Divinity: Original Sin 2 Pre-Release Thread

[Aenra]

would love to see senpai joining under whatever a context, but i dream big. Er.

Larian once started working on a vampire steampunk title.
MCA is no longer beholden to anyone.
Larian once started working on a vampire steampunk title.
Larian once started working on a vampire steampunk title.

 

[Bigg Boss]

I'm waiting for the inevitable Enhanced Edition/Directors Cut since I fucked up by not doing it this time. It seems like it is better to wait for bugs to be fixed and content to be released. My biggest complaint about the last one was the writing being fairly mediocre. The combat was the most satisfying I've seen in a RPG in quite some time. On the other hand I wish they would do something else. I'm not a fan of generic fantasy settings.

 

[Cadmus]

https://twitter.com/ChrisAvellone/status/631653023484252160

I don't see how MCA writing 1 cameo NPC and collecting his paycheck is of any use to anyone but keep dreaming.

 

[Zeriel]

I don't see how MCA writing 1 cameo NPC and collecting his paycheck is of any use to anyone but keep dreaming.

Not embracing Chris Avellone's single NPC and token quest. Heresy gross and foul!

 

[Tigranes]

I'd have preferred that they finally ditch that useless Divinity setting, but hey, DOS was never about that. All they have to do is promise me more world reactivity in and out of combat, and I'm in.

 

[MicoSelva]

Might I ask who will be composing

That has yet to be determined.

I can't wait to hear more what you've planned for the soundtrack and music department. It will be (sadly has to be) quite a new start for the series since Kirill left us. I hope the direction of the music won't change that much. It was always one of the best and most iconic things of the Divinty games for me. Kirill's music created this very special atmosphere that made these games just a pleasure to play. I really, really hope that you found another skilled musician who could built upon Kirill's huge heritage. It's extremely hard to "replace" a genius though. I still can't believe he's dead...

We've been navigating around that topic for some time now but can't seem to make a decision. It's very hard to even consider somebody else. Kirill's been with us for a very long time & I don't think anybody here is ready yet to imagine somebody else taking his place. We'll have to eventually, but we'll still need some more time I'm afraid.

We should probably suggest Kai Rosenkranz before they get the idea to hire hacks such as Inon Zur or Jeremy Soule.

Mark Morgan's style is too different to Kirill's and probably would not work. His most melodic tunes are from PST, and I am not sure he is able to make a soundtrack that is not mostly melancholic.

Does anyone know if Michael Hoenig is available for such work?

 

[Popiel]

https://twitter.com/ChrisAvellone/status/631653023484252160

 

[Talby]

They can just keep reusing the DivDiv soundtrack forever for all I care.

 

[Nekot-The-Brave]

Man, I agree that DivDiv soundtrack was gold, but it seemed to get a lot of criticism when it was used in D:OS

 

[imweasel]

Gotta love MCA.



Totally up for MCA as a stretch goal. His writing would be perfect for D:OS 2. :D

 

[Infinitron]

 

[Abu Antar]

https://twitter.com/ChrisAvellone/status/631653023484252160

 

[Jaedar]

We should probably suggest Kai Rosenkranz before they get the idea to hire hacks such as Inon Zur or Jeremy Soule.

Mark Morgan's style is too different to Kirill's and probably would not work. His most melodic tunes are from PST, and I am not sure he is able to make a soundtrack that is not mostly melancholic.

Does anyone know if Michael Hoenig is available for such work?

Paul Anthony Romero man. Or Alexander Brandon. There's plenty of good options.

 

[ArchAngel]

I think this basically confirms that he is one of the designers for D:OS 2 :D

 

[Infinitron]

Uh, not really. It confirms that Swen has seen the community interest and they'll be meeting up at PAX to discuss options.

 

[Fairfax]

Damn, you just can't help but love MCA.

