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I’ll start by saying this, I am new to the Diablo III scene. Some may outright dismiss my comments and opinions based on this fact alone. However I was, and still am, a devoted fan of Diablo II: Lord of Destruction. I have bought the Battlechest several times over the years. Whenever I find someone that has not played Diablo I go out and buy another chest so I can run through it with them. They are always left with a sense of awe. There really is no other gaming experience like it. One moment you’re slashing your way through hordes of monsters and feeling invincible, the next you’re screaming “Help” has a Unique Monster spawns with just the right Modifiers to make you useless.
The matter at hand, however, is the Art Style and color of Diablo III. I must agree with the developers when they say that Diablo II is much more colorful then one remembers. In Act I you are in a light forest and although it’s raining, there really isn’t a sense of dread or textures that imply impending doom until you reach the monastery. Act II is an Arid Desert that is extremely bright until the darkness falls over the land. Act III is a lush thick Jungle teeming with color and life. I think the areas that stand out in most gamers minds are the Durance of Hate and River of Fire areas. In these areas blood stains the walls; rivers of lava burst forth with fire and brimstone. This is the kind of imagery that works well during the Mid to End game. They let the player know that things are getting worse. The textures and models shown thus far are from the Act I. Why would one expect apocalyptic textures to be used at the very beginning of a game? Contrast is a great tool for an artist of any kind. How can you know just how bad things have gotten if they don’t show you how good things were. If they used all the gore at the beginning what would a player have to look forward to? One thing that should be noted is that there is actually blood in DIII. From the demo you can see blood flow, limbs sever and destruction at every turn. The Siege Beast rips the head of a Player for heavens Sake.
This next point is more from my own opinion and imagination then anything else. According to the Lore released so far, it’s been 20 years since the Diablo incident. To me the lush, rainbow strew, outside textures convey a sense that the Evils in the game are starting to reemerge in Sanctuary after 20 years of relative peace. In those 20 yrs maybe Sanctuary has had time to heal a little. According to the Lore most people of Sanctuary believe the Diablo Incident to be pure Myth. This would lead one to consider the fact that most of Sanctuary was not touched by the Prime Evils. If most of Sanctuary was dark, bloody and swarmed by minions from the “Burning Hells” constantly nobody would think Diablo to be a Myth. I think this is a good contrast from DII where you were always following in the wake of the “Dark Wanderer”. So far it seems you’re not chasing a demon, you’re trying to meet it head on.
The reason I wrote this Thread is because all too often only the bad or the complaints are voiced properly. I want to help make sure those vocal complainers don’t drown out the ones that understand the complexities of design and why developers make these tough choices.
I totally agree with you. I'm 105% FOR the new art movement. And if people take a look at the dungeons (the primary source of the evils) they are very dark, gloomy, evil, looking places.
I’ll start by saying this, I am new to the Diablo III scene. Some may outright dismiss my comments and opinions based on this fact alone. However I was, and still am, a devoted fan of Diablo II: Lord of Destruction. I have bought the Battlechest several times over the years. Whenever I find someone that has not played Diablo I go out and buy another chest so I can run through it with them. They are always left with a sense of awe. There really is no other gaming experience like it. One moment you’re slashing your way through hordes of monsters and feeling invincible, the next you’re screaming “Help” has a Unique Monster spawns with just the right Modifiers to make you useless.
You're converting people to Diablo gaming! Blizzard needs to come out with some vestments and don you a Diablo priest.
i got to say bud, that by far is one of the best post starts i have read. anyone that ignored you is dumb, because you are very intelligant, or atleast that is what you are putting off to me.
I agree sir the art style is awsome, the cleaner and more crisp graphics, along with more of an ability to interat with your enviroment, and the new death system is awsome. this game looks like diablo 2 on steroids. I can not wait for this game, and i liked the "you’re trying to meet it head on. " thing, that sir is pimp!
Well, I'm still a little worried about the art direction as far as the item and armor quality goes - what we see in the inventory that is. It looks a tad underdeveloped. I really like the work of Jeremy Jarvis, notably for his work in the D&D Handbooks & Magic cards. It's very close to the watercolor look of DIII, but it would give it slightly more serious character, and a bit more realism. Here are some examples:
Edit: You know, as I thought about it more, and read some of the comments people have been making on the fallen update, I'm reminded that what we're seeing at the moment are both preliminary textures and models. Both probably with go through an immense overhaul. I'd like us to remember the changes that were made in Starcraft 2 with the retexturing and remodeling of several units, and how drastically the style was altered. We've been talking about the "watercolor" look of Diablo III, but we need to be careful that we aren't taking the alpha rendition too seriously. The watercolor style is much easier to do quickly then a more detailed texture and model, but it's not going to be until Blizzard is much further in development that we truly get the realized style of the game - not just placeholder art. If you haven't seen them already check the link below.
Contrast is good, but personally I don't think they're doing it in the right way so far. But hey, I'm reserving judgement until we see FAR more than just a little bit of the first act. It's not fair to judge things so soon.
Also, I buy D2 for my friends' birthdays as well. =P
Judging a book by its color.
Linear Mode
