Divine Divinity Divinations

[vometia]

I figured with the impending release of the Ego Draconis expansion, Flames of Vengeance, it was time it had its own topic. Though actually what I'm more excited about is playing the "remastered" version of Ego Draconis itself, "The Dragon Knight Saga", which is as far as I can tell Ego Draconis ported to their new engine: not sure exactly what the implications are, but "it looks better" seems to be the main selling point.

I must admit I'm feeling a little impatient because I'm in the mood for another bout of Ego Draconis now that I'm hopefully possessed of less cluelessness: I made a few bad decisions first time through, especially not bothering to learn an area-of-effect spell which is becoming inconvenient in the later stages; I'm also hoping that the benefit of hindsight will see a return to the more regular "easy, normal and hard" difficulty settings, rather than what turned out to be "insane, ouch-that-hurt-rather-a-lot, and suicidal", at least in my experience.

It's going to be a hard game to play, though: maybe I'm too sentimental, but I found that in addition to the humour, some bits were very sad and poignant: the decisions that need to be made on Sentinel Isle really bummed me out, as did the events that followed shortly thereafter. Oh well, it doesn't change the fact that it's a good game.

So with the expansion and revamp coming up (I know they've already been out a couple of months in Germany, but the rest of us have to wait 'til at least next month!) I figured it would be exactly the wrong time to ask if anyone knows of any modding sites for the game. I just fancy adding some stuff on before playing again. Not looking for major stuff, just extra choices of armour and weapons to fiddle about with, really. But although I've searched a few times, nothing much as come up: some retexes here and there, and a few spamvertising sites (sigh, inevitable, I suppose) but no collections of mods to be found. But I figure they must be there somewhere! Anybody know of any?

[Vince]

I'm a real fan of the original Divine Divinity, but based on several not so great reviews of Ego Draconis, didn't buy it. From your post you seem to like it a lot. Were there patches that made it better? Also, I understand that the game, and what you do, changes significantly when you get a Dragon Tower. Was that your experience?

Relative to mods, I've haunted the Larain Studios sites for the last year or so and found no information on an SDK or construction set. Do you know of one? If the game was modable (is that a word?), that would certainly increase my interest in it.

[vometia]

I haven't played the original Divine Divinity so I can't really compare the two, but I personally liked Ego Draconis a lot. Not everyone did; I suspect in part there's a bit of its own "Morrowind vs. Oblivion" or "FO2 vs. FO3" going on, though due to being a subjective matter I guess some others just weren't so keen on it in its own right. A few people complained about the graphics (I thought it looked quite pretty, personally) but that should change with Dragon Knight Saga since the base game has been ported from Gamebryo to whatever their new engine is.

So that's the negative responses that I've seen: of those I know who've played it, most thoroughly enjoyed it. In terms of how it "feels", I guess I'd sum it up as a sort of cross between Gothic III and Fable, especially regarding some of the humour of the latter, though that's probably about as inaccurate a summing up as you'll get. My only real gripe with it is that I found it ludicrously difficult and was just dying constantly, even on the easiest setting. Some of that was due to being a bit clueless (those not bothered by spoilers would do well to check out a walkthrough, FAQ or whatever before playing) but others have also complained that the difficulty is a bit excessive.

There is a major change after the Dragon Tower is secured: in short, it closes off one area and opens up another, so to speak. Personally I preferred the first area and was a bit disappointed, but from what I understand I'm in a bit of a minority there with others having a lot more fun in the second half.

As for modding, I had a look around at what tools were available and didn't find a great deal of stuff that was useful. Most significant was an archiver (both a packer and unpacker) for DV2 files; I don't have the link handy but I'll have a rummage if you want. It's only of limited usefulness, however, as the contents of the archives seem to be mostly unreadable. Most are headed with "Gamebryo File Format, Version 20.3.0.9" or similar if you look at the raw file, regardless of what their extension and contents seem to be: I'm not sure if this means they're in a proprietary format or if it's due to an unpacking error since even XML files have this header and are in an odd binary format. Trying to open a NIF using NifSkope results in a nasty-looking backtrace and apparently random and disordered records (at least to my untrained eye) and while having a look around yesterday I didn't find anything that gave much hope of making sense of them. That said, a lot of the results were in German, and my German is pretty lousy, so those with a better understanding might have a bit more luck!

