Diablo IV

[Zeriel]

https://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/131533/postmortem_blizzards_diablo_ii.php?print=1

Length of Development: 3 years

This always strikes me about the DOS-era and near-DOS-era games. Diablo 2 is even long by those standards, Daggerfall was made in 2 years. The dev times were so short, while putting out such great games.

 

[Lacrymas]

Isn't the dev time gobbled up mostly by the graphics?

 

[Shadenuat]

Why is it so important for her to have big tits? I think it's more classy the way she is now. Even then, a woman doesn't need big tits to be sexy, I'd say that's a last resort when she has nothing else going for her.

Agreed, what you need to look at is the ass.

what u actually look at is proportions. that is what defines beauty.
and even that is subjective, but at least is closer to truth.

 

[Fedora Master]

 

[Delterius]

Isn't the dev time gobbled up mostly by the graphics?

i think the dev time is gobbled up by how this is at least 50 years away and they just put something together for the hong kong emergency of 2019

 

[Onionguy]

it still looks off. There is just too much D3 DNA left in it.

the action is not too far zoomed out.
Fuck PoE in that regard

The DNA you speak of is because :


-the tone of the game is relentless action, dungeons are packed with monsters, non-stop action anytime, anywhere.
-dungeons layout is like a corridor with very slight variation, linear.
-monsters (goatmen) look oversized compared to the player's character and wield oversized weapons
-monster glow bright when struck/affected by skills
-monsters have flashy visual effects, weapons on fire wtc, debuffs
-skills have over the top visual effects.
-lack of fog of war, can see monsters from afar
-the overall flashy soup from D3 is present when lots of monsters are on screen
-moronic humor eg. "Oh well, cheer up! Gold's spread three ways instead of four" the wording alone should speaks about the writing quality. instead of four...

The more realistic artstyle and lightning wich convey grimness is wiped out when combat starts with flashy over the top tone of the combat.
Every time you push a button, something "awesome" happens

* what's the purpose of displaying those numbers is beyond me. not like someone would have time to see them

As someone on the internets said, the "gameplay assisting visuals" are over the top and in your face

Spoiler

Nice write- up, that's exactly what I thought just couldn't find the right words.

I am playing D2 right now and its finally clear to me why that game worked in 2000 and still works so well today. Take the fallen ones as they were then vs Fallen ones now. The old sprites were instantly recognizable and created a really nice contrast with gloomy, subtle backgrounds. The new models, not only look clumsy with their skinny, overlong limbs, but they also blend awkwardly with everything around. There is not aesthetic hierarchy of things on the screen. It's just a one jarring whirlpool of special effects, background details, damage numbers, highlights and health bars, all at once trying to gouge player's eyes.

Worst of all, D2 had such a good pacing, there were nice moments of calmness and respite, plus most enemies would drop dead after one or two hits making the gameplay flow. All that is gone in D4. Today it's as you put it- just non stop action, with most enemies being so spongy that it must feel like a drag to play.

 

[Damned Registrations]

Isn't the dev time gobbled up mostly by the graphics?

It's a layercake of features people consider 'necessary' these days. Graphics are a part of it, but so is the voice acting. But you can't do the voice acting until the script is done. But you can't do the script concurrently with the graphics unless you want to waste a ton of time redoing shit every time there's a change in one or the other. Ditto goes for the mechanics. And so on.

It's the usual construction site problem of painters waiting one drywallers waiting on plumbers waiting on framers waiting on concrete waiting on excavators with inspectors and permits (management, publishers and marketing) in between every step.

 

[Machocruz]

I kind of like how it looks (apart from the above mentioned OTT effects), but it is not Diablo 2, or 1 for that matter. Colors in Diablo 2 looked more natural, as best as the artists could attain. What they're doing with D4 is aping digital cinematography, which they also did with D3 btw. They've just taken an opposite color approach. Instead of a single, garish color "filter" or field dominating many scenes, it's desaturation. Of the two, the latter is more appropriate for the theme, but it's hardly nuanced or informed work.

 

[Storyfag]

I so desperately want to believe it will not be shit.

 

[ZeniBot]

That's m'lady propaganda. All women must have giant tits, otherwise their femininity has no value and they can't be seductive and desirable.

Err you do realise Lilith in this picture is during the point where she seduces Eve right? Eve takes the forbidden fruit because Lilith tricks her into it. There's nothing about M'lady in this, no men involved.

 

[TheHeroOfTime]

 

[DraQ]

-monster glow bright when struck/affected by skills
-monsters have flashy visual effects, weapons on fire wtc, debuffs
-skills have over the top visual effects.

(...)

