slang says:

Certainly dark enough for me…

July 1st, 2008 at 6:19 pm

DASH says:

The question is, if WoW was never released would these guy even have an argument for how D3 looks?

July 1st, 2008 at 6:23 pm

fluffy bunny says:

Heh, people on the internet. Always fun to see what they come up with next.

July 1st, 2008 at 6:27 pm

Jimi Hendrix says:

The screenshots do look a tad to bright hopefully it’ll be toned down but certainly aint game breaking
its not like say, making a isometric turn based RPG turn into a first person shooter.

July 1st, 2008 at 6:32 pm

PaulMorel says:

Well, if anyone needed evidence that the proletariat is indeed a fickle bunch …

I am as big a Diablo fan as anyone, and I think that D3 is looking great! I wish it was being released next week!

July 1st, 2008 at 6:34 pm

The Hammer says:

“- Cartoon’ish art direction, obviously influenced by the Warcraft universe, Diablo isnt Warcraft.”

Wow. I think Blizzard will be very grateful for this petition to tell them that…

July 1st, 2008 at 6:37 pm

mysticsika says:

1 outdoor enviroment * 1 indoor enviroment/pretty extensive gameplay video = vocal minority whining.

*has no math*

July 1st, 2008 at 6:40 pm

Raptornas says:

Never really got diablo, I can understand the whole collecting addiction thing but I like to be in control of what I’m “collecting” which is why i think Eve grabbed me as I was able to say I want to get that and then focus on doing it.

Also clicking on bad guys repeatedly just didn’t do it for me. Then again it could have been magic online but I just didn’t bother.

July 1st, 2008 at 6:44 pm

derFeef says:

Whats wrong with that people. That comparison images are ridiculous. They even can achieve that with adjusting the monitors. I like art direction D3 has. It looks painted with watercolors, especially at outside areas. Its amazing and that is how a game should look.

July 1st, 2008 at 6:45 pm

gulag says:

“It’s a simple photoshop to accentuate the kind of ambience many long time fans of Diablo wished for.”

Oh good! I suppose all they need to do is run a couple of filters and it’s all down the pub before closing.

July 1st, 2008 at 6:53 pm

Natus says:

Wow, Ohle, I don’t get you guys. I really don’t. I thought D2 was plagued by the same darkn’creepy environment time after bloody time. As the posters above stated more clearly than I will: you NEED a bit of light and air (only a bit, mind you!) before you go back into the next crypt. Otherwise, like D2, it’s depressingly the same.

And if you were put off by the lack of gore and blood after watching the gameplay video, then NO game is going to satisfy you. Honestly, what will?

July 1st, 2008 at 6:58 pm

The Hammer says:

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/images/june08/diab1.jpg

Nope. No blood/gore/darkness to see there.

July 1st, 2008 at 7:01 pm

alphaxion says:

derfeef: that’s because all blizzard textures are painted and then put through a diffuse map.

I have to go on the side of the current art direction, it looks stunning and I have no problems with the elemental damage and death animations.

Do they really want everything to look like 1990’s software rendering?

July 1st, 2008 at 7:02 pm

Meat Circus says:

NEEDS MORE DANK

July 1st, 2008 at 7:07 pm

Crispy says:

I thought WC3 was fine, it has it’s own style contrinued over from the previous games and it’s never supposed to be gritty, dark or serious. It is light fantasy and nothing more. This was carried over into WoW.

D3 looks fine to me as well. I think it looks ever so slightly cheerier than Diablo, but it’s definitely nothing like WoW, so where’s the problem?

P.S. I’d love to see some of the great musical styles of Diablo revisited for D3.

July 1st, 2008 at 7:14 pm

alphaxion says:

not forgetting the explosion of the fat guys into piles of worms/maggots.. I actually heard a few people near me in the crowd going “eurgh” when they happened.

argh, will someone help me to get the D2 act 1 music out of my head >.<

July 1st, 2008 at 7:15 pm

Ojive says:

Is it just me, or is the only difference in the before/after pics a layer of gray added over the environment?

July 1st, 2008 at 7:19 pm

Mark-P says:

I have to say I agree with them. :/ I prefer their filtered shots, and not just by a small amount. Especially ones like: http://img180.imageshack.us/my.php?image=makeluvnotwarcraftzs3.jpg

They seem more in keeping with the ambience of the previous 2 games. Unfortunately this is an e-petition, and therefore a complete waste of time for everyone involved.

