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Lar_q Offline OP
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I’m going to be pro-active this time with my next status update, and write it faster than I expected.

I received quite some feedback on my latest status update, here on the forum but also in the form of plenty of emails with suggestions. I even found out which of my friends were secretly monitoring what I was writing here wink

Lots of the reactions contained quite some interesting ideas, my favourite one being that we should hire a hypnotizer who can make people think they are extra-terrestrial chickens with an attitude, and challenge everybody at the show to take the ET-chicken test. If you’re wondering what that has to do with any of our next Divinity games, it doesn’t, but it’s relevant for our Iphone game, which does deal with ET-chickens wink If you’re curious about the Iphone game btw, register for our contest and you’ll get the quick design pitch as an example.

Speaking of which (yet another shameless plug) participate ! The first batch of ideas we received contained some pretty good ones already, and if your idea wins, chances are you might make quite some money (you’d of course do it for the honour etc… but a little cash on the side might always be welcome). Go to www.larian.com/yourgame for more details. Given that most of our community are RPG players, I’d expect at the very least some pretty good Iphone RPG ideas too.

So what’s up at Larian these days? Well, as those who come here regularly know, we’re preparing for Gamescom and the announcement of Project D.

Now I read on www.rpgwatch.com, one of the two sites I check in the morning to see what the competition does (the other being the madness that is rpgcodex) that Moriendor (whose opinions ring a personal note as he visited our studio in the early days to help us out with testing the first Divinity) thinks we’re going to make:

a) A Real sequel to ED full price game to be released on all major platforms
b) An Isometric low budget spin-off to possibly only be distributed digitally
c) A Browser game of some sort
d) And finally a multiplayer-focused title, either an MMO (seems unlikely that they would invest in a full scale MMO but maybe a browser MMO) or something with an emphasis on cooperative gameplay

He concludes with “that would cover all of the bases as far as the current trends in gaming are concerned”.

So to respond - Project D is none of these and project E, which I think I already mentioned has a top-down camera, can hardly be called low-budget. On the contrary, it makes us bleed, but we have high hopes for it wink

Speaking of E, I’m very happy to announce that we managed to convince David Freeman ( http://www.beyondstructure.com ) to help us out with the script. He arrived yesterday in Gent with a surprisingly low dose of jet lag, and will be working together with us over the next couple of weeks with fine-tuning the storyline for E. I’m pretty curious what he’ll come up with, especially considering the ambitions we have for E’s storyline and how you’ll interact with it.
David wrote a book “Creation Emotion in Games” and also teaches the biggest screenwriting class in Los Angeles & London. If you have an interest in stories in games, get a copy (
http://www.amazon.com/Creating-Emotion-Games-Craft-Emotioneering/dp/1592730078 ) and you won’t be disappointed, but better yet, if you ever have a chance, participate in his class, you won’t regret it (and it puts the ideas of the book completely in perspective, which might otherwise be hard to get completely) Get on his mailing list so you can figure out when he’s in the neighbourhood, those things are usually packed but who knows, you might manage.

Now, I’m mentioning all of this because his book contains a chapter which talks about “meaningful non linear response” or MNLR for short, and it’s one of the things we’re trying to do & get right in E. If you get the book, you’ll get why this could something really cool. If not, ask David, maybe he’ll send you a chapter. If you can’t guess, I’m pretty hyped about having Jan, who wrote all the dialogue in DKS and David work together, and am very hopeful that the outcome will make for a fantastic new Divinity story.

Anyway, also speaking about David, he needs some sleep & is waiting for me to drive him to his hotel, so I’ll close with that. At least I managed two status updates within a month.

Oh before I forget – from this very minute (or any time now) for a very limited time DKS is 50% off on Steam – if you haven’t bought it yet, get it now wink

Those in the know ( http://www.larian.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=431100#Post431100 ) thought it was pretty ok for an RPG.

Cheers

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Thanks for the update. Always a pleasure to read; it's a rare privilige to be in the company of game developers that are so open with what they do.

