Can anybody Recommend an Open-world RPG?

[jakebaker13]

Sorry for opening up two threads in as many days, but after playing the extremely linear Dragon Age: Origins I feel I want to have some fun in a sandbox. I already ordered Mount and Blade because it was dirt cheap, but I was wondering if anybody could steer me in the direction of another good title. (I've previously roamed around stealing stuff in Morrowind and I have played Oblivion already, so that takes those two out of the picture unless somebody can give me a good reason to go and play through Morrowind's story quest.)

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[JDR13]

Have you played any of the Gothic games? What about Fallout 3?

[skavenhorde]

If your willing to go back in time here are a few of the best ones I've played: Arcanum, Betrayal at Krondor, Fallout 1, 2 and New Vegas(of course) and Gothic 1 - 3 (3 with the CP).

[jakebaker13]

@JDR13 Yes I have played Fallout 3, and a bit of 1-2, but none of the Gothic games. I was acctually looking at Gothic 2 on GOG. For some reason it escaped my mind.

@ skavenhorde. What does CP mean?

[JDR13]

Gothic 2 is a fantastic game, one of the best imo. You might want to start with Gothic 1 first though.

"CP" means community patch.

[xSamhainx]

i think CP is short for 'community patch'

I'd recommend the Gothics, theyre fun. Fallout 3

[jakebaker13]

Okay the Gothics are fairly cheap. Anybody have any problems running them on 64 bit Windows 7?

Also with Gothic 2 and 3. would it be advisable to play through the game first without the expansions?

[DeepO]

Gothic 2 with NotR is nigh impeccable for most of its duration.
Playing Gothic 1 beforehand is highly recommended for continuity purposes (bro aspect especially, heh), plus in some areas G1 is better (dungeons, puzzles, tighter and more unique story) than G2.

What does CP mean?
Community patch, downloadable from here (http://www.worldofgothic.com/dl/?go=dlfile&fileid=166). Playing Gothic 3 with it is a must.
Even with it, the game doesn´t touch the two previous titles though, some of its flaws are simply too fundamental (shallow characters, at times tedious combat, repetitive quests). World design/look and faction system are quite admirable, character development rather complex (with CP) and the game is by far the most open ended of the three, so it´s certainly worth a try, but I definitely wouldn´t recommend it as an introduction to the series.

[JDR13]

I think there's a thread around here somewhere about running them in Win 7 64bit.

Regarding the expansions, Night of the Raven adds a lot to Gothic 2, but also makes it even more challenging. Some people found G2 to be overly difficult with NotR installed. I personally find G2+NotR to be one of my favorite crpgs.

The expansion for Gothic 3 is a seperate standalone game.

[DeepO]

Also with Gothic 2 and 3. would it be advisable to play through the game first without the expansions?
Stay away from G3´s expansion, it´s as abysmal as it gets.

G2´s expansion (add-in actually) is exactly the opposite.
Imo, vanilla G2 is slightly worse than G1 and it´s the expansion which turns the tables and make it really shine.
If you´ll play G1 beforehand, I see no reason why you shouldn´t play G2 with NotR right away. Just don´t play as a mage - this class is quite difficult to utilize effectively if you don´t know the game well and might prove more tedious than fun to play.

[jakebaker13]

I am very intrigued now. I bought my brother Risen for his birthday. That was made by Gothic 1-3's developer, correct? He sure seems to be having fun with it so maybe I will have to give them a shot.

[Gorath]

Okay the Gothics are fairly cheap. Anybody have any problems running them on 64 bit Windows 7?

Also with Gothic 2 and 3. would it be advisable to play through the game first without the expansions?

Be aware that the Gothics are not really mainstream. The controls have a learning curve, ca. 3 * 5 minutes if you know to ignore the manual and look into JemyM's FAQ right away. Intuition won't help you. ;) Plus the Gothics are hard games. Simply hacking through them is impossible.
Since I remember you're coming from consoles: Several people posted that Gothic's controls work fine if they're mapped to a gamepad. So this might be the way to go.

The safer choice would be to start with Risen. It's very similar to the first two Gothics, just a bit streamlined with better tech and intuitive controls. If you enjoy Risen you can make up your mind if you want the real thing with a bit more depth and are willing to deal with the few obstacles in the way.

The Gothic 3 CP is a must. Pretend the add-on doesn't exist.
G3 is still a flawed game, but with the CP it's quite decent. And it still has its biggest plus: the best world ever built in an RPG.

edit: Yes, play Risen if you already have it. Tweak the visuals, the stuff in the menu is very conservative.

[GhanBuriGhan]

Risen is a fun game, and of course its more advanced, graphics wise than the Gothics. G3 actually also still looks fine today, but its quite a resource hog. G1 and 2 visuals are aging a bit now, but they have the most "soul" of all of Piranha Bytes games, and I can only highly, highly recommend them. Invest that hour to master the controls - its SO worth it (IMHO, of course). I'd recommend playing G1 and G2 two in that order.

