If you don't like the color of this game!

[Samael88]

This is to all you that think Diablo is to dark:

Bashiok: And lastly, we're moving on to something that's created a bit of a stir, was critiques of the art style for Diablo III. People feel that the tone isn't dark enough, it's too bright and colorful, there's a rainbow- what do you feel the team's feelings on the sort of critiques that we've received?


Jay Wilson: Ah, the art question. This one's pretty complex, um, so you know, I can first say that the response from the team has been, that really what we've heard is kind of an overwhelmingly positive response. We know that there are some people that are very concerned with the overall tone of the game and tone of the art, and, kind of what we wish we could do is take them through the last two and a half years of, you know, where we basically, created and dumped two complete art style directions. So, I'll kind of go through and explain all the reasons that we went into this decision.
So, the original two art styles that we did were probably more in line with what some of the sample shots that people put up online of what they were hoping the game would look like, and, you know, they were very dark, they were very monotone, a lot of grays, a lot of brown, not a lot of color. And the problem we had was that it just didn't produce a very good game for us. Diablo is game that you spend hundreds of hours in as opposed to, if you look at a lot of the current round of very realistic, very grim, gritty games, you know, a lot of those are five, six hour games. So, a gray-brown environment, gets old very quickly when you're playing it for, tens or twenty, you know, a hundred hours potentially. So really, environment change was a critical part of Diablo II. What made Diablo II so compelling was, the environments changed drastically very often. So, if your environments are all kind of grey-brown it doesn't work. So the other one was that we, it was actually not very easy to play the game; Diablo is a game where you fight a lot of monsters and not just a high number of monsters, but a lot of different types at once and you're facing, three, four, five different types of enemies at a time. So being able to identify those enemies was critical. And what we found was, again, when we made the enemies that very realistic dark, gritty look, like the environment, they all just kind of blended together, and again, it made the game not very fun.
So, at that point, after we had done this twice and gone, “wow, we really don't like the results here, we started going back to Diablo II in particular and looking at it, trying to figure out what Diablo II did, that worked so well. What we found was that a lot of the ideas that made Diablo II work well, just didn't translate well to 3D. We also found a very different game than a lot of us remember, even though a lot of us played the game still, like a lot of us are still big Diablo II players, we still have kind of this idealized vision of it where we really remember, like, Durance of Hate and act I dungeons and we kind of conveniently forget, you know, the act II desert and the really bright lava hell levels and the things like that that are filled with a lot of color. And we saw that and we were kind of surprised. We were like, “wow, look at how green the fields are in act I, look at how much color there is in this world.” We also were kind of surprised by the monsters, the monsters are really almost garish in Diablo II, they're very, very bright. And this makes them, you know, you'll have like a bright red fallen next to a bright blue, I think they're called blood hawks, somebody's going to lambast me for not getting the name right. And you've got a corrupt rogue who's bright white and then you've got these, you know, big, hulking windigos that are brown and, you've got all these different color palettes all at once, and they're all very, kind of out there and garish; the reason is so you can tell each one apart. You've got a big guy who's brown, you've got humanoid person who's white, you've got a squat humanoid who's red, you've got a bird figure who's blue, like each one has a different profile, each one has a different color and they all really stand out.
So, we tried that idea, and it didn't work. Once you took that idea of very bright, very garish monsters and put them into a 3D environment, it was almost like taking a comic book character from the pages of a comic book, and putting them in a movie- the suits don't translate, those primary colors don't work. And so, with the higher resolution, and things like that, so we had to explore other options. And essentially, that's what brought us to this current art style, where we really focused on, well, a couple things. One, we decided that we really didn't want to make- we did want to make a kind of a realistic-looking world, but we also decided that realistic just does not equal gray and brown. The real world's filled with all kinds of colors. We also decided that we didn't want to make, while we wanted to make a more realistic world, we didn't want to make a photo-realistic world. Again, a lot of games are doing that, it's not what Blizzard is about. We wanted to see if we could create a game that visually had an art style that was unique- that's stylized without being cartoony. So, I know that's kind of a lot of information, but it's probably our biggest struggle with Diablo, was Diablo III was trying to the art style right, and we're really proud of how it turned out and so, that's just kind of my effort to explain how we got to where we are.


Bashiok: Perfect. I think also, something that I heard around the office, we've been talking about the reaction to some degree; one of the things that I thought was really interesting was, I guess, tone in context. Can you explain it to people listening just what that kind of means?


