Gothic 3 Unofficial Info Thread

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: 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.

how is the QuickSave?

in a situation like this, i would be QS'ing before every combat encounter till i got the hang of it.

[that's how i am getting painfully thru NWN2]

[general purpose advice .... also check out the Gothic forums to get combat tips if you are not used to G3/RPG combat]

 

[giantpinkbunnyhead]

Originally posted by: apoppin

Originally posted by: 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.

how is the QuickSave?

in a situation like this, i would be QS'ing before every combat encounter till i got the hang of it.

[that's how i am getting painfully thru NWN2]

[general purpose advice .... also check out the Gothic forums to get combat tips if you are not used to G3/RPG combat]

Calling it "quick"save is a joke. Takes about 15 seconds. And if you die and need to reload, about 1.5 minutes. On a FAST computer. The game itself takes almost 3 minutes to fully load up from first click on the icon, to being able to move your character. Aside from the combat issues, the load times are enough to throw this game out. I feel like I spend more time loading/saving than actually playing. What in the heck did they DO to make the game so slow?

EDIT: Another crappy thing about the game is it goes from day to night... instantly, like flipping off a light switch! Just BOOM suddenly it's dark and raining and cloudy when one step ago it was a bright sunny day. They really messed up with that one.

 

[apoppin]

maybe i should trade you for NWN2



how 'fast' is your rig

 

[Alienwho]

Let me state for the record, that I agree with pretty much every negative opinion in this thread.

About the comment of the world being so big with lots of fedex quests, with a lack of detail and depth to the storyline: that is very true. I'm to the point where I just don't know WHAT THE HELL I'M SUPPOSED TO DO because somebody said something about fire chalices, and ancestor stones, and eleventy billion other things, yet when I go into the quest menu to remember what's going on, I only see half the conversation I had with that person, because for some reason it doesn't display everything.

ME: And what is that?

NPC: Golems are naughty

ME: Yes

Oh yeah that's a great quest. I know exactly how to solve that one!

I've given up, and i've cheated and given myself tons of strength, health, powers, etc., and I still get my trash kicked when in a scuffle with 3 or 4 wolves! I'd rather take on 15 orcs at once, than 4 random beasts I encounter in the woods. Now that's F'd up.

The story moves along too slowly and gets lost in the thousands of lame meaningless fedex quests you come across, until you just stop caring.

 

[cubby1223]

Originally posted by: 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.

Have you ever played the previous Gothic games? In them, when you get knocked out, you're dead. That's it. You're reloading from your last save game. The Gothic series forces you to only fight battles you can win, and I think it's really no different in this game too.

 

[cubby1223]

This game might be like the last couple Star Trek movies - certainly not the most interesting of movies, but to someone who's followed the series, it's a must watch.

Or you could say it's like the latest Need for Speed game. I thought Carbon sucked, but it was a must play. And Carbon did help me buy Gothic 3 via trade-in value.

 

[cubby1223]

I'll also say, as I was reminded of this again, unlike most other pc games, Gothic is designed to be primarily navigated with the keyboard - not with the mouse. In fact, the original release of the first Gothic game didn't even have workable mouse controls! I remember back, I first loaded up the game, any mouse movement was delayed by nearly a full second! They did fix that quickly with a patch.

So for any of you trying this series for the first time, game controls are much easier using Q & E for turning (along with the standard WASD controls).

 

[Mem]

I never really had much problem with being KOed and losing my weapon,this is what I did,try and draw the enemy away one at a time,fighting 10 orcs will get you KOed or killed sooner or later,range weapons are there for a reason,don't be afraid to hit and run,use your brain and you will never get Koed unless the enemy is way stronger then you.


Use quick toolbar at bottom of screen, I had at least 3 different weapons in my toolbar just in case I needed to grab another weapon incase an orc stole mine, if I was unfortunate to be KOed.I prefer to fight orcs in small groups and remember to kill them if you don't want them getting back up and having another go at you.

Same goes for mobs like sabertooths,they will kill you if you attack them in large groups so use range and keep your distance or try and draw one away at a time by walking near to one so he sees you ,look around see if you can climb on a small rock/cliff or building where you can keep a safe distance between you and the enemy before you attack them,use that brain of yours .

If it goes wrong and you know you can't handle the masses run!....no shame in retreating so you can stay alive.

This game is harder then Oblivion,especially in the north region.

Quick note on fire chalices ,if you look in your inventory you will see how many you have,they are only a side quest not a main quest so not that important .As to the ancestoral stones ,the map he gives you has the locations marked ,if you don't want some spoilers THEN DON'T CLICK BELOW .

