Gothic Chronicles Of Myrtana: Archolos mod for Gothic 2

[Tacgnol]

Finished guards playthrough last night. I think I enjoyed the mercenary/Lorenzo path slightly more overall, but both were good and had plenty of unique content.

Also I forgot how perfect the track that plays over the ending slides is. So melancholy and bittersweet. Was this an original piece? I don't remember it in G1/G2.

 

[Cpt. Dallas]

That track reminds me of NIN 'A Warm Place'.

I'm on the fence on my next 'different faction' playthrough: Archolos Merc, G2 Merc or Miliita, or first time G3.

 

[Justicar]

That track reminds me of NIN 'A Warm Place'.

I'm on the fence on my next 'different faction' playthrough: Archolos Merc, G2 Merc or Miliita, or first time G3.

Forget about G3 it's trash.

Just watch this and save 80 hours of your life.

 

[Marat]

A much better critique

 

[Cpt. Dallas]

Oof. Got 3 in a bundle sale. The last vid is particularly sad because most recent AAA's share the characteristics he's pointed out.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

Gothic 3 with the right mods is fine. It's not the greatest game ever but I had fun with it. The fan content is rather good, avoid the "rebalance" patch.

 

[Alphons]

ModDB has a mod of decade contest and Archolos currently holds 75% votes.

If you want to vote, use the link below.
https://www.moddb.com/groups/20th-anniversary-of-moddb/features/20th-anniversary-modern-hits

 

[Marat]

From the mods listed, none come even close to Archolos. Not to say they are bad, but reimaginings and graphical overhauls don't hold a candle to such a complete work as Archolos, where every piece falls perfectly into place both creating an amazing standalone experience and capturing the spirit of the original so well. Plus, production values are out of this world, far exceeding capabilities of studios with budgets in hundreds of millions.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

From the mods listed, none come even close to Archolos. Not to say they are bad, but reimaginings and graphical overhauls don't hold a candle to such a complete work as Archolos, where every piece falls perfectly into place both creating an amazing standalone experience and capturing the spirit of the original so well. Plus, production values are out of this world, far exceeding capabilities of studios with budgets in hundreds of millions.

Something tells me you never played Enderal.

Good mod but too damn German

 

[Cpt. Dallas]

Is the Alchemist apprentice quest after giving the digested items chapter timed?

 

[Paul_cz]

What is the recommended settings for DX11 renderer?

I have an issue where during dialogue (and only during dialogue) sometimes there are weird flashes, like of stretched textures or something. It happens often enough to be annoying, although not gamebreaking - any way to fix it?

Also the dynamic shadows - sometimes they flicker (like enable/disable) based on where I look....I guess it is better to turn them off altogether? They way they update in that static way is ugly as hell anyway.

And the rain effect that makes everything wet looks iffy as hell too.

From the mods listed, none come even close to Archolos. Not to say they are bad, but reimaginings and graphical overhauls don't hold a candle to such a complete work as Archolos, where every piece falls perfectly into place both creating an amazing standalone experience and capturing the spirit of the original so well. Plus, production values are out of this world, far exceeding capabilities of studios with budgets in hundreds of millions.

Enderal is equally extensive and good as Archolos, you should play it.

 

[Justicar]

What is the recommended settings for DX11 renderer?

I have an issue where during dialogue (and only during dialogue) sometimes there are weird flashes, like of stretched textures or something. It happens often enough to be annoying, although not gamebreaking - any way to fix it?

Also the dynamic shadows - sometimes they flicker (like enable/disable) based on where I look....I guess it is better to turn them off altogether? They way they update in that static way is ugly as hell anyway.

And the rain effect that makes everything wet looks iffy as hell too.

Limit your fps to 59.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

What is the recommended settings for DX11 renderer?

I have an issue where during dialogue (and only during dialogue) sometimes there are weird flashes, like of stretched textures or something. It happens often enough to be annoying, although not gamebreaking - any way to fix it?