I'm waiting with baited breath for GamesCom and the Project D announcement. rpg007

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Thank you virumor for your nice words. up

Have a nice weekend!
Lynn

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I'm so happy to read this update dear Lar_q, verry happy ! smile
I'm sure project E will make me happy too ... and not happy only, for sure not at this moment wink ,
but also very curious !!

Larian & their games are all I thinks about ... almost more than I think about sex :hihi:



On 7th of february 2015 : I start a new adventure in the Divinity world of Original Sin,
it's a Fantastic Freaking Fabulous Funny ... it's my All Time Favorite One !
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[Linked Image]

At last! Project E info. And what kind of info! First, it is not low-budget project - yay! Second, it has awesome script editor and promises something incredible regarding storyline.

Long story short: another awesome isometric RPG from Larian incoming! Only god knows how long I have waited for this moment since Beyond Divinity.

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It's always nice reading these.

So a new isometric RPG, eh? I'm ready!


My Favorite RPGs: Divinity franchise, Gothic franchise (including Arcania, so I think I'm alone...), Venetica, Risen, Two Worlds II, The Witcher, Sacred franchise, Fallout franchise, Mass Effect 1, Alpha Protocol, Planescape: Torment, Drakensang, KOTOR 1 & 2, etc.
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"Emotion in games" ? This sounds really interesting - but the price of 288 Euros per book really drives me off.

However, I've developed my own theory called "sensualwriting", which applies only to stories, I'm afraid, because I just don't know how to apply it to media - and games, too.

The essense is to "trigger" the reader's senses by using "trigger words" that do it.
It could be the sentence "the air smelled foul - as if a pig was nearby". This instantly creatzes some sort of "sensorical trigger" within the reader (at least I hope so), and you can do it with emotion as well, I suppose.

Speaking of emotions, I noticed that words can have what I call an "emotional picture" of them.
Every word has that - although the "emotional picture" or the "emotional meaning" often differs from one person to another, because these "emotional pictures" and/or "emotional meanings" are based on experiences in the past - "emotionall anchored" experiences. Whih flow down into words.
Like to be seen in some sentences in Terry Pratchett's book "I shall wear midnight".


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"Interplay.some zombiefied unlife thing going on there" - skavenhorde at RPGWatch
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Cannot wait for E and D!

Thanks for status update.

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Thanks for the update, like reading these. I always thought project D would be the sequel to ED / DKS but after reading these recent updates I think it's more like project E.

This is probably a really stupid question but I know project D is a 3D game like ED featuring the 'dragon thing' but is it set in the Divinity universe or is it a new game world entirley? If it is a divinity game is it set in a different time period / part of the world to existing Divinity games prehaps?

Last edited by Arokh; 24/06/11 05:59 PM.

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Hey lar. Always read your status updates to keep up with my favorite games company.

I must admit you made me join a hype-wagon now with project E. I was already interested by the small bits of info you released on it, but now that you mention that the narrative and non-linear story is a strong focus on it, i'm definately interested.

I'm one of the old RPG PC gamers that spent X.XXX euros in PC games over too many years and lately i'm baffled at the lack of quality of most games that spent most of its budget on graphics and technology and then later on are basicaly a shell of a game with no "juice", no replay value, not though-provoking and most of the time we just want to rush the end sooner than later and get it over with.

The small quantity of "gems" lately in the gamming industry is worrying, in fact i have completely lost interest in most game genres, with the exception of RPGs, wich are also geting the "action-console-market-defect".

Games with dialog with just want to press forward, non-linear story that in the end are just there for the show and nothing realy meaningfull besides 2 diferent paths exist, games packed with "action" that are nothing more than 2-3 buttons custom tailored for people with lower count of brain-cells (all ofc in the good name of making the game "acessible" for the entire market, yes...).

When i see a company like larian talk about projects i can't help but think good stuff can come out of there. You guys seem to have a passion for RPGs and know how to do them. I just ask that you don't try and dumb-it-down your games in order to reach a higher cashflow (lets face it, all companies do that and then say to the fans "oh no, we are not dumbing it down, we are streamlining it, yes...."