WARNING SPOILERS!!!!!
Teleport stone locations.

Fire chalice locations.

 

[skace]

On my system (specs are in my xfire profile: http://www.xfire.com/profile/skacer ) I get 20-40 FPS depending what is going on in the environment at 1680x1050 res. I have all settings on high but have disabled grass, something I also ended up doing in Oblivion. The reason for disabling grass wasn't obvious at first, it was only until I reached the desert that the grass started giving me framerate problems, I'm betting it has something to do with a part of the desert not being fully optimized or just the fact that way too much grass is visible at any given time (desert weeds / grass / whatever).

The game is unfinished, a lot of the negatives are true. Ambience is broken. The brew poison skill, improved robe armor and improved armor skills do not work. Some of the quests can break relatively easily. But none of these things stop it from being an amazing game and a far more engaging experience than Oblivion turned out to be. Because nothing in Gothic3 is even close to as cookie cutter as Oblivions 60 nearly identical and completely boring gates. And nothing Oblivion has can compete with Gothic 3's combat versatility. Gothic3's locations are, in general, a lot more interesting than Oblivions (the exceptions being the Dark Brotherhood and that city where everyone is secretly worshipping demons underground). Last but not least, Gothic 3 lets you choose a side, something so simple that it makes a world of difference in an open ended game.

 

[lozina]

Been playing it for a couple of days now. I am disappointed with many parts of the game which seems to have been rushed out before any polishing was done. It seems to have lost alot of the character and soul that the previous two Gothics had. I am still having alot of fun tohugh and I am so far.

Between Oblivion and Gothic 3 I am not sure now. I was very disappointed with Oblivion as well, the game has no soul either. It feels like a dead world.

I hope RPG games turn for the better because we're on a downward trend

 

[Mem]

New review here@Softpedia 9/10 rating,a lot better then the Gamespy review which was a big joke, far as reviews go.

Gothic 3 presents a long lasting activity for the winter days and nights to come. Minor setbacks due to bug problems will probably be rapidly fixed through patches (the first one already made it to the download section of the official site). Unfortunately nothing can be done about the high resources requirements for a relaxing hero cruising, but it?s certainly the kind of game that is worth upgrading your system.

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: skace
On my system (specs are in my xfire profile: http://www.xfire.com/profile/skacer ) I get 20-40 FPS depending what is going on in the environment at 1680x1050 res. I have all settings on high but have disabled grass, something I also ended up doing in Oblivion. The reason for disabling grass wasn't obvious at first, it was only until I reached the desert that the grass started giving me framerate problems, I'm betting it has something to do with a part of the desert not being fully optimized or just the fact that way too much grass is visible at any given time (desert weeds / grass / whatever).

The game is unfinished, a lot of the negatives are true. Ambience is broken. The brew poison skill, improved robe armor and improved armor skills do not work. Some of the quests can break relatively easily. But none of these things stop it from being an amazing game and a far more engaging experience than Oblivion turned out to be. Because nothing in Gothic3 is even close to as cookie cutter as Oblivions 60 nearly identical and completely boring gates. And nothing Oblivion has can compete with Gothic 3's combat versatility. Gothic3's locations are, in general, a lot more interesting than Oblivions (the exceptions being the Dark Brotherhood and that city where everyone is secretly worshipping demons underground). Last but not least, Gothic 3 lets you choose a side, something so simple that it makes a world of difference in an open ended game.

BOTH games are amazing

it is like reading two great books by two very different authors.
:music:

Oblivion is the more 'polished' of the two games ... but G3 more than makes up for that 'lack' by its heart and soul [and combat]

and do you have to choose sides?


i stopped killing and started helping the orcs ... well, temporarily at least ... and i now have a Orc champion as my companion
:Q

i am just doing quests without qualms of conscience ... and avoiding those that seem in direct conflict with others ...

it really helps with the Skill points ... and in amassing gold

 

[MustangSVT]

god damn!

the game looks great but at 1680x1050 on higher settings , i am barely breaking 10fps....

specs listed in my sig... i guess videocard is my biggest bottleneck? but what the hell can I do ? its still an agp mobo.. sigh.

 

[raystorm]

This game is so damn glitchy and clunky (like the other Gothic games!) and the combat is so poorly done yet I still feel compelled to play the game and explore the huge world. The Gothic series always had this addicting quality to it that I could never put a finger on. I guess its because the world itself (the land, the people with their daily jobs..etc) has such a charm to it.

