I really tried

[TheDarkSide]

to play Diablo again this morning after reading some of the articles here last night . I got home and installed the game and was really looking forward to meeting the Butcher again after all these years . Sadley - I only lasted about 30 minutes before I had to Un-Install it .

:yes:

It was was a horrible experience overall . For the year it came it out it was amazing but Im too far burnt into D2 and other better looking games now . Not to mention it looked horrible on my widescreen lcd monitor . I made it to the first level of the Cathedral and was just getting used to the controls when I was splattered on the floor by a zombie .. :jig: Ahh well , I really wanted to give it a shot after all these years but alas I could not take it ...

Here's hoping that D3 does for the series what D2 did when it came out ...

[Elly]

I installed it this evening.

I'm in the Cathedral, but like you, I'm finding it very hard. Up and down to town and walking! Plod, plod, plod. I played about an hour. I will have another shot tomorrow but I think I'll end up just installing D2 again.

[Lanthanide]

IMO D1 always got the most fun around dlvl 4-6, when you really started to feel your power outstrip the enemies and more options become available.

Hang in there!

[TheDarkSide]

Im not hanging in there anymore and dont think I'l ever venture back . I do remember spending countless hours playing though when it first came out . I just cant get past the graphics and the clunky looking motions and the walking , etc .

Good luck to those that are still enjoying this one .. Im really looking forward to D3 now though , so much Im considering making a brand new website with the tools they just released to try and get a demo key ...

:whistling:

[Catchafire]

If you already played it, then i'd agree. However, i'm happy that I played D1 before D2 because there are a lot of things that D1 does better than D2...

[craezyjim]

If you already played it, then i'd agree. However, i'm happy that I played D1 before D2 because there are a lot of things that D1 does better than D2...

I agree with this statement. I feel diablo 1 gameplay was stronger in some ways-

-random and interesting quests (single player)
-sense of danger - you can't run and taking on large mobs of monsters is usually a bad idea (unless you outlevel the area...)
-terrain and obstacles used for strategy

Of course, diablo 2 improved on many other things -- mainly speeding up travel times, item generation, character customization, multiplayer synergy, plus many other things...

Looking forward, I am glad that it appears the D3 team is incorporating some of the stronger areas of D1 into D3 - terrain usage, random quests ... sense of danger will likely be returned due to the new health globe system and significant alteration of the potion mechanic.

[flubbucket]

You know it's funny how we always harp on "gameplay over graphics" and I wholeheartedly agree. But this does illustrate a point that you can never go home again. I am also glad I had the opportunity to enjoy Diablo when it was first released instead of trying to go back and recapture something. Almost everytime I try to play a Dosbox special I get the blues...

I see the kiddos complaining about the graphics on Fallout 1 & 2 because they are trying to prepare themselves for the upcoming release. I guess they have a right to complain, but they need to realize it is a 10 year old game.

ps. Darkside I'm in DFW

[Lynchgrinch]

d1 had a much darker vibe to it, the gameplay is not as good as d2, but it has a much better feel to it, i still have good fun every so often re-playing it and getting addicted for a day or so and getting the crap scaired outa me a like half 2 in the morning...good times

[GoldenBird]

Shame :(

I wonder if I'm the only person who doesn't care about the graphics? Maybe my monitor just isn't big enough for them to hurt my eyes or something? Seriously, I'm confused. D1 graphics weren't that bad. They didn't even have that D2 grittiness to them.

A bit OT, but do you guys install games when you feel like playing them and then take them off when you're done? O.o I've never seen that before. All the games I play I keep on my comp,

[boblabla]

i LOVE Diablo I the atmosphere and creepiness factor can't be touched. i agree the graphics are crap and it may be a bit clunky in some ways but neither of those detract that much from the atmosphere and tension present. i've been thinking about reinstalling it recently and am currently in the process of tracking down hellfire so i can play the expansion that i never experienced. love the music too. i can hear it right now. good sh!t.

