Witcher 2

2011-08-15 05:16:29 am

Also know as L0rdy

Btw, did everyone of you guys see the stupid music video the guys from Wither 2 released a few days ago (http://www.thewitcher.com/the-witcher/2/videos/trailers/). I did for some reason, and at the end of the video at 4:53 it says "Soon New & Improved PC version 2.0", dunno whats that all about, but atleast I hope that this is real lol.

usernameguy

2011-08-15 01:07:26 pm

Is it sad that I recognized all the areas instantly?

Well it was concurrent with the (inevitable) announcement of the XBox 360 version, so I assume it's real. It's interesting, they've been trickling out versions concurrently with XBox dev and with apparently a new PC 2.0 push. Bold developers!

Did you see patch 1.3.5? It was all bugfixes, mostly crash-bugs, nothing we care about.

BTW nice new single-segment record. And I can't believe you haven't played Witcher 1! What's up with that? Smiley

You should give it a shot just because you got so into Witcher 2. It's a different game - combat is much different, inventory's more of a hassle, much longer, but it's good if you're patient and give it a chance.

Aphox

2011-08-15 01:18:50 pm

Also know as L0rdy

Hmm ^^, I think about playing it but well I just do to much different stuff already thats kinda at the end of the list lol : D.
Man I had such a good try today T_T, I was 1 min ahead after the prologue because I had the craziest luck : ). But well it ended with a single hit I got at the start of chapter 2 so I couldnt get the skip becouse of to less health : P.

I saw patch 1.3.5 and checked it and was like yeah.. no difference at all lol. But yeah if there is really a version 2.0 then that is really worth checking out : P, but there might be many fixes for the glitches I use :D. However I didnt made them public somewhere only in this forum so I hope the developers didnt find it ^^.

Aphox

2011-08-17 08:04:32 am

Also know as L0rdy

I had some funny bug happen last time I played on stream, however I tried really hard... couldnt reproduce this : (.

http://www.twitch.tv/aphox/b/292820162

usernameguy

2011-08-17 10:10:17 am

Cool! Yeah, there are timing issues in the game - you have like a 100ms window to hit it, iff the disk is really busy, etc.

But yeah it's the same basic state you get into with the fistfight glitch sometimes. I tried really hard in Act 1 to use that state. Oh well.

Aphox

2011-08-18 09:33:48 am

Also know as L0rdy

Hi Guys, I just watched the newest trailer for Witcher 2 patch 2.0 from GC, which you can find here : http://www.gametrailers.com/video/gc-11-the-witcher/719206.

A few things that just came up, they announced a new difficulty called Dark-Mode. It seems it will have weapons exclusive for that difficulty and different story aspects. This is really big for me in terms of speedrunning the game, it could make everything much faster actually depending on what the mode will actually look like.

I decided to put my current speedrun attempt on hiatus, it would be pretty dumb if I am pretty far into it and when the actually new Patch comes out (29th September is current release date) I have to redo everything since the game is faster. I promise I will do the run eventually and also will continue to stream some fun Witcher 2 and keep my skill up : D, hope you guys will join me ; ).

I am sorry for everyone who was looking for more new segments in the near future but I thought about this now a few days and I think it is better to wait and see what the new patch brings : P.

Hi Guys, I just watched the newest trailer for Witcher 2 patch 2.0 from GC, which you can find here : [url]http://www.gametrailers.com/video/gc-11-the-witcher/719206[/url].

A few things that just came up, they announced a new difficulty called Dark-Mode. It seems it will have weapons exclusive for that difficulty and different story aspects. This is really big for me in terms of speedrunning the game, it could make everything much faster actually depending on what the mode will actually look like.

I decided to put my current speedrun attempt on hiatus, it would be pretty dumb if I am pretty far into it and when the actually new Patch comes out (29th September is current release date) I have to redo everything since the game is faster. I promise I will do the run eventually and also will continue to stream some fun Witcher 2 and keep my skill up : D, hope you guys will join me ; ).

I am sorry for everyone who was looking for more new segments in the near future but I thought about this now a few days and I think it is better to wait and see what the new patch brings : P.

