These include ray tracing support, faster loading times on consoles, as well as a variety of mods integrated into the experience, among many others. Along with new additional content inspired by The Witcher series from Netflix, these will be covered next week in a dedicated REDstreams event on Twitch, where the studio will present gameplay from the next-gen version of the game.

The next-gen version of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Complete Edition will be available for purchase digitally on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC, featuring all free DLCs released to date, and both major expansions: Hearts of Stone & Blood and Wine. Moreover, a free next-gen update will be available for everyone who owns any release of the game for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. A physical edition will be released following the initial digital rollout, with a specific date to be announced at a later time.

In addition to the next-gen release, the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch versions of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt will also receive an update featuring numerous additions and improvements, as well as the Netflix Witcher-themed additional content. Further details, including the release date, will be announced soon.

Fans now finally have the release date for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt next-gen update. Let us know what you think and whether or not you are interested in checking it out.

The post The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Next-Gen Update Releases In December appeared first on RespawnFirst.

Model Builder brings the joy of scale model building to enthusiasts and novices alike with a rich and varied collection of content including vehicles, historical memorabilia, and pop culture icons. The new Model Builder: The Witcher & Cyberpunk 2077 DLC will further expand and enhance fans’ personal Model Builder portfolio with five exciting pre-built virtual models for them to paint and decorate in their own style.

There are five new virtual models released in the DLC, four from The Witcher featuring Geralt, Ciri, and Yennefer and one from Cyberpunk 2077 featuring Johnny and Alt Cunningham, all painstakingly recreated from real-life collectible statues to work on in players’ in-game model building workshops.

The models included in the Model Builder: The Witcher & Cyberpunk 2077 DLC are:

• Johnny & Alt – Cyberpunk 2077 
• Geralt Ronin Figure – The Witcher 
• Ciri and the Kitsune Figure – The Witcher 
• Ciri Character Bust – The Witcher 
• Yennefer the Kunoichi Figure – The Witcher

About Model Builder 

It’s time to get building and get creative! Join the latest trend in simulation games with Model Builder and unleash your creativity by cutting out, assembling, and painting your models including planes, tanks, figures, mechs, and more. Sell your creations for profit to expand your toolkit, or display them to create stunning and epic scenes for the whole world to see. 

• Choose your models – Choose to build vehicles, historical memorabilia, figures, and pop culture and earn experience to unlock more models, or paint your favorite models again in a different or unique style.
• Become a master builder – Choose the model you want to create, feel the satisfaction of snipping out the model parts and build your model step by step. Finally, apply the finishing touches so it’s ready for painting.
• The right tools for the job – You have a wide variety of tools available in your toolkit – everything you need to assemble your impressive models and make them shine. You will be able to unlock new tools to help with precision work and finishes, and you will feel like a pro in no time.
• Customize – Now it’s time to get creative! Do you stick to the brief, or make the model your own and pimp it up? With plenty of paint to choose from, a choice of airbrush tools as well as fine detail brushes, and impressive decals at your disposal, the sky’s the limit! 
• Showcase your masterpieces – Once your model is complete, it’s not the end! You can create stunning and exciting scenes by arranging your model (or models) or showcase them in the photo booth and share them for the world to see.
• Exciting story mode – Go on a fascinating journey in the footsteps of your grandfather Stan and his achievements by unlocking secrets of the past. Take on model-building commissions and enter competitions on your journey to become a world-class model builder. 

The post Virtual Hobby Simulator Model Builder DLC Has Witcher And Cyberpunk 2077 Models appeared first on RespawnFirst.

If you own The Witcher 3 on PC or console then you can get the GOG version for free. To get The Witcher 3 for FREE, you need to download GOG Galaxy 2.0 and connect a platform (PC or console) with The Witcher 3 on it to be able to claim a GOG copy of the game.

You can get the base game or The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Game of the Year Edition, depending on what you already own on other gaming platforms.

Important information about the giveaway 

• If you bought the base game on a qualifying platform, you can claim the base game on GOG
• If you bought the GOTY version on a qualifying platform, you can claim the GOTY version on GOG
• If you bought the base game and add-ons separately, you will only receive the base game on GOG. :/
• Owners of the Switch edition of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Complete Edition won’t be eligible to benefit from this giveaway (since there is no Switch integration on GOG Galaxy 2.0)
• If you already have The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt in your GOG.COM library, you can still take advantage of this offer and receive a giftable code of the game (either The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt or The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt GOTY Edition depending on the version you own) valid for a week.

