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	Prison can be fun. by Eric Rasmussen (7/30/99)

You aren't really in prison Under the right circumstances, that statement holds true. The right circumstances are as follows:
1) You aren't really in prison.
2) You can shut off the power to "escape".
3) This prison is really the world of Gothic, and upcoming RPG being developed by Piranha Bytes.

We're not sure what it is you did, but you're in trouble. See that burly looking man over there? How about the one next to him? Your life means nothing to them. Nothing. You are poop as far as they're concerned. For these crimes you committed, these two guards are going to throw you into a huge magic sphere with lots of other prisoners. As they draw their swords and approach, you cringe in fear awaiting certain death. To your surprise, the guards only kick you a couple of times and throw you off a cliff towards a large sphere. Careening off the edge you shout, "Hey, this isn't so baaaaaaaaaad!" *splash*. At least they were kind enough to aim for water underneath the big sphere. And what the hell is this sphere anyway?

Before the game continues, you put it on pause and check that manual thingy packaged with the game. The sphere turns out to be a huge magic sphere (as opposed to your everyday garden variety sphere), and while anything can pass through to the inside, no living objects can exit it. Convicts are sent here to mine ore for the war effort, and the only way to get much needed supplies is to mine that ore and trade it with people on the outside. Content with your newfound knowledge, you quickly throw the manual away and get back to the game. A minute later, a fellow convict spits in your face and explains where you are and why. I guess you didn't need to waste all the time with that manual after all.

Welcome to the world of Gothic. You obviously aren't in the brightest of spots, being stuck with a bunch of convicts striving for power. If Tatooine (Star Wars) is the armpit of the galaxy, this is the place where the sun doesn't shine. Well it does shine there, just not symbolically and… I hate analogies. As I was saying, this isn't a real vacation spot. Aside from the occasional tourist that stands at the sphere's edge and throws food to the convicts, most of the people you'll encounter are grim and power hungry. Dealing with these people will be tricky business. If you tick off the most powerful crime lord in the game, don't expect to sleep well the following night. The only sleep you'd be getting is of the eternal sort, which would be a shame because of so much that awaits you. Also, don't plan on a locked door keeping the baddies away. The crime lord's flunkies won't bother finding the yellow key card to match your lock; they'll just break the door down with an axe and kill you. The moral of this story? Always agree with crime lords, and don't talk about them in a derogatory manner. Ever.

It looks like you're about ready to start adventuring now. Lucky for you, Piranha Bytes has gone to great lengths to ensure an easy to use interface and control setup, along with optional hovercraft vehicles. Oh, this just in, they scrapped the hovercraft idea. Piranha Bytes game designer and animator Alex Brüggemann explains, "How do you know about the hover crafts? We had them in, but dropped them as we discovered they don't fit into our medieval fantasy scenario." I for one don't see anything wrong with medieval convicts mining ore riding an occasional hovercraft, but it's not my call. As you learn all the basic movements quickly, you soon discover there are a couple things you can't figure out with the controls. Better check that manual. What?! You threw it away? That was dumb. Time to start digging through the garbage… actually it looks kind of dirty in there… did you see something move? Better just buy another copy of Gothic instead.