Gothic 1 Remake has had a big day. Developer Alkimia Interactive's first feature update brings back Marvin Mode, adds a Photo Mode and gives the hero a haircut, and a separate post the same day opens the game up to modders with a Modkit BETA.
Both were posted on the game's official Steam news page on 29 October. The update post says Feature Update #1 is "available now for free on PC". Japanese outlet 4Gamer reports that THQ Nordic Japan released it on 30 October Japan time for PC and Xbox Series X|S.
Marvin Mode, and how to use it
For anyone who missed the original, the Steam announcement explains that Marvin Mode is "the official cheat mode that gives players access to various settings in the game". It covers everything from opening "that one annoying lock you couldn't pick" to teleporting and spawning items, characters or creatures.
Turning it on is simple. According to the announcement, you press Esc, type MARVIN, press Esc again and follow the instructions. To turn it off, press Esc and type 42. Worth remembering before you spawn something you regret.
Photo Mode and a haircut
The new Photo Mode is opened from the pause menu or with the L key, according to the Steam patch notes, and comes with "various options" for framing shots of the Colony. 4Gamer adds that it lets players capture the scenery and characters in compositions of their own choosing.
The Nameless Hero gets a makeover option too. The Steam post says he can now get a haircut and tattoos, unlocked by completing a few simple quests for Joru and Baal Namib. The patch notes list this as a Brotherhood immersion and customisation feature for members of the Swamp Camp.
Other additions in the notes:
- a waiting feature while sitting on a bench;
- more sound reactions;
- improved stats for crafted weapons;
- a specific animation for dying in water after taking damage.
The notes also carry gameplay and quest fixes. Among them: equipping two identical rings now works as expected, a logic check now includes items in the player's pouch, and many location and enemy journal entries that weren't unlocking correctly have been fixed.
The Modkit BETA
The second Steam post, titled "Gothic 1 Remake — Modkit BETA", says the team is "now providing the first stage of modding support". The main focus is exposing the game's scripting language and providing the full script sources, with documentation hosted on GitHub. Mods are meant to go to the game's official Steam Workshop page, and the post says the mod management screen is reached through a launch option on Steam.
The team is clear that this is a starting point: the post says there is "no ETA for more mod tools", though it has "a few more ideas".
What's left from the roadmap
On 7 August the team set out four features for the following months on the same Steam page: a photo mode, Marvin Mode, a mod kit and alternative progression mechanics. With Photo Mode, Marvin Mode and the first stage of the mod kit now out, alternative progression is the one still to arrive.
The update also lines up with a Gothic franchise sale on Steam. The announcement says it runs from 29 October until 5 November, with the remake 25% off and Gothic, Gothic II, Gothic 3 and ArcaniA each 80% off.
PlayStation 5 owners in Japan have a date of their own: 4Gamer reports that the PS5 download version is due there on 24 November, with no date yet for a boxed release.
Jax's take: Marvin Mode was never just a cheat menu. For a lot of Gothic players it was how you poked at the world to see what it would do, and putting it back as an official, documented feature says a lot about who this remake is for. Handing modders the full script sources on the same day is the bigger long-term deal, though. That's the kind of move that keeps an RPG alive for years.
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