[Artisanix]

curse you, you reminded me of this game... I think that I need to play it for a while...

well, me too is the fan of Ego Draconis... I do not care (and not cared) about reviews. I know that the game has some flaws (which game doesn't have them?), but the story and quests are very well done, imho. And the music! Those tracks are definitely of the bests game soundtracks I've ever heard... sometimes even listen to them in my car...

>> My only real gripe with it is that I found it ludicrously difficult and was just dying constantly, even on the easiest setting.

I've found that one of the easiest chars to play from the start is warrior with 2 handed sword - you only put points into strength and life, and from skills into rush attack, fatality, and definitely regeneration... life leech and reflect are optional... and there are two handed weapon expertise and lockpick of course...

rush attack is you main skill, and with high strength, life and regeneration skill, your recovery of health at later stages is just crazy - almost like a cheating ;]

>> Personally I preferred the first area and was a bit disappointed, but from what I understand I'm in a bit of a minority there with others having a lot more fun in the second half.

Well, I could say that I also like Broken Valley a lot, but in fact I'm quite fond of 2nd area too... well, The Dragon Terror Patrol is there!!

[vometia]

well, me too is the fan of Ego Draconis... I do not care (and not cared) about reviews. I know that the game has some flaws (which game doesn't have them?), but the story and quests are very well done, imho. And the music! Those tracks are definitely of the bests game soundtracks I've ever heard... sometimes even listen to them in my car...

Oh yeah, how could I forget the music? The soundtrack really is excellent: whether it's atmospheric, poignant, funny or just deliberately annoying it is very well done, I think probably one of my favourites.

I've found that one of the easiest chars to play from the start is warrior with 2 handed sword - you only put points into strength and life, and from skills into rush attack, fatality, and definitely regeneration... life leech and reflect are optional... and there are two handed weapon expertise and lockpick of course...

rush attack is you main skill, and with high strength, life and regeneration skill, your recovery of health at later stages is just crazy - almost like a cheating ;]

I think it's my choice of skills that let me down. I wasted a fair few points on things that some of the FAQs said were basically useless, such as encumbrance: it's not a game where there's much benefit from being a hoarder!

Interesting you mention the two-handed sword since it's a weapon I nearly always avoid using at all, but this is I think the first game where it was actually fun and effective (mostly fun, really!) You get less enchantment slots, I think, but I often found myself perplexed as to what was a useful combination anyway.

Well, I could say that I also like Broken Valley a lot, but in fact I'm quite fond of 2nd area too... well, The Dragon Terror Patrol is there!!

Heh, I forgot about them. I didn't even get the reference that others noticed, I just found their absurdity rather amusing.

Obligatory video for those who've either forgotten or are wondering what the blazes we're on about: (minor spoilers, of course)

[vometia]

Had another look around to see if I could find anything else in the way of modding tools, but I suspect they're just not there. A few people have used Texmod to extract textures from the running game (I think - I didn't bother to run it myself, but I got the impression that's how it operates) which suggests to me that nobody's had much luck in making sense of the peculiar file formats.

Of course you can do stuff like unpacking the archives, overwriting the model and texture files with something you prefer the look of and re-packing them (I found that dv2_pak is better than dv2_modtool at packing big archives - the latter causes a CTD, though even with dv2_pak the repacked version is conspicuously smaller than the original; having said that, the original is most likely uncompressed for performance reasons judging by the size of the extracted directory, whereas neither user-made archiver seems to have an option to not compress) though having done a quick test by copying some clothing meshes and textures over the those for playable armour, I found I tended to get invisible gaps unless I used a matching set since they apparently weren't intended to be used together. So even there, the opportunity for mucking about is at best limited. Which is probably as well, all things considered, since I can do without any more side-tracks right now, but it's still disappointing!

