Gothic 3 Unofficial Info Thread

[Mem]

My feedback on G3 with latest patch.

As far as I can tell all the killer bugs(game stoppers) have been squashed.Speed performance is bit better and they have made it easier to kill those nasty boars you encounter as a new low level hero,no longer fast multiple stun lock attacks by them,that kill in seconds.


Game stability I will give a 99% rating,only had one crash over the week,might have been caused by the Nvidia drivers ,since I have been trying a few new official and beta ones out.

I did find the new official Nvidia drivers(93.71) to run ok but poor in performance compared to 91.47s and the new beta 96.89s(which is what I'm using for Gothic 3 at the moment),you may get a difference experience,such is the beauty of drivers and hardware.

I have seen a few crazy AI moves in combat,one was a ripperbeast trying to get to me on a rock ,it could not jump or climb the steep angle, but some how sort of walked through the rock and got to me.

When you killing an orc sometimes the others don't chase you which I feel is bad AI.I have seen the odd graphical glitch but in general nothing to worry about.
Quests well no bugs yet in my game,but I will say there are so many quests to be done (or ignored if you wish) will take you awhile to do them all.I notice this time round I found a few more new quests that somehow I missed the first time round,all good fun for more gold/loot and XP.

I have read another patch is on the way(probably 3-5 weeks) so should be interesting to see what that fixes.

Landscape feels alive ,funny seeing slaves fighting creatures and seeing them die or a pack of wolves attacking a boar.My own experience in the field was quite fun too,I was attacking some orcs and a troll appeared out of the trees/bushes,well the troll was a huge heavyweight and thought it would be fun to try and kill us all lol.One point about landscape areas,basically divided into 3 huge areas which are desert,snow,grassland,you are free to go to any area provided you can get there in one piece,expect mobs to attack you out of nowhere as you travel and explore, part of what makes this game fun.


Lets talk inventory,no loot or weight limit in this game ,you can have 100 swords ,plus 100 shields and other inventory gear etc..so great for loot monkeys.
Sound is great in game, load times are still a bit long even for quick saves.Controls are very natural and quick to learn.
You can tell they are just polishing the game up to how it should be,while they can still improve the game in a few areas,as it stands is worth buying.

This may be 2nd time round for me after my first encounter with the showstopper bug in my first game(fixed in latest patch) but I'm still having fun,game is a lot more enjoyable then Oblivion IMHO.One tip I will give you is always loot named NPCs/demons right after kills ,never know if they got something important to the story/game .

 

[Dethfrumbelo]

It sounds like PB is serious about fixing this game; they get props for the rate at which patches are coming out. I detest the publishers who put deadlines on their devs and barely contribute anything in the way of QA (Atari is another bad one ). I wish I could just send a check straight to PB and cut BloWood out.

I also give credit to Obsidian - they appear to be listening and will probably try to make as many improvements as are possible, but I doubt they'll ever be able to fix that engine, which is probably the biggest hog I've seen for the visuals it produces.

 

[Mem]

It sounds like PB is serious about fixing this game; they get props for the rate at which patches are coming out.

Dethfrumbelo:They are doing a pretty good job for a small company.I still feel there might be a memory leak and I think they can get more speed ,by more fine tuning out of the game engine.

I just like to say I got pass the game bug (fixed in latest patch btw)I had in my first game , so looking good .

 

[skace]

At level 47 I've finally made it to Varant, the desert. Let me tell you, something about the desert causes my FPS to drop all the way to 8 FPS. It could be the fact that I'm running the game at 1680x1050 . I'm torn between dropping res or sucking it up, I sure like the way it looks.

 

[Mem]

At level 47 I've finally made it to Varant, the desert. Let me tell you, something about the desert causes my FPS to drop all the way to 8 FPS. It could be the fact that I'm running the game at 1680x1050 . I'm torn between dropping res or sucking it up, I sure like the way it looks.

Hehe I'm 47 level too,also playing at 1680x1050 res,you can always make sure shadows are off and use custom settings to fine tune at that res.

I'm just freeing towns at the moment and a lot of quests as well,badass warrior.

 

[skace]

I'm sort of a neutral ranger. I do as many quests as I can without breaking any ties. Which means I haven't free'd any cities at all but I've killed orcs guarding farms / etc. Was hoping to hold off my final verdict until I've talked to Xardas. I like the nomads in Varant though, cool bunch.

 

[Mem]

Patch 1.09 solution of out of memory-bug released!...

Link. .

They are working on another major patch fix,this one above is only a minor memory bug fix.

