Divinity: Original Sin Kickstarter

[Keyrock]

So. ****ing. Glad. I backed this.

You and I both.  I'm going to "break" this game so hard and in so many different ways.  

[BruceVC]

 

So. ****ing. Glad. I backed this.

You and I both.  I'm going to "break" this game so hard and in so many different ways.  

 

 

That was an excellent review of the game and it does look amazing

[Gfted1]

I realised that the players only receive experience if they strike the killing blow.

WTF.

[HoonDing]

This will be Divine Divinity as it was originally intended, without a publisher's yoke. In the end, it will still collapse under the weight of its own ambition. But at least it will be somewhat fun as all Larian games are.

[IndiraLightfoot]

It's gonna be awesome!!!

 

And that awesomeness is here any second now!

 

David announced that the alpha for all D:OS KS backers (like 20,000 wonderful peeps) will be 2.5GB in size on Steam, and it seems to be up for release. I will make love to this alpha (hmm, that came across a bit butch-oriented...)

[Azmodan]

*GLEE*

 

The gameplay dynamic of a true co-op introduced in D:OS is so unique, that I hope that it will be plagiarised and disseminated as a feature into every non-old-school-RPG to be created hence-forth.

 

I cannot wait to lay my probing fingers into this

 

Larian are great at innovation. And yes - they had difficulties, most of which were from publishers. Obsidian can probably relate on that front.

[IndiraLightfoot]

Alpha build is up! YAY!!! :D

 

Update #51

 

 

Dec 17, 2013 Alpha access available!

24 comments

 

Like

20 likes

 

Before you rush in and get your alpha code, please watch/read the following messages. We know, you most likely won't, but still, there's some important stuff in here. The most important thing is: 

If you want a a smooth, balanced & stable experience without performance problems, wait for release! Seriously!

What is in the Alpha?

About 10 to 15 hours of gameplay.

What's not in the Alpha?

Quite a lot. Currently co-operative mode is disabled, as are the companions. We're still working on getting schedules in, so those are not in either. Sound & music are still very much work in progress too. Further, there's a very long list of features that are not 100% working yet, or just not in yet. This really is alpha, with plenty of stuff unfinished. 

What are the known issues?

Too many to list - we made a short summary for you but really, there's a lot of things that still need to be done. 

How can I help?

We are testing the game ourselves so there's no need for sending us reports on bugs that are obvious. But we are very interested in those that are not so obvious. What makes a non- obvious bug? Well, something you don't see immediately, something that requires you to do a certain amount of things to trigger it. 

You'll know it when you see it  

If the game crashes, we would appreciate it if you could send us your crash report. It helps us locate the problem.

When can I expect an update to the Alpha?

We might still do a few emergency patches in the coming days, but then we're taking our X-mas break. The next big update is scheduled for January and will be a feature/balance update. Most likely, big feature candidates to be included then are companions and cooperative play. 

We'll keep you posted.

Getting Alpha Access 

Our recommendation really is that you never use the information below. This really is only for people who are interested in impacting development with their feedback or that are interested in helping us with balancing and bug fixing. If that's not your profile, please wait - you'll do yourself a favour! We can't repeat that enough!

Right, by now you've been warned enough, so let's get to it. Here are the instructions on how to get your alpha key. We would appreciate it if you don't distribute or sell it if you don't plan on using it. 

1. Log in to the Larianvault: https://www.larianvault.com (*) 

2. Click on the D:OS Kickstarter link in the top menu 

3. In your list of rewards, you will find an item called "Divinity: Original Sin Alpha Access" with an ALPHA logo next to it 

4. Click on the "Now accepts your input" link 

5. Next to Alpha, click on the OK button to accept Alpha on Steam (there is no other distribution possibility) 

6. Next to Alpha, click on the link "Available! Claim now! (Steam)" to get your personal Steam key for ALPHA 

7. A Steam key will be assigned to you. This key can only be used once. To redeem it, open the Steam application. In Steam, click on the "Games" menu, and choose "Activate a Product on Steam". You can copy paste the key in this wizard to activate the ALPHA build of Divinity: Original Sin

(*) If you don't have a Larianvault account yet, you will need to create one and then link your Kickstarter backer profile (or Paypal backer profile) to that account. 

