Divinity: Dragon Commander-Legalize troll abortions=upgrade Dragon jetpack?

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Stabbey_the_Clown: Sep 21, 2002; Are... are you quite sure you really want to say that?; Taco Defender

What is Dragon Commander? Dragon Commander is a mishmash of several genres. It combines a 3D RTS, with a Risk-style world strategy map, and RPG elements in political decisions. A lot of this information is definitely out of date and wrong, but I don't have a complete picture of all the mechanics so I'll wait until I play to correct it. If you're curious, ask questions and I'll try to answer as best I can. Feel free to give suggestions about how to improve the OP.

Reviews are starting to come in now.

Divinity: Dragon Commander Launch Trailer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvnLAimI9PQ

If you want to talk about Divinity: Original Sin, it NOW has its own thread.

What�s the story of Dragon Commander? The game is set in the magical and technological heyday of Rivellon, over ten thousand years before the events of the first Divinity games.

For innumerable years, the races, humans, elves, lizards, dwarves, imps, and more waged war upon each other without cease. A being known only as the Architect offered the human warlord Sigurd demonic technology. Sigurd saw in the machines of war, the possibility for a peaceful, united Rivellon.

With the Architect and the great wizard Maxos at his side, Sigurd used the fearsome machinery to overpower and subdue all opponents, and within a few short years, he was crowned Emperor of all Rivellon. Under his rule, the races of the world enjoyed peace and prosperity for thirty years.

The Dragon Aurora, intrigued by the age of peace, appeared to Sigurd in his court in the form of a human woman. Both the Architect and Sigurd were instantly smitten with her. Despite Sigurd already being a husband and father, he won the affections of Aurora. The Architect became mad with jealousy and fled the court of Sigurd. Aurora bore Sigurd a child, who the wizard Maxos hid with an ordinary family after Sigurd's wife nearly killed the boy.
...
(I'll sum up the rest).
...
Aurora is poisoned, Sigurd falls into grief-driven apathy, and Sigurd's children (save his child with Aurora) are tempted with messianic visions into believing that they alone are the chosen next ruler of the Empire. Sigurd's children attack the capital, destroying it and slaying Sigurd.

You play as the bastard child of Sigurd and Aurora: the first Dragon Knight, charged by Maxos to save the empire from civil war and reconquer Rivellon from Sigurd's maddened children, piece by bloody piece.

OTHER INFORMATION

Cast of Characters

What do you do? In four words: Emperor, Strategist, Commander, Dragon.

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You are an Emperor who must make tough political decisions balancing the conflicting wishes and goals of your wife, your generals, and your council of advisors, consisting of 5 different races that make up your allies and your conquered territories. You rule from your flagship, The Raven.

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The council of advisors represents five political archetypes: conservative capitalists (Dwarves), smug libertarians (Lizards), religious fundamentalists (Undead), amoral technologists (Imps) and better-than-thou liberals (Elves). Being the ruler of an empire means that you�ll have to make choices and compromises based on politics to achieve the best result you can. Sometimes there are certain bonuses to your army that you want, but can only get from taking a position you may personally dislike.

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Your generals direct the forces in battle, and have unique specialties that can be unlocked through your choices.

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Every decision you make will affect your standing with the council members, your wife, and the various races as a whole. It will increase your standing with some races, and lower it with others. You will often find yourself making choices you may personally disagree with to reap the benefits on the battlefield.

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Early on, you will have to choose a princess to marry, either Elf, Dwarf, Lizard, or Undead human. Each of the princesses has their own storyline and goal. Sometimes fulfilling the princesses goal goes against what their race desires � for example, Ophelia the undead princess desperately wants to be restored to life, which would greatly offend the other undead, who enjoy their existence as it is.

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Upgrades are researched between turns. They have a certain cost in Research Points.

Certain decisions can unlock new upgrades for units. No faction has any unique units, each side uses the same 13 base unit types, but each unit has 3 possible upgrades, which can drastically change the role and use of a unit. For example, a Trooper bomber could be altered to enter Kamikaze mode with the press of a button, disabling their attack, but making them useful to swarm and overwhelm enemies. It takes a long time to get all the upgrades, so you need to prioritize what you want your army to do.

Some of these benefits take the form of cards. There are at least six types of cards: Political cards, which can be applied to maps in the strategy part. Dragon cards, that offer extra powers for your Dragon form, Mercenary cards that add extra units to the field for one battle, Unit Advantage cards, which apply a buff to your units, Unit Subversion cards which debuff enemy units, and Special cards, which decrease the cost of certain unit types, grant you extra recruits or lowered build times. Cards can also be obtained from certain structures on the strategy map.

You are a Strategist who must decide which territories to attack, and what each territory should focus on to support your war effort.

You build factories, taverns, mines, and research institutes on territories you control, move your troops around, and apply any �political� cards you wish. Once you�re done, you hit a button to finalize your moves, and hope that you guessed what the enemy will do, because only after both sides are committed do you see what the opponent has done. Battles on the strategy map can be auto-resolved if you choose, and victory will be calculated based on the number of troops and bonuses on the territory, or if not, you can personally command the individual battles in the real-time mode.

Each unit type has a certain number of movement points on the strategy map, which is how many countries you can move them. This is why building factories and other unit producers closer to the front lines is important. There are transport units that can be used to move units faster than they can on their own.

Each country will only let you have one building on it. Wizard Tower buildings give you Dragon skill cards every turn, which let you use powers you haven't mastered yet. War Factories produce units, Gold mines double the revenue from the country, Emporiums will let you buy cards, Academies grant you bonus research points, and give you Unit Advantage (buff) or Unit Subversion (debuff) cards every few turns, Taverns give you mercenary cards every few turns, the Parliament gives you strategy cards for managing the political side � like to make a country immune to attacks and invasions for one turn, or destroy an enemy factory, or build a factory for no gold cost.

You are a Commander, who directs the individual battles in real-time, directing air, sea, and land units to defeat the enemy and accomplish your objectives.

You don�t start the battle with a base and resources to gather. What you start with on the map is based on the units to be found there in Strategy mode, any mercenary units from the cards you chose, and whatever starting point you get.

There is no Starcraft style base building. Buildings are erected on preset capture points which let you build certain types of buildings on them. Each building costs a certain number of recruits to build.

Recruits are the only resource on the map, and they�re acquired by building recruitment centers on certain points. Each map uses the population cap from the Strategy mode, so you know going in how many recruits you have available. There�s a catch, though � the population is shared between all players on the map, and once it�s depleted, it�s depleted. It is not advisable to just sit back and build up forces, you should aggressively expand or else you�ll get overwhelmed.

The idea is that a map should take only 10-15 minutes, 30 at the most, which makes sense given how many maps there are!

If you win, there is a formula to calculate the survival rate of your units, to see what it translates to once you return to the strategy map. Basically, if 60% of your units survive, you�ll get 60% back on the world map. A suicidal strategy might end up with you defeating the enemy, but you won�t have much left over to move to the next country on the world map.

It�s not game over if you lose in the RTS mode - unless you lose the territory with your capital city AND fail to recapture it on your next turn. Otherwise, you can keep playing.

You are a Dragon, who can join the battlefield yourself, delivering carefully placed blows to the enemy force.

The Dragon form is powerful, and can turn the tide of battle quickly by judicious use of its skills and abilities. Your Dragon can be set to one of three roles: A high-damaging yet fragile Mountain Dragon which is good at direct combat, A low-damaging buit sturdier Zephyr Dragon which is good at supporting troops, or the Sabre Dragon, which is in-between.

If the Dragon dies in battle, there is a cost in recruits to respawn, but otherwise respawning is free, after a short cooldown.

Switching between dragon and RTS mode is done literally at the press of a button, letting you zip into combat from any nearby friendly units, deal with what you wanted to deal with, then zap back into the RTS mode.

Who�s making it? Larian Studios, the team behind the Divinity series (Divine Divinity, Beyond Divinity, Divinity 2)

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What does that thread title mean? This game presents a lot of scenarios based on real life political debates. Larian looked at various political ideologies and translated them into the game. Specifically, the title refers to something the head of Larian said in an interview:

quote:

Q: Which regional market are [you] most afraid of when it comes to the reception of the ideas portrayed in Dragon Commander?
Swen: It depends on which particular parts. I mean, there�s stuff that I�m really sensitive about. We even talk about abortion in the game � it�s a big topic right? But why can we talk about it in games? So I mean obviously it�s documented in a very soft way, but it�s still �could one race prevent the birth of another race?� So then you�re sitting there, and you�re thinking about it! Could the Imp�s stop the Troll�s from reproducing? You take a softer word for that, and you put it in the RPG � but you put it like this: prevent the Trolls from reproducing: yes or no? This will be the end of their race. And you start thinking about this, and you say �well that�s wrong!�

What platforms is this going to be released on? It�s being developed primarily for the PC at this time, although a console port is not being ruled out. There may not even be support for a controller at all. That makes sense given that RTS�s lend themselves much better to the drag-select abilities of a mouse than to controllers.

What�s so special about this game? This game is built around Choice and Consequence.

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Gone are the canned dialogue animations from Divinity 2. The recording sessions for the voice-acting used motion capture at the same time, so each live actor�s performance will end up on-screen.

There are no pre-made missions like Starcraft 2, but the single-player will have many asymmetric levels. The length of the single-player campaign depends on your choices on the strategy map. The first chapter of the game is basically an extended tutorial to ease you into the game. Later chapters will be longer and harder.

Will there be multiplayer?
Yes!

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Multiplayer doesn�t have the RPG-lite political decision part, but it does have the strategy map and RTS phases. Multiplayer matches are 2v2. Each player selects up to 5 cards to use � three are visible to all players, two are kept hidden. There are also upgrades that can increase the number of cards that are hidden. In multiplayer, any enemy dragons appear as team-coloured stars if they�re not in sight, and if they�re in sight, they have a team-coloured trail.

Larian is thinking of adding a special team mode so that one player can control only the Dragon, while the other handles the RTS parts of the deployment, but it probably won't be out on release.

Where can I get this? / When's the release date? August 6th from GoG, on Steam and from the Larian Vault. A limited English Retail edition will come out on August 19th.

What are the System requirements?

quote:

Minimum system requirements:

Windows XP SP 3 (Windows 7 SP 1 recommended)

2.6 GHz Core2 Duo E6600 or equivalent or better (i5 2400 or equivalent or better recommended)

2 GB RAM (4 GB RAM recommended)

NVIDIA� GeForce� 8800 GT (512 MB) or ATI� Radeon� HD 4850 or better (NVIDIA� GeForce� GTX 550 ti 1GB ram or or ATI� Radeon� HD 6XXX or better recommended)

15GB HDD space (30 GB recommended),

DirectX 9.0c compatible sound card, Mouse, Keyboard.

VIDEOS:

Trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nq2cDhcVmOA

Gamespot Gameplay preview:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbHsdC4U_2k

Twitch TV Live Stream (with pre-order code) - (added 4/10)
Larian Studios Dragon Commander grudge match: Round 1 Part 2, post crash
Larian Studios Dragon Commander grudge match: Round 2

PREVIEWS (and interviews):
RPG Codex Interview with Swen Vincke (Feb. 2012) (added 5/10)
Rock, Paper, Shotgun
PCG Media Preview
PCG Media Interview with Swen Vincke
iSeries
Strategy Informer
RPG Watch
Games Radar
On RPG
Deal Spwn
Jeux Video (French)
Gamespot Preview
The Game Station podcast: Dragon Commander Trailer (2:14 � 2:20) (added 3/28)
Total Biscuit � interview with Larian (Dragon Commander specifics starts at 13:55 - added 3/28)
Gry Online Preview (Polish, (added 3/30))
Divinity: Dragon Commander Preview on French Radio (French, (added 3/30))
New Preview from PCGamesN (added 3/28)
Dagons Lair - Interview with Swen Vincke (53 min.) (French with English subtitles) (added 3/28)
Colony of Gamers (added 4/01)
RPG Gamer.com - Dragon Commander E3 2012 Interview (added 4/06)
RPG Codex Preview - (added 4/20 - scroll down past the Original Sin preview)
PC Gamer Hands-on Preview (added 4/28)
Official Larian Video: Let's Play One turn of Dragon Commander (added 6/26)
Rurikahn's Single-player Beta Preview Video (added 7/1)
Quill 18's Single-player Beta Preview Video (added 7/1)
Force SC2's Single-player Beta preview (added 7/2)
Rock Paper Shotgun beta build preview (added 7/9)
Total Biscuit WTF Is Dragon Commander Beta (added 7/18)
PCG Media - Why Dragon Commander Isn�t All About Blobs (added 7/18)
PCG Media RPG Elements preview
Penny Arcade Report beta preview: I came for the jetpack dragons, but stayed for the political intrigue (added 7/18)
Destructoid beta preview: A day in the life of a jetpack-wearing dragon monarch (added 7/18)

