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Here's to new beginnings!

Risen, a robust fantasy action-RPG from the Piranha Bytes studio, the developer behind the classic Gothic games, is now available 60% off on GOG.com. That's only $3.99 for the next 48 hours to start a new epic adventure!

It all begins on a mysterious volcanic island. The heavy tremors on the island bode ill for its inhabitants. Ancient temples have risen from the ground recently, bizarre creatures are terrorizing the area. Fear and terror is spreading among the population. Is it the end of all hope? A group of powerful men who call themselves "The Inquisitors" have taken it upon themselves to put an end to these events. They send an expedition to this remote island, but a storm takes hold of the ship and destroys it at sea. It was foretold that a hero will come, and the fate played its marked cards to set the events in motion. As if by a miracle, you survive the shipwreck and are stranded on the volcanic island alone. You find yourself amidst a chaos of rebellion, tyranny, and mystic rituals. It is up to you to decide to which side the pendulum of fate will swing.

In the epic world of Risen, filled with mysterious earthquakes, fearsome monsters, and unimaginable treasures, forge your path with the sword, learn the art of staff fighting, or become a powerful mage. Delve into a gritty, raw, and atmospheric fantasy world in which every action has a consequence. The game comes from the German Piranha Bytes studio, the team who brought us all three classic iterations in the fan-favorite [url=http://www.gog.com/games##search=gothic]Gothic Series[/url]. Do you want to see how the creators of one of the most acclaimed RPGs could do with the power of the modern gaming machines? Now you can, and with the 48-hour special launch offer you'll be amazed by the value you get for just $3.99 of your money.

With the addition of Risen to our DRM-Free catalog, we welcome a new publisher, Deep Silver, onboard GOG.com! There's no better way to start a new beautiful friendship, than with an epic RPG, especially when it comes with a 60% launch discount, that will be available until Saturday, April 5, at 9:59AM GMT.
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StingingVelvet: Great game. Smaller in scope that Gothic 2 but the same excellent RPGing.

I already had it DRM free on Amazon but I figured the soundtrack alone was worth $4, plus the convenience of having it on GOG. Thanks guys.

Hopefully some of Deep Silver's Steam only stuff comes here next.
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fracturedsanity: How is the soundtrack?

I'm in the same boat; I bought it on amazon but haven't gotten around to playing it yet.
Though while writing this I realize I should just pull up Youtube and hear for myself.
The soundtrack is quite epic, imo :)
Glad to see Risen first on top sellers list. Bought and waiting for the next one on Thursday.
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fracturedsanity: How is the soundtrack?
I actually love the soundtrack. It's made by Kai Rosenkranz, who also did the soundtrack for Gothic 1-3. His soundtrack for Gothic 3 was a little bit too epic - while it sounded very good on it's own, always hearing this huge orchestra while playing, even if you were just picking up flowers was bit much.
So he scaled it back with Risen, and created music that is much more similar to Gothic 1 and 2 - more atmospheric, ambient, serene.
It also captures the mediterranean flair of the island, with a lot of acoustic guitars etc.

I really like the music in the harbor city for example: click.
The music from the Don's camp I think sounds quite menacing, despite being very calm: click

So yeah, in my opinion the Risen soundtrack is just awesome.
I was hoping to play it this week end, but a nasty bug is blocking me. If only GoG support team was working on week end :(
Welcome Deep Silver to GOG! Don't hesitate bring your back catalog here:

- Cursed Mountain
- Emergency
- Lost Horizon
- Neuro Hunter
- Panzer Elite Action
- ParaWorld
- Prison Break: The Conspiracy
- Secret Files
- The Fall: Last Days of Gaia
- The Immortals of Terra
- Wildlife Park
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RadonGOG: ...As long as we can get indirect control via sales on GOG we should stay stick to that plan!
Sure, instant agreement. Doesn't mean it will work though, but I'm the last to complain about that. About funny marketing phrases like "DRM FREE revolution" on the other side one can reveal the silliness of them, can one.
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RadonGOG: ...As long as we can get indirect control via sales on GOG we should stay stick to that plan!
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Trilarion: Sure, instant agreement. Doesn't mean it will work though, but I'm the last to complain about that. About funny marketing phrases like "DRM FREE revolution" on the other side one can reveal the silliness of them, can one.
Can I ask:

When I installed the game a pop up appear asking to a License Agrrement for PhsyX by Nvidia?

What purpose does it serve and how does it affect the game and the computer I'm using?
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Trilarion: Sure, instant agreement. Doesn't mean it will work though, but I'm the last to complain about that. About funny marketing phrases like "DRM FREE revolution" on the other side one can reveal the silliness of them, can one.
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Elmofongo: Can I ask:

When I installed the game a pop up appear asking to a License Agrrement for PhsyX by Nvidia?

What purpose does it serve and how does it affect the game and the computer I'm using?
Risen requires PhysX and the PhysX it requires is a specific version and, thus, the specific version of PhysX is packaged with the installer.
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Elmofongo: Can I ask:

When I installed the game a pop up appear asking to a License Agrrement for PhsyX by Nvidia?

What purpose does it serve and how does it affect the game and the computer I'm using?
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JudasIscariot: Risen requires PhysX and the PhysX it requires is a specific version and, thus, the specific version of PhysX is packaged with the installer.
A very specific purpose indeed.
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Elmofongo: Can I ask:

When I installed the game a pop up appear asking to a License Agrrement for PhsyX by Nvidia?

