Divinity: Original Sin Kickstarter

Tigranes · April 8, 2013

Can't afford more than $25, but yeah, really hope it gets to a million. Playing DivDiv again now and I really think turn-based combat with Larian's world design is going to be a winner.

LordCrash · April 8, 2013

And another update is online! :yes:

Update 9: Are we nearly there yet? The butcher, the editor & Matt Chat

We're getting very close now! We are less than 15K$ away from our funding goal, and as you can probably imagine, our stress-levels are at an all-time high. There's a slate of announcements lined up to mark the moment, and with a bit of luck, you'll be reading about them very soon.

Today's update is going to be a bit shorter than usual, but that doesn't mean it doesn't contain any good stuff. On the contrary!

Continuing the Butcher quest

In our first update, Axel showed you how our editor worked by scripting a simple quest. In today's update video, Leslie, our enigmatic & brilliant 3D artist responsible for such gems as the dancing whale (featured in Divinity: Dragon Commander), takes charge and shows us how he envisions Axel's quest should develop further. Good stuff!

Matt Chat

Matt barton interviewed Swen about the Divinity: Original Sin's Kickstarter campaign. The one-hour interview can be found here but if you don't have the time to watch it all, here are the highlights, courtesy of none other than Stabbey!

(9:30) Quests aren’t going to hand-hold you through them. There isn’t going to be a “Quest Completed!” pop-up. Instead, your journal will have little parts of information, like “we found a book by a dead guy that talks about lying statues”, later if you talk to a statue, you might find “we met a statue, It might be one of the lying statues from the book”, and if you deal with the statue somehow, it’ll just be a thing, and you may not even realize that it was a quest.
(13 min) In that demonstration battle on the 10-minute kickstarter video, they died three times. That’s one reason why they never showed the conclusion to that battle!
(22 min) The main characters relationship is not specifically a love story. You can certainly take it in that direction if you wish, though. Their relationship is defined by two different axes: Affection and Affinity. Affection is how much they like each other, Affinity is how well they agree with each other on moral dilemmas. So they might hate each other, but work well. You aren’t going to accidentally end up as your friend’s gay lover, it’ll be a conscious choice if you go for that.
(23:30) The main characters are Source Hunters, and one of the perks they get from being trained in that area is that they can talk to animals.
(24 min) No sheep henchmen at the moment. They are thinking about adding weresheep in the game, but you cannot have a deep meaningful personal relationship with sheep yet. You will have to make a tough moral decision about the sheep at some point in the game. And the rabbits. And a cow.
(25 min) I think there may be multiple different ways to try and get your way in a dialogue (Charm/Reason/Intimidate), instead of the current “I agree/I disagree” system. I’m not sure. The context of the situation is also important. I think that for example, the “dead body on the beach” would probably be a Charm or Reasoning situation, and Intimidation would have a penalty.
(27 min) No mini-games. Lockpicking will be item based and dexterity based.
(28 min) The Source (elemental) magic is not just for mages casting spells. It also gives you Source-based warrior and Survivor skills
(28:40) The editor is not about making it easy for a novice, it’s more of a tool to do powerful things. They’ve used that technology (or parts of it) for over a decade to make their games, and that’s why as a small team they have been able to make such big games.
(30 min) They’ll integrate the modding scene with Steamworks, and there will be another TBD thing to centralize mods for those who don’t use Steam. If the community picks it up, Larian will support the hell out of it.
(31 min) “Have you thought of adding any DRM to this?” No.
(32:20) Larian admits that some of the reward tiers for the Kickstarter may not be cost-effective for them.
(33:30) What’s the minimum pledge tier for fans to get the full experience? Just the $25 for the base game, although it does play well with a friend ($40 for the duo-copy pack).
(35 min) If Divinity 2: Ego Draconis had been a PC game, it would have been released a year earlier and in much better shape. Development for Xbox lead to a lot of compromise just trying to finish the production.
(36:10) Beyond Divinity was bad, it was a game they company made just to survive. They never got a dollar of royalties from Divine Divinity (from CDV). They were only able to get a deal to make Divinity 2 because they were going to do it for Xbox. If they asked to do it for PC only, the game wouldn’t have happened.
(37:50) "Why did you end Ego Draconis the way you did?" (I’m going to save my fingers from typing and just link to that spot in my LP. Watch the videos for the actual experience, not the text I added.)
- It goes back to Divine Divinity. They decided not to cut the game at the end of the Council of Seven sequence and instead went ahead and added a new “Wastelands” zone, despite warnings they’d never finish it. (Spoiler alert: It was a huge combat zone with no quests.) The publisher wanted them to show variety in the environments. “If there is not a screenshot with orange stuff, we’ll sue you.”
- For Divinity 2, Swen figured it would be better to stop with a cliffhanger and cut hard, instead of making another weak ending area.
(41:40) Dragon Commander is going to take a lot of people by surprise. The leader writer and animator spend a month in London recording dialogue – more dialogue than they’ve ever done before (Divinity 2 had like 9 hours of dialogue, and it felt like more). That’s just to cater for the choice and consequence in the game. Dragon Commander is probably the most complex game they’ve ever made from a gameplay point of view.
(43:50) “What would you need to personally hear or see about Original Sin to get you to buy it?”
If you invest in it now, you’ll have more fun in a couple of months. If you’re planning on buying it anyway, buy it now and get it better later. It’s future profits from the game being invested into the game before it’s released. They’re not taking your money for an already funded game, they’re taking your money and giving you a much better game (at a discounted price!). They’re not pushing Original Sin as far as it could go because they haven’t enough resources, not enough time, not enough budget.
(48 min) Final thoughts: Other non-human playable races is a huge, impossibly high stretch goal, because it would be so much work, because of how the game reacts to how the players are. If you wanted to play as an orc, they’d have to cater for that all over the dialogue lines in the entire game.
- He’s not keen on full voice acting, because there are more tangible gameplay things that can be added instead for the same price or cheaper.
- They hope to get enough for the Perks stretch goal (650,000), and do things like have synergy bonuses if the party affinity go up if they perform combos with each other, or maybe solo bonuses if they don’t work well together.
- In Dragon Commander, there is an extraordinarily complex depth to your generals/councillors/princesses, because of the way that game was specifically constructed with that in mind. You couldn’t do that for Original Sin at this point, but at the 800,000 stretch goal, they hope to add more depth to party interaction and give the henchmen more personality and story presence, with branching choice and consequence based on how you treat them. Ideally, tying that into the players social stats and perks as well.
- It’s a bit tough to get professional authors in at this part of the development. They’ve worked with a bunch before, but it’s tough it they’ve never done videogame work.
(55:10) The game would work well on the console with a controller, but that was killed early in development. Maybe as another stretch goal in Kickstarter, but they probably would react poorly to that idea

