Game News Night of the Raven - finally an international release?

[Ausir]

Tags: CD Projekt; Gothic II: Night of the Raven

According to <a href=http://www.cdprojekt.com>CD Projekt</a>'s (the Polish publisher of Gothic II) newsletter for registered Gothic II users, <a href=http://www.gothic2.com/addon>Gothic II: Night of the Raven</a> will be released in Poland on the 20th of January. Let's hope that it's a sign that <a href=http://www.jowood.com>JoWood</a> finally permitted the international release of the add-on, and that it's not just a Poland-specific deal.
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Cheers, <b>Elwro</b>!

 

[dunduks]

There are similar news about russian version too, its stated for 1st quarter of 2005, you can read up here (in russian).

 

[Stark]

given that it is the expansion for such an old game, even a Gothic fan such as me would most probably not buy it. A more diehard fan than me would most probably have obtained the German version with English subtitle fanfix. With all these in mind there's the big question of whether it's still worthwhile/profitable to publish an international release this late.

Trully, the good folks in Piranha Bytes were pretty screwed by Atari.

 

[Ortchel]

JoWood remembered Poland.

 

[Elwro]

given that it is the expansion for such an old game,.

2002 is old? :shock: I'm playing G2 right now and it has the best graphics I've ever seen on my PC (certainly better than Morrowind). The expansion pack forces you to play from the beginning, as it not only supplies the player with new locations, but also changes the entire plot, so the game earns some replayability value which is high for Gothic 2 alone.

 

[Stark]

given that it is the expansion for such an old game,.

2002 is old? :shock: I'm playing G2 right now and it has the best graphics I've ever seen on my PC (certainly better than Morrowind). The expansion pack forces you to play from the beginning, as it not only supplies the player with new locations, but also changes the entire plot, so the game earns some replayability value which is high for Gothic 2 alone.

It is old. If it came out late last year/early this year, (when i just bought and completed the original) I would still buy the expansion. Now? for some reason i just have trouble mustering enough interest to buy it (assuming it will be out. My bet is, even if international version is eventually released we won't see it for some months still).

I do know one needs to replay the entire story again. I've also read that the difficulty level has been pushed up a few notches, and it is now near to impossible to play as mages. That comes as a dissapointment for me since I wanted to try playing as mages using the expansion all those months ago. sigh.

in anycase my point still stands. a more casual gamer than me would have trouble remembering Gothic 2, let alone purchasing the expansion this late. the possibility of it turning a profit for the International publisher (is it still Atari?) is very much in doubt.

i do look forward to Gothic 3 though. I hope they manage to recapture the atmosphere of the original Gothic.

 

[Ortchel]

2002 isn't old, Stark. Are you a console gamer or something?

I'm playing G2 right now and it has the best graphics I've ever seen on my PC

Really? You must not play many games.

 

[Elwro]

Really? You must not play many games.

That's right, I study much. But the main factor is that I still have a GeForce 2 MX card. Please show me a game that looks better than Gothic 2 and is playable on that card.
Hopefully I'm going to upgrade my card in two weeks time :D

 

[Ortchel]

Gothic 2 is far from optimized, I get slowdown even on my 3.4 gig with a Radeon 9800 XT, it's pretty weird. Then again I had viewing distance maximized and ATI seems to hate any game that wasn't developed at Id, Blizzard or Valve, so it wouldn't surprise me if it was the card.

 

[Elwro]

Well, I also run the game with view distance maximized and it runs very well, with occasional stuttering in the town. Of course the resolution I play with is 800x600x16bit.
It's a pity what you say about ATIs, as I wanted to buy a Radeon 9600 pro. Meh. I'll see.

 

[Trash]

Personally I can really recommend the expansion. I've played the german version with the fan subtitle pack. There's a lot more content in area's, conversations, quests and miscelaneus things (weapons, new spells, etc) The story gets more fleshed out, a lot more things are happening and you'll really get a challenge out of it. Playing as a mage is still very well possible, just get used to "tactical retreat" a lot.

A shitload of fun if you've liked G2. Too bad that the game is indeed rather old now and an expansion would probably not sell that well. I'll buy it, but that's just because I love the gothic games. They remind me of the great old rpg's like ultima. Oh well, maybe they'll bring out a gothic "game of the year" or gold edition. That could net them some money and bring in some new players. I really doubt a stand-alone expansion doing well.

 

[Elwro]

It isn't stand-alone, is it?

 

[Ortchel]

Trash just meant released individually, not stand-alone per se.

btw, Trash, if Gothic 2 is old, what does that make Ultima Online?

 

[Whipporowill]

I've been waiting for this baby for long - didn't want to mess around with the german version and all. A most definite buy whenever it's out, as wheter being old or not still being leaps and bounds ahead of current competition.

 

[Otaku_Hanzo]

if Gothic 2 is old, what does that make Ultima Online?

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaancient.

 

[dagamer667]

I played the user-translated version a while ago. I don't know about mages, but even the melee classes are seriously tough to play now. I do know that it's far harder to raise your mana to workable levels now due to higher skill costs and the nerfed permanent mana potions. All in all, the game has been tweaked to be challenging for powerplayers who will find every single tablet, every single component for the permanent potions, and spread their skillpoints properly.

Oh, and I agree about PB getting royally screwed by Infogrames.

 

[Elwro]

Yeah, I have to agree that in Gothic 2 you have to employ the well known roguelike technique and Run Like Hell frequently.

 

[Trash]

Yeah, I have to agree that in Gothic 2 you have to employ the well known roguelike technique and Run Like Hell frequently.

Which I kinda like. I hate it when my lowly peasant hero slaughters his way through a starting area and then gets into another area that's sudddenly a whole shitload harder. Gothic 2 threw a shadowbeast at you in one of the starter area's. Taught me something about humiliation and the art of running rowards the guards.

Trash just meant released individually, not stand-alone per se.

Yup, blame my bad english.

btw, Trash, if Gothic 2 is old, what does that make Ultima Online?

Stone age? Then what would pong be eh? Honestly I meant that the game probably has disappeared from most players HD's by now. An expansion just won't appeal to most people. Sadly a majority of people only have an eye for "the next new thing". A bundled version could entice a few people though.

 

[Stark]

2002 isn't old, Stark. Are you a console gamer or something?

no. I do have playstation 2 in my brother's house but console games failed to pique my interest.

I guess Trash's last sentence up there summed up what i really meant better.