Gothic II: Gold Classic

Gothic II: Gold Classic

134 ratings
How to play Gothic II in 2020 (2025 update)
By kony
This guide lists everything you need to run Gothic II on Windows 10 as well as make it look decent.
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2025 UPDATE
Steam version has been updated with fixes, so instead of doing all the below, mostly unnecessarily, ignore the below instructions and just do this:

(Optional) Update your GPU drivers
Install the following mods (as an example, but these are my favorite):




This way the game will look much better, but beyond graphics the content will remain the same.

That's it! Ignore instructions below, I'll just leave them if for some reason someone somewhere will play old version (pre-2023 or something) of the game.

Here are some screenshots from these mods:









Introduction
Gothic II 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 II is quite a dated game, therefore I also suggest modding in DirectX 11 support that will make the game look much more modern and pretty, albeit still a bit angular.

If you're looking for similar guide for the first Gothic, I have already written one:
Instructions
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. Install Steam fix, which is combined multi-language fix, Player Kit and System Pack in one installation file:
https://github.com/dosinabox/g2_steam_fix/releases/download/03.20/Gothic_2_Steam_Fix_03.2020.exe


3. Install DirectX 11 support:
https://github.com/Kirides/GD3D11/releases/download/v17.7-dev12/Gothic2-GD3D11-17.7-dev12.zip
WARNING: AMD drivers might cause issues!
Just copy the .zip contents to the ...\Steam\steamapps\common\Gothic II\system

AMD users: You additionally need to assign Switchable Graphics Mode to Gothic 2'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


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


5. Edit properties of ...Gothic II\system\GothicStarter.exe in compatibility tab:
A) Set to run this program in compatibility for Windows 7.
B) Set to run this program as an administrator.


6. Open Steam library, go to Gothic II's properties and set launch option as following:
"[GothicStarter.exe location]" %command%

For example, my "set launch options" is:
"D:\software\Steam\steamapps\common\Gothic II\system\GothicStarter.exe" %command%
Issues
1. Movies are being played in a small window, not full screen.

2. There is no blood.

3. Saves have no thumbnails.
Final words
With the above fixes Gothic II should not only run well on modern hardware and OS, but also look pictoresque and support high resolutions, dynamic shadows and other graphical improvements.

You can press F11 when in game to set additional graphical settings and preferences to your own liking.
47 Comments
Another question: "6. Open Steam library, go to Gothic II's properties and set launch option as following:
"[GothicStarter.exe location]" %command%" So, what's this for, by the way??? :) Just wondering, since ng. is mentioned about it.
@Erawolf It's called a GUIDE. So, for the WORKSHOP MODS you only subscribe, yes. But you also see the links in the guide, download everything and manually install all of them or just the ones you prefer from them. But make sure you read first the whole guide too. Some parts of the mods are skippable but some only works properly if both are installed. Some players feedback indicates, the workshop mods not always work, then it's always a good alternative to install all mods manually.
"Issues
1. Movies are being played in a small window, not full screen.

2. There is no blood.

3. Saves have no thumbnails." Hi, these issues ONLY occurs, if I install the DX11 mod as well? Any workaround to fix them perhaps?
Finally it works! Thank you!
Erawolf 24 Apr @ 10:09am 
do we need to just subscribe to the mods and nothing else? is there somewhere to enable mods or mod loader?
michalbachul 28 Mar @ 7:24pm 
how to turn of this stupid returning runing?
kony  [author] 9 Mar @ 3:48pm 
You can fiddle with DX11 renderer settings to suit yourself, i just left it on default settings
Jelly Doughnut 9 Mar @ 2:16pm 
The textures and overall scenery look great but everything is a bit too bright...

Do you know what could be causing that? Thanks for the guide by the way.
kony  [author] 5 Mar @ 5:12am 
Yes, there should be fixes already on Steam for 2 years or so, so you should be able just to install and run it.
Walt 27 Feb @ 4:50pm 
Is there a way to run the game without dx11 Renderer? I want to play the game again as the classic experience