3D does not HAVE to mean cartoon colours and proportions. [Archive]

Brother Laz

28-06-2008, 14:28

Anyone else think D3 looks a wee bit like WoW, Mythos or Dungeon Siege with all its bright colours and deformed scenery?

http://www.blizzard.com/diablo3/_images/screenshots/ss24.jpg

http://web.mit.edu/kayla/Public/Backgrounds/Warcraft%20III%20-%20Undead%20Campaign.JPG
___

http://www.blizzard.com/diablo3/_images/screenshots/ss25.jpg

http://www.wow-europe.com/shared/wow-com/images/basics/cities/throneroom.jpg

Also, the outdoors areas are even brighter than D2 if that were possible.
Time for another 15% brightness reduction like they did with SC2?

YSM

28-06-2008, 14:32

Anyone else think D3 looks a wee bit like WoW, Mythos or Dungeon Siege with all its bright colours and deformed scenery?

___

Also, the outdoors areas are even brighter than D2 if that were possible.
Time for another 15% brightness reduction like they did with SC2?

Yup, and I don't like it. I can already tell you now that Diablo III doesn't have the atmosphere Diablo, or even Diablo II had. I just hope they make up for it in other ways.

mouseman

28-06-2008, 14:38

Okay, it's somewhat different, but not even close to WoW.

The official site and the sketches look dark and brooding to me. I think that and the "true successor" talks means that they've going to change it.

Also, having Butcher's room might be fine in D1, but with modern graphics, I don't even know if I want that kind of a game out of D3. They aim to make it a succesful game, not a cult-classic.

Brother Laz

28-06-2008, 14:40

mouseman

28-06-2008, 14:48

Eh.. I just don't think that having corpses pierced in modern day graphics for the whole room is really something to play with. It's not a matter of being scared: I study history and I see these kinds of pictures and videos all the time, where people are being ripped apart and so on. I just don't think we should take these things too lightly or try to generate them if we really don't have to. Call me sensitive, but you can create a creepy atmosphere without senseless gore as you can create an erotic atmosphere without excessive nudity. The part of D1's charm was that the graphics wasn't so detailed - it gave way for your imagination. And it is in the mind's of people, not their eyes, where horror is created. In other words, it's what people think, not what they see, that create the atmosphere.

And by the way, there's a clear remark to Butcher on D3 official site: http://eu.blizzard.com/diablo3/world/dungeons/tristramcathedral.xml

So I guess he will be back and we will see what they've done to the room.

EDIT: I was really disappointed to that character posted above. It looks lame. The characters in the official site, however, look fitting to D3. Let's remind us that this is pre-alpha, everyone.

Merick

28-06-2008, 14:50

You call those bright colors? Looks like a pretty dank dungeon to me.

stillman

28-06-2008, 14:58

I think the dungeon is too green. Why would there be this green hue everywhere? I think that's the sort of thing that is hurting the atmosphere a bit. We wanted dark and gritty, not needless color thrown in everywhere.
Anyway, I agree with mouseman...the D2 tortured bodies didn't really add any flare to the game. It seemed like a waste of a lot of artwork. 20 torture positions drawn in and we just get a little reward for clicking on some bodies to loot them, and we eventually don't even notice them.

jamesisbest

28-06-2008, 15:04

Sure the graphics do look lighter but there still seems plenty of dark areas. Plenty of gore and I'm sure it will have a dark brooding story to it. Being able to see enemies is a nice feature for game play so making places too dark can strain people's eyes. Also, they seem to have a lot of variety in visuals which is always a nice thing. I bet we haven't even glimpsed near the gloomiest visuals yet anyways :D.

tuxor

28-06-2008, 15:10

Anybody else reminded of God of War in the gameplay?

ziocs

28-06-2008, 16:09

I completely agree. I really hoped that the atmosphere of Diablo would remain there, but it seems to have changed, and not in a good way.

220683

28-06-2008, 16:10

Well...do we know for certain if any member of the old diablo art team is still working for d3? I mean, some of them left to make Hellgate, so as far as preserving the feel of the original diablo series, these new artists might have a slightly different take. Still, it's just more vibrant, I wouldn't go as far as calling it cartoon colours...

okiimatsu

28-06-2008, 16:17

it looks like so many other 3d fantasy console crap games.

Brother Laz

28-06-2008, 16:27

Bright green is a cartoon colour.

