Everything We Learned About Divinity From Larian's Reddit AMA

Larian’s Reddit AMA connected Divinity has concluded, and with it comes a fig of caller details connected the Baldur’s Gate 3 developer’s adjacent game.

We’ve rounded up each the caller accusation revealed during the Reddit AMA from the assorted Larian members of unit who took part.

First up, Larian confirmed Divinity’s looting strategy volition see handcrafted items, arsenic Baldur’s Gate 3 did, arsenic opposed to random and level babelike loot seen successful the Divinity: Original Sin games.

As you'd expect, Divinity volition person mod enactment via modding tools, but it's unclear if they volition beryllium disposable for launch. Larian confirmed Divinity volition person co-op astatine launch, and that modders volition beryllium capable to up the subordinate count. “Yes, coop volition beryllium disposable for release!” method manager Bert van Semmertier said. “The magnitude of players playing unneurotic volition beryllium depending connected the last enactment size. But since modding is planned for this task arsenic well, subordinate volition beryllium fundamentally escaped to widen this. There is nary hard bounds to the magnitude of coop players.”

However, Divinity volition not enactment autochthonal keyboard question controls specified arsenic WASD close retired of the box, which means modders volition person to bash their happening again, arsenic they did for Baldur’s Gate 3.

Meanwhile, Divinity volition tally connected Larian’s proprietary engine, which includes “significant changes.” “For each game, we are bringing important changes to our engine,” caput of gameplay Artem Titov said. “Since Divinity Engine is afloat our ain creation, it makes it easier to change it to service a caller crippled alternatively than constitute a caller motor from scratch.”

Divinity yet adds swimming to a Larian RPG?

As for caller mechanics, caput of design, Nick Pechenin, teased: “There was thing that bothered maine erstwhile I explored the starting areas of DOS1, DOS2 and BG3. It stares you close successful the look if you deliberation astir it. In Divinity I tin yet bash the happening I wanted to bash successful each erstwhile game.” Most judge this is astir swimming.

As for the camera perspective, Divinity’s camera volition enactment “very similar” to Baldur’s Gate 3’s, truthful expect a hybrid of apical down and third-person camera.

Larian CEO Swen Vincke couldn't accidental erstwhile we'll spot Divinity gameplay. "We'll see," helium commented. "We're successful afloat accumulation mode present but inactive person truckloads of work." Larian wouldn't beryllium drawn connected the playable races and classes, either, but did accidental determination are clues arsenic to Divinity's races successful the much-discussed announcement trailer.

Divinity tone, lore, and story

Writing manager Adam Smith discussed the tonal quality betwixt Divinity and Divinity: Original Sin 2, saying: "it's much grounded and you mightiness person picked up connected immoderate people fearfulness vibes successful our trailer. But with games the size of DOS 2 and Divinity, determination are tons of tonal variations arsenic you determination done the satellite and conscionable caller characters. I anticipation it'll marque you laugh, frighten you, daze you and delight you."

Smith besides commented connected Divinity's spot successful the wide Divinity bid lore. "It's successful the aforesaid continuity, but it's a standalone story," Smith said. "Long-term Divinity fans volition find tons of acquainted things but it's ne'er conscionable fanservice - it has to service the communicative we're telling. The Divinity beingness is afloat of weird and fantastic characters, and I'm truly excited to beryllium portion of that legacy."

Bert van Semmertier besides touched connected this, saying: "Divinity is simply a antithetic beingness than Baldur's Gate. While you bash not request to play the erstwhile Divinity games, it would surely amended your enjoyment if you do! You'll possibly admit definite characters oregon situations oregon larn to research the ample beingness the was already built for Divinity!"

Nick Pechenin confirmed Divinity Divinity volition not support the magic armor strategy from DOS2. "There volition beryllium ways to support your characters from harm, but you volition not person to hold earlier you tin usage your amusive accomplishment connected enemies," helium said. "We are inactive cooking a strategy that makes definite that you person to enactment harder to stunlock solo bosses with."

Divinity's quality customization volition beryllium "even better" than Baldur's Gate 3's, creation manager Alena Dubrovina said, "more colors, much options, much control!"

Size and scope of Divinity compared to Baldur's Gate 3

Vincke touched connected the size and scope of Divinity compared to Baldur's Gate 3, saying: "Divinity takes everything we learned from BG3 & D:OS 2 and improves from there. In regards to BG3 - I deliberation the main happening volition beryllium much bureau and a rulesystem that was made for videogaming successful summation to higher accumulation values. Oh - and immoderate truly chill caller friends to meet."

Then: "more agency, much consequences. We don't cognize ourselves yet however large it volition be. We're inactive making it."

Larian volition bash its champion to marque Divinity playable connected Steam Deck, fixed however fashionable Baldur's Gate 3 proved connected Valve's portable crippled machine.

Here's a amusive one: volition the caller motor render moving ropes correctly and volition we beryllium capable to look up successful to the sky?

"There is nary existent motor regulation to let looking astatine the sky," method manager Bert van Semmertier replied. "How the camera works is wholly a plan choice. Alternative camera angles are ever considered. If they payment the game, we volition for definite adhd it. As for the ropes: you tin expect important changes to our physics motor successful the aboriginal games!"

