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It's Arcania Gothic 4 and it's better than Forgotten Gods
Syrionus
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Arcania: Gothic 4
Arcania is the fourth installment of the Gothic series, and the first one to be developed by a company other than Piranha Bytes. It is being developed by Spellbound. The world invites players to explore numerous sights and details. Different climate zones with carefully grown flora and fauna, underground dungeons as well as towns and fortresses with unique architecture, are all waiting for the explorer. Dark clouds gather in the skies and different weather effects - such as rain and wind - effect the game world, which fascinates with its fantastic graphics, day-and night cycle and the charming interplay of light and shadow. Everything is accentuated with atmospheric music and high-quality sound effects, creating an unforgettable experience for the player. Countless quests, challenging fights, inscrutable characters as well as a sophisticated story offer many hours of exciting gameplay. The Layered armor and crafting system allows the player to design and forge the equipment they use in game. With more than your average beasts of burden, the mounts in Arcania provide different advantages to the various gameplay mechanics. Also, you can relax while sailing.
The Engine being used is…
Trinigy’s Vision Engine 7, with certain features from the newly released Vision Engine 8. The physics engine will be NVIDIA GPU PhysX.
So what’s going on?
Ten years have passed since the end of Gothic 3 and the world has changed - the Southern Islands have become embroiled in conflict, and set the stage for the player to brave countless adventures in the guise of a nameless hero. Decisions will have to be made which will change not only the future of the Southern Islands, but of the entire world. Old acquaintances and new faces will aid the hero or attempt to thwart his efforts throughout his journey.
War covers over the Southern Islands like a blood-drenched shroud... and finally, War reaches the idyllic isle of Feshyr in the Southern Seas. The protagonist of Arcania - Gothic 4 returns from an adventure to find his home town pillaged and looted. The aggressors’ ships - with an Eagle displayed on their billowing sails - escape over the horizon.
Seeking revenge, the hero leaves the destroyed city behind and soon realizes that this cowardly attack did not just happen on a reckless mercenary's whim. An evil power lies waiting at the threshold of this world, and our hero will need to face this nameless evil. Yet the hero is not alone - his fate is linked to that of a beautiful, mysterious lady as well as a powerful artifact from the long-forgotten distant past, which plays a major role in the grandiose new RPG adventure.
When can I get this gem of a game?
As announced at the CD Projekt Conference 2010, Spellbound Entertainment is developing the Xbox360 and Microsoft Windows versions and is scheduled to be released on the 12th of October 2010. An unknown studio is porting the game to the Playstation 3 system, which has already been confirmed as being delayed until 2011.
The very beginning of the game, where you meet the protagonist, his fiancee, a free orc, living in harmony with humans and other characters. The character can only interact with "named" characters. Other characters, filler NPCs, just reply with a short, dismissive sentence hovering above their heads, just like in Neverwinter Nights II. Dialogues are selected via mouse or keyboard and are pre-animated, focusing on the facial features of the characters. Diego, an old acquaintance from other Gothic prequels is said to be making his return. The combat system is similar to the one in Gothic 3, fast and action oriented. Left mouse button attacks and the right mouse button blocks. During blocking the character can roll in any direction. Enemy attacks are predictable and shown by a violet aura around their weapon, enabling us to dodge. Jumping, unlike Gothics so far, isn't a good way of getting around. Jumping into the water kills the character because of falling damage.
And if you think that all this Action RPG goodness is not enough, well don’t fret, because according to a latest interview with JoWooD's former CEO, Dr. Albert Seidl, it seems that the work on the sequel (Arcania II) will start this summer, before the release of Arcania.