REVIEWS
Collection of Reviews is over here.
Giant Bomb Quick Look: Divinity - Dragon Commander

Developer Blog Entries

Politics and Games:

quote:
So now we�re making Dragon Commander, and one of the things we�re trying to do with that game is putting recognizable real world situations in a fantasy context. The game contains a RPG part that�s all about choice and consequence, and the idea is that you have to decide as a ruler how you want to organize the societies in the lands you�ve captured. That means you need to make political decisions, so we figured it�d be cool if we filled the game with situations that are very similar to the things we read in our newspapers every day.
Choice and Consequence in RPG�s

quote:
What�s really interesting about it all is how the different story trees for the characters interact with one another. It�s made the architecture for this a very complex mess and just the paper design took our design team over a year to complete, but I have good hopes that�ll give us a very rewarding result when the final game comes together. The thing I like the most is that each branch is guaranteed very different from the other branch.
To make it more concrete � take our infamous undead princess as an example. She has has 5 possible endings, but the path towards those endings is not only dependent on your interactions with her, but also on your interactions with the other characters, which themselves again have multiple endings, with the same complex dependency trees.
Land Ahoy

quote:
For a long time, our main problem was phase 3, the combat phase. Balancing the dragon and RTS components was no easy thing, and it took a lot of iteration to come up with something cool. We went from a lot of action to almost no action, all the time trying to blend the control over your dragon with the feeling of also being in control of your fleet(s), and ensuring that what you did in combat had an impact on the other phases.
While the dragon/fleet on its own was already very complicated, getting it right in such a way that it tied in well with the strategy phase turned out to be a far bigger pain than we�d ever expected. Still, we continued developing because we assumed that our skills were sufficiently good to eventually find (or stumble upon) a solution.
Dialogs solved

quote:
Because there�s a shitload of choice and consequence going on in between game turns, the dialog asset requirements are pretty steep in that game, and when we did the initial research on how much it was going to cost us to animate all the dialogs, we came up with numbers that were bananas. (between half a million and one million U$ for one language!)
For a long time actually we thought that we�d have to resort to plan B, which was just recording and animating the opening lines, without having anything in terms of animation or voice for the rest of the conversation.
To Listen or Not to Listen

quote:
We received feedback today from a group of journalists about what they thought of a hands-on session with a beta-version of the game. Specifically, they were asked to name three things they liked and three things they disliked. From that list a few issues got flagged, and the question now is whether or not we�ll address those issues.

We are dangerously close to release, so anything we change now is bound to have a significant impact. But of course, not intervening means that for sure those issues will pop up in reviews, and if they�re bothering the journalists, they�ll probably also bother our players. Naturally, if we continue fixing things that pop up, we�ll never release because there�s no such thing as a perfect game. So, when is enough enough ? And should we listen to the feedback we received?

Had this been one of our previous games where we were paid via milestones, the decision would already have been taken, and no changes would be made, definitely not at this stage in development. But it�s not somebody else�s decision to make this time. It�s ours, and I am happy that we get to make this type of decision.
Crunch time thoughts

quote:
So, we�re in crunch. Not because we�re in panic mode or because a publisher is threatening us with whatever legal nonsense, but because we still have a ton of small things we want to finish before the game goes live *and * because we selected a release date we swore we wouldn�t miss (August 6th 2013 for those interested)

The current situation is that there�s still some stuff on our task list and there�s a whole bunch of stuff on our bug/suggested features list, but most of it still all feels possible.
The Pitfalls of Politics & Ethics in Video Games

quote:
What we also discovered though, and this is something we considered important as designers, is that it made players sit back and think about what decision they should make. Because the decisions you make aren�t simply ethical ones. Dragon Commander remains a game and decisions influence gameplay. That means that what you consider to be �the right thing to do� may not bring you the rewards you�d have liked.

You take on the role of an emperor after all, and if you were really to command an empire, how long would it take you before your ethics would take a backseat to more Machiavellian concerns? Compare it to conveniently ignoring injustice in a particular country, say, because the natural resource deals you have going on there are just too good to pass up.
On Last Minute Changes & Media

quote:
So the very real problem poses itself � when should we send out review code of Dragon Commander? As it happens, I needed to answer this question today, because we�d announced here and there that today was going to be the day.

Obviously, if you intend on continuing to make changes to make your game better, you want to send out review code as late as possible, so that reviewers have the most up to date code. Preferably, you do give them sufficient time to create their review and the consensus seems to be that 10 days is sufficient.

Sadly, that�s not always feasible.

LINKS

Larian Studios Youtube Channel
Developer Blog
Divinity: Dragon Commander Official Website
Dragon Commander Facebook Page
Divinity: Original Sin SA Thread
Twitter: Larian Studios
Twitter: Swen Vincke

Stabbey_the_Clown fucked around with this message at 19:05 on Aug 9, 2013

# ¿ Mar 22, 2013 03:28

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# ¿ Apr 26, 2024 07:07

Stabbey_the_Clown: Sep 21, 2002; Are... are you quite sure you really want to say that?; Taco Defender

It is true that Larian is building this game around choice and consequence, but I remain optimistic. The previews haven't been making GBS threads on the RTS side, and in fact, many of the previewers have said that they liked it so much they went back to play some more.

They let 1000 gamers try the game at the Frag-O-Matic LAN party in Belgium. The feedback they got back wasn't that the game was perfect, but the complaints were fixable.

Larian has also said they'll be releasing a demo before release.

Megazver posted:

Can't gently caress an Imp, not interested.

Okay, fine, I'm a little interested. I wish the RTS part of the game wasn't there, though. I've never played a turn-based strategy with real-time battles where I enjoyed the latter.

I think Larian said the imp princess was killed in a lab accident. My guess is that they didn't have enough resources to do 5 princesses.

I'm mostly interested in this game because I want to blow poo poo up with my Dragon, but the game will give you options for how much you want to play as a Dragon and how much you want to play as an RTS commander.

Stabbey_the_Clown fucked around with this message at 13:40 on Mar 22, 2013

# ¿ Mar 22, 2013 13:36

Stabbey_the_Clown: Sep 21, 2002; Are... are you quite sure you really want to say that?; Taco Defender

A whole bunch of news has come out on Larian's other title, Divinity: Original Sin, and they've launched a kickstarter project to increase the development team to pack even more features into the game.

I'm currently working on an update to add Original Sin information to the thread, which I'll post when it's ready and not so disorganized. Feel free to use this thread for discussion of all things Divinity.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weUPfejQ7xE

Stabbey_the_Clown fucked around with this message at 13:07 on Mar 29, 2013

# ¿ Mar 29, 2013 12:51

Stabbey_the_Clown: Sep 21, 2002; Are... are you quite sure you really want to say that?; Taco Defender

Corin Tucker's Stalker posted:

The $65 tier of that Kickstarter gets you both Dragon Commander and Original Sin. If you want to help an awesome developer and save some money in the long run, that's a pretty good deal.

I settled for the $50 tier, not because I don't want Dragon Commander, but because there was talk of a special collectors edition of Dragon Commander, and I think I want that instead.

EDIT: Update on the Kickstarter, and a video showing part of the process of using the editor to make quests and dialogues.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YG-PujUp-9Q

Stabbey_the_Clown fucked around with this message at 14:11 on Mar 29, 2013

# ¿ Mar 29, 2013 13:08

Stabbey_the_Clown: Sep 21, 2002; Are... are you quite sure you really want to say that?; Taco Defender

Megazver posted:

First update about the Editor. It's alright.

It's a bit sad that they're not gaining the money faster. It just feels like they've botched the release a bit by starting early.

Their hand was forced by the earlier-than-expected release of an Original Sin preview. One preview meant that a bunch of other sites would also release their previews. Larian wanted the mention of the Kickstarter in as many as possible, so they had to launch it now.

# ¿ Mar 29, 2013 14:32

Stabbey_the_Clown: Sep 21, 2002; Are... are you quite sure you really want to say that?; Taco Defender

In case you missed it, Divinity: Original Sin and it's Kickstarter now has its own thread for discussion that and other Divinity games.

Gry Online Preview (Polish)

Divinity: Dragon Commander Preview on French Radio (French)

New Preview from PCGamesN

quote:

Between those battles, or during the pauses when you aren�t shuttling tokens across that strategy map, Dragon Commander has you wandering about your mothership, a brassy, Victorian-style base of operations where you brush shoulders with lizards, dwarves, imps and even friendly undead. Stepping into the bar, there�s time for a chat with some of your war-weary comrades and colleagues, while searching out the resident technologist has you discussing what equipment or units you should begin research on next. Back in the map room, your advisors wait for you to make important decisions that could well affect the course of the war, and these decisions are more often economic, or even moral, than strategic.

One case in point that I saw was a ruling on, of all things, organ harvesting. While a war rages around me, my armies fighting to liberate territories left, right and centre, my advisors ask me whether I want to pass a law that allows the people who live in my realm to sell their organs for money, a very real possibility since a strong demand for the body parts of all sorts of creatures seems to have sprung up. Surely a legal trade in organs is better than a black market equivalent?

The fantasy factions that make up the world of Dragon Commander, those dwarves, elves and imps, all sit at different points on the political spectrum and my advisors give me opinions that reflect these. The capitalist dwarf talks about a free market, while the left-wing elf worries that the weak will be exploited. Whatever decision I make will have consequences down the line, affects how the races in my empire respond to me and will, without doubt, be splashed across the front page of the in-game tabloid as soon as the next edition goes to press. It�ll be right there, next to a roundup of my polling numbers.

EDIT:

An interview about both Dragon Commander and Original Sin:

Dagons Lair - Interview with Swen Vincke (53 min.) (French with English subtitles)

Stabbey_the_Clown fucked around with this message at 16:25 on Mar 31, 2013

# ¿ Mar 31, 2013 00:41

Stabbey_the_Clown: Sep 21, 2002; Are... are you quite sure you really want to say that?; Taco Defender

Satanos posted:

So the prince can have an undead wife? That's... huh.

It was one of the first things revealed about the game, that one of the princesses to marry was a skeleton. Basically, you have to marry a non-human for political reasons. Ophelia did used to be a human when alive, and she wishes to be alive again.

I think the story behind the undead faction in this game is that they were humans who were suffering from a plague, until the priests of the One God empire (the bad guys) saved them (so to speak).

A short interview with Swen Vincke:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCymMu4IGr8

He's confirmed that there will be a special collectors edition of Dragon Commander featuring the board game on which the strategy map portion is based. That sounds pretty tempting.

# ¿ Apr 1, 2013 02:44

Stabbey_the_Clown: Sep 21, 2002; Are... are you quite sure you really want to say that?; Taco Defender

Another preview:

Colony of Gamers

quote:

Yes, you read that right. If you play this game your avatar will be asked about social issues like gay marriage, and you will have to answer them. When I was initially presented with this political aspect of the game, I was a little worried about the implications. After seeing it in action and speaking with the designers, however, I�m significantly less worried. It�s clear that each of the races represent some stereotype of a political faction, but one doesn�t come off as �worse� than the other. You�ll find yourself rolling your eyes at the foolishness of the Elves just as often as at the draconian tendancies of the Undead. Also, a running theme in this game is the slippery slope: sure, you may agree with a female general that women should earn the same pay as men, but what happens when she asks you to abolish an ancient Dwarven tradition because she finds it sexist?

<snip>

The battle is fought on a map representative of the size of the territory on a 3D landscape. You have a base from which to start, and neutral command points dot the land. All of the units you bring to the battle are grouped around your base, and it�s best to send them off to start capturing command points right away.

The interesting thing about Dragon Commander�s battle mechanic is that each territory has a set �population� limit. If you capture command points you begin draining that population, and so does your opponent. Since the population is shared, the battle is a balance between getting as many recruits as fast as you can and using them tactically to defeat your opponent�s. In the 2 vs. 2 multiplayer game I played it seemed like one of our battles was lost, as the enemy decimated our units wave by wave. Due to my enterprising (some would say �greedy�) hoarding of command points however, once the population of the territory ticked to 0 my ally and I still had more recruits to use and struck back without mercy.

Again, there�s more than enough depth in the RTS portion of the game with unit upgrades, card strategies, and army makeup to be sufficient for a game release. And yet we still haven�t reached Dragon Commander�s core game mechanic: the fact that you, the young Emperor, get to change into a dragon every battle and bring destruction to your foes.

I think one of the really clever parts of the design is that Larian doesn't have to worry as much about balance, because the nature of the games - up to 30-odd fast matches on different maps - isn't intended to be perfectly balanced. Players can have different cards, different upgrades, uneven numbers of units on the map to start with, and then there's the Dragon form, where key use of it can change the face of the battle, at the cost of losing strategic focus.

