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Diablo 3 Beta [Beta withdrawal underway!]

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Horseress

Member
Casuals don't want to read numbers, they just want to click on things and win.

oh-god-why.jpg
 
I keep seeing battletags and thinking "come on guys, have better taste in usernames than that."

Then I realize that it's just the forced numbers on the ends of usernames.
 

Xanathus

Member
eh, if they wanted to have 8 skills it would've worked fine for consoles too, bunk argument. RB, RT, LB, LT, A, B, X, Y.

Still need buttons for town portal, interacting with objects/npcs. Direction buttons could be for emotes. Maybe one of the shoulder buttons could be a modifier button instead which changes other button behaviors.
 
I really need to get in the beta to see for myself. :( If it feels just like Torchlight, there is no need to buy it

Feeling like Torchlight isn't a negative to me, but I agree, the first two Diablo games felt much more lethal and psychotic judging from all the media I have seen of D3. They had a dark edginess to them.. Maybe that's it, edginess.
 
Still need buttons for town portal, interacting with objects/npcs. Direction buttons could be for emotes. Maybe one of the shoulder buttons could be a modifier button instead which changes other button behaviors.

I figured, since we're going down this hypothetical route back/select would be town portal, d-pad would be for the different screens like skills/character/inventory, and in town controls would switch for A to talk.
 

Xanathus

Member
I figured, since we're going down this hypothetical route back/select would be town portal, d-pad would be for the different screens like skills/character/inventory, and in town controls would switch for A to talk.

You still interact with gates/items and NPCs while in dungeons and combat areas so there can't be separate town/dungeon controls. It's true that it's probably more likely to use the direction buttons for menu screens. Assuming that the directions are used for character, inventory, skills and quests, there still needs to be one more button for the map display so I think a shoulder button will be that.
 

Ricker

Member
I think the atmosphere is pretty creepy just in that little Tristam area...I mean what else do people want...it has defiled Crypts,Cemetaries,Undeads,huge Blob guys that explode and spout out maggots,tiny demons with big teeths,thief goblins,a guy that needs to kill his wife,etc etc...add the skills of the Witch Doctor who summons arms that spring out of the ground to kill ennemies while they scream like someone falling into the depts of hell for eternity and things can only get creepier... ;)
 
You still interact with gates/items and NPCs while in dungeons and combat areas so there can't be separate town/dungeon controls. It's true that it's probably more likely to use the direction buttons for menu screens. Assuming that the directions are used for character, inventory, skills and quests, there still needs to be one more button for the map display so I think a shoulder button will be that.

nothing wrong with a context sensitive 'A' just for talking and going to the merchant. It's definitely a decent middle ground between 1 button for each discrete action and 1 button for all (I'm looking at YOU, Mass Effect 3). As for map, I'd go with right stick button.
 
I think the atmosphere is pretty creepy just in that little Tristam area...I mean what else do people want...it has defiled Crypts,Cemetaries,Undeads,huge Blob guys that explode and spout out maggots,tiny demons with big teeths,thief goblins,a guy that needs to kill his wife,etc etc...add the skills of the Witch Doctor who summons arms that spring out of the ground to kill ennemies while they scream like someone falling into the depts of hell for eternity and things can only get creepier... ;)

Not edgy enough try harder, lol. Seriously though just listen to these female demons die, that make this sexy anguishing sound, that is edgy. Overall it seems Diablo 1/2 have a more realistic art direction as well.

From ZealousD's vid.

Enough of this though, bring on D3!
 
Still need buttons for town portal, interacting with objects/npcs. Direction buttons could be for emotes. Maybe one of the shoulder buttons could be a modifier button instead which changes other button behaviors.

Yeah, none of those are instantly necessary so they're not a big deal. You can't spam a town portal anymore so it could be a modifier command.
 

Thrakier

Member
I think the atmosphere is pretty creepy just in that little Tristam area...I mean what else do people want...it has defiled Crypts,Cemetaries,Undeads,huge Blob guys that explode and spout out maggots,tiny demons with big teeths,thief goblins,a guy that needs to kill his wife,etc etc...add the skills of the Witch Doctor who summons arms that spring out of the ground to kill ennemies while they scream like someone falling into the depts of hell for eternity and things can only get creepier... ;)

Yeah, yes, it is. The setup is there. It just doesn't look creepy. There is a weird gap between the setup/story and the way it looks. "Hell on earth" isn't supposed to look clean, I guess. Just imagine how hard it would be (maybe) to tell a good horror movie via super clean CGI graphics. Not saying it isn't possible...

