We have just arrived to the Invitationals for our second day. The Diablo III Lore Panel will start in about thirty minutes, 10:00am Paris Time. Stay tuned, and start posting questions at the Diablo fans forums. I can pick maybe one or two questions. Two rows of fans line up for a shot at asking questions. Only a few of them are taken, so make sure to stay on topic. If the question benefits the playerbase, I will pick it. It may also depend if the screening staff recommends the question.
UPDATE 11am Paris Time: Special thanks to Kazo for transcribing the Q&A session. I was able to pass one of the questions to the Diablo III developers onstage. This is the transcript:
=================
Q&A
Q: We destroyed Diablo, how do you justify him coming back again?
A: You don''t know for sure Diablo is going back. Too complicated to answer at this point without going too much into the story.
Q: In the previous game we had a quest to get the Horadric Cube, will it be there again or similar items acquired through quests?
A: We want the lore to drive gameplay. With certainty there will be quests related to lore.
Q: What all places from Diablo II will we see and how they changed in 20 years?
A: Game starts in New Tristram - outside of Old Tristram. Cain will be there with some other previous NPCs - no specifics at this point.
Q: Do you want to make new villains?
A: Yes and no. There are some new ones. There are seven lesser evil demons, and some are not accounted for that may be introduced.
Q: Are you going to add more easter eggs such as the cow level?
A: We don't have a full list but I'm sure there will be, there are in all Blizzard games.
Q: Inarius was the angel who was allowed to enter hell. Is he still there?
A: As far as we know, he's still there.
Q: What do we get to blow up and smash?
A: It's something we're constantly exploring, we want to hate as much as we can.
Q: How is it possible that people of the world forgot about the events that happened in D2 already. For example what happened in Kurast, it's hard to believe people would just let go.
A: Some through reason, some through denial ....
Diablo III - World Lore and Environment Art Panel
Caldeum
Leonard Boyarsky - Lead World Designer of Diablo III began the discussion panel for the
Diablo III World Lore and Environment Art Panel. Skovos and Caldeum are some of the zones to
be explored in Diablo III. Skovos is an ancient city where the rogues come from.
- Richer History and Deeper characters: NPCs will say where they come from to make it feel
like you are playing in a living world to reflect their culture and philosophies. Caldeum
population have a eastern kind of look.
Brian Morrisroe - Art Director of Diablo III discussed the following:
Story
- Purpose of story:
Give context to player's actions
- Deepen experiene of the Diablo universe.
Player voice is a feature to be implemented in Diablo III, making the storytelling more
engaging. Your character will feel more involved in the action as often happens in most
RPGs.
Use environment to tell story. The story takes place 20 years after Lord of Destruction.
Story until now
Twenty years later
- Cain convinced Hell will invade
- Events of Diablo 1 and Diablo II seen as legend.
Some of the characters of previous games may still be alive.
Why hasn't Hell invaded?
What has happened to Tyrael? He was forced to destroy the Worldstone. Where has he been ever
since? Did it changed him as a result of this? Everyone expected Hell to invade Sanctuary,
but for twenty years nothing has happened.
Respecting the pastiablo II
- Expanded upon original
- Introduced new areas of the world
Updating a lassisc
- Exploring a new visual look
- Respect the Franchise
- Expectations set by the previous games
Stylization over realism
- Stylized does not mean cartoony
- Altered reality
- Consistency in style creates believability
Blizzard is exploring the idea of bringing a unique look to the Diablo universe, but not so
cartoony.
Strong silhouettes
- Big bold shaps
- Adds to epic feel
- Helps overall readability
Adds to the epic feel. Everything in real life is so straight, but in the game Blizzard tries
adding odd silhouettes, and characteristics that highlight scenarious and make them
interesting and vibrant.
Don't be afraid of color
- color is used to convey mood
- Selectie pallettes establish horror vibe
- Accent colors draw attention
Dynamic animations
- Bring life to an otherwise static scene
- Background movement adds believability
- Destructible objects are just fun!
You can break stuff to help you harm or kill monster. It is freaking cool to break stuff in
scenes, stomping stuff.
Supporting the gameplay
- Philosophies to support play experience
If you don't know where you are going and can't distinguish monsters in the environment it
doesn't make the game more enjoyable, and that's something Blizzard is perfecting from the
ground up in the development of environment and gameplay.
Environment pipeline
- Design layout
The artists discuss how to create dungeons making a room at a time, and later glueing them
together with exits and entrances that interconnect each room.
How big is Tyrael in this installment? Does he play as major a part as in the last game?
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
GIEV D3 INFOZ NAO!( <---Poster from the official Bnet Forums) "I'm sure that in time, every bit of her will be gone and her death will be a mystery... even to me."-Secret Window
well the big and obvious question, what about diablo, will he be making a return of some sorts, since well....the game is named after him =P (I don't think they'll awnser this though)
-Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. That is alchemy's First Law of Equivalent Exchange. In those days, we really believed that to be the world's one, and only, truth.
Going back to previous Blizzard titles, World of Warcraft for example, the concept art seemed to match the look and feel in the game exactly, however in Diablo 3 alot of the concept are is far darker than seen in the short demo presented yesterday. Are there any plans to make the game far darker, to match the concept art, as the game progresses into different acts?
First I'll ask the question on EVERYBODYS mind:
Whats with the girl in the cinematic teaser?
Now my REAL question:
In the gameplay demo, the barbarian is required to jump over a gap in a bridge. Will other characters have the same thing happen to them (broken bridge) and have to find a way around, or will they have their own class-specific obstacles?
Will there be any runewords coming back from d2,?
is there gunna even be rune words.?
When will Cain die??
The H cube?? return or no.