Aftermath

2011-08-18 11:27:49 am

Quits halfway

Hey l0rdy, yesterday I was told about a program that makes it so you don't have to alt-tab to do the splits in wsplit. It's called AutoHotkey and is pretty easy to set up.

Once you download it there's a sample script it opens up, simply delete the script it has and paste in this:

Code:

#SingleInstance force
#UseHook 
#InstallMouseHook 
#InstallKeybdHook 
;; Hotkeys to Run Timer
!k::
ControlSend, , {SPACE}, WSplit
return
!r::
ControlSend, , r, WSplit
return

You can change the "!k" and "!r", the ! stands for alt. You can view some of the other abbreviations here. The first command will split wsplit, the second resets it. You can add a third that does "ControlSend, , p, WSplit" if you want the ability to pause.

Hopefully this makes streaming/splitting a bit easier. Thanks to sockfolder for telling me about it.

Aphox

2011-08-18 11:43:14 am

Also know as L0rdy

Hey Aftermath,

thanks for letting me know I look into that ^^.

usernameguy

Edit history:

usernameguy: 2011-09-27 12:32:16 pm

2011-09-27 12:30:38 pm

Bump! Witcher 2 v2.0 notes are released. Full release on the 29th. Notes:
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-09-27-the-witcher-2-2-0-patch-notes

Summary of notes:
- sounds like combat mechanics have changed markedly, mostly to make it easier. Lots of changes here.
- some pet hates fixed, eg: "Casting several bombs no longer blocks further inputs", "An option has been added to the configuration tool enabling aspect ratio to be set independently of resolution.", "Mages no longer automatically cast shield spells when Geralt casts daggers at them." (maybe helping out the mage fight behind the army camp?)
- and of course Dark mode and the new tutorial

Sounds worth trying out, mainly to see whether the combat mechanics changes make stuff faster or not.

Aphox

Edit history:

Aphox: 2011-09-29 02:34:47 pm

2011-09-28 11:55:45 am

Also know as L0rdy

I am really looking forward to the patch, I hope they fixed the gamebreaking bugs as well, then I might be able to go for single segment : P.
Still dont know when they will actually release the patch (which hour, I know its at 29th September :> but I want it more specific : P)

EDIT:
I finished the Witcher 2 competition (Who is the first one to beat Dark-Mode) 4 hours after the patch release. Sadly I had more then 1 hour of delay getting the patch. Had issues but could work out things later.

The Patch 2.0 should be much slower actually lol, and I had much more crashes then I usually had T_T

Aphox

2011-09-30 10:42:39 am

Also know as L0rdy

So I did play through Dark-Mode again today, because I was accused of cheating in the competition.

It was really fun the developers watched as well lol. I guess the next patch will have a few fixes T_T.

But I will go back to 1.2 anyway since its much slower in my opinion, Dark-Mode itself doesnt slow down the game since the HP of your enemys still didnt increase only the damage output again. But all the patches from the earlier versions slowed it down much and leatho like blocks your daggers and recasts shield so fast now that its nearly impossible to kill him fast lol.

usernameguy

2011-09-30 01:07:15 pm

Yeah, admittedly, that Letho dagger attack was kinda broken in 1.2. I was shocked to see it the first time.

Anyhow, sorry to hear the new patch isn't working out. But who knows - knowing CD Projekt RED, your demonstration of bugs might actually get fixes now! And gratz on defending your speed run honor in from the devs, that's pretty cool.

(Accused of cheating, heheh ... that's like an award itself. You're so good, people think you're cheating...)

Aphox

2011-09-30 03:10:27 pm

Also know as L0rdy

Lol yeah, I guess we speedrunner got this a lot, being called cheaters n stuff, because ppl just dont understand how it works and when they see it they finally give in :D, I was worried thought that they would find different ways to explain how I would have cheated lol. But I guess I livestreamed infront of the devs and they were really nice, gave me tips during the rund and congratiulated me afterwads : ) <3 the devs :D.

Btw, I most likely will continue my run from 1.2 since 2.0 seem muuch slower to me :>>.

rocmox

2011-10-15 09:58:55 am

I'm starting to route Roche's path and eventually will have a fully written copy of it posted sometime (hopefully) soon. I'm not sure if it's quicker or slower currently, but imo eventually there should be a run for both roche's path and iorveth's path on sda.