Also the dynamic shadows - sometimes they flicker (like enable/disable) based on where I look....I guess it is better to turn them off altogether? They way they update in that static way is ugly as hell anyway.

And the rain effect that makes everything wet looks iffy as hell too.

From the mods listed, none come even close to Archolos. Not to say they are bad, but reimaginings and graphical overhauls don't hold a candle to such a complete work as Archolos, where every piece falls perfectly into place both creating an amazing standalone experience and capturing the spirit of the original so well. Plus, production values are out of this world, far exceeding capabilities of studios with budgets in hundreds of millions.

Enderal is equally extensive and good as Archolos, you should play it.

I found the DX11 renderer looks best by making it look like an improved version of the builtin renderer. I disabled all the dynamic shadows, rain effects, etc., Only thing I kept was the AO and turned it down a little.
The flashing in conversations sometimes happened to me but very rarely, saw it maybe 2-3 times total and a restart fixed it each time. No idea if you're getting it regularly.

 

[Paul_cz]

Limit your fps to 59.

You mean that might fix the flashing during convos?

edit - tried 59 fps limit but on my 60hz screen that just results in constant stutter of one frame being dropped every second. Not acceptable.

I found the DX11 renderer looks best by making it look like an improved version of the builtin renderer. I disabled all the dynamic shadows, rain effects, etc., Only thing I kept was the AO and turned it down a little.
The flashing in conversations sometimes happened to me but very rarely, saw it maybe 2-3 times total and a restart fixed it each time. No idea if you're getting it regularly.

Yeah I see these flashes during most convos. I will probably disable the rain effect.

 

[thesecret1]

Enderal is equally extensive and good as Archolos, you should play it.

Yeah, but it's still fundamentally Skyrim.

 

[Haplo]

Enderal is equally extensive and good as Archolos, you should play it.

Yeah, but it's still fundamentally Skyrim.

How is Enderal "fundamentally" Skyrim? The devs took Bethesda's game engine and built a completely new game with it - one that doesn't have anything to do with the Elder Scrolls universe.

You probably meant the gameplay of Enderal sucks just like Skyrim's. A valid point. Just like with Skyrim, however, there are mods that improve the gameplay (I know, a mod for a mod - the irony is certainly not lost).

Alternatively, just play as Phasmalist (a class introduced with the add-on Shards of Order - probably to address this bad gameplay issue) which bascially allows you to make a copy of your own character that fights on its own.

Its still fundamentally and mechanically Skyrim.
Just has a different mood.

 

[Paul_cz]

Yeah, but it's still fundamentally Skyrim.

Completely disagree. For me storytelling, character writing, world design, quest design are absolutely crucial aspects of a game and those are all on another level from Skyrim.

The only thing that is "fundamentally Skyrim" about Enderal is its combat, and that's frankly the least important aspect of the game. Also, its shitty melee can be easily circumvented by playing a mage or necromancer.

Also, playing Archolos now, mechanically its melee combat is ass too. I don't mind of course, because who cares about combat? I am here for the amazing exploration and atmosphere and questing.

 

[thesecret1]

You probably meant combat in Enderal sucks just like in Skyrim.

Yeah, sorry for not being more clear.

Completely disagree. For me storytelling, character writing, world design, quest design are absolutely crucial aspects of a game and those are all on another level from Skyrim.

The only thing that is "fundamentally Skyrim" about Enderal is its combat, and that's frankly the least important aspect of the game. Also, its shitty melee can be easily circumvented by playing a mage or necromancer.

Also, playing Archolos now, mechanically its melee combat is ass too. I don't mind of course, because who cares about combat? I am here for the amazing exploration and atmosphere and questing.