Stabbey_the_Clown fucked around with this message at 20:18 on Apr 1, 2013

# ¿ Apr 1, 2013 20:12

Stabbey_the_Clown: Sep 21, 2002; Are... are you quite sure you really want to say that?; Taco Defender

Gog.com to carry pre-orders for Dragon Commander, and provide DRM-free copies of Original Sin to Kickstarter backers

quote:

GOG.com, DRM-free digital purveyor of all that's good in gaming, has announced today that they will be partnering up with Larian games on their next two release titles: Divinity: Dragon Commander and Divinity: Original Sin, kicking things off with a live Google+ Hangout On Air Q&A session on Wednesday, 10 April 2013 at 2:00 GMT (10:00 AM EDT), which will reveal new gameplay footage of the game and have a special code for $2 off the preorder for anyone who watches the Hangout On Air.

Preorders will start on 10 April 2013 at 3:00 GMT (11:00 AM EDT) after the Q&A session on Google+ is finished. During the Google+ Hangout on Air, Larian Studios will be revealing a code good for an additional $2.00 off the preorder price (for a total savings of $6.99) to everyone who watches the stream. Dragon Commander will be available for preorder on GOG.com for $39.99 during preorders, which will launch on the 10th of April. Check out GOG.com's Google+ page to watch the stream.

Hmmm... I'm not sure exactly what Google+ is, but if I were to join Google+, would I be able to un-join it after this is done?

EDIT: I think I'll pass on joining.

Stabbey_the_Clown fucked around with this message at 18:59 on Apr 3, 2013

# ¿ Apr 3, 2013 17:17

Stabbey_the_Clown: Sep 21, 2002; Are... are you quite sure you really want to say that?; Taco Defender

EDIT: There is a thread especially for Original Sin and the Kickstarter.

I was browsing through some Larian videos, and I found one on Dragon Commander from E3 2012. Ignore the actual gameplay parts, the RTS mode has been completely changed. The interesting stuff is in the post-demo interview:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBGtRTjIT6Y&t=743s

Stabbey_the_Clown fucked around with this message at 03:27 on Apr 7, 2013

# ¿ Apr 7, 2013 03:05

Stabbey_the_Clown: Sep 21, 2002; Are... are you quite sure you really want to say that?; Taco Defender

An important reminder:

Larian posted:

GOG.com, DRM-free digital purveyor of all that's good in gaming, has announced today that they will be partnering up with Larian games on their next two release titles: Divinity: Dragon Commander and Divinity: Original Sin, kicking things off with a live Google+ Hangout On Air Q&A session on Wednesday, 10 April 2013 at 2:00 GMT (10:00 AM EDT), which will reveal new gameplay footage of the game and have a special code for $2 off the preorder for anyone who watches the Hangout On Air.

Preorders will start on 10 April 2013 at 3:00 GMT (11:00 AM EDT) after the Q&A session on Google+ is finished. During the Google+ Hangout on Air, Larian Studios will be revealing a code good for an additional $2.00 off the preorder price (for a total savings of $6.99) to everyone who watches the stream. Dragon Commander will be available for preorder on GOG.com for $39.99 during preorders, which will launch on the 10th of April. Check out GOG.com's Google+ page to watch the stream.

EDIT: I also asked Swen about the Dragon Commander Board game. In an earlier post he mentioned they were floating the idea of going a Kickstarter to fund the board game edition. I had some concerns about that and asked him again:

LarianStudios posted:

@Stabbey: We're slowly giving up on the idea due to lack of time - quite sad about it though. But I'm interested in your 100 words or so

Instead of trying to do a Kickstarter for that next month, they'll hold off on the idea. If the Collectors Edition with the board game comes out, it'll probably be part of something like a GotY edition with a bunch of new content added.

Stabbey_the_Clown fucked around with this message at 23:37 on Apr 9, 2013

# ¿ Apr 9, 2013 22:38

Stabbey_the_Clown: Sep 21, 2002; Are... are you quite sure you really want to say that?; Taco Defender

This is your one-hour warning about the live streaming event for the GoG.com pre-orders of Dragon Commander.

Larian posted:

Gog.com, DRM-free digital purveyor of all that's good in gaming, has announced today that they will be partnering up with Larian games on their next two release titles: Divinity: Dragon Commander and Divinity: Original Sin, kicking things off with a live Google+ Hangout On Air Q&A session on Wednesday, 10 April 2013 at 2:00 GMT (10:00 AM EDT), which will reveal new gameplay footage of the game and have a special code for $2 off the preorder for anyone who watches the Hangout On Air. (Also on Twitch.tv.)

Preorders will start on 10 April 2013 at 3:00 GMT (11:00 AM EDT) after the Q&A session on Google+ is finished. During the Google+ Hangout on Air, Larian Studios will be revealing a code good for an additional $2.00 off the preorder price (for a total savings of $6.99) to everyone who watches the stream. Dragon Commander will be available for preorder on GOG.com for $39.99 during preorders, which will launch on the 10th of April. Check out GOG.com's Google+ page to watch the stream.

# ¿ Apr 10, 2013 14:04

Stabbey_the_Clown: Sep 21, 2002; Are... are you quite sure you really want to say that?; Taco Defender

The stream is now live. If you want to live-chat here, sure! I won't be able to type everything up myself live, so go ahead!

Ha ha, wow, already a clusterfuck of echos making it hard to hear.

EDIT: If you missed the stream, you can find it here.

Stabbey_the_Clown fucked around with this message at 18:41 on Apr 10, 2013

# ¿ Apr 10, 2013 15:01

Stabbey_the_Clown: Sep 21, 2002; Are... are you quite sure you really want to say that?; Taco Defender

Yay, the echo is fixed now.

# ¿ Apr 10, 2013 15:07

Stabbey_the_Clown: Sep 21, 2002; Are... are you quite sure you really want to say that?; Taco Defender

Game play footage now. I love all the ships passing by the window. Great touch.

# ¿ Apr 10, 2013 15:19

Stabbey_the_Clown: Sep 21, 2002; Are... are you quite sure you really want to say that?; Taco Defender

Wow, if you favour one faction enough, you can enter into a faction arc. Each faction arc has a "golden goal", a "silver goal", a "bronze goal", and a "they hate your guts" goal. The farther into a faction arc you go, the worse your relations for other factions get.

# ¿ Apr 10, 2013 15:33

Stabbey_the_Clown: Sep 21, 2002; Are... are you quite sure you really want to say that?; Taco Defender

Ha ha there's a "Genocide population" card you can play. (Reduce population to 35%)

There are multiple map sizes. Some have only 30 countries, but there can be maps with up to 105 countries on them.

Stabbey_the_Clown fucked around with this message at 15:40 on Apr 10, 2013

# ¿ Apr 10, 2013 15:38

Stabbey_the_Clown: Sep 21, 2002; Are... are you quite sure you really want to say that?; Taco Defender

I did a summary of some of the points from the stream.

Why is it multi-genre? They wanted a game where you ran an empire at war. That means you had to make Political decisions, which lead to the RPG elements with the advisors. The war meant you needed a war map to make Strategic decisions. Then there are carrying out the results of the orders - the tactical decisions which led to the RTS mode, and since you�re a Dragon Knight, you had to use those powers as well, so the flying parts.
The story: Sigurd, the Emperor of Rivellon is dead. His children are squabbling and fighting for control to seize power. You are a bastard son of the Emperor, but the Dragon Mage Maxos has decided you are the one most fit to re-unite the land and rule.
The technology is derived from demonic tech, and Maxos wants it destroyed, fearing that if it is not, it will end up destroying Rivellon.
In the beginning and end of the campaign there will be story-based issues and council meetings, but the middle, campaigns will choose from a bunch of generated issues and dilemmas. (There will also be story events in the middle of the campaign as well)
In multiplayer, the host can actually save campaigns in progress, so you can only do a couple turns a night and pick it up a week later.
Upgrades researched on the Raven or strategy map are permanent. Upgrades can also be researched in the RTS mode � but it only lasts for the end of that map.
There will be a way to surrender if you end up in a battle that you�re outmatched, but I don�t know the consequences of that, versus just having your entire force wiped out.
They're using the sneaky-little-bastard tactics the human beta-testers are discovering to teach the single-player AI how to fight like a sneaky-little-bastard as well.
The countries map wraps around, so you can send air/sea units over the side and have them pop out and attack a country from the other side.

Stabbey_the_Clown fucked around with this message at 00:21 on Apr 13, 2013

# ¿ Apr 10, 2013 18:41

Stabbey_the_Clown: Sep 21, 2002; Are... are you quite sure you really want to say that?; Taco Defender

Divinity: Original Sin Kickstarter - Update #12

Want to get Dragon Commander? Why not support Divinity: Original Sin at the same time (and get that game cheaper as well!)

quote:

Dragon Commander available as add-on

By (very) popular demand, we added a digital version of Dragon Commander as an add-on, available at $40. To include it in your pledge, click the "Manage Pledge" button and add 40$ to your pledge (just like with other pledges). Keep your selected reward tier. Once this Kickstarter is over, we will contact you so that you can specify what add-on(s) you wish to receive for the extra you have pledged.

The minimum pledge amount for this add-on is 25$. For more add-ons, visit the home page of our project (bottom of the page).

Find more information on the Dragon Commander website. Alternatively, you can have a look at this official trailer.

Zore posted:

Er, wouldn't tacking the addon to the $25 dollar tier get you less than the $65 tier which gets you two copies of Divinity: Original Sin and the soundtrack + extras?

That seems a bit poorly thought out. I guess if you're dropping money for a much higher tier it could make sense, but that is really steep for an addon. The $65 dollar tier seems like an okayish deal though.

Larian contractually can't sell it any less than $40. But yes, the $65 tier is great value!

Larian posted:

We have agreements in place for the price on Dragon Commander with various distributors and we cannot undercut them. We also think it's good value for money. The 65$ limited tier really was an exception.

Stabbey_the_Clown fucked around with this message at 19:28 on Apr 11, 2013

# ¿ Apr 11, 2013 18:33

Stabbey_the_Clown: Sep 21, 2002; Are... are you quite sure you really want to say that?; Taco Defender

The release date will be July 2. System requirements has been announced:

quote:

Minimum system requirements:

Windows XP SP 3 (Windows 7 SP 1 recommended)

2.6 GHz Core2 Duo E6600 or equivalent or better (i5 2400 or equivalent or better recommended)

2 GB RAM (4 GB RAM recommended)

NVIDIA� GeForce� 8800 GT (512 MB) or ATI� Radeon� HD 4850 or better (NVIDIA� GeForce� GTX 550 ti 1GB ram or or ATI� Radeon� HD 6XXX or better recommended)

15GB HDD space (30 GB recommended),

DirectX 9.0c compatible sound card, Mouse, Keyboard.

Here's some answers about auto-resolve and survival rate.

Auto-resolve:

Forktong posted:

The auto resolve in DC takes into account how much dmg your units do, how much hp they have, what upgrades they have... I don't know the details, but it's not "4 units win against 3 units yay". The map game should be fun in itself, cause it's based on a boardgame we made first, cards and countries and units and all.

Survival Rate:

Greever posted:

The current system (anything is open to change if it turns out too many ways to exploit it are found in beta):

You bring 10 troopers.
You build another 20 troopers.
You now have 30 troopers.
You lose 15 troopers.
You end the fight with 15 troopers.

Trooper survival rate of 50%.

Now that percentage is placed on the units you brought: 50% of 10 tanks = 5 tanks left on the (turn-based) strategy map.

This way you can never have more units left after the battle than you had before. The best you can do is 100% survival rate, which means all the units you brought survived and all the units you built survived.

Extra note: There is a survival rate per unit type. So you can lose all your troopers, keep half your hunters and have zero casualties on your juggernauts.

Any mercenary cards you bring in do not count for your survival rate, they only last for one battle.

# ¿ Apr 12, 2013 15:34

Stabbey_the_Clown: Sep 21, 2002; Are... are you quite sure you really want to say that?; Taco Defender

I should have done this earlier, but since Larian is probably going to start updating the Dragon Commander website on Monday, now's a good time.

Dragon Commander: Meet the People

Yorick - Advisor, Undead Race
The ambassador of the undead, Yorrick is the man ('Hardly a man!', scoffs the dwarf) who safeguards the interests of his skeletal fellows aboard the Raven. Like all undead he is deeply religious, so as long as your decisions don't sin against the commandments of the Seven Gods, you should find Yorrick to be a congenial councillor, albeit a bit tiresome in his rather effusive piety.

Lohanna - Princess, Elf Race
Raised at the court of the elf king, princess Lohannah has always lived a sheltered life in strict accordance with the elf ways of old. Now she finds herself aboard the Raven amid the representatives and traditions of many other cultures and it will be up to you to try and make sure she doesn't abandon her own customs - like the elves will want you to - or to encourage her to become a more urbane person, and risk the ire of her kin.

