When it comes to Gothic 3, most people can agree while it did show potential to be a great game, it was unfortunately an unfinished mess and tarnished the enitre legacy of the series by derailing what could have been a great trilogy.
The Gothic modding community is very dedicated, one only need to look at the countless gameplay tweaks/overhauls/patches for the first two games to see this. Where the third game is concerned though, these efforts are understandably met with less enthusiasm due to the default state of the game being so broken and incomplete.
It's important to give credit where credit is due though, which is why I'd like to give a shout out to one such project with the aim of completely overhauling Gothic 3 - basically finishing the game as the developers intended. Obviously it would be very cool if if this is ever completed and word-of-mouth is definetely a motivating factor when it comes to massive overhaul projects like this. News of this overhaul existing beyond their WoG subthread will no doubt help given the forum is largely German speaking.
The Community Story Project for Gothic 3 has been making slow progress, the most recent update is from April 2021. Show them your support by spreading word of the mod!
The Gothic modding community is very dedicated, one only need to look at the countless gameplay tweaks/overhauls/patches for the first two games to see this. Where the third game is concerned though, these efforts are understandably met with less enthusiasm due to the default state of the game being so broken and incomplete.
It's important to give credit where credit is due though, which is why I'd like to give a shout out to one such project with the aim of completely overhauling Gothic 3 - basically finishing the game as the developers intended. Obviously it would be very cool if if this is ever completed and word-of-mouth is definetely a motivating factor when it comes to massive overhaul projects like this. News of this overhaul existing beyond their WoG subthread will no doubt help given the forum is largely German speaking.
The Community Story Project for Gothic 3 has been making slow progress, the most recent update is from April 2021. Show them your support by spreading word of the mod!
THE COMMUNITY STORY PROJECT
GOTHIC 3 REVIVED
F.A.Q
GENERAL
What is the Community Story Project?
The Community Story Project is a project with the aim to improve and extend the somewhat meager parts of Gothic 3, especially the story. If you wish to get a better overview on the planned changes you may have a look at our concept.
How is the project classified?
The Community Story Project is not a patch anymore but rather an Add-in. It improves and extends the main game based on the existing content.
How do you finance the project?
The Community Story Project is not financially nor in any other way supported by the creators. Every work is done voluntarily and free of charge by our members. Our infrastructure, like servers, boards, homepage and programs is realized via numerous freely offered services freeware as well as our own software.
What are the most commonly used abbreviations regarding the project?
We use several abbreviations for our own as well as for some other Gothic 3 projects: CSP (Community Story Project), CST (Community Story Team), CP (Community Patch), CPT (Community Patch Team), QP (Questpackage) and CM (Content Mod).
Where can I get further information about the Community Story Project?
The first place to look is of course our Website. In addition there is also the thread on the World of Gothic board (feel free to post there in English, after the English section of the WoG got closed down we decided to make it bilingual), in which member of the CST frequently respond to questions. Furthermore we also collect on a special website all news, threads and posts about our project. Links and pointers to additional publications on the CSP are always appreciated.
DISTRIBUTION AND RELEASE
What are the requirements in order to be able to install the Community Story Project?
Besides an existing Gothic 3 installation the only requirement will be the Community Patch 1.75.14. It contains some new possibilities to modify the game which we utilize, hence it is required. The optional texture changes will also raise the minimum hardware requirements a little bit.
How will the Community Story Project be delivered?
There will be one single setup file, which will install automatically all files. Furthermore it will also check if the latest Community Patch was installed.
When will it be released?
We will release the results of our labor once we feel it is finished and was tested thoroughly enough. The projects scope is enormous since it is our aim to create a deep and immersive experience; therefore we are currently not able to name a specific date for the release.
How far is the development?
Since the latest status is ever-changing, it is not listed in this FAQ, but will be announced in the news section. In any case we are not able to state the exact progress, because many tasks are done parallel, build up on each other or are faster or slower completed than anticipated. Also it is still possible that there will be some alterations to the content, which makes a prediction even harder. That being said, this is still a project made by fans for fans without any commercial goals. That means we are not pressed to release an unfinished game.
CONTRIBUTORS AND JOBS
Who contributes to the Community Story Project?
