For some reason no game has been able to creep me out since the 1990's. And it wasn't just cause I was younger then, but something about games today often lack that creepy dark quality found in games like the original Diablo. I can cite plenty of other games too from back then when CD-ROM was still relatively new. Games like Lands of Lore, Privateer, Fallout, they all had great moments of creepiness to them that I fondly remember. And I didn't even play Fallout first in my teens. I played it only a few years ago for the first time and there were some moments in the game that were genuinely unnerving. I loved it.
But just cause games these days usually fail to ever creep me out, that doesn't mean they never achieve other strong emotional reactions. Portal had excellent emotional depth to it. Moreso just cause I didn't even expect there to be much of a narrative to it. But like that part where you find that previous test subject's old hiding place and all their writing on the wall, you really felt kind of sad for that person. And it made you feel more lonely like there was little hope of ever escaping Glados.
I swelled up with emotion a few times in Mass Effect but that game was just a tad more manipulative in yanking on my heart strings. Nevertheless...
I've probably been somewhat creeped out a few times in games, but nothing really in recent years has seriously given me that feeling. I'd like to hope D3 can achieve that with me, but I felt almost nothing when playing D2. It just lacked the claustrophobia and isolation of D1. Not that that's all you need to achieve creepiness, but it certainly helped!
Well we did say that pretty awesome ghost execution scene, along with the torture rack that you click on and the guy on it gets grinded up. I would say there's going to be some pretty creepy stuff in store.
Sometimes though when they throw in creepy just for the sake of creepy I find it's not that well executed. It's difficult to pull off though, I know, without seeming somewhat contrived.
Stuff that's just gory isn't creepy. It's just gory. The Butcher scene worked so well because of the surrounding darkness, the perversion of the base element of bountifulness with carnage and depravity, and, above all, a sense of absolute loneliness against a suffocating and overwhelming evil. There's no power in or point to having gore for gore's sake. That is wisdom that I believe was lost in the team transition.
Precisely. While there is gore in the rest of D1 as you explore, it's nothing like that one place in the Butcher's lair. And he didn't just strike you as a run of the mill demon. You could really sense a story behind him without even talking that much with the townspeople about him. Creepiness is really well done when there is purpose to the thing. Without it, it just feels so superfluous at times. The gore, I mean.
If I don't shit my pants at least once during my first play through, I'm going to be upset. I am sure with the improved graphics, the atmosphere is going to feel much more creepy. After all, they were dealing with some pretty limited resolution for D1 and D2.
Room full of disemboweled bodies that locks behind me. Yes please.
I would love to revisit the butcher's room with the improved resolution. Think how gross it would be after 20 years of decomposition. If only they made smell-o-vision for D3's release.
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Right now, it seems the focus is in fact, on lots of gore. Which as you pointed out, isn't scary at all. What they need to incorporate and be aware of is spacial reference of the character. Aka, how claustrophobic the room is, how open it is. Then lighting needs to be considered for sure. I think with our updated engine we could do so much in the spirit of the butcher scene. Then, sounds. sounds are so important. I think music is good for in town but out of town, everything we hear should be perfect atmospheric noise that will resonate into our souls and scare the shit out of us.
Along a similar line of thought, what I've seen of the game so far lacks any tension. I realize the gameplay vids and screenshots are meant to showcase skills and features, but everything looks so overpowered and we constantly see monsters being dispatched so easily. I also realize the developers insisted the game would be challenging, but I just wish we could so more of how it is so far. I realize I'm talking more about tension here instead of creepiness. But the tone of the game so far doesn't feel as threatening as even the last two games did.
I suppose after a third installment of slaying demons, maybe it's just easier now not to take them too seriously anymore. Even after killing Prime Evils so many times it's harder to seem them as threatening. Hopefully the team is aware of these concerns, though.
I am sure with the improved graphics, the atmosphere is going to feel much more creepy. After all, they were dealing with some pretty limited resolution for D1 and D2.
You should know better.
Improved graphics doesn't guarantee any such things.
It does when you are trying to feel a room with severed corpses. In D1, they were barely distinguishable. In D2, they cluttered them so much that you couldn't tell what was going on. With D3, they can add plenty and still have them look distinguishable.
As to artistic and aesthetic design, that is completely different and does not need high end graphics. But pairing up good aesthetics with good graphics only helps.
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As to artistic and aesthetic design, that is completely different and does not need high end graphics. But pairing up good aesthetics with good graphics only helps.
No argument here. I look forward to seeing how well they ultimately pull off the joining of the two.