[vometia]

Actually, just a quick correction: Nifskope 1.0.22 can read the files just fine - I was previously using 1.0.21 which didn't. Blender can also import them, though it probably need someone with more knowledge than I possess to fiddle about with the settings.

What I'm seeing, though, are things like all of the bits of the armature apparently collapsed into a single point with the respective bits of the mesh moved around accordingly, which is confusing. There's likely to be an element of "you're doin' it wrong", however, so prospective modders probably needn't be put off!

The current release of Nifskope will also read the NIFs used to encapsulate the texture files, although I'm not entirely sure how one would go about extracting and/or inserting the DDS chunks in question. The XML files seem to be beyond its capabilities so far, I guess it lacks the relevant definitions for how the file is structured and it still moans when trying to open one (well, if I rename it to .NIF first: if I leave it as XML, it opens it without complaining but still contains nothing of any apparent use).

[Artisanix]

Indeed it's possible to open those nifs with newest Nifskope. I tested it many months ago and it didn't work.

Anyway, I think that modding "unpopularity" in this case comes from the lack of any dev tools for D2. Now while I can open the nifs and make a new weapons it doesn't change much the situation - still, the question emerges, how to add those darn things to the game not as re-placers ;]

Well I treat this game only as pure fun and inspiration for my modding projects of Oblivion ;]

And now I have a dilemma... purchase an add-on or wait for the whole saga instead ;p well, I can only hope that add-on installs all necessary files and upgrades vanilla game to the final saga version...

[vometia]

Indeed it's possible to open those nifs with newest Nifskope. I tested it many months ago and it didn't work.

Anyway, I think that modding "unpopularity" in this case comes from the lack of any dev tools for D2. Now while I can open the nifs and make a new weapons it doesn't change much the situation - still, the question emerges, how to add those darn things to the game not as re-placers ;]

Well I treat this game only as pure fun and inspiration for my modding projects of Oblivion ;]

I think what I never understand is that, even if a developer can't release the tools they've used themselves due to copyright restrictions (which seems to be the usual reason), they could at least release details regarding the file formats so modders could create their own tools. I never really understand why they don't since the modding community's strengths always seems to be a major selling point. I guess some developers (or publishers) are just habitually proprietary, though.

And now I have a dilemma... purchase an add-on or wait for the whole saga instead ;p well, I can only hope that add-on installs all necessary files and upgrades vanilla game to the final saga version...

I'm actually quite confused as to what's the deal with that: I've also read that the add-on will come with a patch for the base-game implying that it's not necessary to repurchase, but have seen the opposite implied as well. So I'm afraid I'm absolutely no help at all there!

[Artisanix]

I haven't bought Flames of... well, I went for the whole saga instead And I'm playing it like crazy... ;p

There are so many changes, improvements and fixes there, as you have a feeling that this game should look like that from the start.

And one "drawback" that I noticed (if I may say so) is that many many fights are far easier than it was before. As a lot has changed in some of the key elements of combat. Though I play on default Normal difficulty, as there's a slider for these settings now (I think I'll test Hard in some future to see what it's all about and whether it makes any real difference).

As for the add-on... it's great so far. Not so many open spaces there (as the action takes place in city), but it's literally packed with the content. Every couple of meters there's something to see, discover or to quest for :]

[vometia]

It sounds really good! Although I loved Ego Draconis, being killed every few minutes wasn't one of its main attractions; not one for "dead means dead" players, I'd guess. Sounds like they've also done a good job on the city: I was disappointed that I couldn't look around it originally but it sounds like they've more than made up for it. Anyway, testing the difficulty on "hard" sounds like it has the potential to be entertaining - and were I doing it, rather brief.

My only concern isn't about the game itself but that they've used one of the most restrictive forms of SecuROM, the one with the infamous activation limit. Even if I'm not that likely to get stung, I feel like I can't support something so unprincipled so I think I'll hold off buying it until such a time as it's removed. Yeah I know, cutting off my nose to spite my face etc, but as good as a game is, I don't want Sony's malware causing me problems.

