Gothic - I'm having flashbacks to Ultima 9

[ManjuShri]

Are there any mods or patches for Gothic 1 that should be used on a first playthrough? I've only played 2 and 3 before.

 

[Maiandros]

http://www.worldofgothic.com/dl/?go=dlfile&fileid=20 ,21, 23 and 43
http://en.poziomkaz.pl/articles/308
and
http://www.moddb.com/mods/gothic-reloaded-mod

Have you unofficially patched it as well? Or not as of yet?

 

[ManjuShri]

It's the GoG version so I don't think it has the unofficial patch.

 

[Aeschylus]

I've been investing a bit of time in Gothic, and have just joined the Sect Camp and entered the Orc Ruins. And I've got to say, this game reminds me of Ultima 9, in the sense that it is *horribly buggy*. I have been required to restart twice due to two separate game-breaking bugs, and have encountered a couple of other glaring (but not game-breaking) glitches.

It's been a couple years, but I don't recall any big bugs in Gothic. Maybe it is related to your system?

- Combat is way too difficult. I want to create a mage character, but it seems like fighter classes are the only ones who can lay the smackdown on orc warriors. The difficulty is also preventing a lot of exploration.

Boo f'in hoo. Grow a pair. The difficulty is *supposed* to prevent exploration, and/or encourage cleverness.

- There is a *lot* of running back and forth between the three camps. Boring.

Obviously you don't play many RPGs.

- The magic system outright sucks.

Lies. It simply requires perseverance, and giving yourself a bit of skill in bows to offset your early weakness.

 

[ManjuShri]

Hmm, Gothic Reloaded won't accept my install directory and it automatically looks for a Gothic II folder so I guess I'll use this instead.

http://forum.worldofplayers.de/forum/threads/138593-Release-Textures-Patch-for-Gothic-1-(0-8-beta)

 

[Metro]

You don't need any mods for G1. Didn't even know Gothic Reloaded was released.

 

[Maiandros]

Was sleeping
Assuming that you do you have DEP on allow (if applicable) and/or administrator rights sorted, not sure why that would be..apologies if i made you download for nothing. Though if you have not deleted the mod already, do try a registry clean? You never know .

 

[taxalot]

You don't need any mods for G1. Didn't even know Gothic Reloaded was released.

You wouldn't say that if they made Gothic : Extended Edition.

 

[Severian Silk]

Try playing with a gamepad instead of the keyboard. Maybe combat will be easier. It's what I did.

 

[JarlFrank]

wat
wat
wat

gamepad?

GTFO with that faggotry

 

[Ringhausen]

Hmm, Gothic Reloaded won't accept my install directory and it automatically looks for a Gothic II folder so I guess I'll use this instead.

http://forum.worldofplayers.de/forum/threads/138593-Release-Textures-Patch-for-Gothic-1-(0-8-beta)

Don't use that! Gothic 2 has way brighter and livelier textures, it ruins the dank mood of G1.

I remember having the same issue with it not accepting the folder but I don't remember how to fix it.

 

[Beautiful Clown Painting]

Gothic II is way better than U9 but I find U9 underrated. I found it really nice and fun to play through though I can understand that people were disappointed by the shrinking of the world (Paws is three huts, really?). They should have called it: "Ultima: the arcade-adventure" and it would still stand as a nice game today instead of its reputation of being a humongous pile of shit (which it is not, at least for me).

 

[Maiandros]

I would have agreed with you some years back..right now however, i am of an opposite view..it is somehow...alluring?..that it has this 'unfinished' 'not fully realised' (see me being kind and not saying they fucked its realisation) feeling out of it..it stayed, was a game (1 and 2) that i enjoyed setting/atmosphere-wise, but wished for so much more in it..leaves a longing you know? Like an itch

 

[SCO]

wat
wat
wat

gamepad?

GTFO with that faggotry

Funny thing is that it would probably work really well. The games are strange beasts with their FPS 'mode' that can't be use in combat and stuff.

Why don't these games get it right? If you don't want to do the first person view animations right, fine; but at least restore my first person view option when i unwield the weapon.

 

[Severian Silk]

wat
wat
wat

gamepad?

GTFO with that faggotry

Funny thing is that it would probably work really well. The games are strange beasts with their FPS 'mode' that can't be use in combat and stuff.

Why don't these games get it right? If you don't want to do the first person view animations right, fine; but at least restore my first person view option when i unwield the weapon.

It worked very well. You need to use a program like Joy2Key or something though to convert the gamepad button presses to keystrokes.

 

[SCO]

I would have agreed with you some years back..right now however, i am of an opposite view..it is somehow...alluring?..that it has this 'unfinished' 'not fully realised' (see me being kind and not saying they fucked its realisation) feeling out of it..it stayed, was a game (1 and 2) that i enjoyed setting/atmosphere-wise, but wished for so much more in it..leaves a longing you know? Like an itch

I have that about ultima 8, which had the potential to be a good game with about 6 times as much content; and by content, i don't mean only dungeons.

 

[LordDenton]

I played Gothic 1 and 2 (with original control scheme) with a Logitech gamepad. The Logitech software allows you to map mouse and keyboard buttons to the gamepad, and I was amazed at how fluid the game felt.

Don't get me wrong. I have played very, VERY few PC games with a gamepad, but Gothic 1 and 2 are definitely a perfect match for it. The only other PC games I've played with a gamepad are The Longest Journey 2: Dreamfall and Pro Evo Soccer.

