Diablo 3!

Whoa, those fan-submitted alternate screenshots look pretty good, and got me thinking: why isn't there more pixel-shading going on in a game like this? A little lightning bolt throwing harsh shadows on the characters could really add to the atmosphere, as these faked screenshots show. The graphic engine we've seen so far looks pretty basic, not that I'm knocking it, I just don't see why they don't up the ante.

Games like Doom 3 were using pixel-shading back in 2003. Crysis made it beautiful last year. The current iteration looks like it would run on a system from 2004. I want one that won't run until 2009, a year before the game comes out. And sure, make it scalable so it'll run on those POS systems from 200X.
 
I'm in the opposite camp, Diablo has always been low-tech on it's graphics and high on compatibility. Hell, Diablo II was dated-looking before release, and this isn't an FPS, so it shouldn't be held to that standard any more than a Zelda game. It's a 3 quarter look downer, I really don't need to zoom in on a pixel shaded million polygon character to enjoy it. Anyway, I want something that'll run on that early 2000 something machine cause I'm still running on that early 2000 something machine. =)

Speaking of which...

http://blizzardguru.com/2008/07/bethsofts-ashley-cheng-disappointed-in-diablo-3/

More Internet posturing! :isidro:
 
I can see both sides. I suppose my mild discontent stems from me being overly anxious to abuse my new super computer (mower powerful than a GIBSON! I am Zer0 C00L!) Like I said in my first post, I like the art design and can see where Blizzard is heading with it having a larger palette. I just want more advanced, complex, atmospheric effects.
 
I think that they should have a demon based character in Diablo, maybe a turncoat of some sort who rebelled against the overlords of Hell. They had a shapeshifter in Diablo II, but I think some strictly non-human characters would be cool, especially for story telling purposes. Maybe even an angel as well.

I like the fact that fans are petitioning to have the look changed a bit. If they just went for the same atmosphere as Diablo 1 it would be perfect. I think it was the darkest of the previous two games.
 
I'm actually hoping for no angel or demon classes. I'd like the characters to stay as human/mortals. In Diablo I and II/LoD the story was about humans struggling against the prime evils and hell. As well as Heaven's refusal to help and Tyrael breaking those rules. Imo, having the angels and demons become playable characters.. well the game would just be chaotic.

When your actually in game you don't notice it as much as in screenshots. But yea Diablo II really was dark.
http://www.planetdiablo.com/diablo2/gallery/screenshots/

Plenty of screenshots there ^_^.

Though I suppose Diablo I was dark as well.
http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Arena/1105/sc.html
 
Ramen4ever said:
I'd like the characters to stay as human/mortals.
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Same here.

Anyhow, somebody else thinks that the concept arts in Cain's Journal may be a hint on the remaining 3 classes?
Like on page 8 (Beastmaster?), 9 (armor looks similar to Necro's), 10 (Cleric?)
and 13 (dual wielding Paladin :troll:).


Since some of You might have trouble opening the official diablo site:
- page08
- page09
- page10
- page13
 
royoak said:
Same here.

Anyhow, somebody else thinks that the concept arts in Cain's Journal may be a hint on the remaining 3 classes?
Like on page 8 (Beastmaster?), 9 (armor looks similar to Necro's), 10 (Cleric?)
and 13 (dual wielding Paladin :troll:).
Click to expand...

I doubt it. From what I gather it looks like a rogue, a knight with armor similar to a necros, a mage and another knight.. with two swords. In other words, the Diablo I characters. Which seems fitting considering Cain is recounting the story of Diablo I (on those pages) and the second knight reference might just be an indication that it was the knight class that "technically" beat Diablo. Or at least the Dark wanderer is a fighter.
 
Ramen4ever said:
I doubt it. From what I gather it looks like a rogue, a knight with armor similar to a necros, a mage and another knight.. with two swords. In other words, the Diablo I characters. Which seems fitting considering Cain is recounting the story of Diablo I (on those pages) and the second knight reference might just be an indication that it was the knight class that "technically" beat Diablo. Or at least the Dark wanderer is a fighter.
Click to expand...

Meh, You're probably right.
 
Still.. you got me thinking. What about the 5th image in the artwork subcategory (page 1 of 6) in the Diablo III media section? Is that a sorceress or what?
 
Ramen4ever said:
Still.. you got me thinking. What about the 5th image in the artwork subcategory (page 1 of 6) in the Diablo III media section? Is that a sorceress or what?
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Isn't that the girl we see in the trailer? The only difference I can see is that her hair is open.
 
Walter said:
Games like Doom 3 were using pixel-shading back in 2003. Crysis made it beautiful last year.
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Both games have exceptional graphics engines though. I'm not saying Blizzard can't do it, but they were never as focused on it as id software and Crytek are. And I agree with Griffith, when Diablo II came out its graphics were nothing special, actually very close to the first Diablo in my memories.

