New Gothic III Bits

Europeon
Spunior's picture

Well, for those who enjoyed the previous games, the following information given by Mike Hoge (who talked about G3 during a presentation in Bremen/Germany) should be interesting:
[]

  • likely to have different difficulty settings, that also can be changed during the game
  • alternative story paths and multi-endings
  • infinite or finite super-large inventory space, probably depending on your preferences
  • inventory probably divided into different categories (yes!)
  • finally mouse support for inventory management
  • fights will only be very easy in the easiest difficulty setting
  • unlike in G2 you should be able to kill an Orc right from the start on instead of being pure prey
  • guilds not story-relevant anymore, you're not being forced to join one to advance in the story
  • more freedom for the player, but key missions that will have to be solved
  • no return to Khorinis
  • a lot more animations, gestures and facial animations
  • stamina (relevant for sprints and diving)
  • Gothic series will continue after Gothic III, at this point, however, it's not decided yet how it's going to be done
  • there will be assassins
  • there will be special moves the character can learn
  • there will be three main regions - desert/Arabic, medieval (like in the previous Gothic games) and nordic
  • there will be a guild in each of these regions
  • a physics engine was licensed
  • [*]English version "will show up sooner than the Germans may like"[/:u:435c10315c]

    [/]

    Rocket Man
    Donator V3.0
    Alexander's picture

    Quote:
    inventory probably divided into different categories

    About time, I mean cmon it should have been like that since the first one.

    Quote:
    Gothic series will continue after Gothic III

    Joy. ^_^

    Executive
    Donator V4.0
    Fripper's picture
    Location: Portland, OR

    I love this Series, have to say it''s the game I''m most looking forward to at the moment.

    Thanks for the update. It looks really good.

    CEO
    Certis's picture

    Awesome! It''s killing me I won''t be playing the Gothic II expansion but getting III a little sooner than usual will take the sting off a bit. Thanks Spun!

    Certis beat me to it. - Elysium

    Feculent Polymath
    illum's picture
    Location: Lower Albion.

    Good news indeed.
    I only hope that at normal difficulty levels the combat is as tactical and challenging as Gothic II was.

    "A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject." - Churchill

    Space Sim Messiah
    Donator V2.0
    Veloxi's picture
    Location: Los Angeles, CA

    Awesome, I''m still playing through Gothic II, and even though I''m sucking at it, I''m enjoying the f-ck out of it.

    Executive
    Donator
    Location: Fountain Valley, CA

    Glad to hear it. I only finished up II about a month ago, and it''s nice to know that there''s a new one on the horizon.

    Under the Me
    Most's picture
    Location: Latvia

    Is there at least some speculative release date mentioned? My wife craves for a fix.

    Europeon
    Spunior's picture

    It was always said to be Q4/2005 in Germany. Which would usually translate to a real release in Q1 or maybe even Q2/2006.

    Coffee Grinder

    Like you all probably know, Gothic 3 is coming.
    A lot of information is already available, but unfortunately spread out on several sites and forums.

    I designed a fan site for Gothic 3. Including all the information that I could find. However, there are some minor bugs in the site, concerning the language. That is because I am Dutch, and English is not my mother tong.
    So if you would like to send information about Gothic 3 that's not yet posted on the site, I would be pleased.

    I am also looking for other Gothic 3 (fan) sites. If you have a site about Gothic 3, or related in somehow, please contact me.
    Cause I would like to discuss a partnership or web ring or what so ever.

    more information: gothic3.nl

    Office Linebacker
    Donator

    I can''t wait for this. Have been hoping for the gothic 2 exp pack for ages now, but guess that''s not gonna happen. This will be a day one purchase for me.

    Executive
    Barab's picture
    Location: MA

    Are they not releasing an english version of the expansion pack? That sucks.

    I can''t wait for the third one though, I loved the second. To me it was like what Ultima 9 shoulda been.

    Xbox Live Gamertag : Barab
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    Big Damn Hero
    Jeb's picture
    Location: Floating down the French Broad.

