Cyberpunk 2077 - First Impressions

[GazzaGarratt 11,057]

Really good summary @AceBoogie239 . It was pretty obvious the hype over the past few years was somewhat going to hurt the game, I just didn't expect them to really hurt the launch this much after delaying the game 3,4,5 times - and as you say, it probably should've been delayed even further. @J4MES OX4D , I think it was only a matter of timebefore Angry Joe got on the wagon for this one. Easy touchdown for him.

 

I'm looking forward to seeing the Cyberpunk world but I'll be managing my expectations after what most of you have said about how the game handles itself.

[phil bottle 9,775]

5 hours ago, AceBoogie239 said:

 

 

I’m having fun playing the game but it definitely has its faults. They should’ve just delayed until summer of 2021. With Covid they could’ve had some leeway there for sure. It’s unacceptable that they released it the way they did for PS4 and XBoxOne. If it wasn’t ready they could’ve just released it for PC then fix what they needed to to make it playable on last gen or just be honest from the get go and say hey we made a game that’s meant for high end GPUs and older consoles can’t handle it. That’s my two cents. I’m sure I left some out but you get the gist. 

That's a great write up and totally agree with the last bit too. 

Also, I'm on 1440p with 59-64 fps on a mix of high and ultra. It looks great but hoping optimizations allow for higher frames in future.

[AceBoogie239 23]

@phil bottleI’m not sure if you’ve seen this but this guide can help you get some more performance by making some changes in the configuration files

 

Reddit Config PC Help Link

 

Edited December 16, 2020 by GazzaGarratt
Changed to link rather than embedded in post

[AceBoogie239 23]

Not sure why it didn’t just post the link instead of the wall of text 🤷‍♂️

[phil bottle 9,775]

7 minutes ago, AceBoogie239 said:

Not sure why it didn’t just post the link instead of the wall of text 🤷‍♂️

That's cool, we prefer text over links in general 🙂

Cheers for that, hadn't seen it but I'll check it today👍

[GazzaGarratt 11,057]

@AceBoogie239  @phil bottle Sometimes Reddit links embed the full post - and in black - which is frustrating to say the least. I've clicked to just paste the link as Travis wanted but also grabbed the juicy bit of text, made sure pics and videos embedded correctly from the thread and pasted below 🙂:

 

Hey CD Projekt Red, I think you shipped the wrong config on PC. Here's a guide that shows you how to "unlock" Cyberpunk for possibly massive performance improvements.

Guide 💡

Since I am a C# developer and very comfortable around configuration files, I figured it wouldn't hurt to take a look at the configuration files. And found something that I didn't believe.

 

Please take a look at the above picture. This picture shows the configuration columns for each platform. PC, Durango, Orbis. (Durango & Orbis is what XBox & PlayStation run on).

Now take a look at PoolCPU and PoolGPU. These values are the same as the other platforms. This looks off. So I decided to give it a try and just screw around with this config. So based off my rig I assigned some values that made a little more sense to me.

I assigned 16GB (of RAM I guess) to my CPU and 11GB of my GPU's VRAM.

And howdy cowboy, my i7 finally woke the fuck up and started kicking in second gear, now working at 85 - 95% CPU usage. My 1080Ti also now uses 230 Watts on avg instead of a sad 100W.

Booted the game and et voila, I am now rocking a solid 60+ fps on:

• High Settings

• No Film Grain, No Ambient Occlusion, Lens Flare etc.

• 80 Fov

• 1440p

My loading times have gone down from 20 seconds to 2.

I can't put the emotion in words how I felt when I discovered this. It was something between disbelief, immense joy and confusion.

I can confirm GOG patch 1.04 and Steam patch 1.04 have this borked configuration file.

If you need guidance on what to assign in your config:

• PoolCPU: Use half of what your RAM is, make sure to leave 4GB for windows tho.

• PoolGPU: Google your graphics card on google and see how much VRAM it has. For example my EVGA 1080Ti has 11 GB GDDR5X, so I am entering 11GB.

A fair bit of warning 💀

• These changes can possibly crash your CyberPunk and Windows. I do not take any responsibility for any problems resulting from this.

• CyberPunk will complain that it crashed, even when you close it. This shouldn't matter too much though.

• Mileage may vary. I can't guarantee this will massively improve your performance, I can only say mine did a huge leap and the response from my friends has been very positive.

If anybody is more familiar with the configuration I am touching, please let me know and I will adjust it. I am merely showing this around because it looks like a promising starting point for many who have weird performance issues.

If this helped you, please let us know with a short comment how much your FPS and joystick ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) went up.

Update: What we've learned.

Since this is starting to make bigger waves I decided to create a video compiling a lot of key points of this thread of all sorts. I made a 16 minute long video that should be a one-for-all guide catering all types of users.

