Gothic

This page is for the original 2001 PC release. For the remake, see Gothic 1 Remake.

Gothic

Developers
	Piranha Bytes
Publishers
2001	DTP Entertainment
2001	Egmont Interactive
2002-2011	JoWood Productions
2011-2016	Nordic Games
2016-present	THQ Nordic
Retail (USA)	Xicat Interactive
Retail (Russia)	Snowball Studio
Retail (Russia)	Russobit-M
Engines
	ZenGin
Release dates
Windows	March 15, 2001
Reception
Metacritic	81
Taxonomy
Monetization	One-time game purchase
Modes	Singleplayer
Pacing	Real-time
Perspectives	Third-person
Controls	Direct control
Genres	RPG, ARPG
Themes	Fantasy
Series	Gothic

Gothic
Gothic	2001
Gothic II	2002
Gothic 3	2006
Gothic 3: Forsaken Gods	2008
Arcania: Gothic 4	2010
Arcania: Fall of Setarrif	2011
Gothic Playable Teaser	2019
The Chronicles of Myrtana: Archolos (unofficial mod)	2021
Gothic 1 Remake	TBA

Gothic is a singleplayer third-person RPG and ARPG game in the Gothic series.

General information

GOG.com Community Discussions for game series

GOG.com Support Page

Steam Community Discussions

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail		Install the version 1.08k patch.
GOG.com
Steam		Only sold as part of bundles. Player-Kit and SystemPack (version 1.8) included since March 2021. Doesn't require Steam after installation.

Version differences

The original German release included a performance by In Extremo that was omitted from later German releases and all international versions. Use the In Extremo Mod.

The Russian Gothic: Collector's Edition includes Gothic and the Diccuric mod.

The German Gothic Collector's Edition includes Gothic along with Gothic II and its expansion.

Demos

A free English demo and a German demo are available from World of Gothic. The download link on the page may need to be copied into the browser.

Essential improvements

Patches

The latest retail patch is version 1.08k. Some digital distribution versions already include this patch. To check your current patch version look at the bottom right of the main menu box.

Union (SystemPack 2.0)

Alternative version of the SystemPack called Union (also referred to as SystemPack 2.0) provides additional bug fixes and engine improvements, including improved performance, steam overlay support and 64-bit patch for x64 systems.

It is advised to use Union instead of the original SystemPack as the latter is no longer developed.

Already contains Player-Kit in its installation (Union Primary Universal Patch).

Install Union (SystemPack 2.0)
Download and install Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable 2010. Download and install the "Union Primary Universal Patch" from the link above. Download and install "Union 1.0m" from the link above. Launch the game. If Union is properly installed, its version will appear on the right side of the main menu. Alternative option for download through Steam Workshop.

Gothic 1 Community Patch

Fixes mostly story- and script-related bugs.

It is recommended to use this patch in combination with Union.

Install Gothic 1 Community Patch

Download and install the latest version of Ninja. Download and install the the latest version of the Gothic 1 Community Patch. Users can check if Ninja was properly installed by opening the console and typing "Ninja". If it was installed, it will report which (if any) patches are installed. If the Community Patch is properly installed, its version will appear on the left side of the main menu. Ninja and the Community Patch are also available on the Steam Workshop and recommended for Steam users.

Skip intro videos

Change playLogoVideos setting
Go to the configuration file(s) location. Edit gothic.ini. Change playLogoVideos=1 to playLogoVideos=0 Save the changes. The game will now go directly to the main menu when launched.

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\system\GOTHIC.INI
Steam Play (Linux)	<SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/65540/pfx/

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\Saves\
Steam Play (Linux)	<SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/65540/pfx/

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
GOG Galaxy
Steam Cloud

Video

Video settings.

Graphic settings.

Graphics feature	State	WSGF	Notes
Widescreen resolution			Only some resolutions listed; see Widescreen resolution.
Multi-monitor			Use Union (SystemPack 2.0).
Ultra-widescreen			Use Union (SystemPack 2.0).
4K Ultra HD			Use Union (SystemPack 2.0).
Field of view (FOV)		Use Union (SystemPack 2.0).
Windowed		Works with limitations; see Windowed.
Borderless fullscreen windowed		Works with limitations; see Borderless fullscreen windowed.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Anti-aliasing (AA)		Forcing in the graphics card's control panel may cause black videos.
Vertical sync (Vsync)		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
60 FPS		Capped at 25 FPS by default; use Union (SystemPack 2.0).
120+ FPS		Use Union (SystemPack 2.0). Framerate affects sliding on terrain.