Vibrant would mean that candles give off bright red light.

http://img238.imageshack.us/img238/8568/candlelightfq2.jpg

This would be vibrant, if somewhat painful to look at.

Furyan

28-06-2008, 16:29

The graphics seriously remind me of Titan Quest. Some parts of the video we've seen seem to be coming straight from Iron Lore's game. Only difference is that D3 looks way better in terms of gameplay. Doesn't rule out that the similarity between both games is huge imo.

Mad Mantis

28-06-2008, 16:40

Hello Jim

28-06-2008, 16:49

Anybody else reminded of God of War in the gameplay?

Yes. Very much. It's the overdramatic deaths of monsters and dropped potions that gives that feeling. With too much blood&explosions I can deal, but if I had one thing to ask Blizzard it would be to bring back the pots belt, and delete and stupid area pots (very similar to LotR too).

PS- Has anyone seen the 40/49 in the artwork? If that's not Minis Tirith than I don't know what is. Has Blizzard ran out of original ideas?

Me2NiK

28-06-2008, 16:55

I think it looks fine. Diablo was very green and it's easily the more atmospheric out of the two; the atmosphere has to come from the gameplay and the music, not necessarily just the graphics.

Brother Laz

28-06-2008, 16:57

You've really been going at those screens Brother Laz. I must say that I do prefer the bright red to the sickening green. Would dropping the saturation on the bright red screen result in a better atmosphere?

Presumably yes, but I'll need to figure out Photoshop first because it turned to brown and the green came back.

......

Yes. Very much. It's the overdramatic deaths of monsters and dropped potions that gives that feeling.

The only deaths that should be overdramatic are character deaths. I see they're instead going for the BH-Enigma-BotD monster bulldozer approach.

Kiroptus

28-06-2008, 17:24

The problem is, that blizz has the best low-poly artists in the world, so they have to save up some polygons so they can target a wider-audience. I am not really sure but since my teacher was a guy that very good at creating lowpoly characters I think I can guess about... 2500-4000 polys, not really sure.

And for such low poly characters I think thats the best you can get to run away from the cartoony style, infact its quite an achievement imo. But I agree that the color scheme could get some work. The architeture as well could have some more dirt in the textures, looks way too clean, I was hoping for textures close to Silent Hill's level of dirt. Which gives a very gritty feeling.

Cast_Raider

28-06-2008, 18:11

You've really been going at those screens Brother Laz. I must say that I do prefer the bright red to the sickening green. Would dropping the saturation on the bright red screen result in a better atmosphere?

Yes.

40% less saturation + 10% more lightness =

http://i32.tinypic.com/2ytthg7.jpg

Presumably yes, but I'll need to figure out Photoshop first because it turned to brown and the green came back.

image-->adjustments-->hue/saturation

domac

28-06-2008, 18:12

let's just hope monsters won't be that easy to kill. otherwise everything looks ok.

characters do look a little big in relation to the world, but in regard to the colors ... when you talk about "feeling" or an atmosphere in a game you can't just look the environment colors in a still image. remember, the characters, character skills, monsters, monsters skills and movement of both also control the atmosphere.

also you can't use one color or shades of that one color always, it makes teritories look pretty much the same and not memorable, so colors help there, not to mention that light reflects differently from different materials.

open spaces and their colors help keep game interesting and I bet it's possible to keep the diablo one feeling in some places and give players a little rest from gloomy colors in others. after all your character is a hero, a adventurer, you don't want to spend all your time underground. :)

Es Mors

28-06-2008, 18:23

Sure, it's less dark and gritty, but not to any extent that I would find worth complaining about.

My bigger concern is hte size of the characters. Little gives me more of a cartoony feel than oversized characters.

All this based only on the little we have seen so far, of course.

Friends Call Me Butch

28-06-2008, 18:26

I completely agree. I really hoped that the atmosphere of Diablo would remain there, but it seems to have changed, and not in a good way.

Doing it without a single one of the background artists, ui artists or the in-game music guy of Diablo II is challenging enough, trying to make something gloomy in sunny Irvine makes it almost impossible.

Give them another eight years, and I'm sure it will improve.

Mad Mantis

28-06-2008, 18:43

40% less saturation + 10% more lightness

That does look nice. Much better than the weird green feel over the place. Could be that the green has a logical explanation, but so far I prefer the red.

also you can't use one color or shades of that one color always, it makes teritories look pretty much the same and not memorable, so colors help there, not to mention that light reflects differently from different materials.

