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Of course! thank you Danceofmasks, I should have thought about the limitations of the connections. Good that you cleared that for me.
edit another typo
Post edited June 30, 2011 by cooper
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cooper: And then there is the whole GPU in a laptop issue. Why hasnt someone invented an auxillary GPU that works? I keep looking and not finding. Of course now i have highjacked the thread and I suppose I should go be good in the corner somewhere ( smiles).
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Danceofmasks: Well, that's not feasible due to data rate limitations.
For instance, USB 2.0 (which pretty much everyone has if they didn't buy a computer this year) has a limit of 480 megabits per second per chip (each chip could control multiple sockets).

Compare that to a PCI express v2.0 (which is probably what your computer has), which can manage up to 64 gigabits per second.

That's pretty much why you see external sound "cards" but not video.
Actually ATI is working on a technology to bring external GPUs to laptops, its called XGP:

http://www.amd.com/us/products/technologies/ati-xgp/Pages/ati-xgp.aspx
Without getting into the whole debate about hardware, I do want to just add my 2 cents about QTEs in RPGs. While I've been able to easily handle the QTEs I've encountered so far, I find their presence rather jarring since they break the rhythm of the game. I can also sympathise with people who, for one reason or another, are unable to match the physical requirements of the QTEs. (Who knows, perhaps they're a kid with carpal tunnel syndrome, or a senior whose reflexes just aren't what they used to be. I know that my own reflexes are not quite what they were in my teens!)

CD Projekt made some attempts to address this with the QTE option, but I'd encourage them to go one step further, and make it a kind of sliding scale. At the top level, you have QTEs at their original setting. In the middle, it's the 'easy' setting. On the lowest setting, all you need to do for rapid-fire QTEs is just hold down the left-mouse button until the bar is full, and cutting down key-presses for fist-fights etc. to about 1/3 of the required button presses.
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Danceofmasks: Well, that's not feasible due to data rate limitations.
For instance, USB 2.0 (which pretty much everyone has if they didn't buy a computer this year) has a limit of 480 megabits per second per chip (each chip could control multiple sockets).

Compare that to a PCI express v2.0 (which is probably what your computer has), which can manage up to 64 gigabits per second.

That's pretty much why you see external sound "cards" but not video.
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xample22: Actually ATI is working on a technology to bring external GPUs to laptops, its called XGP:

http://www.amd.com/us/products/technologies/ati-xgp/Pages/ati-xgp.aspx
So they're doing it by having an external PCI express connector?
That means it's not a viable solution for existing laptops ...

I mean, I was just told there's an Asus XG station external GPU, which does work with existing laptops, but it's underwhelming in terms of performance.
I have decided to post one last time as a bit of a closer. I will not be posting on these forums again since I find the entire attitude of this community to be both elitist and frankly unfriendly. Even IF you feel (perhaps justifiably) that the person is partially to blame, harranging a fellow gamer who is genuinely frustrated and for a genuinely good reason is a very low thing to do especially when open speculation is made of that persons maturity, intelligence and favorte food flavor. It's not a nice thing to do.

I now have a Radeon 6700 Video Card which is far above the spec (and yes I know about and have the 11.5b hotfix). With that change I can indeed complete the QTEs.

Guess what? I STILL urge CDPROJECKT to include an option to turn them off entirely, I still loathe them, and I still feel they unfairly impinge on gameplay.

This was supposed to be a cRPG not a first person shooter. Some of you might want to remember that.

-Polaris

Edit PS: Some of you owe me a bit of an apology about another issue too. I was dead right about mandatory QTEs. Specifically (having done it both ways), in the prologue the ballista QTEs are mandatory (no matter what the setting), AND THE MONESTARY one is as well (that's the one BETWEEN the scenes with the dragons in them). I never said anything about the Dragon QTE (although it happens both times too, but that is a simple timed RMB and so should not be a problem for most users).
Post edited July 01, 2011 by IanPolaris
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IanPolaris: Guess what? I STILL urge CDPROJECKT to include an option to turn them off entirely, I still loathe them, and I still feel they unfairly impinge on gameplay.