Obviously my opionion is skewed becase I expected it to look like D1 and D2. Wouldn't know how I'd feel about it if I didn't know those games. Still it feels like they are trying to cater to the WOW-players in a way...likw "oh, I know this, let's see...". Maybe it's just the only art they are capable off, who knows.
 
Yeah, yes, it is. The setup is there. It just doesn't look creepy. There is a weird gap between the setup/story and the way it looks. "Hell on earth" isn't supposed to look clean, I guess. Just imagine how hard it would be (maybe) to tell a good horror movie via super clean CGI graphics. Not saying it isn't possible...

Obviously my opionion is skewed becase I expected it to look like D1 and D2. Wouldn't know how I'd feel about it if I didn't know those games. Still it feels like they are trying to cater to the WOW-players in a way...likw "oh, I know this, let's see...". Maybe it's just the only art they are capable off, who knows.

I know I'm in the minority on this, but Diablo 3 has never looked like wow to me. Diablo 3 looks like a painting, wow looks like a cartoon. The way the colors blend has always made it look like a painting. I think that's a really nice effect. That said, it may not be "gritty", but there's little that is "clean" about jumping into a mass grave to fight monsters, or wandering through crypts and cemetaries.
 

Aesthet1c

Member
I know I'm in the minority on this, but Diablo 3 has never looked like wow to me. Diablo 3 looks like a painting, wow looks like a cartoon. The way the colors blend has always made it look like a painting. I think that's a really nice effect. That said, it may not be "gritty", but there's little that is "clean" about jumping into a mass grave to fight monsters, or wandering through crypts and cemetaries.

I don't think you are in the minority on this. I love the painted look and don't think this game looks anything like WoW. Especially after watching the Barbarian spotlight, this game definitely has tons of "dark" and "grit" to it.
 

99%

Member
Thanks guys. It saddens me a bit, I'm a bit curious why they've changed it. They could even just use tab to cycle through all your skills into the right click...doesn't seem to hard to implement.

They want you to commit to a build a bit, not have every skill.

Now you need to put thought in what skills to choose.


I don't think you are in the minority on this. I love the painted look and don't think this game looks anything like WoW. Especially after watching the Barbarian spotlight, this game definitely has tons of "dark" and "grit" to it.

I agree. Torchlight looks like WoW. Diablo 3 looks like a dark painting.
 

injurai

Banned
Diablo 1 introduced you to a work about Diablo, a place you had no idea what it contained. The game gave you the slow progressive feeling that you had uncovered something nasty and evil and your progressive journey downwards was heading towards that evil.

Diablo 2 started to flesh out a world, not just a small town with a Church. Diablo's minions now had a much larger effect on the outside world, not just being confined to a church basement. They messed the world up and most towns ended up being tiny safe-havens from the evil outside. Also the beginnings for various Heroes trying to make sense of the world and survive.

Diablo 3 seems to focus on way more character and world fleshing-out. Those things that D1 & 2 NPC's quickly mentioned as you did quick quests for them, seem to get much more of a focus. You know this world now, so Diablo 3 wants to focus on story and crafting some unique but also well-used and familiar to players.

Well, thats how I see it. :D

Yeah that is a pretty good way of viewing it. My actually biggest fear is that when we move from Act 1 to Act 2, I won't get the same feel as seeing Lut Golien for the first time. Act 2 is still my most nostalgic part of all of D2. Love that music, it better be in D3. D1 music is found in D3 so I have high hopes.
 

Thrakier

Member
I know I'm in the minority on this, but Diablo 3 has never looked like wow to me. Diablo 3 looks like a painting, wow looks like a cartoon. The way the colors blend has always made it look like a painting. I think that's a really nice effect. That said, it may not be "gritty", but there's little that is "clean" about jumping into a mass grave to fight monsters, or wandering through crypts and cemetaries.


Yes, exactly. But it does LOOK clean. That's my problem. Also, taking a closer look at the character design, they look more like they jumped out of some anime or whatever comic. In D2 and D1 I had the feeling they tried to at least match "reality", the chars looked much more serious, not as playful.
 

injurai

Banned
Yes, exactly. But it does LOOK clean. That's my problem. Also, taking a closer look at the character design, they look more like they jumped out of some anime or whatever comic. In D2 and D1 I had the feeling they tried to at least match "reality", the chars looked much more serious, not as playful.

I think "grounded" is the word that your looking for. D1/D2 came out of that 90's gritty dungeon set era. Which I wish was carried over into D3, but making things clean does a lot for improving gameplay. All I know is that I have no complaints while playing the game.
 
