Someone hit the nail on the head by mentioning the bump-mapping. I think the outdoor invironment looks great. I also like the dungeon in the demo, but some bump-mapping of the floors and the walls and stony textures would add just enough photo-realism to give it that Diablo feel we all expect. It DOES look pretty smooth and flat. While we're nit-picking for the sake of it, how about adding some bevel to the stone/stair/railing/wall/structure edges insead of those sharp square corners. The overly simplified geometry is going to be way old by the time this is released. Also let us choose how long to let the dead bodies linger. If our computers can handle it, I want to at least choose to have hundreds of bodies all over the map that don't go away untill I exit the map for good.
But hey, like I said before; when it's released, I won't care anymore. I only care now becuase I'm bored and can't play it so I will bitch like everyone else and act like I'm not stupidly excited about this game.
I wish people wouldn't multiple post with new no points beside saying the exact same thing to try pad one side or the other.. I think if your gunna make multiple posts on this thread it should at least be bringing something new to the discussion, not just re-stating your point to try pad one side.
Another note is look at the votes, it's quite close.
Alright D2's tetris inventory scheme was horrible. If your talking about the character equip part of the inventory screen then I don't really care about that. However if your talking about the tetris inventory, that was just god-awful. I remember constantly having to rearrange loot to fit more loot, and port back to town all the time to unload or sell it. Honestly give us bags, and one slot items as long as I don't have to stop killing enemies every 10 minuets or so to go back to town.
Its like this:
"Wait no stop attacking... alright I'll be right back to smite you all to hell.. but I just got this rare sword you see and I'm out of spac... wait no, no, I'm not leaving for good, I'll be back. Yeah don't worry about that. Hey, hey! you over there I see that spear. Damn little flyer's think I won't see them. Alright I should only have to do this another 20 times in the next 2 hours. BRB."
in my opinion, that game looks absolutely amazing. my jaw was dropped the entire video. although, i must admit, it wasnt as dark as i expected. yes, it may be just that area. which is fine! i dont think ill care either way, i just have to agree with many people when they say it doesnt have that same gloomy and dark feeling as d1 and d2 did.
Hey MD - It needs more work. Needs to be darker and gothic looking with more shades of gray. and Too cartoony are pretty much the same catagory, maybe you should merge them?
I like the art direction as is. You guys clamoring for darker, darker, darker should go look at diablo II act II. One of the Devs in one of the panels said that when they went back and looked at Diablo I and II it was not as dark as they were picturing in their minds. You need contrast to make dark things dark, color is good.
Like others have previously mentioned: this is a 3d game now with lots of new technologies--a whole new ballgame.
Those before and after screenshots are way to dark. There is a day/night cycle in the world of Sanctuary I am pretty sure--it is not perpetually night. If it is as dark as what some are advocating what do you do when the sun goes down, pitch black? Like the devs said in the panels, creatures you can't pick out of the background isn't fun, not being able to tell whats going on isn't fun. Not everybody has a super bright LCD panel either. If you guys want darker turn your gamma/brightness down, thats pretty much what those before after shots amount to anyway.
I think the amount of complaining only serves to dishearten Blizzard and stifle their creativity. I personally love the fact that they are taking the franchise somewhere new and using color to convey emotions. It's a big step artistically and the bigger risk.
Making it more akin to previous titles is the easy road.
As we all know, companies that take creative risks are the better ones. Why stifle this?
I personally love large shoulder pads, however if they were toned down, I wouldn't care.
THIS IS IMPORTANT:
- The return of the light radius / shadow system from Diablo 1 and 2, a concept modified picture made by me roughly shows and suggests how the shadow system should work on Diablo 3: http://i31.tinypic.com/2zta5o7.jpg
Again, looking over this thread, I think the light radius and designing a complex behavior to the lighting system is the biggest concern. How Blizzard could have overlooked something so important to a Diablo game when designing the 3D engine is strange to me.
