Gothic 3

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

Key points

Install Gothic 3 Patch 1.75.14 for many crucial performance improvements and bug fixes (1.74 had better performance).

General information

Official site

GOG.com Community Discussions for game series

GOG.com Support Page

Steam Community Discussions

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail		Install Gothic 3 Patch 1.75.14 to remove TAGES DRM disc check. Russian copies use StarForce 4 DRM^{[Note 1]}.
GamersGate		Install Gothic 3 Patch 1.75.14.
GOG.com
Steam		Opt into the latest Community Patch.

StarForce DRM for this game does not work on modern versions of Windows (see above for affected versions).

Essential improvements

Patches

Community Patch 1.75.14 fixes numerous issues, improves performance, graphics and stability, and adds a basic modding tool-set. Using it is strongly recommended. It is also a good idea to enable 'Alternative AI' in the options to take advantage of a much improved combat system. Note that saves from some earlier patch versions are not compatible. This patch is also available as a public Beta branch.^[3]

If you experience problems try Community Patch 1.73 or Community Patch 1.74 instead.^[4]

Opt-into CPT beta branch (Steam version)^[5]
Right-click on Gothic 3 in your Steam Library. From the drop-down menu which appears, select `Properties`. From the window which appears, select the `Betas` tab. Under `Select the beta you would like to opt into`, click on the menu box. From the drop-down menu, select `cpt_1.75_testbranch -`. Click the `Close` button.

Gothic 3 Update Pack

The Update Pack works on top of the latest Community Patch and includes a number of bug fixes and quality of life improvements. Also contains tweaks to combat and additional features for modders.

Skip intro videos

Rename/delete logo videos^{[citation needed]}
Go to `<path-to-game>\Data\Video\` Delete or rename `G3_Logo_01.bik`, `Publisher.bik` and `CPT.bik`.

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	%USERPROFILE%\Documents\gothic3\UserOptions.ini
Steam Play (Linux)	<Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/39500/pfx/^{[Note 2]}

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows	%USERPROFILE%\Documents\gothic3\
Steam Play (Linux)	<Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/39500/pfx/^{[Note 2]}

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
GOG Galaxy
OneDrive		Requires enabling backup of the Documents* folder in OneDrive on all computers.*
Steam Cloud

Video settings

Video options.

Details options.

Template:Video settings

Field of view (FOV)

Edit ge3.ini^{[citation needed]}
Go to `<path-to-game>\Ini\` Open `ge3.ini`. Change `Camera.FOV=` to the value you want (default is 60°). Save your changes.

Windowed

Edit ge3.ini^{[citation needed]}

Go to <path-to-game>\Ini\
Open ge3.ini.
Change Fullscreen=true to Fullscreen=false
Save your changes. Reverse this change to go back to fullscreen mode.

Notes

The Windows cursor will be visible during gameplay - see Hide system cursor when game is in focus for a solution.

Input settings

Template:Input settings

Audio settings

Audio options.

Template:Audio settings

Localizations

If some languages are not listed in-game ensure you have installed Gothic 3 Patch 1.75.14.

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
Czech
French
German
Italian
Japanese
Polish				Full Polish version available on GOG.com and Steam (despite not being stated on Steam store page).^[3]^[6]
Portuguese
Russian				Audio only in Russian retail versions; all others are text-only.

VR support

3D modes	State	Notes
Nvidia 3D Vision		Use Helix Mod: Gothic 3 & Gothic 3 - Forsaken Gods.

Issues fixed

Game slows down randomly

Change timer setting^[7]
Go to `<path-to-game>\Ini\` Open `ge3.ini`. Find `Timer.ThreadSafe` (if this line is missing install Gothic 3 Patch 1.75.14). Change `Timer.ThreadSafe=true` to `Timer.ThreadSafe=false` Save your changes and close the file.

Hide system cursor when game is in focus

When running in Windowed mode the game displays both in-game cursor and system cursor. This may be annoying for some people. Below is the script to solve this issue.

Use AutoHotkey^{[citation needed]}

1. Download and install AutoHotkey.

2. Start it, edit the script and use the one provided below:

; Script to hide cursor http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1432431
; Modified by Nirklars and adjusted to work with Gothic 3 by SuicideMachine
SetWorkingDir %A_ScriptDir%  ; Ensures a consistent starting directory.

