Diablo III impressions and patch 1.04

It's been a while since my last gaming update. This does not mean I didn't play any games, I was just to busy (lazy honestly speaking) to share that with you.

Since last time I have finished Skyrim's main quest line and played for maybe another couple of weeks wondering around and doing some small side quests. Then Dawnguard got announced for Xbox 360 only. Annoyed a bit I stopped playing Skyrim.

Then Diablo III got released. It was very easy to organize digital purchase, install it from daughter's DVD and start exploring. First few weeks were a bit frustrating due to problems Blizzard had - can't connect to server, kicked out of server due to maintenance, etc. Over the time things got better and I can't remember when something like that has happened.

I started with wizard as sorceress was my favourite class from Diablo II. It worked well and I have finished normal difficulty fairly quickly. Then I started playing cooperative games with my wife. We both created new characters for this purpose only maybe a 6 weeks ago. Now we a playing Inferno difficulty and both are level 60. I am demon hunter and she is a monk. This was a very good combination until we reached inferno difficulty. That was a real challenge. We were dying way too often, repair of gear costed too much (up to 30,000 gold) and most importantly it was frustrating and depressing.

Yesterday patch 1.04 got released. It has a whole plethora of improvements:

• Paragon levels
• Improvements of  Legendary items
• Shrink the gap between normal monsters and Elite packs (Champions and Rares) 
• Tuning of each player class
• many more

This patch made inferno difficulty much more enjoyable and gives you new goals to reach - paragon level 100.

For more details about the patch check these posts. 1.0.4 systems preview and patch notes.

More to come on Diablo III and with some pictures from game progress.

Brief GamesCon 2010 update

GamesCon is on and there are few updates that sparked my interest, again.


Firstly, there are news about Diablo III. Diablo III realm was quiet for a while and now we have some videos showing new features. Namely, the video shows Artisan. Artisan is an advanced blacksmith that will work for you. New and interesting features about artisans are:

• They can level up
• they can create sockets in any weapon
• when crafting an item(s) random special ability is added

Socketing of legendary items is very nice but I'm sure it would cost you an arm and a leg. To help you get some materials you can now salvage items you collect. Salvaged materials can be then used by an artisan. This could be a good way to get to better items faster.

Here is a video showing features of Artisan

While we are on the subject of RPG games, Torchlight II is announced. It has all loved features from the first one (random dungeons, simplicity, etc) and the one that was missing - multiplayer. Here is the trailer for it.







And now something completely different!


Cars. Lots of cars. Of course this means Gran Toursimo 5. There are lots of videos for GT 5 from GamesCon and most of the good ones are on GTPlanet web site. Some of the highlights from the news so far:

• Karting video now available
• More info on track editor
• Monza gameplay video
• Nascar at Monza gameplay
• Interview with Yamauchi

News about karting in GT 5 surfaced not too long ago (about 1-2 months I think) but there wasn't much out there. Now we can see how it actually looks. It does support usual views like in standard cars and this looks like a fun category.

For track editor we know it will not be a full blown "free to do whatever you like" style editor. The reason is simple - it would be too complex (and probably would take another year to implement). Actually, this could be a good thing. The way it will work (if it does not get sacked or changed) is like this

The course maker allows players to select certain set parameters to create a track. A theme can be selected, with the Belgian High Fens or Toscana two examples, and the individual track sectors are then defined.

Sectors are edited individually, with frequency of curves, sharpness of corners, degree of topography and banking angle are set with a series of sliders. 

As expected, on every big gaming event we see more details about tracks, UI changes and cars. This time round we see the Monza track. Here is how it looks.



For Nascar race on same track you'll have to go here due to bandwidth issue at present.


If you like interviews then here is another short one. For me most interesting bits are below.

Given the time, money, space and resources, which fantasy Gran Turismo track would you create in the real world?

Kazunori was visibly awed by this question and spent nearly a minute thinking of an answer. “Deep Forest”, he said. I countered with “Trial Mountain?”.

Both are classic tracks and it would be nice if that Japanese company is actually going to build it.

More news and videos should be coming in. Let's hope we will see more details about Diablo III.

New Diablo III class revealed - The Archivist

Today Diablo III just got an exciting new character class, The Archivist.  They are fighting not only for future but for our past as well.

In my writings, I have recounted stories of the barbarians and their endless battles with the demons of the frozen north, and devoted pages to the wizards of Caldeum who harness the primal forces of reality. But the might of these heroes is nothing compared to the power of the archivists of Westmarch. These brave souls wade into battle wielding tome and quill, armored not in ensorcelled plate or links of chain, but in the knowledge of generations past. These archivists fight not only for our future, but for our past as well.

Archivist may seem very weak but have a look at their spells (only 3 demonstrated Lorenado, Quest Bolt and Shush). My favourite is the Shush.

Lorenado

Quest Bolt

Shush (looks innocent at this stage)
but then…

Apart from these mighty spells it also features a new way of communication – radial dialog. It is quick and easy way to select your response so you don’t have to scroll through lots of possible phrases.
 
This would be fun character to play but it is very weak. It seems it has do defences at all, so if your spell miss the opponent you are gone…
P.S. Note the announcement date

New monster in Diablo III - The Unburied

Blizzard has slowed down in releasing information about new games - Starcraft II and Diablo III. Amount of released information could be an indication that they are focusing on getting the game finished (at least that's what I keep telling to myself) and surprize us with early release date.

