Diablo Junkie

Diablo 3’s official site has been updated with new screenshots. As always this triggers the discussion, if Diablo 3’s art has taken a new direction, after the previous Art Director was sacked.

I think the new screenshots speak for themselves. They’re definitely more contrasty and have plenty of dark areas. The outside areas (Act II?) are looking similar to Luth Golein, so Blizzard seems to have taken to heart the pleas of their fan base.

Our friends at Diablofans has asked Jay Wilson a question about items, that we all care about:

Will there be items as rare in Diablo III that are as powerful from the start, or will players have to slowly improve the quality of their items, through crafting/runes/other systems?

Jay Wilson: Throughout the history of patches on Diablo II, there were a lot of updates to runewords and they really powerful from when they were introduced. At one time or another though all of the different item types were the most powerful, like unique items were the best, or rare items at some point.

Our general approach for Diablo III is to make sure that every type of item has a place to be useful. For example, maybe we’ll have a legendary item, which is the new name for our unique items, be the best helm, whereas rares will have the most powerful chest armor, and so on. Having a spread like that will allow for a more varied itemization system we hope.

I think we’ll still be stuck collecting exotic components but time will tell if Diablo 3 will be like Diablo 2 item-wise.

Blizzard’s GFX team has been hard at work re-doing the effects: from the humble magic missile to more serious stuff like the Slow Time skill (Wizard).

It does look very much like the same skill in Starcraft II – the one that the Protoss mothership had. Anyway, it’s a fine animation, hopefully the finished game isn’t too heavy… I don’t want to upgrade my hardware so I can stop time.

We have a long time to wait for Diablo 3’s release so a ton of rumors have gone by. This last one has to do with the possibility of a console version for Diablo 3.

Here’s what J. Allen Brack has to say:

We just want to make the right game for the right platform.

Think about StarCraft II. Some real-time strategy games have tried to happen on the console. Some of those have been successful, but overall, our experience is that it’s going to be a better game on the PC, ergo it’s developed on the PC.

But we’re a company of gamers. I have two consoles at home. Sam has consoles. We’re a culture of gamers. We will definitely work on a console game at some point. I have no doubt about that. It’s just [a matter of] what game. What makes the most sense?

Does that mean that Diablo 3 will grace Playstation 3 or maybe Xbox? I don’t know. But the LAN party days are kinda over, so it makes sense for Blizzard to go for mass appeal.

For all the Diablo fans out there, a new web-based MMORPG has been announced as being in development – Riftforge.

Unlike World of Warcraft and its kin, Riftforge will have a free-to-play mode. Even more importantly, you’ll be able to SOLO end-game content by borrowing characters from your friends, hiring mercenaries, or leveling your own party of three. In this and other aspects, it’s much closer to Diablo than to WoW.

Here’s a bit more info from the official press release:

November 24, 2009 — Riftforge Entertainment Ltd. today announced the development of Riftforge, an ambitious fantasy online role-playing game. It challenges massively multiplayer online game conventions with deep, tactical combat, adding a significant element of player skill. Hundreds of thousands of players will be able to cooperate and compete on an unprecedented scale, thanks to a new web technology platform.

“As hardcore gamers ourselves, we have been sidelined for a long time by greedy game companies that are going after the lowest common denominator,” said Krasimir Koichev, Riftforge’s Producer. “The unrivaled depth of the Riftforge’s tactical combat system rewards competitive gamers for their skills, not just the time spent button mashing.”

The game world’s central location is the Riftforge, a hub structure that seemingly exists out of space and time. When the first Rift opens, players will be able to explore the immense landmass of Manirak. It is home to dozens of warring tribes, feuding city-states, and two empires fighting for supremacy.

The player creates a House (e.g. House Stark), which can send multiple commanders and their troops to combat missions. Completing missions and campaigns results in a constant progression of new skills, better equipment, and elite units.

Commanders and their troops come from the three branches of the Riftforge military: the Guardians, the Rangers, and the Raiders. Each archetype comes with its own unique commanders and units, with customizable skills, specializations, and equipment.

Features:

• Three powerful RPG archetypes to choose from: Guardian, Ranger, and Raider.
• Rare, elite, and epic units for each of the six troop types
• Dynamic front lines across 81 areas in nine war zones
• Seven enemy factions fielding dozens of generals leading massive armies
• Deep and engaging tactical combat, within a familiar turn-based system
• A graphics engine that combines isometric pixel artwork with Flash animations
• Playable on almost any device with a browser (including smart phones like the iPhone)
• Social features that enable players to interact and trade, cooperate and compete
• Includes a free-to-play MMO mode to encourage players to try the game

Dying in Diablo is something of a tradition. I vividly remember my Diablo I corpse runs and my memory is forever etched with images of Duriel trumping over my dead Ice Sorceress in Diablo II.

So what’s cooking in Blizzard’s lair when it comes to the death mechanic in Diablo 3? Listen to this:

Before I get in to what we are doing let me go over some things we want to avoid with a death mechanic. We want to separate being in town and being out on a quest/adventure/dungeon as much as possible. Leaving the safety of a town should not be a decision you take lightly. We don’t want to remove the sense of suspense and danger by making town something you’re always going back to pretty much whenever you like.

The intent is to create a greater separation from being in town, and not, and to make your time away from town a lot more tense.

On that same note we also don’t want to remove the player from the action. Throwing them back to town for every death really breaks up the action, and not in a fun, interesting, or necessary way.

So, with these things in mind we’ve found that a check point system works really well. Throughout your adventures, and generally at the ends of each “floor” of a dungeon your character is saved to a checkpoint. When you die you’re dropped back at the last checkpoint with a small amount of health, and the rest regenerates slowly. It’s obviously a very forgiving system as it is. It’s just too early to put a ton of thought in to what penalties there should be, if any, added on top of it.

Regardless, potential penalties aside, this is the death mechanic we’re currently using and it’s working really well so far.

OK, so they’ve borrowed the last point saved mechanic from any recent game that I’ve played. Not too original but I’m not complaining too much either.

Now, ever since Activision and Blizzard merged, I had a feeling that moneytalk will take over. Sure enough, listen to Activion’s boss, Bobby Kotick: “Next Blizzard MMO will have a “more broad appeal”…

I can’t believe 10+ million subscribers is now considered marginal for a MMO! For some perspective, LOTRO has about 250,000 and Warhammer online is seeing a decreasing 300,000 or so.

The other point is … how is WoW not appealing enough for everybody? It has purple (gay?) elves, orcs on motorcycles… it’s as cartoony as a Disney picture.

It looks like Activision-Blizzard is definitely pursuing a strategy of attracting the lowest common denominator and putting “niche” products like Diablo 3 on the backburner. Just 40 people are working on Diablo when the support team for WoW alone is something like 3000?

Now, this is the first time I hear about Torchlight, thanks to Shacknews. One look at the screenshot and I could swear it’s very Diablo-esque.

Turns out the team has some Blizzard North veterans like Peter Hu; Erich and Max Schaefer, and some artists. The best piece of news? You don’t have to wait till 2011 to play it. It’ll be on Steam in 5 days!