You can read more about this offer in FAQ section on GOG.com.

CDPR is currently working on Cyberpunk 2077. The game has been delayed once but it is coming out this September. Cyberpunk 2077 is most likely the most anticipated game of the year and we are all excited to check it out.

The post Get The Witcher 3 For FREE, Limited Time Offer appeared first on RespawnFirst.

According to a Leaked slide, the next free games on the Epic Games Store are going to be Civilization 6, Borderlands The Handsome Collection and Ark Survival Evolved.

• Grand Theft Auto 5 (May 14)
• Civilization 6 (May 21)
• Borderlands The Handsome Collection (May 28)
• Ark Survival Evolved (June 4)

The Borderlands 3 Handsome Collection includes Borderlands 2, plenty of DLC for Borderlands 2 and Borderlands The Pre-Sequel. The total worth of this bundle alone is $139.34. You can get it on sale for around $50. So getting all this content for free is pretty impressive indeed.

A well-known Twitter user and leaker Wario64 has added that the Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt could be free on the Epic Game Store as well. He did not mention when that is going to happen but he said that it would be free eventually in the future.

adding another rumor: The Witcher III: Wild Hunt is coming to Epic Games Store eventually, and could be a free game in the future https://t.co/cy8WgPla7d

Game was listed on EGS earlier today but is pulled (thumbnail still hosted on Epic though) https://t.co/RTSGgCqL06 pic.twitter.com/GT1FL7njWi

— Wario64 (@Wario64) May 14, 2020

With Cyberpunk 2077 coming out later this year, it is possible that CDPR has made a deal with Epic to give away the game free so that people who have not played it yet get the chance. It is possible that this is indeed the case. Epic has a lot of money and if they can score GTA5 then they can potentially score any major game.

Let us know what you think about Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt being one of the free games on the Epic Games Store and whether you would redeem it on the platform if you have already played it.

The post Upcoming Free Games On Epic: The Witcher 3, Civ 6, Borderlands, ARK appeared first on RespawnFirst.

We have two new The Witcher 3 mods and one of them is a Reshade preset that aims to improve ambient occlusion, and brings SMAA for better anti-aliasing. The Witcher 3 lackluster ambient occlusion is no secret and anti-aliasing isn’t the best. The mod fixes these issues in The Witcher 3 while also correcting color to make the visuals look clearer and less washed out. The second The Witcher 3 mod is something fans of the show will love. It adds the famous “Toss a Coin to Your Witcher.”

Other Witcher 3 Mods You Should Try

These The Witcher 3 mods are now available to download. Check out the link to download the mods for your game.

The post Graphical Improvements Come With New The Witcher 3 Mods appeared first on RespawnFirst.

The Witcher 3 Endings

Like many RPGs, The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt has multiple endings, each depending on the choices you make. Aside from the base game, the expansions also have multiple endings.

Our The Witcher 3 Definitive Endings Guide will go through all of the game’s endings and will also help you with how to get the best, good, and worst endings. For more on The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt also see our Romance Guide and Modding Guide.

How To Get The Best Ending

Like many RPGs, to get the best ending in The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt, you need to make specific choices. The choices you need to make for the best ending in the game are as follows.

• During “Blood on the Battlefield” when Ciri suggests going to the Bald Mountain choose “Velen, then”. Geralt and Ciri will then go to Velen instead of visiting the Emperor.
• Again during “Blood on the Battlefield”, choose “I know what might lift your spirits” while comforting her.
• In “Final Preparations” encourage Ciri to talk to “Lodge of Sorceresses” on her own.
• When Ciri loses her temper during The Child of the Elder Blood choose “Go for it”
• Ciri will ask to visit Skjall’s grave at the end of The Child of the Elder Blood. Choose “Yeah, I’ll go with you”.

Make sure you make these choices and you’ll get the best The Witcher 3 ending. In this ending, Geralt will lie to Emhyr Var Emreis about Ciri’s whereabouts.

Geralt will then travel to White Orchard, where he’ll get a special silver sword and will meet Citi. In this ending Ciri leaves with Geralt, starting a new life as a Witcher.

How To Get The Good Ending

As the title suggests, this is the second-best ending of The Witcher 3. To get this ending you need to make the following choices.