The Unofficial PC Minimum Requirements
• OS: Microsoft® Windows® XP / Vista / Windows 7
• Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo @ 2.8 GHz / AMD Athlon II x2 @ 2.8 GHz
• Memory: 2 GB RAM
• Graphics:GeForce 8800 GTX
• DirectX®: DirectX 9.0c or higher
• Hard Drive: 9 GB HDD Space
• Sound: DirectX 8.1 compatible sound card
The Unofficial PC Recommended Requirements
• OS: Microsoft® Windows® XP / Vista / Windows 7
• Processor: Intel Core I7 @ 3 GHz / AMD Phenom II x4 @ 3 GHz
• Memory: 4 GB RAM
• Graphics: GeForce GTX 295
• DirectX®: DirectX 9.0c or higher
• Hard Drive: 9 GB HDD Space
• Sound: DirectX 8.1 compatible sound card
E3 2010 Trailer[url]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omVgxWWVY9A[/url]
Weather and Day/Night cycle demonstrationhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLHvChSPXhM
User Interface Options http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-jBDlfvcqQ
E3 xbox gameplay http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHvVmm2pLOU
Gamescom-Trailer 2010 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BC7pU_W9g5g
Gameplay (Hint: turn down your sound) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4vSr4R_DyA
More Gameplay Part 1 (In German) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDJdOdVsSMg&feature=related
Part 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id=annotation_609176&feature=iv&v=LV2-Z9MWZ90
Part 3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEmOx9_FkKU&feature=related
Demo Part 1http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iw1h019qO5Y
Part 2http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=at7lkyofvFo
Part 3http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55MlUsHCBwQ
Part 4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6x9r8vJ5NY
Part 5http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1Kpd_51pH0
Part 6http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLaAqq8_LU4
Arcania is the fourth installment of the Gothic series, and the first one to be developed by a company other than Piranha Bytes. It is being developed by Spellbound. The world invites players to explore numerous sights and details. Different climate zones with carefully grown flora and fauna, underground dungeons as well as towns and fortresses with unique architecture, are all waiting for the explorer. Dark clouds gather in the skies and different weather effects - such as rain and wind - effect the game world, which fascinates with its fantastic graphics, day-and night cycle and the charming interplay of light and shadow. Everything is accentuated with atmospheric music and high-quality sound effects, creating an unforgettable experience for the player. Countless quests, challenging fights, inscrutable characters as well as a sophisticated story offer many hours of exciting gameplay. The Layered armor and crafting system allows the player to design and forge the equipment they use in game. With more than your average beasts of burden, the mounts in Arcania provide different advantages to the various gameplay mechanics. Also, you can relax while sailing.
The Engine being used is…
Trinigy’s Vision Engine 7, with certain features from the newly released Vision Engine 8. The physics engine will be NVIDIA GPU PhysX.
So what’s going on?
Ten years have passed since the end of Gothic 3 and the world has changed - the Southern Islands have become embroiled in conflict, and set the stage for the player to brave countless adventures in the guise of a nameless hero. Decisions will have to be made which will change not only the future of the Southern Islands, but of the entire world. Old acquaintances and new faces will aid the hero or attempt to thwart his efforts throughout his journey.
War covers over the Southern Islands like a blood-drenched shroud... and finally, War reaches the idyllic isle of Feshyr in the Southern Seas. The protagonist of Arcania - Gothic 4 returns from an adventure to find his home town pillaged and looted. The aggressors’ ships - with an Eagle displayed on their billowing sails - escape over the horizon.
Seeking revenge, the hero leaves the destroyed city behind and soon realizes that this cowardly attack did not just happen on a reckless mercenary's whim. An evil power lies waiting at the threshold of this world, and our hero will need to face this nameless evil. Yet the hero is not alone - his fate is linked to that of a beautiful, mysterious lady as well as a powerful artifact from the long-forgotten distant past, which plays a major role in the grandiose new RPG adventure.
When can I get this gem of a game?
As announced at the CD Projekt Conference 2010, Spellbound Entertainment is developing the Xbox360 and Microsoft Windows versions and is scheduled to be released on the 12th of October 2010. An unknown studio is porting the game to the Playstation 3 system, which has already been confirmed as being delayed until 2011.
The very beginning of the game, where you meet the protagonist, his fiancee, a free orc, living in harmony with humans and other characters. The character can only interact with "named" characters. Other characters, filler NPCs, just reply with a short, dismissive sentence hovering above their heads, just like in Neverwinter Nights II. Dialogues are selected via mouse or keyboard and are pre-animated, focusing on the facial features of the characters. Diego, an old acquaintance from other Gothic prequels is said to be making his return. The combat system is similar to the one in Gothic 3, fast and action oriented. Left mouse button attacks and the right mouse button blocks. During blocking the character can roll in any direction. Enemy attacks are predictable and shown by a violet aura around their weapon, enabling us to dodge. Jumping, unlike Gothics so far, isn't a good way of getting around. Jumping into the water kills the character because of falling damage.
