New Balance

This is an adaptation of the Returning mod available in German and Russian and builds on top of the original Returning 2.0 mod. It adds a lot of new content, settings, gameplay features, quests, characters and so on. It's huge. More details can be found here. News, Updates and the installer can be found here. The installer contains the New Balance mod as well as a number of other mods, patches and DLCs. During installation you can choose which of these to install, according to your preferences.

Manual Instructions

1. Install base game without any patches.
2. Download installer.
3. Execute installer in Wine prefix.
4. Install New Balance mod.
5. (Optional) Install additional mods, patches or DLCs using the same installer.
6. Start the game with $BASE_DIR/system/Gothic2.exe

Note that this game already includes a list of modifications and plugins so adding any additional mods is very likely unnecessary or even detrimental. Proceed at your own risk.

Important

This mod is known to have issues with keyboard input on certain Wine versions. Known working versions are:

• wine-ge-8.26
• wine-9.8-staging-amd64
• wine-9.8-amd64

Lutris Install Script

description: 'Installer for Gothic 2: New Balance'
game_slug: gothic-ii-gold-edition
gogslug: gothic_2_gold_edition
installer_slug: gothic2-gog
name: 'Gothic II: New Balance'
slug: gothic2-gog
gogid: 1207658718
version: GOG
year: 2003
notes: "Hassle free installer of Gothic 2 GOG version with New Balance mod. Click \"Continue\" button in\
  \ any pop-up during the installation. Please be patient, some steps take time to\
  \ execute."
runner: wine
script:
  files:
    - setup: N/A:Select the GOG game setup file
    - new_balance:
        filename: new-balance-archive.zip
        url: https://returning.neos-mods.de/download.php?file=TmV3LUJhbGFuY2UtSW5zdGFsbGVyLURldXRzY2gtMS4yLnppcA%3D%3D
  variables:
    gamedatapath: drive_c/GOG Games/Gothic 2 Gold/Data
    gamepath: drive_c/GOG Games/Gothic 2 Gold
    gamesystempath: drive_c/GOG Games/Gothic 2 Gold/system
  wine:
    overrides:
      ddraw: n,b
      dinput: n,b
      dsound: b,n
  game:
    arch: win32
    exe: $gamesystempath/Gothic2.exe
    prefix: $GAMEDIR
  installer:
    - task:
        arch: win32
        description: Creating 32-bit Wine prefix
        install_gecko: false
        install_mono: true
        name: create_prefix
        prefix: $GAMEDIR
    - task:
        app: win7
        arch: win32
        description: 'winetricks: win7'
        name: winetricks
        prefix: $GAMEDIR
    - task:
        arch: win32
        args: /SP- /SUPRESSMSGBOXES /LOG /SILENT
        description: Installing Gothic 2
        executable: setup
        name: wineexec
        prefix: $GAMEDIR
    - task:
        app: "directmusic dotnet48 vcrun2022 dxvk"
        arch: win32
        description: Install wine dependencies. This will take some time.
        name: winetricks
        prefix: $GAMEDIR
    - extract:
        dst: $CACHE/
        file: new_balance
    - task:
        arch: win32
        args: /S /D=C:\\GOG Games\\Gothic 2 Gold
        description: Install New Balance
        executable: $CACHE/New-Balance-Installer-Deutsch-1.2.exe
        name: wineexec
        prefix: $GAMEDIR
        working_dir: $GAMEDIR
    - write_config:
        data:
          GAME:
            playLogoVideos: 0
            scaleVideos: 1
            subTitles: 1
        description: Updating 'gothic.ini' file
        file: $GAMEDIR/$gamesystempath/GOTHIC.INI
    - write_config:
        data:
          Display:
            Brightness: 1.0
            Rain: 1
            RainEffects: 0
            TextureQuality: 16384
            UIScale: 1.0
            VSync: 1
          FontRendering:
            Enable: 1
          General:
            AllowNormalmaps: 1
            AnimateStaticVobs: 1
            DrawWorldSectionIntersections: 1
            EnableDebugLog: 0
            EnableGodRays: 1
            EnableInactiveFpsLock: 1
            FpsLimit: 60
            SunLightStrength: 1.5
          HBAO:
            Bias: 0.5
            BlurSharpness: 4.0
            EnableBlur: 1
            Enabled: 0
            PowerExponent: 3.0
            Radius: 1.0
            SsaoBlurRadius: 1
            SsaoStepCount: 0
          SMAA:
            Enabled: 1
            SharpenFactor: 0.2
          Shadows:
            EnableDynamicLighting: 1
            EnableShadows: 1
            EnableSoftShadows: 1
            PointlightShadows: 2
            ShadowAOStrength: 0.5
            ShadowMapSize: 2048
            ShadowStrength: 0.4
            SmoothCameraUpdate: 1
            WorldAOStrength: 0.5
            WorldShadowRangeScale: 8.0
        description: Updating GD3D11 config
        file: $GAMEDIR/$gamesystempath/GD3D11/UserSettings.ini