Last time I played my characters head got stuck between floors of a house..nice. Please make multiple game saves folks..but I'm sure you all know that already.

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: raystorm
This game is so damn glitchy and clunky (like the other Gothic games!) and the combat is so poorly done yet I still feel compelled to play the game and explore the huge world. The Gothic series always had this addicting quality to it that I could never put a finger on. I guess its because the world itself (the land, the people with their daily jobs..etc) has such a charm to it.

Last time I played my characters head got stuck between floors of a house..nice. Please make multiple game saves folks..but I'm sure you all know that already.

the combat is the best part of it
:Q

and i usually get a hard crash every hour or so ... i think there is a memory leak .... doesn't matter if i am playing on "low" or "med" [so i play on med]
[fits in with a 'break']

G3 needs a real patch!
[real fast ... real bad....]

 

[cubby1223]

Originally posted by: apoppin
and i usually get a hard crash every hour or so ... i think there is a memory leak .... doesn't matter if i am playing on "low" or "med" [so i play on med]
[fits in with a 'break']

G3 needs a real patch!
[real fast ... real bad....]

I don't know, I've played Gothic 3 for 20-30 hours, and have had only 3 crashes. And one of those crashes doesn't even count because it was while I was quitting the game from the main menu. So I'm averaging a crash every 10-15 hours.

Disable shadows & post-processing if you haven't already done so. I'm pretty sure that caused the first crash I encountered about an hour into the game - I disabled them, and haven't had that same type of crash again.

I've been satisfied with this game. The combat is rediculously easy compared to previous games, but I think that's a compromise with the massive size of the map. Gothic 2 was like 4x as big as the orignal. And Gothic 3 is like 4x as big as Gothic 2.

 

[raystorm]

Silly reason to bump the thread but I was near these three huge trolls next to the town of Faring and when they started to charge at me I ran next to a nearby house. I somehow got on top of the house and the stupid trolls went INSIDE the house and got stuck! I went down and just stood at a nice distance and shot them full of arrows. gotta love it! lol


Unfortunately, I messed up a quest in Faring and now I can't find a way to raise my town rep there. OY!

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: cubby1223

Originally posted by: apoppin
and i usually get a hard crash every hour or so ... i think there is a memory leak .... doesn't matter if i am playing on "low" or "med" [so i play on med]
[fits in with a 'break']

G3 needs a real patch!
[real fast ... real bad....]

I don't know, I've played Gothic 3 for 20-30 hours, and have had only 3 crashes. And one of those crashes doesn't even count because it was while I was quitting the game from the main menu. So I'm averaging a crash every 10-15 hours.

Disable shadows & post-processing if you haven't already done so. I'm pretty sure that caused the first crash I encountered about an hour into the game - I disabled them, and haven't had that same type of crash again.

I've been satisfied with this game. The combat is rediculously easy compared to previous games, but I think that's a compromise with the massive size of the map. Gothic 2 was like 4x as big as the orignal. And Gothic 3 is like 4x as big as Gothic 2.

crashing constantly now ...

i tried disabling everything and setting everything to LOW ... still locks up hard

there is a memory leak

and i LOVE this game ... i was on the other side of the cave and killed each troll, one at a time with the crossbow bolts ... dumb critters ... progressing well thru the story [the Orcs trust the NH now ... hehe ... are they in for a surprise! ...

IF i can every finish this game ]

.... i just can't handle the buggy crap
:|

when is the next major patch expected?

 

[cubby1223]

Originally posted by: raystorm
Silly reason to bump the thread but I was near these three huge trolls next to the town of Faring and when they started to charge at me I ran next to a nearby house. I somehow got on top of the house and the stupid trolls went INSIDE the house and got stuck! I went down and just stood at a nice distance and shot them full of arrows. gotta love it! lol

Unfortunately, I messed up a quest in Faring and now I can't find a way to raise my town rep there. OY!

Faring is the town where you need every bit of rep to get into the castle. You're not making it if you screwed up anything. It's really not that bad of a situation. If you've been playing along with the rebels up until now, you'll never gain full access to all parts of the castle anyways. It's just the same set of characters, a blacksmith, a magician, & a trader. The experience with all the mini-tasks is maybe half a level-up. Certainly not worth starting over or anything.

 

[cubby1223]

Originally posted by: apoppin
crashing constantly now ...

i tried disabling everything and setting everything to LOW ... still locks up hard

there is a memory leak

and i LOVE this game ... i was on the other side of the cave and killed each troll, one at a time with the crossbow bolts ... dumb critters ... progressing well thru the story [the Orcs trust the NH now ... hehe ... are they in for a surprise! ...

