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Diablo devolved – magic behind the 1996 computer game

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Re: Diablo devolved – magic behind the 1996 computer game

#121

Post by EpicEng »

robohamburger wrote: post #73
EpicEng wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Diablo 3 is actually pretty good now if you want a successor. Diablo 3 is in no way a spiritual successor to D1 and 2. Yes, it's much better than it was at release, but it is still very much a streamlined, mass market friendly ARPG. Modern Diablo gameplay consists of leveling (1-2 hours), finishing your season journey (another 2-3 hours, maybe), getting your free super-powerful six piece handed to you, and then grin…

I guess I didn't read spiritual in the successor part though I am not sure what that means. I can see how they games are different enough that saying diablo 3 is a spirital successor is probably not useful. I don't think arguing about what it means would be fruitful, so I concede the point. > Yes, it's much better than it was at release, but it is still very much a streamlined, mass market friendly ARPG. How is this…

> How is this bad? It seems like you are implying it is. Also how is diablo 3 mass-market and diablo 2 not?

It's not, it's just a different approach than what most ARPGs (including D1 & 2) take. ARPGs tend to be information heavy, customization heavy, and hard to get into as a result. That's not the way blizz went, which is fine, but it turns off the hardcore ARPG fans.

>Agree, that is how I play it. This is slightly hyperbolic but not that far off. It took me about 2 days of playing to get to T13 (the hardest difficulty). This could be made more interesting but I kind of enjoy tweaking my build and min-maxing :)

Which is perfectly fine :)

Sure, I was simplifying things a bit, but the fact that you (or anyone else) can get to ROFLSTOMP levels of power in a couple of days is a departure from most ARPGs. Min-maxing in D3 is essentially "Is the tooltip green?" You have a handful of stats you care about, defined by your 6 piece (which you were handed) the vast majority of the time, and all you're doing is making incremental improvements to those few stats as you grind rifts. Not much depth there. Paragon levels are too strong and should just go away IMO.

>Which diablo? Diablo 3 is a true sequel, you just don't like it, which is fine.

We're talking about a "spiritual successor" here. In other words, a game that builds upon the core gameplay concepts introduced by Diablo. Diablo 3 is not that. It does not resemble D1 or 2 in tone, setting, or gameplay (aside from running around and killing stuff obviously.)

I have yet to find a single person who would argue that D3 is an evolution of the original design as opposed to a complete re-imagining of the genre. Hell, it's not even a loot focused grind any longer.

Re: Diablo devolved – magic behind the 1996 computer game

#122

Post by brailsafe »

zaroth wrote: post #102
brailsafe wrote: post #21

The repository is ~1mb. Far less than most websites.

You need the actual game DVD to bootstrap it. It’s a brilliant way to side step any copyright concerns for modding under first sale doctrine.

Agreed. I believe some of the open source rebuilds of various SimCity titles use the same tactic.

Re: Diablo devolved – magic behind the 1996 computer game

#123

Post by EpicEng »

poisonarena wrote: post #86
EpicEng wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Diablo 3 is actually pretty good now if you want a successor. Diablo 3 is in no way a spiritual successor to D1 and 2. Yes, it's much better than it was at release, but it is still very much a streamlined, mass market friendly ARPG. Modern Diablo gameplay consists of leveling (1-2 hours), finishing your season journey (another 2-3 hours, maybe), getting your free super-powerful six piece handed to you, and then grin…

I couldnt get into D3 because there is too much focus on the items, I think the items should compliment the character, not the reverse

Then you simply don't like ARPGs, period. ARPGs are loot games. The entire point of these games is literally grinding for loot. Loot makes you strong, not levels. You want a different genre, which is fine, but change the loot part of an ARPG and you're left with an RPG.

Re: Diablo devolved – magic behind the 1996 computer game

#124

Post by phusion »

robohamburger wrote: post #118
Exuma wrote: post #9

I remember going on vacation with my parents and all I had was the Diablo game manual, because I got the game 1 hour before we left. I read the manual about 100 times in the car... good memories

I met a friend, who I am still friends with today by lending them my Diablo 1 manual in class. That was an amazing manual.