This was supposed to be a cRPG not a first person shooter. Some of you might want to remember that.
You can. Disable Difficult QTE in the options - the sequences you've been referring to all throughout this thread, will have no QTE in them. You've yet to comment on this, when I've accused you of not having disabled said option before coming here to complain. There is no QTE related to the dragon during the Prologue if you've done so. None. Zilch. Nada. What you're left with if you've disabled this option, are two mouse-click events when prepping the balista in The Assault part of the Prologue, one mouse-click event when opening the gate for Foltest, and one single mouse-click event when attacking one of the big tentacles of the Kayran, in Chapter 1. There's no reaction element where you have to press any keys in a random sequence or whatever, otherwise you die.

Clearly, this was a hardware issue, since you didn't meet the minimum requirements for the game. The events that are left after disabling this option are so dead easy, and won't at any time cause your demise if you were to fail. Meet the system requirements, disable the Difficult QTE option, and you're all set. You hardly will notice QTE is even in the game - aside from the completely optional fist-fighting. Going on a game forum and demand that a game company removes a specific feature of their game - that's so incredibly easy to overlook as this one is - is just ridiculous. The only time it causes a problem is if you are playing on a computer that's not able to run the game in the first place.
Post edited July 01, 2011 by Kindo
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Zaxares: Without getting into the whole debate about hardware, I do want to just add my 2 cents about QTEs in RPGs. While I've been able to easily handle the QTEs I've encountered so far, I find their presence rather jarring since they break the rhythm of the game. I can also sympathise with people who, for one reason or another, are unable to match the physical requirements of the QTEs. (Who knows, perhaps they're a kid with carpal tunnel syndrome, or a senior whose reflexes just aren't what they used to be. I know that my own reflexes are not quite what they were in my teens!)

CD Projekt made some attempts to address this with the QTE option, but I'd encourage them to go one step further, and make it a kind of sliding scale. At the top level, you have QTEs at their original setting. In the middle, it's the 'easy' setting. On the lowest setting, all you need to do for rapid-fire QTEs is just hold down the left-mouse button until the bar is full, and cutting down key-presses for fist-fights etc. to about 1/3 of the required button presses.
Yes, I very much agree, a simple "hold" lmb or other key would be an ideal solution. With the cost of a decent mouse being in the region of £50 plus for a Logitech or £80 for a RAT2 I'm not sure how wearing it is on the hardware, hammering the lmb, hopefully they are built for it.

Personally I don't like QTE's because it breaks immersion having to go suddenly into "arcade game" mode but that's a matter of personal taste
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IanPolaris: Guess what? I STILL urge CDPROJECKT to include an option to turn them off entirely, I still loathe them, and I still feel they unfairly impinge on gameplay.

This was supposed to be a cRPG not a first person shooter. Some of you might want to remember that.
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Kindo: You can. Disable Difficult QTE in the options - the sequences you've been referring to all throughout this thread, will have no QTE in them. You've yet to comment on this, when I've accused you of not having disabled said option before coming here to complain. There is no QTE related to the dragon during the Prologue if you've done so. None. Zilch. Nada. What you're left with if you've disabled this option, are two mouse-click events when prepping the balista in The Assault part of the Prologue, one mouse-click event when opening the gate for Foltest, and one single mouse-click event when attacking one of the big tentacles of the Kayran, in Chapter 1. There's no reaction element where you have to press any keys in a random sequence or whatever, otherwise you die.
Filling up a mousebar with clicks is a QTE in my book and everyone knows what I am refering to. I saw no reason to respond to outright sophistry and I did comment on it.

Clearly, this was a hardware issue, since you didn't meet the minimum requirements for the game. The events that are left after disabling this option are so dead easy, and won't at any time cause your demise if you were to fail. Meet the system requirements, disable the Difficult QTE option, and you're all set. You hardly will notice QTE is even in the game - aside from the completely optional fist-fighting. Going on a game forum and demand that a game company removes a specific feature of their game - that's so incredibly easy to overlook as this one is - is just ridiculous. The only time it causes a problem is if you are playing on a computer that's not able to run the game in the first place.
Point. MIssing it. It was NOT entirely a hardware issue. In fact the hardware issue was secondary. The only place the hardware enters in was to make the QTEs (and I consider fastclick mousebars to be QTEs) to be impossible. It in no way reflects that they should be able to be turned off entirely and that has nothing to do with hardware (and you can not).

-Polaris
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IanPolaris: ... since I find the entire attitude of this community to be both elitist and frankly unfriendly...
I agree that some members can get overly defensive (resulting in harsh words and personal attacks) when TW2 or their opinions get criticized, but such sweeping statements are uncalled for.