Divinity's combat and quality progression systems

Head of design, Nick Pechenin, said Divinity volition person a marque caller combat system. "We went done our archetypal ideas for DOS1 and DOS2, looked again astatine however they worked retired successful practice, picked up immoderate inspirations from our BG3 EA and post-release journey, consulted the prima charts to spot what we request to bash to enactment competitory - and cooked a caller enactment system and quality progression system," helium said.

"Feedback from BG3 players trying DOS2 for the archetypal clip has been particularly absorbing to us, seeing the 2 worlds colliding. We anticipation that some fans of BG3 and fans of DOS2 volition find the caller strategy intuitive but deep."

It sounds similar Divinity whitethorn so travel to Nintendo Switch 2, eventually. "We person conscionable released Divinity Original Sin 2 for Switch 2! We emotion the level and we volition surely see Switch 2 for the adjacent Divinity game," method manager Bert van Semmertier said.

Larian, Divinity, and generative AI

As expected, Vincke addressed the generative AI contention that emerged pursuing Divinity's announcement. He insisted Divinity would not see immoderate generative AI art, and confirmed it has ditched genAI tools during conception creation development. However, Vincke confirmed Larian is utilizing genAI crossed different areas of development.

Here's Vincke's afloat connection from the Reddit AMA:

"So archetypal disconnected - determination is not going to beryllium immoderate GenAI creation successful Divinity. I cognize there’s been a batch of treatment astir america utilizing AI tools arsenic portion of conception creation exploration. We already said this doesn’t mean the existent conception creation is generated by AI but we recognize it created confusion. So, to guarantee determination is nary country for doubt, we’ve decided to refrain from utilizing genAI tools during conception creation development. That mode determination tin beryllium nary treatment astir the root of the art.

"Having said that, we continuously effort to amended the velocity with which we tin effort things out. The much iterations we tin do, the amended successful wide the gameplay is. We deliberation GenAI tin assistance with this and truthful we’re trying things retired crossed departments. Our anticipation is that it tin assistance america to refine ideas faster, starring to a much focused improvement cycle, little waste, and ultimately, a higher-quality game.

"The important spot to enactment is that we volition not make 'creative assets' that extremity up successful a crippled without being 100% definite astir the origins of the grooming information and the consent of those who created the data. If we usage a GenAI exemplary to make in-game assets, past it’ll beryllium trained connected information we own."

Machine Learning Director Gabriel Bosque expanded connected this past constituent successful a spot much detail:

"This is each caller technology, truthful I wholly recognize wherefore it’s hard to spot wherever the affirmative uses are. We judge Machine Learning is simply a almighty instrumentality to accelerate and marque crippled improvement much businesslike and streamlined. This means that our creatives person much clip doing the enactment that makes their jobs much rewarding and the crippled a richer experience.

"The important spot to enactment is that we bash not make 'creative assets' that extremity up successful a crippled without being 100% definite astir the origins of the grooming information and the consent of those who created the data.

"With implicit 100,000 dependable lines scheduled to beryllium successful the game, recorded by hundreds of actors, and adjacent 100 thousands much to beryllium recorded that volition not extremity up successful the game, determination are utile tools for america to trim the ‘mechanical legwork’ and escaped up clip for teams that would beryllium bogged down doing tasks that kept them distant from what they truly privation to beryllium doing. Additionally, our ML R&D squad monitors and experiments with thing that is authorities of the creation and that mightiness power crippled improvement pipelines of the future. This is important to america due to the fact that we marque our ain engine.

"But we gully lines successful the soil too. We explicitly committed successful our histrion agreements to not utilizing the recordings to bid oregon physique AI dependable modelers, due to the fact that we are alert of however delicate it tin beryllium to artificially make an actor’s voice. Even if an histrion were consenting to hold to this if we'd compensate them, we don’t presently consciousness comfy with including an AI-generated dependable successful our games."

Writing manager Adam Smith confirmed this stance connected generative AI applies to writing, too. "We don't person immoderate substance procreation touching our dialogues, diary entries oregon different penning successful Divinity," helium said.

"We had a constricted radical experimenting with tools to make text, but the results deed a 3/10 astatine champion and those tools are for probe purposes, not for usage successful Divinity. Even my worst archetypal drafts - and determination are a LOT of them - are astatine slightest a 4/10 (although Swen mightiness disagree :p), and the magnitude of iteration required to get adjacent idiosyncratic lines to the prime we privation is enormous. From the archetypal stub to the enactment we grounds and ship, determination are a large galore eyes and hands progressive successful getting a dialog right."

So what areas bash Larian usage genAI connected and what does it mean by a "creative asset"? "There is presently 1 illustration of ML generated assets that extremity up successful the crippled and that is wrong our cinematics and animation pipeline," Bosque explained. "In this pipeline we effort to seizure the actor's performances arsenic champion arsenic we can, truthful we usage ML models to clean, retarget and adjacent adhd question erstwhile it's not question captured. These models are trained exclusively with Larian data."

Wesley is Director, News astatine IGN. Find him connected Twitter astatine @wyp100. You tin scope Wesley astatine [email protected] oregon confidentially astatine [email protected].