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From what the art director said Diablo and D2 were horror games and he wants to take up a level...I really can't think of D2 as a horror game and this is why i am somewhat afraid that they will make the game scarier than it should be...
"Horror Movie Visuals
An interesting thing we found in D1 and D2, from an art standpoint, was that our memory was different than actuality. Visually speaking we remembered very dark and colorless games. Playing through though, we discovered a lot of vibrancy and creatures and environments, and we wanted to expand on that in d3. To embrace the core values of the franchise, and still move forward.
Taking all that into consideration, and considering the story in the previous games, we knew that updating that would be quite a task. We have a fantastic group of artists to work on it at Blizzard. We sat down and took the core values and redefined our artistic goals. We updated engine, we're in 3d now, but we decided to stay with the isometric view, since that was true to d1 universe. And the isometric view is a good decision for art staff. Makes it easier to make things come to life, and to work on the environments and gameplay. (Since they only need to be seen from one direction/angle.)
Color
Color was one of the most controversial things. Our memory of D1 and D2 was not what they really were. We thought it was a very gray, washed out universe, very dark, nooks and crannies of black. But when we went back and played we saw a lot of really vibrant areas, and that's something we latched onto. We did research on horror movies that we thought accomplished the horror vibe very well. One of the things was use of color to establish mood. Carried over into art style for d3. choosing palettes carefully.
Colors seen outside of screenshot without context the colors are very bright, but when seen in context of the game the colors are effective in establishing mood. Dark greens and dark blues to establish a horror vibe, ominous vibe. Big brother is watching. You can get away with using very vibrant colors which is pleasing, but at the same time maintain that core value of the Diablo franchise. A horror vibe. And when you're not afraid of color you can use to your advantage. Use it to lead gameplay where you want to go. When you have an overall screen of greenish light, you can stick an orange torch in, and the bright orange flame becomes a beacon for the player to follow. It makes gameplay better for the player to understand. Everything comes together seamlessly. '
D1 was actually quite dark unless you turned the gamma up to see better=P (note this is not the same as turning the gamma down to see less! the default is what you should judge the games standard look by)
I think people get confused when they talk about colors as well. Its not so much about colors as it is about grittiness. Look at the floor in the den of evil sometime, for example, or in the chaos sanctuary. Then compare to d3s smooth surface. Of course this is due to the 3d nature of d3. You never see textures that look as good as sprites and tiles for some reason...
D1 was a lot darker than D2 I think. I think it was actually the combination of musical scores (which weren't quite mirrored so well in D2), the Gothic sort of style that was present only in some parts of D2 and the way the characters and monsters moved and interacted. Diablo 1 was more sombre, more "serious", and I think I liked that better.
I'm not quite sure the art director really knew what he was talking about. Both D1 and D2 had a fairly dark color palette, but by no means were they horror games. "Horror game" to me means Resident Evil, Silent Hill, hell, even Doom 3. But I don't remember D2 ever being...scary. Which is kind of a requirement for a game to be called "horror." Some of the environments were dark and oppressive, such as the Rogue Monastary or the Durance of Hate, but that's about as far as it goes. D1 felt a lot more disquieting to me, as a lot of other readers have expressed, but that may be because I played it when I was younger.
In any case, I don't think Diablo 3 is going to be a horror game, at least as I define it. I at least hope they'll bring back some of that dark, oppressive style that the series is famous for--not only in the art direction. but also in the soundtrack and ambient sounds.
Having horror movie visuals does not necessarily make a scary game. That's not what Diablo is about, nor should it be a primary intention of Blizzard. It's about some good ol', engaging, hack 'n slash gameplay.
My opinion and worries regarding this were that yes D2 is a game i feel at home.Yes i feel at home in all those crypts,durances etc.I feel at home in hell.A 'horror' game is the exact oposite.If they manage to ruin that familiar feeling,that idea that you come back to an old friend any time you start playing it again then they ruined Diablo.
Horror in a senses something menacing in the area? D1 had more of that due to the grotesque monsters and half-naked, mutilated bodies everywhere. D2 had that in some places such as Durance and Jail. So yes, I see them as horrors still. Even though D2 had less violence and naked succubus women shooting blood stars, there was still something menacing in d2.
Man I remember the butcher in diablo 1, That was ****ed up there was dead bodies everywhere and **** and people being torn in half and what not. Diablo II became a lot more softcore compared to that although if you go through all the acts again you'll notice there are a lot of torn in half bodies and people who have been ripped in half and what not. I really enjoyed act 4 to be honest because it was a break from all those people getting torn in half and blood remains everywhere
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