Witcher 2 was developed favoring console over PC

[Wolfram23]

Surely if it was designed for consoles instead of PC it would have been released on the consoles before or at the same time? Instead of the console release being 6 months after the PC one, as well as being announced about a month after the release of the PC version.

Please read or at least skim my original post... My arguments are almost entirely focused on the controls which are much more optimized for gamepads.

I lightly dab on a few game design choices that are pretty much required to put the game on console (loading zones) but that isn't really an issue to me because it looks great, aside from a slight delay in getting into the action - but basically there's clear signs the game was design for console compatibility.

 

[Wolfram23]

You mean ... the video I embedded in this thread?

Oh, I didn't know that was also you. I didn't watch that because from the image it looks like the last battle of Chapter 2 (I assume the city is attacked) and that would be spoilers for me, as I'm currently finding Triss to get the last component to heal the Dragonslayer lady. And the title sais (Spoilers).

Ok, fair call.
I marked the video with (spoilers) for a reason.

You'll watch my batman one, though?

Yeah just watched half of it. I see what you mean, but the difference is that WASD is selecting your targets, not the camera. If that was implemented in Witcher 2 I'd be much happier (even just as an option). That, plus revise the looting, and have the mouse move to where it's needed (again, mostly for convos) automatically would put me back on M+K, but for now I'm liking the ease of gamepad... with the exception of navigating the pause menu to get to Inv, Journal, and Map. UGH I hate that.

 

[Danceofmasks]

Well from the first 10 minutes I was thinking this is another shoddy console port, not only are there quick time events till your anus bleeds, but the control scheme is completely counter intuitive, the controls are quickly flashed during a battle with a motherfucking dragon, there is no bloody key binding options and what do you know there also isn't any fucking control list to look up what the fuck you can actually do in the game...

Laziest user interface design since the dawn of gaming is all I can say.

I gotta agree with this one ...

Sure, there are possible engine reasons why you can't rebind mid-game, but having to rebind from launcher is totally aggravating.
However, there are no sane reason why you can't view the controls you picked in-game. That's just downright retarded.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

i still think your title is misleading and is going to get the pc elitist up in arms about it, so yeah i'd rather avoid all that high horse bullshit, but overall i'll have to try that out, I dont hate the combat but from the sounds of it it definitely will be easier with the controller, so i'll give it a go later

 

[irani_che]

I have been playing PC games with a Xbox gamepad for ages
3rd person non shooters like Assassins Creed and Prototype just flow better with a gamepad than with a mouse,
even in Witcher 1, the combat was single button mashing, that and the controller for camera just works better

 

[Danceofmasks]

You mean ... the video I embedded in this thread?

Oh, I didn't know that was also you. I didn't watch that because from the image it looks like the last battle of Chapter 2 (I assume the city is attacked) and that would be spoilers for me, as I'm currently finding Triss to get the last component to heal the Dragonslayer lady. And the title sais (Spoilers).

Ok, fair call.
I marked the video with (spoilers) for a reason.

You'll watch my batman one, though?

Yeah just watched half of it. I see what you mean, but the difference is that WASD is selecting your targets, not the camera. If that was implemented in Witcher 2 I'd be much happier (even just as an option). That, plus revise the looting, and have the mouse move to where it's needed (again, mostly for convos) automatically would put me back on M+K, but for now I'm liking the ease of gamepad... with the exception of navigating the pause menu to get to Inv, Journal, and Map. UGH I hate that.

Well, the difference between B:AA and TW2 is that the only real threat in B:AA is the big boss(es) in the room.
Hence why I keep him center screen all the time.

In TW2, I'd want to fight one target until they turtle up, then immediately change targets .. which, if I had to rely on WASD to target, may be too slow.

There is one more factor to consider, however.
The actual moves Geralt uses depends on his orientation relative to the target.
Which means, some of my favourite moves are when he's looking away from the target ... and to attain that level of control requires the use of target lock.
I'm still undecided which control scheme would make it more convenient, for example, to do nothing but 4 hit spins (a ridiculously efficient style vs nekkars).

 

[Vrach]

Yep, this doesn't surprise me one bit. From the first moment I played the game, there was a stench of a console port on it. Which didn't really make much sense for a PC exclusive, but now that it's coming out for Xbox, the pieces kinda fall right into place.

 

[Continuity]

1. Is the game great?
2. Did it come out 1st on PC?
3. Can you use a gamepad on PC?

Your arguement is invalid.

Actually I would say that the defining characteristic of the PC platform is mouse and keyboard controls... without that the PC (with regard gaming) is just another console.
Mouse and keyboard is also often something that PC gamers really like about their platform.

I have been playing PC games with a Xbox gamepad for ages
3rd person non shooters like Assassins Creed and Prototype just flow better with a gamepad than with a mouse,
even in Witcher 1, the combat was single button mashing, that and the controller for camera just works better

The controller only works better for these games because they were designed from the ground up around the controller, that doesn't mean that if they were designed from the ground up for mouse and keyboard that that wouldn't be better....

And yes I have an xbox controller on my desk too ^^

 

[Continuity]

double post

 

[teebeeohh]

well, i started playing with a pad for the simple reason that the combat system is more like god of war or devil may cry than i thought and i thought it would be better this way. i switched to K/M when i discovered that i really liked using spells, and this works a lot better if you can switch those fuckers quickly and precisely.
and it's not wrong to design a game for the PC with a different input mechanism in mind than K/M space sims were designed around using flight stick like controllers and it worked like a charm, besides who doesn't own a 360/ps3 pad for a gaming PC?

