UnPatch detailed review and mod comparison news

Since there are (as far as late autumn 2021) only TWO "mega-mods" actually worth playing for Gothic 1, i will talk about UnPatch and ModFix at the same time (with comparison).

(Edited: like i mentioned in the title, i am going these lengths when it comes to comparing and detailing because they will maybe help someone who actually prefers a breakdown. Besides, the ModFix definitely does not have a changelog or high mod description so that's another reason)

(((review version 1: TL;DR)))

UnPatch: new items, new enemies, new npcs, new gameplay => Gothic 1, almost upgraded to a whole new feel/new game (! especially combat wise - it's faster when using shields !).
=> Adds more life and versatility to the atmosphere through body-count and creature-creature interaction.

Comparing it with its rival:

ModFix: no new items or creatures; but rather a high respect for the classic feel, better quality of life changes and more exploration rewarding. Basically its Gothic 1, but with minor tweaks.
Adds more "magic" and soul to the atmosphere.

(((review v2: detailed)))

-------------- 1. Mining: --------------

=== UnPatch: ===
DIALOGUE ACTIVATED (when mining - you enter a dialogue mode)
100% chance for mining 1 ore each time you SELECT the dialogue option (followed by a 3 pickaxe stroke animation).
Leaving mining requires hitting the "end" dialogue option.

=== ModFix: ===
ACTION/ANIMATION ACTIVATED (when mining - you will "just do it!")
You have to actively mine.
EACH ore nugget has a different yield chance: some ore nuggets yield ore every 3rd to 5th try, others, every 6th to 10th (yes, you find yourself hitting that ore rock 9 times with no reward, only to get some on the 10th try).
Each mining stroke/animation has different yield chance (some "strokes" will offer 1 ore, some 2 ore and some more).
Leaving mining requires to just "get off" the animation (like, for eg, getting out of the smithing animation when hammering glowing steel on an anvil).

-------------- 2. Cooking --------------
=== UnPatch: ===
DIALOGUE ACTIVATED
More cooking recipes.
HUGE FAIL: you can NOT fry all of your raw meat at once.

=== ModFix: ===
DIALOGUE ACTIVATED
No cooking recipes as far as i know but you can at least select 5, 10, or COOK ALL of your freaking raw meat at once. (huge improvement because cooking 100+ raw meat pieces when you get back from the wilderness can be frustrating)

------------ 3. Ingame personal touch tweaking ------------
=== UnPatch: ===
- NA (not applicable) -

=== ModFix: ===
DIALOGUE ACTIVATED when sitting on one of the four (as far as i know) special benches in the game.
One of those said benches is directly when starting a new game (after talking to Diego, just look on your left, near the fireplace and suspended cooking pot with).
There you can
- select game message placement (centered = classic) or ModFix (lateral left, with golden letters). Changing these options has no consequece and each time you select one you get a small test-message to see what you are changing. Big kudos!!!
- select how pickpocketing works/shows success chance
- select text size
- select requirements for skills (EG: if you select that skills require attributes, you can no longer learn acrobatics or bow mastery if you do not have enough dexterity).
- quest items can no longer be sold. (Except for the food items like beer which are required for some mini-quests or dialogue options).
- other useful/semi-useful things

----------- 4. New additions -----------
=== UnPatch: ===
4a)ABANDONED MINE NEAR STARTING AREA (but not a complete clone of the ModFix version, unique in its own way).
The mine has minecrawlers, so you can't get rich as soon as you started a new game.

4b) New "skills":
Alchemy, pickpocketing, armorsmithing, crafting bows => increase the replayability AND roleplayability!

4c) New items/npc's:
* shields (with new flawless animations for wearing them, fighting with them)
* helms (some look funny/cringey but most seem ok ish)
* more containters (EG: you can now interact with skewered scavengers (which are hanged upside down): they contain items like meat and salt)
* more NPC types (EG: there is a convoy of diggers who just transport goods from Old Camp to Old Mine).
* armor stand; crafting table so you can create armors, bows, etc

4e) New story/chapter:
Yes: Chapter 7 (as of early december 2021 - still in the works)

=== ModFix: ===
Not much new stuff added because it's VERY conservative (or, to nicely put it: has a high loyalty) towards the classic feeling.