• During “Blood on the Battlefield” choose “Gotta visit the Emperor first” and bring Ciri to the Emperor.
• Make sure Nilfgard wins the war and for that, you need to complete the following quests and actions.
  • An Eye for an Eye
  • A Deadly Plot
  • Redania’s Most Wanted
• Be pleasant to Dijikstra and tell him about Ciri during “Blindingly Obvious”.
• Side with Vernon Roche and Ves against Dijkstra during “Reason of State”.
• Choose “I know what might lift your spirits” during “Blood on the Battlefield” while comforting Ciri.
• When Ciri loses her temper during The Child of the Elder Blood choose “Go for it”
• Choose “Yeah, I’ll go with you” when Ciri asks to visit Skjall’s grave at the end of The Child of the Elder Blood.

In this ending for The Witcher 3, Geralt will meet Zoltan and Dandelion in the winter at the inn in White Orchard. Then Geralt goes to meet Ciri before she becomes the Empress.

How To Get The Worst Ending

To get the worst ending in The Witcher you need to make at least three negative choices from the choices listed below.

• Choose “Relax, you don’t have to be good at everything” during Blood on the Battlefield while comforting Ciri.
• Accompany Ciri to the Lodge of Sorceresses meeting during “Final Preparations”.
• Choose “Calm down” during The Child of the Elder Blood when Ciri loses her temper.
• When Ciri asks to visit Skjall’s grave, choose “No Time” at the end of The Child of the Elder Blood.

In this ending, Ciri goes to battle the White Frost. With her fate uncertain, Geralt hunts down the Crone who took Ciri’s Witcher medallion. After defeating her and finding the medallion, Geralt sits there while all of the monsters diverge towards him.

Hearts Of Stone Endings

Hearts of Stone expansion for The Witcher 3 features one of the best stories in video game history. There are only two endings to this expansion one being good and the other being the bad one.

Good Ending
If you choose to help Olgierd, then you’ll get the good ending. After making the choice to help him, Geral will be transported to O’Dimm’s realm.

In this realm, you’ll have to solve his riddle. Go to the mansion along the road and find the fountain. Use the Aard sign on the wall behind the fountain to get the water flowing and that’ll solve the riddle.

Bad Ending
To get the bad ending in Hearts of Stone expansion, choose to not help Olgierd. O’Dimm will take his soul and will grant one of the following, whichever you choose.

• A horse seat providing 100 energy.
• Horn of Plenty (endless amount of food).
• Botomless Carafe (works like infinite alkagest).
• 5000 crowns.
• Information about Ciri.
• Nothing.

If you choose “information about Ciri” and haven’t ended the base game, then he’ll tell you all of the choices that you need to make to get the best ending for the base game.

Blood and Wine Endings

There are three main endings to Blood And Wine expansion for The Witcher 3 from best to worst. The following are all three endings for the expansion along with how to get these endings.

Best Ending
To get the best ending in Blood And Wine expansion complete all of the actions listed below.

• During The Night of Long Fangs, you need to complete one of these two options.
  • Go to Beyond Hill and Dale by tracking Damien’s unit
  • Track Orianna, complete the Blood Simple and tell Regis at the end that you have changed your mind. This will get you to Beyond Hill and Dale.
• Read every journal entry on the desk in the playroom during Beyond Hill and Dale.
• Get Syanna’s ribbon from Flint during Beyond Hill and Dale.
• Choose the optional dialogue to learn about Syanna’s past and be sympathetic to her.
• Investigate the fifth victim and complete all optional objectives to unlock additional dialogue with Syanna during the “Pomp and Strange Circumstance”.
• Guess Syanna’s true intentions (3rd option) while chatting with her during “Pomp and Strange Circumstance”. Encourage her to forgive Anna.
• During the trial, make the argument about forgiveness.

Good Ending
If you let Syanna die before her trial, you’ll get the good ending. Here is what you need to do to get this particular ending.

• During The Night of Long Fangs, you need to complete one of these two options.
  • Go to Beyond Hill and Dale by tracking Damien’s unit
  • Track Orianna, complete the Blood Simple and tell Regis at the end that you have changed your mind. This will get you to Beyond Hill and Dale.
• Don’t retrieve Syanna’s ribbon.
• Complete Burlap is the New Stripe.

