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21.05.2000 E3 Report: Gothic

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E3 Report: Gothic
May 21, 2000


Gothic is a 3D single- and multiplayer real-time fantasy RPG from German developer Piranha Bytes that we have been following for some time. At E3 1999, we had an advance look at the game in a small private booth where it was being shown to invited guests. This year, with the game nearing completion and with the search being on in earnest for a North American publisher, it was shown much more prominently, in the booth of European publisher Egmont Interactive and also in the adjoining area of Piranha Bytes' parent company, Phenomedia.

The setting for Gothic is a mining area that has been turned into a prison by enclosing it within a spherical magical barrier a thousand meters in diameter. There are no guards within since the barrier makes them unnecessary. Living beings can pass through it to enter, but only lifeless objects can exit. Marauding armies of orcs have recently attacked the land, and there is a great need for ore with which to forge weapons. As a result, the punishment for your character and others judged to have broken even minor laws is being sent to the prison to work in the mine. Every month, the prisoners can exchange ore for food, medicine and other goods. But before that, and long before even considering how to escape, your first priority is simply to learn to survive.

Within the colony, your character will find two rival encampments. One is an established gang that controls most of the trade between the prison and the outside world. Within this group, a few strong prisoners dominate, living in relative luxury on the sweat of others. The other group is a newer and smaller one, comprising inhabitants who have escaped from the old gang and who have set up their own mine in another area. The new camp is allied with a third assemblage, a temple group, and the two sides co-exist in an uneasy equilibrium, with both sides constantly searching for a way to tip the balance of power.

According to 3D Artist and Marketing Manager Tom Putzki, one of the design team's goals was to make Gothic easy to start and to play. Accordingly, there is no complex character generation process or statistical micro-management. You start the game immediately and how you play determines both class and character development, with the latter being represented visually. By way of example, Tom showed how a neophyte character swings a sword, and then demonstrated a couple of attacks by an advanced one that were much smoother and more complex in execution.

Within the game, there are four different guilds available to join. Warriors are straightforward fighters while Thieves are much more sneaky and crafty. Players who prefer magic-oriented characters can choose between Magicians with various spells and Psionics with a mixture of mind-control powers that allow them to impose their will on others. Each of these offers its own specific set of benefits as well as different tasks that the player can choose to tackle. Gothic can be played in fairly linear fashion by following the main story path, or in a more open manner by undertaking an assortment of jobs and puzzles.

Another design goal was to create a believable game world. Tom stated that neither NPCs nor monsters will simply stand around waiting for things to happen. Rather, they will have their own lives. The more than 250 human NPCs will follow daily routines such as working and sleeping, and events during the game will how they react to you. For example, attacking an important member of a faction will probably make enemies of the entire group. As for the more than two dozen types of monsters, they will assemble in their own groups, play, fight each other, run away when injured, etc. Also noted, although we did not see it were a couple of interesting bits of monster AI. One is that they can cooperate; for example, a troll might throw goblins over or across an impassable obstacle. The other is that when they find better weapons than what they are carrying, they may pick them up and equip them.

Graphically, the build we saw this year was significantly improved from the one we saw a year ago, with greater attention to detail and improved textures being immediately noticeable. Locations are varied in style such as mountains, rivers, woods, mines, fortresses and dungeons plus the aforementioned temple and an unusual colony of pueblo-like buildings located within an immense cave. The motion-captured animation noted above is very fluid, and the engine also provides some eye-catching lighting and spell effects. In keeping with the accent on accessibility, the interface has been streamlined; according to Tom, Gothic is playable with only the mouse and about 10 keys.

Although the lack of a North American publisher has almost certainly limited the amount of publicity received by Gothic to date, we have had ample reason to maintain our interest all along. After seeing how far the game has come in the past year, we're definitely looking forward to its completion and its scheduled release this summer. And since the basic version is being developed in English, we'll also keep our fingers crossed that it will be available at that time to players on this side of the pond.

E3 Media Gallery: Gothic

Richard Aihoshi - "Jonric"