080p too so we can avoid unnecessary debates and just play the damn game .
they made a great 360 version and now with all the extra power at hand im sure itll be even better

[Letthewookiewin]

Here here!

[user1439414]

I love all video games even ones with poor resolution and low framerate. Just give me the game I dont care if its 720p 30fps on xbox one as long as the game plays we will ALL be happy.

[XBLSkull]

I'll get on X1 if they reach 1080p, otherwise I'm gonna skip over the PS4 version and pick it up on my PC, that way I can still play with the X1 controller.

On a controller related note, does anyone have sync issues with the DS4? Every time I go to play a game on my PS4 the controller isn't synced and its a 5 minute battle just to get it synced again, with a mix of cable plugging, power cycling, pinhole reset button - it is really starting to piss me off and make me think my PS4 is a big piece of ****. Is there some magic sync button I'm not aware of that exists like the X1/360? And there doesn't seem to be a magic series of actions that gets it back in sync, just fiddling around for a few minutes, and it is annoying as **** when you just want to play.

[Rhythmattic]

XBLSkull

Never have I heard of the problems your facing with your DS4 no connecting/Syncing to a PS4.

You could quite possibly have either a faulty PS4/DS4.

(only time I had this problem is when I synced a DS3 with my Mac for MAME. However a pin hole reset and USB cable tether to the PS3 solved the Problem)

Hopefully some others can chime in and offer you some advice.

Edit: To Add, this is why I have a dedicated controller for my MAME escapades these days.

[AnotherGamer117]

@XBLSkull

I did a quick google search for your issue and found the following article:

https://support.us.playstat...

Please follow those steps and if they don't work then please call Sony Support

[Future_2015]

I dont understand why the console guys keep trying to argue with PC people when all they do is argue opinions over facts which they can never win over

[Spotie]

I'm not sure it's arguing opinions over facts as much as it is questioning the relevance of some facts to the subject at hand. Frequently, when you and a few other PC fanboys comment, it's in a console-specific argument. In that case, what you have to say is irrelevant.

There are a handful of console versus PC debates that PC fanboys try to win with specs. Problem is: the best specs are shared by a small percentage of PC gamers, yet the fanboys treat it as the norm. To be sure, PC gaming is cheaper in the long run, but the trade off is a higher level of complication: you can't unbox a high end gaming PC and immediately get to playing any game like a console. Conversely, consoles can never match the best a PC has to offer.

I could go on and on about the pros and cons of each, but it's not relevant to the article at all, and you wouldn't acknowledge anything but "PC is best" anyway.

[AndrewLB]

What are you talking about? PC wins every time a game is multi-platform. Whenever a console fanboy makes claims like you just did, it really shows your ignorance.

Even Johnny thinks you've only got one oar in the water. http://www.incgamers.com/wp...

Anyone with the slightest bit of understanding of how powerful these consoles are knows that there is no way in hell either of them will be able to run the level of detail at 1080p that we see on the PC screenshots. They just don't have the processing capability.

Seriously though... this game's graphics have no peer. http://static1.gamespot.com...

Right now I'm playing through Witcher 2 and I highly doubt either console could play that game with the same level of detail as seen on a PC. CDProjectRED even said a few weeks back that only the highest end PC graphics cards will be able to max out Witcher 3. They even mentioned how you'd need a GTX 780ti to do so. And last I checked, that card has at least 3x the Tflops of a PS4's gpu.

[IVanSpinal]

@Spartacus10 please stop XD

[Vegamyster]

@Spartacus10

"Yeah if you are a retard and dont know that all PC's dont have the same specifications."

Most people that I've seen who primarily game on PC have good specs, there isn't a way to tell what every PC gamers has but It doesn't take much to get specs that have more power then the next-gen consoles, you can build a $600 PC that includes OS, M&KB that's better ( http://pcpartpicker.com/p/d... ) and LinusTechtips has a video showing a nearly 5 year old GTX 480 playing Watch Dogs at 1080p 30 fps on high while underclocked. https://www.youtube.com/wat...

