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[Eusis]

Oh, hey, I can buy the Source Hunter DLC as a "gift" and store it for later! That should avoid any issues with the game being revoked come launch, just activate it then.

The whole point is that you can freely adjust your time slices depending on the circumstances at any given point. That's one of the many huge advantages of RTwP systems.

I'd think similar can apply to a good turn based system with auto combat and good pacing, but that's inverting it to an extent and gets into how every battle system is different.

EDIT: Actually, reflecting on that it does highlight that whether or not RTwP is really THE ideal, something within that general zone probably is depending on what a game's going on. At a minimum no one wants to wait around unnecessarily, which is one of those things that really gets in the way of FFVIII and FFIX being approachable nowadays.

 

[Casimir]

So I am curious to try this game but before I do tell me, is it anything like the original Dragon's Age? I loved the first one, hated the second one. Is it more like Neverwinter Nights: Mask of the Betrayer or anything similar?

Even though it is a flawed game, I think if you enjoyed the first Dragon Age, you will like Divinity: Original Sin.

 

[Crimsonsky]

I wouldnt say its absolutely not true, I remember many articles like this from the time witcher 3 was announced.
http://www.ggsgamer.com/2013/02/18/cdpr-wants-to-avoid-skyrims-generic-flavors-with-the-witcher-3/

which isnt surprising, because witcher 1 and 2 are pretty much as different as possible as it can be witthin the same genre, compared to skyrim
but yeah, it does make sense now, before release, to try to lure the 22mio skyrim crowd in, it certainly makes sense, I'm pretty sure skyrim fans wont dislike a simply superior game

Indeed, but in that very article the two guys from CDPR say they hold Skyrim in high regard. You can criticize the bad parts of something and still like it.

A good example is the global chat in Divinity, which should be turned off, except when you need help or a partner. As it can be cluttered and filled with nonsense very quickly and I imagine that will get worse upon release. Particularly if it isn't moderated. Perhaps it started out as a good idea, in theory, that will probably turn sour once the masses are unleashed.

 

[Decado]

You are so fucking wrong it hurts. Just stop.

Speak for yourself.

 

[Decado]

Just grabbed the Collector's Edition. You get two copies of everything, from what I saw.

Have Larian produced a game manual, yet?

 

[Eusis]

Just grabbed the Collector's Edition. You get two copies of everything, from what I saw.

Have Larian produced a game manual, yet?

They produced a physical one at least, so hopefully we can grab a PDF one come launch for those of us going digital. I'd like the luxury of loading it on a tablet to read.

 

[Decado]

How so? Next time I play one of them I'll take a few Shadowplay videos.

No flanking, attacks of opportunity, and positioning and formations (if you could get the path-finding to hold any) held little significance beyond being "close" or "far".

The "tactics" in the IE games were very reliant on spells or spell-like abilities, and even then their significance was severely dampened because of the real-time round system.

Not saying RTwP can't have great tactical combat...just that I haven't seen it yet in an RPG or tactical RPG. The IE games certainly didn't. Will Pillars of Eternity? I'm doubtful, but the ideas Sawyer have are in-line with my hopes for RTwP, so there is potential if he follows through. I think time and budget constraints will ultimately crush that hope, though.

I realize I have the D&D master collection. I may load up one of the IE games and take a trip down memory lane. Maybe the combat won't suck as badly as I remember. Do the mods help combat at all?

 

[Decado]

They produced a physical one at least, so hopefully we can grab a PDF one come launch for those of us going digital. I'd like the luxury of loading it on a tablet to read.

How much of the starting skills/stats etc. are going to remain the same? I may load the early access version just to play around with character creation (which I hope is extensive).

 

[Antiwhippy]

I hope the loading times are improved in the final build. Good lord they are long.

 

[Sinatar]

I hope the leaf times are improved in the final. Good led they are long.

I love how cell phone autocorrect makes people sound like Malkavians from VTM: Bloodlines.

 

[Antiwhippy]

How do you know that's not what I meant to say? ;P

 

[ZoddGutts]

I hope the loading times are improved in the final build. Good lord they are long.

Never noticed, but than again I have it installed in my SSD.

 

[Antiwhippy]

Man, I know I shouldn't do it, but I can't stop playing just a little bit of it from time to time.

Good fun.

Haven't even done any of the main stuff.

 

[Raxious]

Bought the game yesterday, holding myself off from playing it until it releases. Will there be a new OT for the game ?

