Diablo II: Resurrected

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MagosX wrote:

They lost the assets, the 3d models that were used to generate the 2d sprites. They never lost the source code.

D2R recreated new models from scratch, so it wasn't much of a problem.

after a quick google search:

https://www.gamebyte.com/file-corruption-is-the-reason-well-likely-never-get-a-diablo-2-remaster/

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"According to the creators, the entire backup of the game’s source code and assets was lost during the final stages of development thanks to a file corruption."
...
"However, there’s still no root code or assets to build from, meaning that if Blizzard ever decided to reboot the game in the form of a remaster, it would be a pretty massive task."

Blizzard has stated they didn't use version control *at all* until roughly 2007. Sure version control was shitty until 2000 or so when SVN came out (and 2005 when git came out), but it's not like they never had the option since version control systems have existed in some form basically since we moved past punch cards.

They were very incompetent in this regard.

Re Charms and inventory space: do not confuse a deliberate mechanic that forces meaningful tradeoff with a broken system. Plenty of veterans agree that it's fine as it is, that choosing between more power or space in your backpack was integral to the balance and the core experience. If you disagree that is fine. You have PoE for your costless power. But I am grateful that VV and by extension Blizzard have been very sparing with QoL changes and when in doubt err on the side of preserving the original experience even if that grates on more modern, dare I say spoilt, sensibilities. Pander too much to such demands and you get...a different game. Better, worse: irrelevant.

If you want to talk genuinely broken stuff they didn't fix, we can bang on about the horrendous rubberbanding for days and days...

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Foreverhappychan wrote:

... err on the side of preserving the original experience even if that grates on more modern, dare I say spoilt, sensibilities. Pander too much to such demands and you get...a different game. Better, worse: irrelevant.

Exactly. I don't think Blizzard are after new players per se (although I'm sure they're welcome) but after the old ones, who will be happy to shell out the 40$ for nostalgia with good graphics.

So this is curious and....annoying. By dint of version and assigned studios, the mobile version of Titan Quest is far superior to the console version...even on the ps5.

It has more intuitive UI, better targeting, more character slots, much fewer very noticeable bugs and it even *looks* better. Obviously you need a tablet to fully appreciate this but as I was getting back into the groove of controller TQ, I had this weird feeling of remembering it as...not quite this bad. I delved, and read an overwhelming consensus that the studio responsible for the console port had really shat the bed...while Handygames, THQ Nordic's mobile studio, had somehow salvaged a decent mobile port by dotemu to deliver the best complete version TQ outside of the yet-supported PC version. Hell, you can even change the title screen and music to whichever expansion you like.

You can use spaces in character names.

This is all quite clearly insane.

And I find all very fascinating when placed next to d2r. We might call VV's version of D2 'resurrected' but I think 'cloned' is more accurate. THQ Nordic, on the other hand, are absolutely amoral necromancers. Shit, they even brought Kingdoms of Amalur back to life, and that game was so dead people bought a dead console just to play it. Its almost stillbirth is legendary in its drama.

As for TQ, it was so dead its core devs had to crowdfund their next effort, which itself feels like an impassioned rebuke of TQ's shortcomings as much as a rekindling of its innovations.

Diablo 2 was never dead compared to Nordic's reanimations.

edit: the girlfriend just supplied the perfect term. Diablo 2 hasnt been necro'd; it has been thread-bumped.

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Sadaukar wrote:

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TreeOfDead wrote:

Their source code became corrupted and they have no backup??? how its possible? lol wtf blizz?

That happened back at Blizzard North when D2 was about to release.
That's why D2R isn't a real remaster, just a "skin" that's slapped on top of the original game still running in the background.

They can't really change the core game, because they don't have the source code anymore.
David Brevik said so some years ago, so he thought a remaster was basically impossible.

holy... ic now why they didnt make anyth up until now

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TreeOfDead wrote:

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Sadaukar wrote:

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TreeOfDead wrote:

Their source code became corrupted and they have no backup??? how its possible? lol wtf blizz?

That happened back at Blizzard North when D2 was about to release.
That's why D2R isn't a real remaster, just a "skin" that's slapped on top of the original game still running in the background.

They can't really change the core game, because they don't have the source code anymore.
David Brevik said so some years ago, so he thought a remaster was basically impossible.

holy... ic now why they didnt make anyth up until now

Time for devilution2, then. :D

If you don't know, devilution is the decompiled source code of Diablo 1 and spawned devilutionX, a version of Diablo 1 that will run on modern computers with modern OSes.

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Foreverhappychan wrote:

Re Charms and inventory space: do not confuse a deliberate mechanic that forces meaningful tradeoff with a broken system.