In Closing

We're nearly there, but not yet. Anything you can do to spread the word will be appreciated, and we'll return the favour by making you a fantastic RPG with a fantastic editor in a fantastic game world. It's an offer you can't refuse!

Edited April 8, 2013 by LordCrash

BruceVC · April 8, 2013

And another update is online!

Update 9: Are we nearly there yet? The butcher, the editor & Matt Chat

We're getting very close now! We are less than 15K$ away from our funding goal, and as you can probably imagine, our stress-levels are at an all-time high. There's a slate of announcements lined up to mark the moment, and with a bit of luck, you'll be reading about them very soon.

Today's update is going to be a bit shorter than usual, but that doesn't mean it doesn't contain any good stuff. On the contrary!

Continuing the Butcher quest

In our first update, Axel showed you how our editor worked by scripting a simple quest. In today's update video, Leslie, our enigmatic & brilliant 3D artist responsible for such gems as the dancing whale (featured in Divinity: Dragon Commander), takes charge and shows us how he envisions Axel's quest should develop further. Good stuff!

Matt Chat

Matt barton interviewed Swen about the Divinity: Original Sin's Kickstarter campaign. The one-hour interview can be found here but if you don't have the time to watch it all, here are the highlights, courtesy of none other than Stabbey!

(9:30) Quests aren’t going to hand-hold you through them. There isn’t going to be a “Quest Completed!” pop-up. Instead, your journal will have little parts of information, like “we found a book by a dead guy that talks about lying statues”, later if you talk to a statue, you might find “we met a statue, It might be one of the lying statues from the book”, and if you deal with the statue somehow, it’ll just be a thing, and you may not even realize that it was a quest.