Man, trying to follow the blizzard cs twitter d3 key giveaway is a heartbreaking affair. I kind of wish it wasn't even posted earlier. If I'd thought about it a little more, maybe I would've seen if I could trade the Dota 2 keys I gave away. Altruism is a losing proposition.
 

Raide

Member
Man, trying to follow the blizzard cs twitter d3 key giveaway is a heartbreaking affair. I kind of wish it wasn't even posted earlier. If I'd thought about it a little more, maybe I would've seen if I could trade the Dota 2 keys I gave away. Altruism is a losing proposition.

So many people watching it. I gave up ages ago. :D
 
Yes, exactly. But it does LOOK clean. That's my problem. Also, taking a closer look at the character design, they look more like they jumped out of some anime or whatever comic. In D2 and D1 I had the feeling they tried to at least match "reality", the chars looked much more serious, not as playful.

we're just going to have to agree to disagree here. I don't think the character designs look like they jumped out of a comic book any more than I think they belong in a cartoon. I think, like I said before, that they're supposed to be part of the overall art direction, which is a painted look. Personally I think that after playing it, the art decisions were for the better. Diablo has always been about that gothic look, and having a painterly design doesn't take away from that when the painting is corpses hanging from trees while a barbarian smacks zombies around.
 

Teknoman

Member
Yeah that is a pretty good way of viewing it. My actually biggest fear is that when we move from Act 1 to Act 2, I won't get the same feel as seeing Lut Golien for the first time. Act 2 is still my most nostalgic part of all of D2. Love that music, it better be in D3. D1 music is found in D3 so I have high hopes.

Lut's music was amazing, as well as the arcane sanctuary. Of course first Blizzard has to make sure the sound mix is fixed at launch :p


Seriously though, Act 1's music has been awesome so far, along with all the ambient effects...and its crazy that voices and sound effects overpower or are just out of balance to where they are too loud or too quiet no matter the setting. Music is too quiet even at max.
 

lordy88

Member
They want you to commit to a build a bit, not have every skill.

Now you need to put thought in what skills to choose.

Ha, you've entirely missed what I'm saying. I have no gripes with the skills system, and I'm quite familiar with how it works. I want to be able to cycle through the skills I've selected to be designated to the right-mouse-button for quicker casting. So, if I've chosen Multishot, Rapid Fire, Caltrops, and Companion, I would love to rotate between those four skills with Tab or my mouse wheel to select the skill I want on my right-mouse-button instead of pressing a number to cast 75% of them. It's just like the system they had in Diablo 2. They had this feature in the 2008 gameplay video, but it has somehow disappeared :-(.
 
we're just going to have to agree to disagree here. I don't think the character designs look like they jumped out of a comic book any more than I think they belong in a cartoon. I think, like I said before, that they're supposed to be part of the overall art direction, which is a painted look. Personally I think that after playing it, the art decisions were for the better. Diablo has always been about that gothic look, and having a painterly design doesn't take away from that when the painting is corpses hanging from trees while a barbarian smacks zombies around.

Ah come on man. D1 looks a lot more gothic than 3 does.
 

99%

Member
Lut's music was amazing, as well as the arcane sanctuary. Of course first Blizzard has to make sure the sound mix is fixed at launch :p


Seriously though, Act 1's music has been awesome so far, along with all the ambient effects...and its crazy that voices and sound effects overpower or are just out of balance to where they are too loud or too quiet no matter the setting. Music is too quiet even at max.

Well you can tweak the music no?

Speaking of music, the music in Grim Dawn is pretty good too.


Ha, you've entirely missed what I'm saying. I have no gripes with the skills system, and I'm quite familiar with how it works. I want to be able to cycle through the skills I've selected to be designated to the right-mouse-button for quicker casting. So, if I've chosen Multishot, Rapid Fire, Caltrops, and Companion, I would love to rotate between those four skills with Tab or my mouse wheel to select the skill I want on my right-mouse-button instead of pressing a number to cast 75% of them. It's just like the system they had in Diablo 2. They had this feature in the 2008 gameplay video, but it has somehow disappeared :-(.

Oh I get it now :)
 

Strampas

Neo Member
Anyone played on an older macbook pro? I have a late 08 unibody. I figure I have to play on the lowest settings, but I'm scared it will catch fire.
 
I think one thing to keep in mind with the graphics debate is the transition from 2D to 3D. D1 and D2 look "grittier" because they literally are, and that's not a stylistic decision. They're both very pixelated. There's definitely a rose-tinted glasses effect going on here.

