The Witcher 3's next-gen wolf fur in action
"Our ultra is pretty much the peak in games."
When CD Projekt executive producer John Mamais told Eurogamer at E3 that The Witcher 3 would feature more realistic fur when played on PC with ultra settings enabled, he wasn't kidding.
Graphics company Nvidia recently released a video, below, showcasing its HairWorks technology, and in it we see a wolf from The Witcher 3 proudly modelling its next gen fur.
The wolf features 200,000 strands of fur being simulated, with a secondary motion of fur that "brings the wolf to life".
Artists have control over waviness, clumping and density, we're told.
We then see a horse with the fancy tech. The simulation includes multiple collision volumes, as well as the long hair of the mane and tail.
The Witcher 3, of course, features a horse that helps Geralt traverse the huge open world.
While CD Projekt is yet to announce minimum and recommended specifications for the PC version of The Witcher 3, we know that Nvidia HairWorks requires a DirectX 11 capable GPU.
Mamais talked up the game on ultra settings, saying you'll need a beefy machine to use it.
"But I think it'll be worth it," he said. "Our ultra is pretty much the peak in games. At least we hope it is. The stuff we're doing is going to look really amazing."
Witcher 3 on PC ultra settings adds better tessellation, more physics, more post-processing and of course more realistic fur.
By comparison, the graphics of the console versions are equivalent to high settings on PC.
HairWorks was recently seen in Infinity Ward's Call of Duty: Ghosts via Riley (aka, Colin) the dog.
