Hello. I'm very excited about Divinity:OS. I'm an old-timer who grew up with
Ultima and
Wizardry. Got my first
IBM PC 8088 back in the prehistoric era. I've been following the Divinity:OS news and very happy to hear that
U7 is being used as 'spiritual guidance' as U7 happens to be my favorite game of all time. With that said, here's my 'wish list' for Divinity:OS:
Object Interaction:
Ever since U7 I've been waiting for a RPG to include this as one of the main features although I did get a brief taste of it again with 2002's realease of
Arx Fatalis as well as brief glimpses of object interaction found in Gothic's
1 &
2. And of course there was some object interaction to be found in
Divine Divinity as well.
This time around I'm hoping that object interaction can be taken to 'the next level.' I'm hoping for very creative ways to combine objects that not only create different objects but perhaps impact the game world itself - perhaps by revealing secrets of one kind or another, removing barriers, or creating some other kind of special and unique event.
World Simulation:
Given the technology of the time, U7 really was a 'world simulator' in a class of its own and truly met the standard of
Origin System's - then motto of 'We Create Worlds.' Some features of U7's world simulation included:
Day/Night Cycle with Sun and Moon Rise/Set
Different Phases of the moon
Sunshine, Rain, Lightning, & Thunder
Animals and other non-aggressive beasts
NPC Schedules
Roaming NPCs
*Moveable Objects
Doors & Windows that can open and close
Light sources that can be turned on and off
Reagents that could be harvested (these days its called alchemy ingredients).
Secret and hard-to-get-to geographic areas
*Of particular note is Moveable Objects. I loved how in Divine Divinity you could move some barrels and crates and find a trap door. Or move some debris and find a key. That kind of thing is very FUN and I hope there will be some experiences like this in Divinity:OS. But what else can be done to take this idea to the next level? What other reasons could there be for a player to move an object? I think with a bit of brainstorming there could be quite a few creative reasons to move things around without a reward of finding a secret location or item. Perhaps to trigger some kind of world event, quest, or just something else that is different or otherwise useful to the player.
These are just some of the things I can remember off the top of my head. I hope that Divinity:OS will expand even further on the whole concept of 'world simulation' as it is sorely lacking in modern day RPGs and nobody has knocked U7 off its pedestal in terms of its world simulation featureset since it was released back in 1992.
Equipment:
I really enjoyed Divine Divinity. It had a 'U7' vibe to it with a dash of Diablo 2 and good smatterings of Baldur's Gate-quality storytelling. In the area of equipment, while I enjoyed the variety of equipment that could be found or bought, with Divinity:OS I'm hoping there will be an even greater variety. In addition, I'm hoping for hand-placed equipment that can be found by the player who carefully searches out remote and otherwise hard to find places.
The World Is An NPC:
Another aspect of U7 and Ultima lore in general that made it such a great game is the lore ascribed to different geographic locations. For example, each dungeon in the Ultima universe had its own, unique name as well as its own characteristics and 'personality.' While dungeon crawling in Divinity:DKS was satisfying, I felt the lore for the dungeons was weak and dungeons really didn't even have names let alone a personality you could learn about before even finding the dungeon in-game. I remember the dread of actually finding the dungeon
Hythloth - dread because of how the dungeon had been been built up in my mind from all the lore that came before discovering the dungeon. I'm hoping that geographic locations in Divinity:OS will be named and given character and that lore will be available to the player to learn a bit about these locations before they ever reach them.[/b]
Books:
I really like books in RPGs. They can add quite a lot to the game in terms of lore. I also enjoy it when books provide perks to your character (an attribute or skill increase for example) or even initiate quests. That kind of thing really creates a strong incentive for players to treat the entire game as a treasure hunt in order to find as many books as possible. However, refrain from including information in books that do not coincide with the game. For example, books in Divinity:DKS sometimes referenced night time when there was no actual night time in that game. They also sometimes mentioned how people fell to their deaths when there is was no fall damage in that game - stuff like that.
Music:
Music in RPGs can really alter one's perception of the game for better or worse. Divine Divinity had some of the best RPG music since U7. I absolutely loved the tavern music in that game. I hope Divinity:OS will include music that will add magic to the game.
Well, that is quite a bit so I'll take a breath for a moment.
