Trine 2 - Discussion Thread
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jojothedragon
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I'm looking forward to it as well. Trine 1 was a blast. I was stupid to leave it in the middle. I hope this one maintains the good reputation. 
hyeah:
Grabbing it right now. Is it mandatory to play the first game before playing this one? Story linked?
Started the game yesterday and is almost halfway through. Needless to say, the game really seems to live up to all the hype that it created during its early days since development. I am glad that it did! Had a good time with my co-op partner.
For starters who haven't played the first title, Trine is the classic 2D side-scrolling platformer developed by a Finnish indie developer Frozenbyte. Set in the medieval fantasy era, the player controls three characters with distinct abilities - a knight, wizard and thief as they wander and explore the ruined kingdom to recover the mysterious artifact Trine which holds the power to bind souls. 2 years hence, we have the sequel and the trio embarks on a journey again. Not much is revealed in the beginning as to why the Trine calls upon the three heroes on another quest given that the first game ended on a fairly good note. But gradually as the game progresses, the storybook-styled narratives between the levels begins to make sense.
Not much has changed in the gameplay department. We get to control the three characters - Pontius the Knight, Zoya the Thief and Amadeus the Wizard. Each character has a distinct ability - the wizard can conjure objects such as a cube and may manipulate the motion of the objects including corpses; the knight adopts a defensive stance with the sword, shield and a hammer; the thief is a master of stealth and is equipped with a bow; she can also grapple to wooden surfaces and swing across to the platforms. Characters may be swapped at any point in the game and sport their individual health bars. When one of the characters dies, the other one may be spawned. If all of them die, the game restarts from the checkpoint. Checkpoints are plentiful within a level and health can be replenished at these predefined checkpoints. A character maybe resurrected any number of times. This time however, the energy bar has been dropped. The experience rating returns with the glowing bottles and orbs adding to the XP which helps in leveling up the character's abilities. 50 XP grants a skill point and skill points can be spent for specific upgrades for each character. Several secret chests are strewn around the levels. Enemies include goblins armed with swords and bows, mini-bosses such as giant goblins with health bars and big-ass bosses such as snakes that can spit a blob of venom.
Gameplay is fairly linear and largely involves completing a level solving the several environmental puzzles and contraptions that the game throws at you. Puzzles in this sequel have been taken to the next level and doesn't merely involve moving obstacles from point A to point B. For instance, routing the flowing water from the broken bark of a tree to a bunch of seeds so it grows itself into a fully developed plant with giant leaves which may later be used to scale the platform above (Limbo had a similar sequence!) Or luring the giant frog to grab the fruit so that it shoot its tongue out of its mouth and gradually retracts it inside while the player can quickly make their way across to the other side sliding across its tongue and the slimy body. There are several sequences which involve basic plumbing techniques, using several pipe elbows to guide the flow of pressurized air to levitate the character to some height or routing the flow of flames to clear the path avoiding injuries. There are also portals a la Portal titles which may be manipulated and positioned using levers to teleport the character or the objects. Of course there is always the wizard who can conjure the cube at any time but the beauty of the game lies in resolving these little puzzles which leaves the player with immense satisfaction and pleasure. Did I mention that the objects that can be manipulated also obey the laws of physics? Oh hell yes they do, as they did in the first game. Free fall due to gravity, lever mechanisms, pulleys etc. among others. For a 2D platformer, the game features some very impressive ragdoll physics.
There are not many settings to be tinkered with other than the resolution, refresh rate, graphics detail level and the AA setting. Notching up the AA setting takes care of the jagged edges but takes a performance hit. With the i5 2500K and HD6950 2GB with unlocked shaders, I was able to max out the settings nonetheless and the frame rate remained a constant 60fps with the V-Sync turned on. The gameplay was fluid without any hiccups and the frame rate did not go low even during the most demanding sequences.
Like I said before, the in-game visuals are what make this title stand out among the usual crop. The environments, artistically crafted with a gazillion shades of color and attention to detail lends pure eyegasm! Make no mistake, this is one of the visually attractive games you will play in a while. Oh and Bastion was another. Both were indie games - what a co-incidence! Oh yes there are several other 2D side-scrollers out there but what sets Trine apart from them? The absolutely stunning visuals coupled with the game mechanics and physics. Why of course you need not take my word for it, check out some of the screenshots!
The game is GPU limited and the CPU barely affects the performance. Frozenbyte had made this fact pretty clear during the early days of development. Trine 2 also introduces 3D support for the first time. The game features some subtle tuneful soundtracks but impressive voice acting for a 2D platformer! The characters speak quite often mocking each other or the several things around them. The narrator is also plays a vital role in the game by guiding the characters as they explore the several levels during the course of their journey.
The game supports the X360 controller OOTB and the keys are mapped by default. The game detects up to 3 controllers. The game can also be played with a combination of controller(s) and keyboard-mouse. Trine 2 introduces online co-op mode in addition to the offline modes but local co-op is where the game really shines and fun times are guaran-damn-teed with the partner!
For those who love the classic platformers and first timers, this is one title you shouldn't be missing out on. For the rest, well you'll love the sequel! Give it a shot and you are bound to love it. It makes for an excellent time killer and a memorable one at that. I am glad that indie devs. are churning out some brilliant titles for some time now and have carved a niche among the gaming segment and enthusiastic gamers.