[ahzarelly]

Hehe, just yesterday my brother convinced me to play d1 again.
First level was easy, but kept getting more and more difficult. I died a lot, and several times I felt like quitting, but at the catacombs I finally found some good books (playing a sorc) and life is easier. Sold my soul for a chain lightning book, and found a mana shield and a fireball book. I'm hooked at this game again :D.
I agree, the atmosphere of D1 is ten times greater than D2. Another thing that I think D1 got it right was that the monsters had more personality, well, maybe not the right word, but seeing them and killing them is much better in the first game.

[Lanthanide]

They have much more presence. Probably because if you get swarmed you're likely to die, so they're much more of a threat. The sound effects were much better and the graphics a lot clearer and crisper (despite being 640x480 res) and there were actually some interesting AIs, like the balrogs, goatmen and vipers that would skirt around you before closing in, compared to D2's general charge-at-you AI.

Diablo 2 actually had all of the graphics compressed, which is why some of it can look pretty murky, particularly Act 1 and Act 3 outdoor scenary that just looks like a mess of greeny-black pixels sometimes. Uncompressed the graphics for D2 came to about 6-7 gigs, whereas what got delivered on the 2 CDs was 1.4 gigs (with the other CD being for cinematics, IIRC).

[The Sandcat]

I liked the Camelot type storyline complete with king leoric and Knights more than the middle east feel of D2.The monsters had more character and died in interesting ways.D2 has to many Humanoid monsters,And some are downright ugly . The graphics are just fine,and lightning was way more realistic. D2 lightning looks too much like other spells. Another cool feature is that in SP you can save everything.Nothing disappears or respawns unless you start a brand new game. And you can drop all your good stuff somewhere in town (SP) to use later.This keeps your inventory clean + you can have unlimited amounts of stuff and gold.The only silly thing is that they did not enable NM and Hell in SP.I mean it really boggles the mind .
For those who hate walking,get a town portal spell.
One last thing: With 500 Gig harddrives around,why uninstall D1? I have kept all my char's and regularily back them up on memory stick.**** happens,and when it does,I don't have to start from scratch.Recommended for D2 players as well :yes:

[Hodl Pu]

I love D1. I STILL play it with my friends.

The tactics used for D1 is very different than the way you play D2. D2, you can easily run into a mob and kill stuff, run away, etc.

D1 required much more. You had to dodge missiles, use door ways to bottleneck mobs into a 1 on 1 fight, you couldn't just run into a mob. You had to either split a mob up or if you were a sorc, round them up as much as possible for a nice big flamewave spam.

[Nahlraka]

I keep D1 on my computer. It is a little outdated, but doesn't look that bad at all [ok, so firewall and the lightning spells look pretty bad lol]. It has a more horror-oriented atmosphere than D2 that I actually prefer. Plus, as someone said earlier, there is a greater feeling of danger. You could turn the corner and have 10 knights on your tail, each one of which can kill you in only a few strikes.

[ETs]

Omg, I loved Diablo1 so much... I've been played D1-D2 and switched to WoW..

I re-installed D1 and played with my friends for like maybe 1-2 week online... We're at lvl 20~ right now, but we didn't play for like 3 months, but that's really good eh :)

I loved it, but some things sux in the game, if you forget to repair your stuff, you're in sh!t.. walking all those levels if you didn't have a TP, that's kind of long too.. and for the graphic, I dont really care honnestly, I love the ambiance of D1, the music ( specially tristam )

So many good memories when i'm playing this game... =)

I actually can't wait for D3 :)

[Nahlraka]

I love the ambiance of D1, the music ( specially tristam )


Yes! When I was in the caves the first time and that weird singing came in, I got really freaked out. That's the sign of good atmosphere - when it actually affects the player.

[jimbtx]

The only thing that really drives me nuts in D1. Was when I played a melee character. And, I would have to chase those winged hussies who would not stop walking away from you!!! You really had to corner them with a fast weapon to put them into hit recovery time. Unless you had the ability to stone them.