But I think each of those look great in their own way. Especially the D2 screenie. It's kind of nice when you're looking at a heap of something and you're like, "Man, those look like...oh my god, they are! Huge fuck off pile of bodies!"
Honestly, I kinda want to..actually...I REALLY want to walk into a room and see demons torturing someone. We are always witnesses of the after effect. We always walk into rooms and see the corpses strung about with limbs and blood everywhere. I want to see whose doing the torturing for once lol. God wouldn't that be scary? Walk into a church with a cold dark feel with only a lit altar with demons sawing off a naked chicks head. that would be crazy....This makes me sound crazy...I'm going to stop.
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"I want to say something but I'll keep it to myself I guess and leave this useless post behind to make you aware that there WAS something... "
-Equinox
"We're like the downtown of the Diablo related internet lol"
-Winged
for me, the D2 is the worse. It was like "What are these lumps. *Squint and stop fighting* Oh, *back to playing*
I think yours is a common attitude toward that game. For the most part people really took D2's surroundings for granted. I think that was partially due to the wide open areas and the fact that you could run. There was less incentive in that game to stop and really look around. I realize some would argue that the point of the game is not to stop and just look at things. But if not, then why have backgrounds and environments anyway? I think an important part of well done games is to stop and look around you. It helps with the immersion.
In the commentary with Half Life 2 they talk about this a lot. And there are parts in the game where after a lot of fighting, you'd make your way to an open area where there was suddenly a lot to look at all around you. And they wanted you to stop and take into consideration what you were seeing. That stuff matters when you're getting into the story and the world that you're playing in. I guess it's sort of unfair to compare the goal there with a FPS game to something like Diablo though. But the more we discuss this I guess I do feel pity for all those graphics designers in D1 and D2 trying to create all this stuff around you but most people didn't seem to notice it anyway. I did though. :confused:
And speaking of indiscernible lumps on the ground, haven't you ever explored a forest or gone hiking in the mountains and seen something on the ground that you thought first was a stick but upon closer examination turned out to be the leg of some animal? It's kind of a nice surprise when you realize what it is. But it seems like you'd rather it be obvious at first glance each time that you're seeing a body when I like those moments sometimes to creep up on me.
Well we'll at least see stuff like the Thousand Pounder ritual, where some virgins (or just girls) were sacrificed. Its not that hard to imagine some of those rituals would involve torture/cutting people open.
Well we'll at least see stuff like the Thousand Pounder ritual, where some virgins (or just girls) were sacrificed. Its not that hard to imagine some of those rituals would involve torture/cutting people open.
Hellz Yea!!!
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"I want to say something but I'll keep it to myself I guess and leave this useless post behind to make you aware that there WAS something... "
-Equinox
"We're like the downtown of the Diablo related internet lol"
-Winged
And speaking of indiscernible lumps on the ground, haven't you ever explored a forest or gone hiking in the mountains and seen something on the ground that you thought first was a stick but upon closer examination turned out to be the leg of some animal? It's kind of a nice surprise when you realize what it is. But it seems like you'd rather it be obvious at first glance each time that you're seeing a body when I like those moments sometimes to creep up on me.
No I haven't. I admit that would be creepy though. Although not as creepy as a forest littered with dead creatures hanging form the trees
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And speaking of indiscernible lumps on the ground, haven't you ever explored a forest or gone hiking in the mountains and seen something on the ground that you thought first was a stick but upon closer examination turned out to be the leg of some animal? It's kind of a nice surprise when you realize what it is. But it seems like you'd rather it be obvious at first glance each time that you're seeing a body when I like those moments sometimes to creep up on me.
No I haven't. I admit that would be creepy though. Although not as creepy as a forest littered with dead creatures hanging form the trees
Ah, see. You like things to be more overt. And I find creepiness more in things implied.
Though obviously in real life if I found a forest with dead bodies all over the place then yeah I'd be pretty creeped out. In games, however, well I like both kinds in games. Over the top violence and gore and implied stuff are both just as good. But it's easier to overdo the former.
It's a scyber dragon that somehow got in your trunk...
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"I want to say something but I'll keep it to myself I guess and leave this useless post behind to make you aware that there WAS something... "
-Equinox
"We're like the downtown of the Diablo related internet lol"
-Winged
"I want to say something but I'll keep it to myself I guess and leave this useless post behind to make you aware that there WAS something... "
-Equinox
"We're like the downtown of the Diablo related internet lol"
-Winged
But just cause games these days usually fail to ever creep me out, that doesn't mean they never achieve other strong emotional reactions. Portal had excellent emotional depth to it. Moreso just cause I didn't even expect there to be much of a narrative to it. But like that part where you find that previous test subject's old hiding place and all their writing on the wall, you really felt kind of sad for that person. And it made you feel more lonely like there was little hope of ever escaping Glados.