July 1st, 2008 at 7:30 pm

Jacques says:

I’ve got to say I really don’t like the character design of the two characters we’ve seen so far, they do look cartoony, and I’m not a fan of that. I’m happy with everything else though.

July 1st, 2008 at 7:38 pm

SwiftRanger says:

“I’m also surprised at the level of blood and grue, I thought that usually got the (conspicuously bloodless) chop in favour of a lower age rating these days.”

Well, that’s basically a core element of the Diablo franchise. The room in which you found the Butcher in Diablo, or Diablo’s death (there hasn’t been a more joyful waiting time until the cd gets running to show the death animation), the slaughterfest in the Lut Gholein harem in Diablo II, the funny explosion of blood in the Lord of Destruction intro cinematic… it’s very reassuring that the ‘new’ devs are continuing the gore tradition with virginal sacrifices to build up a mini-boss out of human blood and bones or how a mini-boss creature can rip apart a player character at once. A pity the corpses don’t stay though, I hope there’ll be an option for that.

Diablo III looks and seems to play the same but if anyone has actually listened to what Jay Wilson & co were saying then there are a lot of improvements and new bits announced already if you think about it, at least a lot more than that StarCraft-remake they’re doing. It’s all in the many details, people said the same thing about Diablo II and that just blew away any previous Diablo-clone (Darkstone, Revenant, Nox) when it came out, not because of its name but because it expanded the hack & slash gameplay with brilliant and extensive skilltrees and an itemhunt like no-one had ever seen before. I couldn’t stop playing it for a whole week, and then that replayability… simply crazy stuff, right up there with BGII and JA2, games like they don’t make them anymore. :(

I have a feeling it will be the same again with DIII (they said they still have a lot under wraps, that white/red theme in the logo must mean something in terms of gameplay as well I think), though probably because the competition isn’t that big now.

July 1st, 2008 at 7:43 pm

Darkelp says:

*sigh*
Petition’s are so stupid.
Well, petition’s about the art style of a game are stupid.
Petition’s should be left to freeing political prisoners and being against the war.
So Diablo 3 has kept up with the times, used new graphics to create what could very well be the original design the artists had in mind at the time, but technical restraints stopped them.

I say we petition to ban petition’s.

Yes, darkly ironic.

As Noc said, its just some people upset that the people who own the product decided to make a design choice that they wouldn’t of done.

July 1st, 2008 at 7:48 pm

kenok says:

I’ll blame samwise for his art style in the Warcraft universe. Hopes he doesn’t get involved in any D3 meetings. ;)

July 1st, 2008 at 7:52 pm

Tr00jg says:

New Blizzard is not really reknown for innovation, but rather polishing a game to death, and we all know that makes the better game in the end.

July 1st, 2008 at 8:07 pm

alphaxion says:

the “necro version” has lost a shitload of definition on the image (inevitable when you mess about with a jpg, I know).

I still prefer the “wow gayness” version because it’s a breath of fresh air – it’s something new instead of a continuation of a starved colour pallet.
Yes, the gore gets lost in a brighter world compared to an almost sin city style but I’d rather have a varied environment instead of having my memories blur into a single image that reminds me of how I recall my time playing delta force 1.

July 1st, 2008 at 8:20 pm

CobaltLion says:

People are saying it looks “Cartoonish?” What kind of cartoons did these people watch growing up?

July 1st, 2008 at 8:24 pm

cHeal says:

After looking at a few of their before and afters I tend to agree. It does look a little WoWish and there is just too much coloured lighting.

Evidenced by the above screen shot (post above this), these guys are actually right, the game does look too bright and colourful. It’s as if coloured lighting was just invented and these guys decided to go mad. Incidentally if you read any guide on level designing for FPS’s they will tend to warn against the over use of coloured lighting, specifically the use of primary colours. In summary they definitely have a point.

I would sign the petition but I actually don’t care.

July 1st, 2008 at 8:34 pm

Pijama says:

Eff them, those who think that “DARK INDUSTRIAL GOTHIC GRITTY” must be in EVERY DAMN GAME. I find the colour pallete very good thank you very much. Also, check out the artwork for Old/New Tristam. There is one screen which portrays the dark cathedral. Isn’t it dark enough?