(13 min) In that demonstration battle on the 10-minute kickstarter video, they died three times. That’s one reason why they never showed the conclusion to that battle!

(22 min) The main characters relationship is not specifically a love story. You can certainly take it in that direction if you wish, though. Their relationship is defined by two different axes: Affection and Affinity. Affection is how much they like each other, Affinity is how well they agree with each other on moral dilemmas. So they might hate each other, but work well. You aren’t going to accidentally end up as your friend’s gay lover, it’ll be a conscious choice if you go for that.

(23:30) The main characters are Source Hunters, and one of the perks they get from being trained in that area is that they can talk to animals.

(24 min) No sheep henchmen at the moment. They are thinking about adding weresheep in the game, but you cannot have a deep meaningful personal relationship with sheep yet. You will have to make a tough moral decision about the sheep at some point in the game. And the rabbits. And a cow.

(25 min) I think there may be multiple different ways to try and get your way in a dialogue (Charm/Reason/Intimidate), instead of the current “I agree/I disagree” system. I’m not sure. The context of the situation is also important. I think that for example, the “dead body on the beach” would probably be a Charm or Reasoning situation, and Intimidation would have a penalty.

(27 min) No mini-games. Lockpicking will be item based and dexterity based.

(28 min) The Source (elemental) magic is not just for mages casting spells. It also gives you Source-based warrior and Survivor skills

(28:40) The editor is not about making it easy for a novice, it’s more of a tool to do powerful things. They’ve used that technology (or parts of it) for over a decade to make their games, and that’s why as a small team they have been able to make such big games.

(30 min) They’ll integrate the modding scene with Steamworks, and there will be another TBD thing to centralize mods for those who don’t use Steam. If the community picks it up, Larian will support the hell out of it.

(31 min) “Have you thought of adding any DRM to this?” No.

(32:20) Larian admits that some of the reward tiers for the Kickstarter may not be cost-effective for them.

(33:30) What’s the minimum pledge tier for fans to get the full experience? Just the $25 for the base game, although it does play well with a friend ($40 for the duo-copy pack).

(35 min) If Divinity 2: Ego Draconis had been a PC game, it would have been released a year earlier and in much better shape. Development for Xbox lead to a lot of compromise just trying to finish the production.

(36:10) Beyond Divinity was bad, it was a game they company made just to survive. They never got a dollar of royalties from Divine Divinity (from CDV). They were only able to get a deal to make Divinity 2 because they were going to do it for Xbox. If they asked to do it for PC only, the game wouldn’t have happened.

(37:50) "Why did you end Ego Draconis the way you did?" (I’m going to save my fingers from typing and just link to that spot in my LP. Watch the videos for the actual experience, not the text I added.)

- It goes back to Divine Divinity. They decided not to cut the game at the end of the Council of Seven sequence and instead went ahead and added a new “Wastelands” zone, despite warnings they’d never finish it. (Spoiler alert: It was a huge combat zone with no quests.) The publisher wanted them to show variety in the environments. “If there is not a screenshot with orange stuff, we’ll sue you.”

- For Divinity 2, Swen figured it would be better to stop with a cliffhanger and cut hard, instead of making another weak ending area.

(41:40) Dragon Commander is going to take a lot of people by surprise. The leader writer and animator spend a month in London recording dialogue – more dialogue than they’ve ever done before (Divinity 2 had like 9 hours of dialogue, and it felt like more). That’s just to cater for the choice and consequence in the game. Dragon Commander is probably the most complex game they’ve ever made from a gameplay point of view.

(43:50) “What would you need to personally hear or see about Original Sin to get you to buy it?”

If you invest in it now, you’ll have more fun in a couple of months. If you’re planning on buying it anyway, buy it now and get it better later. It’s future profits from the game being invested into the game before it’s released. They’re not taking your money for an already funded game, they’re taking your money and giving you a much better game (at a discounted price!). They’re not pushing Original Sin as far as it could go because they haven’t enough resources, not enough time, not enough budget.

(48 min) Final thoughts: Other non-human playable races is a huge, impossibly high stretch goal, because it would be so much work, because of how the game reacts to how the players are. If you wanted to play as an orc, they’d have to cater for that all over the dialogue lines in the entire game.

- He’s not keen on full voice acting, because there are more tangible gameplay things that can be added instead for the same price or cheaper.

