Divinity: Original Sin Enhanced Edition has finally released for SteamOS/Linux. I have picked up a copy, and I am downloading right now to give you some thoughts.
Update: It's now downloading.
It couldn't have released on a worse day for me. I ended up accidentally playing through Portal in its entirety before going to bed last night, so tired is an understatement. I am also ill, so it wasn't the best idea. I will try to give it some thoughts once I have put a little time into it.
Important: AMD video cards might have rendering defects. This is a game issue and it will be fixed soon.
Initial thoughts and port report
It launches fine, hooray! It loads up in Windowed mode by default for me, if I still had my dual-monitor setup I would have liked this. It's easier to get games working correctly if they start in windowed mode, but now I'm on one screen I couldn't care less. So full-screen 4K resolution it is!
You are greeted with a two-character setup screen with quite a few options and classes to pick for each one. You always have two it seems, and they can be any mixture of male/female, female/female or whatever you want.
Performance wise everything seems fine, with 4K resolution and everything up at Ultra it has been running really smoothly without a hint of stutter. GRID Autosport is the only other game I've been able to get a smooth 4K experience with, so this is really massive points in its favour.
I am testing it with the Steam Controller and it's working like a true dream. The buttons are all mapped correctly, and it just works great. Feels really responsive, and was certainly built well for a gamepad.
I do find it amusing that with your characters, you control both of them when talking to each other. Can't say I've seen that done before, and it certainly makes it interesting, but also easier to do what you want.
Issues
Once you are in-game, you cannot switch to a gamepad/Steam Controller. You can only switch on the main menu, a little annoying, but not a major issue. Same for switching to mouse, the control method cannot be changed in-game.
It pollutes your home folder with a "Larian Studios" folder, seriously developers, please stop doing this.
Overall, it's one of the highest quality ports I've seen for a while performance wise for me. Really liking it.
About the game (Official)
Gather your party and get back to the roots of great RPG gameplay. Discuss your decisions with companions; fight foes in turn-based combat; explore an open world and interact with everything and everyone you see.
You take on the role of a young Source Hunter: your job is to rid the world of those who use the foulest of magics. Embarking on what should have been a routine murder investigation, you find yourself in the middle of a plot that threatens to destroy the very fabric of time. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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Ok - I'm realizing you're the kind who thinks everything was better before (no offence intended).
But I gotta say that Mass Effect was one of the biggest and most epic trilogies in my years of gaming so far. I can't see for instance KOTOR or Neverwinter being better in any way (although I hold KOTOR high too). All right so the third game was disappointing after the masterpiece that was ME2 (the loyalty missions were fantastic), but overall? Oh boy what an experience.
I also found the first Dragon Age to be a great adventure - and that's quite the achievement considering my aversion to fantasy. So while BioWare also delivered great experiences in the past, and while DA2 and ME3 were indeed a bit disappointing (although DA2 were underrated imo), I still trust BioWare to deliver on the content - in particular on the characters (who I believe has always been their biggest strength). And everyone says DA Inquisition is a return both to RPG and storytelling for BioWare.
And I'm dying to get to know more about Mass Effect next year. If only... If only it would come to Linux too. I've not yet played neither Fallout 4, Dragon Age Inquisition or GTA5 cause of platform. Just in case it would come, eventually... But I still got my Windows partition reserved for those games.
Last edited by Beamboom on 28 December 2015 at 10:12 am UTC
But I gotta say that Mass Effect was one of the biggest and most epic trilogies in my years of gaming so far. I can't see for instance KOTOR or Neverwinter being better in any way (although I hold KOTOR high too). All right so the third game was disappointing after the masterpiece that was ME2 (the loyalty missions were fantastic), but overall? Oh boy what an experience.