[vometia]

I decided to get the expansion after all - I paid for a download version, even though I generally prefer a CD/DVD/something else I can spill tea over, it's hard enough to find the Dragon Knight Saga for PC let alone Flames Of Vengeance by itself. But after spending some time cajoling the special download manager which seemed especially wobbly (took six attempts in all to get it to download) I now have it. I decided to start from the beginning; first thing I noticed is the new engine's much vaunted graphics are exactly the same as the old engine's much derided graphics. Oh well, no skin off my nose, I liked the old graphics just fine anyway, but I'm not seeing what other people seem to be seeing. Of course it may not have upgraded the base game's engine contrary to what Larian claimed, and the splash screen does still say "Gamebryo", but the menu does also have the expansion listed as an option so it's all a bit odd, really.

Anyway, wrangling over exactly what the add-on has done aside, I am enjoying starting over with the benefit of hindsight: I often enjoy the second playthrough more than the first because I actually have a bit of an idea of what I'm doing and I don't feel like I'm cheating too much by looking up all the secrets and other odds and sods that I missed first time! I'd hoped I could go and prowl around in the houses in Farglow but it seems there's nothing to prowl around, but there are at least a couple of useful odds and sods to be had that I'd missed last time, so that's cool. It was also interesting seeing that initial Zeppelin journey through the Orobas Fjords now that I actually recognise the locations! But for now I'm happy to be mooching about in Broken Valley once again.

[vometia]

Well so far, apart from not noticing the graphical improvements (though I suspect things like armour and weapons may be shinier... though that could just be "now with added shaders"... hmm, got a sense of deja vu there, so hopefully I'm not repeating myself) it does seem noticeably easier in that I'm now level 3, I've dealt with the nasty floating head at the local goblin camp and have stomped around doing other stuff and still haven't died yet! That must be some sort of record, at least compared to my previous play-through.

[Artisanix]

Yes, the game's much easier on normal difficulty than it was by default before. From what I remember, when I played Saga for the first time, my uber warrior had not died a single time until he obtained the tower. They just made single enemies easier, and some missiles (like normal arrows and magic) dodge-able. But on the other hand they also made lower level enemies (in comparison to your char) stronger, as they can still deal some damage to you (previously your char was invincible during the fights with enemies 3-4 levels below. That makes single enemies and small groups of them easy to dispatch, but if you encounter larger groups of adversaries then fights become more strategic, and you need to dodge attacks and change your position a lot.

As for the engine, well, it has not been replaced at all (why to even think of such thing anyway? :]). Just the textures have been replaced with higher resolution ones, some FX effects added, and some areas redesigned (flying fortresses especially).

Anyway, one of the easiest way to start and beat the first part of the broken valley is to do main quest in the village, then you have something like 5 or 6 level right away, and lots of money, and you can search for the bow in merchnats' stocks that has +20 physical or magic damage - with such a weapon: one shot - one kill. And later you can switch for bow that adds +40 to damage.

[vometia]

The official website describes it as a "new engine":

New improved engine

A revised game engine with improved graphics and performance, as well as various gameplay renovations based on gamer community feedback.

Though I have to say that your description makes a lot more sense. Perhaps it's just the expansion it refers to, though when I asked on the official forums they said that the original game would get the same treatment too. It all seems rather confused, and I'm starting to wonder if something has got lost in translation somewhere, although I do note that the "new" in the headline is demoted to "revised" in the text.

What I have finally noticed are a few of the special effects: some places feature FO3-style dust particles (okay, I know they probably didn't debut in FO3 but it was the first place I saw them!) and previously hard-to-find objects are now accompanied by a cloud of sparkles. Which is most welcome as far as I'm concerned! So actually the graphics are improved, and it's probably a good thing that they're not real "in your face" changes. The performance is a bit slow by some standards sticking fairly rigidly to 30 fps with my configuration, but because it's pretty steady it doesn't feel at all bad.

