who would have known that after 5 years a game doesnt looks as the games coming out 5 years later :O
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Man, Witcher 3 graphics got dated fast
- Thread starter ObbyDent
- Start date
Played it originally on og PS4. Tried it again in 4k on max settings on pc last year after people saying how much better it looked on pc.
Man, either it just aged like milk, or the differences between versions are vastly exaggerated.
Man, either it just aged like milk, or the differences between versions are vastly exaggerated.
You start a thread and get back with a "its only video games" argument with people who disagree with you. lol carry on
You do realise that resolution isn't the only difference with the PC version right?! Not even close.
Ultimately TW3 is a PC-lead game ported to consoles, with a significant downgrade. Not well optimised like other games you are mentioning and sure the likes of HZD are way more polished on PS4/Pro.
But the PC version of TW3 is a night and day difference over console. And the point people are making here is that they disagree with your thread title, in the sense that the PC version of the game didn't "get dated fast" and a still looks good today. It's a bit like saying Doom 2016 got dated fast just because the Switch version looks like shit (even compared to other Switch games).
Holy shit, the pre downgrade version is so much better. Has a lot to do with the FOV already (hate Witcher 3's close up camera so much), but the details and lighting. Wow.
Though I kinda like that it looks warmer post dg. Agree though that the colors are really plain in comparison.
OP
OP
I actually wasn't aware of that and would love to see the difference. Do you have good comparisons handy?
I play both versions and tbh PC max settings version doesn't look much better than the base PS4 version lol.
So a game that was developed for 7 years exclusively on one platform and another game that had 8 years of development, much bigger budget and more people working on it all look better than a 2015 multiplatform title on console?
No shit?
No shit?
Yeah that was one of my biggest issues with it.
I really should check out this texture pack as I've been thinking about replaying the dlc. Does the pc version have hdr now?
Nah, dated means something different. Does it look as good as triple A open world games released today? Maybe not, but it's not dated looking.
Yep. The way I look at it, the highest spec GPU 5 years ago was the 980TI. That needs to be considered.
Dated? No. Superceded? Yes. But then it is almost 5 years old.
Still a good looking game though. I think it looks really good on switch too.
Still a good looking game though. I think it looks really good on switch too.
Skip to 42 seconds.
And with a couple of .ini tweaks or mods the difference is even more profound. Not to mention 60fps. Then there's Hairworks etc.
I'm playing the PC version on a 970 right now and it looks decent, but I can't wait until I get a new rig. I would honestly love to see a free upgrade on the PS5 and XSX - the checkerboard 4K of the Pro version combined with 60fps, and the absolute best settings they could get within that performance profile, hopefully everything at Ultra with HBAO+ and full Hairworks.
Realistic visuals will always look dated after a certain period of time. They're attempting to emulate a look that we see every day in terms of detail, a level of "perfection" they will never truly achieve. Every blade of grass that doesn't behave correctly, every texture that is too obviously hand crafted rather than naturally worn; it just doesn't fool our brains as well anymore, and the attempt has diminishing returns on every replay.
I'm not saying that games shouldn't try to use this aesthetic, but it kind of comes with the territory. There will never be a perfect realistic aesthetic for a video game; they'll always look worse than they did as time passes, new games or not. It's the nature of the beast.
I'm not saying that games shouldn't try to use this aesthetic, but it kind of comes with the territory. There will never be a perfect realistic aesthetic for a video game; they'll always look worse than they did as time passes, new games or not. It's the nature of the beast.
I know when I fired it up to try the ps4 pro patch the checkerboard artifacts were crazy bad. Was almost like RDR2 on the pro where 1080p looks better in motion Because of them.
xbox one x shocked me how crisp and good it looked though. They must have jacked up the texture filtering and hbao along with the resolution. Almost as good as my 1070. Ended up wandering around Toussaint and Skellige for a couple hours admiring all the scenery.
xbox one x shocked me how crisp and good it looked though. They must have jacked up the texture filtering and hbao along with the resolution. Almost as good as my 1070. Ended up wandering around Toussaint and Skellige for a couple hours admiring all the scenery.
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I tend to believe that games are best compared to their direct competition, because there are lots of differences in presentation and context between different genres that can make a huge difference in how much certain things looking better or worse matters. For example, I would never expect the cars in a GTA game to look as good as they do in Forza.
which means I'm comparing Witcher 3 to TESO, Fallout 4, and the Outer Worlds, and it looks way better than all of those
which means I'm comparing Witcher 3 to TESO, Fallout 4, and the Outer Worlds, and it looks way better than all of those
This is an inherent problem with the pursuit of realism in graphics; they can only be as good as technology allows and the second technology gets better, the graphics get more and more realistic making older games look "dated". I don't think TW3 is quite there yet and I personally don't look at it that way at all; you have to be able to see games in context of their original release otherwise you're not gonna be able to enjoy anything from the past.
