Yeah, I edited my post, and it IS more of a hope. I'm not willing to put money down on Shroud of the Avatar until it's out and people are playing and talking about it, whereas Divinity... yeah, at worst it'd probably be a moderately enjoyable RPG. And honestly I kinda want to support it just because it's actually a turn based RPG made by someone who isn't Japanese for once (or is emulating a Japanese game.)
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Divinity: Original Sin Kickstarter by Larian Studios [Complete, ~$1 million funded]
- Thread starter Durante
- Start date
The reason that this doesn't cost as much as Garriott's RPG is that this has been in dev for considerably longer and doesn't have any multiplayer component.
Not to say that I think Shroud of the Avatar looks good (I don't) but the dev costs make sense for both but for different reasons.
Here are a few more, there are probably more I left out:
Age of Decadence - October 2013
Arakion - December 2013
Avadon 2: The Corruption - Fall 2013
The Banner Saga - November 2013
Blackguards - Q3 2013
Chaos Chronicles - Summer 2013
Dead State - December 2013
Eschalon: Book III - Summer 2013
Expeditions: Conquistador - Soon?
Grim Dawn - August 2013
Kenshi - Currently in Alpha, unknown final release date
Legend of Grimrock II - Probably 2014
Meriwether - November 2013
Might and Magic X: Legacy - September 2013
Underrail - 2nd Half 2013
Plus Larian is in Belgium so labor cost might be lower over there. On a somewhat related note Divinity: Dragon Commander is looking good:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbHsdC4U_2k
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbHsdC4U_2k
Sentenza
Member
Nice list, I'd like to add Knights of the Chalice 2 and Frayed Knights 2. Both confirmed in development but without a release date yet.
AstroZombie
Banned
Sentenza
Member
What the...
AstroZombie
Banned
I love this gif
Will check it out, thanks. I really like having physical games though... dammit.
EDIT: Look like a RTS. Not really into RTS I will change my donation for the physical reward instead.
Corleth the Fey
Member
Original Sin has LAN and Online Co-op.
I was talking more about the MMO-lite stuff that Shroud supposedly has. Should have been more specific, sorry.
Either way, Divinity has definitely seen more dev time and the first two games were very good. Shroud looks like ass, unfortunately.
And it's pretty much the first RPG (game?) ever (to the best of my knowledge) that attempts to implement a co-op dialogue system. It's one of the things I'm most curious about.
SW:TOR had a similar system.
Lord Panda
The Sea is Always Right
I'm a huge Ultima fan - I still rank Ultima VII parts 1 and 2 as the best RPGs to this day. And even I didn't back Shroud of the Avatar ... Garriott's proposal wasn't exactly convincing and the whole online aspect is not what made Ultima great for me.
I backed Original Sin without hesitation.
I hope D:OS gets the funding it deserves (i.e. heaps) and then some.
Wasn't a fan of Divinity 2, but a lot of that was because of the clunky engine. This project looks a lot tighter. Pretty nice environmental art direction, too. I don't see all that much Ultima VII inspiration, but then again it looks a hell of a lot better than Shroud of the Avatar. In for 25.
Vlodril
Member
One of the few good innovations swtor did. I am now disappointed when other games don't use it.
This looks good. Pledged.
Well, I think much of that is due to the fact that it didn't have the huge media buzz at the start that other CRPG projects (especially Eternity and Torment) enjoyed. Which is a shame, but understandable given the rushed nature of the KS.
From what we've seen so far I'd say it's primarily in the amount of interactivity with all kinds of items in the world. I hope they show off very open areas in the future.
Blue Ninja
Member
Yeah, no. :lol
A Link to the Past
Banned
Eh. I've always been a pretty big supporter of high-quality Kickstarter projects, but after Kickstarter showed their colours by supporting that obvious scam, I find it too difficult to validate supporting them.
When they name-dropped Ultima VII I was hoping it would have a similar magic system with the need to gather reagents. But then I can understand why games don't do that much anymore, if at all. Same goes for other mechanics in Ultima VII like the need to eat food or wear swamp boots when traversing a swamp or else you get poisoned. I've just always been a sucker for that kind of minutia in system or game world design, which is probably why I liked the magic system in Ultima VIII so much.
Will have to toss up whether to back this one.
Will have to toss up whether to back this one.
Iremember in first Devinity playing dude wearing pot.
AstroZombie
Banned
New update 
AstroZombie
Banned
chaosblade
Unconfirmed Member
Isn't the double pack $40?
