There is a BIG problem with the save system...

As if not managing the save files and letting them take all of the user's hard drive space wasn't bad enough, the game also repeatedly saves nearly 1 MB size .BMP images along with each of these save files. Can't the game just link these images to a resource file from the game or at least use a smaller sized format like .JPG or .PNG? This is so stupid it pisses me off. We have to manually delete these space hogging save files or use a 3rd party utility to clean them up? Seriously, how inconsiderate!

CD Projekt, I highly recommend you make the game auto clean/manage the save files or at least give the user a warning about the infinite storage use.

I agree, I'm not even half way through Chapter 1 yet and my save folder is already 2Gb. This is not a problem for me because I have a large drive partition, but it could be a problem for other people, especially those using much smaller SSDs. Using a .bmp format is daft, and not letting us overwrite saves in game (instead leaving us to manually de-clutter the saves folder on a daily basis) is also daft.

Love the game, but this aspect could use some improvement.

And I thought I save a lot! My save folder is 1.91 GB and I just finished the game. Though that is a lot still.

What I'm wondering in terms of decluttering the folder now that my first play through is over is, which saves are important to keep? I can tell that the manualsave_0170 is my oldest, and the image file that goes along with that should be kept. But what about the .sav (and associated non-titled image file) in the folder? Is that the save at the end of the game? Or is the autosave_0182 the last save that I should keep?

NTFS compression solves half of the problem, somewhat.

Find your savegames folder, right-click and select "Properties", click "Advanced", and choose "Compress contents to save disk space".

This does not help with the bitmap files, because ordinary file compression gives poor results with photo-like images. CDPR will have to change the program to use JPEG files instead.

If you are miserly about space, you can delete the bitmap files altogether. The only thing you lose is the preview frame that pops up when you are selecting a save to load.

It would be so much easier when we could just NAME our savegames. Why is that so hard? Since Gaming history you could name your saves. Not anymore? I get so confused all the time with my and my wifes playthrough. I dont want them to get mixed up because we have very different decissions throughout the game. Let us name the saves. Please!!

If you want separate sets of saves, the easy way to do this is to play on separate accounts. This will automatically keep your saves separate.

use the save game manager. when I finish a play through, I pick through the saves, delete the ones I don't want, then zip up the rest. 20+ saves zip up to like 1 mb :P compression is really good.

Couple options for ya as the save system will not get an overhaul when a game has already been released.

http://www.witchernexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=10
or
http://www.compusa.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4691121&Sku=TSD-1000AS4