Bad Ending
This is the worst ending that you can get in The Witcher 3: Blood And Wine expansion. There are two ways in which you can get this ending.

• Complete one of the following during “The Night of Long Fangs”.
  • Go to Beyond Hill and Dale by tracking Damien’s unit
  • Track Orianna, complete the Blood Simple and tell Regis at the end that you have changed your mind. This will get you to Beyond Hill and Dale.
• Retrieve Syanna’s ribbon from Flint.

The other way to get the bad ending is by following the steps listed below.

• Track down Orianna during during “The Night of Long Fangs”.
• Complete “Blood Simple” and “What Lies Unseen”.

That is all for our The Witcher 3 Endings guide with tips on how to get the best and worst endings.

The post The Witcher 3 Definitive Endings Guide – Best, Good, And Worst Endings appeared first on RespawnFirst.

In our The Witcher 3 Romance options guide we will explain how you can romance each character in the game.

The Witcher 3 Romance Options

Geralt of Rivia enjoys the company of woman, he loves food and wine. There is plenty of food and wine in The Witcher 3 for Geralt but getting women is a bit tricky. Female characters in the game offer opportunities to romance them. You must say the right thing or make the right move in The Witcher 3 to successfully romance our leading ladies. Keep in mind that sometimes this could backfire, for example, if you romance both Yen and Triss, both may end up dropping your ass.

How to Romance Yennefer

One of the main ladies of Geralt of Rivia is Yennefer and she is the first woman you meet in the game. She is a major romance option in The Witcher 3 but piss her off and she will throw you in the lake. To romance Yenn you must reach the main quest “The King Is Dead – Long Live The King.” During this mission, Geralt will have the option to romance her but in order to do so, you must tell Yennefer that you wish to kiss her. In the mission, you can either tell her that you both are going to die or express your desire to kiss her. Yeah, express it!

Later on in The Witcher 3 you will get the main quest “No Place Like Home.” During this mission, Yennefer will ask to see you in private to check if you’re already in an intimate relationship. You must express your desire to kiss her in the earlier mission in order to unlock this scene.

How to Romance Triss Merigold

Alongside Yennefer, Triss is the leading romance option in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. If you go with her, you must forget about ending up with Yennefer. If both ladies find out you are cheating on them and dating Triss and Yenn at the same time, they will leave you tied to the bed naked.

So let’s get to the point, how to have sex with Triss? Aka how to romance Triss? During the main quest “A Matter of Life and Death” you must kiss her when she is drunk at the party and falls in your arms. Later on, you must agree to help her with the mages during “Now or Never” quest. Just keep choosing all of the dialogue options that show love and affection and boom! Triss is yours to have. Also, during the “Now or Never” quest you must ask her to stay with you.

How to Romance Keria Metz

Keira Metz is the first romance option you will come across in The Witcher 3. Although she is the first one, she is an optional side quest that leads to a romance option. You don’t need to go through with it but considering you are here reading The Witcher 3 Romance options guide, you do want to go through with whoever you can. More power to you my friend. Keira Metz is an old friend of the White Wolf and is a renowned sorceress. At the end of “A Favor For A Friend” Side Quest, Geralt will be presented with the opportunity to romance her, which is a nice way of saying you will be doing her on the beech. Choose to have dinner with her, she is pretty straight forward about what she wants from Geralt. You will have three different options here, you can tell her you are not in the mood, say there is someone else, or you can tell her she doesn’t have to ask twice for sex.

How to Romance Jutta An Dimun

This romance/sex option is quite far down the line once you reach Skellige. Here you will be Jutta who is a tough warrior who swore to only sleep with the man who is able to beat her in combat, well, so you know what to do now. You need to complete her side quest called “Iron Maiden” for her to invite you to combat. Her house is near the area where you fight Gundar. The romance option doesn’t lead to any interesting plot points unlike Triss, Yenn, and Metz. However, if you’re goal is to do all romance options in The Witcher 3, go ahead.

How to Romance Madame Sasha

This is a hard one to unlock but who said romance is easy to achieve. You must complete Gwent quests to unlock Madame Sasha romance option. It can be very hard for some players but those who love Gwent will easily be able to achieve this. You can check out many Gwent guides available on YouTube so get better at Gwent. Additionally, you can install the Gwent mod to your game to get 99% of Gwent cards easily from a vendor.