    I''m with you guys on this one... in fact, it might be about time to play GII again.

    By the way, I''m getting a blank page when I click on the link.

    Mercury's been in retrograde most of the week. It's like a full moon with a side of kicked-in-the-nuts. -- H.P. Lovesauce

    Rocket Man
    Donator V3.0
    Alexander's picture

    Going to buy this game on day one aswell, I''ve been eagerly awaiting it for months now.

    I see the site fine tho, its quite nice, well organized too.

    Man Overboard!
    Donator V3.0
    SpyNavy's picture
    Location: Home at Last

    I suppose I should try thesecond one again - it got to a point where things just slowed down and combat was egregiously hard in places... I liked it initially, but then it petered out - kind of like Arx Fatalis. Anyhow, I am a sucker for a good RPG so i will be picking this one up as well.

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    Butt Flaming Follows
    Donator
    MoonDragon's picture
    Location: Burlington, Canada

    Neodelec, I don''t have specific information for you, but you may want to go to RPGDot. It is a (mostly) RPG based fan/review site owned by gentleman in Austria and some of the oldtimers on the boards are from Germany and several other European countries. Because of that, they have good ties with many small European game developer studios. In fact, I''m sure they have been to Pyranha Bytes studies before. So, if any ""fan site"" is to have any new information first, they''re most likely to do so.

    In fact, I''m off to see what they have to say about G3...

    (@)

    Butt Flaming Follows
    Donator
    MoonDragon's picture
    Location: Burlington, Canada

    Neodelec, I don''t have specific information for you, but you may want to go to RPGDot. It is a (mostly) RPG based fan/review site owned by gentleman in Austria and some of the oldtimers on the boards are from Germany and several other European countries. Because of that, they have good ties with many small European game developer studios. In fact, I''m sure they have been to Pyranha Bytes studies before. So, if any ""fan site"" is to have any new information first, they''re most likely to do so.

    In fact, I''m off to see what they have to say about G3...

    (@)

    Europeon
    Spunior's picture

    Bumpeedoo.

    Dundundundun.
    Also...
    []

  • G3 will not be divided into chapters, hence more freedom for the player
  • world size three times bigger than Khorinis
  • 6 jobs/classes to be available, e.g. gladiator or blacksmith
  • 20 locations to be explored including forests and deserts
  • mounts may be possible to shorten long distance rides (doesn''t seem final yet)
  • new item class: shields
  • possibility of breaking loose revolts in regions occupied by orcs if you kill many of them
  • [*]altogether there are 6 races living on the mainland[/:u:6099170314]

    [/]

    Executive
    Donator V4.0
    Fripper's picture
    Location: Portland, OR

    Looking good. Thanks for the update.

    Feculent Polymath
    illum's picture
    Location: Lower Albion.

    Oooooooooooooooooooooooh I''m looking forward to this!

    I just hope it''s target audience hasn''t changed to the 10-Hour-attention span gamer.

    "A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject." - Churchill

    Rocket Man
    Donator V3.0
    Alexander's picture

    Quote:
    # possibility of breaking loose revolts in regions occupied by orcs if you kill many of them

    I hope this one goes thru, it was a little strange killing off all the orcs in the mines and having the knights talk about how bad the orc attacks are.

    Me Love You Long Time
    Donator V3.0
    Vector's picture
    Location: The Wet Coast

    I never played any of the other Gothic''s but they really seem to be my kind of games. Plus, Gothic 3 is really getting me interested. I love what I hear about it.

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    Europeon
    Spunior's picture

    To elaborate on a few things, now that I read the full article.

    Quote:
    20 locations to be explored including forests and deserts

    This ""20"" is more referring to towns, villages and settlements. Many players complained about the lack of towns to be explored in G2 - well, there basically only was Khorinis in the main game and two additional villages in the expansion - and Piranha intends to change that.

