Putting the 'role' back in role-playing games since 2002.
Donate to Codex
Good Old Games
  • Welcome to rpgcodex.net, a site dedicated to discussing computer based role-playing games in a free and open fashion. We're less strict than other forums, but please refer to the rules.

    "This message is awaiting moderator approval": All new users must pass through our moderation queue before they will be able to post normally. Until your account has "passed" your posts will only be visible to yourself (and moderators) until they are approved. Give us a week to get around to approving / deleting / ignoring your mundane opinion on crap before hassling us about it. Once you have passed the moderation period (think of it as a test), you will be able to post normally, just like all the other retards.

Game News Divinity: Original Sin 2 Kickstarter Update #36: Game Master Mode Reveal

Infinitron

I post news
Staff Member
Joined
Jan 28, 2011
Messages
97,225
Codex Year of the Donut Serpent in the Staglands Dead State Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Wasteland 2 Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
Tags: Divinity: Original Sin 2; Larian Studios; Swen Vincke

Larian have published a new Divinity: Original Sin 2 Kickstarter update that officially unveils what has been one of the game's most closely-guarded secret - the Game Master mode that was its $2M stretch goal. As they usually do, Larian have overdelivered on their promise, with an impressively full-featured mode that allows the Game Master to generate items and encounters, manipulate characters, alter the environment, and even create Pillars of Eternity-style scripted interactions, all on the fly. It's an obvious play for the Neverwinter Nights fanbase, something which is made clear by Swen's visit to Wizards of the Coast HQ in the accompanying video. Forgotten Realms in the Divinity: Original Sin 2 engine, anybody? I don't know if this game is going to be the long-awaited "turn-based NWN", but it will definitely be close.



This, my friends, is the ultimate power trip. In Game Master Mode, you can write stories, create NPCs (both heroic friends and fiendish enemies), build your own customisable items and treasure, craft the scenes in which your tale will play out, and much, much more as you lead your friends through the ultimate role-playing adventure.

Will you be a kind and benevolent god, or will you cover every available surface in harsh, unforgiving flame? It’s entirely your choice, as up to four players put their fates in your hands and start off on an adventure through your collective imaginations.

With Game Master Mode, we set out to create something that bridges the freedom of tabletop role-playing, and the interactivity and visual presentation of a computer RPG.

We built Game Master Mode to be as flexible as possible, so you can adapt to your friends on the fly and create a truly reactive world. Do your players want to burn down an NPC’s home? Make a pact with, rather than kill, the demonic boss? Perhaps they want to parlay with the pack of rabid wolves using pet pal? Even if you haven’t planned for it, you can adapt quickly to their choices and still deliver a story that feels real.

Whether you’re new to tabletop role-playing or an experienced GM, we’ve worked hard to make sure this is easy to pick up and intuitive to use. We also have prepared campaigns so you can jump straight in, working with a preexisting world to get a feel for the tool or, of course, you can create your own.

Game Master mode comes with a variety of world maps and over 100 pre-made locations! But of course, you can always upload your own world map or craft your own location in our powerful Divinity Engine Editor.

Tweak the atmosphere, ambience, music, time of day (why yes, there is a night option), weather and more to fine-tune your story!

Unleash the bestiary with hundreds of monsters and characters from the Divinity universe or download player-made characters and enemies from Steam Workshop. Give characters unique skills and name them. Cover the landscape in any of our elemental surfaces using our Surface Painter. Make the fight worthwhile by creating unique items for the players to loot.

Control any enemy or NPC directly by possessing them.

Add NPC dialogue, narration, and present difficult choices with our powerful Vignette System. Add your own graphics and even additional dialog options on the fly! Managing different dialogs and encounters is now as simple as creating a presentation.

We brought in the essential component of every tabletop session: skill checks. Let your players roll the dice to see whether they succeed or fail!

Tell your story in real-time, no rulebooks needed. Possess creatures, level up the party, create new locations, encounters and items on the fly. Tell your stories, your way - and share them with the world using Steam Workshop!

