So some people recommended Gothic II since I didn’t like Morrowind.
Since it’s not out in the US, I picked up Gothic I for $20.
Haven’t opened it yet. Should I play it or take it back?
Play it. Once you get used to the bizarro control scheme, it’s a lot of fun.
Make sure to read the manual, or you won’t be able to use chests or shops!
Be patient with the controls – you will likely find them extremely annoying initially (most people do). You will also likely love the game if you stick with it.
If the game gets repackaged they should use this quote on the box.
The nicest thing about playing Gothic 1 these days is that fairly recent systems can easily handle the maxed out detail and draw distance setting. A really beautiful game.
If the game gets repackaged they should use this quote on the box.[/quote]
I agree, since it has been repackaged and it doesn’t come with a fucking manual.
Spoof, read the readme. That’s the only place you’ll find the controls listed if you’ve got the “economy version.”
Yeah, I noticed that not having the manual is the equivalent of having a snowball’s chance in hell of figuring it out. The manual is pretty crappy too, but it’s better than nothing. You can dowload it off Xicat.com.
Talking to people: “Ctrl-Up.”
WTF?!
Anyway, I really like it so far, but as I said elsehwere, I like everything at first! Other than the horrible interface it seems pretty cool.
Incidentally, why oh why is it that people deviate from the basic FPS/3rd Person control scheme? What do they think they have to lose by using the control scheme that everybody else uses?
Gothic was made by Germans, so it may have had something to do with some kind of local standards in Europe, or it may be simply because Europeans always think they can do things better than us stupid Americans. Either way, you can set the game up to use standard FPS movement controls in the Keyboard Setup screen by choosing “Alternative” (or by assigning each key individually). Unfortunately, the rest of the scheme–for picking things up and whatnot–remains screwy.
Yeah…I find it funny that “alternate” is really “standard.”
Bleh.
Anyway, right now I’m trying to get some meatbugs but I’m totally incapable of killing them for some reason. I don’t even have a sword yet.
If you’re using your fists, you need to stand almost on top of a meatbug and just flail away like a retard. Once you make contact they’re instantly dead, but making contact… bluh.
I seem to recall it is slightly easier with a sword, which is possibly why one was placed at the beginning of the game just when you walk past the abandoned mine, over the rickety bridge that crosses above the main path into the valley.
I did eventually find a sword. Now I’m doing a lot better…up to level 3.
The control scheme is so bizarre though…all the Ctrl-arrow key nonsense is pretty annoying.
I’m enjoying this a lot more than Morrowind, that’s for sure. At least I feel like I’m accomplishing something in the game.
I found it much easier to LMB-arrow key, you might want to try that. I mapped movement to the arrow keys, so I could use left hand to both move and swing in combat with the arrow keys, right hand on mouse for “Control”. I’m using same for Gothic 2 right now.
Same. I bought Gothic 1 week before it fell to the bargain basement pricing, and didn’t regret it a bit. It took me a good hour I think before I could use the merchant interface even with the manual, but I actually liked the combat interface, reminded me of Die By The Sword (another unpopular game I loved).
Gothic 2 is pretty much what you expect, a must buy if you end up liking the first.
Mudpuppy,
In case you didn’t find this, you can download the manual from the US distributer of Gothic. This seems to be the “fun” new trend in economy games, leave the pdf manual off the CDs and force the gamers to track it down off a corporate website.
Scroll down to about the middle of the page.
New trend? Repackaged games have been coming with PDF manuals for at least 7 or 8 years.
True, but usually the pdf was on the game CD. Now they don’t even put the pdf on the CDs, you have to download it from somewhere else.
Contrary to popular belief, we (Germans) do, in fact, play pretty much the same set of games, and in the same way, as the rest of the gaming world. :P I think in Gothic’s case the game was originally designed to be a typical console game at the core (I think a Playstation release was planned at some point), so the PC version has this weird, kind of consolish control scheme.
Gothic 2, by the way, is (IMO) the best “3D” CRPG so far. If you’re thinking about getting it, you might want to wait until the new expansion’s English version is released, because that one extends the entire game world (and game) instead of just adding a couple of new areas which host new quests etc., like, for example, BG/BG2/IWD’s expansions did.
I’m really having a blast with Gothic. The combat system is very cool…you actually feel like you’re doing more than simply clicking repeatedly since you have to time your attacks to get the best effect.
The improvement in your attack movements as you increase your skill is very cool too.
The only thing that I really don’t like so far is the annoying pest Mud that keeps following me around suggesting fruity ideas.
Anybody know what the deal is with this guy? Why the hell would they put something like this in the game? It’s just a bother.
I know. It’s like they forced me to become a murderer.
[size=2]Hey, c’mon. You killed him, too.[/size]
[size=2]Right?[/size] :(