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Diablo IV Developer Interview - No Region Lock, New Classes, Story Skips
Diablo IV
Опубликовано
07.12.2022 в 12:45
Tharid
Last week, Blizzard held a Diablo IV group interview with several journalists and content creators. Game Director Joe Shely and Diablo General Manager Rod Fergusson answered questions regarding Diablo IV's general design, future plans, and much more!
No Region Lock in Diablo IV
In a press meeting earlier this week, Blizzard stated that Diablo IV will have no region-locking! That way, players across the globe will be able to play together on all platforms.
Aspects of Diablo II and Diablo III in Diablo IV
Joe Shely stated that working with a large group of developers turned Diablo IV into a game with lots of different aspects from earlier Diablo iterations. The systems and itemization from Diablo II and the seamless combat from Diablo III were named as examples.
“Locking in” Character Progression
We have learned recently that Blizzard intends to give players a sense of permanence when playing their characters for a long time, e.g. by increasing respec costs in later stages of progression.
Both Fergusson and Shely confirmed this by saying that this will help players build truly unique characters as a result of a lot of personalization and customization. Players will still be able to respec, and point-by-point respeccing will always be cheaper. Players will also be able to try out skills by using +Skill items so that they can get a feel of the ability without the need to spec into it. However, Blizzard wants players to make choices that matter when it comes to long-term character customization.
Balance between Progression through Power and Skill
Players will finish the campaign between Level 40 and 45 on average, according to Shely. Once reaching Level 100, there will be some sort of soft power cap because players will need to invest time and skill to find or craft better items, for example through completing Nightmare dungeons, which will be “quite spicy” in difficulty.
Diablo IV's Lessons Learned from other Diablo Titles
Fergusson, noting that he’s not been a part of the Diablo team during its “genesis”, mentions the tone of the game as one of the key aspects different from other Diablo games. Diablo III was “brighter and faster” but the team really wanted to “return to darkness” with Diablo IV. Darkness has become mainstream thanks to other pop culture franchises like The Walking Dead, so the team is now able to return the Diablo franchise to its dark roots.
Active development of different Diablo games happens simultaneously, and Diablo IV has been developed independently from other parts of the franchise. However, the “onboarding” of a character in Diablo Immortal at the very beginning of the game was something that inspired Diablo IV’s design approach to the prologue experience.
Shely adds that lots of players loved specific incarnations of Diablo games and is confident that Diablo IV will be a home for both every type of Diablo player and also players that are new to the franchise.
Joe Shely’s Role as Game Director of Diablo IV
Shely mentions that people tell him to think of the Game Director position for Diablo IV as an honor. He thinks that this is true, but he also thinks about the position as a responsibility towards a big team of people pouring their hearts and souls into the game. Everyone wants the game to succeed and they work really hard for that. He wants to make sure that everyone’s hopes and dreams will make it into the final game.
Fergusson adds that Shely has been a strong leader since he took the position. Shely stepped in immediately and made strong decisions, making sure the team kept its momentum during development.
Skipping the Story in Diablo IV
Players will need to complete the story at least once on their account. All future characters, including new seasonal characters, will have the option to skip the campaign at character creation. Blizzard thinks that players should experience the story at least once but after that, they should be free to choose what they want to do during the leveling process.
The story being non-linear also adds to players having a lot of freedom while progressing through the campaign. That way, players will be able to “grind around” the story but always have a place to come home to when they need guidance in the world of Sanctuary.
Diablo IV’s Open-World Structure
Being able to branch out into different aspects of and also different locations in the game was something the development team wanted to realize. Shely thinks that everything taking place directly in the world of Sanctuary, even something like picking the game difficulty through visiting a World Tier Statue instead of pressing a UI button, is really cool.
For Fergusson, the Renown System is the prime example of Diablo IV’s approach to world design. Doing all these different things in the open world not only provides a lot of variety but also rewards all future characters on your account. Starting a character with up to 12 Skill points provided by the Renown system feels great.
Diablo IV Breaking New Genre Grounds
Diablo IV’s approach to class and character fantasy is completely different compared to earlier Diablo iterations. The development team put a lot of work into character customization because it has been a top priority to provide a unique player experience with each new character, and Shely is really proud of that.
According to Fergusson, introducing the open “overworld” experience to a Diablo game is a huge deal because Diablo IV’s non-linear gameplay experience adds a lot of player choice. On top of that, Diablo IV’s seasons and live service aspects will add a ton of content that has never been seen before in a Diablo game.
New Classes in Diablo IV
Shely stated that It has been a tradition in Diablo games for classes to be added with expansions. He also feels sorry for fans of those classes who didn’t make it into the launch version of the game.
The development team tried to choose classes and their styles that players have loved from other Diablo games. Classes were also chosen based on the playstyle archetypes they would provide.
Concerns regarding Backwards Compatibility on Older Consoles
During development, the eighth generation of modern gaming consoles (PlayStation 4 and Xbox One) was taken as the “minimal specs” compared to PC development. Thanks to the effects of the pandemic, Blizzard was able to test Diablo IV on consoles more and earlier which opened up a lot more opportunities to develop the game for older platforms in order to reach as many players as possible.
Player Count in Diablo IV's Open World
Blizzard plans to show many players on the screen only in towns and during World Boss events. During adventures out in the world, a much lower number of players should be present on the screen at the same time. In addition, during campaign and quest steps, players will only see other players if they’re in the same party.
Diablo IV’s zones exist as different server instances. This also includes towns, and there are different population caps in place for every type of zone.
Gameplay Pacing in Diablo IV
Diablo IV will have moments where the world and the storytelling have space to breathe. On the other hand, systems like Dungeons and Strongholds will have much faster and action-packed pacing.
Fergusson adds that the development team has used many different tools to tell Diablo IV’s story, from environmental details to pre-rendered cinematics, to immerse the player as much as possible.
Character Creation in Diablo IV
Fergusson states that body types and physique are directly linked to Diablo IV’s class fantasies. Things like the “dad bod” Druid and the emaciated Necromancer are a core part of what defines a particular class. However, the team also wanted to provide as many customization options as possible within these set class fantasies.
Diablo IV Skill Trees and Class Fantasy
Diablo IV’s development tried to combine classical Diablo skills with new abilities. Things like the Barbarian’s Whirlwind are no-brainers, of course, but the new Rogue class for example offers a ton of completely new skills that open up a lot of build choices thanks to the fact that the class can handle enemies both in melee and ranged combat.
In addition, the unique Class Mechanics introduced with Diablo IV add a completely new layer on top of class skills. These mechanics add lots of depth to class fantasy and player choices as well. The Book of the Dead mechanic, for example, offers numerous ways not only to control your own build archetype but also the small details of that particular archetype.
Cross-Over Skins and Cosmetics in Diablo IV
There are no plans to include cross-over skins and cosmetics. Blizzard wants Diablo IV’s launch experience to be very grounded and immersive.
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