Widescreen resolution

Gothic only has native support for 1280x720, 1280x768, 1280x800, and 1440x900.

Run the game (Gothic.exe if Player-Kit is not installed, or GothicMod.exe if it is) with the -zRes:XXXX,YYYY,32 command line argument, where XXXX and YYYY correspond to the desired width and height.

Windowed

Task switching may cause repeated Tab input when you return to the game (simply press Tab again to make it work normally).

Task switching during video cutscenes will crash the game (there are only four during the game, not counting the intro and ending).

Change zStartupWindowed setting
Run the game at least once. Go to the configuration file(s) location. Edit gothic.ini. Change zStartupWindowed=0 to zStartupWindowed=1 Change scaleVideos=1 to scaleVideos=0 (otherwise videos render in the corner of the screen). Save the changes.

Borderless fullscreen windowed

See Windowed for the limitations of this mode.

Set up borderless fullscreen windowed mode
Install the Union (SystemPack 2.0). Set zStartupWindowed=1 in Gothic.ini (see Windowed). Set the desktop resolution in-game. Gothic should now display as a fullscreen borderless window.

Input

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping
Mouse acceleration
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse input in menus		No cursor; buttons and wheel work but can't change settings.
Mouse Y-axis inversion		Set in Settings, Game, Invert View.
Controller
Controller support

Controller types

Audio

Audio settings.

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls		Sound and music.
Surround sound		Change Speakers to Surround.
Subtitles		Disabled by default; set in Settings, Game, Subtitles.
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost		Not supported.
EAX support		Change Soundprovider to EAX 2. Hardware accelerated DirectSound3D and EAX2 (on compatible sound cards with restoration software like ALchemy or 3D SoundBack) isn't available until the fix is applied.
Royalty free audio		Original German release features music by In Extremo; unmodded modern releases exclusively use royalty free audio.

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
Czech
German
Italian				Available in the LangPack.
Polish
Russian				Only two translations, by Snowball Studios (1C-SoftClub) and Russobit-M. Steam version uses localization by Snowball Studios
Spanish

VR support

3D modes	State	Notes
Nvidia 3D Vision		See Helix Mod: Gothic (DX11).
vorpX		G3D Included in dgVoodoo 2 default profile. Note: Profile may not work with the latest wrapper, in case of issues please report to the vorpx forum.

Issues unresolved

ATI 1xxx invisible inventory items

Inventory item graphics turn invisible on ATI 1xxx cards (the items themselves are still there). There is no known fix.

One potential fix is to add zInventoryItemsDistanceScale=2.0 under [GAME] in GOTHIC.INI.

Issues fixed

Black videos (sound but no picture)

This is caused by forcing anti-aliasing. Either method below will fix this.

Disable video card anti-aliasing[citation needed]
Open your graphics card's control panel. Set anti-aliasing to Application-Controlled. Apply the changes.

Disable video scaling[citation needed]
Go to the configuration file(s) location. Edit gothic.ini. Change scaleVideos=1 to scaleVideos=0 Save the changes. Videos will now display centred.

Game menus display zoomed in, cutting off information but still function

Fix incorrectly sized menu (Main and In Game)[citation needed]
Go to the configuration file(s) location. Edit SystemPack.ini. Change Scale=1 to Scale=0 in the [INTERFACE] section Save the changes. Menus will now display properly.

Window border visible in fullscreen mode

Gothic and Gothic II show a window border in fullscreen mode on Windows 8 and later.

The GOG.com version already includes this fix.

Install Union (SystemPack 2.0).[citation needed]

Poor performance

Install Union (SystemPack 2.0).[citation needed]

Use the D3D11 Renderer[citation needed]

Access violation errors (Steam)

Disable Steam Community In-Game overlay[citation needed]
Right-click the game in the Steam Library. Choose Properties. Uncheck Enable Steam Community In-Game. Click Close to save the changes. Notes Browsing to the game's Steam folder and running as administrator will work as well, if disabling the in-game overlay does not.[citation needed]

Access Violation / Assertion Failed error when saving

This can be caused by deleting the saves folder.

Make saves folder[citation needed]
Go to the installation folder. Make a folder called saves. To delete saves in the future, delete the individual saves within the folder, not the saves folder itself.

Gate cutscene doesn't play, gate won't open

A gate in the final area won't open when playing with the Player-Kit due to the cutscene not playing.

