Divine Divinity - Remastered Update

[Dhruin]

Thanks to Alrik for this update (http://www.larian.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=386852#Post386852) on the remastering of Divine Divinity from the official forums:
Thanks for the feedback so far everyone! I'm your friendly neighbourhood http://www.larian.com/forums/images/graemlins/default/div.png remasterer, and I have a couple of questions and remarks about the suggestions you guys (and girls) have made [...]

- I can happily inform you that resolutions are no longer limited: you can play the game on any resolution that your video card supports, and I must say that it looks freakin' awesome!

- A number of skills have already been fixed or rebalanced, and some tooltips have been made a little clearer (for example, the tooltip for damage on the stats screen now shows a more elaborate breakdown of everything that contributes to your damage).

Please keep those suggestions and bugreports coming in!
More information. (http://www.rpgwatch.com/show/newsbit?newsbit=13309)

[Rills]

Steel Scorpions... must...have...Steel...Scorpions... And a light weight bed with head board and comforter that weighs nothing and you can tote it anywhere. Its a beautiful thing...

[txa1265]

So I can't freeze & spike my way to ultimate victory anymore? Boo! :D

[skavenhorde]

More jokes!!! More skeletons talking about life and death and suddenly falling apart because they don't believe in themselves anymore.:) Plus, more interation with NPCs. They did the first town perfectly. After that, while it was still great, it still didn't have that involvement in the NPCs lives like the first town.

So it looks like they're serious about doing this. I guess I'll have to replay DD when they're through remastering it.

[JDR13]

I hope it's not too far away, I would like to play it before D2.

[skavenhorde]

The suggestions there are pretty good. I liked the summon skeleton suggestion. I hope they upgrade it, because Skeletal wall kicked summon skeletons butt. There was no need to upgrade summon.

Better yet, I hope they do something with summon rat. One of the best spells and soooo underwhelming. Sure at level one just a normal rat would come, but what about level 5? How about some rat monsters or ratmen? Oh, I know a fire breathing rat.;)

[Alrik Fassbauer]

Don't just hope, post your suggestions there ! ;)

[Relayer]

So this is a NEW edition of the game right?

Because it would be really nice if they ALSO released these improvements as a patch for those of us that already have the game.

I mean, really that's all this is, making improvements to the game.

I WOULD buy it if they included new content though, would be nice if they came up with an expansion pack with a new story. Doesn't have to be too long, 12 - 15 hour or so adventure would be nice. :D

[Relayer]

And OMG Alrik!!!
Nearly 18,000 posts on the Larian Studios forums????

INSANE!!!!! Lol.

[Alrik Fassbauer]

Well, I'm there for ... we have 2009 now ... almost 10 years.

When I was younger, I wrote much more, also. ;)

[JDR13]

Because it would be really nice if they ALSO released these improvements as a patch for those of us that already have the game.


I was thinking the same thing. I already have the original retail box version.

[Gorath]

But then it would be hard to justify the costs.

It sounds to me like DivDiv Remastered is a small in-between project to keep the team afloat while they wait for Divinity 2 royalties and make up their mind whether or not there will be a Divinity 3.

[JDR13]

But then it would be hard to justify the costs.



That's probably true, but then you also have to wonder - are the changes enough to justify the cost to us?

[zakhal]

I allready played it through twice and the beyond divinity once too (just because). Not so sure Im willing to go for another round - atleast not for BD. Allthough Id like to see som pics of the new resolutions.

I still remember how good game it was. It was exceptional and it sucked that people spend their moneys on diablo-clones instead. This is the game they should have bought. I might buy the remastered version just to show support for the game - if there is somthing new in it.

[Europe]

Divine Divinity was one of the very few point and click action RPG games I really enjoyed. I wouldn't play it again though. I didn't like Beyond Divinity, most people didn't.

[skavenhorde]

I liked BD. I think it got a bad rap from "most people". I'm not even sure what their complaints were now. Maybe they didn't care for controlling 2 people at once, but once you got used to it it wasn't so bad. No worse than NWN 1. A little better in some ways since you could switch between characters and control how they leveled up.

[Alrik Fassbauer]

BD was good in some parts, but far too dark and "demonic" for me, too.

There were some very interesting ideas in it, though.