That being said, I agree with the playstyle comment. Checking the barb slashing away with the same repeating moves made me worry a little, because come on, eight years of technologic development has surely allowed devs to put some variety in the combat… Add it Blizz!

July 1st, 2008 at 8:41 pm

AnarkiJ says:

over 4000 people think that photoshop filtered screenshots look better than Blizzards trained and talented team of artists. Now that is a depressing thought. I wonder how many of those people even saw the first Warcraft games and how much of a departure in terms of art WC3 was. There just seems to be a lack of understanding that the reason the games looked like they did then was that was all the technology could do. I have a feeling that if Blizzard had the tech they do now back when D1 & 2 were made, they would look pretty close to what we’ve seen of D3 so far.

As an actual arguement for the palettes used it does bring some pre-established and ideas of contextual colour, and Blizzard have been using this for a while now. The bright primary colours of the PC’s and things is about the only thing I can attribute to looking anything like WoW. I think it works because they’re there to make it easier on the eye when in the middle of a battle to tell whose character is whose, and they are easier to be identified for what their role in battle is by colour. It’s clever artistic design that really nails the feeling of a well constructed game, with well thought out and meaningful game design. Even looking back at Diablo 1, when compared to a lot of things around at the time, it still stood out artistically different from everything else, despite limited tech and the fact the whole game was about going deeper and deeper underground. I think with D3 there’s definitely something to be proved in terms of trying to look different from all the other “gritty, dark and realistic” games. Although it seems Blizzard has still got further to go to prove that if anyone can pull it off, they can.

July 1st, 2008 at 9:03 pm

Elitedruin says:

Wow…I a lot of you are smoking crack. I think this new Diablo looks fantastic and I can’t wait for it to come out. I’ve been playing the Diablo series since 95′ and even got into the beta for Diablo 2 and I must say I love where they took the game. I will definitely be purchasing the colletors edition, because you know they will have one….they always do! See you in Sanctuary!

July 1st, 2008 at 9:10 pm

Steven Hutton says:

Another question that I find particularly interesting: Why do so many people suddenly think that the WoW and (apparantly) warcraft 3 art styles are bad? I’ve not really heard that complaint before but a couple of minutes trolling around the net and it seems like there’s been some kind of secret “I hate wow’s art” underground movement the whole time.

I think sometimes people forget that the greatest game of all time (Ape Escape) was all about the bright primary colours.

July 1st, 2008 at 9:16 pm

faelnor says:

I’d just like the ingame design to match the artworks.
http://eu.blizzard.com/diablo3/_images/artwork/ss24-hires.jpg

July 1st, 2008 at 9:37 pm

Sahagin says:

I think the graphics could be more grim, dark, and Diablo-ish. But for christs sake, we should be thankful we’re even getting another Diablo game.

July 1st, 2008 at 10:02 pm

tks says:

I dont see why the giant fat monster needs to be 1 color with shades of black..and shiny. It just doesn’t fit the diablo art theme.

http://img180.imageshack.us/my.php?image=makeluvnotwarcraftzs3.jpg

Necromancer’s look better because they pulled out the black from the screenshot, defining the shadows more. The original screenshot, you almost ignore all the small details..because they kind of get blurred out. I think this is what people are complaining about…its not too ‘bright’, theres just very little shadows…..and a shiny fat guy who’s face looks like it belongs in a pixar movie or something. Lighting and shading is where its at.

Keep the colors, make stuff that shouldn’t be shiny..not shiny and add more lighting and shading. This would affect performance issues, but thats why there’s options to turn it down.

July 1st, 2008 at 10:07 pm

sbs says:

Embarrassing.

July 1st, 2008 at 10:19 pm

Skalpadda says:

I’d say people should take a deep breath, relax and ponder what’s wrong with their heads if they can’t enjoy the action in an action game because the colours are the wrong shade or too vibrant or they can see 3 inches further of what’s on the screen than they’d like.

Personally, I appreciate the art style, but then again I found most of the art and atmosphere rather dreary and boring in D2.

July 1st, 2008 at 10:31 pm

dhex says:

the difference between the darker and lighter versions is rather slight.

but such is the nature of fandom.