As someone on the internets said, the "gameplay assisting visuals" are over the top and in your face

That was already a problem as far back as D2, with glowy auras and curses everywhere, and everything becoming blue and green from cold and poison dmg.

This kind of stuff, along with floaty numbers only indicates that someone didn't do their one job and failed to bake proper feedback into game's actual visuals.

Floaty numbers, healthbars and status effect markers are fucking cancer of modern visual game design.

The more realistic artstyle and lightning wich convey grimness is wiped out when combat starts with flashy over the top tone of the combat.

 

[gerey]

This talk just seems vulgar to me and betrays a lack of taste, but 'k, have it your way.

How did you manage to last so long on the Codex without getting labeled as a homosexual?

I so desperately want to believe it will not be shit.

When was the last time Blizzard released something that wasn't shit?

 

[gerey]

Incredible, they even managed to fuck up something as straightforward and simple as designing a succubus. This is how she's supposed to look like:

 

[Grotesque]

interview with LEAD SYSTEMS DESIGNER in the stream

 

[TheHeroOfTime]

No. This is how she should look like:

 

[gerey]

No. This is how she should look like:

Even the French can make a better succubus than Blizzard. Why are they not out of business yet?

 

[Hobo Elf]

D3 still had nice succubi

 

[DraQ]

wizardry, if you read diablo 1 manual or diablo 2 manual (I had original big box with lore booklet) came from typical mythos of mysterious arabian mages of the east
it's all nicely integrated into the setting which is basically 11th century post apocalyptic satanic fantasy. in fact, Diablo might be the only fantasy setting which integrates blacks and muslims into itself in a reasonable way.

in fact they should have doubled down on everything and make map look similar to irl, and add some similar historical events into it, like Warhammer Fantasy Battles did (before it was killed off by cunts). some crusade against Prime Evil lost in the sands of shaitans with locals picking up on zakarum faith and taking arms against demons would not hurt. would explain well a black paladin.

The tibetan steppes with idols inside mountains and ruined indian statue look alright, although my guess would be they worked on this to appease the asian market, not out of interest to history or anything.

Highlighted for emphasis (and this is where D2 already went horribly wrong with catgirls, mesoamerican Kurast and assorted silliness).

As for all the complaints about "niggas in muh diablo!!1" (judging from cursory skimming of this thread), I seem to be having my Dilbert moment.
Clownage is warping on itself.

 

[gerey]

niggas in muh diablo!!1

We all know why they're there, let nobody pretend otherwise.

Trying to take the moral high-ground by defending bottom-feeding, soulless virtue signaling mandated by corporate does you no favors.

 

[Cryomancer]

Diablo 1 has the best Succubi

https://diablo.fandom.com/wiki/Succubus

 

[Machocruz]

As for all the complaints about "niggas in muh diablo!!1" (judging from cursory skimming of this thread), I seem to be having my Dilbert moment.
Clownage is warping on itself.

Along with doth proclaiming too much how they like massive tits, I'd say we have some covert BBC lovers. And I'm not talking about UK television.

 

[Parsifarka]

On account of the announcement I got a itch to scracth so I gave yet another chance to Diablo 2. After clearing one area once again I felt very dumb so I reinstalled Diablo, not before checking the internet and finding The Hell.
I'm not quite far into it yet, just killed Leoric, but I reckon it's a very enjoyable mod which adds many new enemies, two new classes, new quests and makes the loot more interesting while upping the difficulty (once the game is completed in normal difficulty, which is already revamped, another is unlocked, up to a third -according to the developer it's not just soloing MP as in Hellfire but new difficulty levels specially designed for SP). Having a blast with it. There's more stuff to it than I have found yet, so check the spoiler for more details.

+Info

What it gives you in general
1. support of modern operating systems, up to win10
2. ability to play in windowed mode (as well as fullscreen), adjust screen resolution
3. multiplayer support (through Tunngle, over UDP)
4. original game bug fixes and exploit removal
5. more content: spells, items, colors schemes, monsters, bosses, uniques, quests, sounds, music, etc.
6. improved game atmosphere
7. tons of new and improved game features