 

[robin2]

Does it make sense to download the game already to have it download less time when it comes out, or it will re-download everything?

 

[Corpekata]

Does it make sense to download the game already to have it download less time when it comes out, or it will re-download everything?

If you bought it from Steam you might as well download it now. From what I understand the kickstarter keys are a bit different though so might as well wait. They sent out Beta keys when it first launched on EA but are supposed to be sending out new final keys for the release shortly.

 

[robin2]

If you bought it from Steam you might as well download it now. From what I understand the kickstarter keys are a bit different though so might as well wait. They sent out Beta keys when it first launched on EA but are supposed to be sending out new final keys for the release shortly.

Thanks. I bought it, so I'm going to start the download.

 

[Durante]

No flanking, attacks of opportunity, and positioning and formations (if you could get the path-finding to hold any) held little significance beyond being "close" or "far".

I think you are missing out on a great many strategic positioning-related opportunities in IE games if you only consider "close" and "far". Just a few examples from my recent IWD playthrough:
- Blocking off choke points with tanks
- Engaging enemies in a particular pattern, and then moving a spellcaster exactly so e.g. Cone of Cold hits the maximum amount of enemies (moving away melee just exactly in time)
- Fighting an active retreat against large groups of enemies, e.g. from corner to corner
- Equipping one tank to be fire immune, then pulling a room full of enemies towards him so you can wail at all of them with fire spells
- Aligning all character mid-battle to cast a powerful short-term buff, and then spreading out again
- Staying around obstacles because of groups of enemies with ranged weapons (and moving back again each time too many of them circumvented the obstacle)
- And of course the interaction of all of that with AoE spells which affect movement (ie. rooting)

These are not some ideal once-in-a-lifetime scenarios, they are just a selection of basic bread-and-butter moves, and at least some of them can be applied in a great many major battles throughout the game. I simply do not believe that a positioning strategy boiling down to "close" and "far" has any chance to be successful in IWD at harder difficulties (and particularly not the addons - Heart of Winter and Trials of the Luremaster - which have some of the hardest encounter design in any cRPG).

Yes, some of these moves require a lot of pausing at the right moments (and, due to the unfortunately antiquated UI, intimate knowledge about spell shapes, ranges and casting times) to pull off, but large battles against more than a dozen enemies are still orders of magnitude faster than pulling off equally intricate maneuvers any turn-based system I know of, or could imagine.

That is not to say that flanking and AoO would not further improve the systems. But this is equally true for both turn-based and RTwP -- it's (sadly) not like every turn-based system features them! -- so doesn't really have much bearing on our overall discussion.

 

[Casimir]

Bought the game yesterday, holding myself off from playing it until it releases. Will there be a new OT for the game ?

Monday. Earliest time to post an OT is seven days prior to release.

 

[JaseC]

Just grabbed the Collector's Edition. You get two copies of everything, from what I saw.

Not the CE DLC (compare http://steamdb.info/sub/35403/apps/ to http://steamdb.info/sub/45317/apps/), although this may change in the future once said DLC is actually nearing release.

 

[Renekton]

No flanking, attacks of opportunity, and positioning and formations (if you could get the path-finding to hold any) held little significance beyond being "close" or "far".

The "tactics" in the IE games were very reliant on spells or spell-like abilities, and even then their significance was severely dampened because of the real-time round system.

Not saying RTwP can't have great tactical combat...just that I haven't seen it yet in an RPG or tactical RPG. The IE games certainly didn't. Will Pillars of Eternity? I'm doubtful, but the ideas Sawyer have are in-line with my hopes for RTwP, so there is potential if he follows through. I think time and budget constraints will ultimately crush that hope, though.

This is not an issue of RTWP, I don't think.

RTWP functions like turn-based. The game has an internal clock which all activities (movement, attack, cast, skill) tick along like turn-based would. Developers can pack as many calculations (opportunity, initiative, flank, interrupt etc) per activity or tick.

 

[foobarry81]

I think you are missing out on a great many strategic positioning-related opportunities in IE games if you only consider "close" and "far". Just a few examples from my recent IWD playthrough:

<list of awesome examples>

These are not some ideal once-in-a-lifetime scenarios, they are just a selection of basic bread-and-butter moves, and at least some of them can be applied in a great many major battles throughout the game. I simply do not believe that a positioning strategy boiling down to "close" and "far" has any chance to be successful in IWD at harder difficulties (and particularly not the addons - Heart of Winter and Trials of the Luremaster - which have some of the hardest encounter design in any cRPG).

