Divinity: The Sword of Lies Preview

The programmers seem to be most enthusiastic about the game's absolute non-linearity. Of course, there is a main plot and characters relevant for its development, but there will be many ways to reach the end. On the other hand, there will be Time Related quests, which will take place regardless of weather the player actually took part in them. This will create a really live world with its own rules, which the player can choose to accept or defy. The NPCs will react on your behavior differently (condemn or support them) and then talk amongst themselves and join forces to fight for or against you. To produce this you really have to work seriously on artificial intelligence. The lead programmer said:

AT: Your artificial intelligence system seems to be highly developed, but it still seems to be concerned mostly with combat situations and realizing them. Will the game feature any sort of a non-combat AI (allowing things like off-screen NPC communication)?

SV: "There's quite a lot of non fight behavior going on. Here's an example, which is my current favorite one: Otho, the dwarf, has two pigs. If you kill one of his pigs, and he hears the screams, he'll come and check what's going on with his pigs. If he sees you at the scene of the crime, he'll be rather pissed, and demand compensation. If then you decide to kill his second pig while he's standing next to you, he'll grow red with rage at which point he starts attacking you, meanwhile accusing you of genocide. You'll also be seeing things like NPCs seeking shelter because it starts raining, npcs visiting friends etc. I'm not going to list the coolest ones here, because that's something we want the player to discover, but rest assured, there's quite a lot going on in NPC land."

Fifty types of monsters is certainly an impressing number (I personally like spider-mine planting ghouls best). Another interesting feature is that their behavior will change depending on weather they are alone on inn a group, and each of them will require specific combat tactics. The pause key will prove very useful here, because you'll be able to stop the action, consider the situation and drink a healing potion if needed.

Even though it was first conceived as a non-party game, that feature has been incorporated on FRP fans demand. However, you won't be able to control your party members - they will act on their own accord and there is no way of stopping them even if they decide to leave or even attack you.

The dynamic music background will add to the game atmosphere. Melodies will follow action and the game will also support 3D sound.

We finished our conversation with Swen Vincke with matters concerning the publishing and distribution of the game, and here's what he said:

AT: Did you come to the point in development where you are able to determine the game's hardware requirements?

SV: I'm running it on a low-end Celeron without 3D hardware acceleration, and that plays fine. The exact specs I can't tell you yet, though I reckon it will be something in the area of a P166 with 3D hardware acceleration, or a Celeron without. Minimum memory will probably be 64Mb.

AT: Have you chosen a publisher for your game yet?

SV: We're quite busy talking to a number of them right now, but nothing has been finalized yet. I guess by the time ECTS come up, you'll find us at somebody's booth.

AT: Will you publish the game soundtrack?

SV: Yes, definitely. Actually, we're currently considering to pre-release some of the music that won't make it into the game, not because it's not good enough, but because Kirill our composer is so active, that he's just made too much music to fit on the CDs.

AT: Are there any other updates that you would like make public?

SV: A lot, but time is really working against me. I suggest you check out our website regularly. We'll soon be doing an update on the features of Divinity, and release a new FAQ.