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IanPolaris: I now have a Radeon 6700 Video Card which is far above the spec (and yes I know about and have the 11.5b hotfix). With that change I can indeed complete the QTEs.
Glad to know you have resolved your problem. It was a game-breaker so I can understand your frustration. One question though: when you were having problem with the Kayran, did you just get thrown off the tentacle (unscathed) or did you get thrown into the wall (game over)? I managed to reproduce the first one (more commonly seen in lower end hardware) when I produce very few clicks (like 2 or 3).

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IanPolaris: AND THE MONESTARY one is as well (that's the one BETWEEN the scenes with the dragons in them)
Are you referring to the one where you have to open the gate to let Foltest in?
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Kindo: You can. Disable Difficult QTE in the options - the sequences you've been referring to all throughout this thread, will have no QTE in them. You've yet to comment on this, when I've accused you of not having disabled said option before coming here to complain. There is no QTE related to the dragon during the Prologue if you've done so. None. Zilch. Nada. What you're left with if you've disabled this option, are two mouse-click events when prepping the balista in The Assault part of the Prologue, one mouse-click event when opening the gate for Foltest, and one single mouse-click event when attacking one of the big tentacles of the Kayran, in Chapter 1. There's no reaction element where you have to press any keys in a random sequence or whatever, otherwise you die.
I guess it depends on your definition of QTE. Filling up the bar is considered a QTE in my book since it's a rapid sequence of mouse clicking (and apparently the game manual considers those QTE too). So I concur with the opinion that disabling difficult QTE does not disable QTE.
Post edited July 01, 2011 by vAddicatedGamer
[i][/i]
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IanPolaris: ... since I find the entire attitude of this community to be both elitist and frankly unfriendly...
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vAddicatedGamer: I agree that some members can get overly defensive (resulting in harsh words and personal attacks) when TW2 or their opinions get criticized, but such sweeping statements are uncalled for.
It happens. I might change my mind, but you'll notice I haven't responded to other threads. In spite of your kind post, I feel unwelcome.

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IanPolaris: I now have a Radeon 6700 Video Card which is far above the spec (and yes I know about and have the 11.5b hotfix). With that change I can indeed complete the QTEs.
Glad to know you have resolved your problem. It was a game-breaker so I can understand your frustration. One question though: when you were having problem with the Kayran, did you just get thrown off the tentacle (unscathed) or did you get thrown into the wall (game over)? I managed to reproduce the first one (more commonly seen in lower end hardware) when I produce very few clicks (like 2 or 3).
I was thrown off just like your friend uninjured. It was frankly stupid. I had cut off all (but the two) tentacles of the Kayren so it couldn't really hurt me (and I have incredible vitality regen), but I couldn't hurt it....and i couldn't save at that point either.

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IanPolaris: AND THE MONESTARY one is as well (that's the one BETWEEN the scenes with the dragons in them)
Are you referring to the one where you have to open the gate to let Foltest in?

That's the one. It can not be disabled and again it's dumb. You have beaten the scenario. You could yell at the king through the porticullis at this point and have him send some beefy men to help you at this point (or even put stuff underneath as the gate lifts). No reason for this to be a QTE at all.

-Polaris
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IanPolaris: I was thrown off just like your friend uninjured. It was frankly stupid. I had cut off all (but the two) tentacles of the Kayren so it couldn't really hurt me (and I have incredible vitality regen), but I couldn't hurt it....and i couldn't save at that point either.
It only happens to me when I don't click enough (and I found out that 4-5 clicks is enough for Normal) - this is an instance where you don't have to fill the bar. When only 2 tentacles are left, what happens is that I can still ride onto the sweeping tentacle and stab it. When I accumulate enough damage then the collapsed bridge sequence will finally trigger. Still not sure how lower end hardware causes this glitch to occur - is it so bad that the game can't even recognize 4-5 clicks even though players are outright spamming LMB?

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IanPolaris: That's the one. It can not be disabled and again it's dumb. You have beaten the scenario. You could yell at the king through the porticullis at this point and have him send some beefy men to help you at this point (or even put stuff underneath as the gate lifts). No reason for this to be a QTE at all.
I have to agree with you. No sense in having the QTE when you are opening a damn gate.
Post edited July 01, 2011 by vAddicatedGamer
Had forgot how lame QTE this game had, I'm in the box fight and that's so tedious and boring. TW1 is so much better than TW2, designers cumulated awful ideas they thought shiny like the awfull long and boring introduction awfully linear. But the worse is from far the QTE that are no matter the game a lazy boring design.