Henry - General (Human)
Henry is a man of action; a general as loyal as he is brazen. Battle may have lost him an arm and an eye, but that has not diminished his lust for combat. You won't find another officer who doesn't admire Henry's military talents, but you probably won't find anyone who calls him a friend either. Arrogant and prone to fly solo, he is not what you would call the social type. If you do want to sit down for a chat with this old warhorse though, bring a bottle. He may not like you, but he'll like the moonshine.

(I also added some more points from the Twitch TV stream to the list above:

There will be a way to surrender if you end up in a battle that you�re outmatched, but I don�t know the consequences of that, versus just having your entire force wiped out.
They're using the sneaky-little-bastard tactics the human beta-testers are discovering to teach the single-player AI how to fight like a sneaky-little-bastard as well.
The countries map wraps around, so you can send air/sea units over the side and have them pop out and attack a country from the other side.

# ¿ Apr 13, 2013 21:10

Stabbey_the_Clown: Sep 21, 2002; Are... are you quite sure you really want to say that?; Taco Defender

I'll fill in this F.A.Q. with more information whenever I find a few minutes. The answers may be a little jumbled up.

General
Story
Gameplay - Campaign
Gameplay - RTS
Important Tips

General

I don't know what to build? Any tips or strategies?
Here's a Steam Guide for Dragon Commander, which I contributed to. It has a lot of useful information about unit roles, strategies, and such.

Anyplace else for more information?
See the official Dragon Commander FAQ for some more questions.

Will this be DRM-Free?
Yes! It's available on Steam, and also on Gog.Com, and through the Larian Vault.

What's the difference between all the different versions (Steam, Larian Vault, GoG, Retail)?

The retail (physical) copy comes with Steam Key and a GoG key (a digital backup).
The Steam version has Steam integration for lobbies, matchmaking and the other Steam features. It of course uses Steam's DRM, but no additional DRM.
The Larian Vault version comes with both a DRM-free and a Steam key.
The GoG version is DRM-free, but you can't use the Steam features unless you have DC in your Steam Library. If you do, the GoG version will pick up on that and use it.

ForkTong posted:

Steam version uses Steamworks for matchmaking.

Steam version updates immediately as we upload delta directly to Steam.

GOG version updates is in their hands as they have to make a new installer every time.

Lar posted:

If you want to take advantage of the Steamworks features, you do need to have the game installed in your Steam library. The gog.com version will automatically pick up that you have it on Steam and thus open up the Steamworks tab in the game (with matchmaking, leaderboards etc...). I forgot to add that.

What is the Imperial Edition?

The Imperial Edition was a free bonus for those who pre-ordered, but for those who bought it after release, it should be available for purchase soon, I think.

Imperial Edition Features:

Golden Dragon skin
Dragons on Earth Campaign Map (about 118 countries, still uses fantasy names, not Earth country names)
Digital Soundtrack
Behind-the-Scenes documentary
Dragon Commander�s best kept secret: an overview of all the choices and consequences in the game (you�ll be amazed)

I heard something about a board game, when can I get that?
Not for this release. There wasn't enough time or money. If they ever do come out with a board game, it'll likely be a super-special edition which also adds a lot of extra content.

Can I use the Original Sin editor to make maps for this game?
No. While both games use the same engine, the tools used to create Dragon Commander are much different.

This game is really hard! I'm getting stomped on Normal!
The game does have a learning curve. You're not alone, it happens to a lot of people just getting into the game. It's important to familiarize yourself with the units and their roles. There's also a "Training Grounds" map under the Tutorial which has AI set to none, letting you play around with units and see how they work, and their upgrades. (With a building selected, hit "J" to open the research menu.) If you're still getting your butt kicked, lower the difficulty and play skirmish modes against the AI to get the hang of it. You'll get better.

Story

Do I have to marry one of the princesses?
Yes, it's required. It's a political marriage to get support from another faction - which is why you can't marry a normal human girl (the closest you can come is the undead princess, Ophelia).

Can I play as a female Dragon Commander and marry a male prince?
No, unfortunately. It was too much money to re-do everything for different genders.

Why are there no Human territories?

I'll let the writer himself explain:

Macbeth posted:

We always thought: look, the player is human (with a bit of dragon in there) and he, as the emperor, decides what goes in his empire, based purely on his own convictions and/or the opinions of the other dominant species in the world whose political support he needs. But the player is himself the human councillor and therefore represents their viewpoint. He just happens to be the king as well.

Now you can argue about that of course, but that was the political setup we started from.

When you translate this to gameplay however (as we later found out) human countries would be boring because in this setup they'd always like whatever you do. It's the others on the other hand that you positively or negatively influence by making all kinds of decisions.

It does look a bit strange, perhaps, not to have any human lands on the map - we did pick up on that - but we were too far along in the production process to add another, human, councillor.

Live and learn!

Just do what I do and wave it off with "Yes, there are human-majority countries there, but their views cancel each other out and thus it's X race which has the most influence there."

Gameplay - Campaign

What happens when multiple countries can have a fight in the same turn?
- In a multiplayer campaign , there's a vote on whether each battle should be auto-resolved or played in real-time. If anyone wants to play a battle in real time (even if it's 3 against and 1 for), the battle will be played in real-time.

- In the single player campaign, you have a choice: Fight in RTS mode yourself, deploy a General to the territory (and get the bonuses that general provides) to auto-resolve it, or rely on the local militia to auto-resolve it. Because these battles are happening at the same time, you can only personally command one of them, and only send a general to one of them. Any other battles will be auto-resolved without your attention or the aid of a general

What does a General do?
Generals boost your chances to win a battle. Each general specializes in an area (light units, naval units, etc...), so different Generals offer different chances to win. Generals do have a fee associated with deploying them for a battle, but it seems like if you can't afford to pay them, the balance is taken off the top of next turns income. Occasionally, decisions may come up that send one or more of your Generals on missions, meaning that they won't be available for that turn. Generals stats improve over time as you advance their story arcs. Unfortunately, as your empire's income goes up, so does the cost to deploy a general. Any battle cost over 15 gold isn't really worth using a general on.

How does the auto-resolve work?
It's not a matter of more numbers = better. The composition of the forces, and the general efficiency are the key factors. Unit type X may be very good at dealing with unit type Y, so they get a bonus. The upgrades of each side are also considered. This is still a dice roll though, and even a highly favourable matchup can be lost, or a highly unfavourable matchup can be won. When the game says that there's an 80% chance that you will win a country, it does not mean 100% chance, it means that 20% of the time, the enemy will win.

What are the victory conditions for a campaign?
It's the same in both single and multi-player: capture an enemy faction's capital territory, and all remaining territories and units of that faction are captured and become yours. Once this is done for all enemy factions, you win.

The single-player is divided into three chapters, each chapter has you conquering all the enemy capitals of a certain map, then you move on to another section of the world and begin again, with a single territory. All cards acquired, and any unspent Gold and research points (RP_ are carried on to the next chapter, but you do not get the benefit of gold/RP income from the previous chapters you conquered. (You could just assume that is devoted to maintaining your army and empire there.)

What are the resources in the Risk-like mode?
Gold, Research Points, Cards, and Defense. Gold is the main income, each country generates a certain amount of gold per turn, indicated by the number on the sack icon (if you like, consider it to be in in thousands). Gold is used to purchase troops, construct buildings and buy cards from card shops.

Research Points are acquired by occupying countries. The more countries you own, the more Research Points flow in (the more people you can get to work on it), and the faster you can research things and more expensive things. Research Points are spent on upgrading your army units and your dragon skills. They both take from the same pool, so you must balance them.

Cards will be explained in their own section.

Defense is not exactly a resource to be spent - it's a measure of how protected they are. Each turn, countries you own that are surrounded by other friendly countries get a bonus to their defense. The higher a countries defense, the more their territory will be defended in RTS mode, making it harder for the invader (so don't try to send all your troops on a beeline for the capital territory, it will probably end badly). Conversely, countries that are next to hostile countries or have enemy units stationed beside it will see their defense lower each turn until it reaches the basic level of defense (no bonuses for the defender). There are cards that can increase or decrease the defense level of a country.

What are cards?
Cards are basically one-use powerups/debuffs you can apply on the strategy map or before entering RTS battle. They come in several types:

Mercenary cards (provided by Taverns) grant you free units to play in an RTS battle, but they only last for that one battle. They are coloured cyan.
Diplomacy cards (provided by Parliaments) affect countries on the strategy map, letting you construct free buildings, destroy enemy buildings, increase/decrease a countries population, increase the movement points of units, sabotage a certain unit type on a country, block a country from being invaded, and increase or decrease a territory's income. Sabotage cards are coloured gold, Benefit cards are coloured bronze.
Unit cards (provided by Academies) are useful for battles. They provide buffs (Unit Advantage) or debuffs (Unit Subversion) to a specified unit type, or grant the ability to produce a unit or use a skill you have not researched. They're coloured Red for buffs to your units and magenta for debuffs to enemy units.
Dragon Skill cards (provided by Wizard Towers) are useful for RTS battles. They grant your Dragon access to skills they have not researched. They're coloured green.
Special/Macro cards (provided by Emporiums) These grant you varying effects, like the ability to produce a unit type you normally couldn't, or use an upgrade you haven't researched, or to start the battle with bonus recruits. These can only be bought at an Emporium, or be granted to you by certain story decisions.
Permanent cards (provided by a specific race) give you a permanent boost in some area. They're only received by approving the faction decisions of certain races.

Cards can be bought from the Emporium building on the campaign map for gold, and in single-player, you receive cards as a consequence of your decisions. Unlike other buildings, Emporiums are not buildable normally, you can only build them yourself if you receive a Diplomacy card granting you a free one.

Some maps have buildings pre-placed in neutral countries, but none of the story campaign maps do.

How can I move and capture countries?
Each unit has a specific number of movement points that indicates the number of countries it can move through. A unit can move through and capture enemy-held territories which do not have any enemy units in them, but they cannot move through any countries that have enemy units stationed in them - that will trigger a battle.

Countries can only be captured by ground units. If you invade a country with only air and naval units and defeat all the enemies, the country will still remain in the hands of the enemy faction until you move ground-based troops into it.

In the single-player and custom campaigns, there may be neutral units in some territories. These will join your forces if you capture that country.

What does your popularity do in the country?
Popularity affects Entrenchment, Support & building speeds.

What is Entrenchment?
Entrenchment determines how many "free" units & buildings you get at the beginning of a turn.

Is there a unit cap?
Yes, but it's flexible. On the Campaign map, your unit cap for strategy map units is the total population of all your countries divided by 100. You're not likely to hit this without deliberately trying to, it's mostly there to keep the game from crashing because you thought it would be hilarious to make 9999 of each unit.

When entering RTS battle, there is also a unit cap, depending on the Support you have in that country, and a formula based on the Support cost of your units. If you have more units than you can support, the remainder are held as "reserves" that can be built instantly at no cost from the appropriate unit-producing structure as your Support either increases or your number of troops falls below the support cap.

What is Support?
Support (or Supply as Starcraft players would call it) determines the max amount of units you can build. The less support, the more you need to bring. Increase your level of support in RTS mode by building more Recruitment Centers, and in single-player, by increasing your popularity with the majority race of that country.

What is a faction arc?
A faction arc is a series of decisions you get from one of your Councillors once your faction standing with a race is high enough. Faction questions are not explicitly labelled as such, but you can recognize them when talking to the Councillors. Only the Councillor who proposed the idea is in favour of it, everyone else is opposed. It's possible to enter multiple race's faction arcs if you get your favour high enough with other races. If you approve a faction decision, your popularity with the other races will decrease, but you will gain a Permanent card that grants you some bonuses.

Gameplay - RTS

I'm tempted, but I'm not very good at RTS games. Can I skip the RTS parts?
Yes, in single-player at least. In Multiplayer, if any player wants to fight in RTS mode, you all players will have to fight in RTS mode.). When two factions have units in the same country, there's a battle. You have the option either to participate in RTS mode or have the computer auto-resolve the battle. I will note though that auto-resolve might mean that you lose battles that you could have won if you were controlling the RTS mode.

Help, I'm being attacked by blobs of units, how can I beat a blob?
Interestingly, 11 of the 13 units have an upgrade or ability that is more effective when enemies are clumped up. Try researching one of these:

Trooper - "For the Empire" (kamikaze rush and self-destruct.)
Grenadier - "Enhanced Explosives" (Increased splash damage radius), "Chemical Warfare" (damage-over-time attack that spreads twice to nearby units)
Shaman - "Cripple" (Paralyzes units for 4 seconds)
Warlock - "Death From Above" (Rain of meteors)
Armour - "You're Mine" (land mine), "Short Sharp Shock" (short-range anti-infantry shockwave)
Devastator - Its normal attack has splash.
Bomber Balloon - Ditto, plus "Enhanced Explosives" (Increased splash damage radius), "Mine High Club" (air mine)
Zeppelin - "Mustard Gas" (Powerful DoT that affects a wide area)
Transport - "For the Empire" (kamikaze rush and self-destruct.)
Ironclad - "Sea Mine-Maids" (sea mine)
Juggernaut - Its normal attack has splash, plus "Imp Bunker-Buster" (basically a nuke)

Your Dragon also does splash damage, and they have some skills that are also great against enemy blobs, like roars that cripple groups of units or spells that do massive AoE damage.

