7 ms·

Behind the Pretty Frames: Diablo IV

83 points by ibobev 3y ago

gary_0 3y ago
Looks like the HN traffic killed it. Archive link: https://web.archive.org/web/20230628160349/https://mamoniem.com/behind-the-pretty-frames-diablo-iv/ https://web.archive.org/web/20230628160349/https://mamoniem.... But archive.org is having a hard time with all the images.
- jeron 3y ago
  it actually loaded pretty quick for me, images included. ymmv
TillE 3y ago
RenderDoc is amazing btw. I've only used it with Vulkan which has all sorts of custom debug hooks anyway, but RenderDoc makes it super fast and simple to just capture a frame and explore the whole pipeline to debug your shaders. Lots of people talk about Blender as a FOSS success story used by real pros, but RenderDoc is also a tool used by AAA game developers, and no wonder.
jeron 3y ago
>The game is utilizing D3D12, don’t expect something very fancy or crazy (Raytracing, VRS,…etc.), but at the same time don’t let that fool you. i do believe that it’s not a competition about how many of the API features you inject into the renderer. Just use what delivers the vision, and Prism seem doing just that! seems like they plan to add ray tracing post-launch according to Nvidia RTX website [0] [0]:https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce/rtx/ https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce/rtx/
OutThisLife 3y ago
digg/reddit/hn hug of death
- ChrisClark 3y ago
  Slashdotted?
  - canadianfella 3y ago
    [dead]
kobalsky 3y ago
Personally I'm heartbroken watching Diablo IV. There are many unpolished details, mounts rotate dead at the center, they simply seem to have no turning animation. Characters' feet slide instead of planting correctly on many scenarios. Blizzard didn't use to miss on these things. Oh well, we will always have Nintendo.
- TheRealPomax 3y ago
  Look everyone had to work on optimizing the game economy to make sure the seven in-game currencies all funnel into making sure players keep paying throughout the day, each day, every day. There's simply no time to fix irrelevant S3/P3 stuff like "giving models animations" or "pathing". Those things only generate dollars once, they have no value.
  - ChrisClark 3y ago
    What are the seven currencies? Also, I'm not sure the draw of a cosmetics only shop is that compelling. I haven't felt the need to buy a skin that doesn't do anything to gameplay.
    - nickthegreek 3y ago
      D4 barely has any, especially compared to Diablo Immortal. The game is actually pretty good at handing out resources that farming doesn’t really become an issue.
      - Dylan16807 3y ago
        > especially compared to Diablo Immortal Which the company is and has been spending significant dev time on. For a criticism like "everyone is busy working on X instead of good things", X doesn't have to be in the same game.
        seanhunter 3y ago
        True, but the idea that everyone at Blizzard is working on cash shop items for the mobile game rather than the AAA title just doesn't bear even the most basic of scrutiny though.
lemoncookiechip 3y ago
I understand why people gravitate towards Diablo, nostalgia and the power the name Diablo carries, but Diablo has been a shell of itself since 3, and yes, 3 did improve substantially over time, but it was still a cookie cutter ARPG pretending to be the successor to Diablo 2. Path of Exile is free with one of the fairest monetization systems of any F2P, has 10 years worth of content, is mechanically complex while allowing more casual fans to just have fun, has a very active and large community and tools, it looks great, feels great, and more importantly, is getting a new update called Path of Exile 2, which is more of an expansion to the base game with a whole new campaign, maps, skills and mechanics reworks... And it looks even better visually. Somehow PoE is never even mentioned in the same room with Diablo, when it's more Diablo than Diablo itself.
- thatsadude 3y ago
  The problem of PoE is that it's too complex for causal middle age gamers like me. I have no time to invest in learning PoE after every patch.
  - catboybotnet 3y ago
    Took a break from PoE for about 2 years to focus more on work. I ask my coworker how things are looking at the moment. I don't remember to what extent things had changed (I expected plenty of new content and some balance changes) but even the main player currency had changed since then. I think my overall knowledge should still apply, but I do feel discouraged trying to learn anything when in a few months it might be useless again. I still keep D2 with some QoL mods on a USB stick I carry with me, so I can always fall back to it and be right at home :)
- selfmodruntime 3y ago
  The single most important problem I have with PoE is the campaign. That's it. Really. Diablo solved a major problem by cutting anywhere from 10-15 hours of mindlessly repeated content each season. I still do not get why GGG chooses to ignore this issue when it's a major complaint in nearly every thread about the game.
bentt 3y ago
D4 is great but Diablo 2 Resurrected is maybe an even more impressive technical achievement. Vicarious Visions (which has now been absorbed into Blizzard) reskinned the entire D2 game and it looks incredible. Probably the most technically advanced sprite based game? The best part is when you hit the G key it fades out and reveals the original Diablo 2 running underneath, synced in every way, to the new presentation layer. It is so cool! Plus it has awesome usability features. Play with a mouse on your PC and the UI is authentic to the original. Plug in a gamepad and the whole UI transforms into a modern gamepad friendly UI… IN PLACE! No restart. You can bounce back and forth between mouse and gamepad. It is wild. A great achievement overall
- littlestymaar 3y ago
  > reskinned the entire D2 game and it looks incredible. Probably the most technically advanced sprite based game? Didn't they just re-develop it from scratch, using a 3D engine?
  - bentt 3y ago
    It is a 3D engine but still used sprites.

