New Diablo 3 Images; Design Wins Over Darkness 243
KingofGnG writes "The new Diablo III screenshots highlight the strong chromatic variations existing between the dungeons and the various stages ... It appears obvious, however, that all those details enriching the scenes, the crumbling parapets of the paths within the dungeons, the plants and the ragged drapes lightened by candles, would lose the best part of their raison d'etre if put in monochrome palettes inclined to black."
I don't care! (Score:4, Interesting)
Just release the damn game so I can play it!
Artsy discussions about screenshots aren't something I care about.
There are, as I see it, two possibilities, either the game sucks, or it doesn't.
Anonymous Coward (Score:2, Interesting)
Site doesn't work, and this topic was already posted. Why is someone submitting an unoriginal article that links to their own website, which crashes because it isn't set up for slashdot front page traffic?
Sounds fishy and inappropriate.
Re:The ironic thing (Score:3, Interesting)
> The only people complaining about the art style
Me!
> are the ones who would buy anything Blizzard boxes.
Also me!
It's true. I'm concerned it won't be as neat as it could be but in the end I trust Blizzard to make a great game well worth the money and not crippled with computer-breaking DRM*. It's why I own [at least] one copy of every Blizzard game I've played.
Just do it (Score:5, Interesting)
I fail to see why they couldn't add a toggle to activate a desaturating filter. That would shut up the art-school dropouts, and frankly I think it would be interesting to switch between the bright/colorful and dark modes.
Is it that difficult to implement brightness/contrast/gamma ? I'm thinking of Far Cry, which offered different rendering modes, some of them cold and bluish, others hyper-saturated and cartoony. It was a unique feature at the time, so why can't Blizzard just copy that ?
Was diablo 2 actually dark? (Score:5, Interesting)
Art over Atmosphere (Score:4, Interesting)
I browsed the screenshots and was happy to see, not the brightness -- or the contrast or the bleed or gamut or the bloody candle-power, but the artistic design of the creatures and the scenery. I'd much rather have attention to detail in the area of creativity and originality of visual style, than attention to the brightness of colours I can simply adjust on my screen. Take Heroes IV and Disciples II (click here [disciples2.com] if you're not familiar with Disciples), as examples; I found Heroes IV really uninspired and boring, whereas Disciples II, although very similar had such incredible artistic design that it was much more enjoyable to play.
Dark vs light/color... (Score:4, Interesting)
... is really about atmosphere. I admit that I never personally had any interest and didn't care either way for such things. But I know that lighting really does have an effect on atmosphere. Doom 3 had great atmosphere because of how the lighting was, even the original Diablo was dark and grey, it had some levels that were really bright, but it also compensated by levels that were really dark (as you go into the last dungeon to fight diablo in teh first one).
One of the cool things about the original diablo (for it's time) was lighting effects from spells/arrows, etc across floors and whatnot and going 'oh shit oh shit oh shit' when monsters were coming or were firing your way and you were trying to make an escape.
Re:Screw blackness (Score:4, Interesting)
If all the levels and scenery are dark, the game doesn't feel so dark after a while. You need the bright colorful levels to appreciate the dark depths of diabolical devils and demons.
Agreed. If you're outdoors, during the day, it should be relatively bright. If you're in a cave underground with no lights, it should be dark. If the two look the same it blurs the distinction between them, and you don't have a good feeling for where you are.
D3 wish-list and laughing at D2 (Score:2, Interesting)
Here's my short D3 wish-list:
1) A true marketplace. Make it Ebay like. Post magic items, get bids, buy/sell/swap efficiently and safely.
2) Less repetition, mouse clicking, maintenance. For example, gambling for circlets:
click, gamble, exit, click, gamble, exit, click, gamble, exit...(until circlet appears)
And rearranging potions after picking up a body should be automatic in town.
3) Blizzard wants simple mouse based controls, but I just want better control.
For example, having a clutter of items on the ground interferes with actions like teleporting, or trying to enter a town-portal. I want to setup my character to avoid these kinds of problems.
4) smarter monsters with a greater variety of behavior
5) better inter-player communication, network
----------------------
Some funny things about Diablo2 that don't make sense:
1) Rare items are actually the most unique and Unique items are the most rare!
2) Mercs hit with Iron Maiden keep swinging until they die
3) Mercs don't listen to the provided voice commands like "Run Away!"(in regards to #2)
Here's a magic ring that does me no good...or would you prefer to sell it back to me?
Color schmolor (Score:2, Interesting)
I am just sad that they excluded the necromancer. :(
Fingers crossed for the expansion...
Re:inappropriate use of color (Score:5, Interesting)
Go outdoors, on a moonlight night. Look to see what color cast the moonlight gives everything. It's bluish, just like that dungeon shot. And if you look at that shot, you'll see there's a HUGE window. That's why it's blue.
These screenshots look nothing like a Mario style color scheme. They're quite in keeping with traditional fantasy artwork, probably moreso than the original Diablo was. Elmore, Easley, Caldwell, Wood. go take a look at them.
Re:I liked the shadows (Score:2, Interesting)
The first two had this eerie claustrophobia about them because you (at least with a low level character) couldn't see very far. That made perfect sense for the dungeon/cave gameplay and the athmosphere. So no, no angst colored glasses. Though I really wonder what color that would be.
nor the previous ones look "cartoonish".
Read the post, I never said the two earlier games looked cartoonish, that's what I liked about them. It's the art style in D3 that looks like WoW with the colorful textures and strangely proportioned characters and enemies. Please look at some screenshots of WoW and D3, compare and then tell me that doesn't look like a cartoon and/or really similar. I don't say that I hate it but I would have wished it looked more like Diablo and less like WoW but that's the new Blizzard I guess.
Re:Screw blackness (Score:3, Interesting)
True evil and it's effects are not clean, nor are they pretty.
If you really want to talk about reality, then evil things are often pretty, seductive, and seem harmless if you don't know any better. If evil always came after you with a pitchfork, horns, and glowing eyes, then it wouldn't be so dangerous. We would just identify it, kill it, and be done with it.
Making evil dark and gritty *is* stylized.