Gothic II

[Tanuki]

Widescreen Grade: C
Ultra-Widescreen Grade: C
Multi-monitor Grade: C
4k Grade: Incomplete

Read Full Detailed Report - Gothic II

The second game of the Gothic series continues the third-person RPG goodness. Gothic II was developed by Piranha Bytes. The Night of the Raven expansion is integrated into the original Gothic II game. This expansion adds additional game content and features. Players choose different character specializations which will determine how their character develops. Training points are earned through gaining experience which can be spent to increase character stats or learn new abilities. This game is focused towards hardcore, experienced gamers.
Like Gothic, Gothic II is set on the medieval styled isle Khorinis. Places include the City of Khorinis, the monastery of the fire mages, farms and woods. The mine valley of part I is also in the game, though it has changed. Of the old camp only the castle remains, the new camp has turned into a region of ice, and the swamp camp is made inaccessible by a fence built by the orcs. The place final visited in the game is Irdorath, a dungeon similar to the temple in Gothic.

4:3

16:10

16:9

21:9

3x1

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[Tanuki]

Darn shame about that stretching.

[The_cranky_hermit]

I can't really list the FMVs as "anamorphic" unless there are screenshots. Maybe you could try using another tool? Or maybe even Ctrl+Print Scrn?

Anyway, this isn't really high priority, because the game's grade is already known.

=Grading==

Calculated grade: D+

Major unresolved issues: None
Minor unresolved issues: None

Summary of widescreen-related flaws:
Stretched gameplay
.ini solution

[Tanuki]

As good as I can get it Cranky.

[The_cranky_hermit]

Good enough - it shows the cut-scenes are anamorphic. Grade is unaffected, but coverage is now 100%.

[Tanuki]

Method section updated.

[Ergonpandilus]

Gothic II Community Patch v1.0a fixes the stretching, it's now VERT-.

Get it from here:
http://www.worldofgothic.com/dl/?go=dlfile&fileid=156


Welcome to Khorinis.

[The_cranky_hermit]

Could you post this on the confirmed solutions board, with comparison shots?

[Ergonpandilus]

Ironkeep Studios has brought as a community patch v1.0a for Gothic II Gold (G2+NoTR) that fixes the widescreen stretching and makes the engine behave like in Gothic 1 by using vertical decrease to keep aspect ratio.

You can download the patch from here: http://www.worldofgothic.com/dl/?go=dlfile&fileid=156

Normal 4:3 (Full)


Widescreen 16:9 (Stretched)


Widescreen 16:9 - Fixed (Vert-)


Known Issue:
- You must start a dialog with somebody to set VERT-. After that it will stay VERT- as long as you don't load or restart. Ironkeep Studios is working on the issue.

PS. If you are having hard times to run the game in Win7/Vista or you want to boost up graphics, then these steps might help you: http://www.rpgwatch.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1060972960&postcount=6

[Ergonpandilus]

Done.

[url]http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/node/]

[N00berd]

Ironkeep Studios has brought as a community patch v1.0a for Gothic II Gold (G2+NoTR) that fixes the widescreen stretching

...

You must start a dialog with somebody to set VERT-. After that it will stay VERT- as long as you don't load or restart. Ironkeep Studios is working on the issue.

Err... isn't that the normal behavior of the game?

Just take a look at the screen shots in the start post: The game is stretched after loading but has a correct AR in the dialogue and it will stay that way. :D

If you want a correct AR all the time you should try my Widescreenfix :) : http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=16664

[The_cranky_hermit]

Could you post this on the "confirmed solutions" board AND provide comparison screenshots? We need at least a 4:3 default behavior shot and a matching 16:10 fixed widescreen shot, and if possible, a 16:9 fixed shot and a TH (or faux-TH) fixed shot too.

[N00berd]

This modification avoids the AR stretching in Gothic II. :)

Without the stretch, the game is Vert- but with the optional Cam-Patch the game is somewhat Hor+ (Sry, but there is no FOV option). The Cam-Patch is currently optimized for 16:10 but even 16:9 and 15:9 look much better with it.

Installation:
1. Download the Fix (english, 53 MB): http://www.file-upload.net/download-1840980/Gothic_II_Widescreenfix-0.5.0.exe.html (german version: http://www.worldofgothic.de/dl/download_396.htm)
2. Make sure your Desktop resolution and Ingame resolution match.
3a. Try to install it.
3b. If the Installation fails, read this: http://forum.worldofplayers.de/forum/showthread.php?p=3064197&#post3064197
4. Play the game. :)

Screens:

--------------------------

Original (after loading the game and without starting a dialog:)

Original 4:3 (correct AR and FOV)


Original 5:4 (squeezed AR, FOV unchanged)


Original 16:10 (stretched AR, FOV unchanged)


Original 16:9 (stretched AR, FOV unchanged)


Original TH: Not tested.

--------------------------

Patched (after loading:)

Patched 4:3 without Cam-Patch: same as original

Patched 5:4 without Cam-Patch (correct AR, FOV is VERT+)


Patched 16:10 with Cam-Patch (correct AR, FOV is HOR+ but also VERT- on the top)


Patched 16:9 with Cam-Patch (correct AR, FOV is HOR+/VERT-)


Patched TH: heavy graphic errors at 1680*350 (both windowed/Fullscreen) and crash at 5040*1050 (windowed). Maybe someone with a real TH can test the Mod but I guess it's unplayable because of VERT-. :|

--------------------------

As already said there is no FOV option that I can tweak, so I have to change the cameraposition which is pretty difficult. Maybe I will further tweak the Cam-Patch in the next version.

--------------------------

Known Bugs and Problems:

- When entering a world for the first time you have the save the game and load it again to recover the AR.
- Tracking shots remain Vert- but there are just ~5 of them at the end of the game so that shouldn't bother. :?
- I have only access to the english and german scripts but I needed to make some changes in the scripts. So if your game is e.g. Portuguese you may get english subs but the speech should be untouched.
- You can only play one modification at a time so this fix doesn't affect other mods. They remain stretched. :(
- Savegames of the original Game are not compatible.

[The_cranky_hermit]

What is the widescreenfix doing? It looks *barely* hor + and a lot vert -, plus the perspective is skewed. For instance, in the original 4:3, your guy's head is aligned with someone's feet.


But in the fixed 16:10, his head is beneath the same feet.

[Tanuki]

plus the perspective is skewed

Sounds like our old friend the camera position mod.

[Crosmando]

Ummm, just looking for confirmation (thinking of buying this game from GOG), to get the desired result for 16:9, I would need to apply the "solution" (editing the .ini), "Mod 1", and THEN "Mod 2", one after another?

Just how I was reading it, I could skip straight to Mod as it looks to be the best option. Do I edit the ini, apply the community patch, and then apply mod 2, in that order?

[Garrett]

I have updated the entry to cover Gothic ½ — SystemPack (ENG/DEU). This is a new, easier mod with fixes for some other remaining issues. Unfortunately it doesn't do anything for multi-monitor interface positioning (inventory/trading are at the far edges).