Diablo III Overview
We’re developing Diablo III to be the definitive action role-playing game, and a true continuation of the Diablo series. Players will create a hero from one of five distinct classes, such as barbarian or witch doctor, each equipped with an array of spells and abilities. As these heroes adventure through rich and varied settings, unraveling an epic storyline and engaging in combat with hordes of monsters and challenging bosses, they’ll grow in experience and ability and acquire items of incredible power.
The game takes place on Sanctuary, a world of dark fantasy. Unbeknownst to most of its inhabitants, Sanctuary was saved some twenty years ago from the demonic forces of the underworld by a few brave and powerful heroes. Most of those warriors who directly faced Hell’s armies -- and were fortunate enough to survive -- went mad from their experiences. And most of the others have buried their haunted memories and pushed the horrors from their thoughts. In Diablo III, players will return to Sanctuary to confront evil in its many forms once again.
Diablo III will be a fitting sequel to Diablo II, with the easy interface, fast-paced action, and visceral gameplay that Diablo players have come to expect and enjoy. It will also include many new features that will take the Diablo action-RPG experience to the next level. We look forward to going into much more detail on our plans for Diablo III as development on the game progresses.
What’s new about Diablo III compared to the previous Diablo games?
Exciting new classes like the witch doctor bring new gameplay options to the table. Returning classes, like the barbarian, have been completely redone with new skills to give them a feel unique to Diablo III. New customization options will provide for an even greater level of character specialization than the previous Diablo games, allowing the player to create unique characters brimming with power.
Diablo III is powered by a new graphics engine that can display characters and hordes of monsters in lush, fully 3D environments. Powerful special-effects systems and Havok-powered physics allow the player to lay waste to Hell’s minions in spectacular ways.
Also, Diablo III builds on the random environments of the previous Diablo games by introducing a host of new ways to create random scripted events throughout the game.
This creates a dense and exciting world alive with quests, NPCs, dynamic encounters, and viciously challenging new monsters and bosses. Diablo III’s environments add a great deal of interactivity to the game, including destructible elements and environmental obstacles that can be turned against your enemies.
In addition, Diablo III will benefit from Battle.net upgrades that will provide some exciting new features for players. Cooperative online play remains a primary focus, with multiple enhancements being planned to make connecting with your friends easier and cooperative gameplay even more fun. We’ll have more details on all these aspects as well as other exciting new features at a later date.
Can you give an overview of Diablo III’s storyline?
It has been twenty years since the events of Diablo II. Of those who faced the Lords of Hatred, Terror, and Destruction in the battle over the fate of Sanctuary, there are few still living who can bear to remember the horrors that the Prime Evils wrought upon the world. And of those who did not witness the terrible events firsthand, most believe the stories to be little more than myth. But something evil is stirring once again in Tristram, and it may already have claimed its first victim: Deckard Cain.
Will there be any other familiar faces in Diablo III (other than Deckard Cain)?
Yes. Players will encounter several new characters as well as a number of characters from the previous games.
Will players be visiting any familiar locations in Diablo III, such as Tristram?
Yes, definitely. Players will return to Tristram and certain other locations from the previous games, and they’ll be exploring new areas of Sanctuary as well.
How many character classes are included in Diablo III? What are they?
Five character classes will be included in the game, two of which, the barbarian and witch doctor, were revealed when the game was announced at the 2008 Blizzard Entertainment Worldwide Invitational. The other classes will be announced at a later date.
Will players be able to choose the gender of their character, regardless of class?
Yes. Players will be able to create male and female characters for all five classes.
Will Diablo III be playable over Battle.net? What new features can we expect?
Yes, Diablo III will be playable over Battle.net, and Battle.net will offer some exciting new features to enhance players’ Diablo III experience. We’ll announce specifics and go into much more detail at a later date.
Will there be a single-player component in addition to multiplayer?
Yes. In addition to battling the hordes of Hell cooperatively with friends over Battle.net, players will be able to adventure through the world of Diablo III solo. More details on both the single-player and multiplayer experience will be revealed at a later date.
What will questing be like in Diablo III? Will it be similar to Diablo II?
Our plans for the story and quest mechanics are still under wraps. We’ll go into detail on those elements of the game at a later date. We can say, however, that we expect to have class-based quests in addition to the main story-line quests.
What engine is Diablo III running on? What graphical enhancements are included?