And if you think that all this Action RPG goodness is not enough, well don’t fret, because according to a latest interview with JoWooD's former CEO, Dr. Albert Seidl, it seems that the work on the sequel (Arcania II) will start this summer, before the release of Arcania.
The Unofficial PC Minimum Requirements
• OS: Microsoft® Windows® XP / Vista / Windows 7
• Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo @ 2.8 GHz / AMD Athlon II x2 @ 2.8 GHz
• Memory: 2 GB RAM
• Graphics:GeForce 8800 GTX
• DirectX®: DirectX 9.0c or higher
• Hard Drive: 9 GB HDD Space
• Sound: DirectX 8.1 compatible sound card
The Unofficial PC Recommended Requirements
• OS: Microsoft® Windows® XP / Vista / Windows 7
• Processor: Intel Core I7 @ 3 GHz / AMD Phenom II x4 @ 3 GHz
• Memory: 4 GB RAM
• Graphics: GeForce GTX 295
• DirectX®: DirectX 9.0c or higher
• Hard Drive: 9 GB HDD Space
• Sound: DirectX 8.1 compatible sound card
E3 2010 Trailer[url]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omVgxWWVY9A[/url]Weather and Day/Night cycle demonstrationhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLHvChSPXhM
User Interface Options http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-jBDlfvcqQ
E3 xbox gameplay http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHvVmm2pLOU
Gamescom-Trailer 2010 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BC7pU_W9g5g
Gameplay (Hint: turn down your sound) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4vSr4R_DyA
More Gameplay Part 1 (In German) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDJdOdVsSMg&feature=related
Part 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id=annotation_609176&feature=iv&v=LV2-Z9MWZ90
Part 3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEmOx9_FkKU&feature=related
Demo Part 1http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iw1h019qO5Y
Part 2http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=at7lkyofvFo
Part 3http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55MlUsHCBwQ
Part 4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6x9r8vJ5NY
Part 5http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1Kpd_51pH0
Part 6http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLaAqq8_LU4
Syrionus on
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Posts
That's why they are unofficial. I can't find anything from JoWood or Spellbound but a lot of other sites listed those as the requirements. Considering they are releasing this for the Xbox 360, I doubt that's correct but I wanted to include some information on the requirements. I hope they will be a bit lower considering I am still on a Core 2 Duo and running an Nvidia 9800 GT.
I am so excited for this and Two Worlds 2. I have some info on that also here http://forums.penny-arcade.com/showthread.php?t=127746
This looks okay though
I did not like Gothic 3. I very much did not like it. I loved Risen. But this isn't being made by Piranha, so I don't really have any opinion on Arcania. If it was being made by Piranha, more people might be excited, since there is a history to expect something from them/the series. No idea what to expect with a new dev.
Hopefully it'll be pretty sweet, because I like swinging swords and shooting lightning at orcs.
Its on my watch list, but not my must buy list.
Uh, Piranha Bytes made Gothic 3. So, how can you seem to prefer them to make it when they have proven they can fall on their own sword? Maybe I am missing what you are saying.
Eh, I don't have a PS3 and I have heard that DS is freaking hard as hell. I want a fun game, not one that makes me want to punch mysefl.
That's not saying much, the Gothic games handle like butt. :P
I know that. What I was saying was that the last effort in the Gothic series wasn't any good, but Byte's latest effort after it was a similar, but completely successful effort. Which, since Bytes is in no way involved, isn't really relevant to this game's development, more to its history.
My point was really that the current devs have nothing to their name to entice people who like the Gothic series. Its hard to excited for a game that I can't have any expectations from, and to me it feels slightly more awkward because I do have expectations, which are completely irrelevant due to the change in devs. Might as well have used a different title, for all the relevance it'll have to whether this game'll be good or not.
I haven't heard or seen anything about it's gameplay, though. I was looking forward to that until I caught wind that Arcania is supposed to be stuffed with the kind of DRM that went out of fashion half a decade ago. SecuROM, with phone home, limited PCs... really? I mean, that doesn't sound severe by today's standards (which is sad). I might have only recently come to enjoy the Gothic series, but Arcania fell off my radar with that news (I can't believe that googling it gets multiple "user friendly DRM" news articles about it) .
Let me put it this way. Melee combat no longer consists of being stun-locked by a wolf as it bites you with machine-gun speed from full health to dead. It's actually... fun now.