While the extreme removal terrain color isn't an improvement to me (I would have gone with a much more subtle de-saturation), the way you did the lighting is much closer to what I'd want:
Quote from "Azoruk" »
C) to remove giant shoulder pads from the game altogether. They're unrealistic and would serve no purpose in real life combat.
lol, I like the signature picture in your post. Some of the stylism (like jumbo shoulder pads) put into the characters is definitely a bit goofy looking. That said, however, some of the models, like Cain, look great despite some stylistic elements.
What do you think of the Art Design Direction in Diablo III ?
1) It is perfect as it stands now
2) It needs a complete visual overhaul to resemble the previous games in the franchise
3) I love the new artistic expression and design but needs a little more darkness/bleakness
options 3 and 4 are pointless in the current poll, and i had to vote option 2 when in truth I really Love the new art direction, however i want cellars/caves/dungeons a lot more darker, and could very much enjoy just a little tweak to the entire visuals of the game being a little more evil.
Do not listen to the crybabies blizzard, make YOUR game the way YOU see fit. Your the MASTERS of game creation. People were begging for diablo a week ago now they have it, they simply need to complain it's the way of things. Ignore them, finish your awesome game, at the end of the day they will still give you money for your excellent art direction even if they disapprove.
Keep making creative games, blow all the naysayers head off with a great game with 'these' same graphics. Prove to them that your capable, which I know you are but some people just want everything to remain the same. Remember when d2 got announced? That's right the crybabies came out of the woods and wouldn't let it down until they played the game and fell in love with it and begged and complained for yet anohter 7 years until you announced D3? see the loop? I sure do keep the game the way of your original view, you'll do an insane job.
I am very unhappy with how it looks right now with all its bright glowing color especially with the terrain and lighting of the dungeons. Every thing looks so plain and blurry. They need to make environment look grungy and moody not dark but just tone down on the glowing effect of every thing. They have to bring back light radius it will do a lot of good for the fill of the game. I am NOT saying that there cant be any thing bright and sunny I just don’t want every color in the rainbow in my face at all time I don’t mine colorful effects on attacks but having every thing on the screen jumping at me is NOT GOOD. I really hop they will make some serious changes to how D3 looks.
I voted 'undecided' because there are not enough examples for me to decide. Here is how I break it down:
Pros-
1. I love the 3D and artistic enviroment.
2. The architecture is wonderful and I love the almost endless feel they have due to the mist/fog at the bottom.
3. The outside world is just as spectacular as the inside.
Cons-
1. Having played both Warcraft and World of Warcraft I can spot some similarities within Diablo 3. However, in neither of the Warcrafts would you EVER see a boss biting the head off of a player! I really don't have a solution to this and I think that it is just a side effect of a 3D game; also, I would much rather play it the way it is than have them fail at attepmting to make the game realistic (this IS a computer game, not real life).
2. The color does seem a little too bright, but I don't mind that too much because the results are attractive and I am open to the darkness being more of a feeling than an artistic element.
Overall, lets wait a little and see what happens. Remember that we have only seen two textures, there are caves, ruins, mountain landscapes and maybe even the depths of Hell to be explored yet.
My suggestion to those that don't like the colors is to simply turn down your settings (brightness/contrast) on your monitor when you play!!
Lastly, the one thing that I would like to see is the ability to zoom out a little more, I always felt a little cramped playing Diablo 1 & 2, please let me breathe while I play Diablo 3, haha.
I think the amount of complaining only serves to dishearten Blizzard and stifle their creativity. I personally love the fact that they are taking the franchise somewhere new and using color to convey emotions. It's a big step artistically and the bigger risk.
Making it more akin to previous titles is the easy road.
As we all know, companies that take creative risks are the better ones. Why stifle this?
I personally love large shoulder pads, however if they were toned down, I wouldn't care.
you are such a goofy with the giant shoulder pads.
Even if blizz says that they want to go somewhere new, they have to respect the franchise.