One could easily implement a system like in Project Diablo 2 where you can still have some space despite having trade off, as charms only work in the lower part of inventory.

No one ever liked to do the whole open inventory-drag things to cube deal, or having to equip and remove charms from char as you switch from PvP to PvM. Nevermind some rarer builds who want to carry some weapons around and have to juggle with items on ground and in cube.

EDIT: lol forgot the rubberband. You have fun with that. If one were to talk about all the problems they would be here all day. I remember ages ago some people compiled bug issues and how to fix them in the official forums, boy that was a looooong list.

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Disrupted wrote:

No one ever liked

Famous last words.

Still, charms are legit a bad mechanic. The people who created them were no doubt thinking what Charan is thinking — a mechanic with meaningful tradeoff. But when you have a tradeoff, you draw the player's attention to what's being traded. Maybe you don't draw that attention hard enough to, say, sunder a thick armor of self-denial, but probably enough to at least irritate. So maybe, just maybe, it's a horrible idea to create a mechanic that reminds ARPG players that they are compulsive packrats.

I'm not in love with D2's charms. If anything I try not to use them to increase the challenge. But a small charm here and there is sort of like a bonus. Good for that stat boost to equip something a little game breaking early on.

To date I've not run into any content that outright demands them but then again I lost interest well before the so called uber content. I play games to have fun, not to compensate.

Unrelated note: it's astounding how many people on arpg reddits admit they quit Poe because it got too complicated. I mean, don't these people have any PRIDE as gamers!? Okay not that unrelated.

Anyway charms are there. If you are facing content to get through it rather than acquire all the gear I imagine they provide a decent kick. If not, they're just as easily ignored or at least used very sparingly.

I guess the people who don't want to deal with that or want more flexibility (and I should think play a harder version of the game to offset that) can play mods made by people who don't want to deal with that. In glorious 800x600.

To be clear: I don't hate mods. I just dislike the implications of them. If a game NEEDS them to perform as intended, then that's a failing of the devs. But the vast majority are the expression of an opinion, which to me is a take it or leave it situation. Sometimes a mod can change the gaming world. Sometimes it can make water a bit prettier. And sometimes it turns NPCs into wheels of cheese.

Here's a noodle twister for you: if a player made tool changes the gameplay experience entirely and people use it incessantly, if the devs themselves build their game around it but isn't actually changing the game code, is it just a different sort of mod? It's "modifying" the game experience. It seems to me these tools occupy an unfairly protected, sanctified space simply because they don't modify the code of the game. What's going to modify the game experience more, a shader that makes water prettier or a trade indexer that keeps track of all in game market movements? So there are mods...and then there are mods...and then there are 'tools'...but only the latter isn't frowned up by most devs because it doesn't fuck with their core code. And even if they don't like it, what can they do? These are external tools. Might as well just throw in the towel and embrace them. (Or do what Squeenix does with XIV and just shoot first if someone even hints at using a tool like a dps monitor to judge other players. So much easier to enforce the rules when the punishment actually hurts.)

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Another legit d2r complaint from a console perspective: that drag and drop. There were commands to instantly shift items between windows but they weren't working so I'm hoping that was a beta thing. Dropping three gems into the cube got old pretty quick. Didn't mind it with a mouse but with a controller with no real cursor speed control it's a pain and then some.

Anyway. It won't be perfect. But it will be as good as it was. Probably better. And that suffices right now. Some exiles can't see what sort of demand there is for a pick up and play arpg on multiple platforms that doesn't demand seasonal play, won't be volatile in terms of balance and has a solid reputation spanning decades. Which I find a little odd given so many of them bitch about game changes. D2R is about as reliable as an arpg gets in terms of what worked yesterday will work tomorrow. There is a comfort in that, and it's very welcome when you have other games that constantly change in the spirit of growth and evolution.

Sometimes you just want mac n cheese, and you want it just how you remember it. But since your palate has changed, so too must the nostalgia-evoking product. That's the challenge of the remaster. Of the remake. To return to something that cannot be returned exactly as it was.

And it only really works when the original product was a Mac n cheese. Was inimitable and unique, but absolutely not without its flaws or drawbacks. On that we all agreed as well even as we shoveled in another mouthful.

PoE will never be mac n cheese. It never established a single classic, beloved flavour. Everyone has their own idea of it and that's a big part of why we argue about it all the time. It's a shame because I think GGG had the chops to make a classic. Instead they opted for the hipster's idea of classic: ever changing and ever contentious, and frequently insufferable in its inarticulate intentions.

Oh well. At least it made a lot of money.