This project is solely made by fans of the Gothic series. A list of all team members will follow soon.
Can I help out the Community Story Project?
Since the CSP is already in development for several years, the crew changes from time to time, making it hard to determine which positions we have to staff when. You can get an overview about open positions via the latest news or the section “Jobs” on our website.
How am I able to contribute my ideas?
Of course your ideas are welcome. Please don’t send them via email, but rather use one of our board threads. Yet, we are not able to exactly realize every single idea of yours. There are several reasons for this: We have a clear vision what the finished game will be like, the project is already in a too advanced development state in order to undergo such changes or of course it is technically not possible to implement it. Nonetheless feel free to submit them, maybe we will incorporate them. Sadly we are not able to respond to all of your ideas, suggestions and questions as it would be by far too time consuming, yet we will read everything and consider it.
VOICE ACTING AND LOCALIZATION
Will there be voice acting for your project?
As of right now there is no such thing planned, as we focus solely on the project. This means that there will be no voice acting included in the release version. This is based on two main reasons: We neither have the time to take this effort nor the resources we would need to do so. Yet it is possible that sometime further down the line a separate or completely new team takes care of that.
Will there be a translated version of the Community Story Project?
We are in touch with several foreign Gothic communities which approached us with this wish. Once the German texts are finished, we will tackle this task and send them out to external translation teams formed by the community. There will be an announcement when we reach this stage and a call to sign up for these teams or to found them. Currently we plan on having the CSP translated into English, Polish, Italian and Russian. Of course we are open regarding even more languages.
CONTENT
What scope does your project offer?
It is not possible to make an exact account of the scope. Yet, something we don’t do is adding a side quest here or a dialogue there. Instead, we overhaul the story in Gothic 3 in almost every aspect. To give a rough, numeric perspective on the scope, have some numbers about our data (from April 2020):
4.066 Threads (internal board)
58.475 posts (internal board)
2,1 GB data
g3dit:
NPCs: 2595 (Gothic3) + 688 (new) – 48 (removed) = 3235
Monster: 5053 (Gothic3) + 469 (new) – 82 (removed) = 5440
Objects: 214964 (Gothic3) + 19194 (new) – 11165 (removed) = 222993
Vegetation objects: 1112521 (Gothic3) vs. 1108115 (CSP) = -4406
G3IQ:
Speech: 12592 (Gothic3) vs. 49370 (CSP) = +36778
Strings: 22255 (Gothic3) vs. 72973 (CSP) = +50718
Quest: 575 (Gothic3) vs. 876 (CSP) = +301
Infos: 4605 (Gothic3) vs. 13227 (CSP) = +8622
Items: 1496 (Gothic3) vs. 2664 (CSP) = +1168
Owner: 1567 (Gothic3) vs. 2863 (CSP) = +1296
GameEvents: 1195 (Gothic3) vs. 6537 (CSP) = +5342
Sectors: 448 (Gothic3) vs. 645 (CSP) = +197
What exactly will the Community Story Project change?
The alterations to Gothic 3 will be so numerous and extensive, that it is impossible to list them all, besides we don’t want to spoil them for you. The main focus lies on five main aspects we are working on, which are going to form a harmonic entity in the end: the main story line, the guilds, the city concept, the texture modification and the weapon overhaul. Furthermore there will be several other smaller things and side projects we will work on, so let yourselves be surprised!
What will the main story of the Community Story Project look like?
Our main goal is not to create an alternative sequel to Gothic 2, but to improve the original game by Piranha Bytes. We want to make the content and atmosphere much more like Gothic and Gothic 2. The main parts of the story like the orcs victory, the destruction of the runes magic and the search for the Fire Goblets and the Adanos Artefacts will still be important parts of the game. But we want to improve it by giving it a clear structure. As a part of it we will reintroduce chapters like in former entries to the series. We’ll also try to close gaps in logic and unfinished plots like the Pirates, implementing interesting and thrilling turns in the story. So that you’ll have more influence on the world of the game than in any Gothic game before.
Why is there only few information about the story?
It’s pretty difficult to give an insight in the story without telling too much. The closer we get to release the more you’ll hear from us about size and story. Altough we want you to enjoy the game as we intended it so we will not reveal too much of the story.
