Diablo designer judging fan art for MTV

by Justin McElroy { Aug 5th 2008 at 9:00AM }

We've all thought it before: Watching a favorite franchise go astray and knowing that if someone, anyone would just lead you to the helm, you could right the ship. A few Diablo III fans actually got the chance thanks to MTV, as they showed how they would take the game's new, more colorful art style and dunk them in the same dirty blacks and grays that every other game this generation has been dredged through.

What's more, their attempts have been judged by Diablo III designer Jay Wilson, and it offers interesting perspective as to why Blizzard didn't go a darker route. (Oh, and shocking spoiler alert: Fan art does not change his mind.)

Tags: blizzard, diablo-3, diablo-iii

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Joeshie @ Aug 5th 2008 9:12AM

I would have prefered a darker template, but I'm fine with the art direction.

What I really care about is how it will stack up to the gameplay of Diablo 2.

tmacairjordan87 @ Aug 5th 2008 9:41AM

You mean the difference between spam clicking in 2 and spam clicking in 3? Don't worry...I have a feeling it'll be the same.

Poor Man @ Aug 5th 2008 9:51AM

I hope to god you can play the game without having to click to move. I just can't stand having to click to move. It's why I can't play a lot of older PC RPGs.

I'd like something a lot more fun to do, a bit more flowing and fun.

Jeff @ Aug 5th 2008 10:39AM

Oh man, I'm with you on clicking to move. Give us frakin WASD for chrissake.

gundamxzero @ Aug 5th 2008 11:00AM

For those people that know how to play the game, you can actually click once and hold to continuously hitting a mob. And for this style of game you need a click to move, it would suck if they changed that.

CJLopez @ Aug 5th 2008 1:25PM

Ya telling me, you were always clicking and clicking the whole time instead of keep on pressing the mouse click???

ROFL!!!!!

General Bison @ Aug 5th 2008 9:14AM

I wouldn't call it fan art... I'd call it being a whiny bitch.

Jerk @ Aug 5th 2008 9:46AM

I concur. whining about how colorful a game is after you've been waiting for it's sequel to come out for a long long time... Epic Fail!

General Bison @ Aug 5th 2008 9:52AM

I'm a massive Diablo fan, it's the only game I constantly go back to play many times a year other than Fallout.

I'm just happy to see the return of both games, they're both going to be awesome. If you don't like 'em, don't play 'em...

or just turn the colour and brightness down on your monitor if it's that big of a deal.

Marty @ Aug 5th 2008 10:18AM

I just don't see how anyone could be disappointed by the graphics they've shown us thus far - it's certainly better looking than anything I expected.

xGeneral DEATHx @ Aug 5th 2008 10:46AM

Go to SomethingAwful.com and search for "The Internet Hates Diablo 3"...you'll have a nice belly laugh at that one.

shivr @ Aug 5th 2008 12:12PM

Oh man I just looked that up general death, that is hilarious. The internet needs to be constantly made fun of in such a manner, good thing SA is up to the task

MOT @ Aug 5th 2008 2:30PM

I just tried to go to search for that, general death. The SomethingAwful site is awful. I tried searching for it and couldn't even find it. Bad website.

Mike @ Aug 5th 2008 9:29AM

yay

A Pissed-off English Gamer @ Aug 5th 2008 9:37AM

Well, the more opportunities Blizzard get to give the moaners the finger the better. I've always loved Blizzard's art style, and to say that it's not "dark enough" is just fucking stupid. I mean, for a start, it's their Goddamn game, and if you think you could do it better than them you've got some delusions of grandeur going on. Second, why the hell does every game with any amount of "dark" undertones in these days have to consist of a dull blend of brown and grey?

Just look at that comparison screenshot up there; the supposed fan removed shades of blue, green and purple in favour of, oh, brown and grey, how fucking surprising. Is there a word for being afraid of colour? Like colourphobia? If so, i think it's more common than arachnaphobia based on this console generation and these simply stupid addendums to Blizzard's art direction. I'm glad Blizzard knows, rightly, when to ignore the loud minority.

Seraphim @ Aug 5th 2008 9:55AM

http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=224
It's sad what Gears-o-war has done to the industry :-(

Marty @ Aug 5th 2008 10:16AM

If you think Gears of War is solely responsible for the whole brown / gray palette thing in games, you've not been playing games long enough to make a call like that.

Seraphim @ Aug 5th 2008 11:22AM

Sorry, Marty..

I was born and raised in West Philadelphia.
I spent most of days on the playground.
My mom was worried when I got in a fight even though I didn't care,
and then I moved in with my aunt and uncle in Bel Air.

Jhongerkong @ Aug 5th 2008 12:56PM

Redeemed.

Gavin @ Aug 5th 2008 9:40AM

Go play World of Warcraft and notice how vibrant the colors are. Take a gander at Warcraft II and notice how vibrant the colors are. Revisit Diablo II and notice how vibrant the colors are. Look at Starcraft and notice how vibrant the colors are. Anyone complaining about the previews of Diable III is a moron.