There are different kinds of color. The color in the first picture just doesn't look right. I'm all for applying different colors, as long as they give of the correct feel.

s4nder

28-06-2008, 20:12

Mad Mantis

28-06-2008, 20:17

That looks damn impressive.

billobob

28-06-2008, 20:20

You guys are just picking out some of the worst still shots and saying it means D3 will be a WoW or God of War clone gameplay wise. The actual videos overall look much better than the bad shots you pulled out, although it could still use a little work (it is still very early)

Ammareddo_Fritter

28-06-2008, 20:27

Why do those look better than what Blizzard is paying a whole team to create?

And the Barbarian looks like he has magic now. That or he imploys impressive use of hammerspace. And what is the logic behind floating red orbs? Are they the souls of the monsters? And why no bodies?

The good stuff is that the environment looks great, even if it's colored, uhm, less than seriously. The added physics are cool, and the outdoors looks awesome.

MrCanon

28-06-2008, 20:38

that fan made pic is awesome.

we need to keep spamming this on the official D3 boards.
doubt devs check this place.

xibbog

28-06-2008, 20:39

This (http://img299.imageshack.us/img299/7807/itshouldrh5.jpg) is what the game should look like. Not done by me but I wholeheartedly agree. The green hue is best left to WoW. Clear, realistic lighting and less of it at the same time would be best.

I agree. Needs some heavy grain filtering... none of this smooth stuff in a gritty game like Diablo.

Friends Call Me Butch

28-06-2008, 20:44

Well...do we know for certain if any member of the old diablo art team is still working for d3?

http://forums.diabloii.net/showthread.php?t=649967

As for which people moved on to Flagship, David Glenn is the only background artist to have done significant work on "Hellgate" amongst the crew from the Diablo II team, and he had no role on the original Diablo. On the character side, Phil Shenk also moved onto "Hellgate", but he's the only character artist that the two teams have in common, and he also did not work on the original Diablo.

The idea that all of the significant players from Blizzard North went to Flagship is a misconception, though it was fostered for a reason - as of a year ago, Flagship wanted to encourage that idea, and, as of now, Blizzard wants to encourage the sense that "Hellgate was a flop, hence that team was nothing without us anyways". However, neither perspective is close to the truth, the vast majority of that team doesn't work at either place at this point.

Kiroptus

28-06-2008, 20:59

I agree that noise filter would be great to add the gritty effect. If people dont like it just put an option to disable it just like Silent Hill does.

Zeek

28-06-2008, 21:01

I really like the "how it should look" pic. I think they could easily add the grittier textures before this game is complete. Good work to whoever created the example though. Can't hurt to show what works better.

Zarniwoop

28-06-2008, 21:07

We were all freaked out by how much open area stuff there was in Diablo 2, which was a LOT lighter than any of this.

A lot of these screens had a sickly backlighting of putrid green in them. I saw decay in everything. I'm not sure what movie everyone else watched, but I was plenty impressed.

However, Blizzard, please make it darker if possible.

As to everything else, Blizzard has made a career out of avoiding cutting edge graphics. To do so, they use a lot of stylized ways of reducing poly counts/texture density. Some of the screenshots I've seen, really do look irritatingly like WoW. But, in the trailer, I didn't notice any.

And you can count on the fact that the game is at least 1 year out. Maybe 2. A lot will change.

Davidus

28-06-2008, 21:15

[was posted] pic
im sure the game going to looke kile this at release. other than the colors the game looks awesome

Elzevir

28-06-2008, 21:40

http://img299.imageshack.us/img299/7807/itshouldrh5.jpg

That picture looks so good i registered just for it. The game really looks too smooth and clean like many have said, someone should post this on the blizzard forums i would but i cant find my warcraft cd keys, they changed sc2 when there was an outcry why not this too.

NJS

28-06-2008, 21:46

This (http://img299.imageshack.us/img299/7807/itshouldrh5.jpg) is what the game should look like. Not done by me but I wholeheartedly agree. The green hue is best left to WoW. Clear, realistic lighting and less of it at the same time would be best. Damn... I honestly couldn't see what you all were getting so hyped about until I see these altered screen shots. Now I see all to clearly. You guys ruined it for me now! lol

NJS

28-06-2008, 21:48

That picture looks so good i registered just for it. The game really looks too smooth and clean like many have said, someone should post this on the blizzard forums i would but i cant find my warcraft cd keys, they changed sc2 when there was an outcry why not this too.
How did they change SC2 and what was the outcry about? Just curious.

dexterwang

28-06-2008, 22:02

Totally agree that D3 need to revamp its engine...