"Console gamers get better graphics than most PC gamers. Its just the vocal PC elitists such as youself that create the illusion that everyone on PC gets better graphics than consoles."

How would you know? There isn't a list made up of all that information and Steam survey's don't represent all 75+ million active users since they're random and voluntary.

Right now PC hardware sales are doing great which means more and more are getting better setups. http://ca.ign.com/articles/...

[awi5951]

@AndrewLB

The witcher 2 was a pain for people to run as well i just crossfired it and it ran fine even with ubersampling on. Even with ubersampling on i still ran it on ultra at 30 fps @1080p. But i turned it off because it didnt make the game look that much better so it ran at 60 fps without that crazy ubersampling they do.

[jjb1981]

Can I run this with a gtx 880m with 8 gb ddr5?

[user5669510]

"Problem is: the best specs are shared by a small percentage of PC gamers, yet the fanboys treat it as the norm. To be sure, PC gaming is cheaper in the long run, but the trade off is a higher level of complication: you can't unbox a high end gaming PC and immediately get to playing any game like a console."

what does this have to do with the tech thats out there. this is something that console fanboys ignores or just dont get. if my rig can it maxx, good for me, if not o well. when i upgrade i can do it then. some how they act like devs are not trying to push the limits. we treat it as the norm because it has been there. we do treat res, fps, and old gfx effects like they're new even if we can run them at a frame rate we consider acceptable. whats not to understand.

i what is this trying to win an argument with spec. seem like your mad cause pc gamers be putting these dumb arguments in perspective.

and you completely lost me with this one "you can't unbox a high end gaming PC and immediately get to playing any game like a console."

even though alienware is a rip off, isnt what they specialize in. dont you have to install game and updates on consoles now. and another a gaming pc is not just for games, its just built for gaming.

yall fanboys are running out of ammo, just play your games like we all do.

[Spartacus10]

@ Vegamyster

Wait.... so its ok if you make a guess on 75m gaming PC's based on the PC's of a few people you know, but if someone was to use a steam survey then they would be all wrong?

You also seem to be under the illusion that theoretical power = actual power.

The difference between a console and a PC GPU to a developer is that one remains relevant over time while the other gets forgotten with time.

Sure you can buy a PC costing as much as a console, but dont expect it to perform better than a console for any more than a year. (and thats assuming youre not paying for a copy of windows)

[Vegamyster]

@Spartacus10

My comment stated there was no way to tell who has what, i never claimed the people I've seen represented all PC gamers as i said right after "there isn't a way to tell what every PC gamers has"

You're the one who said "Console gamers get better graphics than most PC gamers." and i replied to that with "How would you know? There isn't a list made up of all that information"

"Sure you can buy a PC costing as much as a console, but dont expect it to perform better than a console for any more than a year."

I never claimed you could, the example i used was $600 which is $200 more IF you're not taking into considering subscription fee's for console online.

"You also seem to be under the illusion that theoretical power = actual power."

That example i used has plenty of benchmarks so it's not theoretical, the CPU is over twice the speed of the console APU and the GPU can play all games better

http://cdn.videocardz.com/1...

http://media.bestofmicro.co...

http://media.bestofmicro.co...

[fr0sty]

You can build a $600-800 PC that has a better CPU and GPU than what you'll find in a $400 console.

However... Not every game is going to be optimized to make the most of that hardware, and performance from one game to the next will vary greatly. You may have the wrong kind of video card, and that game you just bought may run better on the other brand of cards. Your game may be poorly ported and requires a monster CPU to get decent performance (GTA4 was a good example of this.), and... well, that cheap PC you built doesn't exactly have a great CPU.

This myth that you can just fork over $600 and have a PC that stomps consoles on every game has been going around for too long. In order to have better performance than any console on any game across the board, you're going to have to fork over a lot more money than that.

