Larian Studios Forums Divinity - Original Sin Divinity Original Sin - Beta Night

Yes i know there wont be any actual day-night cycles.
unfortunate but... maybe in some expansion or a mod.

However, there is night time in the game which is what this post is about.

I quite like it. I think those areas ares look gorgeous and great. I even like the way the shift is being done - even if its so fast as it is and not at all realistic.
Im not sure was that done out of necessity or it was an actual intentional plan - but it does have a charm of its own.


What i would suggest is to enlarge the areas that have night time.

The shifts between day and night tend to happen too fast now, over a very short area in some parts of the map.
It does have a charm of its own, as i said but... it would all look even better if the shifts were not so quick and so short.


For example, if it was up to me, i would make the whole western forest be in the dark, not just parts of it. I would also extend that over all the northern parts extending over the burning ground and the Church as it is now.

The beach, the city and maybe the most eastern parts could remain in the sunlight.
But that would require moving the small graveyard behind the house with traps, where Braccus lieutenant is - closer to the church - maybe exchanging its place for the secret dr. Thelyron lab.


...


I think that would be fitting for many reasons.
As we all know, usually the "forces of evil" are portrayed as covered with the night, or existing in darkness so this would symbolize the spread of the undead plague - problem outside of the city.

As cliche as that may seem, there is no need to be trope about it. Larian always displayed a good healthy dose of subversive content in this regards and they could still do so.

My suggestion is just a suggestion so, no need to follow that in exact details, my main point is that i would very much like to see more night time areas and generally less quick transitions between very small areas in the game.

Although i do like those transitions i think they would work a bit better if they werent so short and quick in a few specific places.


...


a question:

Can the engine/game simulate light of a dawn or sunset?
I think that would work awesomely in some places.

Ive done a few simple illustrations to better show what im thinking about, so youll excuse me for this double post.

I get that not many players may be bothered or concerned about this. Thats fine. neither am i.
Im just thinking it could be a bit better, since we cannot get proper night-day cycles right now.

So, to finish up with my suggestion...

This is the map as it is now:

Correct me if im wrong but I believe this is mostly correct.
This does look rather disjointed.

There is a small area just next to the Lighthouse that turns into daytime although it is above the beach, in the forest and when you run over that you go through daytime and into the nightime very quickly. the same happens in the middle northern part although its a bit bigger so transition isnt so quick if you stick inside it.

And in the east there is that small blot of dark - where the Baron of Bones is.


Suggestion number one:


The area next to the Lighthouse would be correctly covered in dark, the middle North would be completely in the dark - and Baron of Bones small graveyard and Undertaker hut would exchange places.

I think it would make more sense if Baron of Bones is closer to the church and his master anyway. - While the secret Thelyron laboratory would fit to be behind that house with traps - maybe requiring to actually go through them to reach it.

And this would remove that small spot of dark which seems very weird in that place.

Suggestion number two:



The Night lands would be the same as described above but, the starting area, the east beach where our duo of Source hunters first appears would be covered in fog and clouds - because thats how it is represented in the opening animation - cinematic.

Not like a bright, nice shiny summer time beach.

While the western coast would be illuminated with sunset warm colors and tones. (if thats possible)


Additional suggestions:

- the areas that we clear form the undead could become free of the dark - turn to daytime.

It isnt necessarily real night time anyway - it may be just the "darkness covering the land" as the undead spread around. And we are clearing that away. So, the change would be dependent on the players progression and development of the story.

- Although i dont like that much because i like nighttime and i like these areas in the dark so, for me it would feel like im removing a thing i like myself. -

- Areas outside of the city could have real day-night cycles and that would not demand any changes to the NPC routines.

Would be nicer for me because i would then still have night dark lands to fight in. (maybe with additional enemies appearing and undead becoming stronger?)

So wussy players get to be really afraid of the dark, eh?

I like the last suggestion. But it may not be to many liking since pretty much all the map is covered in some sort of a particle effect except the town and the area with Bone King. I'd probably like it though, cause I am one of the fans of natural day-light cycle in games.

Personally I am still hoping that after the release, larian will release a patch which add day/night cycles and schedules.

I dont think schedules are actually that important. Sure it would bring a sense of more ... plausibility or atmosphere to the game but, it is a high fantasy anyway.

Even if there was a night time it wouldnt last very long, as is usual in games.

I think its actually more important for the game setting and atmosphere that there are night or dark areas and environments, not necessarily in the cities.

The only thing which bothers me about the current day/night layout is how abrupt the transition is from outside the Withered Gardens to in them. It goes from sunny and clear day to foggy night almost instantly. That could be done better.

+1 to Hiver's ideas in the OP, and to Stabbey's mention of how unnatural the transitions are currently. I also would've liked NPC schedules, but since they're definitely not happening "officially," at least some tweaking of how environmental light/darkness is handled would be nice.

I think the NPC schedules can be done by modding or patched over with patches when the studio decides to add them in but my guess that they are just too busy getting the game release and then they can just patch that in without issues...

Unfortunately, I think Larian explained before (can't find the source right now) that NPC schedules would need a lot more than a simple patch - they'd have to basically re-design and re-bug-test every region almost from scratch. Believe me, I was disappointed when I heard they weren't going to be in (though I agree that having to wait around for a shop to open is one annoying negative of NPC schedules), but it looks like it may be up to the modding community. We'll see!

To be honest im not really sure are we seeing the actual night time in the game, or the usual fantasy "evil darkness covering the land" kind of a thing.


If its "evil darkness" then that can be easily made clearer to the players through some dialogues with main NOCs and through the guards at the gates warning the players about it and others mentioning it.

Regardless, i would like to see more of dark or night time areas in the game because that looks great and it is very atmospheric - while it makes environments more diverse.

And i would like to see the transitions being less rapid in some places, which happens because the dark areas are rather small in some places now. But, that could be excused if it just evil darkness rather then actual nightime.



- as for schedules, as i said before... i dont care really.
I dont see that as anything more then cosmetics in this type of a game. It wouldnt actually have any specific purpose or reason to be there except to just... be there.

of course, someone will ask me how that can be a cosmetic thing when i talk about night time environments so, to explain preemptively: This game environmental art and design play a big role in its attractiveness and sense of enjoyment, it enhances the setting and the lore of the whole thing, while it also has some influence on gameplay directly.

NPC schedules in the cities would bring or affect none of that.
As far as i can see.

Of course, if they can add them at some later point i wouldnt have anything against it.

I seriously doubt it will be added outside of DLC (not sure if that's planned) or a full-on expansion.

I would be all for it in an expansion. I always love if expansions not only add new stuff after the game, but also enhance the original gameplay with some new stuff and features.