Edit: For $65 you get
Not true. I can't remember the game, I think it was a PS2 title, but it had it. And as the other said, TOR had it.
I mean Sin + Commander^^
For 40$ you get twice Original Sin.
For 65$ you get Original Sin and Dragon Commander
I want me a 45$ double game pack... otherwise I'll go for 25$. I can't pledge since they have not yet made pay pal available, so I can't write comments. Maybe someone could forward that price idea. For 65$ they could something else.^^
KungFucius
King Snowflake
I am a habitual backer of old school RPGs on KS and I was just about to say No More, then this came along.
I enjoyed the first 2 Divinity games and this one looks far better than both already. Since this game is already going to be released without KS, I think my contribution does not count as mindless addiction.
I enjoyed the first 2 Divinity games and this one looks far better than both already. Since this game is already going to be released without KS, I think my contribution does not count as mindless addiction.
chaosblade
Unconfirmed Member
Okay, yeah. I just can't read.
But anyway, I doubt they would change that since the idea behind the $65 reward tier is both games. I doubt they would feel it's "worth it" to them to drop the soundtrack and developers cut content for a $20 price decrease.
It's quite unfortunate this could not get at least a bit of the success of something like Torment or Project Eternity. Would love to see a game like this meet its maximum potential through stretch goals and whatnot.
Hope people aren't avoiding it because of recent Kickstarter 'issues'. Would really suck if a smaller dev got the short end of the stick while people have it freshly in their minds.
The co-op stuff looks really great, combining spells and strategies, as well as co-op dialog, breaking your partner out of jail and stuff, seems like it will make for a memorable co-op experience, and there are very few of those in games like this.
Though maybe it isn't as popular because people see it as a game already coming out and aren't motivated to improve a game as much as help it exist at all.
Portugeezer
Member
Year of the isometric RPG, FUCK YEAHHHH!!!
Lord Panda
The Sea is Always Right
Some snippets from the recent update:
I love the direction of this game and I hope they somehow pull out a miracle and manage to hit the NPCs scheduling stretch-goal.
- PC only (for now).
- DRM-Free.
- LAN Support.
- 40-60+ hours in length.
- No full voice-over.
- 2 main Heroes but player can choose to control up to 4-6 characters (henchmen) - party-based game.
- Henchmen level up and can be customised.
- No enemy level-scaling.
- Weapons can be sheathed (peace or combat mode).
- Game can be played solo with player controlling both main characters.
- In SP, AI personalities (loyal, liberal, mad dog, etc.) can be assigned to second hero for the purpose of the co-op dialogue system.
- Classless character development.
- Friendly-fire in combat.
- Loot is not shared = first come, first serve.
- NPCs do not follow schedules - will be added via stretch goal
- World is divided into four big zones and separated by short loading screens. Mores zones possible via stretch-goal.
- Lockpicking, sneaking, pickpocketing support.
- Crafting is contextual - drag one item on top of another.
- No exclamation marks above NPC heads - encourages player to read, talk and actively find quests.
- Alpha in summer, beta in September or earlier.
I love the direction of this game and I hope they somehow pull out a miracle and manage to hit the NPCs scheduling stretch-goal.
Is this really a big thing? I mean it's certainly cool, but I never associated it with CRPGs in general. Did their older games have it or something?
It's a big thing in Ultima 7. It's been in quite a few games since then but it's almost never as effective.
Update 3 that answers many questions and gives insight into a few mechanisms:
I'll soooo play without henchman! Or maybe just with an healer. That they have no personality is a bit of a bummer. =/
Also, I HATE FRIENDLY fire in these types of game. DA II was unplayable due to that on hardcore mode. You could only have 1 melee or you'd permanent kill your other characters. That had nothing to do with micro management, it was jut incredible stupid. Fortunately, I wasn't the only one that felt like that and the first mod that removed that was released within hours after the release. I'll see how it'll play out here, otherwise I hope for a mod here as well.
Will this have DRM?
No. The box version will not have DRM. The GOG.com version and the version of larianvault.com will not have DRM. The Steam version will not have keys to fill in or forms to fill out.
What is the status on Mac and Linux?
Linix and Mac is something that was planned from the start. This is our engine, so we can do with it what we want. It had build targets for OpenGL (the graphics renderer on Mac and Linux) that actually worked at some point, but along the way we decided to postpone that support and focus on gameplay.
We are still going to do this, but probably after the Windows version is finished.
All the owners of Divinity: Original Sin, however, will receive these versions for free.
Will this be on consoles?