For a game to be good, it needs to be solid both in writing and in gameplay. I reject the Story/Gameplay polarization so prevalent on Codex – a game needs to be good in both areas. If it's shit in one, then it's not a good game, regardless of how great it is in the other department. I enjoy Gothic's gameplay (despite its shortcomings) so there is no issue there, but Skyrim's is just so damn bad... When I tried Enderal, I just kept feeling like I'm playing Skyrim to the point I had to drop it. Granted, it's been a long time. Maybe I'll give it another whirl to see if maybe it's not as bad as I remember it (and def try to get some additional mods to further improve that aspect of the game, if there are any that'd hit the mark). Any suggestions on that front?

 

[Paul_cz]

For a game to be good, it needs to be solid both in writing and in gameplay.

Sure, but gameplay is a lot more than just melee combat mechanics specifically.
I played Enderal as a shooter, basically (elemental mage) and it was fine. Would I play it if the only thing it offered was combat and everything else sucked? No. But then again for me combat in games is mostly busywork, it is almost never the reason to actually play something. And Enderal is fantastic in all other aspects.

As for mods, I am sure Enderal codex thread has some recommendations. I remember TK Dodge or something, but personally I played Enderal vanilla (just with ENB).

 

[Justicar]

You mean that might fix the flashing during convos?

edit - tried 59 fps limit but on my 60hz screen that just results in constant stutter of one frame being dropped every second. Not acceptable.

Try 60 fps then limiting the fps fixed the texture stretching during convos for me

 

[Paul_cz]

Try 60 fps then limiting the fps fixed the texture stretching during convos for me

hmm will try

Anyway, entered chapter 2 and got the paper from Albyn to enter the city. Did the quest for Petra and bought her chain armor, my first bigger investment.

I so far only put points into alchemy and reading the first two magic circle books, and lockpicking. So I suck horribly at combat.

Should I put some points into weapons and strength and shit if I want to ultimately play a mage? It is annoying being ganged-banged by three goblins to death.

 

[Shadenuat]

mage build is 0 0 0 0 nothing nothing mana 150-250++ and collect as much gold as possible since there are spell enhancing pink potions and they cost 3500 as well as items for +spell damage. crafting swords and selling them to smith provides nice cash since you have no use for 'em, but any other collecting skills are also useful.
you will gun down goblins and even mid tier enemies with just 3 mana lvl1 lightning bolt, and 2-shot most things in endgame with lightning.
against goblinos and stuff early use Summon Wolf.
you also need to buy every good wine, spirits, everything that gives 60 to 100+ mana on drink, and your diet consists of pickled shrooms and save fireroots for permanent mana boosts.
until then, simply copy high level scrolls and use them to kill whatever obstacles bother you the most, like Geyser & Waterfist.
staves are just to add magic damage, they can slap some ass but are ultimately a bit weak.
once you get to Ice Lance, game for enemies is over, just know that higher magic circles are gatekept behind plot.
the mod also has mana regeneration options, once you have access to those it's just spam nonstop only annoying DM cutscenes slow you down.
is it better than melee, probably not at all, but considering absolutely degenerate amount of enemies at times, when you enter somewhere and there are 4 wolves 3 rats 3 flies 2 mercenaries 1 dog on a single crossroads, it probably is better at keeping you sane?
also make sure to save some Slowdown scrolls for CH3.

ultimately though, there's nothing interesting in this one about being a mage whatsoever, except maybe that for mage exploration actually does mean something, because you need to search for runes, while someone who pumped melee and quickly forged some good sword probably doesn't even need to explore anything.

 

[agris]

Paul_cz have you encountered staves yet?

 

[Paul_cz]

Is there any way to respec? (I assume not, but who knows)

have you encountered staves yet?

I saw someone sell them, but out of my price range for now.

 

[Krivol]

No need to respec or anything - in this game you will get so many possibilities of raising stats, that you can be master of all (and master of all, honestly). This is my end game stats from the last game.

Mind you, raising everything costs A LOT, but this is probably the best way to spend gold, so anyway...

EDIT:

I decided not to rise my bow/crossbow skills as I used magic for ranged encounters. Not invested too much into magic damage as mostly I used 1h sword. Magic was mostly for utilities and ranged combat.