    As Piranha said, the main hero is not going to be a total weakling right from the get-go since he already went through a lot in the previous titles. However, for some reason magic has ''vanished'' from the world, resulting in the need to slowly and gradually build your mahe skills again. While we''re at the topic, summoning demons will only work at certain places such as shrines.

    Quote:
    possibility of breaking loose revolts in regions occupied by orcs if you kill many of them

    Doesn''t seem to be a specific quest used as an example to make things look more dynamic. Seems to be part of the NPC AI, meaning, if you kill enough orcs it''ll encourage other NPCs in the same region to stand up, too. And the better your reputation is, the more likely are strong NPCs to fight along with you. Characters like your old buddy Diego will have a sideplot beneath them.
    Quote:
    G3 will not be divided into chapters, hence more freedom for the player

    You''ll also be able to access many of the more difficult quests right from the start on. Of course, it''ll be quite tough if you plan to do that.

    Console ports (PS3 or Xbox 2) may or may not happen, but there are no concrete plans. PC''s what they''re focussing on right now, including support for mod developers etc.

    The interface will be ""more intuitive and customizable"". Which also means - *gasp* mouse support for the menu.

    Rocket Man
    Donator V3.0
    Alexander's picture

    Quote:
    The interface will be ""more intuitive and customizable"". Which also means - *gasp* mouse support for the menu.

    Good god its about time.

    Quote:
    This ""20"" is more referring to towns, villages and settlements.

    Sweet.
    I didn''t think there was a lack of towns in G2, although if there is going to be 20 or so of em in G3 and all are as detailed as the city in Khorinis then the more the marrier.

    Executive
    Donator V4.0
    Fripper's picture
    Location: Portland, OR

    Quote:
    Characters like your old buddy Diego will have a sideplot beneath them.

    Hopefully we''ll get the fellow who did Diego''s voice in G1 rather than his G2 replacement.

    The more I hear, the more eager I am to play this. Spunior has there been any word on a US release of the G2 expansion?

    Europeon
    Spunior's picture

    Same screenies, better quality.

    Quote:
    Spunior has there been any word on a US release of the G2 expansion?

    I''ll try to get an answer on that one.

    NOT TO SCALE!
    Donator V2.0
    Tyrian's picture
    Location: Cary, NC

    So, as someone who never played either of the first two games, will I be able to pick this up and have ANY idea what the hell is going on?

    Or should I try to find a copy of the games and play em? (yeah right, like I have MORE time to spend on games...)

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    Europeon
    Spunior's picture

    Quote:
    So, as someone who never played either of the first two games, will I be able to pick this up and have ANY idea what the hell is going on?

    If they handle it like it was done in Gothic II, then yes, you should be able to get into the game. G2 did provide some explanations on what happened in the prequel, and everytime you met a character that should be familiar if you played G1. you could babble something about amnesia and have the character detail his background for you that way.

    Still, I''d recommend playing at least G2. It still holds up very well and looks nice. The game and its atmosphere are still amazing. And meeting old buddies again in G3 will be a lot more satisfying if you actually have met them before in the prequel. Kind of ""I''m home!"" feel. You also might want to check out G1, which again makes G2 a more satisfying experience for aforementioned reasons and the point that you get to visit some parts of the G1 world again, but the game does have some interface issues, so, be warned.

    Europeon
    Spunior's picture

    The official Gothic III website is up and running! I don''t expect any more major news before E3, but that''s a nice start. The screenshot section does feature three pictures, all of them are available in scanned form already though. There''s a new piece of artwork, however.

    Europeon
    Spunior's picture

    As for this one:

    Quote:
    Spunior has there been any word on a US release of the G2 expansion?

    The English version of the add-on ""definitely"" will be released, still no date set though. Straight from someone at JoWooD.

    Executive
    Donator V4.0
    Fripper's picture
    Location: Portland, OR

    Quote:
    The English version of the add-on ""definitely"" will be released, still no date set though. Straight from someone at JoWooD.

    Fantastic news. Thank You for the update.