I do think their exchange basically confirms that it's happening in some fashion, but being a Belgian studio, it's very unlikely that he could take on a major role. Still, he could definitely provide feedback on their writing, write a few characters and design some quests/areas. Perhaps even more than what he wrote/designed for PoE.

 

[Darkzone]

Unfortunately, that's not true anymore and I am not sure if Swen hasn't been aware of the latest developments. Because recently, larger well-known franchises are minimizing the available money for smaller 'regular' projects on KS.
Read more here:
http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/Thom..._on_Kickstarter_on_the_first_half_of_2015.php
And:
'Big indie' Kickstarters are killing actual indies
http://www.polygon.com/2015/5/19/8624665/big-indie-kickstarters-are-killing-actual-indies

The gamasutra article is shit at best, while using data .
First flaw: This is not a very good data, because the effect of larger projects have to be put also in the time context.
Second flaw: Most effects are not instantaneous, but pull a rats tail of effects behind them.
Third flaw: The article does not work with backer data, and therefore it is deceiving the reader. Many, if not most of the Shenmue backers have been first time backers and therefore saying that Shenmue has taken the (possible) money from smaller project is therefore stupid as shit.
Forth flaw: BTIV, Shenmue and this other japanese thing were at the end of the first half year so they are not even included in this statistics and therefore to try to derive from that, that big projects are suppressing smaller ones is more then stupid. Also the smaller projects had at least 80% of the first half of 2015 time to collect revenues, but they did not as good as they could, so there seem to be an other effect in work that is responsible for this.

The second article is some SJW shit, but i will edit this post after i have looked for the major flaws.

Edit:
OHH no the say in the article that the real development of games is 2x - 3x higher than the project founding goal. [/sarcasm]
Nothing new that careful observers didn't knew already.

 

[Jimmious]

I am way too excited for D:OS 2 to be able to wait for two whole weeks until I learn more. Someone bribe Swen or something to give us some info!!

 

[Crooked Bee]

RPG Codex, aka Chris Avellone Employment Agency

 

[undecaf]

Start the engines... Ready for liftoff...

 

[Infinitron]

 

[ArchAngel]

Lol at Adam

 

[Immortal]

I would rather have gameplay systems (including character development, level system and itemisation) not resemble a cheap MMO, but whatever

The itemization in Original Sin was annoying.. Unique items (of which there was like 3 that were truely named uniques) fall flat and the weird affix / suffix diablo 2 style system was annoying. They've been doing this shit since Divinity.. But at least that game had unique items and set pieces etc..

Stop with this random loot crap please. Put some effort and feelings into your item placement / loot lists.

 

[HobGoblin42]

Edit:
OHH no the say in the article that the real development of games is 2x - 3x higher than the project founding goal. [/sarcasm]
Nothing new that careful observers didn't knew already.

Apparently, you didn't get her message. It's neither about SJW nor about whining over wrong budgets per se. She is complaining about big companies distorting the basic idea of Kickstarter solely to reduce their financial investment (see Bloodstained, D:OS 2, Shenmue):

When you ask for half a million dollars when you really need $5 million, it becomes impossible for games with realistic budgets to survive. It’s not that people don’t understand what a game costs, it’s more that Kickstarter is actively distorting people’s understanding of a sane budget. The ecosystem is being poisoned for projects that need to raise their actual, workable budget for a game.

Great niche games as Serpents of the Staglands or Eisenwald got only $28,000 / $83,000 USD at KS (both way below healthy production budgets for those complex games) while established companies/franchises/publishers easily collect > $4 USD mio with games like Shenmue 3 or Bloodstained (which was already financed by a publisher beforehand).

And don't tell me the budget of KS backers is without any limit, of course they'll need to decide whether to invest their money into known projects of big developers or small unknown developers with some niche genre project beyond the mainstream. Latter actually need that money to realize the project at all.

 

[imweasel]

The itemization in Original Sin was annoying..

Yup. Original Sin is a great game with pretty lame itemization. Here is hoping that they will fix that.