So far I'm up to level 11 just by trudging around some of Broken Valley, where I intend to stay as long as possible, and have only died once; and that was because I'd failed to remap the pause key (who on earth chose "f" for something so vital, one of the most missable keys?) and in the time it took me to look at my keyboard I got pwned. <_< But other than that, it's actually been quite nice not dying all the time. It is still challenging even on "easy" (or "casual" or whatever euphemism they use) if you're surrounded by skeletons or trying to take on Black Ring types, but not insanely so.

I'd forgotten all the little elements of humour in the game too, whether it's encouraging the village gossips with the most absurd lies or cultural references to Merlin the Happy Pig (Blackadder) and Brave Sir Robin (Python)!

[Artisanix]

The official website describes it as a "new engine":

I have none but one word to describe this: marketing :]

It is still challenging even on "easy" (or "casual" or whatever euphemism they use) if you're surrounded by skeletons or trying to take on Black Ring types, but not insanely so.

Hmm, I don't know. You have three settings there: Casual -> Normal -> Hard. And for me playing on easy/casual is like cheating with god mode enabled = not fun at all. Normal mode was pretty easy for me (with few exceptions when I played as archer, and it seems that the game has some moments which aren't designed to play in such a way), so now I'm currently playing on Hard :] Well, I very much like games with fast action, but I also like the challenge - and I never used pause in this game for anything (I re-mapped F key to one of the skills), and I also do not use any potions at all :]

I'd forgotten all the little elements of humour in the game too, whether it's encouraging the village gossips with the most absurd lies or cultural references to Merlin the Happy Pig (Blackadder) and Brave Sir Robin (Python)!

While vanilla game has some funny moments, the add-on beats it easily :] I've found it far more absurd, ridiculous, ominous, and entertaining :] It even starts with Terminator reference ;]

[vometia]

I have none but one word to describe this: marketing :]

You're not seriously suggesting that marketing departments sometimes embellish the facts and are economical with the truth? That can't be! Say it ain't so!

Hmm, I don't know. You have three settings there: Casual -> Normal -> Hard. And for me playing on easy/casual is like cheating with god mode enabled = not fun at all. Normal mode was pretty easy for me (with few exceptions when I played as archer, and it seems that the game has some moments which aren't designed to play in such a way), so now I'm currently playing on Hard :] Well, I very much like games with fast action, but I also like the challenge - and I never used pause in this game for anything (I re-mapped F key to one of the skills), and I also do not use any potions at all :]

You play it on hard?!! Okay, I've long admitted that I'm utterly rubbish at combat and I largely play to explore, but I didn't think anyone could take on Ego Draconis on "hard". As impressed as I am, I think I'll leave you to it: my difficulty slider is staying welded to the bottom end, come what may. I'm still enjoying the novelty of not having to watch the death animation all the time with my character lamenting that she doesn't feel too good. Which is a bit of an understatement when she's just had an axe planted in her head.

While vanilla game has some funny moments, the add-on beats it easily :] I've found it far more absurd, ridiculous, ominous, and entertaining :] It even starts with Terminator reference ;]

I look forward to that, then! I'm not rushing to complete the main part of the game just yet, though... and I guess in part because I'm rather dreading tackling Slow Zandalor the Very Slow's Very Slow Spellcasting, you know, the bit he does extra slowly where you have to fend off all the beasties. Which aren't tough, but they're sneaky. Maybe I'll try the firewall spell this time and hope his beard doesn't get singed or that I do anything else that makes him even more tardy.

[Artisanix]

You're not seriously suggesting that marketing departments sometimes embellish the facts and are economical with the truth? That can't be! Say it ain't so!

Oh, I wish I could say that! :] But just look how it sounds - "New improved engine" - "Hey! Our engine is new! It must be good then. And it is not only a new but improved as well, dammit! It puts other new but unimproved engines to shame!" Can you even argue with that? ;D Anyway it just probably means that engine has been improved, and should be addressed as "new" in such a case, in opposition to an "old" but unimproved engine ;] Ah, all that logic...

You play it on hard?!!

