Witcher 3 - HD Reworked Project NextGen Edition

[HiddenX]

The Witcher 3 mod HD Reworked Project NextGen Edition has been released:

The Witcher 3 HD Reworked Project NextGen Edition - Release Preview

Thanks Couchpotato!

More information.

 

[Couchpotato]

Downloading the mod now on Nexus, but man it's almost 12GB and without membership you get capped speeds, and it takes a few hours just to download the mod.

 

[JDR13]

Impressive. I really want to replay the entire trilogy, but I seem to find myself saying that every year.

 

[connus]

The good news is so far no performance hit. And looks quite nice.

 

[docmars]

Impressive. I really want to replay the entire trilogy, but I seem to find myself saying that every year.

With the Witcher 1 remake on its way, it's probably good you've been putting it off anyway! But as you can probably tell from my PFP, I'm a huge fan. Easily my favorite RPG series on multiple facets, mostly for story and theme.

Despite Witcher 1's quirks, it's got such a great plot and once you get used to the unconventional third-person combat system, it starts to get really addicting since all of the attack combos are timing-based, and your success heavily depends on the sword stance you're using in the right scenarios. Think Ghost of Tsushima, but maybe more simplified.

 

[docmars]

The stone and brick textures alone are a major step up! Definitely trying this tonight for a little bit.

 

[connus]

Just reached Skellige for the first time, and it is beautiful.

 

[Couchpotato]

Reports claim you'll need a 4090 to get the best graphic textures.

Witcher 3 HD mod reaches final version for next-gen, and you'll need an RTX 4090 to hit max settings for 4K 60 FPS

Witcher 3 is still a great-looking game, especially with the next-gen improvements. And now, the HD Reworked Project is in its final version.

www.pcguide.com

 

[JDR13]

With the Witcher 1 remake on its way, it's probably good you've been putting it off anyway! But as you can probably tell from my PFP, I'm a huge fan. Easily my favorite RPG series on multiple facets, mostly for story and theme.

Despite Witcher 1's quirks, it's got such a great plot and once you get used to the unconventional third-person combat system, it starts to get really addicting since all of the attack combos are timing-based, and your success heavily depends on the sword stance you're using in the right scenarios. Think Ghost of Tsushima, but maybe more simplified.

I still find TW1 very playable. Plus, the remake is still years away, so I'd like to replay the original at least once before then.

Agree with everything you say about it there. In addition to that, the soundtrack is one of my all-time favorites.

 

[docmars]

I'd like to replay the original at least once before then.

I'm apparently blind, I missed the part earlier where you said you'd like to replay the series again — forgive my first-timer spiel to W1
———
Anyway, I'm uber stoked for the remake. It's the perfect time for it, but yea, probably a short while until they're finished, with them going full UE5 on it.

 

[Carnifex]

Looks like this might be the way to enjoy the series again when that replay urge strikes me.

 

[docmars]

I tried adding this texture pack to my modded install last night and unfortunately I'm running into other issues with the game freezing before it fades from black, shortly after it's done loading, even with every mod disabled.


I need to do a fresh install and setup everything again. I'm not sure what happened... I got it all setup back in April this year working perfectly, but that was before I downgraded from Win10 to Win11 with a fresh install. Something must've borked it in the meantime.

 

[Couchpotato]

I tried adding this texture pack to my modded install last night and unfortunately I'm running into other issues with the game freezing before it fades from black, shortly after it's done loading, even with every mod disabled.


I need to do a fresh install and setup everything again. I'm not sure what happened... I got it all setup back in April this year working perfectly, but that was before I downgraded from Win10 to Win11 with a fresh install. Something must've borked it in the meantime.

Are you using RT and other settings on Max?

You could be limited by your PC memory or GPU. It could be another mod is not compatible, or it could be the recent Win 11 update. As it causes crashes with games.

 

[docmars]

Are you using RT and other settings on Max?

After some troubleshooting earlier, I found it was RT. It worked flawlessly on Windows 10 before. Without RT it runs fine, except now it's freezing every 10-20 seconds for about 4-5 seconds each time. Sound + music continue to play but the engine halts at random.

My PC specs are more than enough as well:
Ryzen 7950X3D, 32GB DDR5, RTX 4080 16GB

Ah well, guess I'll stick with the DX11 version, that was running without any issues from what I could tell. I wasn't planning on another playthrough for a while with my backlog being insane

 

[Couchpotato]

I had the same problem with RT enabled. Went back to DX11 no more freezes.

 

[docmars]

It's a shame too, I think the game looked markedly better with full RT on. I remember running into these issues much earlier before they patched some bugs for the remaster.

Strangely enough, one of the listed fixes for the patch(s) is exactly what I'm experiencing. I'm in White Orchard on the griffon quest, and apparently RT was causing issues at that specific part of the questline.

But, I was getting the same behavior starting a brand new game too, so it isn't isolated.

 

[JDR13]

I'm assuming it has something to do with the mod because I've never had an issue with RT in TW3.

 

[docmars]

Finally figured it out! I run an app called Process Lasso that helps regulate which cores are used for everything I run on my machine, since the Ryzen 7950X3D is a dual-CCD CPU with a split between its cache vs. performance cores.

For some odd reason, the app was downthrottling Witcher 3's executable and not properly detecting it as a game, so its CPU priority was being set to Low, thinking it was a background process gone rogue.

After tweaking that + setting the priority to High, and setting it up to use the entire cache CCD, it's running like a dream with RT now. I'm still getting some odd hang-ups after loading into a new area, fast traveling, some cut scenes, etc. but overall it's running fine now. I have to alt-tab, then return to the game to kick it out of the loading hangup.

That said, texture pack is looking and running great! Using about 13.3GB (of 16GB) VRAM.