The Witcher

Hot Polygon Action II: Vertex Vixens

We’re not done yet! There are some other graphical settings to bear in mind which, in our experience, make a dramatic difference to how the game looks and feels.

One thing I noticed which is worth pointing out though is the different graphical styles used in the game at various points. The start of the game has a rather stunning opening sequence which is shown with CG graphics that are suitably enthralling and beautiful, betraying a vaguely water coloured quality.

Soon enough though we’re shoved into some in-game cutscenes which use the game's engine to render. If you’ve set the settings then these cutscenes can use effects like depth of field (the only place we could definitely spot DOF in use though), but bizarrely these cutscenes will refuse to use anti-aliasing and can look a little jagged as a result.

After this cutscene is done you’ll be dropped into the game proper, the appearance of which will be decided by the graphical settings you’ve decided on and will use AA if you tell the game to do so. Speaking of which…

Anti-aliasing

Anti-aliasing is the process by which edges of objects are smoothed out to appear less jagged and sharp. Normally in a game we want sharp, crisp edges, but not where aliasing is concerned. AA comes in three flavours; none, 2x and 4x and the larger the multiplier the better the effect.


The AA setting may not look like it makes a big difference in these pictures, but in game where the edges are constantly moving it’s a different story. The game can get by with low or no AA and still look pretty good, especially if you’ve got the other settings pushed high. However, as always we suggest putting it as high as you can whilst still keeping a decent framerate.

Grass Detail

An awful lot of The Witcher is spent running from one peasant village to another, hacking away at monsters and seducing (wooing, even) damsels. As such, you can expect to see an awful lot of grass. There are four settings to choose from – high, medium, low and off. We’ve only shown high, medium and off here because we reckon that if you’re going to have to go to the low setting then you may as well turn grass off and push up something more important.


With the grass set to high the world looks suitably populated by flora (not the butter, though that would be awesome) and the farmers fields are filled with crops which makes me homesick.

Flick it down to medium and the game still looks good, but the ground is a little less welcoming. For the record, this is more true on the low setting and you’ll start suspecting that the farmers are having a bad year. With the setting turned to off all the grass sprites and crops disappear and you’ll have to cope with flat textures and untiled ground.

Now, the grass setting isn’t all that important and you could definitely scale it down if you wanted. We definitely think the view distance is the most important setting, but as always it’s mostly a matter of personal preference. Much like the conclusion, which we come to next…