The Witcher 3 day 1 patch on PC improves vegetation and shadows

It’s no secret that the PC version of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt appears to lack the kind of future-oriented features that PC gamers have come to expect from CD Projekt Red. The PC footage we’ve seen thus far comes from a preview build that was sent out to the media.

[T900]

My preorder remains cancelled until i see game reviews on the PC build.

[affrogamer]

wait, so u think the reviews on PC build are going to be any different cuz of better graphics or 60fps?

[brich233]

I'm sure its because he doesnt want to buy a broken unoptimized game.

[GreetingsfromCanada]

Remember, graphics are what allowed Crytek to achieve video game perfection and became the dominant studio in gaming

[Mariusmssj]

Pretty much all reviews say it's one of the best RPG's ever made and people are having a hissy fit about grass. Not defending CDPR on the graphics but people are using the graphics and pitty excuse to say "cancelled my pre-order".

[methegreatone]

"Remember, graphics are what allowed Crytek to achieve video game perfection and became the dominant studio in gaming"

I think you're being sarcastic, but there was a time when amazing gameplay made Crytek king of the fps. Grahpics, gameplay, simulation, INTERACTIVITY.

I don't hate consoles. I think they've brought a ton of amazing experiences to the table However, Crysis was one of those franchises that suffered with the move to consoles.
Graphics were kind of dumbed down, but what really suffered were the gameplay and simulation and interactivity.

Talk about good gameplay. Crysis 1 and Warhead were downright mindblowing in that respect. It helped that they were also the best looking games ever made at the time.

I shudder to think where fps games would be today if Crytek stayed on PC.

I do NOT think the same is true for CDPR for TW3. There's been a graphics downgrade, which is unfortunate, but their gameplay remains as complex as ever, with even more going on than before. Which is why TW3 is still going to be kickass on PC.

[mikeslemonade]

Crysis was at the top for a very short time. You play shooters for the multiplayer. I mean there's not that many people who will play these FPS single player games over and over again.

Now back on topic, the PC version should get a lower rating for having only marginally better graphics. On PC we expect more. Console version gets a 92 so the PC version should get like a 89.

People don't seem to get that platforms have different standards. If it's on a stronger platform it should look obviously better. Otherwise you should deduct points. Afterall graphics is a element of a game.

[someOnecalled]

Actually crytek downfall was console. They downgrade crysis to the point of no return now look at them. This gen is either going to be really short or it going to be a lot of spinning by devs once people notice that thing are becoming more limited. You have to realize a lot of these devs have been working on much better hardware years before the consoles released. Case and point cdproject they removed so many feature and look at the witcher 2 not only fanboys downplayed how good it looked last gen but it still look better than most games today what that tell you about the tech in these consoles if an old game like the witcher 2 looks better than most

[thekhurg]

If most PC gamers keep acting like him, developers will drop support for the platform all together.

[kingeliran]

OMG you cancelled the preorder of an epic game that offers over 200 hours of gameplay amazing graphics story and gameplay because a 5% downgrade ?!

[OB1Biker]

People going 'preorder cancelled' in comments are funny. As if anyone cares

[_-EDMIX-_]

I don't know bud, thats 5% less fancy grass, 5% less fancy shadows.......those things really make a game I mean...A REAL GAME! Without those, might as well score this game a zero.

[Tzuno]

Smart man, glad not everyone is in the hype train, first see with your eyes and then trust the internet.

[kingeliran]

PLEASE WATCH THIS PEOPLE ITS ABOUT THE DOWNGRADE:

https://www.youtube.com/wat...

[wraith4912]

Good stuff, I guess it hit to close to home for some.

[Dustinf11]

How noble.

...everyone else goes back to playing an amazing game.

[USMC_POLICE]

You are missing out I just got access on my pc about an hour and a half ago. Don't be stubborn so far my mind is blown.

[Kal-V3]

Here's a review. I'm playing this on my hd 7970, All Ultra, 1080p-30+fps, no hairworks and it looks and plays amazing!

[DevilOgreFish]

A GTX680 could have handled this at ultra settings at 60 fps. this doesn't look anywhere near as Crysis 3's level. I'll probably just have to wait for the enhanced edition. the enhanced edition of 1 and 2 were pretty good.

[Khronikos]

Doubt there is going to be an enhanced version. The other two games were not even close to finished on release. I bet we get patches on PC though.

[GreetingsfromCanada]

It looks like they color corrected it

Edit: Did not see the field of wheat, however they did mostly change the coloring

[AlokTheDemon]

grass looks damn 2d, lighting and water are messed up, nothing like next gen. 2013 trailer was something next gen but god knows why they couldn't make it up.

