Comments - antema

Also decided to wait for the next update before playing.

Are you still working on version 1.6, and if so, is there any estimation on the release date?

Hey there, everyone.

Just popping in after a VERY long time. I see no one has written a better review since my review on Oct 5 2014. So all you beta testers better write something, as the mod in play now, is worlds apart from the mod of my days.

Two tidbits I wish to share.

1. If heavy branches are still excessively common, we should be able to use them as materials for something, perhaps arrows.
2. The voice actor for the Nameless Hero also voiced the main character John Macmillan in the RTS/RPG Original War.

Original War and Gothic 2 happen to be my 2 favorite games of all time, quite a coincidence. I recommend that you all check out Original War, it's the only strategy/RPG game, imo, that really gets the RPG part right.
As for the reason to bring this up (other than a shameless plug) is the possibility of using some lines from OW in Requiem. As I understand that some resources from other games are already used in this mod.

Original War on Steam:
Store.steampowered.com

Actually, if memory serves me correctly, only the areas behind the orc wall are like Gothic 1. The plot relevant points in Gothic 2 Valley of Mines are same (or similar) to vanilla Gothic 2.

I am reminded of the sermon by Vatras. Particularly the parts about the Beast of Beliar. While it can be argued that the Sleeper or the Undead Dragon (unless they are the same, as some believe) could be the Beast, it is still possible that we have yet to witness the return of the Beast.

And with new ultimate items, like the Sword of the Order, it is possible that, yet another, new threat has appeared. Perhaps even the Beast. That would also be consistent with the "Rise, Champion!" video.

So that is my guess for today. The Beast.

"But Adanos feared for the day in which the beast would return to the land."
"And so he bade Innos to leave a part of his power in his realm, so that he might restore it to the human if the beast should return."
"And Innos, in his wisdom, did so."

It has to be some manner of an undead creature. But what undead creature is big? Other than the dragon and troll already mentioned. Undead orcs are back, but they aren't really "big."

Can't think of any big undead creatures, but I had a funny idea.

A colossal meatbug?

Is it possible to simply adjust the standard movement speed?

Haste spell would also be nice, it worked fine in Risen. Of course adding a haste spell would mean limiting it to Mages and Paladins, in in-universe terms. Unless of course the new spell would work like the teleport runes, and everyone could use them. In that case the light spell should also be added to the list of spells useable by everyone. That way we would have 3 runes that everyone can use: Teleport, Haste and Light. That would make sense in-universe. And it would make life a little bit easier for everyone, since you wouldn't need to stack Light spell scrols.

Great news about the ultimate items. Can't wait!

Nice! You know, I've always been rather disappointed by the ultimate item the Fire Mages recieve. The Divine Aura of Innos. Since we already have the Eye of Innos (which is just as good) the Divine Aura becomes rather superfluous. The lore and story behind the Divine Aura are good, but the gameplay effect is rather dull and meaningless.

Would it be possible to add another ultimate item for the mages (Fire & Water?) like the Sword of the Order? Or perhaps the Divine Aura could be changed into a ring (or a belt?) or otherwise modified?

Unrelated question: Have you made modifications to the movement speed? The standard speed is rather slow, and every time I've replayed Gothic 2 I have cheated my inventory full of speed potions. Would it be possible to make the speed potion speed the normal speed, and make speed potion speed that super speed used in the July update video?

EDIT: That's a lot of speeds. :)

The last part reminds me of insectoid noises from other games and movies. However the first part sounds like dinosaur noises.

A truly wild guess. Field raider queen? Or other super field raider.

I don't believe this belongs to a talking creature.

That's the path I would have taken. For those reading this not familiar with the modding scene. There are 3 paths to handle voices in any given mod: Using existing voices, using voice actors from the internet community, and leaving voices out.

Making your mod fully voiced using Gothic 1 & 2 voice files would have tied your hands, in regards to script writing.

And, truthfully, I have yet to see a community voiced mod with good quality voice overs. Voice acting in mods is a real hot topic among modders and mod users. And thus far, there is no real answer on which path is the best.

I'm guessing that atleast 1 answer to your questions is going to "wait and see." :)

But seriously. I'm also excited about all the new Gothic things we get to experience. As for the voice work. I believe that atleast some of the new dialogue could be voiced.

Due to the way Gothic voice files work, mixing and matching them for seamless new dialogue is relatively easy. Add to that the ability to use voice files from Gothic 1, and you could easily voice the entire quest line to join the water mages.

Giving new "teach me" dialogues to NPCs is even easier. The heroes request has several variations in the voice files and adding "what would you like to know" is simple as the game uses a mix and match method itself. We all remember that when ever the subject of gold comes up, the NPCs voice changes. For example:

"A sheep and," "1000 gold pieces."

Of course using pre-existing voice files may not be the ideal solution. Using Gothic 1 & 2 voice files means that you are limiting your script to those sentences. Instead of writing what you want, your writing what you can.

All in all, making a mod of this magnitude has a lot of problems and challenges. Voice over work being only one of many. Regardless of the path chosen this mod is going to be awesome!

EDIT: In the time it took me to write this post, Vic7im already answerd the original question, making my post rather superfluous. Oh well.

Awesome news! Thanks for the heads up, now I'll have something to look forward to over the long weekend.