Kwipper @ Aug 5th 2008 9:43AM

If I were to read the minds of the people whining about this, I am sure it would go something like...

"ZOMG! The lack of color makes me feel all gothly and emo! I like feeling that way when I play video games. It makes my e-penis grow larger! Color is for pussies and is also gay. I don't want to come across as being gay to my peers (even though I really am) so I am going to protest to Blizzard to change their color scheme to something that makes my e-peen grow!"

donnie @ Aug 5th 2008 9:54AM

While I dont like the washed out, single tone colors used in so many console games today. It's hard not to say Blizzard is making all of their newer games look like WoW. I've been a fan of Blizzard through every single one of their releases since Warcraft 2. Out of their 3 franchises, warcraft has had a "cartoony" feel from the start so their art direction with that series makes sense. However, Diablo and Starcraft? Come on... Yeah the gameplay for all 3 are vastly different but make them look different too!

zodduska @ Aug 5th 2008 10:37AM

Same here, I was never a fan of WoW because of the ridiculous color pallet and it makes me physically ill to see their poor design taste tainting Diablo 3.

gundamxzero @ Aug 5th 2008 11:03AM

A big el oh el if you are saying SC looks "realistic"

arrrgh @ Aug 5th 2008 3:36PM

man, the ENTIRETY of WoW looks like a kindergarten painting class promoted by Ex Lax

donnie @ Aug 5th 2008 10:02AM

I cant believe everyone is siding with the developers on this one. Given blizzard's resume, it seems the popular notion is anyone who works for them can do no wrong. Am i the only here who thinks the fan art depictions look much better? (especially the necromancer vs wow gayness one) And the developers gets to make the calls, yeah sure, but his responses to some of those fan art depictions seem like BS to me. And NO, Diablo 1, Diablo 2 and Starcraft has no where near the bright cartoony colors that their new games now have.

Marty @ Aug 5th 2008 10:14AM

WHy does everyone say D3 looks like WoW? Go play WoW - the two do not look alike at all.

deadjesterx @ Aug 5th 2008 10:20AM

Yeah, um, hate to burst your bubble but those "fans" that get whipped into a rabid frenzy over the art are nothing more than a very loud minority.

I'll admit some of his arguments seem a little flimsy, though some do make a lot of sense as well.

Personally, though, I like how the game looks. Granted I've only seen 20 minutes of footage, about equal to maybe 5 minutes of a movie, but I think it's going in a good direction.

Park Zero @ Aug 5th 2008 10:30AM

I’m not siding with the developer. When I saw the Diablo 3 trailers from the Blizzard Invitational my impression was great. They are using the same art style and game play as Diablo 2. Then I heard about the petition. I don’t understand it. The differences they are complaining about are so minute that I didn’t notice. I am just so happy this year. Two of my favorite franchises that have been gone for the better part of a decade are back. Fallout 3 to be released this year and Diablo 3 confirmed in development. I couldn’t be happier with the way they are both turning out.

Jerk @ Aug 5th 2008 10:33AM

I'm not siding with Blizzard but I sure as hell ain't going to side with a bunch of whiny bitches complaining about a color scheme. I mean c'mon man, color? really? You're complaining about color? Here I thought that the lore and gameplay were the most important parts to a game, I'm glad to know that what makes a game great is the color palate.

Gameplay > Color Scheme

Blizzard is making ass loads of money what they should do just to spite these jerk offs is change the color to the more "dark" style and completely wreck the gameplay and leave plot holes everywhere just to spite these little bitches.

Jfk Aok @ Aug 5th 2008 10:40AM

You obviously haven't played Diablo 1 in a while. Diablo 1 was dark and that was the point of the gameplay. The art enhanced the gameplay theory. Imagine Left 4 Dead where you can see the zombies coming. That's lame and missing the whole point.
Diablo 1 > Diablo 2. Diablo 2 art and gameplay started to get sloppy. Diablo 3 appears to be taking it to a whole new level of sloppiness.

JawKnee @ Aug 5th 2008 1:58PM

Maybe you should boot up Diablo II again and play through it first before you sound off on how colorless it is (Bright orange/green/blue monsters anyone? Brightly lit up deserts, and tundra, Ice caves; hell even act III had some pretty vibrant greens). D2 was chock full of color. It wasn't washed out, it was desaturated, it wasn't bland and boring.

D3's environments look amazing; Diablo isn't meant to be a 'realistic' or gritty world at all, it's fantastical and over the top in D2, and if you had anything but faded memories (if those) then you'd know that.

tehvoid @ Aug 5th 2008 10:04AM

"My favorite [criticism] is the one that analyzed the light refraction angle, and told us why from that angle seeing a rainbow would actually be impossible. Oh yeah, and it was upside down because the colors were reversed. And we’re like, “This is a whole different world than ours! Who’s to say that light refracts the same in the Diablo world?” [laughs]"
Bravo!

Marty @ Aug 5th 2008 10:12AM

"Oh, and shocking spoiler alert: Fan art does not change his mind."