Yes, but I started two days ago. So far so good. My char has level 10 and died no single time yet. All quests in village and its surroundings have been done and some areas around the tower have been cleared. But that's just an easy part, I wonder how it will be in those more demanding fights with Razakel, Liken, etc.

and I guess in part because I'm rather dreading tackling Slow Zandalor the Very Slow's Very Slow Spellcasting, you know, the bit he does extra slowly where you have to fend off all the beasties. Which aren't tough, but they're sneaky.

That's one of those parts that are bugged (not well balanced) when you play as an archer (and probably as a mage too). My archer relies mainly on basic bow damage and its enchantments and not on skills apart from "way of the ranger" in heavy situations. And that skill makes wonders as it increases bow's damage by 160% or more - and it lasts for 90 seconds or so - enough of time to dispatch without a problem all those pesky monsters that want to reach Zandalor.... well, but no, that's not so easy - as that stupid mage (Deodatus I think) who tries to assist you casts a great Battle Rage spell... very nice! apart from that it's only a great spell but for the warrior... and within 5 seconds or so it overrides that Way of the Ranger ability and makes my archer completely useless there... very frustrating that was, when I fought that battle for something like 15 or 20 minutes without any luck of success... they definitely should address this issue in a patch... of course, I had to lower difficulty to casual, and then it was a piece of cake, and I beat that first time, but should that be the only solution? ;p

[vometia]

Well that was weird. I finally tackled the "Zandalor's interminable spellcasting" stage and must've had all of, oh, half a dozen beasties to deal with. When he finished I was left thinking "so is that it?" Last time they just poured out of all three portals at once, right from the beginning, and 20 minute sessions couldn't stem the flow. This time, virtually nothing; maybe they've tweaked it as I know I wasn't the only one who got totally overwhelmed before. It's nice that it's no longer the stumbling block it was, though.

[vometia]

Bugger. Tried to do "that area" that has the mine and two of the fortresses and it's all a bit wonky: seems a lot of the meshes are misaligned vertically by quite a large amount or are missing altogether which makes that area difficult if not impossible. It's a known bug, but in lieu of a patch they're offering a "savegame fix" via email. Typical it should happen to me right at the start of the weekend!

I must admit I'm not sure how the savegame is going to be the answer however, since the same bug now affects my old saves from the unbugged pre-expansion game...

[Artisanix]

Strange, I've seen some floating walls, or objects here and there, but that never caused the game to be unplayable. The only serious bug I encountered was with that Terror Patrol quest - I had obtained those herbs, but accidentally sold them later, and even while I bought another plant after that, the guy didn't want to start the ritual and open that hatch.

Anyway... I've finished base game content on hard yesterday :]

It was definitely more fun than playing on normal or casual. At least there's some challenge in combat, as it's quite easy to die while being care-less and rushing everywhere (though rush attack is my favorite skill nonetheless ;p).

There's only one place in the whole game that isn't balanced at all for playing on any other modes than casual - that part with our "not-so-fast-to-say-the-least" mage... I had to drop the hard mode there, as some of those creatures are scripted to reach Zandalor right away they respawn. And while you are capable of dispatching one or two quite fast with you abilities, then because of the skills' cooldowns, you're stuck with standard attacks for a while, and the next wave approaches... really bad, bad scripting and idea there :/ I actually had the feeling (couple of times) that guys at Larian created new game's content, improved many things, but no one did any beta-tests after that ;p Anyway, I can forgive them that, because of the add-on :]

[vometia]

Strange, I've seen some floating walls, or objects here and there, but that never caused the game to be unplayable. The only serious bug I encountered was with that Terror Patrol quest - I had obtained those herbs, but accidentally sold them later, and even while I bought another plant after that, the guy didn't want to start the ritual and open that hatch.

Anyway... I've finished base game content on hard yesterday :]

It was definitely more fun than playing on normal or casual. At least there's some challenge in combat, as it's quite easy to die while being care-less and rushing everywhere (though rush attack is my favorite skill nonetheless ;p).