83 points by ibobev 3y ago

Looks like the HN traffic killed it. Archive link: https://web.archive.org/web/20230628160349/https://mamoniem.com/behind-the-pretty-frames-diablo-iv/ https://web.archive.org/web/20230628160349/https://mamoniem.... But archive.org is having a hard time with all the images.

jeron 3y ago
it actually loaded pretty quick for me, images included. ymmv

TillE 3y ago

RenderDoc is amazing btw. I've only used it with Vulkan which has all sorts of custom debug hooks anyway, but RenderDoc makes it super fast and simple to just capture a frame and explore the whole pipeline to debug your shaders. Lots of people talk about Blender as a FOSS success story used by real pros, but RenderDoc is also a tool used by AAA game developers, and no wonder.

jeron 3y ago

>The game is utilizing D3D12, don’t expect something very fancy or crazy (Raytracing, VRS,…etc.), but at the same time don’t let that fool you. i do believe that it’s not a competition about how many of the API features you inject into the renderer. Just use what delivers the vision, and Prism seem doing just that! seems like they plan to add ray tracing post-launch according to Nvidia RTX website [0] [0]:https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce/rtx/ https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce/rtx/

OutThisLife 3y ago

digg/reddit/hn hug of death

ChrisClark 3y ago
Slashdotted?
- canadianfella 3y ago
  [dead]

kobalsky 3y ago

Personally I'm heartbroken watching Diablo IV. There are many unpolished details, mounts rotate dead at the center, they simply seem to have no turning animation. Characters' feet slide instead of planting correctly on many scenarios. Blizzard didn't use to miss on these things. Oh well, we will always have Nintendo.

TheRealPomax 3y ago
Look everyone had to work on optimizing the game economy to make sure the seven in-game currencies all funnel into making sure players keep paying throughout the day, each day, every day. There's simply no time to fix irrelevant S3/P3 stuff like "giving models animations" or "pathing". Those things only generate dollars once, they have no value.
- ChrisClark 3y ago
  What are the seven currencies? Also, I'm not sure the draw of a cosmetics only shop is that compelling. I haven't felt the need to buy a skin that doesn't do anything to gameplay.
  - nickthegreek 3y ago
    D4 barely has any, especially compared to Diablo Immortal. The game is actually pretty good at handing out resources that farming doesn’t really become an issue.
    - Dylan16807 3y ago
      > especially compared to Diablo Immortal Which the company is and has been spending significant dev time on. For a criticism like "everyone is busy working on X instead of good things", X doesn't have to be in the same game.
      - seanhunter 3y ago
        True, but the idea that everyone at Blizzard is working on cash shop items for the mobile game rather than the AAA title just doesn't bear even the most basic of scrutiny though.

lemoncookiechip 3y ago

I understand why people gravitate towards Diablo, nostalgia and the power the name Diablo carries, but Diablo has been a shell of itself since 3, and yes, 3 did improve substantially over time, but it was still a cookie cutter ARPG pretending to be the successor to Diablo 2. Path of Exile is free with one of the fairest monetization systems of any F2P, has 10 years worth of content, is mechanically complex while allowing more casual fans to just have fun, has a very active and large community and tools, it looks great, feels great, and more importantly, is getting a new update called Path of Exile 2, which is more of an expansion to the base game with a whole new campaign, maps, skills and mechanics reworks... And it looks even better visually. Somehow PoE is never even mentioned in the same room with Diablo, when it's more Diablo than Diablo itself.

thatsadude 3y ago
The problem of PoE is that it's too complex for causal middle age gamers like me. I have no time to invest in learning PoE after every patch.
- catboybotnet 3y ago
  Took a break from PoE for about 2 years to focus more on work. I ask my coworker how things are looking at the moment. I don't remember to what extent things had changed (I expected plenty of new content and some balance changes) but even the main player currency had changed since then. I think my overall knowledge should still apply, but I do feel discouraged trying to learn anything when in a few months it might be useless again. I still keep D2 with some QoL mods on a USB stick I carry with me, so I can always fall back to it and be right at home :)
selfmodruntime 3y ago
The single most important problem I have with PoE is the campaign. That's it. Really. Diablo solved a major problem by cutting anywhere from 10-15 hours of mindlessly repeated content each season. I still do not get why GGG chooses to ignore this issue when it's a major complaint in nearly every thread about the game.

bentt 3y ago

D4 is great but Diablo 2 Resurrected is maybe an even more impressive technical achievement. Vicarious Visions (which has now been absorbed into Blizzard) reskinned the entire D2 game and it looks incredible. Probably the most technically advanced sprite based game? The best part is when you hit the G key it fades out and reveals the original Diablo 2 running underneath, synced in every way, to the new presentation layer. It is so cool! Plus it has awesome usability features. Play with a mouse on your PC and the UI is authentic to the original. Plug in a gamepad and the whole UI transforms into a modern gamepad friendly UI… IN PLACE! No restart. You can bounce back and forth between mouse and gamepad. It is wild. A great achievement overall

littlestymaar 3y ago
> reskinned the entire D2 game and it looks incredible. Probably the most technically advanced sprite based game? Didn't they just re-develop it from scratch, using a 3D engine?
- bentt 3y ago
  It is a 3D engine but still used sprites.