To do so, create a Larianvault account, and click on the D:OS Kickstarter link in the top menu. 

Fill in the email address you use to sign in to Kickstarter or the email address you use to sign in to Paypal if you backed through Paypal. (If you get an error message, please verify spelling of the email address and verify that this is really the email address used on Kickstarter or Paypal.) 

To verify that it is really you that is trying to link the backer profile, you will have to click on a link that is sent to you via email. Once that is done, you will see your Kickstarter profile with a list of your rewards.

IMPORTANT NOTES:

- If you added money to get alpha as an addon, you will notice that the alpha addon now costs zero dollars and you have money left to spend. 

- If you want to have a refund of your addon alpha pledge, please contact kickstarter@larian.com as we will need your account information.

- It is recommended you change your Larianvault password as soon as you are logged in. 

- Alpha is only available on Steam. This does not however limit your distribution platform choice when the final game comes out. You can join in on the Steam Alpha now and still choose GOG as your final distribution platform. 

- The Alpha build on Steam will stop working once the final game is out. 

- Backers that have a duo pack only receive one Alpha key. We might change that once the cooperative mode is active in the Alpha build, but that is still to be decided. 

[LadyCrimson]

After having barely played the other two KS alpha's I backed in their various versions and then sorta losing motivation partially because of all the changes they kept making, I think I'll wait for the released version of the game. I've discovered I prefer playing games that are at least pretty close to finished vs. playing a drastically updated game over and over.

 

That said, the game looks pretty promising/nice screenies, and I'd love to get opinions from anyone who does play the alphas.

[melkathi]

I installed it and played for about ... 3 minutes?

[licketysplit]

I installed it and played for about ... 3 minutes?

And this means what?

 

it crashed?

you liked it but it crashed?

you hated it and quit?

Godzilla ate your homework?

[IndiraLightfoot]

LadyCrimson: I've just played for like an hour so far, and then I have been on a hunt for bugs and playing the game deliberately wonkily and askew, as it were. I'll get back to you when I have gathered my impressions of it as a game and not as a madman playthrough where I try to wreck things.

Edited December 18, 2013 by IndiraLightfoot

[melkathi]

 

I installed it and played for about ... 3 minutes?

And this means what?

 

it crashed?

you liked it but it crashed?

you hated it and quit?

Godzilla ate your homework?

 

 

It works fairly fine so I went to bed.

[willyum]

Too bad I missed this particular Kickstarter...

 

Also: Humanoid, you have an awesome forum avatar. )

[Humanoid]

It is unusual that they don't have a slacker backer type system. Though I remember a statement saying pre-release purchases with some extra goodies will be open at some point.

 

And cheers. It's a ten-year-old avatar of a near-twenty-year-old game, so over the long years I've had it, less and less people tend to recognise it. But I have to admit it's blatantly stolen and cropped from Doug the Eagle's famous anti-walkthroughs.

 

 

 

P.S. Also did the open for one minute then go to bed thing with this.

[Oerwinde]

I played for a bit. I couldn't figure out the boat fire and tried to put it out with my ice magic. All it did was accidentally hit a villager, so they all attacked and I was able to kill them all with a single fireball.

 

So movig on I got stuck in a dialogue box then it crashed. If this is the game with half of it not implemented, final version should be sweet.

 

Also, I must not have been paying attention because I wasn't expecting turn based combat.

[LadyCrimson]

I played for a bit. I couldn't figure out the boat fire and tried to put it out with my ice magic. All it did was accidentally hit a villager, so they all attacked and I was able to kill them all with a single fireball.

 

So movig on I got stuck in a dialogue box then it crashed. If this is the game with half of it not implemented, final version should be sweet.

Can't tell if serious, but this whole post still made me

[Oerwinde]

 

 

I played for a bit. I couldn't figure out the boat fire and tried to put it out with my ice magic. All it did was accidentally hit a villager, so they all attacked and I was able to kill them all with a single fireball.