What it gives you specifically
+ Support for all new Windows versions (up to Windows 10),
+ Support for different game resolutions and for window mode,
+ Smarter difficulty: starts easy, but arrives at insane difficulty at the end (meaning Doom mode),
+ "More than meets the eye": hundreds and thousands of subtle changes that cannot be noticed too soon,
+ Item availability depends on dungeon level, difficulty mode, monster level and player level,
+ "Vise": inability to quick-exit game when in dungeon (multi) or save\exit area when in battle (single),
+ Over 700 dungeon level color palettes,
+ Near 400 base items and near 900 unique items,
+ Improved/fixed/expanded monster/player animations/sounds,
+ Well balanced traps,
+ Near 220 monster types and near 580 unique monsters,
+ Bosspack size and AI depends on difficulty mode, game mode and dungeon level now,
+ Unique uber bosses on 3rd difficulty mode of multiplayer,
+ Multiplayer difficulty changing on the fly according to number of players in-game,
+ Dungeon architecture depending on difficulty mode,
+ Set items available for each class (orange item class),
+ Fixed and rebalanced old spells, and some new ones,
+ Cooldowns on powerful AOE spells,
+ More music, most of it available as you progress through difficulty modes,
+ Much, much, MUCH more features that I would never be able to list here in details...

Additional game info
Inventory items
Everything you equip on your character and use in inventory/belt.
Let's see what are the main differences between D1 and TH.
Item break occurs when current durability reaches 1, after that maximum durability starts depleting, when it hits 0, then the item is broken, destroyed.
Item availability depends on dungeon level and difficulty mode. All items are available (as drops) only by the time you get to play on 'doom' mode. Additionally, in singleplayer mode, item availability depends on your character's basic attributes. Which means you can't find items that are too far away from your stat range.
As in D2, Shift+Leftclick transfers potions of life/mana/holy to your belt.
Weapon switch hotkey is V.
There are stones instead of scrolls in the game now. Called relicts.
Magic books may have character level requirements.
Magic spells
There are a few types of magic damage in TH:
fire > lightning > arcane (magic) > physics > holy
Fire spells are the most diverse and powerful, holy spells deal the least damage, making undead the worst enemy types for pure casters.
Spells can be damaging, controlling or for personal usage.
Now on to spells list:
Fire bolt, charged bolt, holy bolt - standard low level damager spells. Holy bolt knocks back targets on impact.
Arcane star - damaging spell, damage is arcane, of magic type. For those who think that spell damage can be either fire or lightning. Well, now you know more.
Inferno, lightning - attack targets 20 times per second, for the duration of the spell.
Chain lightning - there is none here.
Healing - heals you, effectiveness depends on basic vitality.
Reflect - increases melee damage FROM monsters, and returns 400% of the damage back to them. Works similar to D2 Paladin skill 'Thorns'.
Fire wall, lightning wall + rings of fire/lite - not damaging spells, they are used for crowd control.
Elemental - self-targetting physical damage offensive spell. Doesn't affect undead though.
Force wave - physical crowd control spell.
Bone spirit - cuts a percentage of target current hitpoints. Can't damage undead.
Nova spells - highly damaging spells, but trigger cooldown on cast, to avoid letting mages spam these like crazy.
Fury - a spell that works differently for each class. Modifies battle stats. Gives triple shot (not to Assassins).
Fire blast - main offensive fire spell. Has splash damage (100% damage).
Ball lightning - high damage spell, has no splash.
Hydra - similar to Guardian from Diablo 1, but amount of Hydras is limited by spell level.
Golem - deals physical damage that can't be resisted by monsters. Teleports near master when gets too far.
Stone curse - makes enemies petrified and immune to all damage. Golems don't even try attack cursed monsters. Some are immune to Stone curse.
Flash - magic damage spell. Does insane damage on very high spell levels.
Mana shield - damage goes to mana 100%, but increased (as a payment). Starts at 200% on spell level 1, and decreases rapidly with spell level increase.

On hotkeys
Standard F5 - F8 are still there.
Non-adjustable TH hotkeys listed below.
I - inventory
Enter - group chat
Alt + Enter - quick switch between window mode and fullscreen
C - character sheet
Esc - main menu
Tab - map
P - pause game
F9 - F12 - adjustable quick multiplayer messages (messages can be altered in 'hellmsg.ini')
~ - display setup menu (in-game)
F1 - Fury
F2 - Healing
F3 - Reflect
F4 - Mana Shield
Q - Teleport
W - Fire Wall
E - Lightning Wall
R - Fire Nova
T - Lightning Nova
Y - Arcane Nova
U - Holy Nova
O - Town portal
A - Fiery blast
S - Lightning ball
D - Arcane Star
F - Stone Curse
G - Golem
H - Holy Bolt
J - Flash
K - Inferno
L - Lightning
X – Force Wave
B - Bone Spirit
N - Flame Ring
M - Lightning Ring
Z - Elemental
Ctrl – Hydra
V – weapon switch