Diablo III runs on a custom 3D game engine for rendering full-3D characters and environments. The 3D game engine not only simulates advanced animation sequences and sound effects, but also uses a custom physics engine that allows for realistic object dynamics and cloth simulation.
What are the system requirements for Diablo III?
We’ll announce specific system requirements at a later date.
When will Diablo III be released?
It’s too early to estimate Diablo III’s release date. As with all Blizzard Entertainment games, our goal is to create a game that is as fun, balanced, and polished as possible. We intend to take as much time developing Diablo III as is necessary to ensure the game meets our own high expectations and those of our players.
Will the game be released in multiple countries? Will the release be simultaneous? Which countries and what languages will Diablo III be localized in?
As with all of our games, our goal with Diablo III is to release the game simultaneously in as many regions as possible, and to localize the game in several languages. We’ll have more details to share about countries, languages, and specific dates as we get closer to release.
Will Diablo III be available on Windows and Mac simultaneously?
Yes. As with all of Blizzard Entertainment’s recent releases, Diablo III will ship for both Windows and Mac simultaneously.
How much will Diablo III cost? Where can I buy this game?
Pricing and availability for Diablo III will be determined and announced closer to the release of the game.
i hope its realesed soon!!!!! =]
From kotatku: http://kotaku.com/5020516/blizzard-worldwide-invitational-diablo-iii-in+depth
"Unlike Warcraft, this is not a game about crafting your own unique virtual persona. Other than the classes and the gender, avatars aren’t customisable; instead the idea is to “dive right in and get to the monster killing”
I'm thinking, well hoping mid 09 early 10 but i don't know shitttt.
i think you are pretty close, imo december of 2009 so people can buy it for the holidays
It amazing. Battle.net it is powerful.
It follows from information about Battle.net :cool:
Possibly will extend possibilities of co-operation and influence on the world of Sanctury. Like Fallout game?:rolleyes:
To the "devil" graphic arts. Anyhow will complete well. This not a FPS. :mad:
As usual.
Will they produce the official Russian-language version? :confused:
Only&forever, forever&only.
It almost it is unimportant.
They have held back so much information it is ridiculous, you apparently haven't been very in to this whole thing.
In the review with Gamespot they say that ALL classes are already playable back at the office but they aren't releasing information yet. Also ACT 1 is already playable also. Multiplayer also working. They are very far along in development and just adding new content to polish it off.
They don't give us info because they are BLIZZARD. Were you here for the Teasers? We haven't so much as seen a screenshot of Diablo 3 untill 2 days ago on the ANNOUNCEMENT and it has been in the works for 4+ years according to the dev's who said so at the Panel yesterday.
They don't give us info in order to fuel the hype and make it more fun when we actually do get the game. If we don't know the story we HAVE TO BUY IT to learn it.
In my opinion.... Christmas, they wouldn't let the hype get this high and then wait as long as a year to release it, they'd have lost a ton of the hype by then, they could finish by Christmas.
Your point seems valid. They could be also withholding information inorder to ration them across the long time period that it would take diablo 3 to be released so as to make sure that the game doesn't lose its thunder.
huh?
I will bet a purchase of D3 that we'll have it June 2009.
End.
http://www.gamespot.com/video/930659/6193139/diablo-iii-interview
Here you go
Diablo3 has been in the works for longer then SC2 so why wouldn't it come out around the same time!?
I am with you on this sonic.
Christmas for sure, I will be talking to some friends and seeing what they think / if they can find anything out from... people.
Thanks for the agreement.
And it has been worked on for 4+ years according to the Dev's that had the question asked in the Dev panel yesterday. Search Diablo 3 Dev Panel on youtube if you didn't see them, there are links to it somewhere on here also.
I want Blizzcon badly because I live 40 minutes from LA where it is being hosted, I think it is 100-150$? I will go for sure with some friends, they will surely have new Diablo info/ maybe a playable build or beta keys??
I'm also not 100% sure on that, we can't compare this to D2 in terms of how long they take to make.
But we can check how long after announcement D2 was released, that has more relevance.
They said only 5 classes, two of which we know are the witch doctor and the barbarian. My guesses for the other three are: Amazon/rogue (need some who uses bows), Druid (witch doctor seems very close to necromancer), sorcerer/ess (who else uses all the magic?)
They say in another interview though that they do not know exactly how many classes their will be.
So their could be more then 5 most likely.
True, so...how long was that then?? My hope is they can get this done by christmas this year.
You heard it from Rob Pardo, the executive vice president of blizzard.
He likes the color art theme.