 

[Mem]

I have just finished the game,lets just say you have different endings so I'm going to reload an earlier save and finish some of the quests I did not do and try a different ending,not really a spoiler since the previews etc did mention different endings.


This time round I only found one minor side quest bug,which has nothing to do with the game or story,the AI needs improving,in some ways I prefer the boars before they were fixed,too easy to kill now even at low level ,also it does not like my factory overclocked card,so I reduce it to default speeds and had fewer graphical glitches.


I won't say what I think of the ending,but Gothic 1 had the best story as far as I'm concerned.

Bottom line I feel the game was released a bit too early,but latest patch does help a lot (USA guys will get a better start since they should get 1.09 version of Gothic 3),however expect more patches down the road with improved speed,bug fixes etc...

I read there's going to be an expansion for Gothic 3 as well down the road, so I'll leave the game on my PC for now.

 

[apoppin]

Mem, have you read this thread?

New Gothic 3 Demo released

They are pretty negative on G3 . . .

The game is nice but is incomplete. To many bugs. Maybe in month or so after everything is patched I'll give it a go again..

Yeah i'm forcing my way through this game, bugs and all. Let me say it definitely does not feel complete, or polished. It's clunky and often confusing at times.

the worst is (many dont even KNOW this)...that the ambient sounds are seriously fvcked. You can hear certain birds etc. chirping and a woodpecker....but stuttery and too fast. Once you hear how it is SUPPOSED to sound you will know what is wrong.

the above from 3 different game owners .... any truth in this?

i am gonna d/l the demo just to get a 'feel' ....
...i am rather disappointed in NWN2 ... so far
[it took TEN DAYS just to get a patch to make it playable]


here's the G3 demo link

http://www.fileplanet.com/170222/170000/fileinfo/Gothic-3-Demo

http://www.gamershell.com/download_16382.shtml

 

[Mem]

apoppin:Yep I read it,I have to say yes some bugs but I got to play it right through until the end 2nd time round.
Quest wise with Gothic(all Gothic games) you have to find things yourself ,it is not like Oblivion where it shows you where to go,this is a good thing IMHO,Gothic 3 does give you hints on some quests like "north of here" .


Like all games you can find both good and bad comments by players,yes the game is not perfect(few games are) and there is room for improvements,in the end I guess it depends on what you want from the game.I still think Gothic and Gothic 2 are better games then 3(regardless of bugs).


Gothic 3 bug feedback. .


One more thing about quests,you can select to show not only all,but main ones only,also quests by town which is good thing if you are in one town and want to see what quests you got active for that town,click on the quest in question gives you all the dialogue you had for that particular quest.

 

[martensite]

The gothic 3 demo sucks azz. Way too buggy. Lots of graphical glitches on settings other than 'high'. And 'high' gives sluggish frame rates.

Custom, low and medium settings do not work without large parts of the frame blacked out, flickering, sever artifacting and clipping. (this is on a non-o/ced, clean XP installed PC w/all latest drivers, dx etc.)

Controls are clunky and the aiming system is bad. Lousy camera movement in the FPS view...the camera actually seems to have some inertia.

If the demo is any indication, this game is simply not comparable to oblivion IMHO.

 

[Mem]

Exec Producer Blaine Christine Talks about Gothic 3 .

And, obviously, the North American version will have English text and great voice over recorded this past summer.

Some great news for the patient North American fans though. The extra time has allowed us to implement all of the fixes and changes that are included in the first two European patches. When you buy the North American version of Gothic 3, just load up and play.

Link .

 

[cubby1223]

I just picked up a copy of the US release of Gothic 3, and it does not use Starforce or Tages, it uses SecuROM. I have no strange new drivers listed in my device manager. And at the moment, I have a Toshiba / Samsung dvd burner, and it works with that too. I know I've stated in the past that Gothic 2 & SecuROM didn't work with some Toshiba / Samsung burners, but atleast Gothic 3 is working with the TSST drive I currently have connected to my computer.

 

[Mem]

it uses SecuROM. I have no strange new drivers listed in my device manager. And at the moment, I have a Toshiba / Samsung dvd burner, and it works with that too.

I was using both a LG and Samsung drive on my PC,never had any issues relating to the SecuROM for what its worth.