No and no. But I'd recommend playing the first title.
For starters who haven't played the first title, Trine is the classic 2D side-scrolling platformer developed by a Finnish indie developer Frozenbyte. Set in the medieval fantasy era, the player controls three characters with distinct abilities - a knight, wizard and thief as they wander and explore the ruined kingdom to recover the mysterious artifact Trine which holds the power to bind souls. 2 years hence, we have the sequel and the trio embarks on a journey again. Not much is revealed in the beginning as to why the Trine calls upon the three heroes on another quest given that the first game ended on a fairly good note. But gradually as the game progresses, the storybook-styled narratives between the levels begins to make sense.
Not much has changed in the gameplay department. We get to control the three characters - Pontius the Knight, Zoya the Thief and Amadeus the Wizard. Each character has a distinct ability - the wizard can conjure objects such as a cube and may manipulate the motion of the objects including corpses; the knight adopts a defensive stance with the sword, shield and a hammer; the thief is a master of stealth and is equipped with a bow; she can also grapple to wooden surfaces and swing across to the platforms. Characters may be swapped at any point in the game and sport their individual health bars. When one of the characters dies, the other one may be spawned. If all of them die, the game restarts from the checkpoint. Checkpoints are plentiful within a level and health can be replenished at these predefined checkpoints. A character maybe resurrected any number of times. This time however, the energy bar has been dropped. The experience rating returns with the glowing bottles and orbs adding to the XP which helps in leveling up the character's abilities. 50 XP grants a skill point and skill points can be spent for specific upgrades for each character. Several secret chests are strewn around the levels. Enemies include goblins armed with swords and bows, mini-bosses such as giant goblins with health bars and big-ass bosses such as snakes that can spit a blob of venom.
Gameplay is fairly linear and largely involves completing a level solving the several environmental puzzles and contraptions that the game throws at you. Puzzles in this sequel have been taken to the next level and doesn't merely involve moving obstacles from point A to point B. For instance, routing the flowing water from the broken bark of a tree to a bunch of seeds so it grows itself into a fully developed plant with giant leaves which may later be used to scale the platform above (Limbo had a similar sequence!) Or luring the giant frog to grab the fruit so that it shoot its tongue out of its mouth and gradually retracts it inside while the player can quickly make their way across to the other side sliding across its tongue and the slimy body. There are several sequences which involve basic plumbing techniques, using several pipe elbows to guide the flow of pressurized air to levitate the character to some height or routing the flow of flames to clear the path avoiding injuries. There are also portals a la Portal titles which may be manipulated and positioned using levers to teleport the character or the objects. Of course there is always the wizard who can conjure the cube at any time but the beauty of the game lies in resolving these little puzzles which leaves the player with immense satisfaction and pleasure. Did I mention that the objects that can be manipulated also obey the laws of physics? Oh hell yes they do, as they did in the first game. Free fall due to gravity, lever mechanisms, pulleys etc. among others. For a 2D platformer, the game features some very impressive ragdoll physics.
There are not many settings to be tinkered with other than the resolution, refresh rate, graphics detail level and the AA setting. Notching up the AA setting takes care of the jagged edges but takes a performance hit. With the i5 2500K and HD6950 2GB with unlocked shaders, I was able to max out the settings nonetheless and the frame rate remained a constant 60fps with the V-Sync turned on. The gameplay was fluid without any hiccups and the frame rate did not go low even during the most demanding sequences.
Like I said before, the in-game visuals are what make this title stand out among the usual crop. The environments, artistically crafted with a gazillion shades of color and attention to detail lends pure eyegasm! Make no mistake, this is one of the visually attractive games you will play in a while. Oh and Bastion was another. Both were indie games - what a co-incidence! Oh yes there are several other 2D side-scrollers out there but what sets Trine apart from them? The absolutely stunning visuals coupled with the game mechanics and physics. Why of course you need not take my word for it, check out some of the screenshots!
The game is GPU limited and the CPU barely affects the performance. Frozenbyte had made this fact pretty clear during the early days of development. Trine 2 also introduces 3D support for the first time. The game features some subtle tuneful soundtracks but impressive voice acting for a 2D platformer! The characters speak quite often mocking each other or the several things around them. The narrator is also plays a vital role in the game by guiding the characters as they explore the several levels during the course of their journey.
The game supports the X360 controller OOTB and the keys are mapped by default. The game detects up to 3 controllers. The game can also be played with a combination of controller(s) and keyboard-mouse. Trine 2 introduces online co-op mode in addition to the offline modes but local co-op is where the game really shines and fun times are guaran-damn-teed with the partner!
For those who love the classic platformers and first timers, this is one title you shouldn't be missing out on. For the rest, well you'll love the sequel! Give it a shot and you are bound to love it. It makes for an excellent time killer and a memorable one at that. I am glad that indie devs. are churning out some brilliant titles for some time now and have carved a niche among the gaming segment and enthusiastic gamers.
Ethan_Hunt said:
No and no. But I'd recommend playing the first title.
If my HD4850 can handle it, then those cards should definitely be able to handle it, assuming those have greater power than 4850. 
Ninja Edit: Wikipedia seems to claims that it's already available for Linux and consoles on December 7th (which isn't true), whereas other sites claim the Linux release is pushed to 2012. :S
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