Divinity: Original Sin

[Mr. Gerbik]

The head of Larian Studios recently wrote this in a blogpost:

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Ever since I started making RPGs, Ive been looking to recreate for other people the same experience I had with Ultima VII it really is my drive. Now, in my mind I never succeeded in this but if I can believe the reviews and the fanmails, apparently Divine Divinity somehow struck the same chord for a lot of people. Which was quite motivating of course. The knowledge that even a subset of the original ambitions managed to satisfy players implied that if ever we succeeded in realizing the vision behind those ambitions, we might very well have a very big hit on our hands.

But as it happened, after the first Divinity, I lost track a bit Beyond Divinity definitely wasnt as good as Divine Divinity, and I always regretted making that one, even if it got ok reviews. Then the second mistake was made the joys of console development steered Divinity II far away from the original idea, and so many compromises were made in that game that what shipped was but a shadow of what I had envisioned it to be.
While some of that was rectified it with the release of Divinity II: Dragon Knight Saga, in truth there are only a few gameplay moments in there that come close to the reason I set up this company.
So I explained to the journalists that with project E, I wanted to rectify that. When Ill be playing the final version of project E, I hope that Im going to get my Ultima VII vibe back, the method being recreating all of the values present in these masterpieces, and then taking it one step further.

Well Project E is... Divinity: Original Sin! A prequel to the first Divine Divinity game and it's isometric, turn-based and grid-based! massive preview here but I'll quote the important bits:

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it features two playable characters that can be controlled by two different players. In this cooperative multiplayer mode, a maximum of 4 players can play, but there are only two lead characters - two more players can play using mercenaries that are be hired in the game. However, the game can also be played single-player, where the player controls the whole party.

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As far as quests go, there will not be any fetch quests in Original Sin. All quests - even the side quests - will have a certain level of complexity. Quests will be as complex, or more complex, as we know them from the previous Divinity games with different branches you have to select from and with several choices and consequences where you have to take into account that people might be lying.

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Like in the first Divinity anything that is not nailed to the ground can be used. Again, you can carry around anything that is not too heavy like a bed or a barrel (as useless as that might be, but if it makes you happy, you can). And you can also throw a barrel at an opponent, use a broom as a weapon to hit someone with, or break a crate because it is blocking your way.
You can also combine objects that are found in the game. If you have poisonous mushrooms you will get very sick eating them but when applied to your weapon it results in a poisonous weapon doing more damage.
Food will nourish you, as expected. It can be found in the game, but you can also create your own food. To facilitate this, there will be recipes and notes lying around that will explain what some combination of items can do for you to stimulate experimenting with them. You can find grain, for example, that combined with water results in dough and if you find an oven you can bake your own bread.
Combining objects also works on summoning dolls. They could be made stronger by combining them with rock, which the doll puts on its fists to hit harder. They are experimenting a lot with the system to find out what the limits are and what can be achieved.

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The two protagonists will each have a reputation that is changed based on what they do in the world. The game starts with nobody recognizing your character, but your actions in the world will increase your reputation and change their interaction with you. This is independent on whether you do good or evil - for that there is alignment, which determines the attitude of people towards you and changes depending on you doing good or bad. If you like to play the bad guy (or girl), at a certain point the merchants won't like you anymore and are not willing to trade. Bandits like you though, so if you can find a trader who likes bandits that should not be an issue.
Stealing is no longer a safe thing to do - just like in the first Divinity if you steal and you are noticed your alignment will drop and the owner of what you were stealing might not want to talk to you anymore. There will always be an option to put the stolen item back if you are spotted, which does not change your alignment - this makes it a lot harder to steal anything or even open a hatch.
However, there are two characters - one of them can lure the owner out of a room and the other one can then freely browse through the available stuff and take what is needed.

I don't like the artstyle tbh but I do like the sound of being able to interact with and use practically every single object in the world, the promise of a free systemic gameworld, and combat often being avoidable if you can talk/charm/think your way out of it. Wanting to recreate an Ultima VII-like experience sounds awesomely ambitious and its worth noting that they're self-publishing this game to be able to actually fulfill that ambition without publisher interference (make it an FPS!).

The game will be exclusive to PC and Mac and probably out in Q2 2013, I think this is definitely one to follow.

