Divinity: Original Sin - Update 1.0.63 Released

I'm pretty sure it's gone for good. If they do decide to patch it back in I hope they're the first ones to make it optional, that stuff drives me nuts.

Can't be sure on that, but seems that patches are also dealing with the game balance.

I've mentioned that crafting is OP and it seems some things with the recent patch are now changed, and some item combos removed. Thank god!

In the meantime I've found that cone marksman skill (can't now remember it's name) just as Barrage doesn't work properly on sidekicks!
For those who still didn't start the game, in case you don't see it's patched, do what Hidden did, don't rely on getting bow/xbow henchman. Take a ranger or similar as one of starting heroes.

Stingray said:

I don't believe day/night cycles is one of the features that's planned for later. It isn't happening at all.

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Well then I'll have to wait until a modder decides to finish the game for them. As I just said at the Larian forum, I have considered this an absolutely integral part of any decent RPG since the days of Ultima V, and there are very few RPGs without this feature, or at least some semblance of it, that I will play. I don't think I have a single RPG on my hard drive right now that doesn't have a day/night cycle and a least a rudimentary NPC scheduling system.

I understand why they did it, of course, and I suppose I can't blame them, but I also don't want to play the game right now.

Right now no part of the game (combat, magic, story, exploration,...) is build to be influenced by a day/night cycle.
As a standalone feature it would only be useful for immersion.
I wanted this feature and NPCs schedules, too.
But after playing the game for over 90 hours I think both features are simply not necessary for D:OS gameplay. I really don't miss them.

It would be nice if the editor supports these features to build games that build on these features.

In the early days of CRPG I used to hate day/night cycles. It was just about always poorly implemented. There was one game called Dragon Lore where you literally could not see anything at night, but game play was supposed to continue. That game just became available at GOG, I need to check and see if that got fixed.

As far as D:OS, I do have longing for the Day/Night cycle. It sorta ruins immersion when the market place is open 24/7 with no change in sellers. I guess it's back to the good ol days when NPCs lived solely for my convenience.

Oh well, I got to get back to the game.

I guess day/night cycles work for immersion and stealing crap. I guess it also played a role in the last couple Elder Scrolls games when it came to vampirism. On the other hand, I have always been annoyed when it's suddenly dark and I have to arbitrarily sleep or wait for another 8-10 hours to resume play.

By the way, I have logged around 20 hours so far (16 or so since official release) and I have to add my voice to the practically universal chorus here praising the game. It's fantastic. Great dialog, lengthy quests, meaningful choices, interesting and challenging combat; likely to find a place amongst the best RPG's I have played.

I actually don't like the night/day cycles and NPC schedules. To me that falls under the 'suspension of disbelief' aspect. What the player sees is not the same as what the characters see. I see daylight all the time, but that doesn't mean there isn't night. In my mind the characters rent a room, or sleep outside town, or sleep on trees, I don't care, just that I don't need to see my characters peeing. I actually prefer games not having it, because that only means that I have to suffer for something that can be assumed, that my characters waited a certain amount of time until the NPC was where he/she's supposed to be.

In that aspect, I hope that if they ever add day/night and NPC scheduling, that they make it optional, as I'd rather not have that.

wolfing said:

I actually don't like the night/day cycles and NPC schedules.

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And what's your problem with NPCs schedules? You prefer to work it out in your mind too?

I would assume he doesn't like them for the same reason, yes. I know my complaint would be similar. It can be a pain to try to figure out when a NPC is going to be in a certain place. I prefer to play with a game's mechanics, so if they have it, I will play along and figure it out. If they don't, then I know where to find him/her. I realize some people love it for the immersion, but I can see the developer's perspective. It's potentially a lot of extra work to add those mechanics when all I am going to do as a player is be annoyed that I have to wait/sleep through the night cycles and wait for the times the NPC I am looking for is in the right place.

zahratustra said:

And what's your problem with NPCs schedules? You prefer to work it out in your mind too?