Yes, some of these moves require a lot of pausing at the right moments (and, due to the unfortunately antiquated UI, intimate knowledge about spell shapes, ranges and casting times) to pull off, but large battles against more than a dozen enemies are still orders of magnitude faster than pulling off equally intricate maneuvers any turn-based system I know of, or could imagine.

That is not to say that flanking and AoO would not further improve the systems. But this is equally true for both turn-based and RTwP -- it's (sadly) not like every turn-based system features them! -- so doesn't really have much bearing on our overall discussion.

You make me want to replay the game right this second...

<AntonioBanderassogood.gif>

 

[Sentenza]

So, let's go back to talk about this game...
Anyone who played it enough in beta has some solid advice about character builds and the skill system?

I mean things like "Don't waste too much point in that, use that instead" or "you'll end maxing at most three skills so be careful on how you spend your points" and so on.

I don't care too much about "wasting points" right now, so I'm experimenting a bit, but as I said yesterday I'm looking around and gathering ideas to have a quicker start after release.

 

[FlyingSaucer]

Same question, and are the wizard/thief builds feasible and/or practicable ? I would love to play my first playthrought as some kind of magical crook

 

[Moff]

I couldnt resist and just spent a few hours just in the starting town, and I can confirm this game is incredibly awesome.

the world interaction is off the charts, so many things you can manipulate, secret switches, locations, and I found even more items that let me manipulate the world further, a shovel for digging holes for example, and indeed, digging holes in a cemetery can produce many surprises.

what I value most about world interaction though, is how NPCs react to it. the UI icons turn red if you do something illegal like breaking in, stealing, or entering areas you are not supposed to. you can of course do that if no one sees it (its marked on the NPS if he doesnt see you) or use stealth or well, kill the npc. I actually broke in and got arrested and thrown in jail. and and after that I killed the mayor and his wife in a bathtub, just to experiment with the games possibilities of course.

oh and there are tons of sidequest and the main quest seems to be pretty cool (and mind blowing) too after the first few surprises.

I really need to stop now because I dont like to replay so much stuff, but I'm really looking forward to the game now.

 

[Durante]

I think one thing that should also be mentioned (and applauded) is that this is by far the most technically accomplished of all the recent (and upcoming available on EA) CRPGs (eg. Shadowrun / M&MX / Blackguards / Wasteland 2). It's graphically superior to all of them while also performing consistently well. Larian clearly have some real programmers and know exactly what they are doing with their own engine.

 

[Santiako]

So, let's go back to talk about this game...
Anyone who played it enough in beta has some solid advice about character builds and the skill system?

I mean things like "Don't waste too much point in that, use that instead" or "you'll end maxing at most three skills so be careful on how you spend your points" and so on.

I don't care too much about "wasting points" right now, so I'm experimenting a bit, but as I said yesterday I'm looking around and gathering ideas to have a quicker start after release.

Sure, for example I've found that it's much better to invest one point in each magic school instead of specializing in just one. Also, I've found the summon spider spell to be the most useful at the beginning and fire in general seems overpowered as shit.

Of course, this may all change later or in the final release.

 

[Moff]

If you decide about character builds, it also seems to be important what companions you get in the game. and in the first town

Spoiler

you will get a wizard and a warrior companion, which made me change my second charater to a rogue.

 

[Crimsonsky]

Same question, and are the wizard/thief builds feasible and/or practicable ? I would love to play my first playthrought as some kind of magical crook

I've put about 20 hours in the early access and completed it.

The easiest/most powerful setup I've seen so far is Knight/Shadowblade. For your Shadowblade, you drop the witch skill tree and pick up pyromancy. Change your talent to backstab, you want both fire abilities and teleport. The Knight is fine the way he is. You start off every battle with charge and your shadowblade waits. Until you get the haste spell which isn't till level 4 I believe. The enemy will move in on your knight. Decide which target is the most dangerous, teleport him right beside your shadowblade and backstab him, this will gib most enemies in the starting area and it's surroundings. Use your knight and fire to wrap up everyone else.

In no way does Loner make up for a companion. If you take it, you are weaker than a full group.