We couldn’t be happier with how Game Master Mode has turned out, and we can’t wait to let you play it, but there’s still some work to be done. Game Master Mode will be available when Divinity: Original Sin 2 launches, later in 2017.

A bunch of websites (Rock Paper Shotgun, Eurogamer, PC Gamer, PCGamesN, RPGWatch, IGN, Polygon, PCWorld, USgamer, TheSixthAxis) have published their own previews of the Game Master mode, and it will also be streamed live on Larian's Twitch channel later today at 16:00 PST. The game is set to receive a new Early Access patch in a few weeks, but that won't include the Game Master mode, which will only be available in the final release.
 

Zeriel

Arcane
Joined
Jun 17, 2012
Messages
13,375
Heh, figures their dungeon master tool that people figured would just be the NWN GM tool for normal levels of the campaign ends up casually being a new NWN. That interface looks amazing, and makes me wonder if that's their solution for "easily" making custom campaigns.

I have a lot of questions (like, "can you make singleplayer campaigns using the DM mode, or is it meant for multiplayer only?"), but I think my reaction is about what everyone on the Codex's will be: holy shit, that looks cool. The world map and vignette tool in particular are pure "why didn't anyone else do this yet?". It's a lot of stuff that was technically possible in other games, but packaged in a way that looks super easy to use, which is what you need for something to excite people.

Larian continues to make their competitors in the niche CRPG space look like rank amateurs.
 

Infinitron

I post news
Staff Member
Joined
Jan 28, 2011
Messages
97,225
Codex Year of the Donut Serpent in the Staglands Dead State Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Wasteland 2 Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
The one thing possibly stopping this from being a new NWN is the same thing that stopped NWN2 and moreso D:OS 1 - ease of map creation might still not be up to par.
 

Zeriel

Arcane
Joined
Jun 17, 2012
Messages
13,375
Yeah, but they have prefabs. NWN1 was literally nothing but prefabs until years later when people dug into the guts and found out how to do custom tilesets. And people STILL say NWN1 was superior to NWN2 because of these prefabs that were easy to use. I actually think this is the ideal way to do it: prefabs, but you can make your own if you are a poweruser.
 

SausageInYourFace

Angelic Reinforcement
Patron
Joined
Dec 28, 2013
Messages
3,858
Location
In your face
Divinity: Original Sin 2 BattleTech Bubbles In Memoria A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag. My team has the sexiest and deadliest waifus you can recruit. Pathfinder: Wrath
I will admit that I thought that the stretch goal was a panic reaction to SCL and would turn out to be a pointless waste of resources for something that was going to suck.

Turns out I was (probably) wrong and Sven is literally RPG Jesus.
 

Zeriel

Arcane
Joined
Jun 17, 2012
Messages
13,375
In your levels you can even create a single day-night cycle, where you can start your game during the day and add a timer to it, during which it will become night. Music and sound effects can be added as well.

Will the "even purely cosmetic and ambient day/night cycles are preferable to none at all!" crowd be pleased with this? Somehow I doubt it.
 

CRD

Cipher
Patron
Joined
Dec 23, 2014
Messages
297
Divinity: Original Sin 2
This game is gonna be soooo good.

Everybody should learn from Larian how to manage the funds of a kickstarter and make a game.

I mean, with similar money larian give us this and others shadowrun.
 
Last edited:

hivemind

Guest
I don't even like larian games because of their writing but they are the only non scammer and actually incline kickstarter using mainstream studio so nice

:salute:
 
Weasel
Joined
Dec 14, 2012
Messages
1,865,661
So many possibilities with this, from the looks of things. I remember the old NWN creators and audience coming out of the woodwork when SCL was announced, soon disappearing when the reality emerged. Can't wait to see what people come up with on this one. Given how successful DOS was, and how DOS2 was shaping up even before now... could be huge.
 

