Gothic I and II
 

Picked up a copy of Gothic Universe (haaving played III but not the first two) anyone know if I and II will work on Vista? And should I start with I or skip to II?

Not sure about Vista issues, but you should definitely play Gothic 1 first.

Ugh, Gothic I is giving access violation errors under both Vista and XP

Hmm, I have no problems running either Gothics on Vista or XP. I had some sound issues, but that was easily fixed by copying some music files from worldofgothic.

You might want to check out the tech threads (FAQs) over at http://www.worldofgothic.com

Mmm, Gothic 1 only gives me an access violation when I exit the game in XP Pro, but I have no problems playing it.

XP should be no problem. It's possible certain new graphics chips aren't 100% compatible with such old games, but at least the games should run correctly.

The XP machine has a 6600 so I wouldnt think the card is too new - the error comes up when the game tries to load, I get a loading splash screen then it crashes to an error report. Drivers and so on are up to date, not sure if I'm up to the fustration of hunting for an answer.

Gothic1 is from 2001 -> a 6600 is much newer, but as Gorath specified: it will run.

… this is exactly why I don't regret having re-bought both games on GoodOldGames, they both work perfectly.

The good news is gothic II works fine, only problem is no manual and (probably stupid question) I haven't figured out how to use a bow - any tips?

You can equip a bow with the number key '2' after you've selected it in the inventory. You should also have some arrows off course.

The shooting is a combined effort from the arrow keys (or the keys you use to move around) and the mouse.

If you have problems with getting gothic 1 to run you should try compability mode (win 98 for example).

I see this is a bit of an old thread, but thought I'd chime in. With Risen right around the corner I wanted to load up and play a bit of G1 and G2. I have a machine running Vista 32 bit ultimate version.

I have no problems running G1 straight out of the box.

G2 (Gold version with NotR expansion) is a weird beast however. After I install G2 I can run and play the game. No problems. However, after I've shut down my machine and later turn my PC back on, I can no longer get past the Disc check.

I also happen to have a disc copy of Gothic Universe which also includes G2 + NotR. Same result. I can play the game fine right after install. But as soon as I turn off my computer and later come back, turn it on, and try to launch G2, I can't get past the disc check.

And yes, each time, I have the disc (and the CORRECT disc) in my CD Drive.

Like txa1625, I downloaded G2 from GoG and everything works fine. I like the freedom of not having to have the disc in the drive as well, it's very nice.

My advice would be to just download the no-cd fix (crack).

Did you try to open/close the DVD-drive. Maybe this re-initialises something.

I have played and finished G1-3 from the Universe pack and at no time did I ever have to have my disks in to play even once. Yes, these are legit disks and I never used no-CD fix (crack). They always loaded and I was able to play once they were fully installed.

G1 never needed the disc to play, and G3 didn't need it after the 1.6 patch. I don't remember if G2 originally needed the disc or not.

It did IIRC (first the original "play" disc and then the NOTR disc). Seems they removed
the checks from the Universe and GoG packs…

Actually the problems with some older games seem to really originate with obsolete DRM
methods using features that change between major OS kernel revisions. Another favorite
example would be Spellforce 2 (starforce) and Vista…