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

General information

GOG.com Community Discussions for game series

GOG.com Support Page

Steam Community Discussions

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail		Install Community Patch 1.75.14 to remove TAGES DRM disc check. Russian copies use StarForce 4 DRM^{[Note 1]}.
Amazon.com
GamersGate

GOG.com		Community Patch 1.75.14 is included by default.^[3]
Steam		Opt into the latest Community Patch.
(unavailable)		Gold Edition.

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

A German demo can be downloaded here. Copy download link to browser if it does not work. Not recommended without community patch.

Essential improvements

Patches

The last official retail update is Patch v1.12.

Community Patch

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^[4] and is included by default in the GOG version.

If you experience problems try Community Patch 1.73 or Community Patch 1.74 instead.^[5]

Opt-into CPT beta branch (Steam version)^[6]

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.

When installing mods, rename gothic3.exe to anything else and gothic3final.exe to gothic3.exe. Don't forget to change the names back to their original ones when you're done.

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.

Parallel Universe Patch

Parallel Universe Patch drastically reduces stutters and loading times by optimizing, parallelizing and replacing inefficient parts of the Gothic 3 engine.^[7] In addition, extended error logging was implemented and some of the remaining bugs that were not fixed by the above patches were also addressed. Requires Community Patch 1.75 and is likewise compatible with the Update Pack.

If performance issues persist, you can additionally use Gothic 3 Clean Up. However, this is quite complicated to set up and should only be used if above solutions are not sufficient.

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`.

Alternatively:

Disable logo videos
Go to `<path-to-game>\Ini`. Open `logo.ini` in text editor, delete all lines, save file.

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

Video options.

Details options.

Graphics feature	WSGF	Notes
Widescreen resolution
Multi-monitor		Requires Community Patch 1.75.14. HUD position is incorrect.^[8]
Ultra-widescreen		Requires Community Patch 1.75.14.
4K Ultra HD		Requires Community Patch 1.75.14.
Field of view (FOV)	Default is 60°; see Field of view (FOV).
Windowed	See Windowed.
Borderless fullscreen windowed	Enable Windowed mode and use Borderless Windowed.^[9]
Anisotropic filtering (AF)	Choice of Anisotropic 1x/4x/8x/16x (with Community Patch 1.75.14).
Anti-aliasing (AA)	Choice of Off or FXAA (with Community Patch 1.75.14).
Vertical sync (Vsync)
60 FPS and 120+ FPS	No frame rate or refresh rate cap.^[10]
High dynamic range display (HDR)	See the glossary page for potential alternatives.

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.

Improved graphics with G3SI

G3SI offers a user-friendly UI to change a wide number of .ini settings like draw distance while preventing bugs that could appear when editing the .ini manually. It also allows to change shaders, remove the fog that makes distant landscape muddy, and other settings. Available in English and German. Includes a manual.

You should not change the "radius of influence" setting (Entity.ROI) over 4000. While this increases the render distance of NPCs, it also causes sound bugs and AI glitches.^[11]

Increasing draw distance for high detail (DistanceHigh.fFarClippingPlane_High) too far over 30000 is very taxing even on modern systems and can cause problems in loading terrain which can lead to holes in the landscape.

After changing shaders, you need to recompile them (unless playing with disabled shader cache) by deleting %USERPROFILE%\Documents\gothic3\Shader.Cache and running the Gothic3.exe as admin.

Input

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping
Mouse acceleration		Sliders for smoothing (with Community Patch 1.75.14).
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse input in menus		Some elements like equipping are non-intuitive (in such case try hovering cursor over an item and pressing `↵ Enter`).^[12]
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support

Audio

Audio options.

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls		Master, voice, music, FX and ambient sliders.
Surround sound		Supports multiple configurations (5.1, 7.1, etc.)
Subtitles		Enabled by default.
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost
Royalty free audio

Localizations

If some languages are not listed in-game ensure you have installed Community 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).^[4]^[13]
Portuguese
Brazilian Portuguese				Fan translation; download.
Russian				Official localization by «Руссобит-М». Audio only in Russian retail versions; all others are text-only.