I have already found a use for the oob glitch that Aphox discovered, though it only saves a few seconds Tongue

It also gives you infinite health until you get to the necromancy part of Chapter 2.

Though in my original tests I could reload saves even when they had infinite hp and still have it, after reloading them now once again I automatically die like aphox originally had tested. Further testing needs to be done to see exactly how it works and if it can be used in a segmented run at all. This makes some of the parts easier, and negates the use of armor greatly since you have infinite hp for like 1/2 of the chapter.

I'm starting to route Roche's path and eventually will have a fully written copy of it posted sometime (hopefully) soon. I'm not sure if it's quicker or slower currently, but imo eventually there should be a run for both roche's path and iorveth's path on sda.

I have already found a use for the oob glitch that Aphox discovered, though it only saves a few seconds :P It also gives you infinite health until you get to the necromancy part of Chapter 2.

Though in my original tests I could reload saves even when they had infinite hp and still have it, after reloading them now once again I automatically die like aphox originally had tested. Further testing needs to be done to see exactly how it works and if it can be used in a segmented run at all. This makes some of the parts easier, and negates the use of armor greatly since you have infinite hp for like 1/2 of the chapter.

usernameguy

2011-10-15 05:00:55 pm

Interesting idea! I had messed around with OOB on Roche's Act 2 a bit, and found that scene trigger back in bounds. But I hadn't thought to use it. Is your plan to use that as a speedup/plot skip, or just for the infinite HP? It seems like the infinite HP wouldn't be worth the extra time unless there's no additional time, or the additional time is really small. Someone like Lordy probably doesn't need the armor or infinite HP - he can just get by, anyhow, without it.

My main goal with OOB in Roche Act 2 was to try to find a plot skip. But I never could. It's really difficult to find triggers that get you back in-bounds in Roche Act 2, primarily because the fist fight happens pretty low in the level, elevation-wise. And even when I spent a ton of effort to raise up (or lower) using combat lunges, or ledges, the triggers never really skipped anything, or the triggers wouldn't fire.

Whether you die or not upon reload looks to be related to whether you've taken enough damage before the save. I think what's happening is, you get an "invincible" flag flipped on you in fistfights, so the OOB glitch skips the removal of that flag. But the game still computes damage in combat. So the damage can go negative, but you won't die. Until you save and reload, that is. Upon reload, you have no invincible flag any more, and your health is negative, so you die instantly.

I think there's a reason you don't die other times coming back in-bounds with negative health. It must be that the game effectively treats you like you're coming out of a fistfight. It must use the same subroutine.

BTW I did find one useful almost-useful OOB skip in Iorveth Act 2 - the tavern fistfight to the male troll's first cutscene. It allows you to run straight to the male troll if you know which direction to run. It's the exact same level. I'm pretty sure it's faster than taking the path. What I'm not sure of is, whether it's faster going to the male troll first, like that.

Interesting idea! I had messed around with OOB on Roche's Act 2 a bit, and found that scene trigger back in bounds. But I hadn't thought to use it. Is your plan to use that as a speedup/plot skip, or just for the infinite HP? It seems like the infinite HP wouldn't be worth the extra time unless there's no additional time, or the additional time is really small. Someone like Lordy probably doesn't need the armor or infinite HP - he can just get by, anyhow, without it.

My main goal with OOB in Roche Act 2 was to try to find a plot skip. But I never could. It's really difficult to find triggers that get you back in-bounds in Roche Act 2, primarily because the fist fight happens pretty low in the level, elevation-wise. And even when I spent a ton of effort to raise up (or lower) using combat lunges, or ledges, the triggers never really skipped anything, or the triggers wouldn't fire.

Whether you die or not upon reload looks to be related to whether you've taken enough damage before the save. I think what's happening is, you get an "invincible" flag flipped on you in fistfights, so the OOB glitch skips the removal of that flag. But the game still computes damage in combat. So the damage can go negative, but you won't die. Until you save and reload, that is. Upon reload, you have no invincible flag any more, and your health is negative, so you die instantly.

I think there's a reason you don't die other times coming back in-bounds with negative health. It must be that the game effectively treats you like you're coming out of a fistfight. It must use the same subroutine.