[Dynasty2021]

@Spotie
Oh for God sake. Constructing a PC and getting Windows installed and a game running takes a day at the most when you don't know what you're doing.

It's not hard to build a PC.

A days work for a better and more diverse experience with the best and biggest exclusives, with a bigger game library, cheaper games that run better? Surely the whole plug and play argument is moot by now.

The last time I had issues with a game I couldn't install was Dawn of War 2 years ago. My PS4? PSN down. Sound not working. Almost every game so far has crashed. WiFi not being recognized. TLOU having slow MP matchmaking. All these things I can't fix . On a PC you can, or you don't even get those problems.

[Vegamyster]

@fr0sty

"This myth that you can just fork over $600 and have a PC that stomps consoles on every game has been going around for too long. In order to have better performance than any console on any game across the board, you're going to have to fork over a lot more money than that. "

There is very few examples of a game being so poorly coded that superior hardware will lag behind weaker hardware, the example you named GTA4 is one of those rare examples and a more recent one is CoD Ghosts. If you build a $600 PC you can get a R9 270 & FX 6300, go look at benchmarks of games with that GPU and you'll see that games that are considered poorly optimized like AC4 & WD run better compared to the consoles.

With last gen you saw plently of crappy poor ports on the PS3 that ran worse then the 360 versions like Skyrim, Bayonetta, most of the modern CoD games ect, even on these new consoles they're struggling to maintain solid fps in a bunch of games so this isn't a PC only issue.

[awi5951]

@@Spartacus10

My 4870 i bought right after i bought my xbox and ps3, ran crysis on high at 30 fps and xbox 360 and ps3 couldnt. And that card cost 130 dollars when i bought it off ebay and those consoles never ever came close to the graphics of it. It would max all games but crysis. Bad company 2 i played the crap out of it made console version look like dogcrap. High draw distances in that game on ultra and it ran it at x8 AA on as well and still got 80 fps locked hard @1080P. FAllout 3,bioshock, dragon age 1, and so many other games it maxed easy and the difference between console and pc versions of games were huge.

But i do have to give the xbox 360 credit, on the day it launched call of duty 2 was the first time a game had almost the same quality of graphics as the PC version of a game. I was shocked and actually bought the console version of the game because it looked so good and i needed to upgrade my pc at the time. Well after that it was never close again pc ran away from console again and very fast.

[levian]

This probably isn't the best place to ask, but all the images are broken on N4G for me, every single one. Am I the only one, or is something up right now?

[Tctczach]

No it happened to me also. You are not alone.

[Rimgal]

Dude me too. What the hell is happening?

[levian]

That makes me feel better, I was worried my internet was slowly dying or I had some malware or something. I guess let's chalk it up to server issues and hope it'll be fixed soon!

[GearSkiN]

Image is broke on mine too

[BenRage3]

Same here

[juliotheman21]

Same

[kenmid]

me too, I thought it was Chrome

[BG11579]

Same thing here. Glad to see I'm not alone.

[Hanuman]

Same here.. It made me check stuff and stir up some sh*t in my settings section of Chrome. it made me nervous, anxious and most of all.. It made me wonder about my (immense) vulnerability as a goat (Who are known to have 0% technical knowledge) on the internet.

[ajax17]

I was about to say the same thing... So weird. It's like 90% of them...

[aquamala]

sure only a small % of PC gamers have the specs to play this game at high settings, but same on consoles where only a small % of them have a ps4/xb1. what console does the "average" console gamer have? wii?

by the time ps4/xb1 are more mainstream consoles (in 4-5 years?) the average gaming PC specs will be a lot better by then

[cellur111]

The xbone obviously can't go to 1080p.

[marioJP87]

Why in the HELL would anyone disagree with the maturity of this post? Foreaking idiots.

[BobBelcher]

What's this? Rationality and reason? Thank you for this.

[MrSwankSinatra]

Hopefully they can fix the screen tearing in the console versions.

[qwerty676]

how is this game a most anticipated title?

you know what the lifetime sales of all the witcher games combined?