Install Union (SystemPack 2.0).[citation needed]

Can't Alt+Tab ↹ (GOG.com)

The GOG.com version prevents task switching to avoid some potential issues (e.g. crashing during FMV cutscenes).

Remove GOG.com fix[citation needed]
Open Programs and Features (appwiz.cpl). Find and remove the GOG.com Gothic entry. If using Windows 8 or later, install the Union (SystemPack 2.0).

Constant Tab input after Alt+Tab

After task switching, the game may constantly repeat Tab ↹ input; press Tab ↹ again to stop this.

Game Starts, but screen is black

If using multiple monitors, disable/unplug all of them except the one that is used to play Gothic.

Game reverts back to Miles Fast even after EAX restoration software is installed

Gothic doesn't see dsound.dll wrapper from EAX restoration software.

Create pre.load file, which orders game to load dsound.dll wrapper

Open a text editor. Write exactly dsound.dll to document. Save the document exactly as pre.load to Template:Fil€. Launch game, change sound provider to Creative EAX 2 and quit. Launch game again and check if sound provider is still the same. Notes Users with Union (SystemPack 2.0) patch need to put dsound.dll (and dsound.ini) to <path-to-game>\System\autorun Users with old SystemPack installed have to change FixMss=1 to FixMss=0 in SystemPack.ini configuration file. SystemPack uses own implementation of restoring surround sound, which is purely software and because of that EAX restoration software will not make effect if FixMss is set to 1.

Crash on launch on Intel iGPUs (12th Gen CPU and later)

Use Gothic LegacyAltRenderer
Compared with D3D11 Renderer below, its DX9 renderer provides better performance than stock renderer, and it is more friendly for low-end configurations - without more demanding graphic effects like in DX11 renderer.

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	7	Fan-made D3D11 renderer available here.

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Audio	Miles Sound System	6.0k
Cutscenes	Bink Video	1.0v

D3D11 Renderer

D3D11 Renderer replaces Gothic's old DX7 API with a new DX11 one that improves compatibility on new systems and provides additional features e.g. higher quality shadows.

Install D3D11 Renderer
Download and install Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable 2022. Download D3D11 Renderer from the link above. Extract contents of downloaded archive into <path-to-game>\system. Launch the game. D3D11 Renderer's configuration menu can be accessed in-game by pressing F11. Alternative option for download through Steam Workshop.

Spine Management Tool

Spine is a simple, however with the advent of Union, now outdated, modification manager that allows you to easily install the D3D11 renderer and other useful tools via a database tab, as well as pre-emptively installing the Systempack for either game and updating the games to the proper patch version.

Setting up Spine

Download the .exe and install it in any desired place in its own folder. Start the tool, and direct it to Gothic's installation folder. Tick the Steam box to the right of the directory if using the Steam version. Spine also has an auto-detect function right below the directories. The manager will download the basic necessities for the installed games by default, like the Player-Kit and SystemPack. It also features Ninja for inter-mod compatibility and will automatically enable it if mods that require it are ticked. Notes: The database tab can be browsed for other mods or tools and to easily install them on the go. The library tab will act as the game launcher and allow the launching of different mods without affecting the base game installation. Patches and tools to enable/disable will appear on the right side. An account is not required except for community-related features that do not have a direct impact on the game.

Restore Velaya's original behavior

In the original German version of the game, the NPC Velaya bathes in Gomez's room completely naked at certain times of day. Subsequent releases gave her a bikini. To restore her original behavior, simply rename or remove the textures_bikini.VDF file in <path-to-game>\Data.

Restore In Extremo performance

The original German release included a performance by In Extremo; this was omitted from later German releases and all international versions.

Changes the names of some enemies to bizarre names.

Use inextremo.VDF[citation needed]
Download the In Extremo Mod (archived). Extract to <path-to-game>\Data. Start a new game. In Extremo will perform during Chapter 2. Steam users are recommended to use the Steam Workshop version instead. It does not alter enemy names.

System requirements

Steam

Windows
	Minimum
Operating system (OS)	XP, Vista, 7, 8, 10, 11
Processor (CPU)	Intel Pentium III 700 MHz
System memory (RAM)	512 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	5 GB
Video card (GPU)	32 MB of VRAM DirectX 8.1 compatible

Disc Version

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	98, ME, XP, 2000	XP
Processor (CPU)	Intel Pentium II 400 MHz	Intel Pentium III 600 MHz
System memory (RAM)	128 MB	192 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	700 MB
Video card (GPU)	3D Accelerated Graphics Card 4 MB of VRAM	3D Accelerated Graphics Card 32 MB of VRAM