- They hope to get enough for the Perks stretch goal (650,000), and do things like have synergy bonuses if the party affinity go up if they perform combos with each other, or maybe solo bonuses if they don’t work well together.

- In Dragon Commander, there is an extraordinarily complex depth to your generals/councillors/princesses, because of the way that game was specifically constructed with that in mind. You couldn’t do that for Original Sin at this point, but at the 800,000 stretch goal, they hope to add more depth to party interaction and give the henchmen more personality and story presence, with branching choice and consequence based on how you treat them. Ideally, tying that into the players social stats and perks as well.

- It’s a bit tough to get professional authors in at this part of the development. They’ve worked with a bunch before, but it’s tough it they’ve never done videogame work.

(55:10) The game would work well on the console with a controller, but that was killed early in development. Maybe as another stretch goal in Kickstarter, but they probably would react poorly to that idea

In Closing

We're nearly there, but not yet. Anything you can do to spread the word will be appreciated, and we'll return the favour by making you a fantastic RPG with a fantastic editor in a fantastic game world. It's an offer you can't refuse!

I appreciate your enthusiasm for this project, its infectious and I know I can rely on you for updates

I expect to wake up tomorrow and find this KS funded...yaaaaaaay

Labadal · April 8, 2013

I've enjoyed their updates but then again, they've had a lot more to show off since the game has been in development for some time.

LordCrash · April 8, 2013

I've enjoyed their updates but then again, they've had a lot more to show off since the game has been in development for some time.

It's not a good idea to show everything you have so soon in the campaign. You always should have something new to present in updates. I'm sure we will see much more until the end of the campaign.

HoonDing · April 8, 2013

I'm not too optimistic about them even reaching even one stretch goal after it's funded.

duskwind · April 8, 2013

I'm not too optimistic about them even reaching even one stretch goal after it's funded.

Based on how other successful rpg kickstarters have done in their last 17 days, the homestead is a given and traits and talents are quite achievable. And I think a much bigger than average final surge is possible, once people have had a couple of weeks to recover from Torment and Shroud, and also high PayPal numbers if they keep that open into next month.

LordCrash · April 8, 2013

I'm not too optimistic about them even reaching even one stretch goal after it's funded.

Well, we'll see about that. Imo the game should be stong enough to attract way more poeple than it has so far. We only have to spread the word and communicate the game and its concept in the right way.

LordCrash · April 9, 2013

If you are still undecided if you should back Divinity: Original Sin just watch this gamespot video in which most of the elements of the game are really well described.

marelooke · April 9, 2013

I'm not too optimistic about them even reaching even one stretch goal after it's funded.

Well, we'll see about that. Imo the game should be stong enough to attract way more poeple than it has so far. We only have to spread the word and communicate the game and its concept in the right way.

Must admit I'm baffled it's still not hit the funding goal yet, everybody must be broke from Torment, P:E and Wasteland I guess... Or have been living under a rock and have no idea who Larian is... Or both maybe?

Augusta Corvina · April 9, 2013

I haven't heard much about it either outside where I initially noticed it... but I pledged what I could so here's hoping it works out well.

LordCrash · April 9, 2013

Divinity: Original Sin is funded on Kickstarter!!! :aiee:

Edited April 9, 2013 by LordCrash

LordCrash · April 9, 2013

Update 10: Funding successful! New info, new goodies, new lots of things!

Thank you!!!! You are the best!!!!

Wow! Funded in less than a fortnight! You are amazing!

And what a great community you are too. You have no idea how much ideas you gave us already by posting your question and feedback in the comments section and on our forum pages. Your belief in our ability to deliver is extremely motivating for us, and we will do our utter best not to disappoint you.

As a token of our appreciation, here’s a new video that contains a little gift to all of you in our community. You’ve been working very hard in getting people to notice our campaign and without you, we wouldn’t be funded today. Enjoy!

Bellegar hears you!

There’s been a lot of demand and a lot of rhyming to summon Bellegar and he let us know that he’s not insensitive to your prayers. But this is Bellegar, right, so nothing comes easy.

He sent us this message:

Divinity fans, rise and cheer For Bellegar shall soon appear!

Yet, my friends, when push comes to shove First I'll want a little love!

So 'Like' me on my facebook page

And everybody's favourite mage

Will soon arrive on the glorious stage!