 

 

 

[J4MES OX4D 10,040]

I've clocked about 25 hours now and I'm not sure how far in I am but I believe the main story is very short so I cannot be too far away from the conclusion. I'm already beginning to feel burnt out and the lack of quality is really taking its toll now where I may have to force myself to finish it or completely uninstall it, never to touch again irrespective of patches.

 

I have compiled a list of issues, technical and conceptual which have hampered my experience throughout and will impact playing the game going forward:-

 

- Lifepaths are nothing more than your spawn location and a few alternate lines of dialogue despite these being promoted as an integral aspect of your character's background and personality

- The gameplay format is about as original as any generic Ubisoft game we've seen over the last decade

- RPG elements are exceptionally weak in every aspect

- Dialogue choices are merely an illusion and have no impact whatsoever

- Interface is needlessly convoluted 

- NPC's are brainless and are only there for decoration

- Pedestrians and vehicles vanishing into thin air

- NPC's often collide with scenery 

- Vehicle collisions incredibly bad, physically and visually. Some of the worst I have ever seen 

- Audio dialogue overlapping and general sound balance issues

- Assets floating in the air such as weapons, chairs and items

- The city lacks a dynamic feel 

- Police spawn out of nowhere when alerted - they can even insta-spawn on rooftops if you're up there or behind you in empty rooms

- Law Enforcement do not patrol the streets despite the devs promising this https://gamerant.com/cyberpunk-2077-wanted-system-corrupt-police/

- Poor selection of cars which seem to drive around the city aimlessly at a really low speed

- Too many on-rails/scripted movements especially when you're the passenger in a car

- Driving representation in-car is laughable especially in cut-scenes

- Combat is significantly worse than Deus Ex Human Revolution 2011

- Inventory management worse than Deus Ex from 2000

- Missing triggers in some side missions resulting in them to break entirely and cannot be restarted unless you have an old save

- Many visual bugs in cutscenes 

- Enemies are absolutely hopeless in combat as is their awareness 

- Bullets fired by AI are sometimes invisible and it's hard to tell if you've been hit or if you're being shot at

- Melee combat is extremely ropey particularly with fists

- Gunplay is very sloppy irrespective of stats

- Crafting is dreadful as is the menu

- Environment clipping in interiors if there are items on the floor or dead bodies

- Character struggles to walk down steps properly

- Not enough skill points to make specific builds

- Skill tree is bloated beyond belief and many choices are pointless as items can offer far greater benefit

- Braindance feature is mind-numbing tedium

- Too many mundane side missions and filler inspired by Ubisoft and other generic Ubisoft titles

 

I am still blown away by the visuals and the sheer scale of the city but the more I see from a gameplay perspective, the less impressed I am with the experience on offer especially if you break all the issues down. The wealth I've encountered has been a relentless immersion-killer and I'm seeing bugs at literally every turn. Also knowing that the game lacks considerable depth and that choices don't matter, it is so demoralising especially considering how this game was marketed to us for years, up to recently. It's a game that was solid on sheer bullshit, No Mans Sky lies and broken promises with a level of execution associated with the scum of the industry.

 

I am getting so sick of being disappointed in games these days. 

 

[techno 3,511]

 

[phil bottle 9,775]

GOG are going down the shitter of my estimations. I thought they were supposed to be one of the better companies but I hear today they're not releasing a game because of a joke about the Chinese government. Cowards.

[J4MES OX4D 10,040]

2 hours ago, phil bottle said:

GOG are going down the shitter of my estimations. I thought they were supposed to be one of the better companies but I hear today they're not releasing a game because of a joke about the Chinese government. Cowards.

I'm fed up of all these companies bending the knee to the Chinese. They're all doing it and that's either because they are part owned by the likes of Tencent or they have huge income from there and don't want to upset the apple cart. Considering half the shit the Chinese Government do, it's quite funny to see them get triggered over the smallest things. 

 

China has had a dreadful impact on gaming in the last couple of years. 

[J4MES OX4D 10,040]

PS1 version looks no different than the PS4 one😎

 

[phil bottle 9,775]

I'm loving this game still. So many fun ways to kill people. That's all I'm still doing. Little side missions and I love doing them depending on the location and possibilities.

 

As soon as I had enough money I boosted up my cybernetic abilities. Love hacking enemies and doing shit to them.

 

I also love finding sneaky ways of climbing or entering missions so I can take a few out unawares. The parkour is decent.

 

But mostly I love my weapons. I have a machine gun which has high probability to set people on fire, a pistol with high head damage and then either blade or shotgun for up close. Might get the Mantis blades but will see. I quite like the shooting in general and have set up my perks for higher damage early on. 

 

Playing on Hard difficulty seems ok so far.