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[Gabe]

Yeah, I agree with you on the style. It doesn't have a 'lived-in' world look about it. It also looks like the graphics would be better suited to real-time combat rather than turn-based, if that makes sense. Still, no fetch-quests and more complex and involving tasks are good to hear.

[Mr. Gerbik]

if they deliver on the RPG mechanics and the depth and interactivity that they're promising, I couldn't care less about the artstyle tbh - I'll happily put up with it

Belgium - not just excellent beers, but quality RPG's too! Fun fact: one of my all-time favourite games, Outcast, is also Belgian. As is my favourite beer! (Gulden Draak, a 10.5% triple ale which is simply divine)

[Mr. Gerbik]

Oh and they will release extensive modtools and offer Steam Workshop support. It sounds like the game will be fully Steamworks, as they mention that it will use Steamworks integration for multiplayer.

[Mentazm]

Looks and sounds like Ultima Online. 7 was so atmospheric, loved it.

[Mr. Gerbik]

I really should play Ultima VII sometime

I know all about its reputation and how highly regarded it is but I never actually played it. Started it, confirmed that it worked (GOG version)but never continued beyond figuring out the controls.

[Cras]

Ultima VII (specifically part II, because of the added usability features like the keyring) is the greatest RPG ever. EVER.

[Cras]

Also, it had what I believe (not heavily researched) to be the gaming world's first magic lesbian sex dance. Vas Nudis!

[Mr. Gerbik]

Ultima VII (specifically part II, because of the added usability features like the keyring) is the greatest RPG ever. EVER.

I know! I really should play it. Or maybe wait for Divinity: Original Sin if that is kinda the same thing?

[RubberJohnny]

You should just read Nakars LP of it, he knows the game inside out and does a lot of cheaty-fuckery within the engine in the service of comedy. http://lparchive.org/Ultima-VII-The-Black-Gate/

[Mr. Gerbik]

That's a great link, thanks for that. I will definitely play it at some point as I love old school RPG's and everybody has always told me that is the best one.

[Cras]

Also, make sure you get the expanded editions of both VII and VII part 2 - because the expanded edition of VII adds in the keyring and stuff to the first game. Keeping track of keys is a nightmare without it. I think the Forge of Virtue is the VII expansion and the Silver Seed is the VII part 2 expansion.

Have a look at Exult as well - it's basically UVII remade for more modern systems, and it's moddable.

[Triple A]

really interesting looking project - keeping an eye on this one!

[Mr. Gerbik]

Also, make sure you get the expanded editions of both VII and VII part 2 - because the expanded edition of VII adds in the keyring and stuff to the first game. Keeping track of keys is a nightmare without it. I think the Forge of Virtue is the VII expansion and the Silver Seed is the VII part 2 expansion.

Have a look at Exult as well - it's basically UVII remade for more modern systems, and it's moddable.

Yep, that's is what I have and what I have done. Just fired it up to be sure as it has been awhile. I bought the game on GOG and Exult'ed it up and also did something with some additional soundfiles IIRC and then after making sure it worked 100% correctly I started playing some other game before diving into Ultima VII properly and here we are. I should be ashamed of myself

Edit: also I had modded the font for the dialogue texts into something more readable

[Mallet]

This looks really interesting and I'll probably be burned alive for saying this but I'm glad it's not going to the consoles.

[daveodeth]

You mean it doesn't have to be mountain dew friendly. ;-)

[Guest]

You had me at Ultima...

[Mr. Gerbik]

This looks really interesting and I'll probably be burned alive for saying this but I'm glad it's not going to the consoles.

You mean it doesn't have to be mountain dew friendly. ;-)

Harsh, but the reality is that they're self-publishing this to be able to make the game with ambition and depth that they envision. Another factor is steering clear of consoles to avoid having to compromise, just as the head of Larian Studios said in the bit I quoted in the first post:

the joys of console development steered Divinity II far away from the original idea, and so many compromises were made in that game that what shipped was but a shadow of what I had envisioned it to be.

Even though I don't like the artstyle (and the lack of atmosphere it has as Gabe pointed out) it does sound they're going all out on this one and don't want to compromise on their vision. We shall see how it turns out, but for now - I'm excited!

Edit: thinking about it, this doesn't mean that it will never ever come to consoles of course. Just that it isn't made with consoles in mind in the first place. If the game does really well, who knows.