What are the different Dragons?
There are three Dragons, each with their own strengths and learned skills, and each gets a bonus unit. Statistics for damage and overheat are estimates.

Mountain Dragon
- Health: 1620
- Damage to Recruitment Center from single fireball: ~95
- Overheats in: ~4 seconds
This Dragon is a glass cannon. It's exceptionally good at dealing damage, but it has the lowest health and can't take damage very well. It comes with Rejuvenation, which boosts its rate of passive healing, Blood Leech, which heals it for a portion of the damage it does, and Acid Blaze, which replaces its breath attack with corrosive acid for a short time, letting the damage linger for 3 seconds. The Mountain Dragon gets the Warlock unit researched for free.
Zephyr Dragon
- Health: 2420
- Damage to Recruitment Center from single fireball: ~44
- Overheats in: ~12 seconds
This Dragon is weak on offense, but has a good defense and has the highest health. It's intended for use to support your troops, but it doesn't do a lot of damage on its own. It comes with Purifying Flames, which turns the breath weapon into a healing spray that restores damaged units. Ray of Power creates a link between you and a unit that boosts the units damage. Friends with Benefits puts a shield around a unit, and damage that unit does heals the Dragon. The Zephyr Dragon gets the Shaman unit researched for free.
Sabre Dragon
- Health: 2020
- Damage to Recruitment Center from single fireball: ~79
- Overheats in: ~6 seconds
This Dragon is the middle ground between the combat and support dragons, and can support your troops or deal damage, but not as good at either role as the others. It comes with Soar, which boosts its movement speed, Advance, which boosts the movements speed of all nearby friendly units, ~~and~~ Sabotage, which disables the attack and abilities of a single unit or building. The Sabre Dragon gets the Hunter unit researched for free.

Important Tips

Anything I should know before leaving Act 1?
Yes. Research Ironclads. You'll thank me. It's also not the best idea to rush. I would try and capture ever territory, even ones out of your way before leaving the act. It'll probably be helpful.

What's the best unit to counter X?
Here is a list of the units, their class, and their counters.

Are there any secret shortcuts?
You bet, lots of them. Larian has taken interface cues from other RTS's.

RTS: doubletap ~ -> toggle permanent icons
RTS: shift-"any command" -> give your units queue'd orders (Example: hold shift, rightclick, A, B -> move, attackmove, execute warlock stealth)
RTS: middle mouse button -> swivel camera
ANY MODE: shift-enter -> talk to ALL
ANY MODE: ctrl-enter -> talk to team
ANY MODE: enter -> talk in current "mode" (all or team)-- default is all
DRAGON mode: right click or spacebar --> cancels skill
DRAGON mode: a unit skill hotkey while having unit selected --> execute unitskill
RTS: esc when finished buildings selected with active build queue: cancel build queue of units according to (this is already in the list as a general "cancel" button)
RTS: esc when building is still building: cancel construction of building (this is already in the list as a general "cancel" button)
RTS: shift-leftclick to build units in any building: build 5 of each unit per click
RTS: leftclick on a unit portrait in build queue: cancel unit
RTS: spacebar --> go to nearest alert (red blinking dots on minimap)
RTS / RISK: scrolling mousewheel --> zoom in / out
RTS: ALT --> show HP bars on all units
RTS: double click on unit -> select all of type on screen
RTS: ctrl-click on unit -> select all of type on screen
RTS: shift-click on unit when other unit already selected --> add to selection or remove from selection (if already selected)
RTS: double tap control-group --> jump to group (camera position)
RTS: double tap Z(W) X C or V --> cycle through type of building (camera position)
RTS: click on portrait of unit in UI -> zoom on unit
RTS: CTRL-1 through CTRL-0 --> set controlgroup
RTS: SHIFT-1 through SHIFT-0 --> add currently selected unit to control group
RTS: 1 through 0 --> select controlgroup
DRAGON mode: ALT-1 throuth ALT-0 --> select controlgroup
RTS: backspace: cycle through recruitment centers (with camera focus)
RTS: click on icon of controlgroup -> select controlgroup
RTS: doubleclick on icon of controlgroup -> camera focus on controlgroup
RTS: q (a) -> attackmove
RTS: h -> hold position
RTS: o -> stop
RTS: p -> patrol
RTS: m -> move
RTS: insert -> default camera position
RTS: when building selected: J -> open research panel (skirmish mode only)

Stabbey_the_Clown fucked around with this message at 14:27 on Mar 14, 2014

# ¿ Apr 17, 2013 22:36

Stabbey_the_Clown: Sep 21, 2002; Are... are you quite sure you really want to say that?; Taco Defender

Dragon Commander: Meet the People

Yorrick - Councillor, Undead Race
The ambassador of the undead, Yorrick is the man ('Hardly a man!', scoffs the dwarf) who safeguards the interests of his skeletal fellows aboard the Raven. Like all undead he is deeply religious, so as long as your decisions don't sin against the commandments of the Seven Gods, you should find Yorrick to be a congenial councillor, albeit a bit tiresome in his rather effusive piety. (Voiced by Harry Hadden-Paton)

Lohanna - Princess, Elf Race
Raised at the court of the elf king, princess Lohannah has always lived a sheltered life in strict accordance with the elf ways of old. Now she finds herself aboard the Raven amid the representatives and traditions of many other cultures and it will be up to you to try and make sure she doesn't abandon her own customs - like the elves will want you to - or to encourage her to become a more urbane person, and risk the ire of her kin. (Voiced by Alix Wilton Regan)

Henry - General (Human)
Henry is a man of action; a general as loyal as he is brazen. Battle may have lost him an arm and an eye, but that has not diminished his lust for combat. You won't find another officer who doesn't admire Henry's military talents, but you probably won't find anyone who calls him a friend either. Arrogant and prone to fly solo, he is not what you would call the social type. If you do want to sit down for a chat with this old warhorse though, bring a bottle. He may not like you, but he'll like the moonshine. (Voiced by Alastair Parker)

Edmund Augustus III - General (Lizard)
General Edmund Augustus the Third is an extremely able and intelligent general, and he knows it. His arrogance is legendary, which endears him very little indeed in the hearts of those who know him, but he would not have it otherwise. If he has the choice between solitude - loneliness even - and having to suffer the vagaries of inferiors, his decision is quickly made. His cold and analytical mind desires the game of chess that is strategy only, and he takes great pleasure in obliterating his enemies, especially those who are non-lizards; base and lowly creatures he detests with a passion. (Voiced by Harry Hadden-Paton)

Sir Falstaff Silvervein - Councillor, Dwarf Race
Rich and corpulent, Falstaff embodies everything that is dwarven. He loves gold, beer, upholds family values and speaks plainly. One could easily dismiss him as a loud-mouth dwarven don, out for wealth and power only, but to do so would be very foolish indeed: behind his gruff exterior a cunning politician is at play. Underestimate him and you'll leave the table empty-handed while he reaps all the rewards. (Voiced by Christopher Fairbank)

Ophelia - Princess, Undead Race
The undead are in essence immortal creatures, trapped as they are in an eternal state of 'semi-being' that touches the boundaries of both life and death while crossing neither. Some of them though, eventually do traverse the lien and die, either by being destroyed in combat or of disease. This last instance happens very rarely indeed, but unfortunately for Ophelia, she is one such exception, afflicted as she is by a cancer that is eating away her marrow. She is withering away and nothing can be done about it, at least, that's what the other undead say, who believe this disease is a punishment from the gods. Ophelia though, doesn't want to give up without a fight and she is determined to find a cure or any sort of alternative that may keep her alive, even if it goes against her own faction. (Voiced by Amy Shiels)

Trinculo Shortfuse - Councillor, Imp Race
If one wants to sum up the impish spirit with one word, it is unpredictability. Trinculo may often surprise with his meandering points of view, but like all imps he is as clever as he is fickle. Science and progression are his bywords; for gods, men (or anything else really) he has little to no use. (Voiced by Sebastian Cardinal)

Scarlett - General (Human)
Scarlett is an upbeat young woman with a passion for combat, liquor and all the pleasures of life. There is another side to her though, one she keeps strictly secret, though in time she'll reveal this secret to you. (Voiced by Laura Aikman)

Aida - Princess, Dwarf Race
Aida is as true a dwarf as Sir Falstaff Silvervein, but despite her jovial ways she is actually a very troubled young woman who has always lived in the shadow of a father that never loved her: Thelor, king of all dwarves. Even on the Raven his influence lingers, to her great discontent - and possibly yours. (Voiced by Simone Lahbib)

Prospera - Councillor, Lizard Race
The epitome of reason and liberal ideals, Prospera is like a steadfast buoy amid a tumultuous sea of shouting elves, quarreling dwarves, preaching undead and babbling imps. Always she is cool, calm and collected a far cry from the other hot-headed Councillors. (Voiced by Lydia Leonard)

Catherine - General (Human)
Catherine used to be a queen in her own right, but ever since the enemies of the empire have been conquering kingdom after kingdom, her throne has toppled. Lusting for revenge, she has joined your cause to serve as a general, but she has a hard time of it. 'To serve' is a new concept for her, especially to serve a man. Catherine used to reside over a matriarchal society after all, in which all key positions were filled by women and wherein men were good for few other things than manual labour and procreation. She definitely needs to adapt to what is a new world for her, and when it comes to matters that relate to the equality of men and women, she is a staunch proponent of all matters feminist. (Voiced by Denise Gough)

Camilla - Princess, Lizard Race
Camilla was raised in the royal household of lizards in a very strict, indeed authoritarian way. Her parents did not shy away from severe punishments for the slightest infractions and this rigorous upbringing has given shape to her character in a fundamental way. All she has known all her life is law and order, and that is what her life is still about : she is a judge with a reputation for handing out harsh, uncompromising sentences. Aboard the Raven, she will remain a servant of the law, though you - perhaps - can influence her decisions. (Voiced by Lydia Leonard)

Oberon - Councillor, Elf Race
A staunch defender of the 'Green Mother', Oberon defends nature where he can, so serving elven interests. Elves try to keep a balance in a ruptured world, not wanting dwarves to destroy it with mines and factories or undead to make it all too rigid with dogmatic beliefs. (Voiced by Daniel Curshen)

Grumio - Chief Engineer (Imp)
To humans and perhaps even dragons, all imps seem a bit ... odd. Grumio forms no exception. He is the one who constructs new technologies aboard your command ship the Raven and though he may look like a glorified grease monkey, there's more to him than meets the eye. As an engineer, his skills are quite simply unsurpassed. (Voiced by Harry Hadden-Paton)

Maxos - Wizard (Human(?))
Maxos is an age-old (some say immortal) wizard, grey of beard, but keen of mind. The depth of his knowledge is unfathomable and you - just like Arthur had Merlin - are lucky to have him on your side as a guide and a mentor. (Voiced by Lewis Macleod)

Stabbey_the_Clown fucked around with this message at 12:16 on Aug 7, 2013

# ¿ Apr 21, 2013 01:27

Stabbey_the_Clown: Sep 21, 2002; Are... are you quite sure you really want to say that?; Taco Defender

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JB-lJ7zc44

Larian has decided to go nuts with their Original Sin Kickstarter, and now Every DIGITAL pledge of $95 or more gets a free digital download of Divinity: Dragon Commander. Because of the increased cost of Physical pledges, every PHYSICAL pledge above $150 will get a free digital copy of Dragon Commander.

(If that's all you're interested in, though, a minimum $25 pledge will let you add on Dragon Commander for $40.)

Oh, and there is a little bit of DC information news:

Larian posted:

Gandalf: Yes, you can command as a dragon (it's actually a last minute feature that was added to the list of things to do fairly late, but it should be in at release)

@Fairo: There are ways that you can capture countries without conflict, yes. You could make friends with the Lizards for instance, they'd give you a turn country card, and you can then play that card. Or you could invade with such a force that the enemy retreats right away. Or there could be no defences, in which case you just blitz through it.

Falro : on the strategy map, if you "attack" or "occupy" a country that has enemy units in it, you either fight it out in RTS mode, or you have the computer auto-resolve it.

If you take over a country that has no enemy units in it, you don't fight for it, it becomes yours just like that.