Once you grab the mage Companion from the library use your Shadowblade to make Rain and use the mage to cast Zap(he starts with it). This paralyzes everyone in puddles and is on a short enough cd to have an appreciable uptime. You can switch to bows and kill even the level 7 orcs outside of town this way at level ~4. For big baddies, that would take multiple turns to destroy, use Freeze. You'll slow them, then freeze them, then explode them with charge.

You'll find that everything works, some of it just works better in the early game. I make no promises about late game. For the early game things like lockpicking, all manner of crafting, and pickpocketing are useless. You can get enough sneaking skill from gear. All points should go into offense.

You don't want to be a fighter because you get a fighter in the first town, same with a full mage. That companion will likely be the first person you drop when other, better, companions become available.

Shields are for sissies. Seriously.

 

[Zukuu]

Force2Strategy posted a 40 minute look at the game.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDaYWfqJD3g


so gud.

 

[Basileus777]

Reading this thread is making the wait even more painful.

 

[Pachimari]

I have never played a cRPG before but for some reason, this one interests me immensely, maybe because of the hype surrounding the game here.

What are other things I can do besides turn-based combat?

EDIT:
Oh, gotta look at that video above.

 

[Durante]

What are other things I can do besides turn-based combat?

Explore. Talk to people. Go on quests. Bake bread. Talk to animals. Craft stuff. Go on quests for animals. Rob people blind.

 

[Zukuu]

I have never played a cRPG before but for some reason, this one interests me immensely, maybe because of the hype surrounding the game here.

What are other things I can do besides turn-based combat?

Ask what you CAN'T do. You can literally interact with everything, move it, pick it up, steal it, use it in some way. The world is so incredible dense with stuff to explore that leads to loot or interesting stories.


Is there a side that features all the skills and spells and what they do? I wanna min/max the shit outta this. Plan on playing with solo melee and solo mage with a strong summoning. Maybe, if I find an interesting companion, I'll let him tag along.

 

[rybrad]

I think one thing that should also be mentioned (and applauded) is that this is by far the most technically accomplished of all the recent (and upcoming available on EA) CRPGs (eg. Shadowrun / M&MX / Blackguards / Wasteland 2). It's graphically superior to all of them while also performing consistently well. Larian clearly have some real programmers and know exactly what they are doing with their own engine.

After having just got into the Wasteland 2 beta I have to agree with this assessment (I never played Blackguards so I will take your word on that one). The whole time I was playing I just kept thinking how much better everything seemed in Original Sin from a graphical, polish and technical level. Granted, Wasteland 2 still has a couple months to go but I doubt it will change significantly by release.

 

[TrutaS]

Guys I can't find this information anywhere for some reason (and probably some lameness on my part) but is there any other region or missions that will be unlocked in the final game? The game seems pretty big as is but some areas look incomplete.

 

[Zukuu]

Guys I can't find this information anywhere for some reason (and probably some lameness on my part) but is there any other region or missions that will be unlocked in the final game? The game seems pretty big as is but some areas look incomplete.

I think I've read something about that the beta contains 1/5 of the game.

 

[helloresolven]

Guys I can't find this information anywhere for some reason (and probably some lameness on my part) but is there any other region or missions that will be unlocked in the final game? The game seems pretty big as is but some areas look incomplete.

The early access content is the first of four zones/towns, ~20% of the content or so.

 

[Corpekata]

There's I think they said 3-4 more large maps comparable to the current Beta, and a handful of smaller maps, as well as one apparently rather large dungeon.

 

[FlyingSaucer]

I've put about 20 hours in the early access and completed it.

The easiest/most powerful setup I've seen so far is Knight/Shadowblade. For your Shadowblade, you drop the witch skill tree and pick up pyromancy. Change your talent to backstab, you want both fire abilities and teleport. The Knight is fine the way he is. You start off every battle with charge and your shadowblade waits. Until you get the haste spell which isn't till level 4 I believe. The enemy will move in on your knight. Decide which target is the most dangerous, teleport him right beside your shadowblade and backstab him, this will gib most enemies in the starting area and it's surroundings. Use your knight and fire to wrap up everyone else.

In no way does Loner make up for a companion. If you take it, you are weaker than a full group.

Once you grab the mage Companion from the library use your Shadowblade to make Rain and use the mage to cast Zap(he starts with it). This paralyzes everyone in puddles and is on a short enough cd to have an appreciable uptime. You can switch to bows and kill even the level 7 orcs outside of town this way at level ~4. For big baddies, that would take multiple turns to destroy, use Freeze. You'll slow them, then freeze them, then explode them with charge.