Drowed

Arcane
Joined
Dec 28, 2011
Messages
1,676
Location
Core City
Wow, this looks way better than expected. And this game looks way more mod-able than the first one. Let's hope that this is indeed the case, we need a new NWN for modules.

And a turn-based one at that?

:shredder:
 

Brother Rat

Novice
Joined
Oct 30, 2016
Messages
27
GM mode looks cool but NWN wasn't just a multiplayer experience. The NWN fan-made modules provide 100s of hours of quality single-player gaming, and DOS2's success as a spiritual sequel to NWN will depend on how easy it is for players to create their own complex, unique modules. Looking forward to info on level editors and stuff like that.
 

undecaf

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Jun 4, 2010
Messages
3,517
Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2
That's really cool feature. Doesn't really concern me for not playing multiplayer much or at all, but cool nonetheless.
 

Sacibengala

Prophet
Joined
Aug 16, 2014
Messages
1,098
For all the divinities sake, why the hell larian is the only one doing this kind of stuff today? Is it because of Swen? I can't believe that all this is possible only because one person. There must be other explanation for this.
 

Darkzone

Arcane
Joined
Sep 4, 2013
Messages
2,323
This was a very good update.
DOS2 goes DnD and Swen does what Swen does best: being an awsome guy. I have not expected that Swen goes to WoC and convinces them to give him an DnD starter campaign, but it opens opportunities (digital distribution of DnD campaigns in an playable format on DOS2) for both parties and i hope that WoC grabs it by the collar. The stream with Matt Mercer (he is a extreme good DM) will be a nice thing to see. And either has Swen read my latest contributions here in forum about DnD and WoC or it is just a nice coincidence.

For all the divinities sake, why the hell larian is the only one doing this kind of stuff today? Is it because of Swen? I can't believe that all this is possible only because one person. There must be other explanation for this.
It all depends on the person. For one willing smart person, nothing is impossible.
 

Aenra

Guest
Thanks for posting this ^^

If everything works out the way it's meant to, i may end up with nothing to complain about, lol.. which is gonna be weird awesome.
(guaranteed low difficulty = GM mode + mods = fixed)
(possible lack of sufficient content and/or pacing thereof = base + GM mode + mods = fixed)
(possible lore/setting/"story" issues = GM mode + mods = fixed)

Of course, that's a big if, lol, but still. The bitch dies last :)

:bounce:

edit:
We need to send someone too by the way. Can anyone comment on whether 'negotiations' are under way or not?
(have seen the thread, yes, i mean after all that [see my suggestion there])
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Wayward Son

Fails to keep valuable team members alive
Joined
Aug 23, 2015
Messages
1,866,294
Location
Anytown, USA
Damn. If I wasn't already excited, I'd probably squeal like a high school girl...



As it is, I need to go get some new pants on.
 

Roguey

Codex Staff
Staff Member
Sawyerite
Joined
May 29, 2010
Messages
35,653
This game is gonna be soooo good.

Everybody should learn from Larian how to manage the funds of a kickstarter and make a game.

I mean, with similar money larian give us this and others shadowrun.

Pretty sure Swen said that, Diablo 3 aside, this will be the most expensive isometric RPG ever created. HBS had nothing like that.
 

Jack Dandy

Arcane
Joined
Feb 10, 2013
Messages
3,039
Location
Israel
Divinity: Original Sin 2
This is amazing. God damn, brabo to Swen & Larian.

I can't help but feel kind of bad for the folk behind TaleSpire, though..
 

Ruzen

Savant
Joined
May 24, 2015
Messages
238
Love the mechanics but I don't want to get quests from a cartoony shrimp on a beach. This franchise deserves a more serious tone than infantile silliness
So for you, it's not silly to get quests from dwarfs, elves, dragons and all other fantasy "crap" but a talking clam is your red line for a fantasy theme? Hmm
 

As an Amazon Associate, rpgcodex.net earns from qualifying purchases.
Back
Top Bottom