Larian Studios Forums Divinity - Original Sin Divinity - Original Sin - General 1M for NPC Schedules, Day/Night Cycles, Weather

Yes, a good way to explain all this controversy. Or so I think.

Larian was always clear and sincere when explaining their goals and the game features.

check this video 41:30sec http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=DAPamue3ies its raining!

Yea, I was a little confused about the wording as well. I was just thinking that it's gonna be a bit weird being daytime 24/7 and then suddenly night time if they had it in chapter 2 or something. As long as they at least have day / night lighting in the base game to correspond to in world game time then i'm happy.

Though I always love those little intricacies like weather affecting NPC's (taking cover in the rain) and love the idea of weather affecting spells and magic power based on moon cycle.

Man, I hope we reach that goal, it'll feel like i'm playing all my old time favorites all over again!

It feels a bit funny reading this 2 week old thread. Firstly, there are a few posters complaining about the $ 1M stretch goal - often because they really would like to see it realized. Secondly, a few posters assumed that day/night and weather cycles were already in game when put up the $ 1M stretch goal at their KS. But they never were in, and David said that they will only be in if they are done right with some gameplay cycles integrated with them.

During the KS, David took the time clarify a bit of what we could expect from the $ 1M getting reached:

From the KS comment section: Q: "Since the elements are such active components in the game, and the atmospheric lighting is in, as well as rain and probably snow, would the $1M stretch goal also include NPC/monster behaviour in that way too?
Examples:
-If it rains, a few rare critters appear (and only then)
-In bad weather, some NPCs move indoors or under trees or whatever shelter
-As the atmosphere get foggy and darker, will-o-wisps appear and lure people into swamps.

A: "All such things would apply if the $1M stretch goal is reached, so it's not just day/night cycles, but weather and atmosphere will come with neat NPC/critter cycles as well."

Also, what Swen showed us in that update video; If it rains people will take shelter, for instance.

So, to sum things up, there will be plenty to dialogue to add if the night is added, although people aren't perhaps so talkative when you wake them up in the middle of the night, but with rain, sun, fog, etc, you've got so many more things affecting dialogue alone, and each of those weathers and atmospheres will need to be combat-ready and spell-prepped too. But night is merely one big new cycle, there will be plenty of other "cycles" too, and they are not as intuitive to make as night time. It will be hard work as it is to implement a world reacting to weather, and when we add spells, critter spawning and whatever, it will be a tall order indeed.

It's gonna be awesome!

I remember being quite disappointed when the stretch goals were announced. Firstly because I though the targets were unrealistically high, secondly because the most interesting ones (to me) were furthest away, and thirdly, as you said, I'd assumed that things that were fundamental to an UltimaVII-inspired game such as companions and day/night cycle were not already in it.

This coincided with the slow crawl of the second half of the campaign (until the last few days ), so I lost interest briefly. Reading just how deeply Larian planned to go into these features made it obvious that they were going to be far more than just changing the lighting or giving a henchman a backstory.

I'm so glad that all the stretch goals made it - I don't know how I'd have been able to play it knowing what could have been...


Hooray! I've just got my Divinity Anthology and read through the Developer's Journal - how did I ever doubt you, Swen?

It was a bit nerve wracking to think of what we might not get, but figured the game would still offer a ton of hours to play threw and I wouldn't mind it as much. I personally think they should give themselves another six months on the game and release it in June 2014. A good amount of backers will have beta versions anyway.

As for worrying about others that won't have this, it won't be quite that bad. Unlike the big developers who end up putting the game on a delayed release, Larian will make some sort of update with a lot of the beta testers supporting them. I think the alpha and beta testers should sign a non-disclosure agreement prior to testing.

It is going to be interesting hearing Swen's point of view on the kickstarter campaign. Funny how we talk about it being nerve wracking when he is the owner of the company realizing this can make or break the game. It was a gamble, though he did a few good cards at his disposal...a very loyal fan base.

I agree with that. Fans understand the work needed for this masterpiece (I hope so). So a delayed release in 2014 won't affect us. I just trust Larian.
I know we'll have a lot of news about the work done in alpha and beta.

BTW, I hope for the DC release in July 2013

I would be totally fine with it, if Larian would delay the release.
Releasing unfinished game might hurt the sales and the score in reviews. The reviewers don't care if there'll be a massive patch released in the future which will add a lot of cool stuff, they just review the released game. I think Larian should release it when it's really ready.

The amount of talk surrounding this super delay of the game till 2014....

Like, is everybody already assuming this? There's like almost no reason to believe this.