I also found the first Dragon Age to be a great adventure - and that's quite the achievement considering my aversion to fantasy. So while BioWare also delivered great experiences in the past, and while DA2 and ME3 were indeed a bit disappointing (although DA2 were underrated imo), I still trust BioWare to deliver on the content - in particular on the characters (who I believe has always been their biggest strength). And everyone says DA Inquisition is a return both to RPG and storytelling for BioWare.
And I'm dying to get to know more about Mass Effect next year. If only... If only it would come to Linux too. I've not yet played neither Fallout 4, Dragon Age Inquisition or GTA5 cause of platform. Just in case it would come, eventually... But I still got my Windows partition reserved for those games.
Last edited by Beamboom on 28 December 2015 at 10:12 am UTC
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Quoting: BeamboomOk - I'm realizing you're the kind who thinks everything was better before (no offence intended).I don't think he is. It's just that we think content is more important than presentation. But I'm quite sure it's just a basic difference in what we enjoy and look for in a game. And I say we, as I find it very easy to identify with Keyrock based on his side of the conversation.
In any case, A great game is a great game, even if it could have been made ten or twenty years ago. You're seriously missing out if you pick your games based on their budget, but that's your prerogative. Naturally the game is even more enjoyable if it also looks and sounds nice, but these are just potential cherries on the cake, not the cake itself.
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Quoting: tuubiA great game is a great game, even if it could have been made ten or twenty years ago.
Then it's outdated and cheap and could (should!) have been made better - cause now we can. Cause remember, the point'n'click 2d games of yesteryear was the bleeding edge of what we technically COULD do back then - they didn't make it like that just cause they felt like it. They pushed the hardware to the absolute limits. And we applauded that.
A game is, to a much greater extent than movies, music and obviously books a technical product. They are outdated much faster, faster than any other media I can think of from the top of my head.
Games are essentially like action movies. Have you seen again action movies you marvelled at decades ago? That once were hailed for their qualities? By far most of them look totally different through the eyes of today. Poor production techniques, bad editing, scenery that so obviously are made of cardboard, obviously poor special effects, etc. It can be better today! Why should we expect less?
Quoting: tuubiYou're seriously missing out if you pick your games based on their budget, but that's your prerogative. Naturally the game is even more enjoyable if it also looks and sounds nice, but these are just potential cherries on the cake, not the cake itself.
I haven't picked my games based on the budget. You simply can't be a Linux gamer if you do that. I've never played more indie games than the last couple of years. But during those years I've discovered my expectations are higher than what's been on offer on the cheap indie scene. I know I can get both - so why settle with less?
Like the METRO games. That's in my opinion a great example of a good, modern production with an interesting story and a very cool setting. That's what I want to see. I'm no big fan of shooters and stealth games but I kept playing simply cause the game had that special something to the atmosphere and story.
Now, had that same game been a retro thing with all dialogue as text on static faces, isometric view and poor animations it's not been the same at ALL, regardless if the writing had been the exact same - word for word.
Why sit there with Microsoft Paint if you can use Photoshop. Why read cheap digital novels written by amateurs when you can purchase great work published by professional houses. Why sit there with an old Casio keyboard when you can enjoy the full suite of Bitwig.
To care about the presentation doesn't mean you don't care about the content. But to excuse everything else if only you get a great story... Well then, buy a good book?
Last edited by Beamboom on 28 December 2015 at 3:13 pm UTC
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Quoting: tuubiExactly. It's obvious that we and Beamboom simply have different priorities in our games. Beamboom seems to prioritize production value, and that's fine, there is value in having nice looking games on Linux, it's what is most likely to legitimize Linux as a gaming platform in the eyes of the mainstream masses, since they tend to gravitate toward bombastic games.Quoting: BeamboomOk - I'm realizing you're the kind who thinks everything was better before (no offence intended).I don't think he is. It's just that we think content is more important than presentation. But I'm quite sure it's just a basic difference in what we enjoy and look for in a game. And I say we, as I find it very easy to identify with Keyrock based on his side of the conversation.