* * * * *

RPG Codex Preview - Scroll down past the Original Sin preview.

quote:

Before visiting Larian I had assumed that Dragon Commander was an RTS that allowed you to enter the battlefield in your dragon form and take a direct part in the action; I thought that would be the gimmick that would set it apart from the rest of real-time strategy games. Bear also in mind that I'm no great fan of the RTS genre although I do enjoy some of them occasionally. However, Dragon Commander turned out to be much, much more than what I had expected. In fact, it isn't even an RTS but rather a hybrid of different genres, something that has become very rare these days. In one package, you'll find social interactions and political decisions where your choices actually matter, turn-based strategy with a strong board game feel, and real-time strategy with an action twist.

...

As far as the races go, the undead are religious fundamentalists with a very rigid way of thinking, but because of their beliefs they do not shun forced labour, which translates into a discount on production costs during the RTS phase. The elves are the fantasy equivalent of liberal democrats, open-minded and wary of violence, supporting your army with magic powers and defensive abilities. The dwarves (with their councilor reminding me of Winston Churchill) are the capitalists of the game, always after profit and caring little about anything else, although their society is rather conservative and puts a special emphasis on family values. The lizards are libertarians and believe that anyone's actions are his own business as long as he is accountable for them; self-awareness and responsibility are what counts. And then you have the imps. Quite frankly, the imps are crazy and care about nothing but technology and science; their loose sense of ethics means that, to them, there is almost no boundary between right and wrong � science and progress are all that matters. As expected, they are your technicians and researchers.

Since we might as well begin with a controversial example, the first choice was whether or not we should allow gay marriage throughout our empire. Listening to the councilors' take on the matter wasn't entirely unlike listening to the news, except more entertaining. The undead councilor was, of course, repulsed by the very notion of gay marriage, the elven one strongly approved of it, the dwarf didn't like it but didn't seem to mind it much, the lizard thought it was a basic right to be able to decide who you should marry, and the imp councilor not only approved of it but was glad that it would make parties more interesting. I decided to allow it, changing my standing with the various races accordingly. Interestingly, your choices may lead to having to make follow-up decisions later, so that, for example, if you allow same-sex marriages you will later have to decide whether they are allowed to take place in public or whether gay people should be permitted to serve in the army. This is a nice way of showing your influence on the social and political development of your empire instead of having a big list of disjointed issues.

The most direct way your decisions impact the gameplay is by adjusting your standing with the different races, which in turn has an influence over the advantages you get from them. If you exceed their expectations, you may also receive cards that symbolise the favours you have gained with a particular race or person � a nice board game feature. These cards can be played on the strategic map or in the RTS part; some affect regions on the strategic map, others give you more units in the RTS battles or more abilities when in the dragon form. And then you have decisions that may affect the game right away, like allowing your army to go on a holiday. Everyone likes holidays and this will likely make you more popular, but you are also at war and sending some of your forces away might not always be the wisest choice.

The good thing is that all that stuff, which can be rather serious and heavy, is handled extremely well in the game and with a thick layer of humour. I laughed out loud a lot during the presentation, not because of the issues themselves, which I'm sure have most of us bored to death already due to their omnipresence in the news, but thanks to the comments the advisors were making. Seriously, hearing the elf rejoice that elves are now "the gayest of all people" after you have authorized gay marriages in public is so funny that it is hard to not go along with it.

Contains some spoilers for the storyline directions of some characters.

quote:

The map isn't fixed and, just like in Civilization, you can choose the size of the map when starting a new game, thus allowing you to set the length of the campaign according to your preference, or you can pick one of the pre-made maps available. This also applies to the multiplayer.

So, it looks like the single-player campaign will have a variable-size map. Lots of other details in this as well. A good read.

* * * * *

No new news on Dragon Commander, but with the successful $1 million funding of the Divinity: Original Sin Kickstarter, the media focus will be shifting back to Dragon Commander. It's already beginning.

PC Gamer Hands-on Preview

quote:

There�s no real cost to using dragon mode except your attention. But that�s in short supply: you�ve often got multiple bases to manage, build queues to keep going, enemy squadrons to watch and armies to control. Taking time out from all that to zoom around and shoot stuff is dangerous, and most of my major failures were things I didn�t see happening until it was too late.

I like the idea of that as a tactical consideration. In practice, though, most of my time lost was spent trying to reorient myself with the RTS mode when I switched back to it. You can zoom the camera out as far as you like, but the battlefield vanishes beneath the clouds before you can see it all. They�re still tinkering with what kind of overview they�ll give you.

Everything gets built quickly, there�s no fog of war, and the cap on recruits means a single battle never takes too long. Once it�s over, you can fight or auto-resolve any other conflicts that happened on the strategic map that turn. And when everything�s finally dealt with, you return to your giant steampunk airship.

A turn is a long time in Dragon Commander: it�s not unusual to have five conflicts going on at once, each of which you might want to play out as an RTS match. In fact, the whole singleplayer campaign is only expected to take about 20 turns, although obviously that�ll vary a lot from player to player. So when you return to your ship between each one, a new chunk of story stuff unfolds.

Stabbey_the_Clown fucked around with this message at 20:34 on May 2, 2013

# ¿ Apr 29, 2013 03:32

Stabbey_the_Clown: Sep 21, 2002; Are... are you quite sure you really want to say that?; Taco Defender

Divinity: Dragon Commander Update
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KK9PtqBr0yc

There's only one month to go until release! Please, ask any questions you have and I'll try to answer them and put them into the FAQ, even though I don't have many answers right now.

# ¿ Jun 3, 2013 17:00

Stabbey_the_Clown: Sep 21, 2002; Are... are you quite sure you really want to say that?; Taco Defender

New Blog Update: To Listen or Not to Listen

Swen Vincke posted:

We received feedback today from a group of journalists about what they thought of a hands-on session with a beta-version of the game. Specifically, they were asked to name three things they liked and three things they disliked. From that list a few issues got flagged, and the question now is whether or not we�ll address those issues.

We are dangerously close to release, so anything we change now is bound to have a significant impact. But of course, not intervening means that for sure those issues will pop up in reviews, and if they�re bothering the journalists, they�ll probably also bother our players. Naturally, if we continue fixing things that pop up, we�ll never release because there�s no such thing as a perfect game. So, when is enough enough ? And should we listen to the feedback we received?

Had this been one of our previous games where we were paid via milestones, the decision would already have been taken, and no changes would be made, definitely not at this stage in development. But it�s not somebody else�s decision to make this time. It�s ours, and I am happy that we get to make this type of decision.

Megazver posted:

Threesome with skeleton princess and lizard princess: yes/why not?

Probably not, because that would depend on a pretty complicated formula. You can only really improve the relationship with your princess by fulfilling her requests. There are probably multiple ways of doing that, if what I've heard about the Undead princess is correct. Marrying one princess probably makes the other one unavailable to interact with (although there may be divorce in the game, but that may have been taken out).

I'll ask on the Larian forums about the other questions. It should only be another week or two maximum before David Walgrave finishes upgrading the Larian Vault to allow management of Kickstarter pledges and such.

I finally got a chance to actually watch the video.

- For the RTS mode, you can play the battle in Dragon form, the generals can "lead in battle", or you can leave the battle to its own devices (I think that means combat resolution algorithms).
- There are both single-player and multiplayer levels, which means that there will probably be some maps that are campaign specific and not pure symmetrical stuff for use in the multiplayer campaign. This will include the opening and closing stages of the campaign.

# ¿ Jun 3, 2013 20:35

Stabbey_the_Clown: Sep 21, 2002; Are... are you quite sure you really want to say that?; Taco Defender

Divinity: Dragon Commander's release date has been pushed back to August 6th. I guess they did decide to add a different difficulty setting after all.

All pre-orders from GoG.com will now come with Master of Magic for free! Also, retail boxes of Dragon Commander will come with a digital copy from on GoG.

Larian has been oddly quiet for the last few weeks, but that was deliberate - they're waiting for the noise of E3 to blow over. That makes sense.

I don't mind the delay, I'm just glad that we're finally being told that there is in fact a delay. Now I can postpone my worrying about the lack of information for another month.

# ¿ Jun 12, 2013 18:24

Stabbey_the_Clown: Sep 21, 2002; Are... are you quite sure you really want to say that?; Taco Defender

Here is the list of the game�s units and their upgrades, along with a brief summary of their role and counters. Updated July 31st.

Official Dragon Commander Units Page

Ground

Ground units are the backbone of the army, the only units capable of seizing building points. They come from one of two structures: the Battle Forge for the lighter units, and the War Factory for the heavier ones.

Trooper

Class: Light Ground Unit
Strong against: Light Ground units, Armours.
Weak against: Hunters, Heavy Units, Air units.

A Light-class ground unit, troopers are individually weak, but are quite cheap. They are good against other Light-class infantry units - easily defeating equal costs of Grenadiers (when neither side uses abilities). They can even beat an equal support amount of Armours, if the latter don�t focus fire or use abilities. The Trooper�s speed upgrade is basically essential if you plan to field Troopers. Their ability to capture buildings can be quite useful, and if all else fails, a group of Kamikaze troopers can cause chaos.

Abilities:

Enhanced Engines: (Passive) Increases the movement speed of Troopers.
Spoils of War: Allows Troopers to permanently capture enemy buildings. The process takes some time, more troopers speed it up.
For the Empire!: (Stance) Disables trooper�s attack, sets it to self-destruct on contact with enemy units/buildings.

Grenadier

Class: Light Ground Unit
Strong against:Medium-Class Units, Dragons and Air units.
Weak against: Troopers, Hunters, Heavy Units.

A Light-class anti-air/anti-armour ground unit, Grenadiers are a good thing to keep mixed with your army. In an unmanaged fight, they beat Armours at equal recruit costs (but NOT Equal Support costs). Despite Hunters being classified as Medium, Grenadiers do quite badly against them. Their skills are all geared to improving their damage output, especially against clustered units.

Abilities:

Imp Binoculars: (Passive) Increases Grenadiers attack range.
Enhanced Explosives: (Passive) Increases radius of area-of-effect attack.
Chemical Warfare: (Stance) Grenadiers fire a hazardous projectile that diseases enemy units.

Shaman

Class: Light Amphibious Support Unit
Strong: When mixed in with other units as a support.
Weak: When alone.

Shamans are a Light-class amphibious defensive caster unit. They�re welcome in any group for their healing abilities, but their skills are exceptionally useful. Shamans cannot heal themselves, but can heal a number of other units at the same time. They are an amphibious unit, which means they can move across both land and water equally well, letting them take shortcuts or support naval units. Cripple is a good anti-cluster spell that renders enemies helpless for a short time, Immunity is a defensive buff that reduces damage and prevents/dispels debuffs on your own units. Charm is a spell geared at turning a single powerful enemy unit against its allies.

Abilities:

Ally Healing: (No Cost) Heals all nearby ally units.
Cripple: Casts a spell to paralyze enemy units for a short time.
Immunity: A protective shield on a friendly unit that increases its defense and nullifies debuffs.
Charm: Temporarily switches an enemy unit to your side for a long time.

Warlock

Class: Light Amphibious Unit
Strong: When used as an offensive spellcaster, against Ironclads and Air Units.
Weak:In direct combat.

Warlocks are a Light-class amphibious offensive caster unit. Like the Shaman, they can travel over both land and water. Unlike the Shaman, they have an attack which can hit land and air units. Their fast, but weak attack is only something for them to do on their downtime, though. Their skills and exceptionally long casting range (longer than a Devastator in siege mode) are what makes them dangerous. Their cloak is self-only, but it lets them traverse large distances unseen, making them good potential targets for the Hunter�s Teleport ability, or in groups to act as a mobile strike team. They can also now attack while remaining cloaked, making them a menace to any enemy lacking detection. Their Meet the Beetles upgrade lets them remove enemy units for a short time, and their Death from Above attack is long distance and very good against clustered units.

Abilities:

Cloak: Turns the warlock Invisible for a long time. Using abilities cancels the cloak. Attacking does NOT cancel the cloak.
Meet the Beetles: Polymorphs a unit into a harmless ladybird beetle, disabling its attack and spellcasting capability for a moderate time.
Death from Above: Summons a rain of meteors, doing massive AoE damage on the target area.

Hunter

Class: Medium Ground Unit
Strong against: Light Ground units, Air units and Dragons � with �A Bird in the Hand� upgrade.
Weak against: Armors, Heavy Units, Air units and Dragons � withOUT �A Bird in the Hand� upgrade.

Hunters are a Medium-class anti-infantry unit. They�re the fastest ground unit in the game, letting them cover territory quickly. They can attack while in motion, letting them exploit certain slow-firing enemies caught alone. Their Teleportation ability lets them instantly reinforce any friendly ground unit on the map, their Revelation lets them see cloaked units and mines, and their last upgrade (�A Bird in the Hand�) lets them hit air targets, making them more versatile.

