plz dont watch the spelling and grammar to much <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/winkwink.gif" alt="" />
Interview: Beyond Divinity Interview with Swen Vincke
1: Who are you and what is your function at Larian?
I’m Swen Vincke, founder of Larian Studios (1996) and Projectleader for Divine Divinity and now Beyond Divinity.
2: When was the concept of Beyond Divinity created?
When we started with the concept of the Divinity Universe, we already had the idea to expand the story with Beyond Divinity. The name wasn’t there yet, but the idea was.
We knew our vision, but after 3 years developing of Divinity it was hard to stay objective. The motivation to start with Divinity was more driven by the positive feedback we got from the fans. If that interest hadn’t been (sorry if this is wrong, my english grammar isn’t good) there, we might have had developed a new world. But the message is clear now: “Hey folks, if you get into the Divinity universe, you know it’s a place you’ll be spending a lot of time in because we’ll keep on making games for it.” <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/winkwink.gif" alt="" />
3: Could you tell us a bit about the story?
The story plays 20 years after the happenings in Divinity 1 and before the happenings in Divinity 2. The main charactar is not the Divine One, but one of his helpers who helped the Divine One during the years after the happenings in Divinity 1. One day this helper was dragged to another dimension which was completely (hard one, the dictionary says ‘taken by surprise’, but it’s more like) possesed by Demons. One Demon connects the fate of the player magically to the fate of a DeathKnight; if one dies, so does the other. Together the seek a way out of this world and a solution or redemption from their ‘soul connection’.
Like already said, BD plays in a different dimension, but the player will return to some locations from D1. The player will see what happened with de world from D1. We cannot say anymore about this.
4: The game plays in the same world of Divinity, so will the player visit locations or meet NPC’s that were in D1 also? Or is the story completely detached (apart/free) from D1?
Yes indeed, but we won’t tell which! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/winkwink.gif" alt="" /> Or maybe only this one: you will meet the Imp that stole your teleporter stones in D1 again.
5: Was there much work put into the engine of Divinity? Can we expect a lot new stuff (improvements)?
Yes, we spend a lot of time on the engine of Divinity.
But for BD a lot of improvements were made. The engine was ported to DirectX9. With this incompatibilityproblems were avoided and it let us add more graphic elements. So we have for example added real realtime 3D charactars, there’s a lot more glitter in the magical effects and there is a possibility to higher resolutions and the possibility to zoom in or out when played on higher resolutions.
We also developed a completely new charactar development system, with a new skill system and expanded charactars creations, a new reputation system, real time generation of dungeons, maps and quests and a better balanced equipment and trading system with a lot of new and unique objects.
Another subtle but very important change is the solidness of the engine. The engine is now much more solid/firm/constant.
6: You still opt for (choose for) a 2D world with isometric piont of view for the player. Is there thought of 3D or don’t you find yourselfs back (that was an English figure of speech, or wasn’t it?) for that with a RPG?
BD will use already 3D Charactars, which will make the animations a lot smoother. D2 will be developed in completely 3D. For BD we re-use the D1 engine, but strongly improved. This is the only way to complete a sequel (it really says sequel) while we in the meantime work on D2 so there won’t be a large gap between the games.
7: Does the game have an expanded interactivity again which the player enjoys (that’s one way to formulate your questions…)?
Yes, de interactivity will be very big again. In BD the interactivitydegree will be of the same level as in D1, and that was big high already. Ofcourse you will discover a lot new and cool onjects and some functions to handle object are now altered. For example: bedrolls are now a normal thing to carry in your backpack, before you had to combine hay to make a bed.
8: Are there some things added that make de whole even more interactive?
BD contains now party members who will accompany you on your way through the story and play an important roll. You can find the interactivity in BD back in D1. You will find numerous objects that you can combine with eachother to make for example new objects.
9: Does the game works again with a system of qualities of the player? In the beginning, can you as a player choose what kind of player you control?
Your choice in the beginning determines only the looks of your charactar, which can differ strongly. Your choice of charactar does not at all determines which skills or spells you can learn during the game. Just like in D1, the player is completely free in this, his choice is even increased!
10: Did you listen to the tips and complains from the gamingworld about D1, and will you answer to those tips and complains in BD? Or do you keep a lot of those changes for D2?
We sure have listened to the thoughts of people about D1, and we work hard to get the bad points out of BD. We have a competely new combatsystem which is way easier to balance. Ofcourse we make sure we won’t make the same mistakes in D2…
11: Do you work with the same team on BD as you did on divinity? Are there any newcomers?
Some stayed, others went and so there are some newcomers.
12: Which of the new things you integrated do you think are really something new?
The battlefields technology that makes random maps and stories is something new. I think that this is the future of RPG’s, for multiplayer also. The best way to let the player play something new is to generate it randomly. From now on al our games will contain this generation because it will increase the replay dramatically.
13: Who thought the story behind BD up? Where does the inspiration come from? Which sources do you use?
We thought the story up with the help of some professional writers, who make by the way the dialogues and other texts also. The inspiration comes from all the books we’ve read and then mostly fantasy, the games we’ve already played and tv-shows or movies we know…
14: Can you tell us a bit more about D2? Did you start with it already or do you finish BD first and start then with D2?
It will be big, have a cool 3D engine, contain multiplayer and many, many cool features <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/winkwink.gif" alt="" />
Thank you for the interview and good luck with BD, it looks very promising.