1.98m thats all the games lol.

[ThatOneRiggaNob]

What does the sales have to do with this games anticipation? The stuff that this game is trying to do is enough to make it one of the most anticipated titles alongside other titles such as The Division.

[Baka-akaB]

Go play the kim kardashian game , or on consoles and PC COD then . By that logic you should expect its sequel more , given how successful it is

[dreamoner]

Where do you get your facts from?

http://images.eurogamer.net...

[LAWSON72]

If I had to guess VGChartz, which is just a no no for PC games and as the new consoles get older odds are it will be the same for them.

[fullmetal297]

The sales are 6 million combined since 2013. That is three times the number you pulled out your rear.

[Seafort]

LOL you looked on vgchartz and then expect people to take you serious.

That site is complete crap for sales of anything especially PC digital sales which there are no data for.

For example

http://www.vgchartz.com/gam...

DayZ sales so far according to vgchartz :P

http://www.vgchartz.com/gam...

So you're telling me that DayZ has sold nothing throughout it's lifetime and yet it's coming to PS4 in the near future?

GTFO of here with your BS :)

[Grap]

Never argue with someone end his sentence with lol.

[brainfart]

Ok I wont argue with u:)

[Spartacus10]

lol.

[Hanuman]

The Witcher games sold 6 million and then some more. Anyone who missed out should try them.

[bloodybutcher]

If only i could...played the first one someone's pc, was hoping for 2nd to come to ps3 but it went to x360. I played few hours at my firend's house, but that's it:-\ well, at least i get to play 3rd one on ps4 in few months...and still have me books, i do^^ lurve me some Wiedźmin saga!

[johny5]

I believe the PS4 version will be on par with the PC version on high settings at 1080p@30fps "without PhysX" when it finally goes gold!

If they get around 45fps average, I wouldn't mind it having an unlocked frame setting, with the trade off being AA!

[brainfart]

Keep dreaming cdp is having trouble locking it at 30 fps what makes you think witcher 3 will magically hit 45fps oh thats right ps4 gpu is equivalent to a r290 lol

I believe the PS4 version will be on par with the PC version on high settings at 1080p@30fps "without PhysX" when it finally goes gold!

[johny5]

You know I wasn't even flame baiting, but you had to go there! Whatever, stay on you're high horse....

[brainfart]

So basically the game wont be locked at 30fps damn feel sorry for console owner's playing a beautiful game while in some area it will dip into the 20's, good thing im getting this on pc:)

[AndrewLB]

If they used the ultra level of detail on PS4, it would struggle to hit 30fps at 720p. The recommended card to play 1080p/60 on Ultra is a Gtx 780ti which has over 3x the processing power.

[GameNameFame]

Besides the fact that console is far more efficient. Like twice as much at least.

At ps4 ultra, prob 900p 30fps.
X1 720p and struggle 30fps.

[Speak_da_Truth]

Idk every time I watch some game play of this game it looks good but its a PC game I'll have to wait and see how it does on ps4 before i pay $60 for it. Don't get me wrong the game is very good from what I've seen and looks very intriguing but they are have a hard time porting it to consoles so idk but I'll just wait.

[Lennoxb63]

I just want the game. I could give a f@ck about what console its on, what res/fps its running, or whether a fanboy thinks only his opinion is right. The game looks amazing. I guarantee you it will look amazing on all platforms. Just take my word for it. Cause this imaginary console war is BS.

[levian]

You and I are of a like mind. I'm so sick of this "console war". I don't care which system it looks better on, I'll be buying it on the system I have it for obviously. I don't need to know that my system is better, it doesn't make me feel better or superior in any way.

The only way it matters is if you own a PS4 AND and Xbox One, and even then, controller preference is more important than whether it's 980p or 1080p, or 45fps vs 60fps.

