Kickstarter Update #37 - Release the… … ...Kraken!
The creak of the wood and the smell of salt on the cool breeze are like a soothing balm to your soul. There is nothing like the freedom of the open ocean, the peace of the vast sea. And you get to share it with your dearest companions. You close your eyes and smile.
As if summoned by your thoughts, one of them appears by your side, leaning against the rough railing and peering down into the blue depths surrounding you and your proud ship, The Lady Vengeance.
“I’m glad you’re here. I wanted to talk to you,” you say, turning to look up into her bright elven eyes.
“And I, you,” she said with a soft smile, the smile she saved just for you and the little family that was forming around your quest. For that is what you had become: Family. You would steal for them, fight for them, kill for them, even die for them, and you knew they felt the same way about you. You trusted each of them implicitly, and they you. And most of all, you wanted the woman standing there to feel that she could talk to you about anything.
“Well,” you say, “What is it you wished to discuss?”
“I’ve given it much thought and - KRAKEN! KRAKEN OFF THE STARBOARD BOW!” She yells and points behind you. Turning, you dive out of the way as a massive tentacle shoots up, spraying water and fetid ooze everywhere before slamming down with a crash onto the deck. The crew of the Lady Vengeance leaps to action. Back to your feet, you grab your weapon, point at the beast and scream out -
Welcome to Kickstarter Update #37!
We’re really excited to tell you that we finally have a release date for Divinity: Original Sin 2! The vision we shared with you nearly two years ago is close to realisation. We couldn’t have made it this far without our backers, and for that we thank you.
“Enough talk, tell us the date! WHEN CAN I PLAY???” We hear you and we won’t leave you in suspense much longer. But I don’t want to be the one to spill the beans, so join Swen as he embarks on a journey through the Larian Studios offices to explain the newest additions in the latest patch and tell you the release date!
Looks like we're in for a hot summer! We still have a lot of work but it's good to see that we're almost there. Now let's have a look at all the goodies inside that latest patch. There's A LOT!
My Fair Lady
What is better than a warship? Nothing! That’s why we created The Lady Vengeance, a beautiful and daring ship to be your home base as you journey on your quest . That's a change from what we originally planned (the hall of echoes as a home base) but while playing you'll quickly understand why we went for the Lady Vengeance in the end. All the home base functionality that was planned for the halls is there but more importantly - the Lady Vengeance requires no level switching which means you can split the party between home base and another piece of the map. That's much more convenient than having to gather your party and loading a new level. It's also a much better setting for some of the relationship building that we added to the game.
In case you are wondering, the Hall of Echoes is still part of the game - you actually visit it in in act 1 already - we just moved the home base functionality away from it.
It's better like this, really.
Party Time!
We have been hard at work on the relationship system, and it is finally ready to make its debut! Now your actions and conversations with your companions will influence how they feel about you. If they grow to hate you and despise your choices, they may choose to leave your party entirely. But if they like and admire you, that may lead to other things. Better brush up on your social skills!
In addition to the new ways to communicate and the adjusted story lines, we have also included a feature to control party formation! Managing your crew with this new system should be a lot less like herding cats. Probably.
You Got Skillz
Speaking of skills, we have some pretty epic new ones to tell you about! Each Origin character now has a custom Source skill unique and personal to them. But you'll have to get rid of that nasty source collar to be able to use it and find yourself some Source. Non-origin characters also get a new fancy Source skill called Time Warp. Be warned - you're not going to find that much Source in Act 1 but rest assured, there'll be plenty to find in Act 2.
She’s Crafty
Get your craft on! We have completely overhauled the crafting system, adding new crafting combinations and fixing old entries. We’ve added new recipe books that unlock recipes in your crafting interface, so you can discover new ways of creating potions, arrows, grenades, scrolls, and gear!
In The Beginning
We’ve also made a few changes to improve your overall experience from the very start of your new adventure. We have updated the loading screen and Character Creation Screen and added a Tutorial level. We have also made some story rewrites and opened up a new region at the end of Fort Joy.
In other words, there’s a few hours of additional content in Act 1 and you’re going to see a big difference in how your story progresses. If we did our job right, you'll be super curious to learn what happens next.
We’re Not Finished With You Yet!
Oh you thought we were done? This isn’t over yet! Patch v3.0.50.423 is full of other goodies, fixes and adjustments.
- We have improved the AI - hah! Cower in fear mortals!
- We’ve updated all player race animations
- We’ve updated VFX on several Early Access skills
- We’ve improved the minimap and pathfinding
- We got out the shoe and destroyed some bugs!
- And tons more!
For the full run-down of changes head to our patchnotes!
This patch was created using your feedback, so be sure to continue letting us know what you think. The forums are the best place to share game feedback. With your help, we can make Divinity: Original Sin II better and better.
Game Master Mode
The response to Game Master Mode in the past few weeks has been amazing. We're delighted that so many others are as excited as we are with the mode. It will be great to see all of your campaign creations when the game is released. If you're interesting in the details, here's some of the articles written about the mode:
"Game Master mode delivers on the promise of D&D at your PC”
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PCGAMESN
“Game Master Mode replicates Dungeons & Dragons perfectly”
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POLYGON
”The tabletop RPG sim you’ve been waiting for”
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PCWORLD
“Game master mode brings pen and paper RPGs to the screen”
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ROCK PAPER SHOTGUN
“It opens the door to a very cool new way to play D&D”
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PC GAMER
For those who missed the the stream with Matt Mercer, Jesse Cox, Dodger, Strippin and Bikeman, you can find the full edited video here:
Game Master Q&A Stream
While showing the Game Master Mode, we got quite a few questions regarding modding. We've been listening, and so we'll be doing a stream next week on Thursday, 1st of June at 22:00 CET / 16:00 EDT / 13:00 PDT to show the Game Master Mode and answer any lingering questions you guys might have.
And Remember!
We’d like to remind you that this patch affects so many areas that previous saved games will no longer be compatible. But don’t panic! If you want to continue playing an old saved game you can still do so by following these instructions:
1. In your Steam library, right click the game Divinity: Original Sin 2 and select Properties
2. In the Properties screen, click on the tab BETAS
3. In BETAS, click the arrow to open the dropdown
4. Choose the branch you would like to play (ea_version_1 - For saves with version 2.0.1.165.341 if you want to play the original launch version of D:OS2, ea_version_2 - For saves with version 3.0.5.530 to play the first patch, or ea_version_3 - For saves with version 3.0.14.546 to play the second patch) and click Close.
Now Steam will not update your version, so you will be able to load your old savegames and keep soldiering on.
The Home Stretch
We’re hard at work finishing the game, so our patch release rate may become slower. But rest assured, it’s because we’re putting all of our resources in making Divinity: Original Sin 2 as awesome as we can.
but there is a nice patch/program fixing this, https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=879351440