Able to craft items?
what happens to Inarius after hero frees him from his misery, is he returned to his former glory and accepted by Tyrael or will he stilll be evil and have a role in the upcoming game?
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
UPDATE 11am Paris Time: Special thanks to Kazo for transcribing the Q&A session. I was able to pass one of the questions to the Diablo III developers onstage. This is the transcript:
=================
Q&A
Q: We destroyed Diablo, how do you justify him coming back again?
A: You don''t know for sure Diablo is going back. Too complicated to answer at this point without going too much into the story.
Q: In the previous game we had a quest to get the Horadric Cube, will it be there again or similar items acquired through quests?
A: We want the lore to drive gameplay. With certainty there will be quests related to lore.
Q: What all places from Diablo II will we see and how they changed in 20 years?
A: Game starts in New Tristram - outside of Old Tristram. Cain will be there with some other previous NPCs - no specifics at this point.
Q: Do you want to make new villains?
A: Yes and no. There are some new ones. There are seven lesser evil demons, and some are not accounted for that may be introduced.
Q: Are you going to add more easter eggs such as the cow level?
A: We don't have a full list but I'm sure there will be, there are in all Blizzard games.
Q: Inarius was the angel who was allowed to enter hell. Is he still there?
A: As far as we know, he's still there.
Q: What do we get to blow up and smash?
A: It's something we're constantly exploring, we want to hate as much as we can.
Q: How is it possible that people of the world forgot about the events that happened in D2 already. For example what happened in Kurast, it's hard to believe people would just let go.
A: Some through reason, some through denial ....
Diablo III - World Lore and Environment Art Panel
Caldeum
Leonard Boyarsky - Lead World Designer of Diablo III began the discussion panel for the
Diablo III World Lore and Environment Art Panel. Skovos and Caldeum are some of the zones to
be explored in Diablo III. Skovos is an ancient city where the rogues come from.
- Richer History and Deeper characters: NPCs will say where they come from to make it feel
like you are playing in a living world to reflect their culture and philosophies. Caldeum
population have a eastern kind of look.
Brian Morrisroe - Art Director of Diablo III discussed the following:
Story
- Purpose of story:
Give context to player's actions
- Deepen experiene of the Diablo universe.
Player voice is a feature to be implemented in Diablo III, making the storytelling more
engaging. Your character will feel more involved in the action as often happens in most
RPGs.
Use environment to tell story. The story takes place 20 years after Lord of Destruction.
Story until now
Twenty years later
- Cain convinced Hell will invade
- Events of Diablo 1 and Diablo II seen as legend.
Some of the characters of previous games may still be alive.
Why hasn't Hell invaded?
What has happened to Tyrael? He was forced to destroy the Worldstone. Where has he been ever
since? Did it changed him as a result of this? Everyone expected Hell to invade Sanctuary,
but for twenty years nothing has happened.
Respecting the pastiablo II
- Expanded upon original
- Introduced new areas of the world
Updating a lassisc
- Exploring a new visual look
- Respect the Franchise
- Expectations set by the previous games
Stylization over realism
- Stylized does not mean cartoony
- Altered reality
- Consistency in style creates believability
Blizzard is exploring the idea of bringing a unique look to the Diablo universe, but not so
cartoony.
Strong silhouettes
- Big bold shaps
- Adds to epic feel
- Helps overall readability
Adds to the epic feel. Everything in real life is so straight, but in the game Blizzard tries
adding odd silhouettes, and characteristics that highlight scenarious and make them
interesting and vibrant.
Don't be afraid of color
- color is used to convey mood
- Selectie pallettes establish horror vibe
- Accent colors draw attention
Dynamic animations
- Bring life to an otherwise static scene
- Background movement adds believability
- Destructible objects are just fun!
You can break stuff to help you harm or kill monster. It is freaking cool to break stuff in
scenes, stomping stuff.
Supporting the gameplay
- Philosophies to support play experience
If you don't know where you are going and can't distinguish monsters in the environment it
doesn't make the game more enjoyable, and that's something Blizzard is perfecting from the
ground up in the development of environment and gameplay.
Environment pipeline
- Design layout
The artists discuss how to create dungeons making a room at a time, and later glueing them
together with exits and entrances that interconnect each room.
Iterate until it's done
http://www.blizzplanet.com
Will Lilith, have a prominent presence this time around if any at all?
GIEV D3 INFOZ NAO! ( <---Poster from the official Bnet Forums)
"I'm sure that in time, every bit of her will be gone and her death will be a mystery... even to me."-Secret Window
More than likely I think someone was quoted as saying to imply to carry that over from d2lod
To get the Torch in d2, they have all those keys, organs and all. IS there gunna be somthing similar to that?? in d3??
What have Azmodan and Belial been up to while the Prime evils have been getting beat down on a regular basis?
Was Baal's soulstone actually destroyed?
What has the Zakarum in the West (westmarch) and their fanatical Inquisitors been up to?
how old is cain?
Was there any intention to make him remsemble Sean connery and/or patrick stewart.
What is the name of the necromancer's home city, and where exactly under the jungles of Kehjistan is it located?
and anything left unanswered in here http://www.diablofans.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8224
- Theoric
Quests per act? (ranges)
Whats with the girl in the cinematic teaser?
Now my REAL question:
In the gameplay demo, the barbarian is required to jump over a gap in a bridge. Will other characters have the same thing happen to them (broken bridge) and have to find a way around, or will they have their own class-specific obstacles?
Will there be any runewords coming back from d2,?
is there gunna even be rune words.?
When will Cain die??
The H cube?? return or no.
Able to craft items?
its not oblivion :D:cool:
what happens to Inarius after hero frees him from his misery, is he returned to his former glory and accepted by Tyrael or will he stilll be evil and have a role in the upcoming game?