Griffith No More! said:
http://blizzardguru.com/2008/07/bethsofts-ashley-cheng-disappointed-in-diablo-3/
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"Producer of Fallout 3"

Yeah, I somehow don't think that guy should be making any comments on anything really. He's got his own raging fan base to look after.

royoak said:
Since some of You might have trouble opening the official diablo site:
- page08
- page09
- page10
- page13
Click to expand...

Thanks, much appreciated. I like what I see on page 9 and 13.
 
It's not Diablo without the dark feel. But you saw that giant demon walking across the dungeon in the gameplay trailer! Its not really that cartooney, but if they tone down the whole health orbs it would help me get immersed. Enemies running up the walls could get pretty terrifying in the heat of battle.

Also from what they've learned with WoW, they're definitely going to create enough armor and weapons to make characters appearance more customizable than they were in D2. I bet some high-end Witchdoctor sets will end up looking like Necromancer armor. They are definitely at least following a talent tree system (Poison, Fire, Summons), so some set will probably be associated with one tree.
 
Okin said:
Its not really that cartooney, but if they tone down the whole health orbs it would help me get immersed.
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I, for one, am ECSTATIC about the health orb system. Did you even play Diablo 2? THE MOST infuriating thing about that game was potion management (some may say elemental/physical damage immunities, but they're wrong). You have four hotkey slots that can potentially contain only 4 potions each, depending on your belt (not to mention that oftentimes the best belts can't even hold the max amount). So not only are you constantly worrying about the number of potions you have (because you can't readily see them without having `/~ active all the time), but I can't even count the number of times I've wasted potions accidentally because I hit both numbers 1 and 2 at the same time during moments of panic. AND GOD HELP YOU IF YOU DIE. As if the loss of experience, gold, and the dropping of all your gear wasn't enough- but now you have around a dozen potions cluttering your inventory that you can't even sort until you recover your corpse. When you finally do, you get to experience the joy of reorganizing them, one by one, back into the potion hotkeys.

To bloody hell with "realism." This health orb system is the best thing since sliced bread.
 
To bloody hell with "realism." This health orb system is the best thing since sliced bread.
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I don't know, depends on how they handle it I suppose. I know that potions could be a bit of a bother but then how do you heal in a boss fight, would it mean that the "mana burn" stat for monsters is out? These are just of the top of my head there could be a lot of issues with this I just hope they do a good job of balancing it.
 
Yeah, I don't know that it will really help so much with potion management. It only really becomes an issue (if you're cool :carcus:) during uber-fights like with Diablo when you're basically slamming your 1-4 keys in perfect rhythm until it's time to portal to town and reload. I don't know how this will address that, unless they're going to add lots of re-spawning orb-dropping minions to boss battles, or have the bosses drop orbs mid-battle or something.
 
I don't know how this will address that, unless they're going to add lots of re-spawning orb-dropping minions to boss battles, or have the bosses drop orbs mid-battle or something.
Click to expand...
Or you could possibly pick up some orbs dropped earlier store them up and then... oh wait :troll:
But seriously re-spawning minions could do the trick but It'll be a bitch to work out so that they're not actually making it a lot more difficult, plus it kinda kills of the man/hideous demon to man(plus henchman) dynamic.
 
It certainly would change the strategy, I usually like to make sure the room is clear before I engage a major boss, rather than deal with crowds. Then again, if it's possible to make a powerful lance/whirlwind barb again, it might not be a problem... wait a minute, wasn't life/mana suck already an alternative to potions? I remember there was a time when my barb only carried potions for backup. Of course, that was before my all-powerful, battle.net bullying lvl 80+ whirlwind barb with the ultra rare 400+ damage lance with life/mana suck and very fast attack speed got nerfed...

give me a moment :judo:

Anyway, on that note, they'll fuck it up in the patches however it works, so I'm really not worried about it at all, I could take or leave the orbs, if it makes dungeon crawling smoother, fine, if it doesn't exactly help with the potion problems discussed above, I'll live with what I'm used to anyway already.
 
I guess I should have thought of variables such as boss battles before I danced around in celebration. It probably wouldn't even help me all that much, since I usually played the Sorceress class. I take no damage at all and kill hordes of enemies instantly until one of two enemies appears. Those little skeleton dudes with the butcher knives that are crazy fast and do insane damage, or a group of those white whispy guys that shoot lightning- both pretty much instantly kill my low hp (and in hell, shit resistance) sorcy if I'm not prepared. Health globes will not save me from that.

But really, I do hope they iron out the potion micro-management. It seriously is a giant pain.
 
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