DF2ET: Witcher 3 Next-Gen, UE5 Foliage & GPU Pricing

The Witcher 3 Next-Gen Update

The panel discusses the upcoming Witcher 3 current-gen patch, set for December 14th. While details remain sparse, the group hopes for features beyond basic ray-traced shadows.

• Optimism for Ray Tracing: The original title utilized a real-time lighting system that could benefit significantly from Ray-Traced Global Illumination (RTGI).
• Technical Enhancements: The inclusion of DLSS 3 is confirmed, which could drastically improve image quality compared to the game's original, rudimentary TAA implementation.
• Potential Mod Integration: There is speculation regarding whether CD Projekt Red will incorporate community combat enhancement and quality-of-life mods into the official release.

Unreal Engine 5.1 Updates

Epic Games has released updates for Unreal Engine 5.1, addressing critical bottlenecks for developers.

Foliage and Nanite

• The introduction of World Position Offset now allows Nanite to support complex, moving foliage, solving a major limitation for open-world titles.
• Concerns remain regarding the efficiency of terrain generation and skinned geometry for characters within the current Nanite framework.

Console Optimization

• Unreal Engine 5.1 introduces a new high-preset mode targeting 60 FPS on current-gen consoles by adjusting Lumen and Virtual Shadow Maps. The panel notes that the resulting downgrade in lighting precision at 1/16th resolution may cause noticeable visual discrepancies compared to 30 FPS modes.

The PC Shaders Stutter Crisis

"It fundamentally strikes at the heart of PC gaming... you shouldn't be having split-second stutters."

Despite Epic's commitment to background PSO compilation, the panel remains skeptical about its implementation and emphasizes that the burden falls on developers to ensure smooth experiences across diverse PC hardware.

GPU Market and Pricing

Discussion revolves around the controversial RTX 4080 pricing and the broader context of production costs. The panel acknowledges the challenging economic environment while noting that DLSS 3 becomes increasingly valuable as users drop down the performance stack, specifically for the rumored RTX 4070 Ti.