The new monster Unburied looks like a big ugly conjoined twins (or triplets).

The Unburied are composed or combined on number of disfigured rotting corpses. They may appear if there is a number of bodies dumped together unceremoniously. The puzzle is why do they appear instead of "normal" zombies?

Here they are in game setting

Abd al-Nzair desribes them as:

He was a law officer of sorts, a local guard out looking into the depraved handiwork of a crazed individual, the sort we seem to be seeing more and more of in these dark days. When the guard happened upon a mass grave dug by this sick fool, a massive, horned, disgusting behemoth was digging itself out. The dying traveler described this loathsome beast – or, as he termed it, the unburied – as being comprised of bloated parts from many fetid, rotting corpses, with a multitude of disfigured heads and slobbering fanged mouths. He was fortunate that day, but when he returned with several men to help him deal with the creature, they found to their horror that the undead spawn was too much for even their combined efforts. They fought valiantly to the last man, sacrificing themselves to keep the beast from rampaging across the countryside and taking who knows how many innocent lives. He was the last survivor, and before he passed on, he proudly told me that they were successful in eradicating the foul unburied creature.

This last screenshot is definetly something that gives me goosebumps... If I have to face 7 of these beasts I do hope that is later in the game when I will have some good spells and really strong armor.

Diablo III new monster revealed - Dune Thresher

Diablo III seems to be doing just fine. It is quite far in development and according to some rumors it will be released before Starcraft 2. Apparently Diablo has a lot larger development team. Good news for Diablo fans, not so good for Starcraft.

Back to this beast. It hides in the sand and looks it is quite fast. It charges quickly to it's pray.

It is very sensitive to vibrations and sounds.

They'll jump right up onto these rocks and drag you down. An experienced hunter could survive an attack, but someone like you will be lunch if you keep stomping around here, making all that noise.

Diablo III announced and demonstrated!

At Blizzard Worldwide Invitational Diablo III is demonstrated on stage. For several days there we teaser images and finally they have revealed it.

 

 

Here are some details from live blog from this presentation:

12:40 Okay, the MCs are back and talking about how we're the first peeps to see Diablo3 in action. Now they're asking for people from various countries to give a shoutout. It was really quiet when asked "anyone from Portugal"?
12:35 Now all four peeps are fighting giant evil trees. Afterwards, a bossfight against a bigass demon called the Siegebreaker assault beast (descriptor: living siege engine of hell). It's charging around the area a lot. The barbarians are jumping wihle the witch doctors are firebombing. The boss just instant-killed someone by biting and tearing a la the Rancor from Return of the Jedi. It takes a bunch more beatins before dying. Mad applause right now after it does down. And now a ton of skeletons advance forward as the title screen shows up.
12:33 The Witch doctor also has a firebomb spell to deal damage and a mass confusion for crowd control. He also has a grody wall of zombies spell. Now, female barbarian and witch doctor has joined the group.
12:31 Out of the dungeon and into the forest. He uses the locust swarm to take out crowds of enemies. He conjures up the Mongrel pet (well, four of them), and gives them additional disease damage by casting locust swarm on them. Witch Doctors can sort of suicide-bomb their near-death mongrels. Even though his mongrels are dead, the witch doctor uses horrify to put fear into the enemies.
12:30 Introducing the witch doctor class. He's got pets and mind control abilities, and is the second player for co-op in the demo.
12:27 Now taking on some skeletal archers. He needs to use his jump to stun them and take them out while they can't shoot. Now he's taking out some possessed dudes who are described as "ticking time bombs." The wall just came crashing down while the mercs are panicking behind the barbarian. Some chicks in a circle just exploded (probably as a sacrifice) to make the Thousand Pounder, who is a hugely fat dude with two maces (his descriptor is "Gluttony Incarnate").

12:26 HOLY SHIT DECKARD CAIN IS IN THE DUNGEON TOO!!!!!111 Cain tries to get you to stay awhile and listen, but the barbarian cuts him short. The barbarian is using Cain's mercenary guards as backup now.
12:24 He took out the four dudes and got a full set of armor from the trapped chest.All gear is custom designed for unique look. Barbarian can still leap about. He just knocked a wall down to take out zombies, and is now using whirlwind.
12:22 New red orb drops now are used to heal without use of potions. He's fighting berserjkers right now. He's dual-wielding on some fools. Environmental destruction allows for stuff to be knocked around. Now he's tripping a trap that causes four duders to spawn into the room.
12:20 Yep, he's a barbarian. Pure brute force, exemplifies design philosophy of "no such thing as too much power." There's now a hotbar wherethe potion bar used to be, to use your skills easily. Can now quickswap between skills with mousewheel. Looks like the same sort of upgraded isometric a la StarCraft 2. Now he's using frost-enchanted gear.
12:19 Lead designer Jay Wilson is on stage to demo. There's a barbarian-looking guy stomping around, saying "this place has the stench of ghouls."
12:16 Middle eastern music, and a girl talking about people in fear and stuff. And praying for a quick death. Now there's images of castles and battles and stuff blowing up. DIABLO III just showed up. AIRSTRIKE APPROVED.
12:15: OH DAMN some guy is playing an acoustic version of the Diablo theme!!!!1111 Now it's time...
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New update - Diablo 3 web site look as you would expect from a Blizzard, beautifully crafted and already hosting gameplay video and cinematic teaser. If you can get anything from that site that is. It is overloaded and this is not a surprise.

This is an example of what to expect in game

More to come tomorrow morning...