July 1st, 2008 at 10:42 pm

Noc says:

Frank: I think that article is missing the difference between a sequel and a remake. Making a “proper sequel” does NOT involve just making the same game over again in a nearly indistinguishable format but with one or two new bits. That’s what you put in expansion packs. If someone’s going to make a sequel to a game years and years after it came out, they’d BEST be trying to use the new level of technology to it’s fullest to try and trump the limitations that hampered the original game.

Because when you do things “Old school” just because “That’s how good games were made,” you get shit like Lost Odyssey. There’s no excuse for Lost Odyssey, purely because it didn’t have a ten-year-old prequel to sell it on unadultered nostalgia value for a time when good-looking sprites meant something was state-of-the-art.

Also, I’m with TKS on this: it’s not that it needs to be brown, it just needs to have contrast. You can do contrast with colors besides gray and brown, you just can’t have the sort of mid-range phantom ambient light that seems to suffuse every inch of underground complexes and render it all comfortably well-lit.

The reason people flock to dirt-brown color schemes isn’t because they hate color. It’s because in something that’s mostly monochrome, instances of color and light pop out so much more. “Realistic” is a misnomer for this, because in the real world our eyes tend to adjust pretty quickly to the color of ambient light, so different colors in our view tend to appear much more saturated. But monochromatic palettes call attention to the color of the light source and make people FEEL more like they’re looking at something real.

By the same argument that people raised, where you need the brightly colored outside to make the dungeons properly gloomy, you also need some dark brown and gray about to make the bloody trail you leave behind you show up as gloriously as it should.

The fact that this has been reduced to an argument of “Omg looks like WoW wicked gay, but this BROWN one’s cool and awesome” is simply an unfortunate side effect of masses of people not having the proper vocabulary to analyze something they’re looking at.

July 1st, 2008 at 10:59 pm

Frank says:

I didn’t mean to endorse that blogger’s post…though for the most part I do. Noc says:

they’d BEST be trying to use the new level of technology to it’s fullest to try and trump the limitations that hampered the original game.

I think Bethesda had BEST be clear on what, if anything, was hampering Fallout before they go trump thumping. And what is their trump card, anyway? Judging by Oblivion, it’s the cheap trick of auto-generating 90% of their content.
EDIT: Though it looks like you’re more set on attacking Diablo 3 than defending Fallout 3.

July 1st, 2008 at 11:23 pm

Crash says:

I believe that, no matter what would be done, there’s ALWAYS some group of people who is ALWAYS dissappointed. Maybe their tin foil hats are too tight, or their parents forced them to eat their spinach.

Jokes aside, I can’t see anything in Diablo3 that looks similar to WoW. Since when colors equals cartoonish? I hated dungeons so dark, that even with shiny hat, shiny staff, armor & pants I couldn’t see end of my own boobs. I always played D2 with brightness turned on to max, and my eyes still hurts from that.

Ignore those always disappointed cranky morons, and support Blizzard. I believe they do a good job.

July 1st, 2008 at 11:31 pm

Noc says:

Frank: I’m not attacking Diablo 3 as much as I am framing the objections to it’s art style in a way that makes more sense. I don’t, personally, mind that D3 isn’t innovating as much as it could: coming up with new ideas isn’t really Blizzard’s thing. And complaining about THAT is like complaining about Square-Enix not putting out any good FPSs. (I don’t know why JRPGs are creeping into all my metaphors today. I haven’t even played one in forever.)

What I was mostly attacking was the blog post’s comparison between the two sequels. For the reasons mentioned above.

Also, Oblivion didn’t have auto-generated content. They SAID it would, but it didn’t. The “Radiant AI” isn’t even IN the game: NPCs, instead of going about their business dynamically according to intelligent AI, run on schedules you input manually. Granted, this doesn’t speak in Bethesda’s favor either, but my point about them attempting innovation stands. The Infinity Engine wasn’t made for gunfights, and as a result the combat system was, if I can say it, pretty boring. You had your FPSs at the time, but THOSE engines weren’t really built for the level of art design and character interaction that Fallout was about, either. Yes, I know they made it work with Deus Ex two years later . . . but Deus Ex is a perfect example of how a good idea can be stilted by unready technology. So Bethesda, making a game when the technology has finally caught up with the vision, is trying to expand the vision to fit today’s technology.