In any case, A great game is a great game, even if it could have been made ten or twenty years ago. You're seriously missing out if you pick your games based on their budget, but that's your prerogative. Naturally the game is even more enjoyable if it also looks and sounds nice, but these are just potential cherries on the cake, not the cake itself.
For me, writing and depth are the priority, production value is a bonus. I would like to have production value in addition to depth of writing and depth of mechanics, but production value is not necessary for me to enjoy a game. My top 3 games right now that give me Windows envy that came out this year are Age of Decadence, Underrail, and Rebel Galaxy. Of those 3, 2 look like 10+ year old games and 1 looks nice but far from AAA.
As for my statement regarding BioWare, it's not a case of I just think everything made in the past is better. Games have come a long way in many ways. I would never trade the UI improvements of modern games for the clunky UIs of old games, for example. However, in terms of writing, it's plain to see (to me at least) how far BioWare has fallen off. The very game series you cited as an example, Mass Effect, serves as a perfect example of that very thing. Look at the writing from Mass Effect 1 to Mass Effect 3. Mass Effect 1 had a pretty good and concise story with a memorable and interesting antagonist. By Mass Effect 3 the story had devolved into a mess with little rhyme or reason other than to make Shepard into Space Jesus, included the mess that was Kai Leng, and ended with the train wreck that was the Starchild God. The ending to Mass Effect 3 is complete and utter rubbish.
Last edited by Keyrock on 28 December 2015 at 4:08 pm UTC
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Quoting: BeamboomQuoting: tuubiA great game is a great game, even if it could have been made ten or twenty years ago.
Then it's outdated and cheap and could (should!) have been made better - cause now we can.
Unless we don't have the budget or the skills to do it all. If we think we've still got something to give to the gaming public, we absolutely should try our best. Maybe we might even make enough money so that our next masterpiece might appeal to an even broader audience with its technical whizbangery and state-of-the-art visuals.
Don't take me for a nostalgia freak with a stiffy for all things retro. I love me some eye candy, but if I have to choose between an old-looking game with great writing and gameplay, or the latest blockbuster with prettier-than-life visuals and groan-inducingly mediocre everything else, I don't have to think twice.
Now, what we consider good writing is naturally a matter of taste, but I find that most big-budget stuff these days suffers from an obvious case of Hollywood-style writing-by-committee. If the rest of the game is great fun, I don't mind that much of course. I'd buy stuff like SoM and Saints' Row IV in a heartbeat if only I weren't broke. Hell, even the open world stuff Ubisoft puts out if they released them on Linux, even if these games seem to be pretty much perfect text book examples of pandering to the lowest common denominator.
Quoting: BeamboomQuoting: tuubiYou're seriously missing out if you pick your games based on their budget, but that's your prerogative. Naturally the game is even more enjoyable if it also looks and sounds nice, but these are just potential cherries on the cake, not the cake itself.
I haven't picked my games based on the budget. You simply can't be a Linux gamer if you do that. I've never played more indie games than the last couple of years. But during those years I've discovered my expectations are higher than what's been on offer on the cheap indie scene. I know I can get both - so why settle with less?
You don't have to, but if you don't, you'll be playing a lot of mediocre stuff with pretty visuals and missing out on some gems. Feel free to disagree.
Quoting: BeamboomWhy sit there with Microsoft Paint if you can use Photoshop. Why read cheap digital novels written by amateurs when you can purchase great work published by professional houses. Why sit there with an old Casio keyboard when you can enjoy the full suite of Bitwig.
None of these are very good analogues. Especially the middle one about cheap digital novels.
Quoting: BeamboomTo care about the presentation doesn't mean you don't care about the content. But to excuse everything else if only you get a great story... Well then, buy a good book?
I buy a book when I want to read a book, but isn't it a bit disingenuous to suggest I fail to see the difference? I love games, but obviously enjoy different aspects of gaming than you do. Please don't be that guy and act like your way is the only way.