 

 

[GazzaGarratt 11,057]

21 hours ago, phil bottle said:

But mostly I love my weapons. I have a machine gun which has high probability to set people on fire, a pistol with high head damage and then either blade or shotgun for up close. Might get the Mantis blades but will see. I quite like the shooting in general and have set up my perks for higher damage early on.

 

Good to hear the shooting isn't all that bad. I got it for Crimbo so will try and find a few hours to myself to try and get into it. Hopefully the PS5 with the latest patches will sort the game out so its playable and fun at the same time. 

[Antpool84 1,109]

On 12/27/2020 at 9:18 AM, GazzaGarratt said:

 

Good to hear the shooting isn't all that bad. I got it for Crimbo so will try and find a few hours to myself to try and get into it. Hopefully the PS5 with the latest patches will sort the game out so its playable and fun at the same time. 

 

How is it on the PS5? I'm getting a bit bored on AC Valhalla so considering getting this but want to make sure its playable and worth picking up first lol

[phil bottle 9,775]

15 minutes ago, Antpool84 said:

 

How is it on the PS5? I'm getting a bit bored on AC Valhalla so considering getting this but want to make sure its playable and worth picking up first lol

 

They haven't yet done the new generation upgrade yet, though that's coming soon I believe.

It runs well on PS4 Pro if that's any help.

[GazzaGarratt 11,057]

Yep, Phil is right, @Antpool84  however I have been trying out the PS4 version on the PS5. It runs smoothly, even though there are parts it has to still load.

 

If i'm brutally honest, the story and start of the game just doesn't grip me one bit. So when the story doesn't grip you, you hope to fall back on good gameplay and solid basic features, but the gunplay I find is one of the worst i've tried in a FPS - granted, i'm spoilt by things like Halo and Overwatch for good FOS movement and shooting but still, I didn't expect it to be as poor as it was.

 

The one thing that kept me going was the Cyberpunk world. Its absolutely gorgeous and stunning. Probably in the top 3 sandboxes I've ever seen in a game.

 

I wanted to love it and get engrossed in it in readiness for the PS5 version but I don't think its worth it i'm afraid. Better to get a cheap second hand PS4 version from wherever you can.

[Antpool84 1,109]

2 minutes ago, GazzaGarratt said:

Yep, Phil is right, @Antpool84  however I have been trying out the PS4 version on the PS5. It runs smoothly, even though there are parts it has to still load.

 

If i'm brutally honest, the story and start of the game just doesn't grip me one bit. So when the story doesn't grip you, you hope to fall back on good gameplay and solid basic features, but the gunplay I find is one of the worst i've tried in a FPS - granted, i'm spoilt by things like Halo and Overwatch for good FOS movement and shooting but still, I didn't expect it to be as poor as it was.

 

The one thing that kept me going was the Cyberpunk world. Its absolutely gorgeous and stunning. Probably in the top 3 sandboxes I've ever seen in a game.

 

I wanted to love it and get engrossed in it in readiness for the PS5 version but I don't think its worth it i'm afraid. Better to get a cheap second hand PS4 version from wherever you can.

 

Yeah, i'd heard a lot of mixed things about it and with it still being £30 for a second hand copy wanted to know if it was worth the investment. Thanks for the advice dude, think i will give it a miss until it comes down a bit more 😁

[phil bottle 9,775]

It does take a while for the shooting to get good, skills and better weapons improve it no end. I was worried to begin with but it does get better to the point where its very enjoyable.

 

But I agree, on console it feels weak from the limited amount I've played on the Pro.

 

The story - I play as nomad - is very slow to start with too but once a specific event happens it really kicks off. How far did you get @GazzaGarratt? Did you go far enough to meet Keanu?

[GazzaGarratt 11,057]

23 hours ago, Antpool84 said:

still being £30 for a second hand copy wanted to know if it was worth the investment.

 

I think that isn't a bad price tbh. I mean, it could go up again when the PS5 version is out even though it should be an upgrade to what we have already....I think?

 

23 hours ago, phil bottle said:

It does take a while for the shooting to get good, skills and better weapons improve it no end. I was worried to begin with but it does get better to the point where its very enjoyable.

 

But I agree, on console it feels weak from the limited amount I've played on the Pro.

 

The story - I play as nomad - is very slow to start with too but once a specific event happens it really kicks off. How far did you get @GazzaGarratt? Did you go far enough to meet Keanu?

 

Played about 3 hours but not got far as i end up doing everything and picking up everything I saw 😄 The training with the guns and being 'sneaky' took me ages to do. It felt strange so bearing in mind what you've said i'll have to give it more time. Not at Keanu yet, as it doesn't push me through the story quick enough. I might end up just pushing past some dialogue to see if the overall game feels better later on.