Character classes
The Hell offers 6 choices here: Paladin, Scout, Mage, Monk, Assassin, Gladiator.
No class is better thatn the other. All have their pros and cons.
Paladin
Skill: item repair. Every repair lowers item maximum durability by 1.
Specializes in 'one-handed weapon + shield' fighting style. Decent with bows as a support weapon. Weak with axe, terrible with staff.
Does +25% damage to undead.
Does almot +100% damage with Holy magic.
Good with Healing spell. Overall, a terrible caster.
Best when it comes to blocking blows with a shield. Also, has decent damage absorption.
Scout
A 100% ranged character. Uses bows only. But uses them so well that nothing else is required. Shes's fast, precise and can score spectacular critical hits. Sword and maces - awful, axes and staves - horrible.
Skill: seeing. Allows to see monsters in darkness and beyond obstacles and walls (highlighted with red). Also, can detect trapped dungeon objects.
Has increased damage absorbtion of ranged attacks. But she has low melee damage absorb.
Weak against melee attackers and especially those who can take on you by surprise (hidden and warpers).
Incredibly agile, which gives her extra accuracy when using fire or lightning arrows.
Mage
Unchallenged when it comes to casting spells. Horrible with all weapon types.
Skill: spell recharge. Unlike in original D1, lowers item current durability.
Has low life and lowest life regeneration. But has high mana and powerful mana regeneration bonus. Melee damage absorb: lowest of all.
Those who got used to Sorcs being top class in D1, should avoid such mentality here: Mage is no better than others.
Monk
Most universal fighter class. Excels at ANY weapon type. Not just staves, as in Hellfire. Axe - easy, bows - no problem, bare fists - masterfully, blades - godly, flails - effortless, staff - ...well that is indeed just like in original game (strong and fast). Blocks like crazy, can't block only if wielding bow or axe. High dexterity allows him to dodge melee attacks and arrows even better.
Skill: telekinesis. Mental powers and all that...
Weak as a caster but decent in supportive magic: healing, walls, etc.
Assassin
Silent and deadly. Mixed fighter. Specializes in speed and critical hits. Uses supportive magic. Worst when it comes to using bows. Downright horrible.
Skill: identify.
Favourite fight style: two one-handed weapons.
Speed attack, damage stacks, critical hit chance and force - all this makes her number uno when it's about DPS. She's best when you need to kill a boss and be quick about it.
Damage absorb of ranged attacks is somewhat higher than normal. She's very dodgy, and monster minimal chances to hit her are lowe in comparison to other classes. But that requires high armor values. And for that she pays by having modest life pool. And she literally, cannot block attacks. Melee damage absorb - moderate.
Good as a caster, actually second only to Mage class.
Gladiator
And finally, this guy. I know, I know, you already know, he's the master of hand-to-hand combat and a bad bowyer. Well, that's wrong. Gladiator excels both in melee fighting and in using crossbows. He's a master of all combat but magical. Worst caster he is though. But when he's got a cossbow in his hands, monsters listen. Second only to Scouts, he scores powerful crits with crossbows. Best with axe, and dual swords/maces. Has high base damage but kind of weak criticals.
Skill: reflect.
Has highest life regeneration rate. Highest hitpoint rating. Insane melee damage absorbtion.
Blocking is clumsy. But he would barely need that. High stun threshold, high hitpoints, high damage absorb - this all allows him to neglect blocking completely and withstand crazy beating, continuing his onslaught.


On quest locations
In singleplayer, there are special locations (quest zones). They are unique, in a sense.
You cannot save game when in a quest zone. At all.
Can't cast portal there, and use stairs. Until area is cleansed (no monsters left). This is lockdown, called 'Vise'.
When lockdown is lifted, you hear the horn sound. That means you can cast portal and use stairs again.
Another feature of these zones is temporary character altering. You can receive penalties for the time of your presence on such levels. These can include life/mana regeneration, DFE, AC, attack/cast speed, resistances, accuracy, inability to cast certain spells.
I would advise against using glasscannon builds in quest zones. As your main goal there is to survive. Not die.

 

[Gerrard]

DEGENERATES

 

[SumDrunkGuy]

If Lilith has no tits, how the fuck am I going to do some titty fuck? Go away low tier bitch.
If I'm going to hell, might as well makes me think I'm going to heaven. Fuck this SJW shit.
Also, she can have big tits and still be classy. One thing doesn't negate the other.

Meh, plenty of other bitches in Diablo that can offer our eyeballs t&a. I love the way they designed Lilith in the cinematic trailer. The look is very Clive Barker's Hellraiser esque. If she's truly the big bad of D4 then she should appear rather frightening and alien. This is something Blizzard has failed at more often than not. Most of their other recent demonic designs look goofy as fuck.