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I can't speak for wolfing but my dislike stems from wasting time trying to track down NPCs based solely on the time of day, often without much in the way of clues as to where they are. I'd much rather know where they are whenever I need them so I can get back to the fun. This is just one of those additions where more realism doesn't = more fun for me.

zahratustra said:

And what's your problem with NPCs schedules? You prefer to work it out in your mind too?

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Most certainly yes. To me I just assume that the characters didn't see the person there, asked around and some kid told them 'oh, come back in 3 hours she'll be back' and then they waited three hours and now they found the NPC. I as the player don't have to wait the 3 hours, I just assume the characters did that.

I see your point, you just assume you as player are having the daytime hours of your characters (and NPC's) and therefore don't have to wait to finish there other stuff while you are playing. I like that approach

I much prefer day/night cycles as long as the game is flexible about passing time and the quest structure is designed around such a system.

For instance, in The Witcher - they were a MAJOR pain, because you couldn't just rest where you wanted - and the quests had a ton of trivial enforced dialogue upon completion. As in, even if you'd just spent a lot of time doing the actual task - the game wanted you to return to the NPC and then be asked to do another trivial task, before you would get your reward. Of course, this meant that you had to return to that NPC again after that task.

It's probably one of the worst examples of a modern take on day/night cycles I can think of.

But if the designers are smart about it, they can design quests in such a way that NPCs will be available after completion no matter what (and they can give whatever reason) - or they can have quests complete without having to actually return and tell the NPC it's done. There are many ways to handle it.

I love the immersion of true day/night cycles - and it goes a long way to make me feel part of a real world. There's no way I would sacrifice that just because I can't be bothered to return to the occasional NPC.

For some games, the feature is less important. But for a game like Original Sin - where there's a huge emphasis on the "simulated" aspect of the world, and all the little touches with object interation - it's a vital ingredient, for me. I think it's highly unfortunate that they didn't plan around this.

But, it all depends on the implementation.

wolfing said:

Most certainly yes. To me I just assume that the characters didn't see the person there, asked around and some kid told them 'oh, come back in 3 hours she'll be back' and then they waited three hours and now they found the NPC. I as the player don't have to wait the 3 hours, I just assume the characters did that.

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You are a developers dream than. Reducing this argument to absurdity, you might have a PC/NPC standing in the middle of an empty screen and you could assume the rest.

Funny how some people praise (justly) D:OS for being an "old school" in not leading player by the hand, force them to read a lot of dialogue etc. etc. etc. But then, on the other hand, want things to be handed out to them when and how they want to.

Besides, ALMOST all of the games with day/night cycle and NPC schedules that I remember had a "speed up time" function so you, as a player, never actually had to wait any time at all .

zahratustra said:

You are a developers dream than. Reducing this argument to absurdity, you might have a PC/NPC standing in the middle of an empty screen and you could assume the rest.

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Nothing wrong with requiring a bit of imagination. Books do it all the time, and they're considered pretty decent.

I would have liked day/night cycles with NPC schedules as well. (A feature to fast forward time at any given moment except combat of course would be mandatory.)
This feature just contributes to immersion imho, especially when it has a direct impact on quests etc.
It's not a big deal for me though... I'm sure I'll enjoy the game as well.

It's not a game stopper for me either Morrandir. I would just prefer to have them.

Stingray said:

Nothing wrong with requiring a bit of imagination. Books do it all the time, and they're considered pretty decent.

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You are not comparing like with like. Books are decent. But staring at an empty page while imagining the content is what I'm taking about.

DArt brings up a good point. I never really paid attention to day/night cycles till The Witcher and it was a horrible experience. I've probably played other games where cycles were implemented in a better way (Skyrim's pass time anywhere comes to mind) that were at least tolerable.

It is horrible only in TW1 were you need to go to Inns or other certain places to rest. In TW2 you can rest just anywhere (as long as there aren't enemies around).

greywolf00 said:

DArt brings up a good point.

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Yes, but it was all changed in TWII wasn't it? You could rest anywhere and the night was also useful for levelling up and ingredients gathering since there were more (and meaner) monsters about during the nighttime.

EDIT: LOL Morrandir you beat me to it.