D1: Dark, gritty, metallic
D2: Dark, gritty, metallic
D3: Colorful unnatural hues, blurry textures, color saturation everywhere

The amazing edited pics of how it SHOULD look like is totally what D3 should have been. I love WoW, but I really don't want the diablo series to turn into it. Cartoony graphics aren't bad, but cartoony graphics for Diablo is a total disaster in terms of the atmosphere.

Rashiminos

28-06-2008, 22:04

I'd be looking for something in between the "how it looks like" and "should" pictures. The latter looks like someone turned the sharpness up too high and now it's pixellated...

NJS

28-06-2008, 22:26

Perhaps if this thread and examples get enough attention our Admins. here at diabloii.net can start a Poll or Petition and present it to the dev team so that there is plenty of time to make any changes to the game.

mibir

28-06-2008, 22:32

I'd be looking for something in between the "how it looks like" and "should" pictures. The latter looks like someone turned the sharpness up too high and now it's pixellated...

I agree, the how it should is a bit much, but the current look does need a little work.

And as far as the picture posted earlier with the -40% Saturation and 10% Lighter Brightness or whatever and the red color, it looked horrible. It looked washed out and I'll take that green hue over it any day.

EzkiMo

28-06-2008, 22:36

Guys, you know that most modern games has a "change brightness option", and I would be astonished if D3 didn't!
Although the size of the Characters REALLY made me question this game. But I guess it's early in the process...

hobbsc

28-06-2008, 22:37

This (http://img299.imageshack.us/img299/7807/itshouldrh5.jpg) is what the game should look like. Not done by me but I wholeheartedly agree. The green hue is best left to WoW. Clear, realistic lighting and less of it at the same time would be best.

+1 I *love* the doctored screenshots. D3 should be dark and gritty.

dexterwang

28-06-2008, 22:39

s4nder

28-06-2008, 22:40

Yeah, most games also have a "don't play" option, but that defeats the purpose, doesn't it? We're talking about the atmosphere and feel of the game, not adjusting the gamma.

konfeta

28-06-2008, 22:56

Ahem. As long as Blizzard doesn't do this, it's fine:

http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=224

Uncle_Mike

28-06-2008, 23:07

Anybody else reminded of God of War in the gameplay?

My thoughts exactly :yes:

Mihail

28-06-2008, 23:12

http://img299.imageshack.us/img299/7807/itshouldrh5.jpg

This was an image posted by VonVentrue at the official Diablo3 forums over at battlenet. How many of you agree with the above image? I do.

Kingston

28-06-2008, 23:14

Well, they didn't go Warcraft 3 on it, but it is somewhat cartoony. And the gore is a bit over the top, too, reinforcing the cartoon style. Diablo 1 had the gore side handled just right (and the art style in general).

They did fix up their buildings in SC2 after the community complained about their looks. If the cause for concern is big enough, they might do it here too. And its not as if they can't put in an optional shader that fiddles with colours a bit.

fractalbit

28-06-2008, 23:18

Mihail

28-06-2008, 23:27

I also think it has to be something in between those 2 versions (original and should be).

The original is "too happy"* and the other version is sickenly dark/twisted. If you play like this for more than 5 minutes your eyes will hurt!

So i vote for something in between.

* I am only really reffering to the colors because animations, effects (see thunder effect) etc are awesome.

I do agree. The "Should be" I think is mainly for color comparison. The executive producer actually stated, in an interview, that one of the challenges they were taking with D3 is trying to keep the gothic feel of the game, but making it more colorful as well. This doesn't seem to make sense to me because I feel like color itself conveys emotion and feel. I was kind of sad when he said that the team was happy with the current build, having gone through about 3 other art direction shifts before. Maybe they'll listen to some of the fans and tone it down a bit.

sectoid

28-06-2008, 23:36

wow, the guy that made this comparison is really good! That's REALLY how it should look like to me.
when I woke up earlier today and saw the gameplay vid, I was instantly sad about the cartoony graphics (almost stopped the vid to post about it here on dii.net). However, as the video went on, this problem was slowly losing importance because the action was so good... and finally, after hearing about all the attention they're promising to the story, I was even prepared to accept it as a small flaw that would not spoil the game much.

