DnD RPG by DA: Origins Director. Steam& Requirements

A new Dungeons & Dragons RPG has been announced. That's a turn up for the books, eh?

It's called Sword Coast Legends, and it's being headed up by the director of Dragon Age: Origins. It's a collaboration between the studios N-Space and Digital Extremes that's being made in partnership with Wizards of the Coast. The team also boasts members who have previously worked on Baldur's Gate and Neverwinter Nights—also known as: exactly the sort of people you'd want working on a new D&D game.

As for the game itself, it looks very much in keeping with those old Infinity Engine-era RPGs. It'll feature a full single-player campaign, as well as the option for co-op and the opportunity for an additional player to take the role of Dungeon Master.

http://www.pcgamer.com/sword-coast-legends-is-a-dd-rpg-due-later-this-year/

Key Features:

https://swordcoast.com/

Requirements:

Steam Page:

http://store.steampowered.com/app/325600/

Meh.... stats....

atleast it not lying about what it is

@Lulu_Lulu:

We get you. We know you hate stats and you are very philosophical and more intelligent than the rest of us (now happy?). But is it really necessary to whine about same stuff in every thread?

Finally, a DnD game.

I'm not exactly the biggest fan of the 5th edition rules, but this will do!

Six classes? Holy crap that's mighty low for a DND game, even more so considering it's set where NWN and NWN2 were.

Can't say anything bad more than that though, the more true RPGs the better.

NWN & NWN2 were set in DnD 3.5 edition, which has more classes and complexities than I can remember. Since the 4th edition, DnD has been simplified, and I'm not familiar with how 5th edition does things.

Sounds promising. DM mode will propably end up something simple rather than NWN-like, but game still seems promising.

Yes. It's an RPG, so it indeed does have stats.

Is anyone a little tired of the isometric view for these recent CRPGs? The reason why they had that view in the past was due to hardware limitations and the use of 2D art. It's 2015, and people still feel the need to copy this viewpoint.

Shadowrun, Torment, Divinity, Pillars, Wasteland 2, and now this game are all using this isometric view. It's not a big deal, but I would like some originality. They may be CRPGs, but that doesn't mean they all have to look like Baldur's gate Gate and Fallout.

Looks fun. I'm keen to try it out.

Nope. For party based games it;s the best perspective. Plus big reason why companies do this is that it allows them to have nice graphics cheaply.

It is a good view for party based games.

@AdrianWerner:

Thats a common Miss Conception.... RPGs don't need stats

@Cloud_imperium:

Pacify me with a Mechanical RPG and I'l never ever bother you again.....

I would be interested in that.

@Cloud_imperium: Amazing!!!

Hype shot up to megaton levels!

Been waiting 9 years since nwn2 for a new non-mmo AD&D game. Hell even longer if you count my wait since temple of elemental evil (last isometric game).

I will buy systems for isometric strategic dnd games.. I love them.. Hell they don't even have to be dnd, just be turnbased and dice based with good story.

I loved fallout 1 and 2, baldurs gate 1 and 2, ice wind dale, tome, nwn2 (nwn1 was more multiplayer and the story and strategy sucked).

I bet games like wasteland 2 and divinity original sin being madly successful prompted this. Devs are finally seeing that dnd fans want classic style not mmo social style games.

Thank you, brian fargo for awakening publishers with the Kickstarters. More like this please!

Definitely on my radar. I've been running a 5e campaign with friends online for the past two months (utilizing roll20.net; check it out if you're interested!) and the system is very streamlined. It lacks the customization that 3.5 has, but its focus on assisting the DM and players with creating their stories is fantastic. Plus, it's much more balanced at the moment, unlike 3.5 which is broken to all hell at later levels.

I'll be keeping my eye on this. Just PC right? Here's to hoping that it will come to Mac as well at the very least as I don't have a gaming PC. I'd still love it if they brought a version of this to Wii U, with the DM on the gamepad so you can easily craft a dungeon for your four players on other controllers looking at the TV.

@AdrianWerner: exactly, and most dnd gamers (imo) prefer strategy, statistics, more fleshed out worlds, good story etc... over graphics. Top down isometric is cheaper and let's devs focus on the meat of an rpg. I don't want a fps style party based game that is hard to control, and lacking in content, as that is what happens when u go that route.

We have been waiting g for over a decade for these style games , fps view has been the norm so this is a good thing. I can only see console only gamers complaining, but they wouldn't buy this anyway.

It's why a company like spiderweb software can churn out tons of old school rpgs and be loved by there fans and still profit, as they focus on substance and style and barely touch graphics.

Also glad it's not mmo or mp focused, enough of that.

I am all for graphics, just not for party based dnd

D&D? Meh. Rather would see some other system.

@Midnightshade29:

I'm glad you're happy. Hopefully it'll be a good game when it's out. This year we'll also see some new cRPG announcements.

@Zassimick:

Yes the only platform currently confirmed is PC (Windows only if I'm not mistaken). If you're interested then google their steam page. System requirements are already up there. It's Dx9 title but requires a solid mid range PC.

This game is the direction Dragon Age should have taken, instead of the DA2/DA:I direction.

Why does the UI in this game remind me of Divinity: Original Sin? Not that that is a bad thing by any means.

The game uses the top down view because that viewpoint has been proven from time and time again to work really well for tactical party based games. Far better than the traditional third person camera that the likes of Kotor and DA:I uses, which is ultimately really incompatitable with tactical gameplay.