[V12V12]

I've taken a Bow-Rogue all the way up to clvl 25 so far, and it's been kicked arse! Though it's a PITA in SP, b/c Griswonk doesn't sell crap for bows, and if he does they are so overpriced beyond reach w/o gold farming, it's a wash... The melle class-bias is infuriating to say the least! I'm going to continue to play and pray I can find the magical uniques needed to really take my char to the next lvl of play (nightmare)... Aside from that uber slow walking spd it's going great!

Shame I kept mixing game features up with DII, I'd be looking for features that were simply not there, haha, how frustrating! DII is such an advance from DI. I'm still going to keep playing though! Hard to find detailed build guides though :-/

[DiMono]

I've always kept Hellfire on my computer, and sometimes I boot it up to revisit my brutally overpowered Barbarian and Monk. I always meant to play a Rogue, but never quite got around to it.

[V12V12]

I've always kept Hellfire on my computer, and sometimes I boot it up to revisit my brutally overpowered Barbarian and Monk. I always meant to play a Rogue, but never quite got around to it.

Actually I'm in the middle of a NM game right now w/my Bow-Rogue... For it not all this high lvl gear I have, I'd be toast! Def a "thinkers" build, frustrating at times... But challenging none the less. :thumbup:

[V12V12]

Arrrgh! Alas... I think my D1+HF days are coming to an end... :weep:

After beating Diablo in Norm, and playing around in NM with my seemingly underpowered Bow-Rogue. It just doesn't look like it's going to work out. I'm losing interest fast in button mashing, "item-hunt," and the major lack of unique and special items with in reasonable reach.

I blame DII (mainly) for my sudden epiphany about the lack of items (well comparatively speaking) and the exuberant prices needed to attain them (some of which you cannot even physically purchase!?!). It was a great game in it's time, and was surely fun... until I slayed the beast. I just cannot see my attention being held playing any other char aside from the Monk or maybe Bard? Either way the game is — LEGENDARY to say the very least... I bid you farewell D1... :wave: :yes: :tombstone:

* Oh man I don't even want to hit Submit Reply *

[Rashiminos]

I agree with this statement. I feel diablo 1 gameplay was stronger in some ways-

-random and interesting quests (single player)
-sense of danger - you can't run and taking on large mobs of monsters is usually a bad idea (unless you outlevel the area...)
-terrain and obstacles used for strategy


I felt quest rewards were a little better in d2, not a supply of unique items, but still useful since it wasn't a set drop when it was an item.

As for obstacles... Did you fail to notice the trees, walls, doors, jail gratings, etc in d2? Pillars? They were there and usable.

The tactics used for D1 is very different than the way you play D2. D2, you can easily run into a mob and kill stuff, run away, etc.

D1 required much more. You had to dodge missiles, use door ways to bottleneck mobs into a 1 on 1 fight, you couldn't just run into a mob. You had to either split a mob up or if you were a sorc, round them up as much as possible for a nice big flamewave spam.

Even in D2 the ability to run into a large mob and kill stuff depends on build. Running into a pack of venom lords with sub-optimal fire res is a disaster waiting to happen. In the tombs of Act 2 where the unravellers raise the skellies I usually opt to draw the skeletons to another room and kill them out of sight range. The main difference here is running, which has its drawbacks.


I think the parts I liked best about d1 were the books and scrolls.

[Lanthanide]

As for obstacles... Did you fail to notice the trees, walls, doors, jail gratings, etc in d2? Pillars? They were there and usable.
Yes, they were there, but not really like D1 at all.

Probably the most obstacle-laden areas in D2 were the flayer dungeons, act 1 jail and palace basement. There were also restricted movement areas, like the maggot lair and arcane sanctuary. But other than that, D2 was pretty open and breezy in a way that D1 never was. A lot of that is to do with the strict tile-layout of D1 and inability to run, though.

Probably the most D1-like area of D2 is the Act 1 catacombs - that felt like quite a mixture of the D1 church and cats levels.

[HegemonKhan]

it's not the obstacles themselves that separate diablo 1 and diablo 2 (since they BOTH have obstacles), the problem is that in diablo 2 u do NOT need to use tactics based on those obstacles for 99% of the time, whereas in diablo 1 u DO need to use tactics based on those obstacles 99% of the time (unless you are overpowered-high leveled for the area).