I managed to get an English-language imported version of the game, by chance (bought it in Berlin's "KaDeWe", actually, they import games, too).

[Relayer]

That's probably true, but then you also have to wonder - are the changes enough to justify the cost to us?

Exactly. I mean after all, unless they're adding in some new significant features or content it IS a patch and charging for a patch just isn't right.

Weren't the improvements in The Witcher also included as a free patch?

I wouldn't even mind if they added a short new 8 to 10 hour campaign in addition to the fixes. THAT I would pay for.

Hell, maybe even allowing us to customize our characters (height, hair, girth) or a selection of characters would be nice - maybe adding a half-orc race? These are really minor things that don't mean a whole lot in the long run but I just want to feel like I'm paying for more than fixes that should have just been patched.

[Relayer]

No worse than NWN 1.

I can't imagine anything worse than NWN 1 :)

As much as I hated Oblivion & Fallout 3, they were still mildly enjoyable but NWN 1 was a snoozefest. NWN 2 was pretty mediocre too but it managed to keep me somewhat entertained at least.

[Gorath]

Weren't the improvements in The Witcher also included as a free patch?


That's something different. The Witcher was still sold at retail for a significant price. The updates helped prolong its shelf life and thus generated income.

Personally I doubt they'll sell it for 10$. I think they'll go out via Steam, etc. for 20$, at least initially.

[tolknaz]

I doubt Larian will get away without eventually releasing whatever improvements they are cooking now in the shape of a downloadable patch for older versions of the game. There will certainly be a public backlash if they don't do this unless the improvements will be significant enough to call them an expansion. When Arkane released a new version of Arx Fatalis for GOG they got some pretty bad publicity for not releasing the improvement as a patch.

[JDR13]

When Arkane released a new version of Arx Fatalis for GOG they got some pretty bad publicity for not releasing the improvement as a patch.

Wasn't that just a few small bugfixes though?

[txa1265]

And honestly ... aside from a few folks complaining on RPG sites, where was the outcry? Honestly, for the ~$10 compared to the HOURS of gaming goodness these guys have delivered ... just cough up for a remastered copy. Or vote with your wallet and don't, but realize that either one is also an opinion.

[skavenhorde]

I'm with Mike on this. It's 10 bucks. My god, people all across the land will go broke if they buy this game.

Maybe that was a little over the top, but I pay more for my pencils than I would with DD remastered(I buy a lot of pencils). Hell, I even think my shampoo costs more than this game.;)

[Dhruin]

I'm also with Mike. It's a McDonald's meal...or not, no big deal. Kayla and I have replayed this many times, so assuming 10 bucks for an improved diskless version - a must-have and I'll forgo a couple of takeaway coffees or something.

[JDR13]

Have they officially stated that it's going to be 10 bucks?

[txa1265]

Have they officially stated that it's going to be 10 bucks?

No - I was just responding to the 'massive outrage over Arx' comment.

[Relayer]

But doesn't that send out the wrong message to game companies? That they can release buggy or unbalanced product and then charge later for fixes?

Whether its $5 or $10 or $20 isn't the issue for me personally, I throw away money on junk all the time. It's just that traditionally, fixes or improvements to game have been free.

Of course I'm happy to get them at all, better late than never too, so I will pay if I have to. And hell, if we ever see a KOTOR II re-release with restored content and bug fixes I will DEFINITELY buy it.

But it's still a bit lame. They could release a Remastered Edition for those who don't have the game or those who want a new copy and ALSO include a downloadable patch for those who already have the game.

Now, throw in a nice large full color map and new box artwork and I'll gladly pay since I'm a sucker for this stuff :)

[zakhal]

But doesn't that send out the wrong message to game companies? That they can release buggy or unbalanced product and then charge later for fixes?

Dungeon Lords. Allthough if many years has passed and the original was perfectly playable then I dunno.

[Gorath]

But doesn't that send out the wrong message to game companies? That they can release buggy or unbalanced product and then charge later for fixes?

Do you say the same thing to movie companies? They released old movies on VHS, remastered them for DVD and are now doing it again for BD.

DivDiv is over. DivDiv Remastered is a new product.

[crpgnut]

This isn't a patch to fix bugs, this is re-issuing an old game with new improvements, very similar to what GoG does. I see no issue with charging for this....