The Witcher catch-all

Michael wrote:

2) Any must-have mods, convenience, graphics, or otherwise? I like the game well enough now, but if there's anything ubiquitous that people know about and use, that would be appreciated.

I decided that I didn't want to play the inventory juggling game, so I went and got a mod that changed all the item weights to zero, which let me just grab what I wanted and progress the game.

Umm, Witcher 1 doesn't have encumbrance does it?

Also, Michael, if you missed it in the thread there are 2 main things to remember when playing it that are way different than other games.

1. You have to pick your enemies. Half the time it is better to just run past them. This becomes key in that forest/swamp area (Chapter 2 maybe?).
2. You always need to be using potions and oils. They give you huge, necessary bonuses in combat.

That stuff took me forever to figure out on my own because it's set up a little differently than most RPGs.

kyrieee wrote:

Umm, Witcher 1 doesn't have encumbrance does it? :P

It has a different sort of encumbrance, slots in the inventory.

edit: Looking at the thread again, I was talking about TW2 mods. Doh! I just play TW1 vanilla.

Yeah, I definitely picked up that potions and alchemy are pretty important. IIRC I chose the middle difficulty level. I also found out the hard way that diving into every group of enemies I see doesn't always work out the best.

If you're not playing the enhanced edition of TW1 definitely get that. Otherwise I played it without mods.

I didn't notice a big issue with the screen wobbling. Turning the mouse/gamepad sensitivity down might help by making your turning a little slower and smoother. Otherwise I'd go with any of the standard "nausia from games" remedies.

demonbox wrote:

57 hours into the game, I can confirm there is a chapter 4.

I thought I was going to be able to power through to Chapter 5 last night but no such luck. Tonight I'm determined to verify the existence of the next chapter but we'll see what the game has in store for me.

demonbox wrote:
demonbox wrote:

57 hours into the game, I can confirm there is a chapter 4.

I thought I was going to be able to power through to Chapter 5 last night but no such luck. Tonight I'm determined to verify the existence of the next chapter but we'll see what the game has in store for me.

Almost there!

tuffalobuffalo wrote:
demonbox wrote:
demonbox wrote:

57 hours into the game, I can confirm there is a chapter 4.

I thought I was going to be able to power through to Chapter 5 last night but no such luck. Tonight I'm determined to verify the existence of the next chapter but we'll see what the game has in store for me.

Almost there!

Chapter 5 exists!

Luggage wrote:

Just finished the game. Chapter 4 took me 7 hours.

It took me 11 hours; I walked lazily though fields at dusk and sunset. Great chapter and a bit of a surprise.

demonbox wrote:

It took me 11 hours; I walked lazily though fields at dusk and sunset. Great chapter and a bit of a surprise.

That was a very beautiful area. I loved running through the fields.

tuffalobuffalo wrote:
demonbox wrote:

It took me 11 hours; I walked lazily though fields at dusk and sunset. Great chapter and a bit of a surprise.

That was a very beautiful area. I loved running through the fields.

I feel like Witcher captures dusk as well as Far Cry 2 captures dawn- if that makes any sense.

demonbox wrote:
tuffalobuffalo wrote:
demonbox wrote:

It took me 11 hours; I walked lazily though fields at dusk and sunset. Great chapter and a bit of a surprise.

That was a very beautiful area. I loved running through the fields.

I feel like Witcher captures dusk as well as Far Cry 2 captures dawn- if that makes any sense.

I do! The summertime helps dusk feel right with the lighting. Having the grass in the fields all golden adds to it. The Witcher 2 does both dawn and dusk just right whenever you get to that game.

Yeah, despite TW1:EE's graphics being squeezed out of an old engine, I was really amazed by them. The graphic designers and coders at CDP must be real mages. Gives me high hopes for TW2:EE, which will be on my plate some time late Q2/early Q3. I was gonna wait longer, but my mind keeps wandering back to Temeria (as opposed to the Normandy or Rapture) more than I had anticipated. Also, I hope now that the Enhanced Edition of TW2 is out, it will be featured on DeadEndThrills.

The big question is though, will I have time to squeeze in the two premium content short story DLC kinda things that were part of the TW1:EE along the way. Does anyone have any experience of how many hours each of them clocks in at?