[Gokyabgu]

My recommendations:
- Might & Magic 6
- Arcanum
- Divine Divinity
- Ultima 7
- Ultima 5: Lazarus and Ultima 6 mods of Dungeon Siege
- Gothic 1-2-3 with latest community patch
- Risen
- Fallout: New Vegas
- Dungeon Lords CE
- Sacred 1 and 2 (but too much hack&slash)
- Two Worlds 1 and 2 (especially the second one)

You said you had played Morrowind, Oblivion and Fallout 1-2-3. So, I removed them from my list.

[crpgnut]

If you own Oblivion for pc, then I suggest the total conversion mod made for it, Nehrim. Nehrim takes advantage of the leaps that modders have made with vanilla Oblivion and added them to a new worldspace. This mod is absolutely huge. It's full-game sized and will eat up a 100 hours easily. Best of all, it only costs the bandwidth it takes to download it.

[jakebaker13]

If you own Oblivion for pc, then I suggest the total conversion mod made for it, Nehrim. Nehrim takes advantage of the leaps that modders have made with vanilla Oblivion and added them to a new worldspace. This mod is absolutely huge. It's full-game sized and will eat up a 100 hours easily. Best of all, it only costs the bandwidth it takes to download it.

Is it a reletively easy mod to install/uninstall? I only have a very rudimentary knowledge of how mods work. (I just switched from consoles.)

Edit: I just watched a trailer for it... and I didn't see subtitles. Is that an option? A total conversion of Oblivion has me very intrigued.

[BillSeurer]

Installing Nehrim is pretty much "run this thing and you are done"

[jakebaker13]

I think I will have to give Nehrim a shot. Aside from the monotony of the main quest I quite enjoyed my time spent playing the game. (Oblivion, that is.) I know I am in the minority here at least in that regard but to each his own I guess. The Nehrim Trailer looked pretty epic… even if I don't understand German.

[crpgnut]

Yes, everything main-quest related has been translated. You will find an occasional note or book that isn't converted yet, but you can finish the game for sure, in English.

[Zloth]

Regarding the Gothics and Risen - definitely hard games. If you're having trouble, do NOT shy away from the easy setting. Also, beware of wild pigs. One boar from Pirranha Bytes could take down two grizzly bears in most games!

[jakebaker13]

Nehrim and M&B it is. In an unfortunate turn of events my dog had to have surgery yesterday so unfortunately a paid game is out. (I already ordered M&B a few days prior.) Thanks for all the feedback guys.

Oh I should ask this: If I should have any problems installing Nehrim when I get the chance, where should I post my questions?

[BillSeurer]

Oh I should ask this: If I should have any problems installing Nehrim when I get the chance, where should I post my questions?

The developers at sureai have some forums and are good about answering questions.

[jakebaker13]

Sorry to necro a dead thread, but for future reference do Risen or the Gothics have DRM? I have read some pretty bad stuff about SecuROM and Tages tearing up systems and being an absolute pain to uninstall.

[skavenhorde]

To necro a thread it must be dead for a little longer than a day ;)

As for DRM I don't believe there are any except for the usual DVD check and an activation key for Risen or at least on the Steam version of Risen.

[jakebaker13]

Great to no. My brother said he had fun with the game so it seems like a no brainer at this point once the money rolls in.

About the community patch for Gothic 3: Is that as easy as just placing it in the data directory? It will be the first time I have had to do such a thing.

[Pladio]

There's an installer included, which you have to run like when installing the game and just follow the instructions. Once you try it you'll see it's not too hard, but if you have any problems don't hesitate to ask.

[jakebaker13]

Awesome. Thanks for the info guys.

[skavenhorde]

No problem. If have have any more questions just fire away. There are a ton of Gothic fanatics here as well as your general all purpose RPG fanatics :)

[Kostaz]

If you're planning to play G3 and this isn't your first time I'd suggest waiting for the English translations of Content Mod 2.2 and QuestPack 4.2 to get released.

If it's your first time the Community Patch (and PCGH's .inis (http://forum.worldofplayers.de/forum/showthread.php?t=843942) if your hardware can handle it) is all you need.

[jakebaker13]

Basically my plan is to play Risen first, then the Gothic series in release order. Getting used to Gothic 1/2's controls shouldn't be a problem for me because I am coming from consoles and I need to get used a keyboard scheme anyways, so whether it's a WASD control scheme or using the arrows and the other controls Gothic 1/2 requires it won't make much of a difference in my early PC gaming life... At least I don't see how it could if I don't know the difference.

As far as the Community patch goes I don't foresee any big problems installing that when the time comes... but the PCGH .ini i may run into trouble. Should I poost my questions in the Tech forum or the Gothic forum?

With that said... out of all four games Gothic 3 looks like it has one of the best game worlds I've ever seen in a video game. I have very high hopes for the series.