This game looks awesome. I will be buying it and it doesn't matter which console it's for. I'll buy it and enjoy it, and so will everybody else, regardless of console

[bloodybutcher]

No, the war is real.there's blood, tears...probably semen as well, i can imagine some fanboys masturbating to their favourite hardware. On the other hand, i think that imagiming some fat, sad guy, masturbating in his basement is sth i need to talk over with my psychologist.

[GamingTruth]

theres 2 problems with all the pc fans comments and disagrees with console defense statements:

1 is that trying to compare specs against consoles is retarded cause theres no telling the amount of modification and other tech the likes of sony and microsoft put in their own respective platforms which is in turn why theres no pc equivalent or superior to the best of ps4 and xbox one exclusives

2 as if this game really maxes out either system sony and microsoft arent giving developers the highest dev kits to use the max of their systems as kerny has explained several times the feature set in the ps4 and other tech that will keep growing after the system is out, so if you are dumb enough to believe this game maxes out these systems your the dumbest pc fan ever

and lastly this is a pc fanboy first developer just like most developers purposely try and make pc look worlds better than platforms outside of pc so you pc nerds wont cry that your favorite 2000 dollar pc cant beat the 400 dollar consoles, which is happening either way when it comes to exclusives on ps4 and xbox one, so you need multiplats to 'prove' that pc is superior which could and is likely only cause pc developers which are all multiplat developers do to make pc look better

[boneso82]

"as if this game really maxes out either system"...

"if you are dumb enough to believe this game maxes out these systems your the dumbest pc fan ever"...

"this is a pc fanboy first developer just like most developers purposely try and make pc look worlds better than platforms outside of pc so you pc nerds wont cry that your favorite 2000 dollar pc cant beat the 400 dollar consoles"...

"you need multiplats to 'prove' that pc is superior which could and is likely only cause pc developers which are all multiplat developers do to make pc look better"...

This collection of quotes just goes to prove how ignorant your entire viewpoint on how game development actually works. I could waste my time and pick it apart a bit at a time but you would just ignore it anyway. I think these quotes speak for themselves to everyone else.

[tee_bag242]

I think you've got things a little mixed. Wasn't it Watchdogs that was purposefully downgraded on PC's not to show up the consoles too much?

[GamingTruth]

so your 100% certain that the developers arent trying to get around you pc nerds not crying at your pcs not being able to match a 400 dollar console vs your 1000 dollar plus investments? im glad i got all these disagrees cause i know exactly what this site full of pc nerds is oh well

[MadLad]

Stay classy, Gaming.
Stay classy . . .

[feraldrgn]

"PS4 optimization".

Not according to CD Project Red:
http://n4g.com/news/1568122...

[kingduqc]

Anyone not playing wither 3 on pc is doing it wrong. 1440p 60 glorious fps, 10$ cheaper, better aa and texture filtering, physX.

[IAM]

Gotta see if I want it first.

[bloodybutcher]

Anyone making such statements makes it wrong.I will play the witcher 3 on my toaster and it still will be right.

[kickerz]

Getting this for my xb1 day 1. Looks like so much fun.

[N311V]

Only some areas hitting 30fps on consoles is a worry. Maybe the developer isn't used to optimisating their code as you can just rely on brute force with a PC game. After all they didn't release Witcher 2 on PS3 because it was too unlike a PC for them.

Hopefully they'll delay a second time if need be. Sucks for PC though as I'm sure their deal with MS calls for at least a simultaneous release on Xbox and PC. It probably only got delayed in the first place because their having trouble with optimisation.

[Truehellfire]

....there is still 6 months left till the game releases. Its actually really good that they can already hit 30fps in some areas with this much time until release.

[aliengmr]

They'll just do what they've done in the past, fix the game.

One should not expect a perfect launch of this game. If you are, don't, just expect a mess to avoid disappointment.

This is their 3rd game and its the first time consoles are getting a debut of the game, IT WILL NOT BE PERFECT DAY ONE.

They will support the hell out of the game and make sure it gets fixed, but CDPR doesn't have perfect launches.

Just lower your expectations.