At 75 hours I can now confirm there is an epilogue. Chapter 5 only took 7 hours (which means it probably took normal people half that time).

demonbox wrote:

At 75 hours I can now confirm there is an epilogue. Chapter 5 only took 7 hours (which means it probably took normal people half that time).

I tip my hat to you in regards to your patience. As mentioned earlier, it took me about 50 hours. I can't wait to hear your thoughts on the ending and your thoughts on whether or not you'll play TW2.

I finished the game with a run time of 77 hours. I'll have to post some thoughts sometime, even though I'm sure no one is clamoring for opinions about the game at this point in it's life.

I'm glad you stuck with it. In the end, having played the game all the way to Chapter IV close to three times (lost savegames), I'm sure I spent around 50-60 hours, and I felt it was well worth it. I would definitely be interested in hearing your finishing thoughts.

Aye, me too.

Started playing TW2 in agonizingly small drips on the 360. A bit confused and lukewarm to start (the tutorial was meh as tutorials go) and still have not finished the prologue yet but I'm slowly warming up to it.

Waiting for that mythical weekend where I can crash on the couch with too many snacks and dig into this for at least 3 hours straight.

Maclintok wrote:

Started playing TW2 in agonizingly small drips on the 360. A bit confused and lukewarm to start (the tutorial was meh as tutorials go) and still have not finished the prologue yet but I'm slowly warming up to it.

Waiting for that mythical weekend where I can crash on the couch with too many snacks and dig into this for at least 3 hours straight.

http://www.gamerswithjobs.com/node/4...

Why is The Witcher doing a 15,495.5 MB update download? Odd.

I checked the Steam forums earlier and it was happening to a lot of people. Pausing the download, exiting Steam, then restarting it seemed to stop it for me. But I couldn't find any clear information on whether it was a bug or something else.

I picked this up in the Winter Sale for £1.75 and with 20 hours on the clock it has already justified its purchase.

I am about to enter Vizima via the Miller's Gate. It's been an enthralling experience thus far. Memorable characters - some charming, others unpleasant - and an immersive world. I like the combat and find the use of potions and oils a welcome addition. The alchemy aspect of the game is well implimented, in my opinion. The journal is brilliant! I appreciate the knowledge that can be gained from the characters sheet, the monsters (bestiary) sheet and the ingredients sheet. It is clear the developers put their heart and soul into this game.

I opted for hard difficulty with the good ol' mouse and keyboard as my tools. Everything works a treat.

I have experienced the odd crash, mostly on exit, but I save regularly (manually as I turned auto-save off) so it's not a real problem at this time.

I'm probably the only person playing The Witcher at this point in time, but I just had to say how great it is and take a chance that someone else may be playing through at the same time as me.

Welcome to the brotherhood of Witcher fans. super glad you're enjoying it.

I'm going to give you two warnings. 1) you are about to enter the worst paced part of the game. Act 2 goes on forever and sometimes what to do next gets obscure. Just do whatever quests are available and the threads will come together. And 2) don't fight the plants you first encounter in the swamp. Just run past until you gain a few levels.

Once you get through Act 2 the game really comes alive.

What MrDevil said. Act 2 was the bane of several people here in the forums, but whoever made it to act 3 has finished the game I believe.

Yeah, I'm thirding the hell out of Devil's comments. just a few pages before this you can likely read how I was both A) absolutely in love with the game still and B) unsure if I was ever going to finish Act 2. Man I love this game.

I am trying to avoid spoilers, but does the pace pick up after Chapter 2? I loved the prologue and Chapter 1, but running around the inside of the town and getting owned in the swamps kind of sucks.

Greg wrote:

I am trying to avoid spoilers, but does the pace pick up after Chapter 2? I loved the prologue and Chapter 1, but running around the inside of the town and getting owned in the swamps kind of sucks.

It apparently gets a lot better. I think after the swamp... not sure, I don't think I made it past the swamp. But everyone who does loves it after that. From what I hear....

Yes! Yes! It picks up. I had two goes at the game and could never make it past the swamp part because it felt like a slog. Third time I finally did make it past then and finally everything clicked. Once you get past that part it really picks up.

Just try and get through the swamp stuff as quickly as you can. Remember that it's best to just run past stuff most of the time.

Thanks, guys. I will persist. I saw the glimpse of a good game in Chapter 1.