Sargaent Warden, concerning Jay Wilson and the team at Blizzard….well, I think the issue is this. From what I see, D3 will be a decent piece of software, a passable game but perhaps it won’t be DIABLO. Whether we are talking Harley Davidson, Apple computers or Diablo, there is a subtle something that makes it what it is and the cultists know when it is just not there. I’ve seen the youtube videos concerning Diablo 3 I’ll say this concerning the “cutscene” involving a conversation between the Barbarian and Deckard Cain, it was silly and insulting. I mean, compare it to the cutscenes of Diablo 2 and what comes across is (and I’m not saying that this was the actual intention of whoever made the cutscene) an attempt to sell to the same audience as those kids who can be found at “Games Workshop” outlets playing those metal figurine tabletop wargames (Warhammer). I mean, it is definitely a step back from Diablo 2. I don’t believe the current team really get “Diablo” and therefore have trouble replicating the mystique and a decent storyline of the first two in the series.
Who remembers that shameless attempt to make a buck “CIVILIZATION CALL TO POWER”? It was made by a team who had nothing to do with Sid Meir. As a game it was tragic.
Well, I don’t think from what Ive seen Diablo 3 will be quite that bad or untrue to the original inspiration, but from I can tell it won’t be quite the same as the first two in terms of story feeling.
From a purely technical standpoint, Diablo 3 will probably be quite impressive though.
So there it is, my main gripes with Diablo 3 is that: 1) Special power activation might take two keypresses, which is too long 2) It won’t feel like “Diablo” but rather like something…else
You can be totally cynical and imagine the current Blizzard team as a bunch of coders who have no idea about Diablo and are ultimately just looking forward to putting this project down as a point of pride on the resume but I think they are trying hard, but there is no easy way of “getting it” .
I have this strange theory about creative projects. I believe the project exists in the subconcious and kinda “begs to be told” or incarnated into some medium or artform. However, sometimes it just wasn’t there to begin with and the creative process works in reverse, first the marketing people say there is still money in a certain “label” and then the bosses decide to “do another one”. The inspiration or story just may not be there, so the creative people have great trouble pushing one out. Many TV series are ultimately end up like this, the story gets exhausted but the bosses keep pushing for more creative content. Who follows the X-Men comics? A great example of something gone too far.
If the Dev team actually read these forums, here is my advice….
Go contact and hire one of the original team members who made the earlier Diablo’s and ask them to outline a plausible story line and suggest a few cutscenes.
Dimebog, you seem an intelligent sort of critic but your endorsement of the “old style” targeting sequence is DEAD WRONG.
You see, the player’s sequence of 1) Activate special power 2) Move mouse to target 3) Press a key or mouseclick to finalise the special power Is TWICE as long as it needs to be, And TWICE as fatiguing on the fingers as it needs to be.
PLAYABILITY comes first.
Diablo 1 came from mixed ancestry of inspiration. Everyone in this industry has to copy a bit. Right up there on the list of “biggest parental influence” were roguelikes in general and a undersung game from WESTWOOD known as NOX.
Now, NOX was underdeveloped and not everyone likes a tongue-in-cheek humor to a fantasy swords and sorcery type game but one thing NOX did right was the player interface. All special powers were immediately activated with a single press of a key or mouse-button. You just moved the mouse indicator where you wanted it and pressed the key. BAM, it happened. No delays and no extra trouble. That’s how it should be.
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Whether we are talking Harley Davidson, Apple computers or Diablo, there is a subtle something that makes it what it is and the cultists know when it is just not there.
I’ve seen the youtube videos concerning Diablo 3 I’ll say this concerning the “cutscene” involving a conversation between the Barbarian and Deckard Cain, it was silly and insulting.
I mean, compare it to the cutscenes of Diablo 2 and what comes across is (and I’m not saying that this was the actual intention of whoever made the cutscene) an attempt to sell to the same audience as those kids who can be found at “Games Workshop” outlets playing those metal figurine tabletop wargames (Warhammer). I mean, it is definitely a step back from Diablo 2.
I don’t believe the current team really get “Diablo” and therefore have trouble replicating the mystique and a decent storyline of the first two in the series.
Who remembers that shameless attempt to make a buck “CIVILIZATION CALL TO POWER”?
It was made by a team who had nothing to do with Sid Meir. As a game it was tragic.
Well, I don’t think from what Ive seen Diablo 3 will be quite that bad or untrue to the original inspiration, but from I can tell it won’t be quite the same as the first two in terms of story feeling.
From a purely technical standpoint, Diablo 3 will probably be quite impressive though.
So there it is, my main gripes with Diablo 3 is that:
1) Special power activation might take two keypresses, which is too long
2) It won’t feel like “Diablo” but rather like something…else
You can be totally cynical and imagine the current Blizzard team as a bunch of coders who have no idea about Diablo and are ultimately just looking forward to putting this project down as a point of pride on the resume but I think they are trying hard, but there is no easy way of “getting it” .
I have this strange theory about creative projects. I believe the project exists in the subconcious and kinda “begs to be told” or incarnated into some medium or artform. However, sometimes it just wasn’t there to begin with and the creative process works in reverse, first the marketing people say there is still money in a certain “label” and then the bosses decide to “do another one”. The inspiration or story just may not be there, so the creative people have great trouble pushing one out. Many TV series are ultimately end up like this, the story gets exhausted but the bosses keep pushing for more creative content. Who follows the X-Men comics? A great example of something gone too far.
If the Dev team actually read these forums, here is my advice….
Go contact and hire one of the original team members who made the earlier Diablo’s and ask them to outline a plausible story line and suggest a few cutscenes.
0
You see, the player’s sequence of
1) Activate special power
2) Move mouse to target
3) Press a key or mouseclick to finalise the special power
Is TWICE as long as it needs to be,
And TWICE as fatiguing on the fingers as it needs to be.
PLAYABILITY comes first.
Diablo 1 came from mixed ancestry of inspiration. Everyone in this industry has to copy a bit.
Right up there on the list of “biggest parental influence” were roguelikes in general and a undersung game from WESTWOOD known as NOX.
Now, NOX was underdeveloped and not everyone likes a tongue-in-cheek humor to a fantasy swords and sorcery type game but one thing NOX did right was the player interface. All special powers were immediately activated with a single press of a key or mouse-button. You just moved the mouse indicator where you wanted it and pressed the key. BAM, it happened. No delays and no extra trouble.
That’s how it should be.
DO NOT FATIGUE THE PLAYER MORE THAN YOU MUST
SINGLE PRESS ACTIVATION IS THE WAY TO GO