Talk:Larian Studios/DCdraft

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Dragon Commander is a hybrid Strategy / RPG / Action game being developed by Larian Studios, set in the Divinity Universe. It is tentatively scheduled to be released late in 2012 on the PC platform, with console versions to be confirmed separately.

== Plot== Dragon Commander takes place in the magical world of Rivellon, occupied by humans, elves, dwarves, orcs, imps and lizard people. It is set long before the events of Divinity II: The Dragon Knight Saga, in the time of Maxos, when dragon knights (those given the ability to transform into a dragon) were common and technology (inspired by steampunk / dieselpunk) existed alongside magic.

Story details have not been revealed, except of course the ultimate goal of building an empire through alliances and conquest.

Game Style
There are three phases to the gameplay in Dragon Commander. The first takes place on your flying fortress, called the Raven, where there are advisers, generals and other people to talk to (some of whom you pick up from territories you take over), which leads to many political, ethical, romantic, tactical and strategic decisions needing to be made. Many of these decisions are connected with upgrades and units, so your choices can unlock them, in addition to doing so by making investments or engaging in research (for example, imps focus on technology - of the mad scientist type - and can provide powerful, if not entirely reliable, equipment). For every character you encounter in the game there are complex decision trees (resulting in more decisions than in any of Larian's previous RPGs), and at a certain point in each decision tree the impact will effect the overall gameplay.

When you are done on the Raven, the next phase is the tactical world map, where you decide where to deploy your troops, what generals to take with you (each have their own style, strengths and weaknesses), what bonus cards to play, etc, and which encounter you wish to take part in yourself, as a dragon. This turn-based strategy phase was prototyped as an actual board game first, and played until it was good enough to cause arguments among the players, before being put into the game.

When you enter battle as a dragon (in the commonly 20km x 20km maps) your allies will be in the sky around you (and possibly on the ground below if that makes it off the to-do list and into the game). You can approach the battle as third person aerial combat with your dragon, if you wish, give orders to your allies to get support, hang back and let your allies handle the combat (intervening where needed), or zoom out to a battlefield overview where you can direct your allies in real-time strategy style.

A Dragon with a Jetpack
Yes, a jetpack. Of course, just as a dragon you have a fire breath attack that can melt metal and a roar that can destroy smaller opponents within a kilometre of you, but strapping a jetpack on your back gives you the edge you'll need if you want to build an empire. This device allows you to slow down time, to dodge incoming attacks or turn and attack an opponent before they can react, or to fly very fast, letting you quickly move around the battlefield.

Princesses
There are various princess in the game which your character can marry, to forge an alliance with the associated kingdom. Each princess has a different side quest, and depending on your choices each round of the game, your princess can give you special cards before you enter the tactical world map, which you then have the option of using in future battles. Other characters on the Raven will also have tasks for you, which can earn you cards when completed.

Cards
There are many different types of cards you can collect throughout the game, which give you a bonus or ability of some kind when used. There are cards that can give you extra allies or technology, cards for dragon upgrades, cards that let you steal an opponent's princess, and more.

And more
There are several elements of the game which have been mentioned, but not in detail: there will be a research and development section to the game, lots of upgrades for your dragon and allies, lots of customization for your dragon, and you will be able to form alliances with other dragon knights, as well as fight them.

The PC version of the game will support gamepads as well as mouse and keyboard, and if you switch to a controller the UI will change to a console like style.

Soundtrack
The music for the game will be written by Kirill Pokrovsky, who also did the soundtracks for Larian's previous RPGs Divine Divinity (given an award for Outstanding Achievement in Music by RPG Vault ), Beyond Divinity, Divinity II: Ego Draconis and Divinity II: Flames of Vengeance.

Reception and Ratings
An early preview of the game won Strategy Informer's Best in Show for GamesCom 2011; they said Dragon Commander "...has many layers, as well as many of the classic RPG traits (like the humour) that made Divinity II so loveable. Visually, it's looking great, the gameplay itself seems really engaging and, well... jetpack dragons. That's all you need to know really."

Rock Paper Shotgun has placed Dragon Commander on their 'Exciting List Of PC Games For 2012', with the comment "Mixing Larian’s familiar RPG stuff with strategy and aerial dragon combat, Dragon Commander is one of the more unusual games due to hit in 2012, and we’re enormously interested to see how it will play out."

PC Gamer lists Dragon Commander as one of 'The best PC games of 2012', saying "Dragon Commander is a game featuring dragons with jetpacks. We’re going to repeat that: dragons with jetpacks. It’s an RTS with RPG elements set in the Divinity universe, but... dragons with jetpacks."