You must complete “Gwent: High Stakes” mission in order to unlock this romance option. During the side quest, she will ask for half of your winnings, give them to her before giving it to her, get it? It is a high cost but that’s the only way to have sex with Madame Sasha.

How to Romance at Crippled Kate’s Brothel

This is a no-brainer, all you need to do is pay to have sex with women at the brothel. The Crippled Kate’s Brothel is in Novigrad where you can spend 20 crowns for “romance.” You don’ have to complete any main or side quests, nor there is any need to talk smooth and select the right dialogue. Reach the Novigrad area and you will have access to Crippled Kate’s Brothel.

How to Romance at Passiflora Brothel

If you can spare some more money you can get into Passiflora Brothel. This one is a bit more expensive compared to Crippled Kate’s Brothel. Here, a “romance” will cost you 40 crowns. Again, no need to talk smooth, complete side or main quests, and they have no impact on the storyline or your relationship with Yennefer or Triss.

How to Romance Syanna

This is the most unique and interesting romance scene in The Witcher 3. It is a part of Blood and Wine DLC. In the Blood and Wine DLC you will meet Syanna, she is a weird, dark character who has seen some tough times in her life. While you are in the main quest “The Night Of The Long Fangs,” Geralt will have the option to either fo after Syanna or go looking for Orianna.

Go after Syanna to get access to the weird land of fables where you will travel with Syanna. The good news is that at the end of this area Syanna comes on to Geralt so you have to do nothing. Just let her have her way with Geralt or deny your choice.

How to Romance Shani

I save the best one for last, ok maybe not the best but my favorite one. Shani was an instant crush and it was worth romancing her. Shani is a part of The Witcher 3’s Hearts of Stone DLC. She is a part of the main quest so you can’t miss her. When you reach the quest “A Midnight Clear,” the main goal is to cheer up Shani. Use Geralt’s Witcher senses to see things that will cheer her up, look for Rowan berries.

Once you have her gift head to the barn and meet her. When the conversation happens say “you’re got me.” From there on be flirtatious and romantic in whatever you say and you will end up romancing Shani.

Well, there you have it; every possible romance option in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Have fun and do leave a comment with your thoughts about the game and Netflix series.

The post The Witcher 3 Ultimate Romance Guide – Romance Every Character appeared first on RespawnFirst.

You’re probably already familiar with modding thanks to Skyrim so I’ll skip the explanation of it. What I will cover, is how the modding of the Witcher 3 on the Red engine works. The good news is that CD Projekt Red is a pretty big fan of the PC community so they optimized and made their game pretty mod-friendly. It’s still a bit tricky to pull off but it’s also more than doable.

The Witcher 3 Ultimate Modding Guide

In this section of the guide, we will discuss how to install mods and the best mods to install in 2020. If you are new the game or new to modding this guide will help you mod The Witcher 3.

How to Install Mods

The first part of modding The Witcher 3 is regarding the setup of your game to be modded. It’s pretty simple and straightforward to do. The first thing you’ll want to get is an application called the Witcher Script merger. Sort of works like the Skyrim Script extender in a lot of ways. The main purpose of which is to be able to combine mods in a way that they don’t overlap and cancel each other out, but rather complement and support each other instead. Now obviously, some mods just aren’t meant to work together because of how they may affect the same thing. This is why the Script Merger is important. Besides making the merges, it also notifies you of when it’s not possible, so you’re not left scratching your head as to why the game won’t work.

Next you’ll want to make a literal folder called “Mods” within the game’s directory which is where you’ll be placing the extracted files of whatever mods you download. I’d suggest using Nexus for finding mods since it’s the relatively safest option and safe in terms of malicious content. With most mods, the implementation of them can be super easy, especially if they’re just simple texture mods.

After extracting the archives of the mod, you’ll simply copy the folder with the word “mod” ahead of the content and paste it in your newly made folder. Every time you then add a new mod, be sure to give it a run by the Script Extender to make sure it’s working. After that, you can pretty much launch your game.

The mods that change your scripts will then require a bit of tinkering, specifically in the input ini. document that you can find in the Witcher 3 documents folder. The rest requires copying and pasting said scripts under whichever category of input they classify as, then launching the game as intended.