 

So movig on I got stuck in a dialogue box then it crashed. If this is the game with half of it not implemented, final version should be sweet.

Can't tell if serious, but this whole post still made me

Everything up to the boat fire was good. Some exploring, some killing orcs and such. Movement speed was a little low, but combat was well paced and had some Fallout-esque dialogue pop-ups in combat to add some flavour.

[LordCrash]

Well, everyone who missed the kickstarter can now take part via Steam Early Access. 

 

http://store.steampowered.com/app/230230/

[Noviere]

I installed it, played for 20 minutes then quit. I like what I see so far, but I'm going to wait until it is complete

[Lioness]

Played 4 hours or so, Alpha is Alpha and so on...

 

Likes:

- Controlling 2 characters with different personalities; when they argue with each other it feels schizophrenic.

- The elements interacting with each other and the environment is great.

- Game is stable, had no crashes. Just one lockup into a dialogue that I couldn't exit, no biggie.

 

Things that need/will/should be fixed:

- I saw an Orc attacking his shaman, I guess the latter got caught in an AoE cast by the former. It was hilarious, actually maybe this is working as intended, they are after all Orcs.

- Almost all of the inhabitants have a comment when asked about that crime committed in town, "Esme did it, she is guilty as sin". Was fun when Esme herself had that comment.

- Attacking NPCs... We murdered some 5 guards in town. No one seems to care. No witnesses, but still... somebody should react to that.

- Attacking main NPCs... When approaching a certain main NPC weapons in hand confronting him... He literally disappeared in a puff of smoke. Was hoping the game would deal with it a bit better.

- Balance. Seems ranged + magic is much more powerful than melee. I have won battles 3 (level 3) vs 10 (level 5+) by environment & AoE spells,  summoned creatures tanking and ranged weapons,... that is great, but my main characters actually had more talent/skill points in melee combat, going into melee was very painful not to mention degraded weapon and armour.

- Need killing blow to gain XP; XP denial by allied NPC. Seems it is better to let the NPCs die or kill stealing from them, than actually fighting with them as allies.

- I have characters skilled in gear repair and lock-picking,... no idea if they are not implemented or I just haven't found out how to used them or am missing an item to do it (lockpick ? Repair tool ?)

- Piles of gold in inventory. So I usually get a bit of gold for every transaction with an NPC. Problem is I now have 10 piles of gold cluttering my inventory, couldn't find a way to consolidate them into a single one.

- When attacking if you miss-click you can end up healing an enemy or attacking an ally. I don't mind that in principle, but maybe get a warning "Are you sure you want to do that ?" would be helpful. Especially since with the isometric view, it is sometimes hard to target a crab behind a character when only a wiggly leg appears behind her. The most hilarious thing was my character *shield bashing herself* instead of the crab.

 

Hmm I should probably communicate the above to Larian but then again anyone playing 4 hours would have likely come across most of the above.

 

Edit: typos

Edited January 20, 2014 by Lioness

[ShadySands]

Just waiting for GOG keys 

[Humanoid]

Ugh, this turned out messy. I used three beta keys, for the three digital copies I'm entitled to, but I need all but one of them back. They say they'll have a mechanism to convert them to GOG keys, but that's good for only one of the copies, I need to unredeem the other but for it to remain a Steam key, but there's no apparent way to do that....

[Tigranes]

I'm using my beta key to play now, but I have 2 more keys I haven't touched yet (I think), so I hope it all works out...

[Majek]

Ugh, this turned out messy. I used three beta keys, for the three digital copies I'm entitled to, but I need all but one of them back. They say they'll have a mechanism to convert them to GOG keys, but that's good for only one of the copies, I need to unredeem the other but for it to remain a Steam key, but there's no apparent way to do that....

Why use 3 beta keys??

[Gfted1]

Dowloaded and started playing last night. Rolled a wizard and took a fighter as my companion. The graphics and vo seem adequate but I only got about 15 minutes in before I had to quit. I find the combat a little confusing.