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: cubby1223
I just picked up a copy of the US release of Gothic 3, and it does not use Starforce or Tages, it uses SecuROM. I have no strange new drivers listed in my device manager. And at the moment, I have a Toshiba / Samsung dvd burner, and it works with that too. I know I've stated in the past that Gothic 2 & SecuROM didn't work with some Toshiba / Samsung burners, but atleast Gothic 3 is working with the TSST drive I currently have connected to my computer.

i guess it's out here

fifty bucks.... i have had SO MANY problems with recent games [NWN2/FEAR XP] .... and disappointments when i finally did get problems solved .... you shouldn't have to reinstall your OS to get a game working
:Q

i guess i will take a few 'overnights' to d/l the gothic3 demo [dial-up sux] and see if i like the gameplay before i bite.

thanks to the OP for spending a lot of time with this informative thread!
:thumbsup:

the only game 'for sure' i am getting on day One is Oblivion's X-pack ... Dec 4th

 

[ArchAngel777]

Originally posted by: apoppin

Originally posted by: cubby1223
I just picked up a copy of the US release of Gothic 3, and it does not use Starforce or Tages, it uses SecuROM. I have no strange new drivers listed in my device manager. And at the moment, I have a Toshiba / Samsung dvd burner, and it works with that too. I know I've stated in the past that Gothic 2 & SecuROM didn't work with some Toshiba / Samsung burners, but atleast Gothic 3 is working with the TSST drive I currently have connected to my computer.

i guess it's out here

fifty bucks.... i have had SO MANY problems with recent games [NWN2/FEAR XP] .... and disappointments when i finally did get problems solved .... you shouldn't have to reinstall your OS to get a game working
:Q

i guess i will take a few 'overnights' to d/l the gothic3 demo [dial-up sux] and see if i like the gameplay before i bite.

thanks to the OP for spending a lot of time with this informative thread!
:thumbsup:

the only game 'for sure' i am getting on day One is Oblivion's X-pack ... Dec 4th

Maybe I will save you some time?

I downloaded the demo last night. First, let me state that I was optimistic towards this demo, second, maybe we don't like the same exact things about the game. But let me explain how I felt over the demo.

1) My rig could NOT play the game even remotely smooth @ 1280 X 720 no AA (There is no 1280 X 768 option in the game menu, no big deal though). It ran anywhere from 10 to 20 frames per second.

2) Characters do not have voice-overs. Yes, they do talk, but they do not move their lips or do anything else. I was spoiled with Oblivion, very spoiled.

3) The game allows first person view, but anytime you change things or exit inventory, etc... It shoots you back out to third person view. Perhaps there is a way around this? No idea, but I wasn't going to waste hours trying to figure this out.

4) Objects in the distance have a haze effect... Hard to explain, but all objects in the distance get treated with motion blur that is blurring even if you are not moving. It is like looking at a painting on the background... Very difficult to explain what I am saying, but it totally ruins the experience for me.

5) The game has ungodly load times. My system is in top notch working order and I kid you not, you are looking at a minimum of 2 minute load times. That may not sound bad, but it might even be longer than that.

The good?

I don't want to diss this game, I really don't... I feel the game has some great things to it, but it seems to take the backseat to Oblivion in every way. Oblivion with the OOO mod is FAR BETTER Than anything I seen in Gothic.

That is about all there is to say about this title... I think I would like this game if I could get past the 10 frames per second... But if it requires me to turn off the textures and make the game look like ass, what is the point?

 

[Mem]

I don't want to diss this game, I really don't... I feel the game has some great things to it, but it seems to take the backseat to Oblivion in every way. Oblivion with the OOO mod is FAR BETTER Than anything I seen in Gothic.

That is about all there is to say about this title... I think I would like this game if I could get past the 10 frames per second... But if it requires me to turn off the textures and make the game look like ass, what is the point?

Personally I think Oblivion is way overrated,infact Morrowind was a better game then Oblivion IMHO,it actually made you use a brain when trying to find things and also had a longer and deeper storyline that lasted more then 5 mins.Too console like was Oblivion,I won't be buying the expansion pack.

I still play Morrowind even now and have both expansion packs(wish there was a new one),while Oblivion well lets just say I got bored after finishing it.

Getting back to Gothic 3,yes I agree with a lot of the above statements,long loading times , you need to fine tune the settings for decent FPS (shadows off makes a big difference). I have never played the demo of G3 so don't know how it compares to the retail game.I will say Oblivion did run a lot better then G3 on my PC.


G3 was bit of a let down compared to Gothic and Gothic 2 IMHO,however I did like the game when you actually get pass all of its faults,exploring in Gothic 3 was better then Oblivion that is for sure,I died so many times in G3 where in Oblivion it was more like a holiday camp with an auto pointer on where to go(that killed some of the exploring fun for me).

End of the day you will always get different opinions on any game.

 

[ArchAngel777]

Originally posted by: Mem

I don't want to diss this game, I really don't... I feel the game has some great things to it, but it seems to take the backseat to Oblivion in every way. Oblivion with the OOO mod is FAR BETTER Than anything I seen in Gothic.