I swelled up with emotion a few times in Mass Effect but that game was just a tad more manipulative in yanking on my heart strings. Nevertheless...
I've probably been somewhat creeped out a few times in games, but nothing really in recent years has seriously given me that feeling. I'd like to hope D3 can achieve that with me, but I felt almost nothing when playing D2. It just lacked the claustrophobia and isolation of D1. Not that that's all you need to achieve creepiness, but it certainly helped!
Sometimes though when they throw in creepy just for the sake of creepy I find it's not that well executed. It's difficult to pull off though, I know, without seeming somewhat contrived.
Precisely. While there is gore in the rest of D1 as you explore, it's nothing like that one place in the Butcher's lair. And he didn't just strike you as a run of the mill demon. You could really sense a story behind him without even talking that much with the townspeople about him. Creepiness is really well done when there is purpose to the thing. Without it, it just feels so superfluous at times. The gore, I mean.
The Butcher had one weakness!
Siaynoq's Playthroughs
Room full of disemboweled bodies that locks behind me. Yes please.
I would love to revisit the butcher's room with the improved resolution. Think how gross it would be after 20 years of decomposition. If only they made smell-o-vision for D3's release.
Find any Diablo news? Contact me or anyone else on the News team
I suppose after a third installment of slaying demons, maybe it's just easier now not to take them too seriously anymore. Even after killing Prime Evils so many times it's harder to seem them as threatening. Hopefully the team is aware of these concerns, though.
You should know better.
Improved graphics doesn't guarantee any such things.
Siaynoq's Playthroughs
As to artistic and aesthetic design, that is completely different and does not need high end graphics. But pairing up good aesthetics with good graphics only helps.
Find any Diablo news? Contact me or anyone else on the News team
I guess I just don't see how clear you need it to be that you're seeing a corpse.
No argument here. I look forward to seeing how well they ultimately pull off the joining of the two.
Siaynoq's Playthroughs
D1: Bloody mess. Sure I can tell people are impaled on spikes but... barely
D2: Massive lump on the floor. Wasn't even sure they were bodies until I stopped to look.
D3: Corpse wagon for the win. Like that's not spooky.
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Siaynoq's Playthroughs
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Honestly, I kinda want to..actually...I REALLY want to walk into a room and see demons torturing someone. We are always witnesses of the after effect. We always walk into rooms and see the corpses strung about with limbs and blood everywhere. I want to see whose doing the torturing for once lol. God wouldn't that be scary? Walk into a church with a cold dark feel with only a lit altar with demons sawing off a naked chicks head. that would be crazy....This makes me sound crazy...I'm going to stop.
-Equinox
"We're like the downtown of the Diablo related internet lol"
-Winged
In the commentary with Half Life 2 they talk about this a lot. And there are parts in the game where after a lot of fighting, you'd make your way to an open area where there was suddenly a lot to look at all around you. And they wanted you to stop and take into consideration what you were seeing. That stuff matters when you're getting into the story and the world that you're playing in. I guess it's sort of unfair to compare the goal there with a FPS game to something like Diablo though. But the more we discuss this I guess I do feel pity for all those graphics designers in D1 and D2 trying to create all this stuff around you but most people didn't seem to notice it anyway. I did though. :confused:
And speaking of indiscernible lumps on the ground, haven't you ever explored a forest or gone hiking in the mountains and seen something on the ground that you thought first was a stick but upon closer examination turned out to be the leg of some animal? It's kind of a nice surprise when you realize what it is. But it seems like you'd rather it be obvious at first glance each time that you're seeing a body when I like those moments sometimes to creep up on me.
Siaynoq's Playthroughs
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Hellz Yea!!!
-Equinox
"We're like the downtown of the Diablo related internet lol"
-Winged
No I haven't. I admit that would be creepy though. Although not as creepy as a forest littered with dead creatures hanging form the trees
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Though obviously in real life if I found a forest with dead bodies all over the place then yeah I'd be pretty creeped out. In games, however, well I like both kinds in games. Over the top violence and gore and implied stuff are both just as good. But it's easier to overdo the former.
Siaynoq's Playthroughs
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-Equinox
"We're like the downtown of the Diablo related internet lol"
-Winged
Siaynoq's Playthroughs
-Equinox
"We're like the downtown of the Diablo related internet lol"
-Winged
lol I don't think you'll have to worry
I feel we have gotten grossly off topic
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