An image is worth more than a million words.... (remember all the before/after images).
I generally like what I saw. I voted that I thought it was great how it is, but that's not entirely true. I do think it needs a bit more work, that was just the closest answer to how I feel. I really am not worried about it being less "dark." I just think there do need to be places that are just really dark. The end levels should be especially so. I mean, when I was fighting in Hell in D2 (before the expansion) I just remember thinking, wow, this is an awesome change from the last three acts, especially the second act, that was very bright. I could feel the sun beating down on me in that act.I think some of the art might need a bit more detail too, but those are things I believe will be coming with more work on it in general.
I really like the move to a more abilities based combat system. I think with an abilities based combat system, it is lending itslef to a lot more variety in gameplay, which means people will be able to have different styles of play, and one of them won't just be right and the other wrong, which was how it was a bit in D2 (not entirely though). I think if we were given the diablo 2 system now, we'd be really unthrilled about it. It works great, but it's really just click away. I really hope that respecs are possible, as long as they do make some sort of way to make it so you can't just respec all the time.
Something I forgot, the "how it is" and "how it should be" photos are not right. They are all just darker, that's it. That just means you have to turn down your contrast in the game, then it'll look good to you. Do that then. Some of the things I really liked about the new look are the way you can see several levels below you at times. I can see getting really freaked out running along a ledge or something like and seeing the drop be like 5 floors or something. That, I cannot wait for.
From my point of view I feel that Diablo III didn't have the gothic theme taste that I was expecting. It had more of a cartoonish theme from some of the environment. I only think they need to darken the environment a tad bit. They said in a developer panel video that thats the way they wanted to go like a fantasy world. It's Diablo for crying out loud it needs to be really dark/creepy or else the game wont be able to live up to it's legacy as a Diablo game. The gameplay is amazing the only wrong part is how they setup the artistic view of the game. Change that and I am pretty muched convinced that the game can be called Diablo III.
Again, looking over this thread, I think the light radius and designing a complex behavior to the lighting system is the biggest concern. How Blizzard could have overlooked something so important to a Diablo game when designing the 3D engine is strange to me.
While the extreme removal terrain color isn't an improvement to me (I would have gone with a much more subtle de-saturation), the way you did the lighting is much closer to what I'd want:
lol, I like the signature picture in your post. Some of the stylism (like jumbo shoulder pads) put into the characters is definitely a bit goofy looking. That said, however, some of the models, like Cain, look great despite some stylistic elements.
This is a bit too dark for me. Something in between would be best.
Hello people I've just registered to vote and write my opinions. I've been watching this site since splash images, I haven't registered not to write more silly "omg I found this it's frostmourne rune!" messages. So it's time I think.
I am a Diablo fan and I played all the Diablo games including the expansions. I think the graphical details and overall gameplay experience is great. But I agree about the color palette. I feel very depressed and not comfortable while playing D2 ACT I Catacomb levels. Sick white lighting, human bodies nailed on walls, tables, blood pools everywhere, and creatures unleashing from darkness to our dim aura.... It was a great experience (and still..)
I changed some of the screenshots' levels and colors and looked more diablo. I don't post them here because there are already lots of examples I hope you and Blizzard team already seen those. I think the game must be changed to less saturated and *very important" "more realistic lighting" version. I mean, why there are green light on "forgotten" tombs? Everywhere is lit and no mysterious mood anyway.
If the game will be out with no change, I will still play it of course. I can lower down my monitor's saturation, higher the contrast etc. but that's not the way to play Diablo. And I hope final game will have the details about nailed human bodies, corpses etc. to justify the terror of Sanctuary.
Also the there can me made more texture work. The tombs from what I have seen, looks too clean. More real, aged stone textures can be perfect.
And, I think light radius must come back.
So, I prefer more dark, less saturated and more mature game.
