On the artistic side, I find the current engine and what they've done with it to be pretty damn good. Some tweaks are needed, but hey, it's been 3 days since we saw the thing, they have time to tweak heh.
I personally think that the colors are pretty good. The greens and blues in the dungeon were a little disconcerting at first, but it's only one dungeon, later areas could hearken back to the darkly gothic bloodbath chambers of classic Diablo. What should change, however, are the textures themselves. Both inside and out, surfaces are way too smooth looking.
I don't like how incredibly dark the "After" is, but two things from it I would like to see considered. The sharpness of the textures, see how the stones of the bridge have a lot more definition than the stock picture? The other is the lightning effects. The after picture has it closer to the Diablo 2 white and greenish blue lightning, as opposed to a very vibrant blue which doesn't seem to fit, to me.
As far as the outside area goes, rainbows and all that, it seems fine. A fitting view-point to act as a comparison with the dark and demonically scarred areas of the late game, I'd imagine. So you can see the evil seep into the land. Just sharper textures, in my opinion.
Hmm. Mephisto was able to corrupt the Zakarum faith, and it's... What was it, six or seven highest figures?
Baal eventually managed to win over Tal Rasha, granted, he probably would not have been freed at that point in time except for Marius.
Diablo corrupted an Arch Bishop, seemingly not as impressive as Mephisto's opening salvo. Then once semi-free of his soulstone he began work on Leoric, while not strong enough (At the moment) to corrupt him, he did turn the once proud King into a husk of a man, nothing like he was before.
But the crown jewel of Diablo's acts of power, and evil in a way, is the corruption of the very man who was powerful enough in mind and body to defeat him in single combat. A man with a sword, shield and armor, able to defeat the undeniably powerful Lord of Terror, armed with his namesake, his immense demonic form, his destructive magic, etc.
For Diablo to take the soul, and everything he once was, of his enemy, for his own uses, seems a bit more impressive than what the others have done. And you have to say, had Mephisto been under Tristram, and Diablo under Kurast, the outcome probably would've been similar.
And take a look at this, from the Diablo I manual, something that interests me.
"Diablo entered the nightmares of the Arch Bishop, and lured him into the dark, subterranean labyrinth. In his terror, Lazarus raced throughout the abandoned hallways until he at last came to the chamber of the burning Soulstone. No longer in command of his body or spirit, he raised the stone above his head and uttered words long forgotten in the realm of mortals. His will destroyed, Lazarus shattered the Soulstone upon the ground. Diablo once again came into the world of Man."
Now, was the Soulstone glued back together or something? Or was the gem that pierced the skull of Albrecht and the Wanderer just a shard of it?
Perhaps someone more knowledgeable about the lore can explain that bit, else I'll go out of my mind during the night, thinking that maybe some crackpot sorcerer finds some fragments of the stone or something.
Or... What would happen if you put the Soulstone of Diablo, whole thing, shards or otherwise, into a demon, or even, Lesser Evil?
I think the regular classes of Diablo 1/2 would work fine. But perhaps with sub-class types. Under Archer or so you could pick Amazon or Rogue. One is proficient in spears, javelins and bow type weapons, the Amazon, while the Rogue is focused entirely on bow weapons.
And perhaps a third archery/Amazon-ish class that was male, for those men with arrows types.
But the other classes would have gender option. Amazon and Rogue both are, far as I know, female only.
I voted for Diablo 2 and Titan Quest. I'd prefer the isometric view that Diablo 2 uses, but with, obviously, a more powerful and potent graphics engine. Having physics would be an interesting feature as well.
Destructible environments would be sweet, too. But this is about the graphics. So, isometric top-down view with good graphics engine, not computer hog, but up to today's standards. It would be nice to have a way to zoom in and examine the way your character looks though, to really get a good look at your weapons, armor, etc.
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I personally think that the colors are pretty good. The greens and blues in the dungeon were a little disconcerting at first, but it's only one dungeon, later areas could hearken back to the darkly gothic bloodbath chambers of classic Diablo. What should change, however, are the textures themselves. Both inside and out, surfaces are way too smooth looking.
Take this for example: http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l318/frostwake/Diablo31.jpg
I don't like how incredibly dark the "After" is, but two things from it I would like to see considered. The sharpness of the textures, see how the stones of the bridge have a lot more definition than the stock picture? The other is the lightning effects. The after picture has it closer to the Diablo 2 white and greenish blue lightning, as opposed to a very vibrant blue which doesn't seem to fit, to me.
As far as the outside area goes, rainbows and all that, it seems fine. A fitting view-point to act as a comparison with the dark and demonically scarred areas of the late game, I'd imagine. So you can see the evil seep into the land. Just sharper textures, in my opinion.
This is another example: http://img110.imageshack.us/img110/1681/1214657022122wu5oq6.jpg
The colors don't have to be like that, but the gritty texture is a welcome sight.
And another picture: http://img175.imageshack.us/img175/8366/contrastqj1.jpg
This is probably the best one I've seen so far. It has the sharp textures, and the color hasn't changed too much.
Kudos to the guys who did these comparison pictures. And regardless of how the game looks, I will delve into the depths of hell once again.
-Thief
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Baal eventually managed to win over Tal Rasha, granted, he probably would not have been freed at that point in time except for Marius.
Diablo corrupted an Arch Bishop, seemingly not as impressive as Mephisto's opening salvo. Then once semi-free of his soulstone he began work on Leoric, while not strong enough (At the moment) to corrupt him, he did turn the once proud King into a husk of a man, nothing like he was before.
But the crown jewel of Diablo's acts of power, and evil in a way, is the corruption of the very man who was powerful enough in mind and body to defeat him in single combat. A man with a sword, shield and armor, able to defeat the undeniably powerful Lord of Terror, armed with his namesake, his immense demonic form, his destructive magic, etc.
For Diablo to take the soul, and everything he once was, of his enemy, for his own uses, seems a bit more impressive than what the others have done. And you have to say, had Mephisto been under Tristram, and Diablo under Kurast, the outcome probably would've been similar.
And take a look at this, from the Diablo I manual, something that interests me.
"Diablo entered the nightmares of the Arch Bishop, and lured him into the dark, subterranean labyrinth. In his terror, Lazarus raced throughout the abandoned hallways until he at last came to the chamber of the burning Soulstone. No longer in command of his body or spirit, he raised the stone above his head and uttered words long forgotten in the realm of mortals. His will destroyed, Lazarus shattered the Soulstone upon the ground. Diablo once again came into the world of Man."
Now, was the Soulstone glued back together or something? Or was the gem that pierced the skull of Albrecht and the Wanderer just a shard of it?
Perhaps someone more knowledgeable about the lore can explain that bit, else I'll go out of my mind during the night, thinking that maybe some crackpot sorcerer finds some fragments of the stone or something.
Or... What would happen if you put the Soulstone of Diablo, whole thing, shards or otherwise, into a demon, or even, Lesser Evil?
Diablial / Diabodan!
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And perhaps a third archery/Amazon-ish class that was male, for those men with arrows types.
But the other classes would have gender option. Amazon and Rogue both are, far as I know, female only.
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Destructible environments would be sweet, too. But this is about the graphics. So, isometric top-down view with good graphics engine, not computer hog, but up to today's standards. It would be nice to have a way to zoom in and examine the way your character looks though, to really get a good look at your weapons, armor, etc.