Abilities:

Revelation: (Passive) Lets the Hunters detect cloaked units and mines in an area around them.
Teleportation: Teleport to a distant friendly unit.
A Bird in the Hand: Equip Hunters with Rockets for effective anti-air attacks.

Armour

Class: Medium Ground Unit
Strong against: Medium units, Heavy units, Buildings
Weak against: Troopers, Air units, Dragon

Armors are a Medium-class anti-mechanized unit. Strong and powerful, they�re good against nearly all ground units � save the armour-piercing rockets of Grenadiers. Their thick armour lets them shrug off blows from most foes, and their double-barreled cannons deliver powerful retaliation. They are strong counters to Hunters and Devastators, but are completely defenceless against to air units. Like Hunters, Armours can fire while moving. They can be upgraded to carry three Troopers or Grenadiers, drop ground mines, or deal a short-ranged attack which is most effective against infantry.

Abilities:

Public Transportation: (Passive) Lets Armours transport Troopers and Grenadiers.
You�re Mine: Allows Armours drop ground mines into the field.
Short Sharp Shock: Armours release a powerful shockwave dealing massive damage to nearby units.

Devastator

Class: Heavy Ground Unit
Strong against:Ground Units, Sea Units, Buildings
Weak against: Armours, Air units, Dragon.

Devastators are a Heavy-class siege unit. They are slow to move and fire, but their shells deliver powerful blows. They are especially dangerous to clusters of the slow-moving infantry � a few well-placed shots can vaporize whole groups. They have no defenses against air units, and are also weak against Armours. Their upgrades include the basically-mandatory Besiege, which lets them enter siege mode to extend their range, Improved engines to let them move faster � also quite useful, and �Double Time�, which lets them shoot two slightly-lower damage shells at once, boosting their overall damage by 50%.

Abilities:

Enhanced Engines: Increases movement speed.
On the Double: (Passive) Lets Devastators fire twice in succession for lower damage per shot.
Besiege: Enables Siege mode, which surrenders mobility in exchange for increased attack range.

Air

Air units are uninhibited by terrain, and can unleash devastating strikes on distant points, however, they are relatively fragile and must be protected. Neglect creating air units of your own at your own risk.

Imp Fighter

Class: Medium Aerial Unit
Strong against: Air units, If �Bombs Away� researched: Armours, Devastators, Juggernauts, Most Infantry units.
Weak against: Grenadiers, Ironclads,

Imp Fighters are a Medium-class anti-air fighter. Fragile, but cheap to make, Imp Fighters can easily sweep the skies clear of enemy aircraft. They have upgrades to increase their health, allow them to drop missiles on ground units, and deliver a slowing attack that cripples the firing speed of the victim.

Abilities:

Bombs Away: (Passive) Equips your Imp Fighters with bombs, allowing them to attack ground targets.
War of Attrition: Imp fighters attacks will slow down enemy attack speed.
Iron Plating: Boosts the survivability of Imp Fighters (increases their health).

Bomber Balloon

Class: Heavy Aerial Unit
Strong against: Heavy Sea Units, Ground Units
Weak against: Air Units, Ironclads.

Bomber Balloons are a Heavy-class anti-ground Aerial unit. They have the most powerful normal attack, with a good-sized splash radius even without upgrades, but their range is the smallest of any unit. Their formidable damage capacity can be increased with Enhanced Explosives to add a much larger splash radius to the explosions. They can also reveal invisible units, and lay air mines.

Abilities:

Mine High Club: Gains the ability to plant air mines.
Revelation: (Passive) Lets bombers detect cloaked units and mines.
Enhanced Explosives: Gives an increase to bombers AoE damage.

Zeppelin

Class: Medium Aerial Support Unit
Strong: When mixed in with other units as a support.
Weak: When alone.

Zeppelins are a Medium-Class Aerial Support unit. They lack a normal attack and are quite slow, but their abilities are devastating when used properly. All Zeppelins can increase the range of allied units by 33%, providing an advantage of at least one shot of fire before an unaccompanied foe can retaliate. While lacking weapons, a Zeppelin is not completely defenceless. The �Fly, my Flaming Pretties� upgrade shoots a barrage of flaming missiles at an airborne target. �Mustard Gas� is a bomb that inflicts long-lasting radioactive damage on a wide area of the ground � devastating to clustered forces. The Zeppelin�s Cloak is the prize of its abilities, though. It can cloak the Zeppelin and areas in a radius around it for a few real-time minutes, and units can attack while cloaked (it�s only using abilities that decloaks them). This is more than enough time to destroy an enemy base which lacks detection.

Abilities:

Ally Range Increase: (No Cost) Increases the range of all nearby units by 33%.
Fly, my Flaming Pretties!: Allows Zeppelins to unleash multiple fire-bats on an enemy air unit for massive damage.
Fog of War: Enables Zeppelins to cloak themselves and a group of units in the area for a limited time.
Mustard Gas: Zeppelins cast a persistent cloud of poisonous gas on their enemies in an area for a short time.

Sea

Control of the waterways is often important, as it can let you bypass troops and chokepoints to assault enemy bases ~~directly~~. The Transport is the only units which can transport heavy units quickly to islands or across bodies of water, and its abilities to cloak and clear mines aid to its power. The Ironclad is a powerful defense unit to protect your fleet from airborne threats. The Juggernaut has the longest range in the game, it can be a mobile factory for producing Imp Fighters, and it can unleash the devastating Imp Bunker Buster to lay waste to a base.

Shamans and Warlocks are also supplemental units that can move over water, and their abilities can greatly enhance your own naval fleets, and disrupt the enemies�.

Transport

Class: Heavy Sea Support Unit
Strong Against: None
Weak Against: All.

Transports are a Heavy-class Naval support unit. They are armed with missiles that can hit all targets, but their weapons are weak and slow-firing. They have one critical job: transporting land units across water. Their abilities are build around that purpose. Cloak lets them silently slip behind enemy lines, so the only warning the enemy has is when the units unload on her shores. Minesweeper lets the Transport automatically defuse any enemy mines that may be blocking its path. If all else fails, there are too many ships blockading it, a transport can set its reactor to overload and ram them, causing a massive explosion.

Abilities:

Cloak: Hides the transport from view for a limited time.
Minesweeper: (Passive) Lets Transports clear mines from the water.
For the Empire!: Disables Transport�s attack, sets it to self-destruct on contact with enemy units.

Ironclad

Class: Medium Sea Unit
Strong against: Sea Units, Air units, Dragon.
Weak against: Ground units, Warlocks.

Ironclads are a Medium-class Anti-sea, anti-air sea unit. These cruisers are intended to protect sea units from attack by air, and attack enemy sea units. They can both plant and detect mines and invisible units, and their �On Guard� skill lets them shoot down all hostile projectiles for a short time. Their only weakness is land units, which their torpedoes and anti-air missiles cannot hit. Warlocks are a particular menace, as they can follow the Ironclads out to sea and cannot be targeted by them.

Abilities:

Revelation: (Passive) Lets Ironclads detect cloaked units and mines.
On Guard: Enables Ironclads to activate an defensive-targeting mechanism to shoot down enemy projectiles in an area around them for the duration of the skill.
Sea Mine-Maids: Allows Ironclads to deploy sea mines.

Juggernaut

Class: Heavy Sea Unit
Strong against: Ground units, Sea units, Buildings
Weak against: Ironclads, Air Units

Juggernauts are a Heavy-class anti-ground unit. They are the prize jewel in an army. They have the longest range and highest health in the game. Their already fearsome range can be extended with Imp Binoculars, letting them hit targets far inland. Juggernauts have no way to attack air, but the Imp Backup upgrade will allow them to build Imp Fighters onboard when an Aerofactory is just too far away. Their final upgrade is the Imp Bunker Buster, a weapon of last resort. This launches a missile that can hit anywhere on the map. It takes a while to build a Bunker Buster, and it costs almost half as much as the Juggernaut itself. The projectile is fairly slow and can be destroyed, but it makes a devastating impact on whatever it hits. It is a base-killer.

Abilities:

Imp Binoculars: (Passive) Increases Juggernauts attack range.
Imp Backup: Allows Juggernauts to deploy Imp Fighters from their position when needed. Costs the same amount of Recruits as the Aerofactory-deployed fighters.
Imp Bunker Buster: Launch an extremely powerful tactical warhead that does an enormous amount of damage in a target area. The warhead is slow, and is targetable and can be destroyed before impact.

Stabbey_the_Clown fucked around with this message at 15:12 on Aug 13, 2013

# ¿ Jun 22, 2013 20:53

Stabbey_the_Clown: Sep 21, 2002; Are... are you quite sure you really want to say that?; Taco Defender

Divinity: Dragon Commander Beta � First Impressions

I am currently participating in the ongoing Dragon Commander closed beta, and I�ve been having a lot of fun. There�s explicitly no NDA, so I am allowed to talk about it. The Beta only has Skirmish mode, RTS fighting on a single map, so I don�t know much more about the Single-player and Strategy map gameplay than what�s already been said and what I can glean from the manual.

The game looks great and runs great � I�ve only experienced a little bit of slowdown on only one or two occasions, and it was only briefly. That�s pretty good considering that I�m running the game at high resolution with bells and whistles on, on a computer that�s five to eight years old.

I even managed to play and win a game where one player (me) was in North America, one was in the UK, and a third was in Belgium with no sign of lag after the start.

Pictured: My forces going in for the kill on a human opponent in Maxos Crossing at dawn

Each unit and building casts a shadow. There is no day-night cycle, BUT each map has several variations on time of day and weather. This is the Maxos Crossing map at Dawn, but I�ve also seen this map be in the day, in the day with additional haze and fog, and at sunset. This is a minor thing, but no one at all would have missed it if it wasn�t implemented and each map only had one look and one time of day. I love the attention to detail that the multiple times of day add.

I�ve played some RTS�s in the past � most recently Starcraft 2, but I haven�t played that game or any other RTS in a couple of years so I�m rusty. This game also doesn�t play quite like that. There is only one resource in the game � Recruits taken from the country�s population, and that�s shared between all players. Population is gathered from Recruitment Centers � the more you own, the faster you drain the population. All buildings are constructed on specific pre-placed platforms, and Recruitment Centers have their own specific building platforms that they can only be built on � and nothing else can be built there either.

My first playthroughs were pretty poor until I learned the critical rule: You cannot afford to sit back and build troops, you have to seize and defend those sites, because they�ll fill the enemy bank account.

Pictured Below: My entire remaining army beating an enemy which skimped on its air defenses.

To support your efforts, you can join the fight yourself as a Dragon. Controlling the Dragon is simple and intuitive. You move with the WASD keys (although you can reassign if you want), your right mouse is a dash key � use it when strafing for a quick burst of speed - it works to dodge incoming rockets for an extra second, but they are homing, so it won�t save you forever. The Dragon is extremely effective at cleaning up infantry units, but it doesn�t do a great deal of damage, so it�s much less effective at heavily armoured units. Even against ones that are unable to fight back, it takes some time to kill those units.

Pictured: The Dragon�s Pillar of Flame skill.

It takes some amount of your recruits to join the fight as a Dragon, either 5/10/15/20, I�m not sure how it�s calculated exactly, so you shouldn�t just spawn in willy-nilly, especially once the resources run out. You can stay in Dragon form as long as you like, assuming you aren�t killed. The resource cost is pretty minor given the benefits it provides. The real cost to entering Dragon form is time. While you�re in Dragon form, you can�t produce troops or research upgrades.

Once the resources run out, the match changes from fast paced to more tactical. Each player has to carefully use the resources and troops they have left to defeat the enemy. A player is not out until all their buildings AND attacking units are destroyed. Just wiping away all their buildings won�t eliminate a player.

If you have any questions, let me know and I�ll try to answer them as best I can, although I haven�t tried every upgrade, and things are still in beta and are subject to change.

Stabbey_the_Clown fucked around with this message at 18:00 on Jun 24, 2013

# ¿ Jun 24, 2013 12:19

Stabbey_the_Clown: Sep 21, 2002; Are... are you quite sure you really want to say that?; Taco Defender

Phlegmish posted:

That looks good, though I'm a little afraid that I'll get overwhelmed at first. It seems to be very hectic, and I'm terrible at multitasking. Did they also let you play the roleplaying part? Did you manage to seduce the skeleton princess?

It is definitely hectic, but thankfully, one of the options for the AI is "NONE", which lets you happily play around and play with the units to figure out what they do.

No to the skeleton princess, it's only Skirmish mode, no single-player gameplay, no campaign (Risk-like map). The Skirmish mode starts off with a higher population cap (5000) than it will probably be in the campaign modes, but that's because you have nothing researched in a Skirmish. In a campaign, things researched from the Stragegy map will carry over.