4a)ABANDONED MINE NEAR STARTING AREA (but not a complete clone of the UnPatch version, unique in its own way)
Only baby minecrawlers, you can basically just mine 1000+ from the start of the game.
(i'm personally not mad about it because Gothic always had all sorts of money exploits available - like smithing).

4b) New "skills":
Fewer than UnPatch: just alchemy and pickpocketing.

4c) New items/npcs/monsters:
- I will talk about this at the ending because it's complicated (in short, it does have some new additions, but they are very subtle, for the ones with high taste).

4d) Miscellaneous:
There are newly added secrets/rewards for exploration (which is basically Gothic style and just helps in increasing the already high appeal of the game). Big kudos!

- i will be talking more below when reffering to the "soul" of these mods

- the sawing logs activity does provide a very useful +1 strenght bonus if you let an animation cycle run fully 1 time (you know it's completed when Nameless whipes his forehead gesturing that he's tired - then you can get off the sawing animation for the +1 str reward).
These logs are rare and well scattered so you won't be cheating your way to a high strenght bonus early game.

4e) New story/chapter:
- NA -

-------------- 5. Combat --------------
=== UnPatch: ===
Introducing the shield adds new one handed weapon animations, which are very nice and fluid, but they are VERY FAST.
This can be even considered to an extent that you are cheating because you can stun-lock some enemies with the correct flurry of attacks.
This type of gameplay rewards the personal skill of the player but some may find it very ... different and controversial to the classic Gothic 1 playstyle.
Now, don't get me wrong, when trained at level 2 melee (master level), you are as fast as when not having a shield, or maybe faster. But grabbing the shield in the first 5 minutes just makes me feel pretty...overpowered.
This has somewhat of a balance though: the blocking window with the shield is A LOT SMALLER than the classic weapon block animation (it's under a second long!). So i guess that makes it even.

=== ModFix: ===
Maybe it's because of the new textures i added (although that doens't quite make sense), but the animations for one handed fighting when UNTRAINED are very cluncky and i found myself a victim of pure fate because sometimes, the basic chain of left-to-right side swings of the sword just break ... and i end up being defenseless/attacked in all the wrong moments. I tend to suspect that this is a bug though because in ONLY happens when an enemy is selected. If i try to swing my sword in thin air (no enemy selected), i can continue the chain attack almost indefinitely.
Another problem: Running forward attack also sometimes completely misfires (stops mid-animation and does not connect with the enemy) - very frustrating because i end up being defenseless (because of the cooldown between attacks/animations) AND in the attack zone of the enemy.
However, once trained, one handed fighting becomes ok. So maybe that was intentional (it does feel more rewarding once you invest in the 1 handed skill).

------------- 6. TEXTURES -------------
UnPatch: has about 430mb of textures (uses most of Riisis texture pack - which are not HD, rather mid-def; and they are very different and approach a new look - as you can see in the screenshots on the mod's page: green scavengers; new skin for Nameless)
ModFix: has about 50mb of textures.

I personally used a different texture pack in both cases: Artemiano (in comparison, Artemiano has about 900 mb of HD textures)

I also mention that both these mods have texture discrepancies in them (EG: you will notice a HD character, which is walking on the low-def ground, this inconsistency is one big reason why i opted to upgrade with a better texture pack).

Speaking of texture packs. If you are curious about the Artemiano texture pack, i can say that it works with ModFix without merging. (but of course it would be best adviced to merge).
But for the UnPatch - you will have to crack open the .mod file and manually merge the texture files, then "recook" the mod, otherwise it will be a complete texture cluster-mess.

---------- 7. Food & recovery ----------
UnPatch: alcohol does not recover mana

ModFix: alcohol restores mana, but can kill you if you drink too much.