[I_AM_ CANADIAN_1989]

Tbh not sure if my memory is wrong but I really feel like those witcher 3 screens don't look much better than witcher 2. Normally I wouldn't complain but for 2 years now they've been hyping the crap out of this game, saying the graphics are amazing and like never before seen, showing gameplay videos after gameplay that prove what they're saying than boom 1 week before launch they show us a completely different looking game.never thought cdprojekt would go down to ubisoft a level. :( I still have this pre ordered on pc but can't not say I'm extremely disappointed in cd projekt. Should have just been honest with us from the get go.

@reynod pretty much but the difference is crytek gameplay and story was sub par. Witcher has gameplay and story on its side and it has unlocked FPS so it's not that doom and gloom, but cd projekt was one if the trustworthy devs just thought for sure the previous gameplay videos would be the end result.

[reynod]

Crytek pretty much did the same with PC gamers. Look at where they are today, out of business.

[methegreatone]

Crytek completely dumbed down their games. They were still good games, but remember that it's not the graphics that suffered most. It was gameplay, complexity, physics and simulation, and overall interactivity that really suffered.

CDPR's PC version is still going to be a kickass PC game ! Yes there is a huge graphics downgrade, which should get CDPR some flak. However, gameplay and complexity has only grown from previous games.

Also, I really don't think CDPR will ship the PC version with the Start screen saying "Press A to continue", (shame on Crytek).

[Dude420]

I don't understand this trend now where some of you think the Witcher 3 doesn't look as good as 2, that's insane.

Even with the claimed downgrade, the Witcher 3 still has...

- Better lighting
- More subtle bloom effects
- Better weather effects
- Better animations
- Better character models (even the faces are a huge improvement)
- A much larger viewing distance
- Open areas rather than bounded ones
- Better colouring
- etc...

The witcher 2 was a great looking game when it first came out, but good lord, what has the gaming community come to when some start thinking the Witcher 3 looks worse than 2. *SMH*

[kraenk12]

they already made a statement that they had to compromise because their team was too small and the budget to low to work on two totally different versions of the game for PC and consoles. perfectly reasonable and I don't get those whiners when the game still looks better than any other open world game. pathetic.

[Meltic]

the game looks MUCH better with the day 1 patch. Shadows and even the grass looks better. Looks equal to 2013

[NatureOfLogic_]

"the game looks MUCH better with the day 1 patch."

Lol, No It doesn't. It just looks like a different time of day or color correction.

[Meltic]

playing it now with day 1 patch and it sure looks better than the older built that was played by ANGRYJOE and others

[ultralow]

will pick up on ps4 and wait on the upgraded pc version

[Khronikos]

While I do think their marketing was bogus, I preordered because of the 48 dollar steam deal and the fact this is my favorite game series. It's insane all these so-called fans don't want to play the actual game lol. Not fans in my book.

That being said this is the usual deal with open world games: I'm not touching it for two months so they can patch it up.

Skyrim has to be the buggies game in existence, as Nexus is STILL patching numerous errors in the game, mostly related to geometry and positioning. I can wait.

[shotime97]

if they did downgrade it yes it suck's but it's still gonna be a good game and definitely worth60 buck's for 200 to 300 hrs of game play...ps less then 12 hr to go! I've got my red bull's and 5 hr energy and I took two vacation days from work so ui'm ready :)

[WitWolfy]

I dont care how great the game is, just the mere fact that they lied to us like this can get ALL devs to do the EXACT same thing in the future.

Thats the thing these CDP protectors dont understand.

[WizzroSupreme]

I just knew that this game was going to have to have a ton of patches day one, but at least it works. That's something of an achievement for this industry.

[Maul_T_Pass]

Today a learned a a ton of patches = 1...

[Str8Chaos74]

Well just fired it up on my PC with ultra settings. Looks amazing and runs great. Easily looks better than most games. PC patch added quite a bit have seen both, PC looks much better than the console versions so...

[starchild]

I completely agree. I'm playing it on Ultra settings and it does look amazing. I expected it to look good, but it actually looks a lot better in person than I expected.

[ChrisW]

I'm certain very few of us here clicked on the link before posting.

Now, I'm trying not to sound like a Red-Necked 'Merican, but a very large majority of us do not speak any other language than 'American'. So there's little point to posting articles that are in other languages... Even if there are pretty screen shots and Youtube videos to showcase the game.