We are focusing on the PC version first. This also means that we are creating the game and the user interfaces for optimal use on a PC. If we do make a console version, we will do this after releasing the PC version. If we do a console version, we will re-write the UI to tailor it to the console.
Can I back this with PayPal?
We are working on this. It's not difficult to do, but we want to wait a bit because the pledges through PayPal do not count in our Kickstarter total. And we need to figure out the more logistic way of handling the rewards done through PayPal.
Shipping outside US? I thought you were from Belgium? That's Europe!
Yes, but we're on the US Kickstarter, and the only options we have, are "No Shipping", "US Shipping", and "Non-US Shipping". We are looking into a solution for this. If we can organize shipping within Europe, and the costs are lowered, we will change that.
Why is this not available in [language here]?
We are localizing in English, French, German, Polish and Russian, because we have distributors there. If we had a distribution deal in Italy for instance, we would localize in Italian.
Can I play co-op over LAN?
Yes, you can.
If my friend has the Steam version, and I have the GOG version, can we still play together?
Yes, but obviously not over Steamworks.
I'm going to play this in single player. Do I still have to walk around with both characters?
Yes. And you'll probably be walking around with 4 to 6 characters, not just two
Think of this as a party based game. It is not an action RPG. You can solo if you want to (just tell party members to "stop following"), but combat will be hard as nails if you try to take enemies on single-handedly. You will need a well-balanced party.
Do monsters level up or become stronger the bigger your party is?
No. Monsters do not scale to your level. If you are level 1 and you see a level 10 monster: run. If you are trying to take on 10 monsters all by yourself while the rest of your party is somewhere else: good luck. Combat is balanced against a party.
If you want to try it with one party member, and succeed, you'll get all the XP. (Total XP is shared over the party.)
I'm going to play this in single player. Isn't the co-op design going to be in my way?
No. You won't even notice it. It doesn't limit or change the game.
I'm going to play this in single player. Isn't the co-op dialogue system going to be a bit weird? It's like talking to myself!
What's wrong with talking to yourself?! You can roleplay both characters!
Or you can choose dialogue AI personalities. For instance, you can have a loyal friend (who always does what you want), a liberal (who’ll always take the liberal point of view), a mad dog (interesting stuff) and so forth. You haven’t played something like this before, but it’s fun.
Do the henchmen join this co-op dialogue system?
No, it is always a dialogue between the two heroes.
(But modders can use this system for entire party discussions.)
What about character development?
Character development is classless. You define your starting stats freely yourself at character creation, and you choose your own starting skills. From then on, you can freely develop your character and pick skills from any of the several schools.
Of those schools, 4 are magic (earth, wind, fire, water) but there are also other schools dedicated to combat/warrior skills and ranger/survivor skills. The exact amount of schools and skills is dependent on the success of our Kickstarter campaign.
You get one skillpoint and one stat point per level up. We currently guess the level cap is around 20.
Can I re-spec my character?
You will be able to re-spec your character by training, but it will cost you. A lot.
It also depends on the difficulty level – at some levels, you can’t.
Do I control everyone in combat? Can I let AI take over in combat?
You control everyone in combat. Well, not the enemies, obviously, but turn by turn, you have to tell your party members what to do. That includes both heroes, your henchmen and your summons. You cannot let AI control your party members in combat. In multiplayer, each player controls his hero, his personal henchman, and his summoned creature. (Each hero can hire one henchman, and can summon one creature.)
How do I control my party outside of combat?
Outside of combat, everything is realtime. You select the party leader with shortcut keys or by clicking his portrait. When you walk around with the leader, the other party members follow him. However, you can tell party members to stop following ("wait here").
How do I control my party outside of combat when I'm in multiplayer?
Each hero can have one henchman and one summon. In multiplayer, your personal henchman and summon follow you around (unless you tell them to "wait here"). Your henchman and summon can not be controlled (or dismissed) by the other player character.
Is there friendly fire in combat?
Yes, of course. Even out of combat. We want you to wince and flinch when your partner shouts "FIREBALL"!
But loot is shared?
No it is not. It drops on the ground. First come, first serve.
Do NPCs have schedules?
We focused on reactivity instead of simulation. We are hoping that the Kickstarter campaign will be successful so we can actually add schedules via a stretch goal.
How long will it take me to play through Divinity: Original Sin?
This is always a tough question. We think we are making a 40 hour game. But people have different playing styles. If you're good at combat, and you don't want to do everything there is to do (you don't bother to lift every stone, talk to everyone, explore every square inch), you may finish it faster. If you want to see and do everything, you may not have finished it after 60 hours.