[V12V12]

it's not the obstacles themselves that separate diablo 1 and diablo 2 (since they BOTH have obstacles), the problem is that in diablo 2 u do NOT need to use tactics based on those obstacles for 99% of the time, whereas in diablo 1 u DO need to use tactics based on those obstacles 99% of the time (unless you are overpowered-high leveled for the area).

Yeah I 2nd that notion about the obstacles; I'm playing D1-HF/The Dark and if you don't cautiously peer around corners and gates = GANGBANG CITY! They don't play around in D1 at all! You die = loose your stuff PERIOD, haha then you're left trying to lure enemies away while you teleport/kinesis it back. DII you can just run around like mad, or run and pick off approaching hoards. But... as I've been trumpeting, in The Dark you CAN sprint; it just takes off life+mana = a fair trade off imho. Ditch the regular D1 and play the mods = they improve upon a lot of minor details that add up to much better game play. GL.

[Thorham]

All I can say is that Diablo is awesome, and after installing it recently I must say that it's a well needed break from Diablo 2, which has been boring me to bits lately. Actually, I'm almost at the point where I have to say that Diablo is more fun than Diablo 2 :crazyeyes:

[Lanthanide]

I've long maintained that Diablo is a better game than Diablo 2.

[V12V12]

All I can say is that Diablo is awesome, and after installing it recently I must say that it's a well needed break from Diablo 2, which has been boring me to bits lately. Actually, I'm almost at the point where I have to say that Diablo is more fun than Diablo 2 :crazyeyes:

Yeah Diablo II is very easy to dominate once you've twinked top-end gear or attained +all bestowing items etc... And Enigma is mighty awesome! With a MASSIVE TANK Mercenary with leech and Infinity! God maybe I'll start playing that game again and see how it's turned out with the updates etc... Diablo is becoming bothersome about the strict areas and mostly lame/ineffective spell assortment. The Dark Mod did spice things up, but I'm starting to get annoyed by the hoard'n swarm!

Can't wait to see if DIII will hit or miss with me...

[smike]

Ah, the days of D1.. the only char I ever played was the Warrior. Couldn't stand to hit and run.. Still remember luring huge mobs to a doorway, and shift-clicking (or was it ctrl-clicking) until they were dead. Then the lava area, where there were a lot less bottlenecks to use. D1 definetly makes me appreciate the fact that we can run in D2 though!

[V12V12]

Ah, the days of D1.. the only char I ever played was the Warrior. Couldn't stand to hit and run.. Still remember luring huge mobs to a doorway, and shift-clicking (or was it ctrl-clicking) until they were dead. Then the lava area, where there were a lot less bottlenecks to use. D1 definetly makes me appreciate the fact that we can run in D2 though!

Yeah boss... Them doorways are heaven for the *.Haste weapon users! THe Bard is a monster with dual swords in The Dark Mod = dual swords = 3 space hit combo per swing! I lure mobs in corners, they swarm and BOOM I explode on them! More the better b/c they just block the uniques from getting to me... then when they do... WHAM sword and shield combo = too much AC for them to even hit me... but it's a real PITA to switch.

There's just too much penalty for NOT using a sword and shield. As if that's the ultimate combo...BS I say. Esp with all the blocking and range BUGS that POS Buzzard never addressed properly. Basically penalizing any class that doesn't.

I don't understand wtf don't they have gaming Quality Control measures? I know they have release deadlines, but come on, overlooking KNOWN bugs, as reported in forums by the 1000's, is pure hogwash. DIII better not leave a stone unturned far as all these other "bugs" from the legacy games are concerned.

[Lanthanide]

I don't understand wtf don't they have gaming Quality Control measures? I know they have release deadlines, but come on, overlooking KNOWN bugs, as reported in forums by the 1000's, is pure hogwash. DIII better not leave a stone unturned far as all these other "bugs" from the legacy games are concerned.
They do, that's why the game is playable at all for more than 10 minutes without crashing. Go look at the pre-alpha and beta Diablo website for an idea of how often the old pre-alphas and betas crashed (hint: lots).