# ¿ Jun 24, 2013 13:20

Stabbey_the_Clown: Sep 21, 2002; Are... are you quite sure you really want to say that?; Taco Defender

Deakul posted:

Do you think that the game is too simple since it only uses one type of resource?

Good question. I think I'll say "no", although the way the game plays makes it harder to give a concrete answer on this. It plays out much differently from say, Starcraft (tons of plentiful nodes around the map), or Battle for Middle Earth (free resources forever at a trickle as long as your resource production buildings are intact). It is its own game.

The way the resources work in Dragon Commander is that each map has a population - 5000 total (in Skirmish mode), a pool shared between all players. It represents the country's battle-ready population. It is transformed into a private fund called "Recruits" that you use to build things. You get 5 Recruits a time every 5 seconds for every Recruitment Center you own on the map. You gain 5 recruits, the overall remaining pool available to all players decreases by 5 recruits.

There's also bonus recruits that you can get from capturing ~~neutral~~ (EDIT: ANY) building platforms: 2 per turret platform and 10 per other platform. Those are free bonuses that do NOT drain the resource pool of the map, ~~but they're a one-time bonus, mostly helpful to get up your other production buildings right away.~~

Once the population pool is used up, the players only have the Recruits they have in the bank (and whatever they can get from selling structures). EDIT: And capturing resource platforms.

It presents an interesting wrinkle to the end-game, although I haven't been able to explore it too much with other human players. The AI doesn't really do much once the income dries out.

Recruitment Centers can only be built on specific platforms that can only hold Recruitment Centers, so those will probably be the focus of the early battles.

Stabbey_the_Clown fucked around with this message at 12:23 on Jun 25, 2013

# ¿ Jun 24, 2013 19:36

Stabbey_the_Clown: Sep 21, 2002; Are... are you quite sure you really want to say that?; Taco Defender

Three bits of news today!

They remastered the trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nq2cDhcVmOA

Next is a video showing how one complete turn plays out in the single-player campaign.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAF-AAudfp8

Next are two more personalities!

Edmund - General (Lizard Race)

General Edmund is an extremely able and intelligent general, and he knows it. His arrogance is legendary, which endears him very little indeed in the hearts of those who know him, but he would not have it otherwise. If he has the choice between solitude - loneliness even - and having to suffer the vagaries of inferiors, his decision is quickly made. His cold and analytical mind desires the game of chess that is strategy only, and he takes great pleasure in obliterating his enemies, especially those who are non-lizards; base and lowly creatures he detests with a passion

Sir Falstaff Silvervein - Councillor, Dwarf Race

Rich and corpulent, Falstaff embodies everything that is dwarven. He loves gold, beer, upholds family values and speaks plainly. One could easily dismiss him as a loud-mouth dwarven don, out for wealth and power only, but to do so would be very foolish indeed: behind his gruff exterior a cunning politician is at play. Underestimate him and you'll leave the table empty-handed while he reaps all the rewards.

* * * * *

Plus I am in the ongoing Dragon Commander multiplayer skirmish-mode beta, so if you have questions on how the RTS combat plays and how the Dragon affects the balance of the multiplayer game, ask and I shall answer (well, as best as I can).

EDIT: I'll start now, by explaining what exactly I have access to. Skirmish mode is a single match on a single map. Every player starts out on equal footing, with no units, no resources, no research completed, just one recruitment center and a single building platform.

The population count on the map is 5000, which is higher than it would be for a map played in campaign mode, but it's enough to let you build a sizeable army and research a lot of things.

Stabbey_the_Clown fucked around with this message at 19:08 on Jun 26, 2013

# ¿ Jun 26, 2013 15:39

Stabbey_the_Clown: Sep 21, 2002; Are... are you quite sure you really want to say that?; Taco Defender

Darkhold posted:

Has the pledge management system gone live yet (I thought it was supposed to be a couple of days ago but I don't think I've seen an update)? Do we know when the Divinity backers are going to get their Dragon Commander codes?

Good question. The Pledge management system IS working, however it is not available, because they're adding extra features. (Game Designers :rolleyes:

).

EDIT: It seems to be available now.

Larian posted:

Hi gang! Long time no see. I've been lurking now and then, but we've been busy with Original Sin, obviously, and with Dragon Commander, and with the Backer Management System.

In fact, the management system is up and running, but just not "open to the public" yet. There are some features we wanted to add to the Vault while we are at it, so we thought we'd take this opportunity to add them before we invite 20.000 people over ;-)

So if all goes well, expect to see it go online tomorrow. We're hoping to put it online before we make a big fuss about it so that our servers don't die of all the traffic. So no worries. It's done. It works. We're just waiting for the "right moment"

Cheers, David

Larian posted:

So it may be tomorrow instead of today. We are waiting for something that needs to be given to us by another company. I'm sorry I have to be so cryptic. All will become clear

Stabbey_the_Clown fucked around with this message at 17:04 on Jun 26, 2013

# ¿ Jun 26, 2013 16:05

Stabbey_the_Clown: Sep 21, 2002; Are... are you quite sure you really want to say that?; Taco Defender

Those who backed the Divinity: Original Sin Kickstarter at a tier high enough to get Dragon Commander, Sign up to the Larian Vault and link your Kickstarter account to get free access to the Dragon Commander beta on Steam.

For those in the Beta, join this Steam Group: http://steamcommunity.com/groups/BetaDragon to make it easier to find matches and other players.

quote:

Pre-order Dragon Commander and get a free upgrade to the Imperial Edition (and recieve immediate access to the beta)

Imperial Edition Features:

Golden Dragon skin

Dragons on Earth Campaign Map

Digital Soundtrack

Behind-the-Scenes documentary

Dragon Commander�s best kept secret: an overview of all the choices and consequences in the game (you�ll be amazed)

EDIT: Anyone who pre-ordered Dragon Commander through the Kickstarter receives the Imperial Edition upgrade free!

Stabbey_the_Clown fucked around with this message at 01:30 on Jun 29, 2013

# ¿ Jun 26, 2013 20:29

Stabbey_the_Clown: Sep 21, 2002; Are... are you quite sure you really want to say that?; Taco Defender

Excelsiortothemax posted:

I've been playing this as well and find it rather fun. How do I switch back from dragon to commander though? I can't figure it out.

"R" is the morph key in both RTS and Dragon modes. It costs recruits to spawn the first time, and every time you respawn after dying. However, if you leave Dragon form voluntarily, without dying, respawning as a Dragon is free.

The Skirmish mode Dragon was pretty powerful the last time I played, but so far my experience with the Campaign mode Dragon is that they're incredibly fragile and melt to anything anti-air in seconds. I haven't had enough time to play a lot with it, though.

# ¿ Jun 27, 2013 22:29

Stabbey_the_Clown: Sep 21, 2002; Are... are you quite sure you really want to say that?; Taco Defender

I played a 2v2 match this morning, with a couple guys from Larian (one on each team) and another player. The gameplay was really smooth, despite me being in Canada and the game being hosted in Belgium. I got my butt kicked pretty badly. I'm not all that great at the RTS mode yet (while I have played them, I don't play them often, or recently).

Unrelated, but in 2v2 campaigns, all 4 players participate in battles, even if only 2 sides have units in the country. If you have no units, you don't start out with any, but you can play Mercenary cards to boost your ally's chances. Mercenary cards are consumed after use and don't count for or against unit survival calculations. They are entirely disposable and are pretty plentiful, so feel free to spend them.

Mzbundifund posted:

So in the campaign mode, does the game keep track of units bought via recruits and units imported from the turn-based map? If you buy units with recruits in the real-time battle, do they then transfer to permanent units on the turn-based map if they survive the battle? If not, does the game somehow distinguish visually between temporary units and permanent ones so that I can screen my valuable turn-based-factory-produced units with disposable real-time-recruit-bought units?

Any units you buy in the RTS mode are not transferred back to the campaign mode for balance reasons. I'm not entirely sure what the formula is for getting units back at the end, but I think it has to do with the percentage of your units that survive (not counting mercenary units.) I wanted to test and see hiding your starting units at your base and winning with recruit-based units would work, but the map where I tried that I ended up getting my butt kicked and losing the map, so I'll have to try that again.

I think it's a matter of efficiency in not losing units. Unfortunately the fast-paced swarms of unit gameplay is not really conducive for preserving your units. I think the best you can hope for is to wipe out all of the enemy's campaign map units and hope your losses were less expensive than his.

DrManiac posted:

Wow, I'm terrible at this. I don't really play RTS games so what should I be focusing on at the start of a battle? I used my dudes to capture some points but they still ended up overwhelmed 5 minutes later.

First build your Battle Forge, and while it's building, shift + right-click the rally point to the nearby the white construction sites so your troops will automatically capture them as they walk past. You get bonus recruits for capturing a construction site, so at the start you want to produce a lot of cheap units (preferably fast) and spread them out to capture as many free construction sites as you can. That'll give you an instant ton of cash you can use to get up other buildings and Recruitment Centers and start building units.

There are unlimited queues when building units, so you can be auto-building for a while if you spam the build unit button.

"R" is the Dragon Morph button in either Dragon mode or RTS mode. Teammates taking over your territories sounds like a bug which should be reported.

Stabbey_the_Clown fucked around with this message at 00:42 on Jun 28, 2013

# ¿ Jun 28, 2013 00:15

Stabbey_the_Clown: Sep 21, 2002; Are... are you quite sure you really want to say that?; Taco Defender

Yannos posted:

Press "a". Your cursor will change into a crosshair. Then click to attack-move there.

I believe you mean "q", as a is "move camera/dragon left" by default.

# ¿ Jun 28, 2013 12:42

Stabbey_the_Clown: Sep 21, 2002; Are... are you quite sure you really want to say that?; Taco Defender

I find that the Cripple spell on Shamans is quite effective, it shuts down a bunch of units in a group for a few seconds.

DrManiac posted:

Is there anyway to make groups/squads or just select all of a troop type? Also what determines if you can fight on the strategy map? I was just in a game with the AI that didn't have battles on spots even though both forces were on the same piece.

It uses the RTS standard of "Control + 1-0" to create a control group just "1-0" selects it, and double-clicking a unit will select all of that type (regardless of where they are, so careful when using that).

For the battle where two colours were on the same country, were you playing a 2v2, and it was two allies sharing the same spot? There are four factions: Imperials, Warlords, Hordes, and Zealots. Two guys with the same faction name are on the same side.

# ¿ Jun 28, 2013 17:54

Stabbey_the_Clown: Sep 21, 2002; Are... are you quite sure you really want to say that?; Taco Defender

~~I happen to have a spare beta key for Dragon Commander on Steam. First one to PM me gets it.~~ Gone.

Stabbey_the_Clown fucked around with this message at 01:50 on Jun 29, 2013

# ¿ Jun 29, 2013 00:31

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ¿ Apr 26, 2024 07:07

Stabbey_the_Clown: Sep 21, 2002; Are... are you quite sure you really want to say that?; Taco Defender

Preview video of the single-player beta:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ESqsDGrlLM

Drifter: Raze should probably have contacted AxeManic by now.

I'm compiling a list of things I really want to test out to see if they're working properly, or if they're useful, like:

The Campaign Dragon's survivability versus various amounts of Hunters and Grenadiers.
Variations on the Armour�s short-sharp Shock skill versus various-sized groups of Infantry units - is it a suicidal skill, or quite powerful?
Can Battleships launch Nukes when cloaked by a zeppelin?
~~If a Zeppelin uses its AoE Cloak skill just as a nuke (Imp Bunker Buster) is launched, is the nuke invisible?~~ EDIT: It does not appear to turn invisible, that is as it should be, good. I'll have to try again just to be sure, though.
Do Imp Fighter cards increase the chance of winning an auto-resolve battle even when no air units exist?
What is the effective Radius of Grenadiers Enhanced Explosives upgrade? (Test on units that can't attack, like Shamans or self-destruct-mode Troopers)?
What is the effective radius of the Enhanced Explosives upgrade for Balloon Bombers.
Balloon Bombers vs Hunters � but with Bombers Enhanced Explosives researched � I tried equal supply, but forgot that the Hunters had an upgrade and the bombers did not.
On the army matchup screen � can you mouseover the units and see what upgrades they have available?
What abilities can units cast while under the Zeppelin�s invisibility? Test every single skill.
Can the Shaman's Charm skill cancel out an enemy Shaman's Charm? It should! Can the Aegis skill shield from Charm?
~~Troopers Spoils of war upgrade: Can you cast it on buildings from a distance or do you need to be up close? I had trouble with this.~~ Tested, seems to work fine.

EDIT: Cleaned up my shorthand so it's easier to understand.

Stabbey_the_Clown fucked around with this message at 03:22 on Jul 1, 2013

# ¿ Jul 1, 2013 01:34

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > Divinity: Dragon Commander-Legalize troll abortions=upgrade Dragon jetpack?

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