Game News Divinity: Original Sin Kickstarter Update #59: One year retrospective, new update and release date

[Infinitron]

Tags: David Walgrave; Divinity: Original Sin; Larian Studios; Swen Vincke

It's been exactly a year since Divinity: Original Sin's Kickstarter campaign concluded. Today's Kickstarter update celebrates the occasion with a retrospective, a new update to the game's Early Access version, and the announcement of a final release date for the game - June 20th.

The Kickstarter Factor: A year's retrospective

A year is a long time in game development time, and, thanks to you, we've been able to put that time to good use.

The game world, Rivellon, has sprouted a winter nether-dimension; a massive and mysterious homestead at the end of time; dangerous desert highlands; a secret, sacred village; and many more.

Our heroes, Roderick and Scarlett, have shed their set identities and become completely customizable, from looks, to fighting style, to abilities, traits, and talents.

For a quick and dirty look at what's changed in the past year, take a look at this short (1:40) trailer highlighting the most visible new features.

And for a more in-depth look at all that can't quite be summarised in 100 seconds (plus a sneak peak at the Collector's Edition), spend some time with David & Swen as they discuss the massive changes that've rocked the game in the year following Kickstarter.

Our camera man Thomas even managed to catch something amazing while filming: Divinity: Original Sin running on a MacBook, no wires attached!



Finally, for a more personal and in-depth look at what Kickstarter and Early Access mean for Larian Studios' future, take a look at Swen's latest blog entry. Hint: it's good!

We have a release date!

We told you spring was coming, and boy is it ever. June 20th 2014 is still spring, you know! We know you've been hurt before, but it'll be different this time-- we promise!*

Jokes aside, we're running on all engines, full steam ahead and pushing hard to get it into your hands.

* But have yet to sign a blood oath.

What can you look forward to in the coming weeks?

First of all, we’ll continue to bugfix and update Early Access alongside finalizing the full release. Furthermore, you can expect a Mac version on Steam Early Access and a version of the game for Linux some time after its full release on PC/Mac.

As for the editor, it's certainly ready (we made the game with it after all), but at the same time, it’ll never be ready enough; the capacity for improving and expanding it are endless, after all.

We’ll therefore release it in beta form, and probably keep it that way for quite some time. A lot of you have been mailing us privately about it, and it’s not that we don’t want to make it available to you right now, but we need all our attention on the game for the moment. The moment there’s some free room, we’ll make it available.

Finally, you can still expect a lot of balancing changes in the coming month. You’ll notice from the changes we’ve done that we are reading your comments, and there will be a much bigger focus on that particular area in the coming weeks.
​

Read the full update for a summary of the changes in the game's new version, or go to Larian's official forums for the full list. I also recommend checking out Swen's blog post, which has some hints about Larian's plans for the future. The gist of it is that the combination of Dragon Commander (which has sold reasonably well) and Original Sin's Early Access release has allowed Larian to invest more in Original Sin, and take a shortcut on their long term roadmap towards creating the "Ultimate RPG".

 

[Gragt]

One year already. Brings back memories of how crazy things were at this time last year.

 

[bonescraper]

Added a new “Way of the Rogue” ability and a variety of new Rogue skills

Fuck yeah. That's the thing i was talking about. Thank you Larian!

 

[Morality Games]

Secrets-that-keeping the Codex running #2:

Contrary to popular belief, Infinitron is not a human, but a programming algorithm that achieved consciousness in 2011. It's mission: aggregate all updates on global spanning RPG development.

...

The difference between the game before and after is pretty stark.

 

[Occasionally Fatal]

Yeah, they've made a lot of progress in one year. This looks like the most promising kickstarted RPG in my view. Shame the NPC scheduling and day/night schedules got cut; still a little sad about that. I wonder what the actual probability of that getting added in later by modders or something is, since I'm guessing it's fairly complex.

 

[Drowed]

I want this game so bad. I guess I'm lucky that I don't have money to buy it right now or I would spoil everything in the first day if I had it in my hands.

