Diablo3 too "Cheerful" ?

I recently read something interesting, there seems to be a few people out there who are of the opinion that Diablo3 is too cheerful/bright'. That in fact the colour palate is too bright and crisp. And that this is betraying the original titles and somewhat ruining the atmosphere of the game.

So I fired up an old copy of Diablo2 I still have installed and compared it to the screenshots of the newer forthcoming title. The colours do seem to look brighter somehow and in the whole vain of Bright = cheerful do you think that the art director needs to tone down the colour palette before release?

Of course this will scarcely affect gameplay, but should it be done or don't you care?

I recently read something interesting, there seems to be a few people out there who are of the opinion that Diablo3 is too cheerful/bright'. That in fact the colour palate is too bright and crisp. And that this is betraying the original titles and somewhat ruining the atmosphere of the game.

So I fired up an old copy of Diablo2 I still have installed and compared it to the screenshots of the newer forthcoming title. The colours do seem to look brighter somehow and in the whole vain of Bright = cheerful do you think that the art director needs to tone down the colour palette before release?

Of course this will scarcely affect gameplay, but should it be done or don't you care?

psychot1c

So obviously we can't judge the game on just one dungeon and one environment, but blizzard has said that the game is and will be extremely stylized while holding the gothic feel of the diablo universe. They have said that they tried having the game more dark like its predicessors but it did not play well.

If you haven't seen these attack demonstration clips, I have no doubt that this game will receive an "M" rating. They prove that this isn't going to be some kids game, they're disgusting and great! (I hadn't seen these until recently)

http://www.blizzard.com/diablo3/characters/barbarian.xml

No I've seen the videos, and personally I think that the animations look really great, probably the best part of what has been released so far. And as for the rest, it does appear to stay true to the originals in the important bits. Its just that the colours are definitely a lot more "jovial" than we are used to. But at the same merit when the last Diablo title was released we were all still playing at 800 x 600 res.

Really I don't actually care, the game looks fine and the gameplay is what is important. We will have to wait a while and see if this issue impacts the experience in any way.

You are right. I have Diablo 2 and the atmosphere is really dark and gothic. But who cares, it is from Blizzard. These guys don't know what wrong meansIraqi_Gangster

[QUOTE="Iraqi_Gangster"]You are right. I have Diablo 2 and the atmosphere is really dark and gothic. But who cares, it is from Blizzard. These guys don't know what wrong meansSceaduHyrde

Yeah, well I can say thats not true with starcraft 2..Blizzard seems to have the public involved quite a bit with that project. As for their other games, no company has any obligation to have the public involved with the design of the game and that goes for any company not just blizzard.

No I've seen the videos, and personally I think that the animations look really great, probably the best part of what has been released so far. And as for the rest, it does appear to stay true to the originals in the important bits. Its just that the colours are definitely a lot more "jovial" than we are used to. But at the same merit when the last Diablo title was released we were all still playing at 800 x 600 res.

Really I don't actually care, the game looks fine and the gameplay is what is important. We will have to wait a while and see if this issue impacts the experience in any way.

psychot1c

I'm just waiting for the game to be out before I make judge the art direction and how it "feels".

They should stick to old Diablo style,but well not same people are makeing game so :(

We get another wow-style game

The original feel of the game was boring. I think this one looks a lot better, it's easier on the eyes and it's still pretty evil looking. Zombies swarming everywhere and whatnot, I'd say it's eerier than it's predecessors.greedom

I agree. I like the new look. Cheers!

I don't really think the new Diablo looks 'bright and cheerful'. It seems to me that both 2 and 3 have quite a bit of color. In D2 most of the outdoor areas were pretty colorful (Wide green fields in act 1, bright yellow desert in act 2, bright green forest in act 3). In addition the mobs in D2 were generally very brightly colored (which dosent appear to be the case in D3). Remeber the bright red, blue and green mobs in D2? Not what I'd really call dark and gloomy :P

It does look like the indoor areas might be better illuminated. In D2 you often were in a situation where you could only really see about a quater of the screen. Again I'm happy that it looks like they might change that, I found it kinda annoying to not be able to really see what I was doing much of the time.

Anyways, we'll be better able to tell once we start seeing more ingame footage.

That siege boss bites the head off of your barbarian. That is all. >=(Makari

Seriously, if all the bosses are this badass, who cares if the colors are a little more cheerful.