VR support

3D modes	Native	Notes
Nvidia 3D Vision		Use Helix Mod: Gothic 3 & Gothic 3 - Forsaken Gods.
vorpX		G3D Officially supported game, see official vorpx game list.
Devices	Native	Notes
TrackIR		Works with FreeTrack 2.0 protocol using software like FaceTrackNoIR.
Tobii Eye Tracking		Works with Tobii EyeX tracker or Tobii EyeX 4C and 5 headtracker plugins for FaceTrackNoIR.

Issues fixed

Game slows down randomly

Change timer setting^[14]
Go to `<path-to-game>\Ini\` Open `ge3.ini`. Find `Timer.ThreadSafe` (if this line is missing install Community Patch 1.75.14). Change `Timer.ThreadSafe=true` to `Timer.ThreadSafe=false` Save your changes and close the file.

Install Parallel Universe Patch

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

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	9.0c

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows

System requirements

Steam

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	2000, XP, Vista, 7, 8, 10, 11	7, 8, 10, 11
Processor (CPU)	2.0 GHz Intel Pentium 4 or AMD equivalent	3.0 GHz Intel Pentium AMD Athlon 64 4000+
System memory (RAM)	2 GB	4 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	5 GB
Video card (GPU)	128 MB of VRAM DirectX 9.0c compatible Shader model 1.4 support	Nvidia GeForce 6800 256 MB of VRAM
Sound (audio device)	DirectX compatible

Disc Version

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

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
↑ gog.com - last accessed on May 2023
↑ ^4.0 ^4.1 Gothic 3 at SteamDB
↑ Gothic 3 breaks with Community Patch 1.75 (including solution) :: Gothic 3 General Discussions - last accessed on May 2023
↑ Steam Community Discussion - Patch 1.75 Steam Beta Branch - last accessed on 2016-09-30
↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VC_JGX9b-hA
↑ Gothic 3 | WSGF
↑ Verified by User:Garrett on August 13, 2016
↑ New 120Hz Games Report - last accessed on May 2023
↑ forum.worldofplayers.de - last accessed on May 2023
↑ I can't equip any item that is in my iventory. - last accessed on 2019-03-27
↑ Verified by User:Suicide machine on August 13, 2016
↑ G3 - Mysterious Slow Motion Problem - Forum - GOG.com - last accessed on May 2023

[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-9] 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

[4] .com - last accessed on May 2023

[SteamDB_Depots-5] 4.0 ^4.1 Gothic 3 at SteamDB

[6] Gothic 3 breaks with Community Patch 1.75 (including solution) :: Gothic 3 General Discussions - last accessed on May 2023

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

[8] ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VC_JGX9b-hA

[10] Gothic 3 | WSGF

[Garrett-11] Verified by User:Garrett on August 13, 2016

[12] New 120Hz Games Report - last accessed on May 2023

[13] rum.worldofplayers.de - last accessed on May 2023

[14] I can't equip any item that is in my iventory. - last accessed on 2019-03-27

[Sui-15] Verified by User:Suicide machine on August 13, 2016

[16] G3 - Mysterious Slow Motion Problem - Forum - GOG.com - last accessed on May 2023

[Note 1]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[Note 2]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

[1]

[2]

Developers

	Piranha Bytes
Publishers
2006-2011	JoWood Productions
2011-2016	Nordic Games
2016-present	THQ Nordic
Engines
	Genome Gaming System
Release dates
Windows	October 13, 2006
Reception
Metacritic	63
Taxonomy
Monetization	One-time game purchase
Microtransactions	None
Modes	Singleplayer
Pacing	Real-time
Perspectives	Third-person
Controls	Direct control
Genres	RPG, ARPG
Themes	Fantasy
Series	Gothic