Will they do it well? I don’t know. But they’re trying. And I approve of that.

July 1st, 2008 at 11:56 pm

The Hammer says:

Agreed, actually, Michael. That is the one frown I had about what was otherwise a brilliant reveal.

July 2nd, 2008 at 12:07 am

Alex says:

People should stop whining about other people whining. If you can’t do it on the internet, where can you do it..

The internet swings both ways. Blizzard isn’t afraid to turn to the internet to get a big, sloppy load of hype going, so here’s a tiny bit of anti-hype. It’ll get drowned out by the sound of Diablo-fans fainting at every new tidbit of info that is dropped anyway. Let the whiners do their whiney thing.

July 2nd, 2008 at 1:24 am

tks says:

Honestly, i’m pretty sure this game is nowhere near complete. It wouldn’t surprise me if the lighting system hasn’t been implemented yet. It also wouldn’t surprise me if they let you to enable it and disable it along with other graphic settings that will be in the game.

I don’t think the graphics are bad enough to really cause an uproar, but these are just things they can improve on.

I really don’t believe anyone is going to play D3 zoomed all the way up screaming bloody murder over a statue with 1 color and a diffuse map dropped on it. When that fat guy in the screenshot above is trying to kill me, I wont pause the game, and judge him like a painting on a wall…really the art isn’t bad enough to get upset about.

July 2nd, 2008 at 1:50 am

kibibu says:

At least these people are giving the Blizzard art department a good giggle.

July 2nd, 2008 at 2:05 am

Stick says:

Oh, let’s just admit it. We want sprites! None of this fancy schmancy 3D animation junk!

July 2nd, 2008 at 3:09 am

Ci2e says:

I’m just happy it’s not going to be limited to 800×600 and they kept the isometric view. I’m going to give Blizzard the benefit of the doubt – and hope the dungeons are more open like in Diablo 2, and I never played the Original. Still loved Diablo 2 and still like what I see for the most part in Diablo 3 and I really do hate World of Warcraft primarily because it’s pay to play…

July 2nd, 2008 at 3:23 am

Ci2e says:

@ The Pope

LOL I so didn’t understand one bit you were tryin to say. Maybe its because everything you mentioned you used games I’ve never played before to support your opinion, so I’m lost…

July 2nd, 2008 at 3:48 am

Ci2e says:

Ah okay I see what your saying – but when you comment on the colors are you looking at everything as a whole? It looked pretty dark to me I guess I’m just not that picky about the color scheme, the only thing I do agree is the out door areas looked to be a little colorful compared to Diablo 2 but have you thought about the fact that 8 years have gone by and maybe Blizzard put that into account in the Diablo timeline?

Maybe after the Lord of Destruction, Earth had time to green up and maybe it’s colorful because they were showing what it looks like far from the evil. Or maybe it was all made to show everyone what Diablo 3 is capable of…

July 2nd, 2008 at 4:14 am

Ci2e says:

LMAO I think they need a quote system in this opinion posting thingamajig… You can never please everyone when you reach a large audience…

July 2nd, 2008 at 4:19 am

Andrea Lannister says:

There’s a new petition going on to actually KEEP the current art style and it looks like the Blizzard Guru site that spotted Ashley’s blog is leading the charge.

They’ve just thrown a petition up: http://www.petitiononline.com/d3color/petition.html

July 2nd, 2008 at 6:08 am

yutt says:

Thank you Internet, because what I need is one more fucking game that is entirely muddy brown and grey gothic castles and dungeons.

Primary colors are terrifying. If the concept art can’t be entirely rendered using ash and excrement: I will have none!

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/zero-punctuation/14-Clive-Barkers-Jericho

July 2nd, 2008 at 7:45 am

Arnulf says:

I am totally incredulous!

Don’t have people better things to do with their time?

I mean, come on, the game isn’t even released yet. There’s probably years. Maybe Blizz will change the art direction totally. It could be that these are all placeholders (albeit very good looking ones)! Some parts of the dungeon look very Scholomance-y to me…

Anyway, if that is the final Art, and it happens you don’t like it. Well, then don’t buy it!

/throws hands up in the air in desperation

July 2nd, 2008 at 8:29 am

cullnean says:

Blizz – “ok guys scrap the last 4 years and just make some D2 maps and stuff, then we can go to the pub instead.”

mental internet fellas – “Woot D3 is the best”

July 2nd, 2008 at 9:17 am

Jochen Scheisse says:

But also, People should stop whining about other people whining about people whining.