The gameplay bugs themselves are much more subtle and are simply difficult to find without heaps of time (and therefore heaps of money) spent on testing. Back in 1996 when Diablo was released, Blizzard was nowhere near the huge power player it is today, it's it is not surprising that the game has a few bugs. All in all it's pretty good, though. As for why they didn't release patches to fix them all - patch fixes don't bring in any extra revenue, they're a sunk cost for the development team, so most of the time extra effort is not expended. If Blizzard had developed their own expansion, rather than Hellfire, then we might have seen some of these gameplay bugs fixed up. I'm sure Blizzard would have liked to have developed their own expansion, but they simply did not have the time or resources to stretch that far to do it (what with working on Diablo 2), so it's certainly understandable that it would have been hard for them to squeeze in small patches for Diablo - sure they're smaller, but they also don't bring in a dime of revenue.

Compare to the infamous aura 'star' pattern found in Diablo 2, and fixed in 1.06 or so, which really was extremely poor. It was obvious to anyone playing a Paladin for even 10 minutes with auras that something wasn't quite right - that auras seemed to stretch farther at the NESW compass points than at the screen corners. Even though it was obvious, though, it wasn't for some months until someone had the bright idea of mapping it out with piles of gold, which is what finally caught Blizzard's attention and got them to fix the bug.

[V12V12]

They do, that's why the game is playable at all for more than 10 minutes without crashing. Go look at the pre-alpha and beta Diablo website for an idea of how often the old pre-alphas and betas crashed (hint: lots).

Compare to the infamous aura 'star' pattern found in Diablo 2, and fixed in 1.06 or so, which really was extremely poor. It was obvious to anyone playing a Paladin for even 10 minutes with auras that something wasn't quite right - that auras seemed to stretch farther at the NESW compass points than at the screen corners. Even though it was obvious, though, it wasn't for some months until someone had the bright idea of mapping it out with piles of gold, which is what finally caught Blizzard's attention and got them to fix the bug.

Yes I understand that POV, but again it’s like a car company deciding that it simply costs too much to send out repair parts to a few local dealers, to FIX a crucial oversight/bug with the machine that prevents the driver from using or experiencing the car AS ADVERTISED: aka in full working order. Just like if you found out that the night vision sensor or rearview camera screen, or what have you, doesn’t work properly. When something doesn’t work properly as it should and is left largely unaddressed, this constitutes FRAUD. You the manufacturer/dev (or whatever) are presenting a product to the consumer with complete/full expectation that the product you are selling works as advertised.
Nobody (is legally allowed) advertises a car/anything with some disclaimer “ the model pictured is fully working, and or customized for this ad, owners may receive like models but w/ no absolute guarantee that it performs as shown for this advertisement only” etc. If you’re selling something it’s YOUR 100% responsibility to test BEFORE you release it, or to establish a system that will ensure that if any concerns are found, that they be remedied as soon as possible (and that’s not to say “at your leisure”). If not, you are in fact defrauding the customer b/c yadda yadda. You get my point?

Course there are many mitigating circumstances that would/could prevent the timely dispatch of said patch/parts etc… but there’s ZERO excuse why something so hindering such as; the ranged blocking bug, or the 15-45° ranged attack bug (Zons DI) should be allowed to persist which prohibits the consumer from enjoying the game/vehicle as advertised; in FULL working order. Nobody advertises a product in non-100% working accord… least I didn’t see a disclaimer at the bottom about it. “Products sold to consumers may or may not be in full working order as presented in this commercial” blah blah.

