Larian Studios Forums Divinity - Original Sin Divinity - Original Sin - General How much of the whole game will be in the Alpha?

I tried to ask in today/yesterday's live stream, but I only got in about 40 seconds before it shut down. My basic sentiment is, "I really want to play the Alpha, but I don't want to spoil too much of the main game."

I've never participated in an alpha or beta before, so I don't really know what to expect. I am aware that the Diablo III beta included only the first fifth or so of the first chapter (so roughly 5% of the whole game), but I don't know who indicative that is or is not.

Also, in the archive of the live stream I'm watching now, Swen said some things about the game areas (2km x 2km) that make me think maybe the Cyseal area is the only thing in the build... but since I don't know how much of the game represents (only that the backers that were brought in played for 11 hours and only saw half the content) it doesn't exactly help me.

Can anyone help me out?

So we played the Thursday build from 10:30 to 21:00 or something like that, and we were having a lot of fun exploring the world and just doing things and seeing how they impacted the world. So much in fact, that we failed to actually make progress on the quest (murder) you are actually supposed to solve. Talk about a very open world. ^.^
If I recall correctly, Swen guesstimated that we had seen about half of content in that build, and - going out on a limp here - I *think* the part we got to play was guesstimated to be about 1/8 of the whole world.

Anyway, what I do recall is that Swen did say something amongst the lines of having overdone themselves, so the final product is very probably rather big if not huge.

Yup, 1/8th. I was also worried about spoiling stuff, but the alpha build does not have a lot of features still so when we play the actual release, it will feel like a new game anyway. Plus I don't get many chances to help test my favorite game worlds.

But there are also multiple ways to solve many quests, so i'm just gonna putz around testing stuff anyway and play the way I normally would when it releases.

Yeah, I'm thinking I'll ignore the quests and just focus on exploring the mechanics. But, like, I don't want to wander into an area where I'll see something that will ruin a surprise later on, ya' know? Really looking forward to playing around with the game myself.

And is anyone else worried that DOS will get overshadowed by Wasteland 2? Betas/Alphas in the same window; game releases in the same window; etc., etc. The Wasteland 2 beta is great and all, but as someone who has been playing RPGs since 1997 or so, I've got to say that DOS is THE best-looking upcoming RPG by far.

(And I'd be lying if I said I wasn't still bitter at some of the reception DC got).

Personally I don't care too much about Wasteland 2, and I think DOS is better looking than most RPGs I've been looking at.

Personnaly I'd be more afraid about project eternity.... ummm... I mean Pillars of eternity overshadowing DOS (or maybe torment) From what I've seen so far I do think DOS looks better than wasteland 2 in many ways. The only upcoming RPG than imo looks better (in terms of graphics) is the witcher 3, otherwise I do agree with you Arsene.

I've been playing Wasteland 2 alpha, and it is a lot of fun. For those of you who played the original Fallout and also Shadowrun Returns - its like a cross between those two games.

Having said that - I don't see this as a versus scenario. This is an "and" scenario. I will play Wasteland 2 and DOS. These are radically different games, and for this reason, I doubt that people are going to be saying: "Oh no, I only have money for one or the other". They'll get both. Wasteland 2 is less about Roleplaying and more about tactical combat.

Also - Shadowrun Returns Berlin is probably going to come out in the same time period. So start of 2014 looks like joy.


I don't think that there are any RPGs that are coming next year that will be directly competing with DOS:
- Witcher 3 is single-person, over-the-shoulder fighting game with hopefully awesome storyline and roleplaying (Witcher 2 was epic)
- Pillars of Eternity is not due until end of 2014, by that time, Larian might be working on an expansion for all we know And PE is going to be more old-school, and therefore more punishing than what DOS is shaping up to be
- Torment Tides of Numenera is a relative unknown, and won't come out until 2015. The ambition is to make dialogue, rather than action, the focus. Which again makes this game very dissimilar to all the above.

The most unique aspect of DOS that I'm looking forward to, is the co-op RPG feature. The implementation as demonstrated in all videos I've seen to-date, is so fundamentally distinct, so very much a pillar of the game, that it should be stolen, plagiarised and emulated right across the spectrum of all RPGs from this day forth. This is a game I'd be happy to play with my gf. I cannot say the same about *any* other RPG I've seen.