IF i can every finish this game ]

.... i just can't handle the buggy crap
:|

when is the next major patch expected?

Well it works well on my computer. So maybe there's more hope that the game can be patched up? I don't know.

In the other Gothic games, the enemies & NPC's were a lot smarter and a heckuva lot tougher. Like those trolls for instance, they were immune to arrows & bolts, so you were forced to get up close with the sword.

Just making the comparison because the enemies in Gothic 3 are so dumb, and usually have some constraint making them too easy - like the demon in Gotha just stood there for me to shoot with arrows, wouldn't pass through the castle gate.

 

[skace]

Originally posted by: apoppin
crashing constantly now ...

i tried disabling everything and setting everything to LOW ... still locks up hard

there is a memory leak

Memory leaks do not cause constant crashing, they cause slow, over time performance issues and eventual lockups. By constant crashing is your entire machine rebooting or is the game just closing constantly?

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: skace

Originally posted by: apoppin
crashing constantly now ...

i tried disabling everything and setting everything to LOW ... still locks up hard

there is a memory leak

Memory leaks do not cause constant crashing, they cause slow, over time performance issues and eventual lockups. By constant crashing is your entire machine rebooting or is the game just closing constantly?

the "clue" was the 'lack of memory' message.


a few times

and 'by constant' ... i mean at least once an hour [which is awful ... considering it usually happens if i didn't save every 10 or 15 minutes and right after the NH gets thru a particularly hard battle]


there are also occasional [and random - could happen anytime] hard lockups that require a reboot [sometimes right-in-a-row ... but appears to be different from the memory one]

DM M&M and Oblivion play fine -- for hours at a time

just for "fun" and to cover any possible 'issues' with my machine [airflow/benchmarks/mem tests/etc. are all OK] ... i am setting up another 40 GB HD with a complete reinstall of my OS in preparation for my forthcoming x1950p]

 

[cubby1223]

Originally posted by: raystorm
Last time I played my characters head got stuck between floors of a house..nice. Please make multiple game saves folks..but I'm sure you all know that already.

I had gotten stuck though in some tight areas in some ruins in the desert. Wherever you get stuck, as long as you're not on a steep slope, you should still be able to use a transporter stone to get free.

 

[skace]

Originally posted by: apoppin
just for "fun" and to cover any possible 'issues' with my machine [airflow/benchmarks/mem tests/etc. are all OK] ... i am setting up another 40 GB HD with a complete reinstall of my OS in preparation for my forthcoming x1950p]

For the sake of comparison. I played Gothic3 for hours at a time without it closing on me. And nothing has hard locked my computer in at least several years (hard locks in windows XP = bad). There are points where Gothic3 would crash, I probably suffered about 15 crashes over 150 hours.

I'm not trying to discredit you or anything else, but if I were recieving hard locks where I actually had to hit my power button, I'd be taking a serious look at my hardware because those kind of crashes just shouldn't happen due to bad application code. Bad driver level device code? Possibly.

I don't think I could have played G3 if it were causing those issues every hour. Sucks that it ruined the experience for you.

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: skace

Originally posted by: apoppin
just for "fun" and to cover any possible 'issues' with my machine [airflow/benchmarks/mem tests/etc. are all OK] ... i am setting up another 40 GB HD with a complete reinstall of my OS in preparation for my forthcoming x1950p]

For the sake of comparison. I played Gothic3 for hours at a time without it closing on me. And nothing has hard locked my computer in at least several years (hard locks in windows XP = bad). There are points where Gothic3 would crash, I probably suffered about 15 crashes over 150 hours.

I'm not trying to discredit you or anything else, but if I were recieving hard locks where I actually had to hit my power button, I'd be taking a serious look at my hardware because those kind of crashes just shouldn't happen due to bad application code. Bad driver level device code? Possibly.

I don't think I could have played G3 if it were causing those issues every hour. Sucks that it ruined the experience for you.

wanna hear something really weird?

with NO changes to my HW/SW [except to Defrag my HD that didn't need defragging], i played G3 for 4 hours straight with a single lockup at the end ... i rebooted and played for 2 hours till i shut it down normally last night

then i played for 2 more hours this morning without issues
:Q

perhaps i should send my rig to akshayt for analysis
[or perhaps G3 didn't like me playing DM M&M ...

... it's really magic]
:sun::moon:



oh well, G3 runs OK now ... along with every other game - except NWN2 [and my issues are 'common' ... just waiting for 1.03final to test it]
and i run Win2K ... not XP.