Diablo 3 is painterly, like a watercolor. WoW and Torchlight are more cartoony. Seeing the game in motion is enough to prove that, unless people still have it in their heads that the definitive artistic vision is encapsulated by some of those very early subpar screenshots.

Aside from that, we've still only seen a very limited portion of the game's entire palette. Only having had the beta stuff playable so far, with mere snippets of video and a few screenshots for other acts/sections. If you look at portions of Diablo 2, it doesn't look particularly dark or oppressive. Up until Blood Raven it's mostly outside in green fields.
 

TylerD

Member
You need the lollipop, unicorn, and rainbow areas to really make the dark, gritty, evil, areas pop more and have more of an impact. I have a feeling that there will be some pretty demented stuff on our trek to vanquish the lord of terror.

The amount of detail and variety in the environments that we have seen thus far really impresses me.
 

ZealousD

Makes world leading predictions like "The sun will rise tomorrow"
OMG are you guys seriously having the aesthetics argument again?

Look, I'm about to lay down some solid truths so y'all better listen up.


First off, anybody that puts D1 and D2 into the same aesthetics/style class is WRONG. Okay? That simple.

Diablo 1 has a very strong dark gothic horror vibe to it. It is noticeably more oppressive, dark, and tense than Diablo 2. Diablo 2, as a whole, is not really dark gothic. It has some elements of dark gothic in Act 1. But Act 2 is Egyptian/Arabian mummy horror. Act 3 is Central/South American Indian/Voodoo. Act 4 is classic European Christian Hell. Act 5 is Germanic/Himalayan. In essence, Diablo 1 has a clear and consistent gothic dungeon-type aesthetic while Diablo 2 features multiple cultural influences and a wide range of environments and aesthetics. Heck, compare their two totally different interpretations of hell. Diablo 1 is about blood and bone, Diablo 2 is fire and brimstone.

And between D1 and D2, the aesthetics mean something to the gameplay too. D1 is much more plodding, slow, and careful than D2. In the later levels in D1, killing a single enemy can really mean something. In D2, killing a single enemy is like cutting a single blade of grass. These differences really do give both games fundamentally different feels.

When it comes to how the aesthetics and the gameplay come together to create a "feel", D3 is essentially more of D2. The tenseness of the game in D3 is on the same level of D2. The variety of aesthetics is like D2. The impact of enemies is like D2.

What you all have trouble articulating is that there is a difference between D2 and D3 in terms of art styles. D2 is essentially late 90's rasterized CG graphics while D3 is more modern illustrative/comic. The number of colors between the two games is essentially the same, but D3 increases the pop and contrast because it doesn't have to deal with the duller colors and pixelization of rasterized CG.

The only real difference is that there's some changes in style. Blizzard Irvine has a particular art team that has their own sort of unique comic/illustrative style that stems from their art team which is different from what Blizzard North's style was some ten odd years ago. There's no drastic change in mood or aesthetics here from what was in D2. Just a slight change in how lines are drawn and colors are used.

And again, I have no idea how you guys are putting D1 and D2 in the same class aesthetically. That's just simply incorrect. The difference between D1 and D2 is so much more vast than any perceived differences between D2 and D3.
 
Anyone played on an older macbook pro? I have a late 08 unibody. I figure I have to play on the lowest settings, but I'm scared it will catch fire.

Mac performance in the beta has been terrible. Blues are calling it optimization issues, but they haven't listed any real detail or confirmed that'll be fixed. My 2010 iMac runs the beta at 720p with everything off & there's still some chug. With a 4 year old laptop, I'd wait til after launch & see how performance of the final client is.
 

Baron Aloha

A Shining Example
I wish they would just open the beta up to everyone at this point seeing as how we are only a month from release. I've never played Diablo but I was wanting to try this out before I buy it. I'm not really sold on the whole using mouse to move and target enemies thing from the way my friend described it. I would prefer movement to be separate from targeting. Hopefully this game will let you do that?

I think I will play Barbarian and Witch Doctor at first. Going to try these builds:

Stun Barb

Pet Lover
 

Teknoman

Member
Well you can tweak the music no?

Speaking of music, the music in Grim Dawn is pretty good too.




Oh I get it now :)

You can, but even with the music and ambient at 100, and everything else at 20 or 30, they are still out of balance. Lore entries speak as if they were set to 100, pre Cain rescue, everyone talks at a decent level after editing volume, but post rescue, everyones voices are incredibly quiet.


OMG are you guys seriously having the aesthetics argument again?