However, it would be a point in contrast to all the other greatness. I wouldn't mind it, but I wouldn't like it either. And then this guy comes and portraits the perfection for D. If I were in charge at Blizz, I would hire that guy, hear out his opinions and bring him to discussion with the rest of the team.

I heartedly agree that we should voice our opinion and promote this picture! Maybe a great poll at the official forums with options for the "how it is", "how it should be" and something in between?

edit: I also think we should run this poll here!! Can the OP add a poll to the topic?

Flux

28-06-2008, 23:47

you'll probably take this as a compliment, and it might actually be a compliment, but i had a moment this morning during the d3 announcement fun, when I actually thought, "I wonder how long it will be before brotherLaz shows up and starts *****ing about the graphics and asking about respecs."

It's like HGL all over again!

Flux

28-06-2008, 23:56

as for the dark/light issue, I'll point out that when d2 beta began, there was an immediate outcry from players that it was much too dark. We called the jail "the braille" since you literally had to find your way through it with the mini map, by running along bumping into walls.

So don't get too panicked about how something looks in the test shots; it might not be much like that at all on your machine. and there's always monitor and bright/contrast adjustments to be made.

Hello Jim

28-06-2008, 23:57

I agree with the "should be" image. It's awesome.
But I was thinking- How about making it darker? I mean, where light radius counts, and torches and your spells are the only light source.

This can be so cool. I hope they'll do it atleast in the daungens areas.

Malrenn

28-06-2008, 23:57

In other words, 'I'm scared of realistic doom graphics'.

More comparisons:

http://img510.imageshack.us/img510/8602/barbadinxw9.jpg

http://www.about-world-of-warcraft.com/images/Paladin.gif

Notice the hair. And the sword, by the way.
Yea it looks like they simply used the wow model for humans. I hope this is only for testing purposes.

Brother Laz

28-06-2008, 23:58

Why do those look better than what Blizzard is paying a whole team to create?

We care. They just want money.

And the Barbarian looks like he has magic now. That or he imploys impressive use of hammerspace.

SEISMIC SLAM HO!
That shockwave stuff is so overused, especially in high fantasy games like Warcraft, even though it is blatantly impossible even if you know magic (try making an earthquake in the desert or the snow!).

And what is the logic behind floating red orbs? Are they the souls of the monsters?

Worst immersion breaker so far. Potions have many gameplay flaws, but this sucks for immersion. Is there really no third way?

......

we need to keep spamming this on the official D3 boards.

Still 'General login error'. Help, guys?

......

Allow me to repost my own saturation pics:

http://img102.imageshack.us/img102/3079/neonmc7.jpg

http://img362.imageshack.us/img362/2052/brightnesstr3.jpg

......

you'll probably take this as a compliment, and it might actually be a compliment, but i had a moment this morning during the d3 announcement fun, when I actually thought, "I wonder how long it will be before brotherLaz shows up and starts *****ing about the graphics and asking about respecs."

Love you too, hon. So sad they didn't announce skill trees yet, but let me rant about Tauren Shockw... uh, Crushing W... uh, Phoenix Sla... uh, Seismic Slam! That's it! It's like the coolest revolutionary thing ever! Like, Uldyssian did it and he was a warrior, like, he swung a sword once, but still. He was a farmer and so are the barbarians! It's not magic, it's just a real advanced plowing technique!

Next video will showcase the air fireball punch combo. Stay tuned.

s4nder

29-06-2008, 00:04

I just watched the gameplay video again in 720p quality and the graphics don't seem so soft anymore. The seemingly poor detail level was due to the low quality of the streaming video. Now it actually looked pretty good. The hue can probably be reduced by disabling the bloom like I did in WoW - it was way worse there. I guess it could still be a bit darker but I'm no longer so concerned.

Kingston

29-06-2008, 00:05

Its good to have angry ****s, being one myself. I welcome Laz's retribution with wide arms.

Aranock

29-06-2008, 00:06

capnlarge

29-06-2008, 00:09

The floating health orbs are there to keep you in combat more often and in town less often.

Not sure how it hurts immersion since it's not exactly realistic for a potion to spawn out of nowhere either... Not to mention that eleven billion games have used the same health recovery mechanism in the past.

CarsV

29-06-2008, 00:09

We care. They just want money.

I know, no one else has passion, pride or satisfaction in their work but you. Right?