A top down view allows the player to do the following,

1. Quickly and easily analyze the distances between the actors as well as their positions
2. Easily determine the radius of effects and who will fall into that radius and who will fall outside it
3. Quickly grasp in their environments, a must for tactical gameplay
4. Allow the game to excellently communicate the environments, and any info they may need to know.
5. Easily switch between party members and know exactly when to switch.
6. Provide their characters with quick and precise orders.

Not only does communication benefit greatly from top down views, but the controls benefit too. Better communication and controls, allows the developer to design more complex encounters without frustrating the player.

Nailed it.

Hmm...this game seems to be focused more on a co-op/mp type experience, like NWN say.

Not exactly what I, or a lot of old school d&d fans want out of a dnd cRPG.

Honestly, as long as the Single Player doesnt suffer (which was the case with multiple of the IE games), I am not too bothered. Furthermore, I would love for a D&D cRPG to embrace the Dungeon master system. And even then, the multiplayer here should allow for full party creation. Something we dont get nearly enough of these days.

Dungeon mastering is so fun, its like you truly have access to the cosmic forge.

This I think, coupled with the guy who thought Doom qualified as an RPG, makes GS the place with the biggest amount of ignorance regarding RPGs I've ever seen.

Can't belive i missed this news.

So many CRPGs man. Divinity, Shadowrun, Pillars, Torment and now a DnD game from one of my favourite RPGs last gen.

Oh god, so good.

MP was clearly an afterthought in the IE games. Not much consideration was put into MP interaction in those games at all.

This looks the opposite. That being said, if it comes with a decent toolkit for creating adventures, and the ability to create and fully control a party on your own, that would be a big positive.

Still looks to have KOOLdowns, the chaotic RtwP combat instead of turn based and....

"COLLECT 10 OOZE SAMPLES"

Also.... this developers projects before this one include: Call of Duty games, some movie tie-in games, several versions Hanah Montana: The Movie (The Game) and something called Jillian Michaels' Fitness Adventure..

I'm not ready to completely trash it yet, as it's too early for that, but let's just say I'm not too optimistic either.

I am not terribly excited for this game either. I dont trust anyone who worked on a Dragon Age game with good encounter design. The thing that made Baldur's Gate 2 so good. The collect 10 ooze samples doenst look great eitiher.

But the dungeon master tools might just save it if well implemented enough. And the full party creation that will probably exist as a consequence of the multiplayer will probably mean that you wont have to suffer through the companions you would without a doubt have otherwise.

Edit: Not to mention the incredibly overused Sword Coast setting. I would love to see Planescape, Ravenloft, Greyhawk or Dark Sun settings again.

And we don't need your posts in every RPG thread, yet you always come around to shitpost.

Amen to that brother, but you know WotC is not gonna let them use old 2nd ed settings, cause they wanna promote the newshit.

And even if they do stay in FR, it doesn't have to be the sword coast again. There's a lot more to Faerun than the damn sword coast FFS.

Indeed there is a lot more to faerun than the sword coast. The Hordelands would be quite interesting to see in a cRPG. Winterkeep alone would be interesting to visit. Not to mention all the other landmarks, that could be used somehow. Dalelands is another place I wouldnt mind to see explored more in the Forgotten Realms.

I just wish these devs would go turn based.. So much is dumbed down and cut out by going these cruddy real time with pause systems.. DnD games especially are known to do ridiculous mechanic changes for certain boss fights because their shitty combat systems couldn't be copy the actual rule set it is trying to do.

@Vaasman:

And you're rude.....

Maybe it's the game itself then. I wouldn't mind a CRPG that tries to do something a bit different. I don't play these games for the combat. I play these games to explore detailed worlds full of character.

Hopefully WotC don't pull bullshit on the dev team.

True that. Origins was chock full of samey filler encounters that seemed present solely to pad out game length. Enemy diversity was pretty poor as well. This new game also unfortunately shares the tiny 4-member party system, which isn't enough IMO. Having only 6 classes sucks too, from the material I've glanced at it looks like 5e starts with 12 classes?

interested

@Cloud_imperium: Damn. I don't need own a Pc, only macs, so the news bums me out. But maybe a port to consoles, or at the very least Mac support, will come.

And I had no idea there were so many D&D fans on System Wars. We should get a group together online sometime and play a one-shot! :p

Do want. Will get.

Necessity is the mother of innovation. As things currently are, there is no need to reinvent the wheel with the camera for tactical gameplay. The top down view works perfectly for this regard.

Not to mention, exploration can work well in Isometric games as well. Baldur's Gate 2's world captured my imagination by quite a bit.

The copy paste encounter design was enough to kill DA:O for me. What is the point of a tactical game when the same tactic works throughout the entire game? That is monotomy, not tactical challenge. 6 classes is not bad by modern standards though. Considering that modern RPGs only seem to make do with 3 classes, fighter/thief/mage.

Thankfully there are still exceptions out there

http://i.imgur.com/HqKHvYY.png

I'm not particularly hyped.

I mean, I love party-based DnD games...but Dragon Age Origins was total crap in comparison to the old Infinity Engine games.

I'm not convinced these guys know how to make interesting dungeons, varied enemy encounters or fun gameplay mehcanics anymore.

Actually they do. If there's not there the game isn't an RPG.

The moment your own abilities as a player become more important than the abilities of your character the game stops being an pure RPG.

@Planeforger:

The whole point of an RPG is to get awwy with Shitty Gameplay mechanics.... some developers actually get praised for how cleverly they they use numbers hide their game's crappiness.