Joystiq

Diablo 3's missing runestones found at GDC

Mike Schramm — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 15:00:00 EST

If you've followed Diablo 3's development for a long time, you might remember the idea of Runestones. They were meant to be actual in-game items that could supplement character abilities in various ways, such as adding a fire attack to a melee hit, or doubling the power of a spell for free. When the game arrived last year, the Runestone system was nowhere to be seen, replaced by the controversial Skill Rune system. So where did those Runestones go? Diablo 3's technical designer Wyatt Cheng said during a talk at GDC that they're still around, in one form or another.

The Runestone system was originally created to add flexibility to character skills, and to give players a chance to experiment and play around with new abilities after they had gained them through leveling up. The original idea had ten different effects that could be added to various abilities, including striking, lethality, efficiency, life-stealing, poison, slowing and so on. But ten was too many, Blizzard decided, and they opted to boil them down into five different stone types (Crimson, Obsidian, Indigo, Golden and Alabaster) that would each affect skills in a few different ways.

Cheng said having actual stones in the inventory worked in a few different ways. It gave the system a sense of discovery, as players enjoyed seeing which stones granted certain effects, and it accomplished the original goal of allowing players to experiment with customization. Managing the stones in the game's inventory was a "nightmare," according to Cheng, and player expectations didn't always match what the stones actually provided.

In the end, the team went with the existing Skill Rune system, which allowed Blizzard to give specific skill and stone combinations more "flavorful names," and let the team make sure that the added effects were appropriate for the skills they matched. But Cheng said the effects were still in there: Some runes still slow opponents or add more damage to attacks, and those were the effects originally conferred by the stones of Indigo and Crimson.

Diablo 3's missing runestones found at GDC originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 30 Mar 2013 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tomb Raider 360 controller is rough, tumble, rumbles

Jordan Mallory — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 12:32:00 EST

You know how they make those designer jeans that look like you've owned 'em for 30 years, despite being brand new and insanely expensive? Well, this is like that, but for an Xbox 360.

Launching in March, the official Tomb Raider Limited Edition Wireless Controller will cost $60 and come bundled with a code for exclusive character DLC; a hooded, goggled archer that can be seen in the video above. The controller itself features multiple layers of paint and laser etching, so not only does it look beat to hell but it'll feel that way too.

As per usual with special edition Xbox 360 pads, it's also equipped with one of those nifty transforming D-pads, though whether the D-pad has been artificially aged like a too-expensive guitar replica is unknown.

Tomb Raider 360 controller is rough, tumble, rumbles originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 10 Jan 2013 12:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Diablo 3 Inferno Difficulty monster damage balance tweaked

Mike Schramm — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 03:00:00 EST

Blizzard is making a few tweaks to Diablo 3's Inferno difficulty yet again. The developer added more high-level drops to the difficulty before, and this time it's effectively reducing the damage monsters will do in that mode. As Technical Game Designer Wyatt Cheng says, Blizzard is reducing the potency of player defense spells and reducing the monster damage, which means that monsters in Inferno won't hit as hard overall.

Why? Some defensive skills, Cheng says, were made so effective that players consider them essential. Energy Armor, for example, is used by 83 percent of level 60 wizards, and War Cry's Impunity modifier is used by over 87 percent of barbarians. Nerfing the monster damage and the effectiveness of these spells is supposed to let players go to other options, rather than just walling up defense all of the time.

Cheng says there are more changes coming: A new "monster power" option to up the difficulty for higher rewards; and a tweak to the monk's One With Everything skill. We'll stay tuned for those.

Diablo 3 Inferno Difficulty monster damage balance tweaked originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 18 Sep 2012 03:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The feel-good Friday post

James Ransom-Wiley — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 19:58:00 EST

Filed under: Weird But True, Opinions, New In Pop Culture

Rick Pierce, self-described "mid-level designer moving into senior-level roles," was recently invited to Valve's offices for a second-round interview. He didn't get the job. "You're fantastic, but let's give it a little more time," was Valve's parting encouragement.

Rick's story doesn't end there, though: He sent a nifty card (pictured above; full size here) to Valve as both a "thank you" -- Rick says he "loved every minute" of the interview -- and a crafty reminder to the company that he's a talented designer. His generally uplifting account, as told in comments on Reddit, underscores a tough job market and inspires positive creativity in spite of the down economy. As Rick says, "Hang in there, it gets better."

In that spirit, we'd like to point you to Rick's Quandry texture pack for Minecraft and encourage you to poke around the site of his indie studio Retribution Games. We'd also like to invite you to share links to any of your own game design-related work in the comments section of this post.

The feel-good Friday post originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 08 Oct 2010 19:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Should game designers get celebritized?

Kyle Orland — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 14:00:00 EST

Filed under: Culture, Fashion

Quick, name ten famous game designers. OK, now name ten famous movie directors. Which list took you longer? Even if you're a serious gamer, the list of movie directors probably came out quicker. Patrick Dugan helps explain why in an excellent post on the small but growing phenomenon of the celebrity game designer.

While movie studios often sell a movie as the singular vision of a single auteur, games or more often sold as products than statements. With games, "it was far simpler to associate that content with a genre, or better yet, a franchise brand, than it was to associate it with a personality," as Dugan puts it.

Perhaps this is for the best. After all, most modern games are produced by a large group of people, not just a celebrity designer that can serve as a public face for the project. Even this is changing, though, with high profile, independent projects like flOw and Super Columbine Massacre RPG being closely associated with a single designer (Jenova Chen and Danny Ledonne, respectively). In an internet world where anyone can easily make and distribute a game, literally anyone can be a celebrity designer.

Personally, we just hope this growing trend of attention for the people behind the games doesn't grow into outright celebrity worship. The line between respect for a designer's vision and Us Weekly style obsession with everything they do isn't as thick as you might think.

[Via Raph]

Should game designers get celebritized? originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 19 Mar 2007 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Designer cases to prettify PSPs

Rafael Espiritu — Wed, 29 Mar 2006 22:45:00 EST

Filed under: News

Let's face it: the PSP looks a little geeky. Yes, we agree it's sleek and sexy and shiny and Paris Hilton undoubtedly got one in her grab bag at last year's Sundance so it must be hip, but until portable media players really hit mainstream, our nifty little young'un must endure ridicule from people who still have no idea how to program their VCRs.

Enter three new designer PSP cases courtesy of PS Pictogram. Designed by three different design houses (Kuntzel Deygas of Paris, Surface to Air from New York, and Hideki Inaba from Tokyo), the swanky sheaths (which would look cooler if they didn't cost $116 each) will most certainly turn your talented little social reject into the talk of the town. If the town was populated by shallow, self-absorbed rich girls, that is.

[Via GameSpot]

Designer cases to prettify PSPs originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 29 Mar 2006 22:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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