SystemCursor("Init")

SetTimer, CheckIdle, 250
return

CheckIdle:
if WinActive("ahk_class Gothic3 Engine") 
{
    SystemCursor("Off")
}
else
{
    SystemCursor("On")
}
return

#Persistent
OnExit, ShowCursor  ; Ensure the cursor is made visible when the script exits.
return

ShowCursor:
SystemCursor("On")
ExitApp

SystemCursor(OnOff=1)   ; INIT = "I","Init"; OFF = 0,"Off"; TOGGLE = -1,"T","Toggle"; ON = others
{
    static AndMask, XorMask, $, h_cursor
        ,c0,c1,c2,c3,c4,c5,c6,c7,c8,c9,c10,c11,c12,c13 ; system cursors
        , b1,b2,b3,b4,b5,b6,b7,b8,b9,b10,b11,b12,b13   ; blank cursors
        , h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6,h7,h8,h9,h10,h11,h12,h13   ; handles of default cursors
    if (OnOff = "Init" or OnOff = "I" or $ = "")       ; init when requested or at first call
    {
        $ = h                                          ; active default cursors
        VarSetCapacity( h_cursor,4444, 1 )
        VarSetCapacity( AndMask, 32*4, 0xFF )
        VarSetCapacity( XorMask, 32*4, 0 )
        system_cursors = 32512,32513,32514,32515,32516,32642,32643,32644,32645,32646,32648,32649,32650
        StringSplit c, system_cursors, `,
        Loop %c0%
        {
            h_cursor   := DllCall( "LoadCursor", "uint",0, "uint",c%A_Index% )
            h%A_Index% := DllCall( "CopyImage",  "uint",h_cursor, "uint",2, "int",0, "int",0, "uint",0 )
            b%A_Index% := DllCall("CreateCursor","uint",0, "int",0, "int",0
                , "int",32, "int",32, "uint",&AndMask, "uint",&XorMask )
        }
    }
    if (OnOff = 0 or OnOff = "Off" or $ = "h" and (OnOff < 0 or OnOff = "Toggle" or OnOff = "T"))
        $ = b  ; use blank cursors
    else
        $ = h  ; use the saved cursors

    Loop %c0%
    {
        h_cursor := DllCall( "CopyImage", "uint",%$%%A_Index%, "uint",2, "int",0, "int",0, "uint",0 )
        DllCall( "SetSystemCursor", "uint",h_cursor, "uint",c%A_Index% )
    }
}

3. Reload the script in AHK.

Other information

API

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows

System requirements

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	XP	XP, Vista, 7, 8, 8.1
Processor (CPU)	Intel Pentium 4 2.0 GHz	3.0 GHz
System memory (RAM)	512 MB	2 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD)
Video card (GPU)	Nvidia GeForce 3 ATI/AMD Radeon 8500 128 MB of VRAM DirectX 9.0c compatible	Nvidia ATI/AMD 256 MB of VRAM DirectX 9.0c compatible

Notes

↑ This version of StarForce DRM does not work on Windows 8.1, Windows 10, or Windows 11.^[1]^[2] For supported versions of Windows the StarForce driver may need to be updated manually using SFUPDATE.
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data (use Wine regedit to access Windows registry paths). Games with Steam Cloud support may store data in ~/.steam/steam/userdata/<user-id>/39500/ in addition to or instead of this directory. The app ID (39500) may differ in some cases. Treat backslashes as forward slashes. See the glossary page for details.

References

↑ Windows 8.1 support - StarForce Support
↑ Windows 10 support - StarForce Support
↑ ^3.0 ^3.1 Gothic 3 at SteamDB
↑ Gothic 3 breaks with Community Patch 1.75 (including solution) :: Gothic 3 General Discussions
↑ Steam Community Discussion - Patch 1.75 Steam Beta Branch - last accessed on 2016-09-30
↑ Verified by User:Suicide machine on August 13, 2016
↑ G3 - Mysterious Slow Motion Problem - Forum - GOG.com

[3] This version of StarForce DRM does not work on Windows 8.1, Windows 10, or Windows 11.^[1]^[2] For supported versions of Windows the StarForce driver may need to be updated manually using SFUPDATE.

[Proton_path_note-7] 2.0 ^2.1 File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data (use Wine regedit to access Windows registry paths). Games with Steam Cloud support may store data in ~/.steam/steam/userdata/<user-id>/39500/ in addition to or instead of this directory. The app ID (39500) may differ in some cases. Treat backslashes as forward slashes. See the glossary page for details.

[StarForce_Windows_8.1-1] Windows 8.1 support - StarForce Support

[StarForce_Windows_10-2] Windows 10 support - StarForce Support

[SteamDB_Depots-4] 3.0 ^3.1 Gothic 3 at SteamDB

[5] Gothic 3 breaks with Community Patch 1.75 (including solution) :: Gothic 3 General Discussions

[6] Steam Community Discussion - Patch 1.75 Steam Beta Branch - last accessed on 2016-09-30

[Sui-8] Verified by User:Suicide machine on August 13, 2016

[9] G3 - Mysterious Slow Motion Problem - Forum - GOG.com

[Note 1]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[Note 2]

[6]

[7]

[1]

[2]

Developers

	Piranha Bytes
Publishers
	JoWood Productions
	Nordic Games
Engines
	Genome Gaming System
Release dates
Windows	October 13, 2006