Which guilds will be part of the Community Story Project and which are joinable?
As Gothic fans are used you will have to join one of the three main guilds during the main story. These are Rebels, Orcs and Hashishins. Rangers, Nomades and Northmarians will be extended as well. You won’t be able to join them yourself, but they will offer optional side quests. You can also forge alliances with them or fight them for your main guild. Further you’ll have the option to join Pirates, Bandits and another not yet revealed side guild.
What’s the cities concept?
Many cities in Gothic 3 lack life and an own character, which differentiates them to other cities. Additionally there’s no civil population in the world of Gothic 3 and especially female characters are missing and with them credibility. Because of that our story writers created an own concept for every settlement, to give them a own history, civil population and a credible ratio of genders. Therefore numerous new NPCs will be implemented and offer ambient dialogues as well as side quests. Sometimes they’ll even be part of main or guild quests. We’ll also create connections between the settlements what’s not the case in the original Gothic 3. The main aim of the cities concept is to make the world more vivid and credible and not only a scenery. We hope that this helps the players to build up a real emotional attachement. Also you no longer have to work your way through the cities like a chain without returning after you’ve completed you last quest in one city.
Will there be adjustments to the world and landscapes?
The world of Gothic 3 is really huge and offers enough space for new content. So there won’t be new regions. We further don’t have the technical possibilities for such huge changes. Nonetheless there will be minor adjustments to some of the locations.
How exactly do you revise weapon textures?
For close combat weapons the models will be revised as well as the textures, so they fit the style of Gothic a lot better. Some weapons are to colorful and bright so that we change them as well. As for bows and crossbows we are only able to alter the textures, since it is technically not possible for us to make alterations to their animated models.
Will you extend or revise guild X, weapon Y or NPC Z?
We endeavor to improve and extend as much as possible. But as we a have a focus on content we can’t change everything. It doesn’t make sense to answer single questions about specific features as that can still change during the course of the project.
Will you meet old acquaintances and monsters?
A few old acquaintances like Bennet, Girion or Wolf will find their way into the CSP. Basically we don’t want to add NPCs of former games just that they are there, with an outrageous explanation how they reached the mainland. We just add them to the game when it makes sense. But don’t be afraid, there’ll be plenty of new charactes you’ll hopefully love like the old ones.
REALIZATION
How is it possible for you to make changes in the game without a mod-kit?
Gothic 3 modding is mainly done by manual data changes. There are only a few tools created by the community which make it a little bit easier for us. That’s why a huge part of our work is implementing and changing content directly in the game’s code. Hex-data, which first had to be decoded as well as script-data with simple text content and graphics for the textures are a part of this. When the project was already in developement a mod-kit was released. But this only used for few activities as it doesn’t offer enough possibilities for a huge project like this.
What can’t and what don’t you want to improve?
Neither do we have the necessary data (source code) nor abilities to solve technical issues. It’s also not our intention to do that. The CPT already fixed most technical issues and brought Gothic 3 the best technical state. Further we won’t introduce new features like riding or diving.
Texture Mod
What is the texture mod?
The texture mod is a part of our project. Its aim is to change the mostly colorful and light graphics style of Gothic 3 to a darker version, which is much closer to the style of Gothic and Gothic 2. A lot of the original textures will be replaced with darker ones to support the atmosphere of war and destruction. With this enhancements the overall texture quality will be improved, as the new ones offer a higher resolution. That’s possible because of the better hardware available today compared with 2006.
What if I don’t like the texture mod?
During the setup it will be possible to exclude the new textures. They are not necessary to play the CSP.
Can I have a look at texture changes yet?
A first, but now very old version of the new textures is already indcluded in the Quest Package 4. But you can find more recent screenshots in our gallery.
INTEGRATION OF OTHER MODS
Will Quest Package 4, Content Mod or any other mods be part of the CSP?
The Quest Package 4 and former versions won’t be a requirement for the Community Story Project. Although we’ve got the permission to use content of the Quest Package. Further we are allowed to use any part of the Content Mod. But in the final version of the CSP you will hardly recognize any content from other mods. We’ll mainly use self-built Quests which fit perfectly in our concept.
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