Regarding the removal and uninstallation of mods, some are pretty straightforward, You just delete them from the Mod folder. But if it’s a script issue, understandably it can be hard to search the ini. file for your edits. Therefore, it’s easier to just delete the whole input folder. Why? Because after you launch the game, it makes a new default folder on the spot.

If a mod isn’t working for you, that can either be because it’s conflicting with other mods, something you can confirm using the script extender. Or it’s not compatible with your version of the game, something you can just check on the mod author’s page. Hopefully, this helps, and may the Witcher’s path guide you!

Bullet Points for Brand New Modders

• Have a fresh The Witcher 3 installation
• Create an account on Nexus mods
• Check where the game is installed (Steam users will find it on <Steam directory>\steamapps\common\The Witcher 3.)
• Create a mods folder in the game directory (<Game directory>\mods).
• Take note of <Game directory>\DLC, this is the DLC folder where the DLC is installed
• Take note of <Game directory>\bin\x64, this is where the executable files are
• Locate user configuration file which is usually at <Your user directory>\Documents\The Witcher 3\user.settings
• Install 7zip

Best The Witcher 3 Mods

In this section of the guide, we will focus on the best The Witcher 3 mods. There are a ton of The Witcher 3 mods but you only see a handful if you are looking for a great experience. Quality of life Mods are the best ones but you can go with texture and visual mods as well. We will share the best of both worlds in this section of The Witcher 3 mods guide.

• HD Reworked Project – The Witcher 3 HD reworked project is a visual mod that improves texture quality across the board. Environments, character models, textures, water, and more will be completely overhauled.
• HD Monsters Reworked Mod – See monsters get an improved look. Better hair, better texture quality, an overall improved look.
• Realistic Weather– Pretty self-explanatory.
• HQ Faces – NPCs will have a better look, high-quality facial beards, and hair on characters.
• Lip Movement and Hig-Quality Shadows on NPCs in Gameplay – You will notice high-quality lip movement and higher shadow quality of NPCs in gameplay.
• All Quest Objectives on Map – All objectives will show on the map-making life easier for the player.
• Auto Apply Oils – The mod will apply the most effective mod to your sword before the battle. However, you must have oils in your inventory to be applied.
• Unlimited Inventory Space – This The Witcher 3 mod will let you increase the weight limit to 9000.
• Gwent Card Dealer – This The Witcher 3 mod will add a new Gwent card dealer that sells 99% of all Gwent cards.
• The Useful Witcher Tool Innkeeper – The dealer at Dandelion’s tavern will sell every potion in the game.
• Henry Cavill The Witcher Netflix Mod – The mod replaces Geralt’s face with Henry Cavill’s from The Witcher Netflix series.

These were the best The Witcher 3 mods and ways to install them safely.

The post The Witcher 3 Ultimate Modding Guide – Best Mods, How to Install appeared first on RespawnFirst.

The Witcher 3 Black Screen, Crash And Fixes

The Wicher 3 Wild Hunt is the game that changed a lot of things for the RPG developers. The game is one of the best looking games of this generation and is pretty well-optimized.

However, The Witcher 3 PC is facing errors and issues like random crashes, missing MSVCP120.dll, black screen, stuttering and more. The following are the errors and issues that players are experiencing along with their fixes and workarounds.

Crash At Launch, Game Not Launching Fix

Crash at launch is a common error issue with PC games and The Witcher 3 is no exception. Players are reporting that the game just crashes at startup without any error. Here are a few fixes and workarounds that will help you with The Witcher 3 crash at launch or not starting.

One reason for The Witcher 3 to crash at launch could be your anti-virus software or Windows Defender detecting the game’s exe file as the Trojan virus. Fix his by disabling your anti-virus or making an exception for the game’s install folder.

If you have overclocked your GPU, then it could also cause The Witcher 3 to crash at startup. Revert the CPU back to its stock clocks and the issue will be resolved.

Another reason for the game to crash at startup is the lack of administrative rights. Righ-click on the game’s exe > Properties > Compatibility tab > check “run this program as administrator”. Apply the change and the game should be working fine.

If you are using third-party monitoring software like MSI Afterburner or GeForce Experience. Disable them and the issue should be resolved. In case you are using MSI Afterburner and disabling it hasn’t resolved the crash at launch issue then follow the steps below.\

• Open RivaTuner Statistics Server(RTSS).
• Click the Add button and navigate to the game’s folder.
• Add The Witcher 3’s exe under Application profile properties.
• Set Application detection level to None for the game application.
• Close RivaTuner Statistics Server.