The game isn't finished yet, give it time. I could show you pics of Civilization 4 a year before its release and post release pics and they look nothing alike.

worlann

29-06-2008, 00:13

Davidus

29-06-2008, 00:13

CarsV

29-06-2008, 00:16

I'm starting to doubt that anyone in here has actually seen a cartoon...

"Oh lord, is that colour I see? OMGWTFHANNABARBARA!"

With all this aversion to colour, one would get the impression that someone's dog was beaten to death by a rainbow.

My thoughts exactly. I get this mental image of these goth kids sitting at their screens, flipping out and ****ting bats whenever they see a hint of color or joy in a game. I want the game to be dark, immersing, gritty and realistic, too, but not at the expense of being visually stale and unappealing.

Brother Laz

29-06-2008, 00:28

I want the game to be dark, immersing, gritty and realistic, too, but not at the expense of being visually stale and unappealing.

Stale and unappealing = too realistic
This is a world with demons and black magic
It probably won't ever look realistic
Unrealistic does not mean bright random colours

The places are unusual enough
They'll look interesting with normal lighting
This is an underground crypt lit by candles
And not Need for Speed Underground

Aranock

29-06-2008, 00:31

My thoughts exactly. I get this mental image of these goth kids sitting at their screens, flipping out and ****ting bats whenever they see a hint of color or joy in a game. I want the game to be dark, immersing, gritty and realistic, too, but not at the expense of being visually stale and unappealing.

Goth kids? It's the Diablo genre. Did you play Diablo 1 and 2? If so, you should like that atmosphere....

While you are at it, why don't we just add rainbows, sunshine, and lollypops...

Most everyone agrees the altered screenshots look better.

"Visually stale and unappealing...." hah

You're right, i think we need to add some nice colorful carpets and furniture in the butchers lair.

camelass

29-06-2008, 00:38

Has anyone stopped to think maybe they will have the option to crank up the texture detail level? I do like how the photoshopped screenies look and hopefully someone with the proper channels can pass it along to blizzard but still keep in mind this game is still in the very early dev stage. Probably not even alpha yet. Either way I'm looking forward to the release of this long over due third installment of the Diablo series.

CarsV

29-06-2008, 00:49

Stale and unappealing = too realistic
This is a world with demons and black magic
It probably won't ever look realistic
Unrealistic does not mean bright random colours

The places are unusual enough
They'll look interesting with normal lighting
This is an underground crypt lit by candles
And not Need for Speed Underground

You're basing your argument on early development material and now you're stretching my choice of words to mean more than I meant. Of course utter realism is, well, unrealistic... this is a game! But I don't want the game to be TOO dark, gritty, etc., to the point where I have to crank up my brightness like in Doom 3. That's taking something too far.

However, I definitely agree the images look a bit... 'clean'. But lets not get into overkill darkness like Doom 3 did. Afterall, I wonder what D2 would look like if they used higher resolutions.

Now, if we want to get deeper, the monastary could be clean looking like it does in the pics because it was recently inhabited. Or, if it's been abandoned for a while it could use some touch-ups such as cobwebs, aged trextures, etc., things I expect to see when the game is finished. We still need to see other areas and dungeons, though.

Goth kids? It's the Diablo genre. Did you play Diablo 1 and 2? If so, you should like that atmosphere....

While you are at it, why don't we just add rainbows, sunshine, and lollypops...

Most everyone agrees the altered screenshots look better.

"Visually stale and unappealing...." hah

You're right, i think we need to add some nice colorful carpets and furniture in the butchers lair.

Hey! Lets get together and play the extreme game! You can advocate a black and white artistic approach and I'll dance in my corner with my D3 version of Diablo's Lucky Charms!

By the way, "sunshine"... You do remember a whole ACT in D2 takes place under the hot, bright, burning sun, right?

Man! Look at those rainbows!
http://www.blizzard.com/diablo3/_images/screenshots/ss24.jpg

Yeah, it looks like the Crab People just danced through there.
http://www.blizzard.com/diablo3/_images/screenshots/ss25.jpg

Aranock

29-06-2008, 01:03

Hey! Lets get together and play the extreme game! You can advocate a black and white artistic approach and I'll dance in my corner with my D3 version of Diablo's Lucky Charms!

By the way, "sunshine"... You do remember a whole ACT in D2 takes place under the hot, bright, burning sun, right?

Man! Look at those rainbows!

