Has the Tetris Inventory and Magic Find Returned?
Among the many YouTube and gaming coverage site videos uploaded from visitors to the Gamescon of 2009, it would seem some have proven to show that there is tons of information about the upcoming Diablo III title if one is simply willing to look hard enough. The following image shows a cursor hovering over a timed buff that increases Magic Find and gold dropped, an effect gathered from a shrine, none-the-less:
Some interesting things are of note here. MF shrines? What's up with that? It can be remembered that there were some fans who suggested a similar idea, even on this very board, but it will be interesting to see, if kept in the game, how this will affect the typical Diablo-grinding fest players often endured to find the best items. Similarly, it also makes one wonder how Magic Find will work in Diablo III- hopefully better than it did in Diablo II.
Also, the fact that they even bothered continuing with the increased gold modifier makes one wonder if they have, indeed, come up with a way of making gold more useful in light of the relative ease of gathering and uselessness of it in Diablo II. One would think that the developers would not even bother with the modifier again if it would not prove useful. But, of course, we all know that Blizzard developers are just as prone to mistakes as everyone else and, if it is any consolation, any issues that arise will hopefully be patched.
On the other hand, yet another video still shows something else of more nostalgic beauty that even more fans may be happy about. The late inventory system "overhauling" in the early days of Diablo III, a system based on new principles not yet seen in the Diablo series, proved to most of the fan base to be very alien. At first, many, including myself, resigned to the fact that it was a changing game and just maybe this new system would be really fun and dynamic once we got our hands on it at release.
Things have changed, it would seem.
The backpack has digressed (perhaps not in a negative way) back to the system of old in the form of a 5x8 (40-space) grid, which, like previous games, will presumtuiously work just as the old tetris-styled system (as many fans have labeled it). Now, if everyone now approves of this return to the basics is yet to be seen, as some have stated a previously-happy transition from the sometimes-annoying game of "fit the square peg in to the round hole" when dealing with larger items or little space.
All the credit for these two images and finds goes to biff exploder who discovered both of these in this post. If you seem him, give him a positive reputation point if you have the moment. I would say this is pretty interesting news.
and if this is just a small peak of the demo, IMAGINE at blizzcon! CAN'T WAIT!
It also looks so polished and complete, I won't expect it any later than next year.
Male wizard looks good, desert looks very D2-like which is great, grid inv system good.
1 bad point though, some of the fights looked messy where the player was crossing the bridge and ran into a mob of fire enemies, they were blasting him with fireballs and you can't see whats going on, suppose that's realism though heh.
quest log was in this vid
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-yb5mPv2zQ
wizard uses mirror image in this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VM4uaSeVldw
as well as the MF shrine
Well, I know a bit ago in response to some critical complaints about corpse duration their endurance on-screen was bumped-up significantly. I'm pretty sure I can remember a Bashiok post about it or something. It is a good thing, of course.
Bashiok :
I, for one, have mixed emotions about the tetris-style inventory. On the one hand, people are right, it was innovative, it was something that Diablo more-or-less started, and it has been used in many other games as a standard for inventory control. That being said, the old style is outdated.
In a game that's based around itemization, around "drops", the old system (I feel) hinders gameplay moreso than helps it. But this assessment is based solely on the old system.
Now, I know that they are re-vamping everything, but I really can't make any valued judgement until I actually play with it. You see, there are several variables that will make or break the system:
1) Finite inventory space: I agree with a finite amount of inventory space, but at what cost? In Diablo II, we were forced to create dozens of "mule" accounts just to hold everything. I know I wasn't the only one who created <Account_Mule1>. Yes, in many other games "mule" characters are viable... but more often than not, you're only creating one charactor. So why the need for twelve characters in a game whose focus is "itemization"?
In Diablo II we saw the advent of gems and runes, and in Diablo I the small items were potions. Carrying a plethora of these "small" items gets in the way of what the game is focused around, which are items. Again, the point being made here is the relationship with the near infinate amount of items with the horribly low finite item space.
2) Gameplay speed: Blizzard has said time and time again that this is an action RPG Hack and Slash. In general (and again, taking from the context of which Baishok has spoken) that this is supposed to be a fast game. That you're supposed to be able to jump in and feel accomplished after having played an hour. But there are drawbacks, as they always are. In Diablo II, the gameplay speed was determined with how many potions you can keep on you at all times, and if you've shelled out for an Enigma for the teleport. The mechanics of the game have been sullied by hastily crafted patches that have destroyed the game from what it could have been. In Diablo III, however, the health // mana orbs have been created in place of potion hot-keying and a waypoint system was added to help progression along without having to retrace ones' steps in addition to other factors we've not yet discovered. Because of this, it seems that Blizzard's intentions are clear, this is a fast-paced game.
So where is the speed and rapidity of moving around items in your inventory to make room for items, having to run back to sell every five minutes because necessary items are taking up precious space for others you've just found? I understand some sort of catharsis is necessary during gameplay, but don't do it with a faulty and outdated inventory system.
Don't get me wrong here, I'm not totally against the tetris-style gameplay, and I'm not against ways to slow down the game, but what I am against is rehashing old and outdated systems that have been attached to a game like a smiley-faced dingleberry that looks all fine and dandy up close, but it's still annoying and pulls at your bum-hairs.
[Sometimes serves sugar-sprinkled bullcrap as candy to children to get them off my lawn] Oath~
(( By the way, Seth, what happened to my previous post? If there's a copy of it somewhere, can you PM it to me? ))
It seems to find a nice balance between a wow-style inventory like they had earlier, and a more traditional "tetris inventory".
A bit meh on the return of mf, though. I think I'd be fine so long as no one needs to make a set of terrible gear with mf bonuses just to kill diablo 300 times so the right ultra-rare rune or what have you drops. Probably best if mf stays with the fortune shrines.
I'm pretty sure this has already been posted and bashiok said something about it.. still nice perception though! :thumbsup:
I love that the tetris inventory is back though, at least in some form. I mean, it looks like there are only two sizes of item (one slot, and two slot) so it's not exactly the same, but still a nice throwback to my precious memories. And will probably be easier to organize.
Honestly though, I thought it made for a good progressive system. Every time I played D2, I would delete my old characters and start from scratch; I never had any real problem getting good MF gear. Essentially, I would buy what MF gear I could from vendors (gloves, boots, etc), then find perhaps a socketed helm and stick some perfect topazes in it. I would mf some, get some mediocre gear, put that on, go mf, get better gear, etc. While time consuming, I thought it worked well.
The only alternative I can think of would be something like WoW where each boss just has a % chance to drop specific items, but I don't like that system. I like the system in which bosses can drop any items within their clvl.
is it the menu bar??? cuz the first icon looks like two crossed swords
I wouldn't be surprised if that button will be used for opening the inventory
Yeah, the rotating option wouldn't make a big difference considering there are only 2 sizes. Of course if you have an odd number for the height of the inventory, rotating would still help if you were carrying almost all large(2 space) items.
the d2 inventory is a 4 x 10 grid where the d3 is a 8x5 grid
I just dont see why everyone is soooo excited about the tetris style being back. The new style does not really allow for maneuvering and skill to carry more items. The only thing rearranging does now is make it more organized which the old system was very organized. Don't get me wrong, I still like the newer one better but only becuase it is simpler than a multi page inventory not because the tetris style is back because it is not. a grid system is back.