Please stay true to the current version of D3, I loved it as well my brother did who played on bnet with me for years and years. I'd be dissapointed if you would take away what we've seen so far and cave into pressure. I believe you need to stay strong to your original idea of what you want D3 to be, remember this is D3, not D2 and it's been seven years since.. I think this overhaul is the perfect graphical advancement for the franchise.
<3 to Blizzard YOU ARE DOING AN AMAZING JOB KEEP IT UP!
What do you think of the Art Design Direction in Diablo III ?
1) It is perfect as it stands now
2) It needs a complete visual overhaul to resemble the previous games in the franchise
3) I love the new artistic expression and design but needs to be a little more bleaker/scarier
Options 3 and 4 are pointless in the current poll, and i had to vote option 2 when in truth I really Love the new art direction However I want cellars/caves/dungeons a lot more darkerand would very much enjoy just a little tweak to the entire visuals of the game being a little more evil.
But hey, like I said before; when it's released, I won't care anymore. I only care now becuase I'm bored and can't play it so I will bitch like everyone else and act like I'm not stupidly excited about this game.
Another note is look at the votes, it's quite close.
Its like this:
"Wait no stop attacking... alright I'll be right back to smite you all to hell.. but I just got this rare sword you see and I'm out of spac... wait no, no, I'm not leaving for good, I'll be back. Yeah don't worry about that. Hey, hey! you over there I see that spear. Damn little flyer's think I won't see them. Alright I should only have to do this another 20 times in the next 2 hours. BRB."
Like others have previously mentioned: this is a 3d game now with lots of new technologies--a whole new ballgame.
Those before and after screenshots are way to dark. There is a day/night cycle in the world of Sanctuary I am pretty sure--it is not perpetually night. If it is as dark as what some are advocating what do you do when the sun goes down, pitch black? Like the devs said in the panels, creatures you can't pick out of the background isn't fun, not being able to tell whats going on isn't fun. Not everybody has a super bright LCD panel either. If you guys want darker turn your gamma/brightness down, thats pretty much what those before after shots amount to anyway.
Making it more akin to previous titles is the easy road.
As we all know, companies that take creative risks are the better ones. Why stifle this?
I personally love large shoulder pads, however if they were toned down, I wouldn't care.
Again, looking over this thread, I think the light radius and designing a complex behavior to the lighting system is the biggest concern. How Blizzard could have overlooked something so important to a Diablo game when designing the 3D engine is strange to me.
While the extreme removal terrain color isn't an improvement to me (I would have gone with a much more subtle de-saturation), the way you did the lighting is much closer to what I'd want:
lol, I like the signature picture in your post. Some of the stylism (like jumbo shoulder pads) put into the characters is definitely a bit goofy looking. That said, however, some of the models, like Cain, look great despite some stylistic elements.
Options need to look like so:
What do you think of the Art Design Direction in Diablo III ?
1) It is perfect as it stands now
2) It needs a complete visual overhaul to resemble the previous games in the franchise
3) I love the new artistic expression and design but needs a little more darkness/bleakness
options 3 and 4 are pointless in the current poll, and i had to vote option 2 when in truth I really Love the new art direction, however
i want cellars/caves/dungeons a lot more darker, and could very much enjoy just a little tweak to the entire visuals of the game being a little
more evil.
Sign for a Darker Art Direction in the dungeons/caves/etc.
www.myspace.com/mariocamillo
www.youtube.com/mariospeedwagon
Keep making creative games, blow all the naysayers head off with a great game with 'these' same graphics. Prove to them that your capable, which I know you are but some people just want everything to remain the same. Remember when d2 got announced? That's right the crybabies came out of the woods and wouldn't let it down until they played the game and fell in love with it and begged and complained for yet anohter 7 years until you announced D3? see the loop? I sure do keep the game the way of your original view, you'll do an insane job.