Jay Wilson: Well, you know, there have been some great comments that we've seen on the forums that, some people have commented, for example, after fight's over, the bodies fade away, and this is done for physics- I mean, physics systems pretty much, you know, if you want to keep a game running fast, you can't keep too many physics objects in the world, but then, you know, it's a good point that, where's the massacre? You know, I just killed a bunch of monsters, and, it makes the game feel like the tone is not quite right. So we're actually working on a different way to handle bodies that we're hoping will result in that same level of carnage.




But yeah, it's all about getting that tone right, and that's something we focus a lot on. We really want to make sure that the tone of the game is right, that its dark, that its foreboding. And that's something that I think when people actually play the game, they're not going to have any doubt that it's a Diablo game. Every person we've sat down in front of it, for the first time, hasn't seen anything and started playing it they were like, “yeah, this is dark, because this feels right.” But, for the game play sake, we wanted an art style that supported, you know, all the kind of game play that we wanted. It's also worth mentioning that, what we showed at WWI really is a very early game content, you know, it's first act, first act dungeon, first act environments. And, we've made a conscious effort to make sure that the tone gets worse- one of the things that we really want to tell a story of, basically, the coming apocalypse, and it works best if there's a contrast, you know, if things get worse in act two and act three, and act four, and visually, as well as just story-wise then it makes a big difference in kind of, how the tone feels, it feels like you get the nice contrast, or contrast between an idyllic world even though I wouldn't call any Diablo world that we've created, idyllic. But, for Diablo, it's probably idyllic, and then you know, at the end, just hell let loose. That doesn't mean we're going to back off from color, it doesn't mean that we're going to back off from the stylization that we're going for, but it does mean that yeah, people are probably going to see some environments that feel, tone-wise, a lot more, menacing than what we've shown so far.

This is a spokesperson from blizzard that explains the reason for the light in D3. It comes from this adress: http://us.blizzard.com/blizzcast/archive/episode5.xml

And here is some words from myself:
Diablo1 and 2 was setup during the night, The only time I can remember it being light in either one of them is this:
D2 Act2 Desert
D2 Act 5 Mount Arreat

Here is an list:
D1. You are in a freaken church all the time for what I can remember, of course it is dark there.

D2.
Act1. Here is only one thing to say, NIGHT!
Act2. Explained. This act is actually pretty bright.
Act3. A jungle, probably during the monsune, clouds all over the sky = no sun wich means "It is dark"
Act4. You are in hell. Figures, no light except from the fire.
Act5. Explained. This act is actually pretty bright.

One more explanation, not facts, just me thinking loud for this one:
They have invented "day/night cycle" now. That was not around when the other two (almost ancient by todays standard) games came out. That could be one other explanation.

I for one like the colors of the textures and stuff. The spells could had been a little darker tho. But it gives it a nice touch aswell.

If you want to complain more about the colors I suggest this:
Re-install diablo2. Check act2 and act5. Check the spells. Check the monsters for color.

Edit: I will keep the rest to make the downward posts still make sence. But I have been checking aroung on the internet and will have to say that there is actually people claiming that there is a day/night cycle in diablo2(still not the first one tho), wich means that I may have been wrong about that.

But, as this "claims" are not from legit people such as blizzard or some other somewhat trustable source, I will not say admit that there is one, but there MIGHT aswell be a day/night cycle in the second Diablo game. And that the 2d graphics is not making it justice.

The fact that the acts are lighter and darker to each other is also a fact that make me doubt that there would be one!

 

[Jedimindtrixxx]

i <3 d3 gfx
i think the graphics are amazing. i have yet to see blizzard dissapoint me.

 

[Samael88]

i <3 d3 gfx
i think the graphics are amazing. i have yet to see blizzard dissapoint me.

Me to<3 Just love the fact that diablo2 is about twice as good looking as starcraft. And if you look at the screens of the new games today it is the same.
Diablo3 = 2 x starcraft2<--graphic awesome-ness

 

[MurderMode]

I thought people where complaining D3 is too light and cartoony?

 

[Jedimindtrixxx]

others were were... but not me

 

[Samael88]

I thought people where complaining D3 is too light and cartoony?

That is the color. If you have dark green and make it lighter you just get another color, green, light green.

 

[ZeroThirteen]

They have invented "day/night cycle" now. That was not around when the other two (almost ancient by todays standard) games came out. That could be one other explanation.

