The first two games in Piranha Bytes's Gothic fantasy RPG series are big hits in Europe but have only achieved a cult following in the US. That may finally change with Gothic 3 which was announced eariler this year by its publisher Jowood. Gamecloud got a chance to chat with the game's brand manager Stefan Berger to find out more about Gothic 3.
Gamecloud - First, what was the reaction like to Gothic 2?
Stefan Berger - In Germany, we released the game in November 2002. There we got very good reviews from the press and great feedback from the gamers. They loved the believable world with hundreds of NPCs and the freedom during the whole game. For the Gothic hardcore gamers (huge group of gamers) the game was too easy. Thats why we decided to make the difficulty harder with the Add On version Night of the Raven. Outside of the German speaking territories we had problems with our distribution partner. So thats why the game was released one year later than the German version. Also the marketing and PR work of our partner was not the best. We got an average score in US of around 80% one year after the release in Germany.
Gamecloud - When the time came to create Gothic 3, what were the development team's main goals?
Stefan Berger - The main goal is to make the Gothic world even more believable and to give the player more freedom during his missions. So the game will be much more nonlinear than its predecessors. We improved the following three things: pathfinding, AI and NPC behaviour. This are the most important things in a free, living and believable world.
Gamecloud - What can you tell us about the third game's storyline and how it relates to the first two games?
Stefan Berger - Gothic 1 and 2 played on the island around the city Khorinis. At the end of the 2nd part you saw the hero boarding the ship to the mainland. In the Intro of Gothic 3 you see the ship short before the arrival on the mainland.
Gamecloud - What playable characters will be a part of Gothic 3 this time around?
Stefan Berger - You will play again the same hero as you did in Gothic 1 and Gothic 2. The Gothic series is the story of the nameless hero so he is - and will always stay - the main character.
Gamecloud - What locations and settings will we see in the third game?
Stefan Berger - Gothic 1 and 2 played only on the small island around the city Khorinis. In Gothic 3, you will play on the mainland. In the north of the mainland there are the icy mountains with lot of snow, in the middle of the mainland is the heart of the kingdom with green grassland and woods and in the south you will be able to find the dessert. In every setting you will find other characters. So in the dessert you will find slavedriver and in the North you will find mighty northland warriors. In Myrtana, the heart of the kingdom, you will be able to find orcs living together with the humans. As you can see there will be a lot of different settings and people in Gothic3.
Gamecloud - What are the team's favorite creatures in Gothic 3?
Stefan Berger - We have more favourite creatures in Gothic 3. For example the huge T-Rex dont try to fight against him when you are too inexperienced Thrust me you will have no chance against him
But there are also peaceful creatures in the world of Gothic 3 with which you can interact with like the horn rammers. They are peacefully but when you attack them they will also become very angry and they will attack everyone who is close-by. So maybe you can use a horde of Hornrammers against other enemies
Gamecloud - Will the third game have any multiplayer elements?
Stefan Berger - There will be no MP part in Gothic 3. The Gothic series are single player games. Until yet there was no Gothic game with a MP mode. We concentrate all the manpower in Gothic 3 into the SP mode.
Gamecloud - What other unique gameplay elements will the third game have?
Stefan Berger - One of the biggest strengths of the Gothic series is the believable world. For a living world, the AI is very important. In Gothic every action has its reaction and so the people will remember your actions during the whole game AND they will tell stories of you to other characters Short example: When you kill a sheep and a farmer watches you he will tell anyone that you have killed one of the sheeps So no farmer would help you until you clear the situation out with the farmers (pay them money, fulfill a mission for him) P.S.: If you would kill the farmer after you have killed the sheep no one would know that you killed them Except another person has seen you
Another example is the whole story As the Orcs have won the war against humankind the player can decide on which side he would like to play Would he like to help the humankind against the Orcs or stay on the side of the Orcs?? Maybe a gamer would like to stay in the middle When you help the Orcs the humans will not be happy with you When you help the humans and you kill some Orcs the Orcs will pay bounty for your person
Actions and the way how you interact will not be a part of a small mission It will be part of the full game and you have to decide which way you want to go
So the strengths of Gothic are the believable living world and the different possibilities to solve problems and missions in the huge free world where you can do what you want.
Gamecloud - What can you tell us about the game's graphical features?
Stefan Berger - We will support all new graphical features as we are using a complete new graphic engine. Gothic 1 and 2 are well known for their graphic power. In Gothic 2 a character had around 1.200 polygones. In Gothic 3 the character will now have around 12.000 polygones. So our graphic guys have a lot of work but also they have new possibilities and the chance to create much more detailed characters and animations.
Gamecloud - What is the current status on the game's progress and when will it be released?
Stefan Berger - At the moment, we are working on the alpha milestone. We finalized the editor some weeks ago so from now on we are creating the whole world with all the details.
Gamecloud - Finally is there anything else you wish to say about Gothic 3?
Stefan Berger - Arm your weapons. The mainland is waiting for you, nameless hero!
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I can't wait.
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