July 2nd, 2008 at 9:42 am

haowan says:

I did done a picture that represents what we, the true diablo fans, require of a true next-gen sequel to diablo.

July 2nd, 2008 at 10:14 am

MetalCircus says:

I love how, despite everything going on in the world, this is the petition people are signing.

I hate people so very much.

July 2nd, 2008 at 10:40 am

Butler` says:

Have to say i’m in the minority here. Based on what’s shown thus far, it does look too bright/not “Diablo-ey” enough for my tastes.

July 2nd, 2008 at 11:11 am

Kazz says:

Meh, just turn the brightness down and be happy Diablo 3 is on its way

July 2nd, 2008 at 11:42 am

Ashen says:

I’m forced to agree with the naysayers. The artwork itself is good, but the ambient lighting looks like Quake2 colored lightning phenomenon – it’s way overblown, there’s little to no contrast and it doesn’t fit in with Diablo at all.

I’d hope that at least they have a shadow system similar to D2 planned (ie. http://i31.tinypic.com/2zta5o7.jpg), but given their priority on low system requirements I kinda doubt it.

Too bad, since just about everything else about the game screams bloody fantastic.

July 2nd, 2008 at 12:43 pm

mulayim says:

Ashley Cheng can suck it.

July 2nd, 2008 at 1:26 pm

CajoleJuice says:

I’m mostly disappointed because I’m not sure if Diablo 3 even looks better than Titan Quest, a 2-year-old game. Of course, D3 is a ways off, but it’s still a bit disheartening. But the game will doubtlessly blow my nuts off when it comes out, so whatever.

July 2nd, 2008 at 2:20 pm

Plant42 says:

People are getting sidetracked a bit with the light/dark thing – brightness and contrast are not an art style. The original Diablo had characters composed of sprites that were rendered by the cinematics team – subdued colors, highly detailed and realistic, highly textured…

Warcraft 3 and WOW moved in the opposite direction – bright, unrealistic colors, washes of color due to monochromatic, bright ambient light, and a blocky, cartoony art style. You could almost say painterly. The screenshots of Diablo 3, while they do depict dark dungeons and all the requisite torches, rats, spiderwebs, statues, stone and rubble, they’ve definitely kept the low-poly, painterly, pseudo-cartoonish style intact. Look at the first outdoor scene – the flowers and leaves almost look like brush strokes.

And for what it’s worth (not much), I did like the realistic, detailed, gritty style better than the cartoony one. Add to that spells directly lifted from WOW (such as fear, with the same screaming skulls above each terrified creature) and I can see the complaints. Diablo was ‘about’ gritty realism and fighting demons, WOW seems to be about huge, cartoony shoulder pads and massive anime-style glowing swords. Just a tad crappier.

July 2nd, 2008 at 3:11 pm

cullnean says:

@planT42

“Diablo was ‘about’ gritty realism and fighting demons”

lol realism and demons

July 2nd, 2008 at 3:28 pm

alphaxion says:

cigol: the real problem is that each side is reacting to the news of diablo3 with their own opinion/preference over how it looks from a small glimpse at the game.

It’s something that can rage on for an eternity without people ever reaching agreement. Best thing to do would be waiting to see what the gameplay is like. even then, a lot of that will be subjective too.

*sigh*

July 2nd, 2008 at 3:48 pm

Zyrusticae says:

I actually at least partially agree here. Not so much with the brightness/color scheme, mind you, but with the lack of texture detail/noise that results in that washed-out “painterly” look. It feels like Diablo 3 inherited WoW’s propensity for low-resolution textures, and given how every Diablo 2 game has looked before, that is not a good thing.

July 2nd, 2008 at 4:22 pm

Arnulf says:

I’ve got an idea: Blizzard incorporates the grit-filter. Turning that on, or moving a slider into the direction “more grittiness” applies that change wanted by the “true” Diablo-fans.

People content with the WoW-gayness leave it alone. Problem solved.

July 2nd, 2008 at 6:03 pm

Through beige-tinted glasses says:

I could’ve sworn I saw this very same whine before. Oh right- Starcraft 2 is not Warcraft in space!