Can only install on three PCs at one time, but can install an unlimited amount of times. Need the internet to activate it once. That's not that bad.
I think 3 PC's at a time means a windows reinstall or hardware upgrade means you "lost" that PC. But I could be wrong.
Steam ID
I am pretty sure it is only if you lose the hard drive. Then again, I could be wrong.
Also
Do you mean that his fiancee is an orc, or we meet his financee and a free orc?
Highlighted for you.
It is that bad, and like I said, I think its sad that this is considered user-friendly by modern standards. Any amount of phoning home, especially for a game that, as far as I know, is about singleplayer. I'm sure I'll pick up Arcania when I find it in a bargain bin, but I won't be paying regular prices for the privilege of being called a pirate.
I also find it funny they use the term "unlimited number of PCs", and immediately follow it with "only three PCs at a time". Yes, unlimited. In the same way that I am ominpresent, because I can go anywhere in the world, it just requires that I be in only one spot at a time.
Honestly, I thought this felt more fun to play than any of the Piranha Bytes games.
PSN ID : Xander51 Steam ID : Xander51
It might still be the type of game that fans of this series like, and I bet it is a lot better on PC.
I was somewhat interested in this game but I heard that the world is far less freeform than the other Gothic game were, which made me a bit wary. The fact that utility skills such as sneak/lockpick was removed doesn't improve the game in my eyes.
PSN ID : Xander51 Steam ID : Xander51
There went 90% of my interest in the game.
Edit: The orc bit.
Yeah, I just tried out the 360 demo and I agree. The game is still hiding in there, but image quality and performance took a significant hit.
PSN ID : Xander51 Steam ID : Xander51
That's what I saw.
Steam: Elvenshae // PSN: Elvenshae // WotC: Elvenshae
Wilds of Aladrion: [https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/comment/43159014/#Comment_43159014]Ellandryn[/url]
That is what I saw. :winky:
Also, the most boring game I've played since Oblivion.
Is this one of those games where they foolishly demo the very beginning, when the interesting stuff is closer to the middle?
Is it like Risen in that it looks fucking amazing on the PC but like shit on the Xbox? Not that I would ever consider buying a game like this on the Xbox in the first place, I'm just curious.
But, the (demo) impressions are kinda bad so far - the best thing that can be said about the game is that they apparently didn't mess up the combat (although it seems to be kinda easy even on hard difficulty) and it might look a little nice than Risen. I saw complaints about the player not being able to swim, the game being too linear, the bad voice acting and dialogue, and thowaway quests reminiscent to MMORPGs - in short, I'm not very optimistic.
Yeah, it is. I don't know what it looks like on the Xbox, but on my pc the Arcania demo looks amazing.
Twitter
That's funny because I am using a Dual Core CPU and the Demo runs perfectly.
I haven't tried the 360 version but I love the PC version.
Yeah, thats the beginning of the game.
I managed to get myself stuck behind a bed, forcing a restart/
Stuck on some rocks, forcing a restart.
Stuck on some different rocks, resulting in me drowning as I tried to jump my way out.
Drowned while running along an invisible wall that suddenly sported a hole in it? I guess.
Truly, the life of an adventurer is full of peril.
I can't even imagine how you did all that. Despite scouring every corner for stuff I never got stuck on anything. Which is a huge improvement over the previous Gothic games.
The good: combat actually feels solid and weighty, especially for an RPG. I really like how you can combine melee, ranged, and magic attacks. You can also pick up some pretty sweet loot in the demo, which helps the game get its hooks in you. On the good side of the presentation coin, the vistas looked relatively majestic, and the night/day cycle was well done.
Overall I liked it, but damn is it going to get savaged by the gaming press. I can almost hear the editors at OXM sigh in despair before they quit halfway through and go back to the office-wide Halo Reach tourney.
Bad voice acting is part of the charm of this series. If they just manage a fairly plain RPG with some exploration and none of horrific bugs some of the other Gothic games have had, I'll be satisfied. I'm pretty happy with what I played in the demo, and the price (£16.95 - Shopto) was enough to make me pre-order.
It will be interesting to see reviews. I'm already on board, but I will be looking for info on whether the game is fundamentally broken in any way, and maybe a little bit about what it might do to keep things interesting throughout.