Have fun in that corner of yours :thumbup:

Brother Laz

29-06-2008, 01:07

But I don't want the game to be TOO dark, gritty, etc., to the point where I have to crank up my brightness like in Doom 3. That's taking something too far.

You can have gritty and (figurative) dark without (literal) darkness. A black screen isn't very scary or ominous.

However, I definitely agree the images look a bit... 'clean'. But lets not get into overkill darkness like Doom 3 did.

Red candlelight instead of green cathode light (presumably from the tunnels to Undercity) would be a good start.

Afterall, I wonder what D2 would look like if they used higher resolutions.

D1 church levels were neon city, but then it used a 256 colour palette and no 3D acceleration. Much like SC2, the 'same' tints as the original are no longer good enough.

THIS IS NOT JUST ABOUT BRIGHTNESS.
Areas like the run-up to Kurast in D2 were scary despite not being very dark. The townsfolk tell you about the jungle that's eating everything. There are zombies and cannibal flayer demons and snakes in the water. It's raining and there are bodies and gold on the ground from the ransacked Holy City. The Argentek is flooding and you have to make your way around rickety wooden bridges that may or may not hold up.

And, incredibly, you can still see where you're going. :P

How scary is a crypt when the main source of lighting are primary green and blue hidden lamps? Ditch the neonz and make the candles super bright to compensate.

Oh, Hellgate London did the same thing. Green sewers with the occasional useless torch on a wall.

By the way, "sunshine"... You do remember a whole ACT in D2 takes place under the hot, bright, burning sun, right?

The Act with the zombies and the scimitar genies that emerge from urns and all the murdered harem girls? And then the sun went out.

Also, it looked like realistic sunlight. The point is not that it is bright. It should be bright so you don't run into walls. But I'd rather prefer a candlelit crypt to look candlelit and not like the innards of a pimped Alienware, and a foggy area to look foggy instead of underwater.

moranor

29-06-2008, 01:14

The more I compare the look of DII with the look of DIII the more it bums me out.
I mean, the look [I]is[I] actually a pretty important part of the game's feel, and I think part of DII's appeal comes from the fact that the presentation is so damn great. Diablo always had really crisp looking graphics, that was the tone of the world. This feels like something totally different. Same thing with the inventory. Having a huge axe look tiny in your inventory isn't in the spirit of Diablo.

I tried Mythos for a bit and part of the reason why I didn't like it was because I thought it looked stupid, and it looks just like DIII.

Deus Ex: Invisible War looked totally stupid compared to the original Deus Ex and that was a huge deterrent for me. I wouldn't want something like the next GTA to look totally WoW like either.

There have been a lot of Diablo clones but none of them have had the same magic. Maybe the art style has had nothing to do with that, but when I see this I don't think "that's Diablo III I want to play that now!". I think more like, that looks like Mythos and that was kinda meh

Arlborn

29-06-2008, 01:22

Those graphics are not in the last 2 diablo's spirits. Definetly not. Heck, the name of the game is "Diablo" you know. If you don't wnat blood or darkness, well, WoW is there.

Hello Jim

29-06-2008, 01:29

A3 was actually scary only because of the Fetish the ran to you in an amazing speed with very scary sound. Again- sound is a big effect. But you're correct on one thing- Rain. Did helped with the A3 effect.

A2 was not scary. You don't understand it until you understand the fact that the sun was shining. Honestly. Even the Palace wasn't scary. Too much light. Only thing that was scary was the tombs. And the Maggot Lair (maggots creeps me out). And the Arcane (wierd).

Kingston

29-06-2008, 01:46

They should've stuck to Lee's concept art more.

http://pcmedia.gamespy.com/pc/image/article/885/885127/diablo-iii-20080628072010400.jpg

Zagggon

29-06-2008, 03:04

I agree 100%, they need to change this ASAP or theres gone be hell to pay for a long time among old d2 players who fell in love with the old stuff, not this crappy *** wow-ish cartoony D3...

Friends Call Me Butch

29-06-2008, 03:09

The green dance club interior lighting probably means that the distinctive style and atmosphere will be fatally changed.

Holy-Avenger

29-06-2008, 04:57

Mihail

29-06-2008, 05:40

Guys, do you think with enough fan backlash they could change it? I mean almost every board I see there are 3+ topics. I think the right thing would lower brightness/saturation because It dosn't change the graphics THAT much and just adds a d2 touch to it IMO.

As I said before, the Executive producer stated that the team working on D3 was happy with the art direction. However, depending on the kind of guy he is, he might just care enough about the fans to listen to them.