Blizzard clearly shouldn’t be allowed to adopt new art styles, or even improve on their own, especially when there’s plenty other dark/brown styles they could imitate!

July 2nd, 2008 at 6:39 pm

Jochen Scheisse says:

Don’t know if it’s been linked already, but Keith Lee has commented on the palette issue on MTV Multiplayer:

http://multiplayerblog.mtv.com/2008/07/02/diablo-iii-art-direction/

July 2nd, 2008 at 8:30 pm

Alan Au says:

Maybe Blizzard will add a “monitor gamma” slider to the D3 video settings. Problem solved!

July 2nd, 2008 at 11:41 pm

Jenderi says:

why do people have to start looking at the first released pictures/video clips like they are the final product? its not lie D3 is coming out tomorrow and will look like that… give blizzard some time, and lets see what they come up with

July 3rd, 2008 at 2:23 am

Frymaster says:

it doesn’t seem any different to diablo 1 tbh (well, the dungeon bit didn’t). Diablo II maybe, but that was mainly grey anyway.

I think what they _have_ done is put more dynamic lighting in – daylight looks like daylight, not just like a dungeon with a grass floor, and the magic looks more neon, which is as it should be.

anyway, me likes.

July 3rd, 2008 at 3:35 am

MaxMcG says:

Out of interest, have Blizzard ever made a game that was crap? (Insert WoW jibe here)

I’m sure D3 will be great. They’re experts, the 9352 signatories are likely not.

Maek Daiblo3 Blak and wite! Every idiot has an opinion but they’re still idiots. Like me for example.

July 3rd, 2008 at 4:36 pm

A coin says:

I can personally can see where this is coming from – the Diablo series has kind of been getting less and less grim since the first one, and having played the first two I can say this is a trend I’m not particularly fond of overall. However, I think its a bit early to say the trend is continuing full-speed towards outright cartoonishness, though again I can certainly see how someone could get that from the gameplay video. Ultimately though I’m just glad we’re getting another Diablo game.

July 3rd, 2008 at 9:59 pm

Arnulf says:

What personally disgusts me is that some fans (and in this case the original form “fanatic” is quite appropriate) apparently know better how a game should look like. For years they were complaining that Blizzard would not let on if they were working on a third Diablo game. And now that Blizzard admitted they did, they’re not content and immediately demand changes.

July 4th, 2008 at 10:20 am

Juror #9 says:

Boy i tell ya. I played D1 and got halfway through D2 due to a couple kids being born (time limited), this one, D3, even with the new atmospheric hues, looks great. I remember just before D2 came out everyone was complaining “where’s D2″, “why don’t we have it in our mits yet!!”, “it better be good!” Well just like a only a few have said, has Bliz ever failed to come through for the players? They may have been late on a few occasions i’ll give you that but i’m sure they are wondering if you hardcore complainers have jobs and lives to deal with also. Relax, it’ll be here soon and just becuase you have seen a couple of screenies, don’t cast such a dismal cloud over this one

July 4th, 2008 at 7:04 pm

JS says:

It’s fine the way it is, personally all that darkness was bad for my eyes I couldnt see for crap! LEAVE IT ALONE

it looks awesome, and we should be happy they even choose to make another Diablo game, SHAME ON YOU idiots bashing the color. I think it looks AWESOME!!!

July 6th, 2008 at 4:13 am

Twizted Mettle says:

First of all, to those who have complained within the first thirty seconds of the gameplay demo, shut up. What were seeing now will probably not even make it into the game. Its blizzard. Five months before it’s release date they are going to scrap the entire game and do it over with twice the expertise they finished the first version with. So again, shut up. I particularly ENJOYED the techniques the barbarian showed. I always thought many of the original characters and characters in D2 worked off of different skills that were kind of “the same”. Or there were so many build-up skills that were more or less wasted. I liked that the barbarian’s skills were fairly varied and much more tactical. Even the shaman had some of these characteristics despite the fact that im not completely sold on it. (i have a deep love relationship with the necromancer class). As far as the brightness goes, get over it. It’s a different game. If you want the color settings of D1, go play D1. Idiots.

