Larian Studios Forums Divinity II The Dragon Knight Saga / Flames of Vengeance (English) Technical problems Can't Use Ego Draconis Character

Greetings!

I have searched around the forums to see if anyone else has had this problem, and haven't found anything, so I am starting a new thread in hopes to get an answer, and if anyone else has the same problem, they can get an answer, too.

I had the US DVD (CDV) PC version of Divinity II: Ego Draconis. I played it all the way through several times, and I really wanted to use one of my characters that I finished the game with for the FoV.

I bought the digital download Divinity II: The Dragon Knight Saga through Larian store, installed it, downloaded the patch through the official website and installed it. Got all excited to play, only to find it wouldn't let me utilize my previous characters "Outdated save," I believe it said. Also, because all the save slots were "full" (with characters I can't access any longer), I wasn't able to save the initial FoV character I started 'from scratch', but it did have the "autosave," which I was able to access.

I found my save games [C:\Documents and Settings\myusername\Local Settings\Application Data\Divinity 2\Savegames], and when I set view "details," is see the extension on the Ego Draconis (DVD version) saves is DSG, and the new digital version is DXG.

That said, is there a way to retrieve my previous characters (who had fantastic items that I can't replace when creating a new character) and be able to play them?

Tech Specs:
PC, Dell Vostro 1720, Intel Core2 Duo, Windows XP (updated service pack), nVidia graphics card, IDT internal speaker,

It's not so much the build I want back necessarily (I see that I can build a FoV character however I choose), it's that I want vengeance and I want all my loot that I took a lot of time to collect because I kept specific items to bring into FoV (I played ED after knowing the expansion was coming out, and how ED ended).

Any assistance to this matter is greatly appreciated.

All best,
~~CierraShore

Sorry, CierrraShore, but the save games are definitely not compatible - they changed to much in the remastered edition of ED (quests, item placements, major changes to the flying fortresses etc) to make it compatible. You need to buy the FoV expansion instead of ED if you want to continue from your original saves.

There's been a fair bit of discussion about this issue on the forums, the most recent of which is here:

http://www.larian.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=433529#Post433529

Thank you for the info, Trippy. I was wondering if I'd be able to keep the characters (when I first played ED we were told we'd be able to bring over the same character to FoV), but was suspecting it wasn't going to happen when I saw the different extensions. What a bummer.

I did re-buy the full Dragon Knight Saga (remastered ED and FoV) because I knew that it'd be worth the little bit extra to have both together. I could technically start from the beginning (again), and play all the way through w/ the updated version, but what a bummer! I was quite rather attached to one of the characters. The disc still plays the older characters.

Oh well. FoV does look great, and so far has seemed smooth with the handling. I have no doubts about it being better than the original release! Love Larian studios!

Thanks again, Trippy. The link you included was helpful.

I recommend other readers who may be wondering about the DVD version of Ego Draconis (ED) and the Dragon Knight Saga (DKS) to visit the thread Trippy posted.

To note: I bought the DVD version of ED. The file extensions are different than the file extensions on DKS-- they are, apparently, separate and completely different versions which are incompatible. Based on many readings of many threads, I would not recommend the Steam version, as it seems many people have had problems with it. Sure, you'll pay more through other avenues (including the whopping amount through Larian store), but you'll likely have better support. I bought DKS through the Larian Store, even though it cost more, because 1) It's direct from Larian, so they should get more of the money; 2) it's direct from Larian, so updates and patches should be immediately available; 3) I am not familiar with digitally downloaded games (other than Divine Divinity through Good Ol' Games--GOG.com; that ended up having game crashing problems, whereas the disc version I bought didn't)...

...hey, Larian has made a ton of money off me! I've bought Divine Divinity DVD twice (a copy for hubby, a copy for me), the digital Divine Divinity (before I found the 2nd DVD), the Beyond Divinity DVD, the EG DVD, and now the DKS!! Escaped pigs! That's a lot. Well worth it though! And my kids can't wait to play Divine Divinity. Maybe I'll let my son buy himself a CD copy (it's down to about $10 in the US). I'm a stickler when it comes to following rules, and since each of my family members has a computer. . .

Going completely off topic now. Okay, so thank you, Trippy. To everyone else: take heed!

All best,
~~CierraShore

One more thing, my direct question wasn't clearly answered in the FAQ's at FoV site, but there is a long list of questions. For your browsing pleasure, take a look to see if any of your questions might be on there and answered.

http://www.flamesofvengeance.com/faq.php#jumptocontent


All best,
~~CierraShore

You're most welcome, glad I could be of some help!

I must admit my knowledge is based on browsing these forums - I've only played DKS myself, although I'd definitely have played ED if only I'd known it existed (Larian doesn't seem to get the exposure that they deserve).

But if I had played ED, I'd also definitely get the stand-alone compatible version of FoV - I'd hate to lose my characters. Also, the FoV expansion for ED is supposed to be the same as the FoV part of DKS - it's only the ED part that differs.

In a way, my previous ignorance of Larian was a good thing - I've been able to experience the ED part of the game in all its remastered glory from the start

Trippy,

Then really, you must be experiencing the best Larian has to offer! The original ED was fun but difficult in some places. The story, as you know, is amazing, along with the humor and music (love Kirill!).

If you're only discovering Larian now, I highly recommend getting their Divine Divinity (Hubby originally bought while in Australia, I think)-- the CD ROM is about US$10 for it now. The graphic styling is more like Diablo/Diablo II and Sacred, but the story elements are 'typical Larian'. In fact, some characters from Divine Divinity were either brought back or mentioned in ED (such as Seth, Zandalor, and the Imp Zix Zax, to name a few)! You'll see Aleroth in it's infancy when it was barely a village-- had about a half dozen healers (Otto, Lanilor, Mardanius, Joram, and I can't remember the Lizard dude's name) with houses, a grave yard, and a lot of leveling up to do before you go fight orcs outside the gates! You had to be very careful with thieving, you fight orcs, imps, thieves, knights who suddenly turn on you because of a spell, solve mysteries (Dr. Elrath), rescue children, and all sorts of other stuff. Doing all the quests takes hours and hours and hours, but is a lot of fun. The unfortunate thing, is that if you take one quest, you might not get another because they're opposites. You have to be careful of the choices you make in Divinity, more so than ED! Anyway....

I didn't care for the Beyond Divinity much, just because the handling was kind of "clumsy" (it was before they went full 3-D), the story had potential, but isn't really necessary in understanding the arc of the full story of Divine and your current character. However, in the first Divinity, you are the Divine! Kind of weird coming to ED after playing the first Divinity as a female character! hehehehe

Anyway, thanks again, and I do hope you'll give the original Divinity a try. We (hubby and I) still go back to play it often-- it's one of our "top shelf" games (aka, played most often), even with its bugs and stuff. It's a great, replayable game.

Oh, one more thing. Kirill Pokrovsky (musical scores for entire game series) has his own website! He offers his music for free downloading (though downloading is through a mirror site). Some good stuff to be had there, some of it's not so great (depending on your tastes). I really like the "Top of the Mountain" album, and feels a lot like the Divinity gaming. Also available on his site are some if not all the Divinity scores.

All best,

~~CierraShore