Larian Studios Forums Beyond Divinity (English) Suggestions Divinity 2 question, no forum to ask it in

hey, there's no form to ask it in, but I was wondering, will <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/div.gif" alt="" /> 2 be first person, 3D, or still in the overhead 2D???

I heard it was in 3d somewere <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/question.gif" alt="" />

Of course it's in first-person!
DIdn't you read it will have Doom3 engine and have rocket launcher +9, shotgun of the firedragon and Rambo Combat Knife MK 88 of the Spider?
[sarcasm off]
Read the interviews.
If RR has 3d (even if only characters), how would DD2 be in 2d?

er, I was just wondering weather or not its in FP or not. I didn't notice in ht einterveiws.

Divinity 2 hasn't even been officially announced, so isn't it a bit too early to ask this question?
Nonetheless I say it's not First Person. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

yeah, it just sounded like someone else said, that something would be easier in DD2, making it seem it might be in FP.

I don't care if it is or not though.

mere speculation my dear Watson..... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/think.gif" alt="" />

I sure the boys and girls of Larian will make the best desicion about <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/div.gif" alt="" /> 2 (where is that suck-up icon <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/badsmile2.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/badsmile2.gif" alt="" />)

*cough* not First Person please *cough* <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" />

They'd be insane to make it first person. Imagine if they were coming from all sides. You wouldn't be able to tell where they were to hack at them. In real life you can spin your head around quickly to see what's going on. It'll probably be similar to Dungeon Seige's engine.

dungeon siege has RTS feel to it. currently there aren't so many 2D games around & DD is one of the most gorgeous 2D games ever. if it ain't broke, why fix it?

still, the evolution to 3D must've been inevitable for larian & DD2 is a launchpad for that. i really hope it works effectively in gaming experience as nothing ruins a game like killer graphics but lame gameplay. u play doom/half-life/quake, u play them all.

whatever it is, i pray that it won't end up being morrowind. hate first person mode. glory 2 sprites & 2D!!!!

<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/offtopic.gif" alt="" /> if only lionheart uses fallout tactics engine it'll look & play better. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/sad.gif" alt="" />

Yes no morrowind that game sucks "rear". I've found that 2D RPG are the best, but if done very well 3D can be great.

I like FPS game, but not RPG FPS's, and definitly not in a fantasy setting. If Div2 goes FPS, I wouldn't know what to do. I wouldn't buy it that's for sure...

I agree RPG FPS's suck "rear" <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/devil.gif" alt="" />. 3D should be in 3rd person. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/up.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/up.gif" alt="" />

Disagree.
It depends: Deus Ex was simply excellent as well as Arx Fatalis. Everything depends on too many factors. Note that you CANNOT make a good party-based FPS/RPG, at least there wasn't any -good- game of the genre (wizardry doesn't count, as well as Might and Magic).

I imagine DD2 like NWN with the "Feel".

huh? what 'feel'? i 'feel' funny.... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/puppyeyes.gif" alt="" />

what?! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif" alt="" /> deathatthedoor!! get that finger out of my ***!!! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/memad.gif" alt="" />
<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/silly.gif" alt="" />
haven't played deus-ex & arx fatalis. deus-ex looks cool though. but i still prefer 3rd person mode with 2D engine. more details than blocky low-poly 3D that i usually encounter in dungeon siege. if it turned out as high detailed as doom3 or half-life2, i may not care 2 play it 8 all as 3D supposed 2 extend the interactivity of the game & make it even better in playability. if it's just for the looks & nothing else, then no thank u, i'll have a glass of 2D & a plateful of sprites please.

Aye like it!! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" />

Me too. But not REALLY the feel. The graphics here could have been done better. More the cameraangle, perspective and the open Gamesystem behind it. But hey, thats my very personal opinion. We haven't even started a deeper discussion about that issue in the team. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" />

So, besides from "It'sucks" and "I like it", what do YOU think, what is the best 3D or pseudo 3D Perspective for an RPG and more important WHY. We are listening... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/winkwink.gif" alt="" />

If I were you Marian, I would never feel resistance to learn from Blizzard Entertainments. They had been leading an exquisite quality set of games that are no doubt excellent on graphics.

I had been working as many things in my life but one of my expertises was born out of creating a three-dimensional modelling system for proteins’ molecular bio-morphology. In short, I know what I am talking about in depth. Thus, please listen to the advice of a fiendish graphics expert.

The same bird’s eye of Divinity is a great perspective if you can rotate the ground plane and zoom onto it only during game play pause.
This means that the player does not need the alt key in the same sense of using it in Divinity unless you intentionally want it to be used in a narrow alley or a rocky crack and to reveal hidden items and identify them.

The angle of perspective should be 45 ° of arc as an elevation from horizon. This angle eliminates the feel that we are behind or over the characters. Looking through the eyes of the hero is a consol game option that exists currently on many games and the angle is zero of course or parallel to the horizon. This could be a toggled option for finding a nasty hidden item, but such an option is not really necessary. If an angel was flying with a camera that always point at the hero and the player can change the height of that angel from ground then we still have the problem of the fixed distance between the angel and the hero, which is controlled by the zoom factor.

Therefore, you could do like Blizzard did and combine both or be even more creative and offer a full-blown 3D engine without the yaw and tilt of course.

As an expert, I would recommend a minimal field of view that is at least 4x4 units of the average height of the hero and a maximum of 8x8 or 16x 16 HHU depending on the screen resolution being 800x600 or 1600x1200.
If the Character had a lot of details that demand many pixels, you may have to calculate all from scratch to determine the minimal height in pixels and use it as a unit of measure.

Finally, the camera should be at the corner of that cube you have calculated using the height of your hero.
This means that the radius of your 3D sphere is the square root of 6 HHU in close up zoom.

This is a very rough estimation of course and the details should be worked out on primary tests.
The keyboard’s cursor keys are the best for rotation CW/CCW using the left and right cursors, while the up/down cursors could be used for zoom in/ out. This done, while fixing the view angle at 45 ° of arc, is a fabulous specification of a 3D game.

The shortcomings of this 3D interface is that we lose the pseudo 3D Perspective that allows us to scan a map far from the player in the manner we do with the shift key in <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/div.gif" alt="" />


Cheers.

For me, the feel is more important than the rest. I am not a graphic-whore, but the graphics in NWN was another weak point: every area seemed a copy of the previous. When I thing "NWN", I think "gray" or "lack of colours".
But indeed, as we Russians (and Egin) say, "Don't sell the bear's pelt before you killed it". It's too early to talk about DD2 <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />.

I prefer 3D. A 3D game is easier to mod and the engine can stay the same for several game. Besides, a 3D game has a better chance to sell nowadays.
What I personally would like is 'pseudo 2d':
the same camera POV as in <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/div.gif" alt="" />.
Of course it would be nice if the game had several camera modes.

Yes but good graphics help the feel alot. It's the small things that count

I really hope that Larian will create for <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/div.gif" alt="" />² something like the Dungeon Siege Engine. Why? I like the view/perspective and the camera management. The LOD system is great and there are no loading screen, that's always a big plus for me, because I really hate loadings screens in RPGs. Of course you have to add some <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/div.gif" alt="" /> features, like item interaction (you can manipulate things, chairs aren't just background polygons without function etc.) a good story and a new combat system. Since I don't know how good/bad the combat system in <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/riftrunner.gif" alt="" /> is, I would really prefer the one of <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/div.gif" alt="" />. This all would be the ultimative RPG Engine for me <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/winkwink.gif" alt="" />