Bashiok: While the crumbling bridge could be taken quite literally, it was intended to get the idea across that Diablo III will have more interactive and responsive environmental hazards. Of course if such obstacles existed in the way they were displayed every class would need some way to proceed. At this time we aren't announcing any additional class abilities though.Whether all classes will have an ability to traverse obstacles like the Barbarian did, or if they will have to use alternate routes.
Bashiok: It used the same "tile set" as the Tristram Cathedral dungeon including a specially made entry room. It was a static and specifically crafted dungeon especially for the demo, so yes it includes the look for Tristram Cathedral, but it's not a true piece of the game as you would play through it.Is the demo dungeon really Tristram Cathedral? The screenshots are under the Tristram entry on the website, but it's got a different name in the demo. Is it really a test dungeon all around, including the name? Is is it akin to the mini dungeons of Diablo 2, same texture set, randomly generated and individually named.
Bashiok: Hey, are you kind of kid who reads the last page of a mystery first? Who pesters the magician to tell you his tricks? Who sneaks downstairs to peek at his Christmas presents? Nooooo... of course you're not. That's why I'm noooot goooonna teeeeell yoooou!I've read comments from different developers that the remaining character classes will be entirely new, others indicating there are other classes that have been re-envisioned and revamped. Which is it? Fans are commonly assuming at least the pure caster like the Sorc will return. The Lore guys have also made a point of emphasizing the look and attitude of "veterans" from D2.
Bashiok: What I said was: "... we don't plan nor have any armor items at the moment that are class specific - although the bonuses and stats may be better suited to a certain class - anyone can pick up any chest/shoulder/leg/etc item and wear it. However, there are some weapons/off-hand items that are class specific."Characters can use any and all types of items, barring class specific ones (if I remember an early post you made correctly.) Yet no requirements are listed on the items in the demo. Too early to see the complete package, or change in item requirements?
No changes to this yet, there just weren't any drops that were class specific. We essentially "hand placed" every drop that happened in the video. We knew people were going to dissect and scrutinize every detail, and everything that drops in that video was purposefully and specifically chosen to be dropped... everything.
Fun fact: I played as the female barbarian for the recording.
Bashiok: Well the way we imagined the final fight going down when thinking about the flow of the presentation was to have a few heroes killed off, and thought it would be cooler to see someone get ripped in half by a giant demon than just fall down. While it was an event made for the presentation it could definitely be worked in to the actual end-product. We try not to spend time on anything that can't be incorporated in some way. If there's a mockup or some cool flavor added in somewhere to show something off, we want to build it so that it can actually be used.The awesome biting off of heads and such...does it relate to game play in some way, or is it a visual effect?
Bashiok: They're for the most part static. With the outdoor environments we felt we could get a lot more out of them by crafting large and visually impressive scenes, which random map generation really just doesn't allow for all that well. By that same token one of the main goals with Diablo III is to flesh out Sanctuary, to make it feel more like you're in this living and breathing world. With towns shifting around everywhere you do sort of lose a sense of cohesion, and an attachment to the places you're visiting.Outdoor environments. Are they for the most part randomly generated like the dungeons? I've been getting the impression there are more static areas , excluding cities, in the outdoors as opposed to the dungeons.
On a very slight technical note - for random map generation you're essentially creating a bunch of rooms that can all fit together in various ways. It works quite well for a dungeon which is essentially a series of rooms any way. For an outdoor environment though it tends to make it either fairly bland, or fairly linear just by how the edges have to line up. You're either running zig-zag patterns to find the map edges, or you're running down a narrow pathway. Neither are extremely compelling, and at the same time you're losing the visual grandness that could come from a fully hand-crafted and artistically realized environment.
That said, the outdoor areas aren't completely static.
To support my opinion, the randomisation of the Rogue Encampment annoys me. If it was interesting, like Kurast then I'd support our home bases being static too. Kurast works for me. Add in some more environmental effects and Kurast like bases would rock in D3.
I'm keen for less important areas like dungeons to be random.
I do hope it will be worthwhile venturing into these dungeons though. ATM I only go forth if I feel the need for levelling up or some more gratuitous h&s. The chest drops are usually pretty ordinary for the non-quest dungeons in D2.