Low FPS, Stuttering Fix

Performance is often an issue with PC games and The Witcher 3 is no exception despite being incredibly well-optimized.

Players are reporting random FPS drops and stuttering while playing the Witcher 3 even on high-end systems. Here are a few things that might help you with the game’s performance.

First of all, check if the Hairworks are on and if they are then I suggest you turn them off. Hairworks used in The Witcher 3 are not optimized and even a GTX 1080 Ti might not be able to run the game at a stable FPS with it turned on.

If the FPS drops and stuttering persists, open Nvidia Control Panel > Manage 3D Settings > Program Settings. Select the game from the drop-down list and make the following changes.

Set “Power Management Mode” to “Prefer Maximum Performance”
Set “Texture Filtering- Quality” to “High Performance”

If you have at least a GTX 10 series GPU then also set the Vertical sync to “Fast”, disable in-game v.sync and the display should be set on fullscreen.

Fast sync kind of simulates freesync or G.sync as it allows the GPU to render as many frames as it possibly can without screen tearing. However, it’ll only display the frames supported by your monitor.

Meaning if you have a 60 Hz monitor, the game will only display 60 FPS even if it’s rendering 80 FPS. While it seems like a waste but, it’s incredibly useful to eliminate stuttering.

If you are still facing performance issues then also see our Optimization Guide for smooth 60 FPS experience.

Crash Fix

Players have reported that the game crashes randomly after 5-10 mins of playtime. This could be because of an old GPU or overclocked GPU.

If your GPU is old then you fix this issue by locking the game at 30 FPS. I understand that it might sound ridiculous but for a consistent experience, you’ll have to do it.

If your GPU is overclocked or factory overclocked then revert the GPU back to its default clock speeds and the issue will be resolved.

Black Screen Fix

Black screen if often the issue with PC games. Players are reporting black screen with audio playing in the background while playing The Witcher 3.

To fix this, start the game and when the black screen appears, press “Alt + Enter” and the game will go into windowed mode and will start to display. Go to video settings, set the proper resolution and you’ll be able to play the game in fullscreen.

MSVCP120.dll, MSVCR120, and VCOMP110.dll Missing Fix

Players are reporting that when they try to play the game they get an error telling them they are missing MSVCR120.dll, MSVCP120.dll and VCOMP110.dll files.

Uninstall all of the Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable from your system. Then reinstall Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable 2012, 2013, 2015, then 2017.

Install Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable in the order mentioned above and the issue will be resolved.

Another solution for this error is manually downloading these files and placing them in the game’s folder. But, I don’t recommend it as it can potentially compromise your system.

That is all for our The Witcher 3 fixes for errors like the crash at launch, missing MSVCR120.dll, low FPS and more.

The post The Witcher 3 Crash Fix, Missing MSVCP120.dll, Low FPS, MSVCR120.dll Missing, Stuttering Fix appeared first on RespawnFirst.

The Witcher 3 PC Optimization And Tweaks

There are plenty of settings that you can tweak in The Witcher 3 to get better performance. The following are all the different settings that you can play around with to get better performance:

• NVIDIA HairWorks
• NVIDIA HBAO+ Ambient Occlusion
• Anti-Aliasing
• Bloom
• Blur & Motion Blur
• Chromatic Aberration
• Depth of Field
• Detail Level
• Foliage Visibility Range
• Grass Density
• Light Shafts
• Number of Background Characters
• PhysX
• Shadow Quality
• Sharpen
• Terrain Quality
• Texture Quality
• Vignette
• Water Quality

Nvidia Hairworks

This is a feature that improves the looks of hair and fur in different games. This is a PC exclusive feature. This adds tessellated hair strands to the character which improves the visual quality of the hair and fur. While this does look great, it can degrade the performance of the game. You can turn this setting off in order to get higher FPS in the game. Turning this setting off can get you an additional 15-20 FPS.

Nvidia HBAO+ Ambient Occlusion

This setting adds contact shadows where two surfaces or objects meet. Shadows are also added where an object blocks light from reaching another nearby game element. This setting affects the accuracy of shadows which increases the visual quality and realism of the game. As this setting affects the visual quality of the game the performance hit is around 4 frames.