BTW I did find one useful almost-useful OOB skip in Iorveth Act 2 - the tavern fistfight to the male troll's first cutscene. It allows you to run straight to the male troll if you know which direction to run. It's the exact same level. I'm pretty sure it's faster than taking the path. What I'm not sure of is, whether it's faster going to the male troll first, like that.

rocmox

2011-10-15 05:11:18 pm

This actually saves time rather than loses any time. It skips the opening of 2 doors and moving around some objects, so it saves like 3-5 seconds + gives you infinite health, so it's definitely going to be in the route. The cutscene is needed for the quest for that fight to start, which is faster to get the square coin over doing the odrin quest.

I looked into using the oob glitch in other places but this is the only use I have found for it. The infinite health is sort of nice as you can pretty much just sit on your ass in the part where you have to defend henselt from the wraiths at the end of the blood curse quest. Good time to get a washroom break lol.

Aphox

2011-10-17 10:56:17 am

Also know as L0rdy

Sup Guys, for the Iorveth Path OOB skip in act 2, I think I did consider this, but as far as I remember you had to do the first fist fight in order to be able to release your sword in that tavern, so you could only get the glitch working from the 2nd dude, which makes it still slower then just walking there in the first place ^^. But I guess if you would use the "infinite health" that would be a good addition to the route. It would help in single segment to not worry about armor at all in the ethernal battle. However I dont know if the flag would still be active after you switch bodys : P.

uanime5

Edit history:

uanime5: 2012-05-08 06:55:49 am

uanime5: 2012-05-08 06:50:35 am

uanime5: 2012-05-08 06:48:24 am

uanime5: 2012-05-08 06:48:09 am

2012-05-08 06:27:13 am

For anyone planning to make a speed run on the dark difficulty it may be a viable strategy to craft the dark mode only swords and use the following to reduce the vitality (health) drain.

1) Use potions that increase vitality regeneration, such as Healing brew (tutorial) and Swallow. The ability Catalysis in the Alchemy tree will further enhance these potions. White Raffard's decoction and Gadwall aren't recommended as they reduce damage dealt.

2) Use trophies that increase vitality; such as Arachas, Draug, Drowner, Kayran, Gargoyle, Rotfiend, Elemental, Draugir, or Golem.

3) Use mutagens such as Greater vitality (increase vitality) and Greater strength (increase vitality regeneration). The ability Impregnation in the Alchemy tree will further enhance these mutagens.

4) Use abilities that increase vitality, such as Training: Hardiness; Alchemy: Synthesis; Swordsmanship: Hardy and Invincible.

5) Use abilities that increase sword damage (more damage = less time you need to use your sword). Such as following Swordsmanship abilities: Violence, Precision, and Combat acumen. Sudden Death will give Geralt a greater chance to instantly kill an enemy.

6) Switch between the dark mode swords and other weapons (signs, bombs, daggers, other swords) while your vitality is regenerating.

For anyone planning to make a speed run on the dark difficulty it may be a viable strategy to craft the dark mode only swords and use the following to reduce the vitality (health) drain.

1) Use potions that increase vitality regeneration, such as Healing brew (tutorial) and Swallow. The ability Catalysis in the Alchemy tree will further enhance these potions. White Raffard's decoction and Gadwall aren't recommended as they reduce damage dealt.

2) Use trophies that increase vitality; such as Arachas, Draug, Drowner, Kayran, Gargoyle, Rotfiend, Elemental, Draugir, or Golem.

3) Use mutagens such as Greater vitality (increase vitality) and Greater strength (increase vitality regeneration). The ability Impregnation in the Alchemy tree will further enhance these mutagens.

4) Use abilities that increase vitality, such as Training: Hardiness; Alchemy: Synthesis; Swordsmanship: Hardy and Invincible.

5) Use abilities that increase sword damage (more damage = less time you need to use your sword). Such as following Swordsmanship abilities: Violence, Precision, and Combat acumen. Sudden Death will give Geralt a greater chance to instantly kill an enemy.

6) Switch between the dark mode swords and other weapons (signs, bombs, daggers, other swords) while your vitality is regenerating.