There's only one place in the whole game that isn't balanced at all for playing on any other modes than casual - that part with our "not-so-fast-to-say-the-least" mage... I had to drop the hard mode there, as some of those creatures are scripted to reach Zandalor right away they respawn. And while you are capable of dispatching one or two quite fast with you abilities, then because of the skills' cooldowns, you're stuck with standard attacks for a while, and the next wave approaches... really bad, bad scripting and idea there :/ I actually had the feeling (couple of times) that guys at Larian created new game's content, improved many things, but no one did any beta-tests after that ;p Anyway, I can forgive them that, because of the add-on :]

The bug is apparently known to Larian who hope to have it fixed in the next patch, though they warn that depending on its nature, some savegames may be corrupted, which could be a nuisance. Not sure why some people get it and not others; in my case maybe because the original game + patch 1.3 + FoV causes some weirdness to happen, perhaps.

As for difficulty, I must admit it's causing me a little indecision right now. Whereas in the original game I found even the lowest setting to be absurdly hard (though in part thanks to some bad choices I made with character progression) now I'm feeling it's a bit too much of a walk-over. But those memories of being on the receiving end of a good kicking on rather too regular a basis have dissuaded me from making it any harder!

I hadn't noticed the thing about the creatures harassing Zandalor being scripted to appear right next to him, but now that you mention it, you're right. No wonder it was so hard, though perhaps randomly so which is maybe why some people had it harder than others. A thing I've heard about play testing is that if a company doesn't refresh its team of testers regularly they become familiar with the game's little habits and idiosyncrasies and as a result it can be far harder than they expect when released to the general public.

Oh, I wish I could say that! :] But just look how it sounds - "New improved engine" - "Hey! Our engine is new! It must be good then. And it is not only a new but improved as well, dammit! It puts other new but unimproved engines to shame!" Can you even argue with that? ;D Anyway it just probably means that engine has been improved, and should be addressed as "new" in such a case, in opposition to an "old" but unimproved engine ;] Ah, all that logic...

Well in spite of my cynicism I was conned by the description. Which is why I hate marketing types. <_< Edit: well, some of them, I should say. You know the ones I mean, anyway!

That's one of those parts that are bugged (not well balanced) when you play as an archer (and probably as a mage too). My archer relies mainly on basic bow damage and its enchantments and not on skills apart from "way of the ranger" in heavy situations. And that skill makes wonders as it increases bow's damage by 160% or more - and it lasts for 90 seconds or so - enough of time to dispatch without a problem all those pesky monsters that want to reach Zandalor.... well, but no, that's not so easy - as that stupid mage (Deodatus I think) who tries to assist you casts a great Battle Rage spell... very nice! apart from that it's only a great spell but for the warrior... and within 5 seconds or so it overrides that Way of the Ranger ability and makes my archer completely useless there... very frustrating that was, when I fought that battle for something like 15 or 20 minutes without any luck of success... they definitely should address this issue in a patch... of course, I had to lower difficulty to casual, and then it was a piece of cake, and I beat that first time, but should that be the only solution? ;p

I'm slightly regretting not investing more effort into playing as a ranger, but that one scene is enough to make me not regret it too much! NPCs who decide they want to help are often a menace, though.

[Artisanix]

Good news, vometia... the patch is here :]

EDIT:

I just noticed that this is the patch for DKS, for Flames you need to wait couple of days more....

[vometia]

Good news, vometia... the patch is here :]

EDIT:

I just noticed that this is the patch for DKS, for Flames you need to wait couple of days more....

It's here now, happily. Huzzah! ... thinks of all the forts that now need pwning ... Bugger.

[vometia]

Unfortunately there's a bug in the patch that prevents access to the Hall of Echoes, which is inconvenient. Fortunately reinstalling without the patch removed the bug in question... at which point I reinstalled it.

That next section is... tricky. In fact I became positively bad tempered with all those things that removed the best part of 1,000 HP in one go, at least until I realised what I was supposed to be avoiding. Being tired neither helped with my cluefulness or my mood, though.

So now I'm done with ED and have just embarked on FoV. The ending of ED was unexpected: I now see why people reacted to it as they did.