Yeah it's amazing. When this console generation started I remember reading stuff like "games this gen won't look better towards the end, because the console architecture is easy to work with. It's just like a PC". Some argued the difference will be mostly better resolution etc.
And in a few more years people will say "X game sure has aged badly". Which is always complete nonsense.
Someone post the Witcher 3 on a potato PC video. That was truly glorious.
I find art direction to be more important than graphics a lot of the times. My brain sort of fills in the gaps if it likes what it sees. Also, the starting areas of tw3 are a bit bland compared to some of the later areas.
I find art direction to be more important than graphics a lot of the times. My brain sort of fills in the gaps if it likes what it sees. Also, the starting areas of tw3 are a bit bland compared to some of the later areas.
Hairworks & HBAO+ are Nvidia features.
RDR2 looks good because of high budget & not magical console optimisation if we want to be honest.
I think in general comparing games like RDR2 is unfair to most of the industry.
Way, way back in the day I worked as a Sega representative at Toys R Us, and that was the exact argument we were taught to use: "Sure, PlayStation looks slightly better than Saturn *now*, but those graphics are maxed out - PlayStation is easy to develop for, so what you see is what you'll get. Saturn though, developers have two entire GPUs they have to sync up, it's a bitch to develop for. Games will just get better and better as developers come to terms with the hardware, and it won't be long until Saturn eclipses the PlayStation's graphics.
I'll give you RDR2, but Horizon's open world doesn't really compare to that of the Witcher 3 imho. The world of HZD feels static, with none of the villages or even the capital city feeling like actual places. Witcher 3, with the weather, environment design, villages having their own industries (dyes, charcoal, woodcutting etc) is so extremely detailed and lifelike in comparison.
RDR2 I think is a good comparison but then it did come out three years later.
RDR2 I think is a good comparison but then it did come out three years later.
honestly knack looks better than every other game released so far and gonna be the bar for another 5 years
It's not "dated." It's a good looking game everywhere but it was only a great looking game on PC, that's all still true.
I was actually told recently that they were on track to be brought to consoles (like some other previously-exclusive Nvidia features) but haven't been added yet, and, it made me think the reason why is because the current ones couldn't handle them. Maybe not though. I'll keep my fingers crossed.
Do you know if there are any other equivalents they could implement?
people gonna bring up AC unity and Arkham Knight , and while they do look better . especially Unity. Those games dont need to account for dynamic weather, day and night cycles , NPC schedules and much bigger scope . And those things eat up performance when instead it could go improving visual quality
It's not just RDR2 though. There's nothing "magical" about it but game makers in general use more efficient and optimised techniques. It's not like GTA V didn't have any budget for comparison. RDR2 also runs at a fairly high resolution and stable framerate compared to similar open world titles, while looking THAT visually amazing.
I actually think they're not dated at all. In fact, the opposite. They have a kind of 'Painty' look to me in parts.
Much less dated than a fair few Zelda games, that's for sure IMO.
Much less dated than a fair few Zelda games, that's for sure IMO.
It was never a looker and I really didn't like the artstyle.
I can't explain it but even though I found both Witcher 3 and Horizon to have plastic looking characters, Horizon still looks pleasing to the eye kinda like a pixar artstyle, whereas Witcher's characters look plastic and wet and disgusting.
I can't explain it but even though I found both Witcher 3 and Horizon to have plastic looking characters, Horizon still looks pleasing to the eye kinda like a pixar artstyle, whereas Witcher's characters look plastic and wet and disgusting.
budget and time are 100% a factor but also releasing with more time with the console out in the market to reach much higher levels of optimization with newer and improved tools is 100% a thing that happens.
Games releasing in the last 12 months of a console release will always look incredibly more detailed while keeping a higher performance than those that came out in the first 12 months.
The Witcher 3 came out just before AAA games widely adopted the global illumination / photogrammetry pipeline. You see a similar thing with Battlefield 4 vs. Battlefield 1.
I was just able to find an interview where they talked not using baked global illumination.
DualShockers
Assassin's Creed Unity was one of the early open world games to implement baked global illumination, but the compromise was that they couldn't have a dynamic time of day.
Workarounds have been developed since. Horizon Zero Dawn apparently has 4 baked lighting setups for different times of day, and interpolates between them. I presume RDR2 does the same, as you can see the transitions in that game.
TL;DR: When The Witcher 3 was being developed baked global illumination, which defines the look of modern games, would have meant too many compromises for a game the scale of TW3 with a dynamic time of day.
I was just able to find an interview where they talked not using baked global illumination.
DualShockers
Assassin's Creed Unity was one of the early open world games to implement baked global illumination, but the compromise was that they couldn't have a dynamic time of day.
Workarounds have been developed since. Horizon Zero Dawn apparently has 4 baked lighting setups for different times of day, and interpolates between them. I presume RDR2 does the same, as you can see the transitions in that game.
TL;DR: When The Witcher 3 was being developed baked global illumination, which defines the look of modern games, would have meant too many compromises for a game the scale of TW3 with a dynamic time of day.