Look, I'm about to lay down some solid truths so y'all better listen up.


First off, anybody that puts D1 and D2 into the same aesthetics/style class is WRONG. Okay? That simple.

Diablo 1 has a very strong dark gothic horror vibe to it. It is noticeably more oppressive, dark, and tense than Diablo 2. Diablo 2, as a whole, is not really dark gothic. It has some elements of dark gothic in Act 1. But Act 2 is Egyptian/Arabian mummy horror. Act 3 is Central/South American Indian/Voodoo. Act 4 is classic European Christian Hell. Act 5 is Germanic/Himalayan. In essence, Diablo 1 has a clear and consistent gothic dungeon-type aesthetic while Diablo 2 features multiple cultural influences and a wide range of environments and aesthetics. Heck, compare their two totally different interpretations of hell. Diablo 1 is about blood and bone, Diablo 2 is fire and brimstone.

And between D1 and D2, the aesthetics mean something to the gameplay too. D1 is much more plodding, slow, and careful than D2. In the later levels in D1, killing a single enemy can really mean something. In D2, killing a single enemy is like cutting a single blade of grass. These differences really do give both games fundamentally different feels.

When it comes to how the aesthetics and the gameplay come together to create a "feel", D3 is essentially more of D2. The tenseness of the game in D3 is on the same level of D2. The variety of aesthetics is like D2. The impact of enemies is like D2.

What you all have trouble articulating is that there is a difference between D2 and D3 in terms of art styles. D2 is essentially late 90's rasterized CG graphics while D3 is more modern illustrative/comic. The number of colors between the two games is essentially the same, but D3 increases the pop and contrast because it doesn't have to deal with the duller colors and pixelization of rasterized CG.

The only real difference is that there's some changes in style. Blizzard Irvine has a particular art team that has their own sort of unique comic/illustrative style that stems from their art team which is different from what Blizzard North's style was some ten odd years ago. There's no drastic change in mood or aesthetics here from what was in D2. Just a slight change in how lines are drawn and colors are used.

And again, I have no idea how you guys are putting D1 and D2 in the same class aesthetically. That's just simply incorrect. The difference between D1 and D2 is so much more vast than any perceived differences between D2 and D3.

Preach. And I still maintain that D3 has a creepy oil painting feel to it.
 
Preach. And I still maintain that D3 has a creepy oil painting feel to it.

Which unfortunately is completely distracted by all the crap that put onto the interface. Quest logs, creature lore popups, 'monster kill' achievement messages. It's so much more arcadey in its presentation.
 
I assume they are datamined and whatnot but the new armor set preview videos are rather impressive, wasn't expecting some of those looks.
 

Teknoman

Member
Which unfortunately is completely distracted by all the crap that put onto the interface. Quest logs, creature lore popups, 'monster kill' achievement messages. It's so much more arcadey in its presentation.

Agreed there. I like the tutorials (for those that might be new, although it is distracting if you're playing the same beta phase over and over) and the lore, but the achievements, mission log, minimap, among other things should have the option to be toggled on/off. Especially the minimap, since you get a giant accurate map by just pressing tab, like back in the day.

Also everyone should turn off quest dialog being in the chatbox....just looks strange. Word bubbles/on screen scrolling for life.
 

Aesthet1c

Member
I assume they are datamined and whatnot but the new armor set preview videos are rather impressive, wasn't expecting some of those looks.

I started to watch some of them... and man they are insane!

I ended up turning it off before getting halfway through Barbarian's sets. I don't want to be spoiled. I want to have that "wow" moment when I equip that stuff for the first time.
 
I started to watch some of them... and man they are insane!

I ended up turning it off before getting halfway through Barbarian's sets. I don't want to be spoiled. I want to have that "wow" moment when I equip that stuff for the first time.

Probably a good idea, I wasnt as smart and watched all of them for all the classes. Gotta say the detail on the later ones is kind of nuts.
 

Teknoman

Member
Have the miners found any animation data? I'm not sure if its similar to datamining for FFXI/XIV, but usually you can view animations as well. Really I just want to know if some of the larger enemies/bosses have really detailed death animations.
 
Have the miners found any animation data? I'm not sure if its similar to datamining for FFXI/XIV, but usually you can view animations as well. Really I just want to know if some of the larger enemies/bosses have really detailed death animations.

I haven't looked that far into it but i wouldn't be suprised if armor models are starting to come out. I remember a huge datamined file of items / monsters / every detail imaginable a while back so actual animations aren't out of the realm of possible.
 
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