 

[warmonger3]

So glad we finally got some things accomplished regarding supporting quality games and leaving the horrible decline era behind us.
Or at least before senility sets in...going to be a great Summer!

 

[Murk]

Perfect. I look forward to wasting my summer on this game.

 

[Roguey]

If they aren't transparent about what the difficulty settings change, they should be.

Unsurprised that Larian thinks it's a good idea to add features during the last couple of months.

 

[TwinkieGorilla]

This looks like the most promising kickstarted RPG in my view.

At this point I'd call it the only one (speaking specifically of Kickstarter-funded RPGs) though I am hoping like fucking crazy Torment will be as good as it sounded when I threw money at it.

 

[Morality Games]

This looks like the most promising kickstarted RPG in my view.

At this point I'd call it the only one (speaking specifically of Kickstarter-funded RPGs) though I am hoping like fucking crazy Torment will be as good as it sounded when I threw money at it.

The individual members of the Codex are too absorbed in their own tastes to ever reach much of a consensus on anything (including whether Arcanum sucks or not), but Original Sin has the best chances of pleasing a slim majority.

Pretensions of Bioware might torpedo that though.

 

[TwinkieGorilla]

Pretensions of Bioware might torpedo that though.

Regardless of "majority" thought, this quality of D:OS is the most pandering, pathetic and idiotic of them all and a major part of why it ranks below Underrail on my list (though not the only reason).

 

[jdinatale]

I have hopes for Eternity. In Josh E. Sawyer we trust. But I get the feeling it won't be able to live up to the impossible hype of being a Baldur's Gate successor.

Also hoping Torment will be as good as the artwork suggests.

Wasteland 2 won't disappoint, because I never played the original to know, and I didn't grow up with classic CRPG's in the 90's like most here.

I think Lords of Xulima will be good, same with Starcrawlers and Serpents in the staglands.

I THINK those are all of the RPG's I've backed.

Pretensions of Bioware might torpedo that though.

Regardless of "majority" thought, this quality of D:OS is the most pandering, pathetic and idiotic of them all and a major part of why it ranks below Underrail on my list (though not the only reason).

I'm from an English speaking nation and I can't figure out what you're trying to say.

 

[TwinkieGorilla]

I'm from an English speaking nation and I can't figure out what you're trying to say.

Then try harder, you fucking moron.

The game has traces of Biowarian companionship simulation for aspergian dipshits and I find this not only pandering and pathetic but a complete waste of time and resources.

 

[sser]

Can't wait.

Spoiler

 

[Roguey]

The game has traces of Biowarian companionship simulation for aspergian dipshits and I find this not only pandering and pathetic but a complete waste of time and resources.

What makes them Biowarian? Do they talk about their problems and bicker with each a lot?

Companions were a stretch goal so it's not exactly a waste.

 

[Darkzone]

@jidnatale
It seems to me, that some native speakers of a language have a lower variety of words and have only a certain form of formulating sentences. I propose to read shakespeare and / or learn a foreign language as a form of training for understanding foreign people.
But you are right that besides that TwinkieGorilla does not like D:OS and that he prefers Underrail, he did not communicate anything else.

@TwikieGorilla
Do not descend to the minimas, that have been occupied by Hiver.
If you have a valid argument or a opinion try to explain it, or make a comparison. This is by far the better form of criticism. And do not fill it with ad hominems.

Besides:
I think that slowly D:OS is reaching, a good shape, in which the game makes really fun, to play. I had never a CTD or never met a single No-Go and Humor is a matter of taste, so therefore i had never a proplem with it.
Perhaps in ten years people will call it a classic, and the only true drop of bitterness is the lack of day and night cycle. But i understand that this could be a load of work, especially if one does not create the scripting and the templates from the begining, towards this cycle.
Overall i have a very positive opinion about this game, and have to say i had never a single doubt about it, because of the nearly perfect execution of the kickstarter and the adaptivity of Larian Studion within the kickstarter phase, which led me to the conclusion that Sven
and the people at Larian Studios are smart, willing and capable.

