CD Projekt’s RPG du jour The Witcher 2 has been patched, fixing a host of issues, increasing performance – and most notably removes DRM from the game.
“Our goal is to make our fans and customers happy and to reward them for buying our game and DRM schemes does not support our philosophy as they might create obstacles for users of legally bought copies,†said CD Projekt development director Adam Badowski.
“Our approach to countering piracy is to incorporate superior value in the legal version. This means it has to be superior in every respect: less troublesome to use and install, with full support, and with access to additional content and services. So, we felt keeping the DRM would mainly hurt our legitimate users.This is completely in line with what we said before the release of The Witcher 2. We felt DRM was necessary to prevent the game being pirated and leaked before release. This purpose has been served, so we are pleased to let our users enjoy the full freedom of game usage they deserve.”
This is a little different from Capcom and Ubisoft’s stance on DRM. Many Ubisoft PC games require an always-on internet connection, and Super Street Fighter IV : Arcade Edition for PC has been confirmed to ship with DRM that requires an active internet connection just to play single player. I applaud CD Projekt for realising that in the end, DRM only serves to cause legitimate customers trouble, and barely affects pirates at all.
Here are the rest of the patch notes :
•   Simpler and more reliable game installation and activation. Details to be revealed soon.
•   Fixed the free Troll Trouble DLC download. It is now included in the patch so there’s no need to download and install it separately.
•   Fixed an issue that prevented some users from downloading other free DLCs (the ones given out with some pre-orders, special promotions, etc). The launcher now properly refreshes the list of available DLCs and allows for installation.
•   Performance improvements: approximately 5% to 30% better framerate and faster game loading for many users, depending on their individual systems and game versions. Owners of retail versions can expect the biggest improvements.
•   Fixed random crashes occurring on some systems, especially after saving and loading saves.
•   Key mapping – allows the arrow and number keys to be used for movement.
•   Added the option to invert the mouse.
•   nVidia surround vision now works properly.
•   More accurate assessment provided by the “auto-detect settings†option will help improve game performance.
•   Removed a bug that prevented completion of the “Blood Curse†quest.
•   Fixed a bug that prevented the additional link in “Extras†from being unlocked after winning the dice game against the GOG.com monk.
•   GOG.com credits now work properly.
The patch is not without its problems though; It breaks the launcher’s ability to download DLC, and stuffs about with game registration too.
“The Downloadable content option in the Game Launcher does not work properly, please don’t use it,” said CD Projekt. “This option (same as Register Game) still doesn’t work properly, but for every resulting problem we provide you with a workaround.”
“Currently the only problem remaining is with the Language Packs. We will provide you with a solution for this issue as soon as possible. Registration through the Launcher will be fixed in the upcoming days, and our goal is to have it work perfectly in patch 1.2.”
The Troll Trouble DLC is included with the 1.1 patch, and CD Projekt will be giving away more content when the new patch arrives.
Source : Eurogamer
Last Updated: May 27, 2011
