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.
Do you think the Witch Doctor is going to take the place of the Necromancer? It appears so....
What class characters do you think will return? Amazon, Paladin, Sorc/mage. I'm guessing that will leave the 2 expansion characters out, they sucked anyway, druid was ok, but I hated assassin. Thoughts anyone?
I guarantee this wont be out by christmas. Starcraft II will be out shortly after Christmas. Diablo III will be out, probably in a year, they won't put starcraft and diablo out around the same time and they will give it atleast 6 months between releases.
I am pretty sure it is a fatality move, when he bites the guy in half.
As far as character, the Amazon, Paladin, and Sorc/Mage are a must, and with the Barbarian and Witch Doctor already complete, I don't think we will see the expansion characters.
Fuck... Sorry for double post.
Starcraft 2 was announced at the WWI last year. It's been a year, is it out yet? We don't even know if it'll be out this year or not.
When they have a closed beta going for a game, you can be sure it will release probably later that year.
From what I understood from the panels etc conserning D3 is that they spend a majority of those 4 years of development on their engine and especially the art direction. They did 3 complete overhauls of the entire games art design. That set them back some. If they had stuck to their first iteration of the art style, pretty good chances the game would be near complete now. But they didn't.
Seems like they have all their classes fleshed out and the first act roughed in, but nothing else. Now that their dev tools and engine is complete, along with them finally being pleased with the style, they should be able to churn out the remaining 3 acts (if they stick to the D2 4 act set up) in relative short order. Testing and balancing takes quite some time though.
Expect the game summer /fall next year.
Way to put things out of context. I do not think they will continue with the druid or assassin? They were the least played characters, where they not?
And how would they not have diablo with out the Paladin and Amazon/ranged weapons player. And of course Mage/Sorc?
I am not pleading with Blizzard to change anything, or to do this or not that. I am just putting input into the situation.
Good thing Blizzard didn't either! Over the top stupid exaggeration FTL?
BTW, blizzard north became Flagship studios. Look at the travasty of a game they produced. It's called Hellgate London. Or as it's known by some: Hellcrash Bugdon.
Hellgate London isnt terrible. Over the top stupid exaggeration FTL? They are also releasing Mythos, which isnt a terrible game either. Dont bash a company for becoming their own entity and creating their own ideas and if not capitalizing initally, making constant efforts to patch and make fixes to it.
There is no way they will not include Amazon/Rouge. There has to be a melee range character, maybe a Ranger, but that wouldnt fit with the lore.
And for those who think its a good idea for Assassins and Ninjas.... Horrible idea for Diablo III.
I played it all the way through (single player) and it wasn't a terrible game, it just wasn't legendary that everyone hoped it would be, such high expectations weren't met.
i think 1-10 was very fun then it felt like the same thing over and over! how many underground tunnels are there lol
sometime between summer and Christmas 2009.
It will not be released before Starcraft and On BBY website it is set for 12/3/2008. BBY is wrong all the time, but still.
My gut tells me 1.5 years from now. I just pray I can become Beta Tester.
I would say the place to go for beta though would be this fan site, considering we are even listed on there Diablo3.com and they got the URL from this site.
So hopefully us good people at this site get in on some of that, hopefully all of us but who knows
also, the number of classes havent been finalized yet. they said in an interview after the site had been put up. the FAQ on the D3 site is sorta outdated then. i do expect way more than 5 classes, only 5 is a really small number for a game coming out in 2008+. i was hoping if they ever made a D3 that theyd at least still keep all the classes from D2 plus a few new ones. imo, that would make alot more sense and not disapoint anyone that their favorite class got the shaft.
D3 isnt prob coming out untill 2009/2010... sadly. no one should expect a 2008 release. the game still seems like its in a bit of an early stage. (and everyone knows how Blizzard likes to build anticipation with us all :P)
the only things though that i hope blizzard doesnt mess up is, is that they better not put any sort of item binding in the game (like in WoW). it seriously ruins the trading aspect of online games (and doesnt fit in the D world). and, i hope that they dont make it so better items drop if your in a group. i want all equality for soloers and groupers. not everyone is gonna play online. hope there is still TCP/IP/LAN too. and, i wouldnt mind the return of Open/Closed Battle.net servers.
and, lastly, i kinda would like if theyd at least let you change your characters face/hair style too. it would give a bit more diversity. i know, most of the time your gonna have armour and a helmet/mask on, but still....
Personally thats the reason why almost every one i know quits diablo. It gets boring trying to find a hoto with 40 res or a p enigma, stuff like that ruins the game. However, i would like only the epic drops to be boe, so that way you spend more time playing and less time trading.
About the number of characters it seems to me that in the gameplay video the voice says "one of several classes" and not "one of five classes" which let me think they may be more than five.
obviously being italian and having just a grasp on english I'can be wrong.
Well they have stated there will be 5 classes "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" this is on the second news post on the front page of this site, which is a quote from the devs.