• Gothic redux

    From Spalls Hurgenson@21:1/5 to All on Sun Aug 13 18:13:44 2023
    There's a teaser video for the "Gothic" remake that THQ Nordic is
    working on. If you're a fan of that classic game, it behooves you to
    take a look (it's only two minutes long; go on, you got the time to
    spare!)

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUnzf9krUIs

    Now, I'm no fan of remakes. Still, I approve of this video just
    because it is SO MUCH BETTER than the "Gothic Remake" demo that was
    released a year or two back. That demo was so disappointingly awful
    that I had no hopes of the remake being anything but a cheap cash-in.
    The visuals were awful, it had none of the gritty feel of the original
    game, and the controls were poor. I don't generally hate on games, but
    that game brought me as close as I've ever come. ;-)

    The video, though, much better captures the feel of the original game.
    It still feels a bit too Skyrim in appearance and how busy everything
    is, but it's a huge improvement over the demo. It also better captures
    the mix of down-n-dirty sword-n-sorcery and tongue-in-cheek
    action/fantasy.

    I'm still on the fence on playing the game

    (I'm not going to bother with any pretense that I won't eventually buy
    it; both you and I know /that/ is an inevitability I won't be able to
    avoid)

    but it's a lot more likely than it was six months ago.

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  • From Mark P. Nelson@21:1/5 to Spalls Hurgenson on Mon Aug 14 05:57:18 2023
    Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote in news:12lidipurju2t7tvhcle5nh8qpjt063hr5@4ax.com:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUnzf9krUIs

    Woot!

    --
    Clotho, Lachesis, Atropos -- the only sysadmins that matter

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  • From Metal Guru@21:1/5 to Spalls Hurgenson on Mon Aug 14 04:30:06 2023
    On 8/13/2023 6:13 PM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
    There's a teaser video for the "Gothic" remake that THQ Nordic is
    working on. If you're a fan of that classic game, it behooves you to
    take a look (it's only two minutes long; go on, you got the time to
    spare!)

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUnzf9krUIs

    This looks really good, considering it's using the game's engine.

    But why is Piranha Bytes not the developer anymore? I've never heard of
    Alkimia Interactive, they seem to be a brand new studio based in
    Barcelona with zero games to their credit - never a good sign, but
    here's hoping for the best.

    And they're hiring just about every position conceivable, which makes me
    think this game is still years away from release. Ironically enough
    Gothic 1 is the only PB game I have never played - loved Gothic 2 and 3,
    Risen (didn't care for either of the pirates games much) and Elex 1 and 2.

    Appreciate the link and heads up.

    --
    Actual headline about an escaped psychiatric patient who assaulted the
    staff of a laundromat: "Nut screws washers and bolts"

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  • From Spalls Hurgenson@21:1/5 to All on Mon Aug 14 08:58:00 2023
    On Mon, 14 Aug 2023 04:30:06 -0400, Metal Guru <MetalGuru@IsItYou.com>
    wrote:

    On 8/13/2023 6:13 PM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
    There's a teaser video for the "Gothic" remake that THQ Nordic is
    working on. If you're a fan of that classic game, it behooves you to
    take a look (it's only two minutes long; go on, you got the time to
    spare!)

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUnzf9krUIs

    This looks really good, considering it's using the game's engine.

    But why is Piranha Bytes not the developer anymore? I've never heard of >Alkimia Interactive, they seem to be a brand new studio based in
    Barcelona with zero games to their credit - never a good sign, but
    here's hoping for the best.

    From what I recall, developer Piranha Bytes no longer owns the Gothic
    license; publisher THQ Nordic does. Of course, THQ Nordic /also/ owns
    Piranha Bytes. However, the developer has indicated they are not
    interested in making any more Gothic games, preferring to focus on the
    Elex franchise. Thus, THQ Nordic created an entirely new development
    house - Alkimia Interactive - specifically for the purpose of remaking
    Gothic.



    And they're hiring just about every position conceivable, which makes me >think this game is still years away from release.

    Seems likely. Development officially was started back in 2020
    (although obviously some work had been done before hand, since the
    demo was released in 2019). In February 2023, the game was reported to
    be "in the middle" of its production schedule.


    Ironically enough
    Gothic 1 is the only PB game I have never played - loved Gothic 2 and 3, >Risen (didn't care for either of the pirates games much) and Elex 1 and 2.

    "Gothic" - like all Piranha Bytes games - was a fun but flawed game.
    It is hard to recommend to new players, just because its crunky
    visuals and obtuse controls detract a lot of the fun from the game.
    Certainly, "Gothic 2" was the better title. Still, I've a soft spot in
    my heart for the game, if only because - unlike so many other open
    world games - it doesn't try to pretend it's representing a whole
    world (which leads to really weird scaling issues) but just simulates
    a tiny valley. It always annoys me how cities in other games - like
    Skyrim - are spaced only a mile or two apart. "Gothic" suffers from
    the same problem, but at least there's a logical reason for it.

    But I've had got less and less enjoyment from Piranha Byte games as
    they developed. I loved the original "Gothic"; I adored "Gothic 2"; I
    was one of the few who enjoyed "Gothic 3". The Risen games were
    passable, but increasingly formulaic. The "Elex" games were equally
    formulaic, and lacked a consistent vision to boot. The latter games
    felt like they were trying to recapture the old magic without quite understanding what made the originals so captivating.

    So, while I have doubts about the involvement of Alkimia, neither am I
    entirely disheartened that Piranha Bytes isn't involved.

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