You'll find that everything works, some of it just works better in the early game. I make no promises about late game. For the early game things like lockpicking, all manner of crafting, and pickpocketing are useless. You can get enough sneaking skill from gear. All points should go into offense.

You don't want to be a fighter because you get a fighter in the first town, same with a full mage. That companion will likely be the first person you drop when other, better, companions become available.

Shields are for sissies. Seriously.

Thanks ! Can't wait to test all of it

 

[Zukuu]

Are Spears/Halberds 1h or 2h weapon? And how much bonus gives Loner? I wanted to do that on my warrior. D:

 

[Uzzy]

Bought this yesterday, and I've so far just ran through the tutorial area basically. It looks very promising. I really like the two characters having their own personalities and being able to bicker or agree.

That said, is there any reason for me to continue playing now, given that my saves won't be usable when the game releases in 10 days? Playing the first 20% of the game, then having to play that again in just over a week would be annoying.

 

[Corpekata]

Bought this yesterday, and I've so far just ran through the tutorial area basically. It looks very promising. I really like the two characters having their own personalities and being able to bicker or agree.

That said, is there any reason for me to continue playing now, given that my saves won't be usable when the game releases in 10 days? Playing the first 20% of the game, then having to play that again in just over a week would be annoying.

Not much reason beyond just wanting to mess around. See what happens when you kill/steal/ do other things you might be afraid to do in the full release. I think most people in this thread are in "saving myself for the wedding day" mode by this point.

 

[Kalliban]

Man I can't wait for this game! I'm really forcing myself not to start playing the beta right away since I know I would only get bored if I have to do the same things all over again in a couple of weeks. Currently looking at the video above, good stuff!

 

[Zukuu]

Man I can't wait for this game! I'm really forcing myself not to start playing the beta right away since I know I would only get bored if I have to do the same things all over again in a couple of weeks. Currently looking at the video above, good stuff!

Welp, now I have such a serious itch to play the game. I knew why I was on media black out for so long. >_< Glad there is the world cup going on to keep me a bit distracted. Crazy Machines 2 also wants to be finished. Need to find another filler after that tho. D:

 

[syko de4d]

Played the tutorial dungeon and man i think this game could be epic. 9 Days till full game. I hope it sells good and mod community is very active

 

[Sir Garbageman]

I've put about 20 hours in the early access and completed it.

The easiest/most powerful setup I've seen so far is Knight/Shadowblade. For your Shadowblade, you drop the witch skill tree and pick up pyromancy. Change your talent to backstab, you want both fire abilities and teleport. The Knight is fine the way he is. You start off every battle with charge and your shadowblade waits. Until you get the haste spell which isn't till level 4 I believe. The enemy will move in on your knight. Decide which target is the most dangerous, teleport him right beside your shadowblade and backstab him, this will gib most enemies in the starting area and it's surroundings. Use your knight and fire to wrap up everyone else.

In no way does Loner make up for a companion. If you take it, you are weaker than a full group.

Once you grab the mage Companion from the library use your Shadowblade to make Rain and use the mage to cast Zap(he starts with it). This paralyzes everyone in puddles and is on a short enough cd to have an appreciable uptime. You can switch to bows and kill even the level 7 orcs outside of town this way at level ~4. For big baddies, that would take multiple turns to destroy, use Freeze. You'll slow them, then freeze them, then explode them with charge.

You'll find that everything works, some of it just works better in the early game. I make no promises about late game. For the early game things like lockpicking, all manner of crafting, and pickpocketing are useless. You can get enough sneaking skill from gear. All points should go into offense.

You don't want to be a fighter because you get a fighter in the first town, same with a full mage. That companion will likely be the first person you drop when other, better, companions become available.

Shields are for sissies. Seriously.

So there isn't a thief character in the first area? I was thinking of going mage / knight with my starting duo and was hoping to find a ranger or thief character early.

 

[Durante]

After quite the fittingly epic struggle, I just finally succeeded in making Divinity: Original Sin work with GeDoSaTo
Edit: actually, scratch that, still not quite there.
Edit2: unscratch that again, got it:

 

[NervousXtian]

Sweet... some screen caps?

 

[Chairman Yang]

I bought this just before the sale ended. If it's not as amazing as claimed, I'm holding Durante personally responsible!