I played the game once before (have it on Steam) and enjoyed the hell out of it. Want to play through it again, joining a different camp. Debating using a community patch, about which I can't get any reliable information. Is Ironkeep worthwhile, or does it create more problems than it solves? Are there other good bugfix patches? Didn't have much trouble when using no community patches (other than the missing sound file, everything went about as expected)-should I proceed with Vanilla Gothic?

I'm using right now the PlayerKit and the SystemPack, no texture packs nor mods. You can get those files from World Of Gothic. They solve many performance issues, like proper alt+tabbing, faster loading/saving times, better frame rate, and so on.
Install the Player Kit, then the SystemPack, otherwise you won't be able to install the latter.

EDIT: I didn't find any gamebreaking bugs with the latest official patch, so... I won't bother with IK patch.

Link for the Player Kit.

I'll edit my post if I find the SystemPack links.

EDIT2: SystemPack links: LINK 1, LINK 2 (WoG German Site)

EDIT3: Check this post so you can see the things the patch improves.

PS: No more edits! LOL

Have fun!

Could do with another source for 1.8 pack, as the download site requires yandex registration, which doesn't recognise UK cellphone numbers.

I just found this World of Gothic link for the SystemPack, let me know if it worked for you (it's on the german site btw).

(Just updated my previous post with this additional link)

OK have installed PlayerKit...now to find the systempack...

https://github.com/GothicFixTeam/GothicFix/releases/tag/v1.8

For me the SystemPack does not solve Alt+Tab issues. The game still crashes, when I alt+tab into a fullscreen application like Homam3 Complete. It still gives "access violation" and crashes. Ymmv.

Same with Morrowind, as far as I can see, none of the games from the 2002 era work reliably with AltTab.