[Mr. Gerbik]

Man Ultima VII is hard to get into - not just because you're thrown in the deep end (I usually love that in RPG's) but because it's systems and controls are so unlike what we're used to now. Although I did have beautiful moment with the game just now. I was wondering why it didn't show me any stats for my armour and weapons and didn't understand how I was supposed to figure out what did what - was I expected to assume that steel is better than leather? But no, some honest to god exploration led me to a book which describes the different types of armour and weapons and their effectiveness - so I got my info from a book that I had to look for. Fuck me that is goddamn lovely

Edit: also I'm really glad that I finally found some pants for that 14 year old boy that is tagging along with me and the old geezer!

[daveodeth]

Your in for a treat gerb, such fond memories. I'd join you in that endeavour but I've got risen 2 to play and arx fatalis waiting for another play.

[Mr. Gerbik]

I hope so, it makes a good impression but it's also a bit hard to get into if you're playing it for the first time ever in 2012. It has already impressed me a few times with how detailed and extensive it is, so I hope it manages to grab me and make me play until the end!

It helps that I already finished Risen 2 last week of course so now is the time to start a new RPG. Even though Max Payne is coming out on Friday, I always like to have deep game to play alongside dumb shooty fun.

[Mr. Gerbik]

Reached a swamp, promptly got poisoned and had to turn around back to the first city to search for some swamp boots I remember seeing a pair somewhere but I didn't bother taking them along as my backpacks were getting a bit full! Also, everyone got hungry so I have to get all that food I left behind

[Mr. Gerbik]

[Mr. Gerbik]

I have to say, it looks far better moving. It sounds really interesting and the co-op looks awesome in that vid!

Edit: oh yeah and the website is live

[shock33]

Came in to shout "if I can't bake bread!", read I could bake bread.

Two of my all time favourite moments are in U7:

1 - wandering off exploring after starting the game, finding a magic carpet and flying into the mountains where I discovered a keep and the ensuing fight with the occupants

2 - finding out I could carry one of the cannons from Lord British's castle if I dumped all my gear and using it (and the associated cannonballs etc) to break into the bank, and to get the hoe of destruction from THAT shed

[Ork1927]

You should just read Nakars LP of it, he knows the game inside out and does a lot of cheaty-fuckery within the engine in the service of comedy. http://lparchive.org...The-Black-Gate/

Cheers for the link - very much enjoying wading throuhg it and looking forward to reading the ones on other games.

Funny stuff and I never knew about the dirty nappies of ultimate terror.

Urge to play through again rising. Not sure I can afford the billion hours I'm likely to spend playing it sort of properly (quest, but glitches) & the occasional save the game then go on crazed rampages that I used to do.

A powder Keg in the middle of a busy Inn is a wonderful thing.

[Kayin Amoh]

Fantastic. Love the Divinity series, they've got a fantastic sense of humour. Greeting the undead bride of one of the antagonists in the sequel with something to the effect of 'Why, if it isn't his favourite bit of rotting undead rumpy-pumpy' almost left me stunned. What kind of maniac puts that in as a dialogue option?

Looks a little bit like Torchlight from the screens, off to watch the vid now.

[Rayn]

This is so up my street, it's scary. Really looking forward to this one

[Mr. Gerbik]

Destructoid first look with screens of the editor, among others Doesn't tell us a whole lot more than I already posted earlier in the thread, but the positivity and enthusiasm for this game is encouraging!

Also, I'm still playing Ultima VII! But haven't gotten very far yet as in the last few days I've been mostly following E3 - watching and writing about games rather than actually playing them

Edit: IGN write-up of the demo:

All this leaves Larian with an incredibly versatile engine that allows players to pick up and move around anything that isn’t nailed down, creating make shift barricades in the middle of a fight, or just shoving anything grabbable into their inventory. Gamers are hoarders, after all. Couple that with a game that recognises that hoarding instinct, and plays off it, and suddenly you feel awfully involved in this world. Like you’re a part of it. And that’s why we play RPGs, after all. To lose ourselves to a world.

[Mallet]

Certainly one to keep an eye on and the news they want to ship it with a level editor is fantastic, we need something to take over where NWN left off as while there are numerous quality mods for NWN2 it's apparently quite difficult for the layman to use and Dragon Age never really got off the ground except for people improving the sex scenes

I love the way a lot of devs are going back to the RPG origins this year and just deciding to make a game for a subset of fans and then budget accordingly instead of trying to be the next CoD or Skyrim while trying to please everyone.