As a reference: when we made the original Divine Divinity, we thought we had a 20 hour game, but it can be finished quite fast once you know how to. On the other hand, we have reports of people spending over a hundred hours in the game. So I repeat: tough question.
How big is the world?
The world currently consists of four big zones. There is a short loading screen in between zones, but you can play around in one zone for hours without ever seeing a loading screen, so one zone is actually pretty large. It’s possible that more zones are added as a result of the Kickstarter campaign.
OMG I hope I'll be able to save anywhere then!
Of course you can. It's a Divinity game.
When is alpha? When is beta?
We expect alpha this Summer. Beta should be September or earlier.
Do you have lockpicking? Sneaking? Pickpocketing?
Yes.
How will crafting work?
You simply drag one item unto another. (In your inventory or in the world.) You can experiment with combinations, but there will be tips and books lying around to push you in the right direction. At the moment, you don't need a special skill to create an item combination.
Can I customize the henchmen?
Henchmen start out as a certain "build" and with equipment, but once you hire them, you can totally change their equipment, and manage their inventories. And if they level, you choose their statpoint distribution and their skill upgrades.
Do the henchmen have personalities?
No, they don't. You can talk to them, but only to hire them or dismiss them. Giving them personalities (so that they are more involved, have a story) will be one of our stretchgoals.
Will I be able to sheathe my weapons?
Yes. Just like in Divine Divinity, you are be able to toggle between "peace" and "combat" mode, and items and NPCs will react accordingly.
For instance, if you click on a friendly NPC with your sword drawn, he will ask you to put your weapon away before addressing him. You can then either apologize, or call him out.
Are there exclamation marks above NPC's heads if they have a quest for you?
No, there are not. You have to explore, talk to people, find items, read books, interpret and think to "find quests".
If you did see exclamation marks in the video or in screenshots, those are the ones currently indicating that the 2 main heroes want to talk to eachother. The way we indicate this, will change. The party member will simply say "I want to talk to you", inviting you to start a dialogue with them. (Inviting. Not forcing.)
Will this have full voice over?
We cannot do full voice with the budget we have. At the moment, we only plan to do "important characters" with unique lines.
Also, NPCs can draw lines from a database with information and lore, and we don't want NPCs sharing the same voice, or NPCs that change their voice in the middle of a dialogue.
What happens if one of your party members dies?
If both heroes die in battle, it's game over. If one hero dies in battle, and the other hero survives, the dead one can be revived (at a cost).
If a henchman dies, you can also resurrect him (at a cost), or leave him for dead and hire another one. (However, the more henchmen you leave behind, the more the other ones will start asking for their services.) If a summon dies, you have to summon him again.
In your second video update, the enemies' corpses disappeared
Yes, because they don't have a dying animation yet and no corpse model. This is a game still in development, so you'll still see plenty of stub and work in progress elements in the screenshots and videos we post.
I'll soooo play without henchman! Or maybe just with an healer. That they have no personality is a bit of a bummer. =/
Also, I HATE FRIENDLY fire in these types of game. DA II was unplayable due to that on hardcore mode. You could only have 1 melee or you'd permanent kill your other characters. That had nothing to do with micro management, it was jut incredible stupid. Fortunately, I wasn't the only one that felt like that and the first mod that removed that was released within hours after the release. I'll see how it'll play out here, otherwise I hope for a mod here as well.
It's so refreshing to read a huge Q&A with relevant questions about a game, and the developer actually doing their best to truthfully answer each and every one of them. Praise crowdfunding.
I used a mod to add friendly fire to hard mode in DA2, since nightmare was ridiculous. IMHO, tactical RPGs without friendly fire make no sense. Placement is (and should be) a huge tactical consideration in these games. In DA2, it was designed without FF in mind, so it had the issue that many melee attacks were also ranged and could hit party members, but a game designed around friendly fire won't have that problem.
That is what I am hoping. You also only have 2 fix characters, so it might be more manageable. I played a 2H melee cleaver in DA II... so yeah. Nope it didn't work out well.
The Technomancer
card-carrying scientician
Man, I'm loving the Kickstarter CRPG revolution. Its all of the kinds of games that I've been wanting developers to make.
To be fair, Larian started making this game even before the kickstarter revolution. However, I certainly see where you're coming from.
I still can't quite believe we're going to get Wasteland 2, spiritual successors to Baldur's Gate, Planescape Torment and Ultima 7 and an ending to The Longest Journey all in the same 2 year period.
Sentenza
Member
Now we need a (proper) Jagged Alliance 3.
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