Dota 2 looks pretty

[cosmicolor]

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=440832

For the lazy:





So these purport to be the very first screenshots that someone has valiantly leaked, probably risking life, limb and lawyer ninjas to do so. I do like the LoL-ish cel-shading on the ground, in fact aside from the UI it looks pretty indeed.

Although, mainly I'm excited because it's Valve and I've had so much fun with TF 2 that I might be able to deal with the inevitably horrid community to have fun, like with LoL.

If these are fakes or from another game then please post so.

Edit: another screen added

[Althea]

If those are real, then Valve are really uh... unoriginal? Looks like a Blizzard game to me.

Edit: Yes, I know it's based on Warcraft 3 and all that, but still, they could have tried something a little new.

[Vandelay]

Well, as you say, the original was Warcraft 3 mod, so it stands to reason that the sequel would have a similar look. Then again, TF2 doesn't look too like TFC, so you might have expected something a little more unique.

Like TF2, though, they do seem to be going for a much more exaggerated cartoony look. I like it. UI could do with a bit of refining, but looks minimalist and with some straightforward hotkeys.

I think I'll probably be keeping an eye on this one. Not played any DOTA style games before or had much interest in them really. The main selling point for me is Valve and they haven't really let me down before. I'm looking forward to hearing more details (and perhaps watching some of the tournament,) at Gamescom.

[Althea]

I was thinking they should distance it a bit visually from similar titles because, as far as I know, DotA2 has been quite a controversial game. They've taken the name, the development team, and now it looks like the visual look. If it was a mod for one of their own games, like Counter-Strike was once upon a time, then sure, I can understand that and perhaps even agree, but this looks like a very poor set of decisions for Valve.

I don't doubt it'll be a high-quality and enjoyable game, but I think they've possibly pulled a dick move - If these screenshots are real, of course.

[cosmicolor]

Don't forget that these are most likely beta, if not even pre-beta screens (the arrow in one of the shots in particular looks very placeholder) so it's likely that the UI will indeed be refined eventually.

Personally I think it already looks prettier than something like LoL while retaining the cleaner look. The visual looks is probably down to it being a very close port of the original Dota game involving one of its creators. I suppose having a radically different look would just annoy people (see: Diablo 3)

[Anthile]

These look fake. This really looks like someone simply 'shopped a Warcraft 3 screenshot.

[Malawi Frontier Guard]

These look fake. This really looks like someone simply 'shopped a Warcraft 3 screenshot.

you sound like an expert

Anyway, we will see how recent or real these shots are in the coming days. Looks good so far if anything.

[Anthile]

These look fake. This really looks like someone simply 'shopped a Warcraft 3 screenshot.

Oh wow. I still can't believe that this is what it's going to look like. I expected a lot more from Valve. Awful, just awful all around.

[cosmicolor]

That's a pretty damn good shop, then. In fact, speaking of fakeness, the interface in the above pics looks to match up with the horrible, blurry image from a Thai interview:


image host

[Rii]

Best screenshot ever.

[Tei]

Don't look fake to me. Seems to use the TF2 rendering style. And has TF2 UI guidelines everywhere. Is pretty, but dota games are not my tea cup.

[goatmonkey]

This is probably the first valve game I have little interest in but that's entirely down to genre, definitely looks source like

[ezekiel2517]

The vengeful spirit looks like Spiderman >:(

[Irishjohn]

I recently started playing League of Legends and am having a lot more fun than I thought I would. So, will DOTA 2 (and Blizzard DOTA) signal the end of LOL and even Heroes of Newerth?

But yes, it does look very pretty.

[Hensler]

I'm looking forward to Smite more. Not a ton of info though, but it's going to be an over the should MOBA game, with mythological gods filling in as characters. And it's from Hi-Rez, who I thought did a great job with Global Agenda when it went free to play.

http://pc.ign.com/articles/118/1186188p1.html

smite-20110804025114199-000.jpg
Odin vs Cyclops, and it's prettier than Dota 2.

[AdamK117]

It looks like it's been made in the source engine? I mean, the texturing isn't massively dissimilar from the tone/shaders used in TF2.

[cosmicolor]

Yeah, the aim of Dota 2 is essentially to port Dota 1, which ran on the Warcraft 3 engine, to the newer Source engine. However, Heroes of Newerth also had this aim, which has raised questions of its life post - Dota 2. The common thought is that Dota 2 will ultimately kill it, since it for all the world looks to do what HoN aimed to do but better. S2 (HoN devs)'s bad reputation and the recent f2p move they made don't help it in the eyes of the players.

LoL will still live on, it's different enough from Dota/HoN that people won't make a mass exodus from it.

Dota 2 is also supposed to come with the new version of Steam that manages downloads better. While I'm at it here is another screenshot that I couldn't fit into the OP:



They're coming out quite fast now, which leads me to believe that they're legit.

[Tei]

Some people say that Valve will show this game (DOTA2) in 2 days.

[Nova]

I'm a bit surprised. If these screens aren't fake it is really just DotA with better graphics.
Same Heroes, same items (looks like an urn of shadows there), Roshan, map layout, creepspots.

I wonder how they wanna make money with that. I wouldn't switch just for better graphics especially if you have to buy heroes and other stuff that is free in DotA.

But well it's all speculation. Let's wait for the first previews from Gamescom.

[Kaira-]

I'm a bit surprised. If these screens aren't fake it is really just DotA with better graphics.

I remember them saying in some interview that they'll just port DotA to Source and that's that. Can't find the source, so I might remember wrong, though.