How to play Gothic in 2020

This guide lists everything you need to run Gothic on Windows 10 as well as make it look decent.

Introduction

Gothic has issues running on modern OS. Even if you buy it on Steam, the game will likely just crash when you attempt to install & play it. Fortunately, there are modifications and patches written by the community that resolve this problem.

In addition, Gothic is quite a dated game, therefore I also suggest modding in many graphical improvements that will make it as beautiful as modern games, save for still being a bit angular.

If you're looking for similar fixes for Gothic II, I have published such a guide as well:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2208198204

Instructions

INSTALL EVERYTHING IN THIS EXACT ORDER!!!

Some modifications have sites written in language other than English. Ignore this, all patches are multi-language except one which will ask you on which specific Gothic language version (ie. Polish) you wish to install it.

1. Update GPU drivers!
These instructions require AT LEAST Nvidia's 452.06 (from 18.08.2020) driver version! You will get a bunch of errors or issues if you have older version, even just 451.77, I tested! I assume AMD also requires updated drivers.

2. First, Steam version requires 1.08k patch to install further modifications:
https://www.worldofgothic.de/dl/download_6.htm

3. Second is the Player Kit for the patch:
https://www.worldofgothic.de/dl/download_34.htm

4. Then a large patch to the Player Kit:
https://github.com/GothicFixTeam/GothicFix/releases/download/v1.8/Gothic1_PlayerKit-2.8.exe

5. Next, you need to install System Pack:
https://github.com/GothicFixTeam/GothicFix/releases/download/v1.8/G1Classic-SystemPack-1.8.exe


In theory, now you should be able to run Gothic on a modern OS, albeit without DX 11 support I encountered black screens and no movies playing. I recommend doing next steps to remove these issues and significantly improve graphics as well.


6. Texture Pack By Artemiano:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0By3aDYzpGm9gNlRlcEV6a1FOWEU/view
Place the .vdf file in ...\Steam\steamapps\common\Gothic\Data

7. Head meshes patch:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jRHOcmKcRjbFd2St8IPog1DBVhWNL5wH/view
Place the .vdf file in ...\Steam\steamapps\common\Gothic\Data

8. Big Nature Mod:
https://yadi.sk/d/est1YmhRptmhx
Install into Gothic's folder.

9. Install DirectX 11 support:
https://github.com/Kirides/GD3D11/releases/download/v17.7-dev12/Gothic1-GD3D11-17.7-dev12.zip
Just unpack and place the files in ...\Steam\steamapps\common\Gothic\system

AMD users: You additionally need to assign Switchable Graphics Mode to Gothic's .exe files in Radeon Settings > System > Switchable Graphics, more information on the official page:
https://www.amd.com/en/support/kb/faq/dh-017

10. Finally, to avoid potential crashes with all new graphics, download & run this software:
https://ntcore.com/?page_id=371
Patch every .exe in ...\Gothic\system with this tiny program, so the game will be able to use 4 GB of memory instad of 2 GB.

Final words

Now Gothic should not only run but also look magnificent and support high resolutions, dynamic shadows and so on. Movies will also play fine, albeit might not be full screen but only in a window. The only technology lacking is RTX support ;)

You might still get the error message when running the game, warning you about potential crashes. However, I did not experience them myself at all, so I'd say it's safe to ignore.

Issues

Now that I have completed the game with the above modifications, I'd like to report a few issues I encountered, just so you know what to expect:

1. I had a few sudden black screens. Usually happened when I was saving. Saves were okay, but I had to kill the game and run it again. Three or four black screens happened in other areas without any particular reason.

2. In underground levels there is no total darkness that you are supposed to see in the distance. Instead, there is "nothing" and you see through walls.

3. Some trees have incorrect collisions.

4. You can't see the barrier in the distance. You only see the blue luminescence when you are walking close to it.

5. There's no blood.

[passedit]

Is this needed now?
I skipped the missing texture pack, and picked up a trojan in the final NTCORE 4GB patch!
Maintain (ie read comments) or delete please.....
Keep the Web Tidy!

[ElusiveMind22]

I am unable to find the mod for the texture pack. The link for the 6th step is not working right now

[RB26]

Hi, first of all thanks for all the effort and information you put into this guide. I did everything in the right order and works like a charm. One problem tho the movies are really small
(looks like this: https://ibb.co/hBXj7x8)
Is there a Fix for this? Playing on 2560x1440
Thanks in advance!

[kony]

lmao at deleting your comments, @Lysvarg

[kony]

I guess webbrowsing alternative sources for download is too difficult for you, @Lysvarg?

[dcleave]

Followed instructions, By the end Windows defender detected a number of Trojan Viruses which it handled, when Game launched in steam it starts then stops, steam says i have played it for less than 1 min. No luck.

[Busserys Targayryen]

I can verify this still works for 2022, just keep in mind that ALL of the above (1.08k patch, both player kits and the system pack) MUST be installed in the games installation folder (in my case it was 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Gothic\'). When you try to install the 1.08k patch, a window with german text pops up, it basically says if you want the program to automatically search for the installation location (YES option) or if you want to do it manually (NO option). If you choose YES, make sure to give it some time to complete, it will look like it's stuck, but it's not (I think I left it for 5-7 minutes). Good thing is if it locates it automatically, then you can just copy paste the location for the other programs that follow.

Also, step 9 was obligatory for me, the game wouldn't run without it. Thank you op!

[Funky Banana]

This has got the game running again! After so long of not being able to play! Are there any other mods you would recommend playing with as well?

[Mr_Hickey]

Do you play with HDR enabled in the DX11-renderer options?

[Joker_The_Dodo]

nm, got it working through the GothicStarter_mod.exe instead of the original game exe, thanks for this awesome tutorial!