That is about all there is to say about this title... I think I would like this game if I could get past the 10 frames per second... But if it requires me to turn off the textures and make the game look like ass, what is the point?

Personally I think Oblivion is way overrated,infact Morrowind was a better game then Oblivion IMHO,it actually made you use a brain when trying to find things and also had a longer and deeper storyline that lasted more then 5 mins.Too console like was Oblivion,I won't be buying the expansion pack.

I still play Morrowind even now and have both expansion packs(wish there was a new one),while Oblivion well lets just say I got bored after finishing it.

Getting back to Gothic 3,yes I agree with a lot of the above statements,long loading times , you need to fine tune the settings for decent FPS (shadows off makes a big difference). I have never played the demo of G3 so don't know how it compares to the retail game.I will say Oblivion did run a lot better then G3 on my PC.


G3 was bit of a let down compared to Gothic and Gothic 2 IMHO,however I did like the game when you actually get pass all of its faults,exploring in Gothic 3 was better then Oblivion that is for sure,I died so many times in G3 where in Oblivion it was more like a holiday camp with an auto pointer on where to go(that killed some of the exploring fun for me).

End of the day you will always get different opinions on any game.

Yep, I agree. The vest part is when people can respect others opinions and not take offense to it.

The only game breaking feature for me is point 1) and 3) for the most part... I prefer 1st person experience and framerates need to be somewhere in the 30s. It was a slide show on my system. Who knows, when I build my new system next year this obviously will not be an issue and I can enjoy the game for all it is worth. I am sure the game is a lot of fun when you get past the faults (if you can, in my case). I didn't delete the demo yet, so I will disable shadows and give it another run to see what my frames are.

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: Mem

End of the day you will always get different opinions on any game.

thanks to both of you ... but i WILL d/l the G3 demo before i spend another gaming dollar

i really need to see this for myself

personally, i doubt that i would ever like Morrowind. i like the comparative 'stupidity' of Oblivion

and i really don't like NWN2
if the combat is like this in G3 [top down default view; strict alternate turn, dice based D&D 3.5, forget it].

 

[Dethfrumbelo]

Some of the player reviewers I trust on various sites seem to prefer Gothic 1/2 over 3. The problem (beyond bugs and performance) seems to be too many generic FedEx quests and less attention to detail/story/characters than in the previous Gothics. They made the world too expansive and as a result it suffered in the quality department.

I agree with Mem that Gothic 1 had a better story than 2. The Sleeper > Dragons. Gothic 2 had a bigger world and more things to do though, and was more polished.

Oblivion bored the sh1t out of me.

 

[cubby1223]

Originally posted by: apoppin
i guess it's out here

fifty bucks....

$39.99. Actually I brought a few games with me to the local Gamestop, stuff I can't sell in AT's fs forums to save my life... Gamestop actually paid me $3.21 to take Gothic 3 out of the store.

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: cubby1223

Originally posted by: apoppin
i guess it's out here

fifty bucks....

$39.99. Actually I brought a few games with me to the local Gamestop, stuff I can't sell in AT's fs forums to save my life... Gamestop actually paid me $3.21 to take Gothic 3 out of the store.

good idea ....
i forgot about the hundred or so game i own and never play
:Q

:thumbsup:

 

[ArchAngel777]

They buy PC games? Hmmm... Or are we talking console here? Either way, mine as well... Now, gamestop is partnered with EB Games, is that where you went? Cuz I know they buy PC games, but I didn't think gamestop had anything to do with them.

 

[cubby1223]

Originally posted by: ArchAngel777
They buy PC games? Hmmm... Or are we talking console here? Either way, mine as well... Now, gamestop is partnered with EB Games, is that where you went? Cuz I know they buy PC games, but I didn't think gamestop had anything to do with them.

I don't think they buy PC games - I brought some Gamecube games for trade-in.

 

[giantpinkbunnyhead]

I just bought this game... runs very well on my machine (which admittedly is high end anyway) but my BIGGEST GRIPE is the combat system!!

Seems like it's very easy to get knocked out; 3 seconds later you "come back" with like 8 hit points and your weapon is somewheres on the ground. Except after 3 seconds, the enemy is still on top of you; only now you have no weapon and no hit points. Guess what?? Knocked out again! And again! And again! I find it very stupid that you must re-acquire your weapon AND re-equip it before you can resume fighting an enemy who's already waiting for you to recover from knockout and gets you before you can re-equip.

Anyone else fed up with this? After two hours I'm ready to throw this crap in the trash.