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Quoting: BeamboomWhy sit there with Microsoft Paint if you can use Photoshop. Why read cheap digital novels written by amateurs when you can purchase great work published by professional houses. Why sit there with an old Casio keyboard when you can enjoy the full suite of Bitwig.
Simple as that to answer: Because some of the names and actions got a price to high: Photoshop is just another proprietary software package and there is more than just one example that open-source software could get the same quality. And your so-called cheap novels are just entry points from some beginners, everyone has to start at some point. This is YOUR perspective and yours alone, but don't give up arguments as speaker for a greater group. For example you are not speaking for my perspective, because I give nothing about proprietary platforms like STEAM or software-packages with online-activation building some addiction for me as customer like Adobe always does. It is better having a great little Indie-game like Eldritch instead searching for the next blockbuster.
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Avehicle7887 Dec 28, 2015
The Mac & Linux versions of D: OS are now available on GOG too :-)
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Ignoring all this bickering here...
I'm back at my place, back at my (granted, also older) desktop, and I can play Divinity: Original Sin now. And I'm surprised: it does work.
Sure, my FPS isn't high (about 20-25), but that's my own system's fault, after all. Most of the graphic options don't change anything for me framerate-wise, so I'm certain it's at least partially CPU bound. I have an Athlon 64 X2 6000+, a dual core AMD cpu from 2006 (running at 3GHz, for what little that information is worth), so that's about what I expected.
I also see RAM consumptions frequently polling into dangerous territories for me. I have 4GB, and the game leaves about 900MB free when fully loaded, and dips into 600MB free at times. I hope that this won't bite me further into the game.
For an interesting factoid: especially saving seems to make it allocate about 100MB worth. You can continue to play while it saves, so I'd guess their save system does a quick clone of all data it wants to save before processing it further in a background thread. That's actually a very neat idea.
From my perspective, when it comes to the game itself, I'm actually satisfied with it now (*). And I might need to eat some crow from when I announced that I'm skeptical that it'll come this year at all. :)
(*) I'd still like to see a multi-platform toolset, though. :/
I'm back at my place, back at my (granted, also older) desktop, and I can play Divinity: Original Sin now. And I'm surprised: it does work.
Sure, my FPS isn't high (about 20-25), but that's my own system's fault, after all. Most of the graphic options don't change anything for me framerate-wise, so I'm certain it's at least partially CPU bound. I have an Athlon 64 X2 6000+, a dual core AMD cpu from 2006 (running at 3GHz, for what little that information is worth), so that's about what I expected.
I also see RAM consumptions frequently polling into dangerous territories for me. I have 4GB, and the game leaves about 900MB free when fully loaded, and dips into 600MB free at times. I hope that this won't bite me further into the game.
For an interesting factoid: especially saving seems to make it allocate about 100MB worth. You can continue to play while it saves, so I'd guess their save system does a quick clone of all data it wants to save before processing it further in a background thread. That's actually a very neat idea.
From my perspective, when it comes to the game itself, I'm actually satisfied with it now (*). And I might need to eat some crow from when I announced that I'm skeptical that it'll come this year at all. :)
(*) I'd still like to see a multi-platform toolset, though. :/
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And it's out on GOG now too: https://www.gog.com/game/divinity_original_sin_enhanced_edition
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Avehicle7887 Dec 28, 2015
Quoting: DrMcCoyIgnoring all this bickering here...
I'm back at my place, back at my (granted, also older) desktop, and I can play Divinity: Original Sin now. And I'm surprised: it does work.
Sure, my FPS isn't high (about 20-25), but that's my own system's fault, after all. Most of the graphic options don't change anything for me framerate-wise, so I'm certain it's at least partially CPU bound. I have an Athlon 64 X2 6000+, a dual core AMD cpu from 2006 (running at 3GHz, for what little that information is worth), so that's about what I expected.
20-25fps on such an old CPU is not bad at all, what GPU are you running? I'm asking because I've been thinking about building a budget friendly system and would be great to have this game running on it too.
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