 

[Danceofmasks]

besides who doesn't own a 360/ps3 pad for a gaming PC?

Anyone who thinks Logitech makes better gamepads than Microsoft or Sony?

 

[shrekfan246]

The issue with the OP's argument is that he's basing the title (Witcher 2 was developed to favor consoles) simply on controls. Which is downright crazy, since it's quite simple to use a gamepad for most games that have been released in the last five or six years (Some even older than that).

While I won't deny that the UI is incredibly shoddy in The Witcher 2, and the controls are finicky at best, you need more for a title so incredibly presumptuous (Engine design, at least). Yes, there are "Loading sections" (sort of), but if you pay attention and have played Mass Effect, you'll realize that these sections aren't nearly as long as the god-awful elevator rides, so it is taking advantage of the RAM that PC's have (Considering how large the game world is). Also, though I typically don't pay attention to shadows so I have no idea about the whole "crosshatching" thing, even on medium settings the game is more graphically intense than most games released these days (Just try to play it on a graphics card that was made in 2005), so it is capitalizing more on PC hardware than console hardware.

Why do you think it's going to be until the end of the year for it to be released on consoles? They need to scale back the engine to take six-seven year old hardware into account. Controls don't mean anything about how they develop a game, it just means they did shoddy work on optimization of the controls.

 

[teebeeohh]

besides who doesn't own a 360/ps3 pad for a gaming PC?

Anyone who thinks Logitech makes better gamepads than Microsoft or Sony?

...
i meant a pad that looks the same, one stick left, one stick right ect.

my pad is from logitech ffs

 

[Continuity]

The issue with the OP's argument is that he's basing the title (Witcher 2 was developed to favor consoles) simply on controls. Which is downright crazy, since it's quite simple to use a gamepad for most games that have been released in the last five or six years (Some even older than that).

The point is that a lot of people prefer m+k controls, and for this sort of game m+k control can actually provide a much better experience (assuming the games was developed for m+k). So thats why people get annoyed when a game is optimised for a suboptimal control method.

 

[shrekfan246]

The issue with the OP's argument is that he's basing the title (Witcher 2 was developed to favor consoles) simply on controls. Which is downright crazy, since it's quite simple to use a gamepad for most games that have been released in the last five or six years (Some even older than that).

The point is that a lot of people prefer m+k controls, and for this sort of game m+k control can actually provide a much better experience (assuming the games was developed for m+k). So thats why people get annoyed when a game is optimised for a suboptimal control method.

Oh yeah, I agree. The reason I couldn't play Dragon Age: Origins on my PS3 was mostly because of just how stripped the controls felt, but I absolutely love the game on the PC. I was simply pointing out how flawed the OP's title is for what his argument consists of.

(Yes, I know DA:O is more RPG than Action compared to Witcher 2, but the issue with controls is similar.)

EDIT: And for the record, I prefer M&K controls for The Witcher 2, the only issue I've had is the combat itself, and even then I think of it more as a challenge. I've never cursed the controls for being terrible. Finicky, yes, when I get swarmed by five enemies and die because of it, but honestly a gamepad wouldn't help in that situation, more skill would.

 

[irani_che]

this type of game favours a gamepad. There is no way around it. It is like asking why RTS games are more likely to be made on PC

 

[Danceofmasks]

this type of game favours a gamepad. There is no way around it. It is like asking why RTS games are more likely to be made on PC

Eh, that's a lie.

Any "game like this" that allows you total control of the camera with the mouse is better on mouse & keyboard.
The reason particular games are weaker on m+k is due to the automated camera.

Devil May Cry 4 controls the camera with an iron fist. Therefore, M+K is terribad.
Assassin's Creed 2 controls the camera to an extent, which makes M+K sometimes feel like swimming through tar, so it plays worse on M+K.
Batman: Arkham Asylum gives you almost total control of the camera, and it plays better with M+K (though probably takes more getting used to, since it has fewer peers).

 

[WhiteTiger225]

1. Is the game great?
2. Did it come out 1st on PC?
3. Can you use a gamepad on PC?

Your arguement is invalid.

4. Is the controls so convoluted that a gamepad would not be able to handle them?
Answer: Yes

 

[KingsGambit_v1legacy]

I noticed this very soon after starting to play and quite early on switched the strange and unmappable keyboard controls for a joypad. It does work significantly better, but there are still issues, not the least of which is the frustrating targetting system that has me switching targets at random and unable to reliably attack one of a group. The lag between hitting the button and Geralt blocking makes it an almost useless function. I wasn't super-keen on the timing based clicks from Witcher 1, but it was better than the unrefined, hit and miss mess of 2.

Saving, bringing up the map and the annoying inventory (that has me constantly unequipping something instead of using something else) sometimes work on keyboard, sometimes don't. I think CD Projekt were going to make the keyboard mappable at some point.

 

[Wolfram23]

4. Is the controls so convoluted that a gamepad would not be able to handle them?
Answer: Yes

How do you figure? The only buttons/functions missing on the gamepad is J, I, M, and F5.