Yeah, the day I bought the game, along with my best friend and PC gaming buddy, after playing for hours, we stayed up really late as I read the manual aloud. Ahh memories.

Re: Diablo devolved – magic behind the 1996 computer game

#125

Post by brailsafe »

Mtntk wrote: post #66

could be there any effort to conversion to opengl support, or it would be too complex to handle ?

Nothing is too complex to handle, it just depends on how many resources you have at your disposal and perhaps how much interest there is.

Edit: I suppose in this case it would depend on exactly what capability one would have over the original game data which acts as a dependency for this.

Re: Diablo devolved – magic behind the 1996 computer game

#126

Post by Digit-Al »

wsgeek wrote: post #59
isolli wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I fondly remember the Ultima VI manual, complete with cloth map. Those were the days :)

Ultima IV for me.... Good times

Ultima Underworld 2. I can still remember the joy of reaching a high enough level to kill one terrible beast after having to load goodness knows how many saved games after the bastard had killed me yet again.

Re: Diablo devolved – magic behind the 1996 computer game

#127

Post by rocky1138 »

xahrepap wrote: post #33
jakebasile wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isometric ARPGs are niche now, but there's still games being made. Off the top of my head: - Titan Quest (just got an update and a new expansion!) - Grim Dawn - The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing - Victor Vran - Path of Exile - Warhammer 40000 Inquisitor - Martyr - Torchlight 1 & 2 (I wish Runic games hadn't imploded...) It is unfortunate that most of these don't have the same level of randomness than Diablo ha…

> - Torchlight 1 & 2 (I wish Runic games hadn't imploded...) Runic is dead now? Oh sad. I loved the Torchlight series :( Torchlight 2 is the Diablo 3 the world wanted.

I actually preferred the first one over the second.

/ducks

Re: Diablo devolved – magic behind the 1996 computer game

#128

Post by kjeetgill »

have_faith wrote: post #4
aw3c2 wrote: post #3

There is a slowly but steadily progressing engine being developed at https://freeablo.org/

It's such a shame there's no modern spiritual successor to Diablo / Diablo 2. The aesthetic and gameplay was great.

Not quite the same, but the D&D bases games scratch the same itch for me. Baldurs Gate (2 is easier to get into), Neverwinter Night (prefer the first), and recently Pillers of Eternity was a fantastic throw back.

Even better: you can get most of those DRM-Free on Gog!

Re: Diablo devolved – magic behind the 1996 computer game

#129

Post by rocky1138 »

hyperman1 wrote: post #111
rocky1138 wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> According to Jurannok, a Blizzard representative on their Support Forums, the game has been discontinued and Blizzard has no current plans to update it or start selling it again. > Sources: > https://us.battle.net/forums/en/bnet/topic/13595100072#post-... > https://us.battle.net/forums/en/bnet/topic/14611181553#post-... > As far as I am concerned, that makes Diablo 1 abandonware, so feel free to download this iso,…

I think abandonware is always illegal, it's just that nobody cares enough to enforce the copyright. Betting on this when you have blizzard with their trigger happy lawyers seems risky, IMHO.

Assumed abandonware, anyway. Some companies have legit given the rights over to the public domain for stuff. Hasbro releasing the encryption keys and rights to Atari Jaguar comes to mind.

http://www.atarihq.com/news/1999/990514.html

Re: Diablo devolved – magic behind the 1996 computer game

#130

Post by aw3c2 »

3pt14159 wrote: post #27
jakebasile wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isometric ARPGs are niche now, but there's still games being made. Off the top of my head: - Titan Quest (just got an update and a new expansion!) - Grim Dawn - The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing - Victor Vran - Path of Exile - Warhammer 40000 Inquisitor - Martyr - Torchlight 1 & 2 (I wish Runic games hadn't imploded...) It is unfortunate that most of these don't have the same level of randomness than Diablo ha…

I played path of exile years ago and it was great.

Way too complicated compared to Diablo.
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