Anti-Aliasing

This setting removes jagged edges from the objects and characters. With this setting on the objects in the game are well-rounded and the edges are smooth. Increasing this setting will cost you 5-10 FPS depending on the preset that you go with.

Bloom

This setting improves the quality of bright lights. With this effect off, the lighting can look flat and dull. The cost to performance is pretty low and you should keep this setting on.

Blur & Motion Blur

These effects create distortion when in action or when casting spells. Radial and Gaussian blur are added into the mix when Blur is turned on. While recording the performance effects is not accurate, the performance hit is only a few frames per second per fight. You can keep this setting on if you want an additional layer of realism.

Chromatic Aberration

This is an optional setting in the game that can be turned off. This ensures clear image quality. This setting has a very minute impact on performance and the hit is less than a frame per second.

Depth of Field

This setting adds a subtle out of focus look. This can help hide the low-quality elements of a game and aliasing. This is mostly for people that are interested in playing The Witcher 3 at 1080p. The performance hit is around 2 FPS.

Detail Level

The detail level is exactly what the name implies it is. It is the number of elements that can be seen on the screen at any given time. You can turn this setting down if your hardware is lagging behind but you should be fine if you have a relatively decent graphics card.

Foliage Visibility Range

This setting controls the number of trees or greenery that is rendered at any given time. The higher the setting the more foliage you are going to see around you. You can turn this setting down to increase in-game performance.

The performance hit is not significant in the cities but when you are in the woods or open fields then the performance hit is going to be much higher.

Grass Density

This setting controls the amount of grass that you can see around you. The grass added by turning this setting up is minimal and does not justify the loss in FPS. So keep that in mind when tinkering with this setting.

Light Shafts

These are also known as God Rays. These are the beams that project through the foliage. This setting has a minor impact on performance and you can keep it on if you have a decent graphics card.

Shadow Quality

This setting affects the quality of shadows in The Witcher 3. While there are plenty of options that you can choose, this setting does not significantly affect the image quality. The performance hit is minor as well so you can leave it on if you want.

Sharpen

Just as the name implies, this setting will sharpen the image but it can seem unnatural at times, so keep that in mind. The performance hit is minor at half a frame per second.

Texture Quality

This setting controls the quality of the textures for characters and the environment around you as well as objects. The lowest setting is low and you can bump it up to ultra. Most people are not going to notice the improvement in quality when moving from high to ultra so you should keep this setting at high unless you have plenty of VRAM at your disposal. Turning this setting down can get you a couple of additional frames.

Water Quality

No matter what the setting is the difference between rivers and ponds is very little. You can set this to high with water simulation as the impact on performance is little.

Tweaking Other Settings

Configure settings, then exit the game. Go to C:\Users\USERNAME\Documents\The Witcher 3. Backup user.settings. Open user.settings with a text editor, and edit one or more of the values described below.

Save your modified file, and in Windows Explorer right-click on it, selecting Properties. Click “Read-only”, and finally, “Apply”. This will prevent The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt from overriding your changes, allowing you to enjoy the tweaked visuals.

Detail Level Tweaks

The in-game Detail Level setting is limited to adjusting the visible range of static decals. In the config file you can further increase their visibility, and the visibility of other related items, too.

[LevelOfDetail]
DecalsHideDistance= [Ultra value: 80]
DynamicDecalsHideDistance= [Default value: 20]
DimmerHideDistance= [Default value: 60]
StripeHideDistance= [Default value: 60]
SwarmHideDistance= [Default value: 200]

DynamicDecals are the animated pools of blood that ooze out of slain monsters, but the other options we can only guess at given the limited time available to us.

In another section of the config file, you can increase the chance of decals spawning (not every sword strike results in an emitted decal on ‘1’), and increase the distance at which decals will spawn, allowing distant enemies to emit blood spatter when hit.

[Rendering]
DecalsSpawnDistanceCutoff= [Default value: 10]
DecalsChance= [Default value: 1]

You can also experiment with the cvMaxAllowedDecalsDynamic and cvMaxAllowedDecalsSS values under [Budget], which could result in an increased number of decals in large battles. We can’t say for sure though because battles and decal spawning are impossible to precisely replicate.

That is all for our Witcher 3 PC Optimization Guide. Stay tuned for more guides!

The post The Witcher 3 PC Optimization Guide: Tweaks For 60 FPS Gameplay appeared first on RespawnFirst.