Larian Studios Forums Divinity: Original Sin 2 Divinity - Original Sin 2 - General What is essential for the dm mode of this game

Ok before I ask the question I want to go over the most recent dm equipped game and why I heard /saw it failed as a dm game

1 did not follow 5e
2no branching dialogue or deep dungeon customization
3 the overall dm tolls were weak
People wanted deep dm control


So name 5 to 10 essential dm features you think take priority over any other

Please devs don't make a crap dm mode learn from scl and its mistakes

2) To clarify - SCL (Sword Coast Legends) had only "random" dungeon creation. "Authors" want to be able to "set dress" and create their own story, their own dungeon layout, their own lighting and sound ambiance.

3) I think the "DM" tools - the "live" DMing tools were pretty good and allowed DMs to interact with their players. The "Author" or environment/scene creation tools were the major issue/failure of SCL. (Many) Authors want to be able to create their adventure and NOT have to interact and have their adventure be able to stand on it's own and not require a DM. Likewise, there are many solo players (and small groups) that don't want a DM overseer and simply want to play a good story. They might even have limited time-frames due to real-life constraints so they might only be able to play a few minutes here, a half-hour there. They need to be able to pause/save their current status and continue another time.

SCL had a few nice features for the DM...
a) a "wisp" that could be turned on/off that the players could see -- allowing a DM to "guide" players to an area if needed.
b) Taking "control" of any monster/npc and using that creatures abilities.
c) Adding/deleting "set dressing" on the fly -- scenery objects - boulders, trees, tables, dripping water, etc.

So, in my opinion, the essentials for D:OS2 can be summarized as...
1. Take the "authoring" environent/creation/dialog tools of Neverwinter Online
2. Take the interactive "DM" tools of SCL.
3. Take the scriptability of Neverwinter Nights

A good implementation of GM mode requires Larian start small.

Larian should have good tutorials and provide a set of core features for Game Master mode. Once ready release on Steam early access and accumulate feedback and most desired features. The point is to iterate on these features to a high degree. This early access release should be a separate build from the game so as to not spoil anything plot-wise and open to all backers. Then prioritise new features by those most demanded as you go forward.

The core features should be:
-The ability to set-up quest nodes and conversation trees
-Being able to alter monster/player stats and abilities on the fly

Features that should come later are:
-The ability to introduce new environments and build levels

My reasoning is that you want to stagger your feedback to allow devs to focus on iterating the most important features.

Amen. +1,000.



What do you mean by build "levels?"



REAL Agile Development. Amen. +1,000,000.

DM Mode and the Toolset should not be confused, as I think they are in the above discussion. DM Tools are for taking over the story and "taking off the rails" of its design so that the players experience the unexpected. Being able to edit dialog trees strays into the toolsets domain and I think really isn't needed.

If people interested in this game want to help, they really should look at NWN or NWN2 for the best (even to this date) examples of how it's done. While NWO and SCL offer a modern way of doing UGC, both fall very flat when compared to NWN 1&2 in terms of toolsets.

This game is offering two very different features: 1) DM Mode which allows a player to take over a story and drive it in new directions, and 2) A Toolset which allows players to author custom stories & game spaces, and modify the main game.

The two should not be confused with each other. They are two different goals on Larian's timeline.

@MokahTGS

Yeah the lines get blurred for me sometimes when I'm thinking about GM tools. Point is you don't really know what is desirable as a feature set until you get user feedback. I was thinking GMs would be using the toolset to set up their stories and would probably like an ability to alter those parameters on the fly if desired. As to how much you should alter it I think should be up to the user/GM. But yeah things can get complicated fast and I accept there should be sensible limits to that scripting wise.

@Eldarth
By build levels I mean layout props, buildings on the fly. Obviously would have to be pre-designed so you could just plonk something down (which is where the toolset comes in). I would like to be able to sculpt terrain on the fly but that is wishful thinking on my part which is why its on my nice to have list. Even if just to simulate town destruction or some cataclysmic event like meteor strikes.

A lot of that stuff can all be done using offline/author-tools hopefully. For example, in NWO I have a quest where you need to try and save a small village from an attack by fire gnolls. They attack several buildings and using trigger conditions I was able to "disappear when" the pristine building, and "appear when" a firey/burning/destroyed building. This was simply using trigger conditions --- like the fire gnolls "reached" a building, and a few seconds later were able to "ignite" it. All done without a live GM.

With a live GM it would definitely be nice to be able to "plop down" graphic objects -- buildings, collapsed cave rubble, debris, catapult impacts, fires, smoke, effects, etc. You almost assuredly don't need the intricate detail of being able to x/y/z position and rotate yaw/pitch/rotation objects. Although, if the toolset allows you to create a GM "palette" of pre-scaled/rotated objects that you can then simply pick-and-drop that might be useful.

"Landscape" adjustments could be done to a minor effect on the fly as well as long as we're given "large" terrain objects -- boulders, small hills, cliff edges, cavern openings, etc.

The realtime GM tools definitely need to be easily usable and quick to select.

A mashup of SCL "GM" mode, NWO scene/adventure/dialog building, and NWN Scripting would probably make me wet myself.