Reading your words about your projects and reading your status updates i can see you are trying to stay true to your gut-feelings and keep larian games away from the actual market mumbo-jumbo streamlined and dumbed down games, i surely hope you can continue to make games with your heart and not with your wallet in mind. I know that's hard, no one can survive without cash on your pockets, but i surely hope that at least one of your projects will be 100% true larian-based mentality wink


Thanks for keeping my hopes up and still keeping me interested in the gamming scene.

I'm watching you with falcon eyes, dont disapoint me ! oh, no pressure also wink

Last edited by KnightPT; 24/06/11 06:12 PM.
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Sven, you are a god.

Another ISOMETRIC cRPG from LARIAN thankyou


I WILL BUY 20 COPIES INSTANTLY!!!!

Im so happy that you guys are going back to your roots. DIVINE DIVINITY is the best cRPG in the gaming history [drop down camera games for the win]. Hand-crafted graphics [still gorgeous to this day], story, humour, loot - everything is top notch in Divine Divinity. I finished this game 3 times!!!

Dragon Knight Saga was ok, but Divine Divinity was 1000000% better. So im REALLY glad that you guys go back to the old school isometric view [just like Blizzard is doing with Diablo 3, they stick to the old school isometric view because there is no point in changing something that works very well].

And again: Larian for the win cheer


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Divinity: Return of The Divine will END every RPG. At least I think it's about the divine...it could be about a new character but if this new isometric Divinity RPG is anything like DD, it's will be FULL of win. End of story.

There is another Dragon Divinity game coming out though and I loved DKS, so that's another win but let's face it, the isometric one is likely to be greater whereas the Dragon knight one will be full of wow moments and stunning visuals combined with quests that don't hold your hand which is what I love.

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Thank you VERY VERY VERY MUCH Swen and of cource to Larian team-for your great games!!I liked(Adore) it!!! I wish you good luck,incredible inspiration and the best of the everything .And i hope that Divinity 3 will be Cool and Great game with a lot of humour ,various quests,great music(Kirill Pokrovsky has made MARVELOUS music!!)beutiful graphic and with new ideas(sometimes I think about plot of Divinity 3 but it is another theme.....) There are a lot of warm words from me.....
P.S Sorry for my English))

Last edited by James 540; 28/06/11 03:37 AM.

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I'm very happy many gamers have a big wish to play again a isometric view RPG !

And it's make me happy to read the posts in this thread ... smile

Me too love DD and the fact it's isometric view ... but beside that is DD for many other reasons my favorite RPG of all times (still) !!

The most refreshing idea Larian maked in Divinity II (and for that reason D II took my atention long time before the release!) is the lovely/nice/funny/great/ ... "Mindreading" !

Hope Larian can combine the Mindreading and isometric rpg (project E) together in one superb RPG !

OR, maybe also with an extra NEW Feature never seen before in a RPG ? Know that I admire you because of trying a new feature and take a risk ... you never know what the outcome will be ... that's very courageous of the Larian Team ! claphands

You all have my support & confidence !


On 7th of february 2015 : I start a new adventure in the Divinity world of Original Sin,
it's a Fantastic Freaking Fabulous Funny ... it's my All Time Favorite One !
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Larian should make an old school isometric cRPG with:

"Diablo 3 graphics & combat"

"Baldur's Gate 2 story"

"WoW-like character classes"

and of course Kirill pokrovsky music!

In other words - I'm hoping that Larian will make a true sequel to Divine Divinity claphands





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No, not "like" another rpg ... just Larian's way ... wink
... some spcial NEW unseen awesome features (like they did with the Mindreading!) ...

Make it ... The RPG of the Year 2012 !! biggrin

Noooooooo pressure .... just make an awesome rpg ... :hihi:



On 7th of february 2015 : I start a new adventure in the Divinity world of Original Sin,
it's a Fantastic Freaking Fabulous Funny ... it's my All Time Favorite One !

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