What purpose does it serve and how does it affect the game and the computer I'm using?
PhysX is a software that does physical calculations that are used in graphical effects. Like leaves blowing through the wind, fog, ragdoll animation, etc.

There are many examples on YouTube how games profit from PhysX.

It was originally invented by a company that produced a hardware PCI card with a processor dedicated to these calculations and the software would make use of that or use the CPU if the card wasn't available. NVidia bought the company, discontinued the PCI board and tweaked the software to use NVidia GPUs for the calculations. PhysX has been part of the NVidia drivers for several years, so if your graphics card has a NVidia GPU you will most likely already have PhysX on your system.

Bottom line:

*) If a game uses PhysX for some effects you will need to install it or the game won't run.
*) If you have an NVidia GPU you don't need to install it because you already have it.
*) If you don't have an NVidia GPU and the game doesn't scale down the effects automatically but allows you to choose how much PhysX effects you want, set them as low as possible or the game will run slow.

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JudasIscariot: Risen requires PhysX and the PhysX it requires is a specific version and, thus, the specific version of PhysX is packaged with the installer.
There is nothing special about the PhysX version packaged in the installer. It's just a standalone PhysX installer without the rest of the NVidia drivers because people without NVidia graphic cards need it.

If you do have an up to date PhysX installation on your system because you have an NVidia GPU you can decline the PhysX installation and the game will run just fine regardless.
Post edited April 05, 2014 by Geralt_of_Rivia
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Elmofongo: Can I ask:

When I installed the game a pop up appear asking to a License Agrrement for PhsyX by Nvidia?

What purpose does it serve and how does it affect the game and the computer I'm using?
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Geralt_of_Rivia: PhysX is a software that does physical calculations that are used in graphical effects. Like leaves blowing through the wind, fog, ragdoll animation, etc.

There are many examples on YouTube how games profit from PhysX.

It was originally invented by a company that produced a hardware PCI card with a processor dedicated to these calculations and the software would make use of that or use the CPU if the card wasn't available. NVidia bought the company, discontinued the PCI board and tweaked the software to use NVidia GPUs for the calculations. PhysX has been part of the NVidia drivers for several years, so if your graphics card has a NVidia GPU you will most likely already have PhysX on your system.

Bottom line:

*) If a game uses PhysX for some effects you will need to install it or the game won't run.
*) If you have an NVidia GPU you don't need to install it because you already have it.
*) If you don't have an NVidia GPU and the game doesn't scale down the effects automatically but allows you to choose how much PhysX effects you want, set them as low as possible or the game will run slow.

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JudasIscariot: Risen requires PhysX and the PhysX it requires is a specific version and, thus, the specific version of PhysX is packaged with the installer.
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Geralt_of_Rivia: There is nothing special about the PhysX version packaged in the installer. It's just a standalone PhysX installer without the rest of the NVidia drivers because people without NVidia graphic cards need it.

If you do have an up to date PhysX installation on your system because you have an NVidia GPU you can decline the PhysX installation and the game will run just fine regardless.
According to our testlab notes, Risen works best with PhysX 9.09.0408 as it's more stable when using that version :)

Newer versions of PhysX tended to make the game crash when launching and gave us an error message about being unable to create physx sdk.
Nice addition to GOG!
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Geralt_of_Rivia: If you do have an up to date PhysX installation on your system because you have an NVidia GPU you can decline the PhysX installation and the game will run just fine regardless.
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JudasIscariot: According to our testlab notes, Risen works best with PhysX 9.09.0408 as it's more stable when using that version :)

Newer versions of PhysX tended to make the game crash when launching and gave us an error message about being unable to create physx sdk.
Of course it's not impossible that some games are having troubles with specific versions of drivers, no matter whether these are sound drivers, graphic drivers or otherwise. So I wouldn't completely rule out PhysX as a possible source of problems. But at least up to now I haven't heard of PhysX incompatibilities and I can assure you the game runs just fine on the latest PhysX version (9.13.1220) on a Geforce 560Ti.

So I would recommend keeping the current version and check if it works for you (you can still install the old version if it doesn't) before installing a stoneage version that is certainly going to make trouble for new games.
Physx is fucking a lot of games up on new machines, even if said games are only a few years old. Honestly you have to blame nVidia and no one else, because they're not keeping modern Physx drivers fully compatible with older games. nVidia used to be the star when it came to old game compatibility but they're falling down on the job these past couple years.
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Elmofongo: Can I ask:

When I installed the game a pop up appear asking to a License Agrrement for PhsyX by Nvidia?

What purpose does it serve and how does it affect the game and the computer I'm using?
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JudasIscariot: Risen requires PhysX and the PhysX it requires is a specific version and, thus, the specific version of PhysX is packaged with the installer.
Well I tried installing it, but it said I have a more newer driver so the PhysX does not work. Oddly enough though is that the game's tree leaves and foliage are still moving with the wind.

I am more glad though that the controls are perfect, its what Gothic 1 should have had. And this game's combat is familiar to me because it almost reminds me of Demon's Souls, Fable and Monster Hunter in that dodging is everything and remember the enemies patterns