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More Diablo III info

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More Diablo III info

Development Info - posted by DarkUnderlord on Sun 29 June 2008, 03:12:36

Tags: Diablo III

For those of you worried about the lack of grit and darkness in Diablo 3, fear not! According to VoodooExtreme's summary of the post-announcement press conference:

  • No release date as of yet.
  • Development in its "early stages" despite being underway for over four years.
  • Brand new in-house engine developed for Diablo III. Includes Havoc physics.
  • Co-op is fully integrated into the game's design.
  • Will also be released on Mac.
  • Similar in length to Diablo II.
  • Takes place twenty years after Diablo II expansion pack.
  • Only fifty people working on the game at the moment. Content creation the current focus.
  • New Battle.net will debut with StarCraft II. Even more features by the time Diablo III launches.
  • No console release of Diablo III planned. Other Blizzard title staying on PC and Mac also.
  • Pay to play? Totally undecided, though it could vary between regions. For example, China may because of the popularity of internet cafes and the strict gaming laws that are meant to prevent people becoming addicted.
  • Could be up to 100 enemies on-screen at a time.
  • The ice splash page malarkey was Diablo all along, ditto on the eyes. I am vindicated. The penguin remains a mystery, however.
  • Hellgate: London-esque randomness is in, to an extent. Some maps and what have yous will be static.
  • Low-spec [computer] losers are being catered to.
  • World of Warcraft and The Legend of Zelda heavily influenced boss design and boss gameplay mechanics.
  • E-Sports support is a possibility. Team is attempting to form a business plan that works for that crowd.
  • No character customisation, just gender selection.
  • PvP will likely be included at release.
  • Voice communication will be improved.
  • Beta is a possibility.
  • "Potions are still in the game, they're just not as core an element. So there's a new health system here. Wilson says he actually tried a Halo-style shield system with regenerative health, but didn't put that in because it encouraged players to leave combat. Didn't want to implement a WoW-style health which encourages players to drink and creates downtime when out of combat. Wilson wants the health system to ensure combat, which is health globes were implemented."
  • One health pot restores all players in co-op.
  • Enemies can miss and get weapons stuck in scenery or world.
  • Player characters will be fully voice acted.
  • Four-to-five person co-op groups.
  • Respecs are likely to be included.
"Only" fifty people and it's still in its early stages? I suppose that's what happens when you're racking in billions from World of Warcraft. There's a bit more info over on IGN too including the comment that "there'll be better quests and more in-depth NPC interaction". Junkie's should be sure to also check IGN's interview with Rob Pardo, Blizzard's Executive Vice President of Game Design:

Though there have been quite a few action-RPG releases since Diablo II, perhaps there weren't as many as there should have been, or perhaps action-RPGs get labeled incorrectly. "What I think often happens with the genre, with the games that I've seen, is that they kind of get confused as to whether it's an RPG that just happens to be real-time or is it just an action game," said Pardo. "I feel like that's oftentimes you get these games that are not quite doing both. I feel like that's the big opportunity for us. If you look at Diablo and Diablo II, they're really action games. The story was light, the RPG were very light and I think one of the things we looked at with Diablo III was that doesn't have to be the case."​
More RPG in mah Hack 'n Slash?

Spotted @ The new place you go if you want to insult Rex

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