 

[Morality Games]

I like Josh Sawyer, but I'm not sure he has a game that cements his legacy. It's more like he makes the best of bad situations. Pillars might be it, or the next Kickstarter, assuming someone unless doesn't head the project.

Anyway, surpassing Baldur's Gate isn't that hard to accomplish. Dragon Age: Origins came near enough.

The game has traces of Biowarian companionship simulation for aspergian dipshits and I find this not only pandering and pathetic but a complete waste of time and resources.

What makes them Biowarian? Do they talk about their problems and bicker with each a lot?

Companions were a stretch goal so it's not exactly a waste.

Not just the companions, or Origina Sin in particular (I was thinking Dragon Commander). There is a faint cartooniness and a thinly veiled "topicality" to the setting's humor.

 

[TwinkieGorilla]

What makes them Biowarian? Do they talk about their problems and bicker with each a lot?

My point is in regards to the basic set-up of the game. Um, you know..."I gave money to Larian's relationship simulator"? Not exactly a new criticism of the game. Nor is it a surprise. I'm simply pointing out that it feels a lot like pandering to people who can't into people. And it feels, at least in my limited alpha run-through, a little juvenile and unnecessary. At the very least it's not what I would have asked for in a game. But hey, somebody donated a copy in my name so who's actually complaining? Not me.

Joined: Sep 4, 2013
Messages: 75

Oh go fly a kite near a cliff, kid.

 

[SuicideBunny]

I'm simply pointing out that it feels a lot like pandering to people who can't into people.

'cept it's kinda the opposite since it was meant and advertised from the start as couples co-op (plus the whole proposition thing). the biowarian feeling of pandering to forever alone waifu seekers comes from the adaptation to single player and still you can turn the most annoying aspect of that off entirely in the options, not to mention that it never comes close to being as fucked-up as bioware's waifu schtick.

 

[TwinkieGorilla]

and still you can turn the most annoying aspect of that off entirely in the options, not to mention that it never comes close to being as fucked-up as bioware's waifu schtick.

Aye, that's good to know. Funny too, I never realized there was such a huge focus on developing "co-op" but then again...this game was gifted to me and I haven't been following it too closely and certainly not from its genesis.

 

[Darkzone]

@TwinkiGorilla
Kite surfing sound like fun, but i have only done some Parachuting in my military time. And i should certainly do it again. And i do not use any 'ad hominem', because i do not belive, that i should abuse the false 'protective anonimity' of the internet.
But if i have something against an other user, i will say it directly into his face, without any stupid insults. But you should know, that a system can make only one true expression, and that is about itself. So if you say to someone, that he is retarded or whatever.
You are saying only, that you do not have the means, to communicate in a intelligent and meaningful manner, and the use of it diminishes any realy value, that you try to express.
Nevertheless it seems to me, that Larian has also the idea to add different autonomous Agents to the second Character, if one wishes for a more independent second Character, in a solo game. Because they have added an field in the character creation for such a choice. So the co-op was a from begining the direction of development, with all the community functionality, but Larian's have seen the overall interest of players to play just one character. Perhaps this comes from the identification of a player with just one Character.

 

[TwinkieGorilla]

You are saying only, that you do not have the means, to communicate in a intelligent and meaningful manner, and the use of it diminishes any realy value, that you try to express.

Not as much as, somebody, who doesn't know when, the right time is, to use, a comma.

P.S.

But if i have something against an other user, i will say it directly into his face.

Plane tickets, bitch!

 

[SCO]

Is this game going to require PhysisX like Divinity2 ? Because i'd actually like a portable install.

 

[Darkzone]

TwinkieGorilla is that all you got? Only 'ad hominems', and neither funny or witty and without any finesse. That is not worth my time. You had to make it clearly better. Can you rise to the challenge?

I have seen somewhere in the Larian forum that i does not use PhysX. But because it was not from a Dev. i would not count on it, and i did not bothered to check it out.