Thank goodness for that. If they made the game gray, brown, and dark again, everyone but a small handful of die-hards would say it was the same old thing again. Not that the gameplay looks much different from older titles, but at least now we can rest at ease that the stylish new graphics will remain in place.

Park Zero @ Aug 5th 2008 10:18AM

I just don’t see any real significant difference between the fan art and the screen shot. Swapping grey for brown does not make something darker or more gothic.
Everyone who signed that stupid petition will buy the game no matter what. If they cared enough to sign it then they are kidding themselves if they think they won’t buy the game. I have been waiting a long time to wear out my mouse again. I can’t wait for Diablo 3.

dark_inchworm @ Aug 5th 2008 10:24AM

If it looks good and plays great, count me in regardless.

J.Goodwin @ Aug 5th 2008 10:26AM

It looks like they just put a dirt filter over the camera to reproduce the appearance of a shitty 640x480 resolution screen.

I'll pass.

Jfk Aok @ Aug 5th 2008 10:37AM

Why do people keep saying "the same darks and greys?" Diablo was never grey and the "petition" had nothing to do with grey. It had everything to do with contrast. Diablo was always colorful but satanic. Evil. Not pastel. Not World of Warcraft-esque and not grey. Creepily dark...not "i could sniper you from a far" light.
Diablo 1's art style = A+ (gothic, consistant, the darkness worked with the game's tone and the in your face never know if somethings gonna pop-up-at-ya gameplay)
Diablo 2's art style = C (got extremely sloppy with the forest levels and desert. Was all over the place. Level design was sloppy and sometimes frustrating)
Diablo 3's art style = D- (the name of the game is el diablo...that's spanish for the diablo. Rainbows need not apply.)

donnie @ Aug 5th 2008 10:50AM

I could not agree with you more.

Jerk @ Aug 5th 2008 11:04AM

What? lol you need to go back to spanish class. El Diablo = The Devil not The Diablo, you made me laugh for real lol =). A lot of what made Diablo the way it was had a lot to do with the graphical capabilities at the time. Also you need to understand things change, the story doesn't just take place in a murky dungeon it takes place in different locales they can't just make ever place you venture to a dank looking place.

Outside environments need to look the part. We have only seen a couple different locations to the game, I'm pretty sure there will be the obligatory dark/gothic looking dungeons. You need to trust Blizzard and their design teams. If the look really does impair your ability to want to play the game then don't buy it and wait for them to release the Diablo III you expect them to make, but don't hold your breadth.

Park Zero @ Aug 5th 2008 12:11PM

@ jfk Aok

I am El Nino. All of the tropical storms must bow before El Nino..... For those of you who do not abla Espanol El Nino is Spanish for........ The Nino

I’m jfk with ya.

Anyway I think you have to look hard to see the color changes and if those changes ruin the game for you, I feel sorry for you. It is still dark and gothic. I'm sure you will end up loving it.

Brandon @ Aug 5th 2008 10:44AM

It's fine with me, after all, Blizzard knows what they're doing.

acefondu @ Aug 5th 2008 10:49AM

I find it sad the developer can't at least admit a lot of the fan art does look more appealing. As far as the art making the game unplayable, that's just absurd. The only game I have ever played where the darkness of the art has rendered a game unplayable was the first Extreme G game. That game was dark and VERY fast. A dark very slow game, I'm sure I can make out what's what.

Tasogare @ Aug 5th 2008 6:57PM

What are you talking about? It's sad that you assume they think the minority is right but won't say it. I'm REALLY sure they went over what they should do with the color schemes before they actually started developing the game and I'm REALLY sure they didn't just "forget" that grey and brown were colors.

glutto @ Aug 5th 2008 11:15AM

To the whiners:
If you think you can produce a better game, then STFU and do it.

Blazur @ Aug 5th 2008 11:33AM

I love how people only focus on the tombs and catacombs in reference to the dark and grittiness of the game. Sure they could work to polish the textures and add more detail, but introducing color isn't such a bad thing. Most of the outside of act 2 was yellow, most of the outside of act 3 was green, and several parts in act 5 were blue. It worked fine there.

There's gonna be varied landscapes, and making their color true-to-life is a step in the right direction. The game looks beautiful from what we've seen, and I'm looking forward to seeing more.

bitpicnic @ Aug 5th 2008 11:54AM

What was it about the original Diablo's art style that has everyone so up in arms? It was hideous. Studies show that the new stylized take looks a thousand times better.

Farseer (GDI) @ Aug 5th 2008 12:26PM

Ok, I have to be honest. I was totally laughing at the whole petition and whining thing, but looking over the screen shots on the MTV link, I think that the petitioners may just be onto something.

The re-worked screenshots are not just covered with a dirty coffee filter. The color still remains, for sure; it's mainly the contrasts and shadows that have been darkened and deepened.

In all 3 cases, I do like the touched-up screens better. I think that they better fit the Diablo theme.

I never thought that I'd be saying this. huh.