Gothic 3, on the other hand, has a much better control scheme, so keyboard and mouse combo is better.

 

[Aeschylus]

Well, there are many great things about Gothic 1 & 2, but the control scheme is definitely not one of them. Fuck gamepads though.

 

[Revenant]

Gothic I/II rips off Tomb Raider's control scheme, so I suppose a gamepad is a viable option. However, I played Tomb Raider using a keyboard without difficulty.

 

[ZagorTeNej]

Are there any mods or patches for Gothic 1 that should be used on a first playthrough? I've only played 2 and 3 before.

I'd only use FPS patch for Gothic 1 (to bypass the fps limit), you need the Player Kit to install it and I think have it patched to 1.08 version.

This is an interesting thread if you experience some issues playing the game:

http://forum.worldofplayers.de/forum/threads/449659-Gothic-I-Technical-FAQ?p=7073342#post7073342

 

[lecrab]

Well, there are many great things about Gothic 1 & 2, but the control scheme is definitely not one of them. Fuck gamepads though.

I beg to defer, Gothic 2 had some of the BEST combat ever if you played it fair.
Sure it was abusable on enemies with weapons but nowhere near the failed stunlocks of Gothic 3.
Btw, Gothic 3 with all the patches and is a very nice game... problem is that it has no multicore support so it stutters like hell.

 

[GG Rex]

- The magic system outright sucks.

Lies. It simply requires perseverance, and giving yourself a bit of skill in bows to offset your early weakness.

But it does. I've replayed G1-2/NotR to the point where I've explored every nook and cranny (what can I say, I'm a combatfag and junkie for free-form RPGs), and I can honestly say it's one of the worst magic systems I've seen in a game, *especially* in NotR where you simply can't afford to mage unless you're a masochist or power-game excessively - and the reward for this pain is simply nothing because magic combat isn't fun.

I mean, it's literally a battle of attrition your mana potions and enemies' HP. You cast a damage spell (press 1 button), stuff dies or takes damage, drink mana, repeat. Summon something (press 1 button), stuff dies. It's so mind-numbingly boring that I've only finished 1 mage playthrough and broke the other 2 half-way to replay as a fighter (which is brilliantly done).

Honestly, I can't think of any other single RPG or even hack 'n slash with a less dull magic system for a pure mage. G1-2 are excellent games, but this is one thing that really sticks out.

 

[lecrab]

- The magic system outright sucks.

Lies. It simply requires perseverance, and giving yourself a bit of skill in bows to offset your early weakness.

But it does. I've replayed G1-2/NotR to the point where I've explored every nook and cranny (what can I say, I'm a combatfag and junkie for free-form RPGs), and I can honestly say it's one of the worst magic systems I've seen in a game, *especially* in NotR where you simply can't afford to mage unless you're a masochist or power-game excessively - and the reward for this pain is simply nothing because magic combat isn't fun.

I mean, it's literally a battle of attrition your mana potions and enemies' HP. You cast a damage spell (press 1 button), stuff dies or takes damage, drink mana, repeat. Summon something (press 1 button), stuff dies. It's so mind-numbingly boring that I've only finished 1 mage playthrough and broke the other 2 half-way to replay as a fighter (which is brilliantly done).

Honestly, I can't think of any other single RPG or even hack 'n slash with a less dull magic system for a pure mage. G1-2 are excellent games, but this is one thing that really sticks out.

Army of darkness spell?
I don't think Gothic was ever made to be a pure mage (powergamers need not apply) but more of battlemage kind of stuff .. weaken with one spell, distract with summon, hack from behind type of gameplay.
You actually grow in liking this decision because it's always pretty easy to get stomped and there are no silver bullets except for very late game 6th circle stuff.

 

[GG Rex]

Army of darkness spell?

A spell which you get to use last 1% of the game and is basically Summon Skeleton 6 times? What about it?

I don't think Gothic was ever made to be a pure mage (powergamers need not apply) but more of battlemage kind of stuff .. weaken with one spell, distract with summon, hack from behind type of gameplay. You actually grow in liking this decision because it's always pretty easy to get stomped and there are no silver bullets except for very late game 6th circle stuff.

The problem is how boring the magic stuff is compared to fighting melee. There is simply too little variety to stuff you use (1 most cost efficient missile spell, 1 cost efficient summon, 1 cost efficient heal), and it's either "how much mana do I need here" for easy encounters and "how do I exploit AI/pathing" for harder ones.

Balance-wise, it feels like the game was designed 100% to be played through by a pure melee build, not using scrolls, and it's a pretty balanced game this way. Once magic/scrolls enter the equation, it all goes to shit. I'm not even talking ranged bow builds...

Well, I guess I loved the little twitchy melee combat mini-game, it felt appropriately challenging and fun. Magic and ranged combat just felt like a cheap cop-out.

 

[Revenant]

All the above criticisms of the magic system of G1/G2 are valid, however, it is really fun to role-play a mage in G2:NotrR. In this game, becoming a fire mage is kind of like being ordained to a Catholic priest in the middle ages - you get to be above everyone else, even the Paladins, in the game world. And yes, there are situations in the game where you can exploit your social status, not to mention all the interesting replies from NPCs to a fire mage character. Furthermore, in my opinion, becoming a fire mage is the most rewarding achievement of all three possible guild admissions. Some real, non-gay emotional engagement here.