Game: Diablo
Introduction
For my freestyle blog I decided to choose to analyse the role playing game (RPG) Diablo, Lord of destruction. It’s a dark-fantasy role playing game that was released by Blizzard entertainment in December 1996. It’s basically a war between heaven and hell. The game has a multiplayer game consist of different characters for instance a necromancer or a barbarian. The game is made up of characters that could use magic, potions and different kinds of weapons.
Game Concept
Diablo is a three dimensional role playing game with multiple characters to choose from. It’s a mission game where the player completes the different levels and the end of each level they fight the really strong enemies before going to the next level or the next town. The game is divided in to five different towns where the player has to complete before going to the next one. Each town has a portal where the players can use to travel fast from different places of the level or going back to their camp.
• 2D graphics
The 2 Dimensional graphics that has been use are applied to the background of the game. Mostly it was used on the fields where the character walked on or the wall of a tower. Some objects in the field are also 2D, for instance some rock that can't be lifted or a bonfire in the middle of the field. It's also used in the base camp where some of the tents inside the camp.
• 3D graphics
The 3 Dimensional graphics are mostly use on almost every thing on the game. The characters or the objects, for instance a boulder or a treasure chest where the players can lift or open and they could find treasures or weapons inside that they could sell later on inside the camp for money if they don’t need it. The graphics are actually good enough that players could distinguish what the object is and identify it. It also helps that whenever the mouse hover on the object or place likes the opening of the place. There’s a small writing that comes out to inform the player what the object is or what’s the name of the place. It makes it easier to find a place or decide if the player should pick up the object or not. The character graphics are also good because it looks like a miniature warrior in the screen the details are good down to the last line of the characters armour. It’s the same with the enemies in the game, from the staff the enemy carries to the loin cloth they use as a clothes to cover their body.
• Mission Levels
There are four different levels in this game. But in each level there are at least more than seven missions. The four levels are represented as the five towns that the players travel to. When he finishes the entire mission in the current town he goes to the next town or the next level. This also means that the enemies (monsters) that he battles are far stronger and has more fire power than the monsters from the previous town. Also at the end of each level the player battles a really strong opponent or else they won’t be able to proceed.
The good news is the player could die no matter how many times without restarting from the beginning; they have the opportunity to continue their last battle before the player died. To make it easier, the player has to find the nearest portal which they call a ‘waypoint’ in the game. All they have to do is find it and light it to show in their map.This is the easy way to travel from the location of the portal to the camp, because each camp has their base. On the other hand, players can also buy a tome portal that has multiple scroll portal but when they die the portal closes. After each level, when the player completes a level and defeat the strong opponent in each of the game, it shows a cinematic telling the story of the game but it's devided in to multiple cinematics for the end of each level.
• Characters
There are multiple characters in the game that a player could choose from. Bellow are some of the example of those characters.
They vary from a Necromancer that has the power to bring the dead to use as his army or master a skill from the skill tree as one of his weapon. Necromancers basically control magic to fight the enemies.
Then there’s the Paladin where it’s a complete opposite of the necromancer. If a necromancer uses mainly magic to survive, Paladins rely on the strength of their sword to eliminate the enemies.
The next character is Sorceress and unlike the necromancer, sorceress don’t have the power to command the dead but they also use magic which is mostly lightning and they use a staff to control their powers.
The last character is the Barbarian who uses big weapons to wield and insane armours that only a barbarian can use. These are the characters where the players can choose from to suit what they need to complete the game.
• Animations
The animations in this game are mostly use on the characters. They put enough animation to make the game realistic and enticing. Mainly the animations are used in the action part of the game. From the way the enemy dies and drop on the floor to the splattered blood that comes out from them when they are hit. When a character or enemies use an element to fight each other, it comes to life using an animation effectively. In the base camps, the other characters (town’s people) of the game are in motion doing an action that describes their character. For example, you could see the blacksmith creating a weapon in their tent complete with hammering the glowing amber of metal. The animations are an important factor in this game without it the game would be useless, boring and unimaginative.
Audio
• Voiceovers
When the player is in the base camp, he could talk to the town’s people just by clicking on them. In the beginning of the game and beginning of each level the town’s people introduce themselves to the player. There’s a scroll down text that can be seen on the screen at the same time there’s a voiceover that’s on time with the text. This is a good idea because if the player can’t hear what they’re saying its still can be read on the screen.
There’s also a voiceover that can be heard whenever the player enters a new place like a cave, for example an eerie warning such as ‘evil are all over this place’. There’s a voiceover use on the enemies for instance, most zombies or ghoul can be heard moaning or those little critters that makes a small sound of distress whenever they see the warriors near them. It’s the same with the strong enemies, with them the player can hear them from their promise of retaliation or they sometime say what they’ll do to you such as ‘ill eat your soul’. This is a helpful feature because then the player can know when they are near and they’d have time to get ready for the fight.
There’s also the part when the player completes a mission for someone for the base camp and they return from it players could see that the town person wanted to say something when they have the yellow exclamation point above their head and all the player has to do is click on the person and they automatically talk. The player’s characters only talk when the player press the numbers on the number pad in the keyboard and the characters only say a phrase from ‘hello’ to ‘follow me’ when pressed.
• Sound effects
The sound effects are also good in this game. The player of the game can hear different sound effects that have been used. From the sound of the characters running footsteps and when he’s hit by the enemy. Then there’s also the sound of the dying enemies and when their sword hit flesh or metal there’s the sound that can be heard as well. There are other sound effects that used can help the player on the game, for example when they find a trap treasure chest. A normal non-trap chest opens with a smooth sound but when a trap chest is open, there’s a distinguished creaking sound when the player opens it. They either start catching on fire or a fireball comes out and hit someone. When a player hears the sound they could run before the trap works and after the trap was executed they could get whatever is inside. Because when they are hit or has been caught in the trap, their life is being deducted and if it’s repeatedly they could die if they don’t replenish it as soon as possible.
• Music
The game has different music that has been used in the game as their music. There’s the soft-slow music that can be heard at the beginning of each level where it gives out the impression of a beginning of the game or quest. Then there’s the music where they use in the part where the player has finally defeated a strong enemy and the music is more on the classic-rejuvenating-opera, it’s a way of telling the player that they had finish the quest.
Hardware platform
• Keyboard
To play the game, it’s mostly controlled using a keyboard and a mouse. The keys that are useful are shown whenever the mouse hovers to an object or the menu that was displayed at the bottom of the screen. It shows the shortcuts that the players can use on the keyboard instead of the long process of mouse clicking. The rows of numbers on the keyboard at the top of the letters can be used to quickly replenish life.
• Mouse
The mouse is used for point and click function. When the player’s character run or walk to a place the player just have to point and click on the spot where their destinations is indicated and this goes the same for fighting an enemy. It’s also used to click on objects to pick up treasure chest to open or click on a door to get in. this helps to find objects or places in the area.
Usability
• How easy is the game to play
The game is easy enough to play when I find out all the functions of the game. When I familiarised myself on the shortcuts using the keyboard it made it easier for me to control my character. The game gives the player some instructions for the missions and sometimes I could talk to the people in the town to get more information about the mission. The missions are easy enough to follow because when one mission finishes that’s when the next one comes up but if there are all at the same time, I can always view it again in the quest log. When I discover which weapons are strong, I could buy it if I have money or if I picked it up I could go to the blacksmith to make it stronger by fixing it.
Use case
• Player Input
• Game Object Interaction
• Display System
• Audio Interaction
Reference