--------- 8. CHEATING ---------
UnPatch: NA (as far as i have noticed, the old console codes seem to work normal)

ModFix: scrolls have changed names relating to them so regular console commands no longer work when it comes to spawning runes and scrolls
(EG: i specifically wanted the transformation to bloodfly scroll because i use that for fast travel and its now changed to "ITARSCROLL_740_TRFBLOODFLY". Also, the light spell is "ITARSCROLL_210_LIGHT".)

----- 9. Quality of life -----

VERY IMPORTANT MENTION:

Besides the huge difference in QOL mentioned in point #2 (cooking), i also must mention that ModFix has a nice touch concerning dialogues:
You do not need to select "END" all the time (especially with some tedious repetitive dialogues), which is a huge time and sanity saver.

A notable example: when selling weed or when offering water (from Lefty) to rice field peasants: after offering them the item, the conversation automatically closes. You are no longer locked in dialogue and you do not have to select "END" to exit the convo anymore.
HUGE. SANITYSAVER!

----- 10. Soul/atmosphere -----

UnPatch:
a) Creatures:
different creature species seem to get to figt more often with other species => creating a very lively feel of the wildlife.
UnPatch brings more drama to the scene, almost all the time, i saw the monsters fighting eachother.
b) Human settlements:
some areas are now populated with "life", adding more liveliness of the game. (EG: some hobos now inhabit the small camp which is near Cavalorn's camp, which is West of Old Camp --- that camp is abandoned in the vanilla and ModFix version).
The New Camp tavern is also brimming with clientelle. It really feels authentic now (lore friendly too : because the rice schnapps business is booming and it's nice to see it show).
c) Exploration:
NA
I do mention that i only invested 5-6 hours in this topic and i can say that there are more empty caves and empty spaces than ModFix...which is pretty weird.

ModFix:
a) creatures: NA
I did not encounter one instance (in 2.5 playthroughs, covering about 50 hours of gameplay) where i saw a bloodfly and a scavenger fight. The wildlife always was calm (boring?) when it came to this.
b) Human settlements:
ModFix has "homey" touches like the Drax&Ratford camping zone (which is an exquisite touch) - these make the game have more "meat" on it and some areas which were completely empty hills before -> are now covered with si signs that "humans were here". Very nice!
c) Exploration: YES
Caves filled with skeletons, beasts and items; some caves even decorated to look like a human lived there and improvised a home - exceptional touches!!
Besides caves and hidden places, there are places in plain sight now too: like i mentioned, the hunter's camp, which occupied an empty hill; or a sawmill on top of the New Camp.
These touches are very different to UnPatch (which uses body-count to spice up the liveliness feel), but they certainly make the game more interesting because you are always seem to be discovering something new (but not outside of the Gothic vanilla feel).

>>>>> Downsides (edited: these apply for both mods) <<<<<
I have tried to accept these as an impossible workaround/game mechanic (since its been 20 years and still no fix).

*) no major ai improvement ( enemies still walk in a straight line towards you and get stuck in the environment)

*) no hotkey (you still cant hotkey potions and food)

*) tons of unsorted items (why weapons like clubs, pokers and nailed clubs get to stack and crude swords dont (whom, btw, you make loads of because of smithig)?

*) targeting is still completely retarded (from locking to unlocking on an enemy and everything inbetween. And i'm not even gonna start about bow targeting)

*) animations still cluncky as hell:
If i have my bow equipped and want to change fast to sword when a mob is charing me - i found out its basically more efficient to just keep my bow and finish the said creep with arrows, changing to sword often kills me because i miss at least 2-3 attacks this way, AND MORE IMPORTANT, i miss my chance of dodging because i'm stuck with the animation of changing weapons.

------ Conclusion: ------
So clearly picking one of these mods is dependent on a gamer's (fan's) personality and subjective perception of the game. The die-hard fans of the classic feel may opt of ModFix, while the somewhat-flexible/curious/new players may opt for UnPatch.