It annoys me when people think that adding color to a violent video game will transform it into Teletubbies or Viva Pinata. Blizzard said that "gothic" is an emotion-based factor, not a color-based factor, and who are we to argue with Blizzard?

I am extremely happy to see Diablo 3 in color, and I beleive mixing color and violence together gives a chilling "eeire" factor. Games like Half-Life and Dead Rising have lots of color, yet they still have lots of violence.

I don't really care about the art director's excuses or any fanboy's defense. I look at the game's screenshots, and the first thing that comes to mind is "World of Warcraft". GodLovesDead

I don't really care about the art director's excuses or any fanboy's defense. I look at the game's screenshots, and the first thing that comes to mind is "World of Warcraft". GodLovesDead

And that's why he's the art director and you're not.

Anyone who doesn't jump on the hate bandwagon is automatically a fanboy. If you hate the graphics and colours, don't play it. Simple. Your loss though.

[QUOTE="GodLovesDead"]I don't really care about the art director's excuses or any fanboy's defense. I look at the game's screenshots, and the first thing that comes to mind is "World of Warcraft". cru3

And that's why he's the art director and you're not.

Anyone who doesn't jump on the hate bandwagon is automatically a fanboy. If you hate the graphics and colours, don't play it. Simple. Your loss though.

He'll probably just pirate it out of spite though. Their loss. Lol.

That siege boss bites the head off of your barbarian. That is all. >=(Makari

True...there is nothing cheerful about the game

I don't really care about the art director's excuses or any fanboy's defense. I look at the game's screenshots, and the first thing that comes to mind is "World of Warcraft". GodLovesDead

Can't help but giggle at this sentiment.. Too many kids now a days are hung up on graphics.. I am quite sure the tens ouf thosuands of people that play Diablo 2 till this day (incouding my self), DO NOT PLAY IT FOR THE ART direction or graphics.. By all accounts it is a poor looking game, but that ODVIOUSLY isn't the draw.

[QUOTE="GodLovesDead"]I don't really care about the art director's excuses or any fanboy's defense. I look at the game's screenshots, and the first thing that comes to mind is "World of Warcraft". sSubZerOo

Can't help but giggle at this sentiment.. Too many kids now a days are hung up on graphics.. I am quite sure the tens ouf thosuands of people that play Diablo 2 till this day (incouding my self), DO NOT PLAY IT FOR THE ART direction or graphics.. By all accounts it is a poor looking game, but that ODVIOUSLY isn't the draw.

It's 2008. Obviously no one is playing Diablo 2 for it's art direction or graphics. If you played Diablo 1 when it came out - it was an excellent game with respectable graphics and a scary atmosphere. Then Diablo 2 came out and some of the atmosphere was sacrificed for gameplay, which is fine (though it's lacking). But with Diablo 3, it's becoming way too silly. I wish they actually made an attempt to make the game retain Diablo's atmosphere and gothic feel. But instead of coming up with a unique art design, they simply replicated WoW's and tweaked it so it's slightly darker.

EDIT: It also doesn't help that the screenshots are showing off some really dated graphics. Sure, Blizzard has been the most technical bunch, but there are games that look better than Diablo 3 and came out 3 years before.

I don't see how you can't feel even a slight amount of resentment. Unless of course you're a Blizzard fanboy, or simply never logged those 100+ hours into Diablo at its release. I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of people with opinions on the matter never even played the original Diablo.

i fully understand where the graphical skepticism is coming from -- afterall, loyal fans have the right to protect what they are hoping for in the sequel of their beloved game. having said that, i fail to understand why it's such a big issue. D3's graphic might not be dark and gothic like, but it's obviously good enough to meet the standard of modern gaming. once a game is has reached that standard, graphic really shouldn't be an issue anymore....unless that's the only thing one cares about.

on the other hand, i'm surprised how nobody seems to want to talk about gameplay.....like i said before, such complacency, the idea that Blizzard guarentees quality, is obviously not helping pc gaming at all. for all i know, Blizzard has been on decline since WoW.....and the fact that they hire Battle for Middle Earth designer and a total rpg newbie to helm their latest projects goes very far to prove my point.

I do notice some WoW in the game, but I am not going to let that discourage me from playing it.smokeydabear076

Same And I take resentment at your blizzard fanboy remark, GodLovesDead. I beat the original Diablo 3 times, and have been recently replaying Diablo 2 for the 4th time (first time with the expansion though). And I still don't feel much resentment towards the new art direction of Diablo 3. I actually disliked the darkness in Diablo 2, because it was nearly impossible to play in the daylight and got tiring fast.