I’m just sick of these so-called excuses, when really it comes down to malicious GREED. You (the manu) find out there’s a bug that you more than clearly should have picked up on, since you DID pre-test the game and issues as we have described them are largely visible upon the very start of usage etc. I could yap on and on about responsibility, but apparently it’s either okay or widely accepted practice that gaming devs/manu’s don’t HAVE to be held legally (consumers rights) accountable. The only supposed/visible accountings are these (wonderful) forums that give us a place to expand and note these issues. So, what, we should just blindly hope/pray that our 100% legitimate concerns are address in a “timely” manner. Our only weapon/avenue against poor Q/C is to rant on a forum and decide not to purchase from said company? That’s hogwash, shouldn’t be tolerated, and frankly constitutes DEFRAUDING the consumer. Jargon Jargon Jargon hahah…

Glad we agree on this now? Hehe Ciao dude… you always give me a soap-box to stand on, cut it out I’m wasting valuable “me” time hammering this out! Hahha

[Lanthanide]

Here in the real world we recognise that given the difficulty and complexity of writing any software at all, that if it was required that any software sold was 100% bug free that no software of any use would ever be written because it would be uneconomical to do so.

You can rail against software bugs as long as you want, but the simple fact of the matter is that given current tools and technologies, software bugs will exist. Yes it would be negligent not to do your best to minimise bugs - and Blizzard do, as I pointed out if they hadn't the game wouldn't even run for 10 minutes non-stop without crashing.

Finally you have to consider the grass-is-greener situation - by and large the bugs in Diablo 1 are not show-stoppers, compared to say Hellgate which was pretty appalling with many quests simply not working or players falling out of the map etc.

If you want to continue to argue this point, you should be arguing about general software practices, processes and technologies, not a particular company (that has by and large done an above-average job) which is merely a product of the current software practices, processes and technologies.

Btw, I write software for a living.

[V12V12]

I understand your points and can agree to an extent... BUT the key factor here being, we PAY IN FULL UP FRONT = Give me my product IN FULL up front? Why am I paying for "unfinished" product? There's no "return" policy if I deem "Hey you didn't fix XYZ major bugs in this product that you KNEW were there after 100-1000's of people voice concern. You CHOSE to ignore it = Fraud."

That's my stance — give me what I'm TOLD I'm buying (that creatively thought out packaging and advertising = says "finished" to me) ... Fraud. ;-)

[Thorham]

Quite off-topic, but here goes anyway :whistling:

You're abolutely right V12V12. Truth is, that for most products there is a return policy: If it doesn't work the way it's supposed to, then you can get your money back, but not with software. It's almost as if developers think they're some sort exception as far as making a properly functioning product is concerned.

Note to programmers: I don't program for a living, but it's been my hobby for more than 20 years, so I know that it's a pain to get rid of bugs. However, removing flaws and fixing big problems probably isn't much fun in most disciplines, and programming is not an exception.

[V12V12]

Quite off-topic, but here goes anyway :whistling:

You're abolutely right V12V12. Truth is, that for most products there is a return policy: If it doesn't work the way it's supposed to, then you can get your money back, but not with software. It's almost as if developers think they're some sort exception as far as making a properly functioning product is concerned.

Note to programmers: I don't program for a living, but it's been my hobby for more than 20 years, so I know that it's a pain to get rid of bugs. However, removing flaws and fixing big problems probably isn't much fun in most disciplines, and programming is not an exception.


Hey my beef isn't with the proletariat per se, it's with upper management! They are the ones that make the decision to NOT properly ferret out bugs and potentially crippling hinerances IE: 15-45° ranged attack, Blocking/ranged blocking bug (Blood Stars anyone?!). These 2 bugs alone make D1 almost impossible to play at the later stages of NM, not to mention Hell! Those 2 bugs essentially cripple all melle chars, esp transitional chars/builds such as hybrids or *ranged anything* and hybrid-melle. Doesn't help that the spell list is mainly USELESS unless maxed with a sorc or heavily biased mini-mage. All noteable with in a few hours of play.

Corp-management allows these lapses just like Micro-sloft addresses bugs. Hence why their justification for WGA and the like is tantamount to FRAUD. There has been not one attempt to reasonably tie up the loose ends in their swiss-cheese OS. How many "updates" (aka patches for previously known lapses?) should we the consumer expect, in order to play said game? So if I don't have access to the Inet, I cannot experience the game as advertised/intented, until I get this "patch" that is only DL'able. Nothing on the packaging stating user must have internet and agree to a patch-ware product... yippity yappity, you guys know my stance. I'm just venting at this point... pz out!