July 8th, 2008 at 2:21 am

Hmm-hmm. says:

I liked Diablo I and II, and really, in my opinion the ones who say it could be darker may have a point. For one, the whole world and theme of the Diablo games has been rather dark and ominous. Now, that doesn’t mean there cannot be bright environments. Diablo II had those. But they weren’t as.. colour-saturated. It could do with a bit more grime, a bit more despair. An outside area can be light and bright, but grass doesn’t need to look like over-the-top my little ponies green. Yes, that’s exaggerated for emphasis.

That’s especially so in the dungeon parts. Now, if Diablo III has ‘durance of hate’-like environs (a rather.. atmospheric and dark dungeon in Diablo II), I’ll be dang pleased. It doesn’t need to be all gloom. But if that dungeon they show is exemplary of all darker areas.. I’ll be a tad disappointed. A tad, because the game looks good, but it’ll be less than it could be.. for the use of colouration and art style does impact the atmosphere of a game.

And what could use a bit of ‘gloom-and-doom-ifying’ may very well include not being able to see the edges of the screen. For me, having that added to the horror-movie like aspect for the many dungeons. It’s a vicious, dark world. Things do crawl up on you out of the dark.

Now, if this actually is an issue (which I think it may well be) the changes necessary needn’t be too big to satisfy many of the dissatisfied fans. But the time to speak is -especially- now, I’d say. For the longer you wait the harder it’ll be for the developer to actually change anything. In fact, it may be too late already, given the fact that the product is out in the open with screenshots, movies and all.

Personally I expect nothing will be changed exactly because of that. I think they’ve decided on a course, an art-concept. And yes, it has some resemblance to the (much brighter and shinier still) other product they’re developing: Starcraft 2. Indeed, I think what we may be seeing in the artwork is the result of a somewhat different art-direction than they had in the days of Diablo II and Starcraft.

Also, given the gameplay of the Diablo franchise, players have little to fear for radical changes there (especially knowing Blizzard). And given the propensity for many hardcore players of Diablo II to keep on hacking for hours upon hours through the various difficulty levels all the way up to level 99, they’ll sure be seeing a lot of the game in the time it takes to get there.. if III follows II in that aspect, which I suspect it will. So I think it’s a rather valid point to target if one is doubting Blizzard’s current direction.

@Twizted Mettle: But it IS their game, too. Really, who other than great fans of the previous Diablo games would bother? It’s simply a case of players actually caring for a product turning out the way they hope it will. That doesn’t mean the petitioners represent the entirety of the fan population, but it doesn’t invalidate their opinions. And I rather doubt Blizzard would like to see any long-time customer of theirs leave. At the very least responding to concerns among the player-base makes for sound business practice.

July 8th, 2008 at 10:42 pm

Hmm-hmm. says:

@Alexander: Well first of all, all things I’ve seen and read so far point towards a more ‘colourful’ style. You may not have seen this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BB-nVF2UcdE&feature=related

Also, why should they (or anyone else concerned about something about the game) not talk about the things they would like to see if speaking up now makes it more likely they will get implemented? Certainly, those who think otherwise are allowed to speak their minds, too. That, and there’s no telling what Blizzard will change (if anything) anyway. That some people will be overreacting and exaggerating no matter what is just something you have to take in stride if you take a look at opinions from fans at all.

And on the light radius: well, I liked it. I may like Diablo III just as much without, but hey, at least I know I liked that. ;) That, and it’s obvious there’ll be conflicting opinions on just about anything, so feel free to disagree.

In the end, as I said, the problem may be nonexistent.. but there’s no way to say for sure at this point. Maybe that’s an argument to postpone criticism, but given the circumstances there may be sufficient reasons to speak up now or to have your voice disregarded because it’s all decided anyway.

July 8th, 2008 at 11:24 pm

MeowCat says:

It look fine to me. I like the atmosphere the way it is. Do the PhotoShop’d images improve the game…no. It’s just different and I doubt this opinion based call for change will (or should) matter. I could play it with either style but prefer the original.

July 9th, 2008 at 3:12 pm

Haoki says:

This looks like more of the same crappy games we have had to slog through for so long…. Diablo 1 was original, diablo 2 was large and in charge but three looks like a colorful squishy piece of crap. C’MON PEOPLE OPEN YOUR EYES…. Im just saying I want a game that will be awesome, not just something to make a little money to go on top of the WoW folder

July 13th, 2008 at 1:39 pm