1) No one said the whole world would be static. Please read the posts LOL.
2) Wrong. Please read my previous post, just above yours LOL. Barb helms anyone. What were those pelts for? And the shrunken heads - who was supposed to use them? Um, paly shields were for, well, palies? Some of this stuff could be equipped on other classes but you'd be mostly hard up for gear to do so.
3) Class specific weapons announced by Bashiok. Yep, you're right on the money, keep up the good work.
sorry to say apeal lasts? titan quest pretty much died in the first few months, they baught out the exp to revive it and that didnt work?, why? because of static environments made it repetitive, knowing where to run and what to do to farm a boss for items, it bored me to hell, amoung others such as its pitiful story line and lack of real content.
Im not to fused with static environments i prefer to have to thik each time i go into a new area or the same area at another time.
ah yep i get ya now, i kinda reacon its stupid though , from what it sounds we are gonna be able to use a caster with mail/plate armors and what not thats just stupid in my eyes lol.
Well Blizzard already announced the outdoor environments for the most part will be Static, guess you'll just have to cope with it. Luckily, I didn't have a problem with it as I said. Having random mobs and items was enough to cover in terms of randomization for me, and Titan Quest: Immortal Throne had plenty of that.
Think or just brute force find the exit by running by the edges, or get lucky and find exit in 2 seconds.. pfft. If they do it well, nice static open large areas with random dungeons.. I think it will be a lot better than D2 or TQ system There will be random events in the maps that will make them different every time you play..imo thats a better idea. In D2 you didn't really get to feel the world with the sandbox maps.
And before anyone jumps it, thats wow as in, wow look at that. Since evidentally sometimes using those three little letters is some huge sin on these forums.
So the dungeons are random, and the outdoor world is static, having a map, yet not completley static at the same time? Btw future players, this is the one single most important part of the game, so quit asking stupid questions about your non existant characters items and attacks. I've played diablo since 1997 the week it was released, waiting for phase 1 beta of UO to start, and I always wanted it to be an explorable static world, at least beyond what diablo 1 & 2 had, I'm happy to hear it at least has a map and has static portions, the more static the map, the better, yes a static map can get boring after a while but I've played diablo 2 long enough to know the only thing more boring is a non-static map, I have a question that hopefully will be answered, and I haven't really posted here since it was diablo3.com but how will the bandwidth be displaced, will it be quasi mmorpg like guildwars? with the large cities housing many players, and only party members can journey outward, and what will the party member limit be to journey with, or will it be more like UO?, or neither, will it be just like diablo 2 in it's multiplayability? The exact answer to this will have a greater toll than any details about any of the character abilities classes or any other details.
As for Static. . Static overworld is fine. The important part is the randomized dungeons. Cause really, the difference is /alot/ of replayability. I wouldn't have played Diablo or Diablo 2 nearly as much as I did if there wasn't randomization so I had to explore and investigate each dungeon.
i hope after a while some one makes a hack version where you're playing as the final boss and you go around biting heads off all the monsters:thumbsup:
At least that is what I took away from it, and it gives me hope because they have definitely gotten the message many Diablo fans want a more brooding environment. Maybe if we are lucky they will give us an option to play in the light or dark to make both camps happier or to make the artists happy who want their work seen more clearly they will include a second artwork CD or something so it can be appreciated, I know would love perusing it.
Yes people it is called the brightness.....it is featured in every game and on your monitors just slide that little marker to the left or right until you are content with your visiblility
It seems to me, after reading several q&a posts, that Blizzard is trying to bring us a game that is expanding the world of Sanctuary, inclusive of the Diablo storyline, retaining the demonic posture for which Diablo is well noted, amplifying the richness of the battle arena, appealing to long-term fans (hrmph!) and newcomers alike, eliminating the abuses between PC characters, taking advantage of the new technologies that have been developed since LOD, and giving the player a richer, more rewarding gaming experience.
I think the DIII team deserves a little breathing room. They seem to know what they are doing. I've always thought Blizzard was very particular about its games. So far, I haven't had one that I didn't enjoy playing - WC, WCII, SC, D1, D2, and D2:LOD.