Werzoth

29-06-2008, 05:43

It doesnt matter what game Blizzard creates, people will always try to find similarities everywhere. D3 doesnt look at all like WoW. I also find it amusing to see the posts saying "the atmosphere isnt there". That doesnt make any sense to be honest. Look at the first area they showed in the gameplay, that's Diablo written all over it. They showed 2 small areas and already people are jumping out of windows.

Mihail

29-06-2008, 05:49

They're using blues and greens like they did in WoW instead of grays and blacks. Not enough cracks, not enough wear and tear, not enough disrepair. Where are the signs of battle and carnage that were present in Diablo 2. Where are the pentagrams and signs of worship? Yawnfest environment is yawfest.

NJS

29-06-2008, 06:12

They are blending their games art styles to much, or the graphic artists don't know how to do anything else. I've long gotten tired with the cartoon art style of WC3, and WoW. While its not as bad as WoW one thing I thought I could always count on was that Diablo would always be geared for the realistic, dark Gothic and far from cartoonish look as D1 and 2 were. I guess I was wrong. Lets just hope they change it before release.

Mihail

29-06-2008, 06:30

I just hope the guys on the developing team are reasonable people that want US to have fun. I hope they'll listen to us and do something about it.

JadeSelket

29-06-2008, 08:18

Skipping a lot of pages of people's comments to add in some of my own. I play WoW. While some of the trailer reminded me of WC3 and WoW, and some other games it also really didn't make me worry if it would stray too far from Diablo I and II. I think some people aren't used to seeing things this way because we had a very strict angle in Diablo I and II. You kind of always saw your character one way, the environment one way...and I can already tell that III let's you see your character a bit more realistic. We're not used to being able to SEE the bottoms of buildings like that. The ground in I and II was always level to our character, nothing really more. But from all this, I still think it's very "Diablo"

Another note, someone mentioned god of war - and i was reminded of this too. Kinda from the way our barb lept down the ladder. He seems a little like Kratos, a little more brutal but I think this looks nice, more barbarian if you will - and doesn't ruin the gameplay at all.

PiXeL

29-06-2008, 08:53

actually looks pretty good

DoomyDoomyDoomDoom

29-06-2008, 09:46

Oh god, I almost puked a little when I saw the screenshots. I had to check THREE times to make sure I wasn't looking at a Warcraft game.

I am still trying to download the video with this blizzard download thingy (slow as hell right now). So I can only comment on the screenshots.

I saw the way it should look picture earlier in the thread and I must say it is a GREAT improvement.

UGH I just, ewww, the textures are all smooth and lack detail. The scenes are oversaturated with color and the characters....I am going to assume they are like placeholders or something. It really is just looking way too cartoony for my taste. Nothing wrong with that, but this is Diablo. I loved the atmosphere in D2.

I may be getting ahead of myself but the screenshots make the game look awfully small. I mean the area doesn't look open. It just looks like a small path ala dungeon siege 2. I hope the environment wont be so linear. I liked how D2 had fairly open spaces.

I still love the graphics in diablo 2. The low res kinda hurts on my 37" display though.

Ztryder

29-06-2008, 09:50

Hrm, I am kinda torn about this. I thought it looked pretty good until I saw the "how it should look" fan made pic. The darker tone on the cathedral one really sold me on making it more dark as we all know and love.

If there is enough of us, the fans need to unite and tell Blizzard that. It worked for SC2. When SC2 was announced, people said it looked too cartoony and bright and didn't fit in with the whole dirty, gritty Terrans. So they scaled it all back and it looks good now. We ought to do the same!

Cast_Raider

29-06-2008, 16:26

The colors don't worry me really. Yeah, they're a bit colorful. Which doesn't look horrible to me, it just doesn't look like a Diablo game. No big deal though; I assume that it's pretty easy to just grab the slider for ambient glow and move it from goblin green towards candlelight yellow.

What concerns me more is the look of the architecture. It looks more otherworldly than D1 or D2. Like something I would expect to see in a LOTR or Narnia movie. Which again, is not horrible, but it's just not Diablo. Diablo to me is realistic buildings, mostly modeled after northern european architecture. All of D1 of course, and Acts 1, 4, and 5 from D2.

It's not that the game wouldn't be fun to play. I'll still probably buy a copy no matter what. It's just that it looks too generic, like every other mideval fantasy game out there.