For each and every thousand likes,

I'll cheer and clap and yell out 'Yikes!',

And to your great, your utter delight

Brighten the day by stepping in sight,

For no greater joys or pleasures there are

Than meeting the mighty Bellegar!

Yes, Bellegar now works (interim he assures us) at a social media marketing firm and yes, he's indeed shamelessly looking for more likes on his Facebook page. So his deal is that for every 1000 Facebook likes, we can add an extra encounter with the might Bellegar to the game! What are you waiting for? Share, like, invite, you know the drill.

Stretch goals!

Now that we’re funded, we’re going to make every effort we can to reach those stretch goals. We think they’d make a brilliant addition to what’s already going to be a very good RPG, so help us spread the word. Again, everything that’s invested in the game now, ensures that your gameplay experience (and modding experience) will be so much better this fall. Spread the word!

Paypal available now!

Also, now that the campaign is successful, paypal pledges are available. Click here to access our paypal pledge page.

Confirmed: Coming to Linux & Mac!

It's about time, but we are extremely happy to announce that Divinity: Original Sin will now definitely be coming to Mac & Linux. We will do everything we can to ensure that the release dates are going to coincide with the Windows PC release, but if that doesn't happen, it will be shortly after.

For Kickstarter backers only, new rewards!

Over the last two weeks there have been many requests for adding goodies, extra rewards and extra add-ons to our campaign, and to celebrate our successful funding, we extended the list of rewards and add-ons.

First perhaps an overview for those who missed it. There are two Kickstarter-only items that are a gift to everybody who pledges $10 or more to our campaign: Zandalor's epic trunks of intelligence & the Kickstarter potion.

Zandalor's Demonic trunks

Everybody who backed our campaign will receive the delightfully evil demonic trunks of Zandalor. We think they will make gaming history so you should consider yourselves very lucky to have them.

Kickstarter potion

Additionally, anyone who gets the game via Kickstarter will also receive the Kickstarter potion. Quaffing the potion will ensure that whenever you play Divinity: Original Sin (or for that matter, whenever somebody else plays the game with you), it will be clear that you were part of the brave legion that supported our campaign to make this the best RPG we can.

New: Message in the woods

Anybody who pledges $50 or more, will be able to write a message which will be carved in one of the trees in the Dark Forest for everybody to see. Since this is something that all players will see, there will be certain constraints, but we're quite flexible.

New: Engraving tool (equipment inscriptions)

Anybody who pledges $95 or more, will receive an in-game engraving tool with which you can engrave messages on any piece of in-game equipment. You will be able to engrave as many pieces of equipment as you want, and give them to people you play the game with online.

Change: Listed in the credits

Everybody who pledges above $95 will be included in the credits of the game as a backer

For Kickstarter backers only, more add-ons!

(Note: Digital add-ons require a base pledge of $25. Physical add-ons require a physical tier, starting at $65. To include an add-on in your pledge, just increase the amount you pledge by the cost of the add-on. When the campaign finishes, we'll contact you via Kickstarter to so you can tell us what add-ons you want. If you want more than one add-on, just sum up the total cost of all the add-ons, and add it to your pledge. When in doubt, contact us ).

New Digital add-ons

Divinity Anthology – add $20

For a mere pittance, you can now get a digital version of the Divinity Anthology included in your pledge. Ten years in the making, the Divinity Anthology collects all games set in the acclaimed Divinity universe: Divine Divinity, Beyond Divinity and the complete Divinity 2 (including the expansion). Experience the remastered versions of these epic fantasy RPGs; enjoy the many unique extras that come with this exclusive edition and celebrate a decade of Divinity!

New Physical add-ons

Fanday ticket – add $150

By popular request, and because we realized we shouldn’t limit this to the upper tiers only because we have many fans whose pockets are not that deep, you can now get a ticket for the first ever Larian Studios fan day! The fan day will be organized in Gent, Belgium this Summer (in August) and will be the ideal opportunity to meet the team ,visit our studio and play Divinity: Original Sin with the devs. You will need to pay for travel and accommodations, but we will take care of all the catering during the day. You'll have fun!

Limited edition Cloth Map: add $25

There has been a lot of demand for this, so we decided to add the lovely cloth map as an add-on. Get it while supplies last. We will remove this add-on once we run out of stock.