[Nathanyl]

If you're planning to play G3 and this isn't your first time I'd suggest waiting for the English translations of Content Mod 2.2 and QuestPack 4.2 to get released.

If it's your first time the Community Patch (and PCGH's .inis (http://forum.worldofplayers.de/forum/showthread.php?t=843942) if your hardware can handle it) is all you need.

Actually:

Content mod 2.2
http://www.worldofgothic.com/dl/?go=dlfile&fileid=177

and QuestPack 4.2
http://forum.jowood.com/showthread.php?t=162081&page=26
There's a link to the questpak files in the thread. I haven't tried either yet but it's moved restarting G3 up on my list. :)

[Gorath]

Basically my plan is to play Risen first, then the Gothic series in release order. Getting used to Gothic 1/2's controls shouldn't be a problem for me because I am coming from consoles and I need to get used a keyboard scheme anyways, so whether it's a WASD control scheme or using the arrows and the other controls Gothic 1/2 requires it won't make much of a difference in my early PC gaming life… At least I don't see how it could if I don't know the difference.

Sort of a reversed ASDW.
"Action Key" pressed ( = Left Click or CTRL) enables four options (ASDW). In most cases the standard W is the right thing. Unusual but actually quite simple.
G2 additionally mapped some of these options to the mouse. So it has secondary controls which are relatively intuitive but slightly limited.
G3 has pretty standard controls. Risen is totally standard.

[jakebaker13]

Sort of a reversed ASDW.
"Action Key" pressed ( = Left Click or CTRL) enables four options (ASDW). In most cases the standard W is the right thing. Unusual but actually quite simple.
G2 additionally mapped some of these options to the mouse. So it has secondary controls which are relatively intuitive but slightly limited.
G3 has pretty standard controls. Risen is totally standard.

Yeah I looked up the control scheme on Allgame.com and I thought that it sounded pretty intuitive myself. Obviously I can't judge it until I get my hands on it for myself but since the only game I have played on the PC so far is Civilization IV (I started Dragon Age on X360 before my PC arrived.) I don't see why I couldn't get used to it.

Ah hell, I'm getting myself all worked up watching gameplay videos. I'm going to pull the trigger and order Gothic Universe. Anybody ever played any of these on easy? I'll probably have to start that way until I get used to the controls.

[Thaurin]

+1 on mapping Gothic controls to a gamepad. Reason being that you can get your fingers in a knot and build up some repetitive strain injury using a keyboard. ;) It's been a while, but it's one of the coolest control schemes I've ever encountered and timing different attacks becomes quite fun and natural. However, it does require holding several keys at once with one hand. I liked using a gamepad with it.

That said, the Gothics are RPGs with some of the best exploration ever. You won't regret playing those and you will definitely be immersed in them.

[JDR13]

I'm going to pull the trigger and order Gothic Universe. Anybody ever played any of these on easy? I'll probably have to start that way until I get used to the controls.

Gothics 1-3 don't have a choice for difficulty. :)

[Thaurin]

The Gothics are only hard if you are not careful, if I recall. The most danger I was in was when I was feeling adventurous and went hunting for stuff that I shouldn't have hunted for. That was part of the fun, though. :) Then again, I could be wrong, it's so long ago.

[Kostaz]

..but the PCGH .ini i may run into trouble. Should I poost my questions in the Tech forum or the Gothic forum?You're the guy that bought that monster rig with 12 gigs or RAM? I'm sure you won't run into any problems, if you do the Gothic forum is the best place.

and QuestPack 4.2
http://forum.jowood.com/showthread.php?t=162081&page=26
There's a link to the questpak files in the thread. I haven't tried either yet but it's moved restarting G3 up on my list. :)I had the impression that an English ContentMod friendly version of the QuestPack hasn't come out yet, cheers for pointing me to that thread.

Re: Playing Gothic on a gamepad
I wouldn't recommend it as in Gothic games the player has to frequently move and observe the Y axis, which from my experience is kinda hard with analog sticks.

[Nathanyl]

You're the guy that bought that monster rig with 12 gigs or RAM? I'm sure you won't run into any problems, if you do the Gothic forum is the best place.

I had the impression that an English ContentMod friendly version of the QuestPack hasn't come out yet, cheers for pointing me to that thread.

Re: Playing Gothic on a gamepad
I wouldn't recommend it as in Gothic games the player has to frequently move and observe the Y axis, which from my experience is kinda hard with analog sticks.

Actually thanks to you too. I did a search for the heck of it after reading you response.

[jakebaker13]

Re: Playing Gothic on a gamepad
I wouldn't recommend it as in Gothic games the player has to frequently move and observe the Y axis, which from my experience is kinda hard with analog sticks.

I Need to get a gamepad anyways so I can play Trine and Psychonauts so I might as well give it a try and see what I prefer control wise.

[Pladio]

Gothics 1-3 don't have a choice for difficulty. :)

Gothic III does ...