Witcher 2 did have a better launch than the first, but still, Sony guys and gals should just expect the worst and hope for the best.

[pornflakes]

this game will be supperior on the Xone. MS already CDred with the Witcher2 on x360. The partnership is very good. I bet that at the end the xone will even look better in terms of graphics.

[Truehellfire]

CDPR has a good reputation with them but that doesn't mean it will look better on the Xbone. PS4 has more powerful hardware plain and simple.

[boneso82]

The Xbone version will be the least "supperior". It goes hand in hand with what the developers have been saying about all 3 releases.

The PC version will obviously be the best, providing the hardware is up to spec.
The PS4 version will be second best, already at 1080p, CDPR have already said its easier to hit the desired res on Sony's console.

Is there anything that CDPR, you know, the developers of the game, have said to back up your statement that the Xbone version of their game will be the "supperior" version?

[stormswrath]

I envy pc gamers cause they get so many games we don't get on console. However I'm glad that when i buy a console game I don't have to worry about whether my console can run it at the highest level of detail or if it will run the game at all. I like knowing what I am getting into. So for me there are advantages and disadvantages to whatever you game on. If you have the time and resources to have it all more power to you but I don't so I'll stick with my consoles.

[AKS]

"However I'm glad that when i buy a console game I don't have to worry about whether my console can run it at the highest level of detail or if it will run the game at all."

You'll typically see recommended specs released to let you know if you will be able to run it. If you have a gaming PC, you're probably going to well exceed the minimum specs for most games. The big exception was Crysis in 2007, which was ridiculously demanding.

I really don't understand the mindset that you must be able to play a game at the absolute max specs. I played The Witcher 2 without ubersampling, and it looked about the same with a much more stable frame rate. Even if I didn't have it at 100% max specs, it looked significantly better than most games that had ever been released up to that point.

http://cloud-4.steampowered...

You can also come up with some sort of crazy resolution with multiple monitors that I'm sure will bog down the frame rate of almost any PC. Is it not worth playing if you can't play it at an outrageously high resolution?

I didn't crank Metro: Last Light to max resolution and specs either, but it still blew away just about everything that had been released up to that point.

http://cloud-4.steampowered...

Same deal with Crysis 3.

It doesn't have to be at absolute max to look better than just about anything else. In some cases, some of the "max" options don't even improve the visuals much while killing the frame rate. It's often better to turn off the really power hungry effects for a smooth frame rate.

[aliengmr]

Yea ubersampling was a killer and I saw next to no difference with it. I'm guessing this will have something similar.

[mochachino]

When devs say they're delivering the same experience across consoles it means one version is getting gimped a bit.

[bixxel]

UBISOFT!
Learn from these guys.

[gz1987]

WoW console people are just dumb. consoles will NEVER have the hardware that pc will have! PERIOD and this means that the games can be push further than ANY console... PERIOD STFU and stop arguing over a shit console that even sony and MS-XB1 know that pc has more potential for the future. i may add that consoles have came along way and look better and better at the end of the day its still a CONSOLE.

I also would like to add that even The Witcher 3 devs said that pc " will look better " consoles will be like a pc on high settings and a pc will be able to go beyond that at Ultra.

[GamingTruth]

yeah and thats why pc cant run ps4 and xbox one exclusives

[tee_bag242]

*facepalm*

Do you know what exclusive means?
Grab a dictionary or if you cant use one, Google it.

[GamingTruth]

yeah i know but pc isnt an opponent of ps4 or xbox one and as many exclusives as xbox one has lost its not impossible for ps4 to lose some also more money right, and pc is "much much much more powerful" right, so theres no reason pc cant have ps4 exclusives unless the developers just trying to save the 'almighty pc' from humiliation specs are specs but tech and brains is another thing

[gz1987]

Its just the developers and companies like MS or Sony to pay these companies to make exclusives. PC has exclusives also. This does NOT mean that PC/ps4 or XB1 cannot run the game.