Pros-
1. I love the 3D and artistic enviroment.
2. The architecture is wonderful and I love the almost endless feel they have due to the mist/fog at the bottom.
3. The outside world is just as spectacular as the inside.
Cons-
1. Having played both Warcraft and World of Warcraft I can spot some similarities within Diablo 3. However, in neither of the Warcrafts would you EVER see a boss biting the head off of a player! I really don't have a solution to this and I think that it is just a side effect of a 3D game; also, I would much rather play it the way it is than have them fail at attepmting to make the game realistic (this IS a computer game, not real life).
2. The color does seem a little too bright, but I don't mind that too much because the results are attractive and I am open to the darkness being more of a feeling than an artistic element.
Overall, lets wait a little and see what happens. Remember that we have only seen two textures, there are caves, ruins, mountain landscapes and maybe even the depths of Hell to be explored yet.
My suggestion to those that don't like the colors is to simply turn down your settings (brightness/contrast) on your monitor when you play!!
Lastly, the one thing that I would like to see is the ability to zoom out a little more, I always felt a little cramped playing Diablo 1 & 2, please let me breathe while I play Diablo 3, haha.
Thanks for your time!
you are such a goofy with the giant shoulder pads.
Even if blizz says that they want to go somewhere new, they have to respect the franchise.
An image is worth more than a million words.... (remember all the before/after images).
I really like the move to a more abilities based combat system. I think with an abilities based combat system, it is lending itslef to a lot more variety in gameplay, which means people will be able to have different styles of play, and one of them won't just be right and the other wrong, which was how it was a bit in D2 (not entirely though). I think if we were given the diablo 2 system now, we'd be really unthrilled about it. It works great, but it's really just click away. I really hope that respecs are possible, as long as they do make some sort of way to make it so you can't just respec all the time.
Something I forgot, the "how it is" and "how it should be" photos are not right. They are all just darker, that's it. That just means you have to turn down your contrast in the game, then it'll look good to you. Do that then. Some of the things I really liked about the new look are the way you can see several levels below you at times. I can see getting really freaked out running along a ledge or something like and seeing the drop be like 5 floors or something. That, I cannot wait for.
This is a bit too dark for me. Something in between would be best.
I am a Diablo fan and I played all the Diablo games including the expansions. I think the graphical details and overall gameplay experience is great. But I agree about the color palette. I feel very depressed and not comfortable while playing D2 ACT I Catacomb levels. Sick white lighting, human bodies nailed on walls, tables, blood pools everywhere, and creatures unleashing from darkness to our dim aura.... It was a great experience (and still..)
I changed some of the screenshots' levels and colors and looked more diablo. I don't post them here because there are already lots of examples I hope you and Blizzard team already seen those. I think the game must be changed to less saturated and *very important" "more realistic lighting" version. I mean, why there are green light on "forgotten" tombs? Everywhere is lit and no mysterious mood anyway.
If the game will be out with no change, I will still play it of course. I can lower down my monitor's saturation, higher the contrast etc. but that's not the way to play Diablo. And I hope final game will have the details about nailed human bodies, corpses etc. to justify the terror of Sanctuary.
Also the there can me made more texture work. The tombs from what I have seen, looks too clean. More real, aged stone textures can be perfect.
And, I think light radius must come back.
So, I prefer more dark, less saturated and more mature game.
<3 to Blizzard YOU ARE DOING AN AMAZING JOB KEEP IT UP!
Options need to look like so:
What do you think of the Art Design Direction in Diablo III ?
1) It is perfect as it stands now
2) It needs a complete visual overhaul to resemble the previous games in the franchise
3) I love the new artistic expression and design but needs to be a little more bleaker/scarier
Options 3 and 4 are pointless in the current poll, and i had to vote option 2 when in truth I really Love the new art direction
However I want cellars/caves/dungeons a lot more darkerand would very much enjoy just a little tweak to the entire visuals of the game being a little more evil.
Sign for a Darker Art Direction in the dungeons/caves/etc.
www.myspace.com/mariocamillo
www.youtube.com/mariospeedwagon