You are right. I have Diablo 2 and the atmosphere is really dark and gothic. But who cares, it is from Blizzard. These guys don't know what wrong meansIraqi_Gangster

Untrue. Blizzard know what Wrong means, but they also know that it is only something that applys to people outside of Blizzard =]

Why is people so obsessed with graphics these days?

and when it comes to the "feel" of the game, your words mean nothing unless you've actually tried the game. No matter how many screenshots and trailers you've analysed.. Be patient and flame blizzard at launch, if it really is a problem.

I like the graphics (and the design) in D3, maybe because I don't have a problem with WoWs visuals. Why is that? Because they come from classics I truly admire, such as Warcraft 2 and 3, who no one mentions:!: Everyone is trying so hard to hate WoW that it at times gets pathetic. I don't play WoW myself. I have in the past but it's too time consuming if you really want something out if it.

@Below

Touché... or?

[QUOTE="smokeydabear076"]I do notice some WoW in the game, but I am not going to let that discourage me from playing it.the_ChEeSe_mAn2

Same And I take resentment at your blizzard fanboy remark, GodLovesDead. I beat the original Diablo 3 times, and have been recently replaying Diablo 2 for the 4th time (first time with the expansion though). And I still don't feel much resentment towards the new art direction of Diablo 3. I actually disliked the darkness in Diablo 2, because it was nearly impossible to play in the daylight and got tiring fast.

Lol I don't believe you. If you think Diablo 2 was to dark to play then you've clearly never ever played Diablo I because Tristrian ( the town ) was as dark as some of the dungeons and crypts in Diablo II lol. That whole game was extremely dark and erie I don't care what anyone says. If you think it was colorful because the f**king grass was green you are thick, or just dumb for that matter. Of course the grass was green, but there was never any bright light source at all. The LOS might have been annoying ON OCCASION but it was nessescary and added to the overall feel of the gameplay.

I'm done with this. It's already said the art direction isn't going to be changed. However, go ahead and dig up all the picture of Diablo you want. I or II. Half of them are probably with LOS hacked and all kind of character modifications anyways. Everyone and they're mother cheated in that game in some way. The Vanilla game was in fact dark and erie. F**k off haters.

[QUOTE="the_ChEeSe_mAn2"]

[QUOTE="smokeydabear076"]I do notice some WoW in the game, but I am not going to let that discourage me from playing it.4th3ist

Same And I take resentment at your blizzard fanboy remark, GodLovesDead. I beat the original Diablo 3 times, and have been recently replaying Diablo 2 for the 4th time (first time with the expansion though). And I still don't feel much resentment towards the new art direction of Diablo 3. I actually disliked the darkness in Diablo 2, because it was nearly impossible to play in the daylight and got tiring fast.

Lol I don't believe you. If you think Diablo 2 was to dark to play then you've clearly never ever played Diablo I because Tristrian ( the town ) was as dark as some of the dungeons and crypts in Diablo II lol. That whole game was extremely dark and erie I don't care what anyone says. If you think it was colorful because the f**king grass was green you are thick, or just dumb for that matter. Of course the grass was green, but there was never any bright light source at all. The LOS might have been annoying ON OCCASION but it was nessescary and added to the overall feel of the gameplay.

I'm done with this. It's already said the art direction isn't going to be changed. However, go ahead and dig up all the picture of Diablo you want. I or II. Half of them are probably with LOS hacked and all kind of character modifications anyways. Everyone and they're mother cheated in that game in some way. The Vanilla game was in fact dark and erie. F**k off haters.

I am not sure where you went with that post. I have played both Diablo 1 and 2 and Diablo 2 was much much darker and more eerie than Diablo 1. You completely missed the point of my post so I won't even bother to try and understand what you were talking about.

hellgate london stuck to a very limited dark palette (made by some of the guys who made diablo) and A LOT of people complained about the limited palett

i think blizzard know what they're doing

I have no problem with diablo 3 visuals simply because:-

(1) I am no graphics whorewho will whine that diablo 3 doesn't looks as sharp as the latest games

(2) I am no kid who thinks many shades of gray means the game is gritty , realistic , scary etc etc

(3) I have enough sense to realise the resembelence with WoW is simply because both diablo 3 and wow have been made of machiens much powerful than diablo 2

I see nothing wrong in the art direction i think the new color pallet adds alot more depth to the diablo universe and its made by blizzard so you know its gonna be good i just cant wait untill it is released