So yeah... I hope that English-language game reviewers really take a good look and give it a fair review for the *unique* mechanics, rather than go into it, comparing it to yet-to-be-released American RPGs (because there will be people who will compare it to Wasteland 2. Wrongly)

Peace out, y'all.

This is not so much of an issue because while wasteland is scheduled to be release around the same time as D:OS; project eternity is scheduled to be released 6 to 8 months later assuming that the game is released by end of Feb. Right now 2014 is shaping up as a banner year for rpg/fantasy games which include:
D:OS - Q1 2014
AOW3 - Q1 2014
Blackguards Q1 2014
Waste - Q1 2014
Warlock 2 Q2 2014
Witcher 3 ? 2014?
Bound by Flame Q1 2014
Dragon Age Q3 2014
Chaos Chronices ??
Dark Soul 2 2014 (I personally have no interest in this game)
-
This excludes non fantasy/rpg such as tinfall and division. Also some of these games might turn out to be not so great and there are many more smaller games being released. The thing is that many of these are 40 to 80 hour games with beg for multiple plays...

Project Eternity Q4 2014

I wouldn't worry about that:



They chose quite limited approach on this field, while DOS' is more open.

Sadly Chaos Chronicles is no more due to a legal dispute with the publisher. The game was abandoned. Accusations of dodgy shenanigans on both sides. An intractable mess and stand-off that couldn't be resolved. Just so sad. At one time Chaos Chronicles was my most anticipated game, I'm still mourning it.

But on the bright side Original Sin has risen to be my bestest most favouritest anticipated game ;-) and with this veritable bounty of RPG/fantasy stuff coming out it's hard to feel too upset about it. This truly feels like an RPG renaissance, let's just hope all these other games fulfil their potential!

I'm confused, why would you guys be worried about other RPG's "beating" DOS?

I mean does it really matter if there is a better RPG out there? Does it in some way cheapen the potential enjoyment you would get from DOS? Does it physically hurt you that "the best" might not be DOS? Why are you worrying about more potential good RPGs out there besides DOS? Is having more potentially good RPGs a BAD thing?

Just learned that the Wasteland 2 beta is, indeed, 30% of the full game. So that's $60 scattered to the wind for a 25-hour RPG. Guess I should have known better. Oh well. C'est la vie.



You're a little confused... the concern is about quantity, NOT quality. Specifically, that D:OS will not sell sufficiently to support Larian's future efforts (this is their second self-published game, but THE big one whose success or failure will largely determine their future) because other similarly big CRPGs from more accessible and better-known developers will soak up the majority of the media coverage.

In other words, it's not D:OS we're worried about--it's D:OS 2.

waoh, where your quote come from?!! and I knew that you could kill "almost" everyone but yes this might cause an issue quite important but also gives a good opportunities to have sevral ways to end the main story line

RPS - Mega-Impressions: Obsidian’s Pillars Of Eternity

There is quite few other big games coming out in 2014 not on your list. some are not for pc but still they suck up sales and factor into sames when buying games. You do have to factor in Certain MMORPGs that based on RPGS. You can't just look at RPGs like this game cause sales wise any RPG factors into loss of sales for other publishers. there many others but you have to factor all types RPGs into sales cause many people play many different types of RPGs...

Deep Down
A new Xenogears game.
Final Fantasy XV
Kingdom Hearts III
KINGDOM HEARTS HD 2.5 ReMIX
The Elder Scrolls Online
Fable Legends.
Breath of Fire 6
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2
Child of Light
Destiny
Diablo III Reaper of Souls
Kingdom Under Fire II
Lords of the Fallen
Might & Magic X Legacy
Persona 5
Phantasy Star Nova
Bound by Flame

my guess is, that DOS might not be a block buster (= a game, that sells like 1M copies within 1 week or so) BUT will be a big success in the medium to long run if DOS holds what is promised (of that i am sure, though). additionally the more it is supported by the community via mods and by larian via DLCs or addons (imagine playing DOS and Divine Divinity (redone with the DOS engine) in one epic playthrough - cant stress this enough ... ) the bigger the success.

If you watched TBs playthrough of the game a year ago, swen does not encourage DLCs. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghsiPPJN3rE @ 12:30)

thx, i know. but in an later interview (or his blog? i dont know honestly) swen did not rule out DLSc completely

DLC will be community mode or new content

I'd love to see DD and BD remade by Larian in their new engine. DD with its last area completed to Larian's satisfaction and BD with the combat system and attention it should have had. Dreams glorious dreams.