1. You could never actually tell whether it was day or night in that game, so you can't assume it was night.

2. They had a working weather system in Act 1, and I believe 3 and 5.

 

[Samael88]

1. You could never actually tell whether it was day or night in that game, so you can't assume it was night.

2. They had a working weather system in Act 1, and I believe 3 and 5.

1. It was dark all the time in those acts. So yes you can.
Edit: Well, there must atleast be a lot of clouds to make it look that dark. And that has nothing with the point to do, that it is night or day has does not ruin my point, the fact that it is not changing during gameplay or ever for that sake is all the proof I need of that there is no cycle

2. Weather system, bah. That has nothing to do with the day/night cycle, it is just some "periodic event thing" wich turns on rain/snow/sandstorms and other things that has with weather to do.

Day night cycle is when it turns from night to day and back, often you will see an ingame clock that shows wich it is, else it is turning darker or lighter.

The difference between, say warcraft3 and diablo2 is that in diablo2 there is never lighter in say the first act (except for when you finish the first quest or there is some spell or effect).
While in warcraft 3 there is a day/night cycle and it turns brighter during the day and darker during the night.

 

[Jedimindtrixxx]

thought there was a day/night in d2? i remember at times, even after you beat the tainted sun quest in a2 it would at times get dark..?

 

[Samael88]

thought there was a day/night in d2? i remember at times, even after you beat the tainted sun quest in a2 it would at times get dark..?

I actually checked it and it is possible, sorry about that one everyone. Changed the first post to make more sence about the thing.
But the light settings of diablo2 is still not possible to just transfer over to the diablo3 game beacuse of the 2d-3d graphics.
I myself would not like to see a diablo3 with the same "lightsystem" as diablo2, I would like to see an enhanced 3d version

 

[Darthfett]

I personally like it a lot better with the lights. I don't care if it's not extremely realistic. I want to be able to see what's going on. I'm not going to stare a near-black screen, trying to discern what something is.

I like the new look, because it actually lets me see the details they drew into the game. Without the lighter aura, it makes the game harder to play, which is only good when that's the point of it. There are plenty of other ways to make a game look dark/evil than simply making everything black.

 

[monoVertex]

There was a night/day cycle in DII. Although there was no in-game clock, the day/night alternation was there .

 

[Samael88]

I personally like it a lot better with the lights. I don't care if it's not extremely realistic. I want to be able to see what's going on. I'm not going to stare a near-black screen, trying to discern what something is.

I like the new look, because it actually lets me see the details they drew into the game. Without the lighter aura, it makes the game harder to play, which is only good when that's the point of it. There are plenty of other ways to make a game look dark/evil than simply making everything black.

Exactly my point Glad that there are so many here that shares it:thup:

There was a night/day cycle in DII. Although there was no in-game clock, the day/night alternation was there

You know that I have admited a misstake on that one. But is it not a lame one with the game barely changing in light during the cycle?
And I surely hope that there is no such thing in act4, beacuse that would just be a stupid misstake

 

[Crusher]

No Diablo 3 graphics are just great for me!If it's too light for you,simply adjust brightness to your pleasure....<3

 

[Samael88]

No Diablo 3 graphics are just great for me!If it's too light for you,simply adjust brightness to your pleasure....<3

It is really noticable that you did not read the post at all, either you read it or you don't answer:nuts:

 

[Crusher]

I was not talking about your post,I Was talking about Diablo 3 graphics -_-

 

[monoVertex]

And I surely hope that there is no such thing in act4, beacuse that would just be a stupid misstake

Nope, it's not present in Act4 .

Come on, how many such mistakes have you seen in Blizz games?

 

[Samael88]

Nope, it's not present in Act4 .

Come on, how many such mistakes have you seen in Blizz games?

If you are reffering to misstakes such as things that is not realistic, then a lot Else I have only seen a few minor logic flaws, grammatic misses and design flaws, but as I said, only minor. Not a comparable sum no matter what other game you compare it with

 

[monoVertex]

I meant something like having day cycle in Hell or in Heaven .

 

[Drakens]

Diablo II had a day night cycle, for sure. I have played it more than any other game, except maybe Warcraft3. I can't tell if Act4 had it, but the other Acts have day-night cycle. Act2 too, of course.

About D3's art style, I'll just say that the influence of WoW is pretty visible in my opinion. And that's not very good for the game, since Warcraft's style is not very realistic.