"One of the things that’s key to “Diablo II” — and I’ve gone through and done timing on it — it changes environments every 15 minutes, and every 45 minutes they give you an environment that looks completely different than one you’ve ever seen before. And when they change environments, the contrast is huge. It’s like I’m in green lush fields, and now I’m in the darkest dungeon you’ve ever seen. I’m in a bright sandy desert, and now I’m in a completely dim mummy tomb. There are these vast shifts in look, and it’s one of the things that keeps people interested in playing the game."That's a great observation. I can't think of another game that comes close to that frequency of major setting shifts. Learn it. Love it.
Tuesday, August 05, 2008
art pacing
Diablo 3 developer Jay Wilson had this to say about Diablo 2's art:
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I agree with you, Aaron.
ReplyDeleteThe constant changing in the scenenery removes the monotony of having to walk over the same looking things, the bend that looks like all other bends (something which IMO Neverwinter Nights and Dungeon Siege fail miserably). The balance between playing and saving is also just right. I quit Dungeon Siege because I was never satisfied with how long it took to reach the next town and how bad it was to return to the previous town.
Besides that, D2 doesn't force you to return to the same spot over and over again (unless the player is performing Baal-runs) which is something gamers who demand something new find most agreeable.
The learning curve for D2 is not very steep as well. Players who manage to learn it more often-than-not become as you say;
"Learn it. Love it."
A close competitor to D2 IMO is Titan Quest. But what Titan Quest needs is a storyline that is far more engaging than the one they already have. Oh yeah, I believe I am right when I say that the modelling for their characters lack creativity.