Oldman, I found an interesting one Here.

Thanks L4L that looks like a good one.

kjos you should have the Ard spell loaded and just hit "Q" key on your keyboard.

Yes, if the saves are copied in the Witcher 2 folder in Documents the game finds them and when a New Game is selected it gives an option about importing the old games

I don't how this will change anything or how

I'm walking around in the sewers trying to find my way out. Found a ladder but came back down. Thanks oldman for the Q. Made it out of the sewers now trying to get away from the dragon.
Richard

Well I've made it to chapter 1 and so far really like the storyline and the graphics. There is a lot to like about this game but I am a little disappointed in the controls and the leveling up. I now have to learn a completely new system and I was perfectly content with the original Witcher system.

I don't like to have to walk up to an item and wait for the game to tell me how to interact with it I prefered the Witcher 1 system of using the mouse to select. Sometime I pass an item and have to navigate around it to get the interact message. Plus the print that tells you what to do in this game is really small and hard to read.

speaking of small, the action sequences where you have to choose a key to complete an action and get through the sequence are also small and quick sometimes by the time I figure out which key to hit I missed it. At least in TR and other games the key you were supposed to hit flashed in really large letters so you couldn't miss it.

I'll probably end up liking this game in spite of the fact that it is so different from the original but I still maintain the old adage of "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" and they tried to fix things that weren't broke.

Just this old guy's opinion.

@ oldman (and others)

I have now gotten confirmed that you indeed can play with a gamepad. Don't know if this is any help or not? Some posters even think that the game was made to be controlled with a gamepad.

Yeah oldman, I think sometimes innovate just for the sake of innovation. I'm glad you are still enjoying the game.

Karsten.

I have a gamepad, I'll try to set it up for this game, it did not work very well for the L4D games. I much prefer controllers, I play most of the action games in the PS3 and got used to them.

I've only just played for a little bit, but what I've played so far is great.

I just walked around the camp in the prologue, gathering some items and listening in on some conversations. Played some dice poker and did some arm wrestling.

Which items you can loot can be somewhat hard to pick out, so definitely hit "Z" as you walk around to use your medallion to highlight what you can loot. The recharge on it is somewhat bothersome, but it works pretty well.

I've also tried out the new combat system a little bit and I may be alone, but I like it. It's definitely more action oriented, but I don't think you need a controller for it at all, I think a keyboard + mouse works pretty good. I like how you can stun an enemy and then do a cool finishing manoeuvre.

So for me, so far, the graphics are amazing and the story and game play are great.

Just a word to the wise though, unless you have a super high end video card and CPU, make sure to turn off "ubersampling". If you don't your framerate will take a nose dive.

I'm playing on ultra settings at 1920x1080 with everything on but "ubersampling" and I'm able to play a nice smooth game so far.

What are your video card and CPU, Templeton Peck?

My CPU is an Intel i7 860 (2.8 GHz) and my video card is a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560ti.

Ummm.... wow. Insert a serious case of video card envy! The more I read about that card, the more I like it.

I have a GeForce 9400 GT 1024 MB. Game runs perfect. Didn't adjust anything.
Richard

Sweet - makes me hopeful my GTX 260 will be up to the job!

It's a great card, especially for the price to performance ratio you get.

It was the best card I could afford and it definitely delivers.

When you initially run the game, it will auto detect and set the video settings to what should be best for your system setup.

Your card is specifically listed at the recommended requirements level for the game, so I think you are fine.

My card was way at the bottom, soooo

Guess what? new card bought for this game, 560 Ti. Plus two more sticks of memory.

Good reason to upgrade & clean out the box I guess

Anyways, game should be here any day.

Thanks for the posts guys & gals

Dunn

My copy arrives tomorrow - can't wait!

I've been reading threads on the GOG forum and there are a lot of people saying that 'normal' difficulty is insanely hard. Are any of you playing on 'easy' difficulty? How are you finding it? I'm used to action rpgs and have even dabbled in fps games, but my reflexes aren't that brilliant and I'm worried that I might struggle even on a lower difficulty. How are you guys finding the learning curve?

Magwitch, Oldman said in an earlier post that he was playing on easy.

How 'bout it folks? What difficulty level are you using?

Playing on the easy mode Gerall sure can swing his sward around and drop any bad guys. Haven't gotten killed yet. Just went to chapter 2.
Richard

I'm playing on normal. Easy, was well, a bit too easy and less enjoyable because there wasn't much of a challenge really.

Playing the easy and in jail trying to kill the guards with no luck. Just using my fists. Keep getting killed. Let me know if you came to that part. I got put in jail because they thought I killed the king which I didn't.
Richard

I hate to be in the probably tiny minority who haven't enjoyed the start of this game but for me the controls, graphics and whole look of the game have been disappointing and don't impress me like Witcher 1 did. My alienware gaming laptop new at Christmas struggles with the game too, I had to turn a lot of graphics features to low or off, maybe that has something to do with it. However, I find that the screen is difficult to read, the text is tiny enough almost to need a magnifying glass, all the meters and stuff seems to be really unhelpfully small, making it awkward to read the information and some labels on things. I find the zooming round movement difficult to control and unpleasant to watch and the viewpoint is difficult to make comfortable as it switches a lot, in general controlling Geralt is difficult for me, it doesn't feel responsive somehow. I did not have the same feelings about Witcher 1 but I feel with Witcher 2 they have tried too hard maybe to 'improve' it with the result that it just isn't better IMHO! I might not get very far with this game as I feel really disappointed with the struggle I'm having with it plus the general control/viewpoint and text issues already mentioned.

I feel the same way as you do Vegpot awful hard to read anything on the screen.Controls aren't really that good.
richard

I'm past that part now. Which particular part of this are you stuck on?

Are you out of your cell yet or are you having trouble doing the fist fight sequence?

Right out of your cell is a black jack you can pick up and equip to fight with.

Make sure to use "Z" to activate your Witcher's Medallion to highlight lootable items.

A fun way to escape is to use stealth (the game automatically puts you in this mode). Make sure you focus on the torches and blow out the lights with AARD. Then hide behind and alongside walls and sneak up behind the guards and right click with your mouse to one hit them unconscious.

Also, make use of your surroundings, there are other characters along the way that will help you escape, or cause distractions to your advantage.

Hi Richard
Nice to know I'm not alone in my struggles, I also read a similar comment by Oldman earlier in this thread too, so maybe there are some shortcomings with the game and it's not just my incompetence or imagination!!