Diablo IV IGN Interview - Open World Design, The World Map, Renown System

Posted 2022/11/11 at 9:09 AM by Tharid

of IGN's Diablo IV interview seriesThe World Map

A lot of work went into Diablo IV's World Map. Displaying important geographical information while not overwhelming the player with too much in-game information and turning the map into a task list has been a challenge.

The World Map has to be accurate and useful while visually blending into Diablo IV's high-fantasy world, looking like a real "old map".

Open World and Campaign Design

Diablo IV's open world doesn't follow the rules of organic open-world design like in Breath of the Wild. The game's story is linear but also "branching", providing freedom of choice while playing through the campaign.

After the prologue, players will be able to choose freely between acts.

Besides the campaign, players can also progress by completing side-quests and other non-campaign content in the open world.

Fergusson states that having freedom of choice while still having the option of being "told where to go" is important. The campaign of Diablo IV always offers "guide posts" so players can return back to a guided story experience.

Open-world design in Diablo IV is focused on combat. One of the main goals was to transport the possibility of being attacked at every moment on the map.

This design mantra also affects monster density. Shely adds that the map once was "too dense" making it difficult to travel through a zone even by mount, so they had to dial back on it.

Renown System

Diablo IV's Renown system really fits Diablo IV's open-world design, offering a way to reward players for active exploration while playing through the campaign.

Through the Renown System, players will be rewarded with Skill Points not only for their current character but also for all future characters.

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Comments

Comment by Mystic0x

Ign is REALLY milking this interview, still some cool info though

Comment by onefishbluefish

Ign is REALLY milking this interview, still some cool info though

Pretty much.

I'd imagine that anything you put out now with D4 in it is instant dollars so that's prolly why.

Comment by tmptfate

Through the Renown System, players will be rewarded with Skill Points not only for their current character but also for all future characters.

Now that is excellent to see and a clear shout out from Devs to players that alts are very welcomed (so far) in the game.

Comment by Malicone

wow renown system in Diablo 4? This is unbelievable!

Comment by Slytherz

Through the Renown System, players will be rewarded with Skill Points not only for their current character but also for all future characters.

Now that is excellent to see and a clear shout out from Devs to players that alts are very welcomed (so far) in the game.

It sounds to me like it will function similarly, (though completely scaled back/down lol.) To that of allotting Paragon points in D3 on an alt. Which was awesome.

Comment by Truvidien

It feels like this interview is being broken down into sections instead of just releasing the whole thing. I guess that would make sense to keep hype and build viewer count.