Limited edition Kickstarter Signed Poster of Divinity Original Sin: add $25

The Divinity:Original Sin poster, signed by the team at Larian (while supplies last)

Existing add-ons

As a reminder, here are the add-ons that already exist

Digital add-ons

Divine Divinity Digital Version (Remastered, HD): add $5
Digital Artbook featuring the Art of Divinity Original Sin: add $8
Digital Map of the World of Divinity Original Sin: add $8
Digital Soundtrack of Divinity Original Sin: add $10
Extra Digital Copy of Divinity Original Sin: add $20
Beta Access for Divinity Original Sin: add $20
Alpha Access for Divinity Original Sin: add $50

Physical add-ons

T-Shirt of Divinity Original Sin: add $25 (Tshirts are available in S, M, L, XL and XXL)

An Extra Box Copy with Printed Manual of Divinity Original Sin: add $40

In closing

Edited April 9, 2013 by LordCrash

rjshae · April 9, 2013

Hurray!!! Now I can finally use PayPal.

WorstUsernameEver · April 9, 2013

Went in for $25. Divinity: Dragon Commander never really hit home with me, but I'm sure I'll get Original Sin sooner or later, so might as well do it now and help them polish it up with extra funds.

Keyrock · April 9, 2013

Hurray!!! Now I can finally use PayPal.

Ditto. I'll be pledging in the next day or two.

Edit: I also love that they're going to add Weresheep into the game. You really started something there, LordCrash.

Edited April 9, 2013 by Keyrock

LordCrash · April 9, 2013

Hurray!!! Now I can finally use PayPal.

Ditto. I'll be pledging in the next day or two.

Edit: I also love that they're going to add Weresheep into the game. You really started something there, LordCrash.

Hehe, I must admit that I did not expect that when I started that little cult... :dancing:

But hey, it had worked quite well for PE with the OOoE, so why not for D:OS? :yes:

rjshae · April 9, 2013

Weresheep give me a warm fuzzy feeling. At least they will once I grab the shears...

BruceVC · April 9, 2013

Yaaaaaaaay, I'm happy that this KS is successful

I'm excited about this game. I have decided to buy Divine Divinity on GOG so I can start familiarizing myself with the game world

Keyrock · April 9, 2013

Weresheep give me a warm fuzzy feeling. At least they will once I grab the shears...

That gives a whole new meaning to ~~wearing~~ were-ing a sweater. Heyoooo!

/raises hand for high-five

//dodges tomato thrown at head

///backs out of room

:blush:

Blackfalcon · April 9, 2013

Speaking of a weresheep, here some inside on their lore Weresheep lore

marelooke · April 9, 2013

Hurray!!! Now I can finally use PayPal.

Ditto. I'll be pledging in the next day or two.

Edit: I also love that they're going to add Weresheep into the game. You really started something there, LordCrash.

Hehe, I must admit that I did not expect that when I started that little cult...

But hey, it had worked quite well for PE with the OOoE, so why not for D:OS?

I wouldn't be surprised if you ended up in game, it wouldn't be the first time :yes:

LordCrash · April 9, 2013

Hurray!!! Now I can finally use PayPal.

Ditto. I'll be pledging in the next day or two.

Edit: I also love that they're going to add Weresheep into the game. You really started something there, LordCrash.

Hehe, I must admit that I did not expect that when I started that little cult...

But hey, it had worked quite well for PE with the OOoE, so why not for D:OS?

I wouldn't be surprised if you ended up in game, it wouldn't be the first time

Hehe, who knows, who knows..... :ninja:

Kad'Ir Koan · April 9, 2013

I decided that I am getting this when I saw Zandalor's Demonic undies... :bow: Larian :yes:

BruceVC · April 9, 2013

Speaking of a weresheep, here some inside on their lore Weresheep lore

Good post

Divinity: Original Sin Kickstarter

Recommended Posts

Tigranes

LordCrash

BruceVC

Labadal

LordCrash

HoonDing

duskwind

LordCrash

LordCrash

marelooke

Augusta Corvina

LordCrash

LordCrash

rjshae

WorstUsernameEver

Keyrock

LordCrash

rjshae

BruceVC

Keyrock

Blackfalcon

marelooke

LordCrash

Kad'Ir Koan

BruceVC

Forums

Activity