Comments on: Diablo III Designer Critiques The Critiques

By: Brian

Brian — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 15:55:50 +0000

That was enlightening =) It demonstrates how a trained eye in game development works really different from a consumer eye, lot’s of things go into the background so the player can have a cool experience, without knowing how, it’s like magic, lol.

First time I looked at this modified shots I was like “Yeah! That’s what D3 should look like!” but after reading the interview I realized, for instance, that D2 (which I’m playing at the moment) really have this bright, colorful planes, and the actual contrast of passing from that scenario to a depressing, gore-filled tomb, helps to emphasize the impression.

Conclusion, leave the work to the pros =D

By: a1ex

a1ex — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 13:54:15 +0000

I’m getting sick of people blaming everybody who’s criticising DIII art direction for wanting “next-gen brown”. Its about smooth textures and pastel colors which take any horror and “realism” which could make it Diablo like.

By: malkav11

malkav11 — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 21:40:59 +0000

A grey-and-brown saturated color palette means monotony and dingy ugliness more often than not. Look at Quake II, for example. But of course anything can be done well with the right touch. Gears of War is certainly fairly monochrome, but the soaring architecture and so on tend to make up for it. Besides, a war zone *should* look a bit battered.

By: Kanakotka

Kanakotka — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 15:10:15 +0000

If the contrast and brightness of the game annoys someone so much, why not do the easy option and lower contrast, gamma, brightness on their monitor for darker game experience? It’s that easy.

By: Darth Benedict

Darth Benedict — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 09:11:56 +0000

@Pwnzerfaust:

Perhaps, but they always side with the devs, so it’s hard to tell.

By: luphisto

luphisto — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 08:35:49 +0000

@Pwnzerfaust
your right hand eh? i may have to hold you too that. hehehe

By: RichPowers

RichPowers — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 04:31:06 +0000

Give them what they need, never what they want.

Expanding on what R. said, to quote Henry Ford:

If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.

By: Pwnzerfaust

Pwnzerfaust — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 04:28:18 +0000

@ Darth Benedict
People are siding with the developers because they’re right, not because they’re developers.
Developers who know what they’re doing; what a crazy world we live in!

Anyhoo, all I would add to Diablo III graphics-wise is more detailed textures and maybe more anisotropic filtering. Otherwise, I think it’s perfect and the decision of the developers to choose function over “form” was a smart (and, dare I say, ballsy) one. I would bet my right hand that it pays off in the end.
Besides, there are things other than darkness that can contribute to a scary atmosphere. Did any of you see the mangled remains of corpses following our heroes everywhere they went? The ominous, claustrophobia inducing corridors teeming with unlife? Hell, did any of you HEAR the gameplay trailer? I wouldn’t doubt if those sound effects came straight out of a butcher shop slash watermellon smashing parlour. My lady-friend had to excuse herself from the room because the sound of exploding corpses (coupled with the SIGHT of exploding corpses) wrenched her gut so.

Anyone who thinks Diablo III should go the way of the broody teenager has an exceptionally narrow-minded view about what constitutes creepy-ness.

By: luphisto

luphisto — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 03:53:06 +0000

its satisfying to know that my views about the colour scheme are shared with the guys making it. also his reasoning for the why the chosen look was the best was very interesting.

also i think the fact that some fans think they know better than the people that make the game is a little insulting to them, im not saying giving feedback is a bad thing but jeez give them some credit.

By: tmp

tmp — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 01:21:05 +0000

Colour palette is one of he least important aspects of game design, and certainly has no intrinsic merit in and of itself.

Valve disagrees; check their TF2 documents for details.

By: Colinmarc

Colinmarc — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 20:43:33 +0000

Did they remove the pot of chipped gems at the end of the rainbow too?! Nooo!

By: Funky Badger

Funky Badger — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 20:29:58 +0000

Colour palette is one of he least important aspects of game design, and certainly has no intrinsic merit in and of itself. Unless you’re some kind of chromatofascist…