Difference between revisions of "Diablo 3 console"

Revision as of 10:36, 3 September 2013

After months of rumours and official non-denials, on February 20, 2013 Blizzard officially announced a Diablo 3 console version coming to the Playstation 3 and Playstation 4.^[1], ^[2].

In June of 2013 the release of the Playstation 3 version together with a version for the Xbox 360 was revealed to be September 3 2013. ^[3]

The console version of Diablo 3 has the same features as the PC version. It has the same zones, events, monsters, bosses, classes, skills, runes. It features the same systems such as the Paragon system, Infernal Machine, Brawling and Monster Power. ^[4] It is planned to ship up to Patch 1.0.7 but perhaps Patch 1.0.8 depending on the development time.

Although content is near-on identical there are a few differences to note:

• There is an offline mode.
• There is no Auction House.
• Do not connect via Battle.Net.
• Camera is zoomed in a little more.
• Enemy wave spawns slightly altered.
• Movement is direct through the thumbstick (as opposed to click and move to).
• Evade skill included for all characters.
• Loot drops less frequently but is higher quality.
• Fast equip option.

Game Modes

Playstation 3 shared screen

Xbox 360 shared screen

As with the PC version the maximum number of players is four.^[5] The reasons for this in brief are:

• There is a noticeable impact and contribution from each of the four players.
• The most powerful group Buffs and Auras will not need to be nerfed to compensate for increased numbers simultaneously active.
• On-screen noise. More people fill more of the screen and create more action on the screen at any one time.

Offline Mode

Offline mode allows up to four players to play on the same screen at the same time. There is no split screen but in order to keep the screen as uncluttered as possible each player's on-screen UI is condensed with each one sitting in a corner of the screen.

Characters can be copied to a USB drive and then accessed via another console, allowing gamers to continue playing offline characters at each other's houses. Characters created offline can never be played on the consoles' online services however. In that respect it's the same way Closed and Open characters are handled in Diablo 2. It's not known if characters created online can be transferred to offline mode.

To save character's to the consoles hard drive 5mb will be needed on the Xbox 360 and 12mb on the Playstation 3 version. More is required on the PS3 version because of the trophy pack.^[6]

Hardcore Characters

As characters can be copied onto a USB this means if a Hardcore character dies and it's saved it can potentially be restored. However, when restoring from the USB it restores your online profile which contains all your characters and would overwrite other characters.^[7]

Online Mode

Online mode is accessed via Playstation Network or Xbox Live and not Battle.Net. A Battle.Net account is not necessary to play Diablo 3 on a console. Characters created this way will be stored on your cloud storage space or on your console's hard drive. ^[4]

As there are different tiers of membership available on Playstation Network and Xbox Live access to characters is handled differently depending on the console. ^[8]

Playstation, Xbox and Battle.Net characters can not play together and they can not be transferred between the different services.

Controls

Evade in action

Movement is controlled by the console controllers (as illustrated below). There is no 'point and click' as with the PC but rather users have direct control via the thumbstick so movement is manually directed to the spot you wish the character to move to, taking the character around obstacles, between them and to the destination.

A lot of skills have been specially tuned for controller support. Skills automatically centre on the targeted monster or fire off in the direction your hero is facing if none is targeted. Elective Mode is available allowing players to freely map skill keys to any buttons they wish. ^[9]

All classes have the Evade ability, (accessed via the right stick) which enables characters to dodge and roll about 10 yards in whichever direction they wish. There is no resource cost, cooldown or level requirement so it can be used repeatedly without delay. It can also be used to smash into and break barrels and other destructibles. This gels with the visceral feel of a console game.

• Read more about Evade skill.

In offline multiplayer, (as all characters share the one screen), if a character disappears from the screen as the other players move away the character will instantly teleport to the rest of the group.

There are no plans to add support for USB mice or keyboards. ^[10]

Skills

Nephalem Globe

All five classes have access to the same skills as are available in the PC version, their stats are also the same, however, they have been specially tuned for controller support. ^[11]

There isn't any cooldown when changing skills.

Nephalem Globes

Nephalem Globes are console-only items. Any time a Health Globe drops from a monster there is a small chance that it will turn into a Nephalem Globe instead. They look like Health Globes too but are yellow instead of red. The globes apply a random temporary buff to players such as increased experience points gained, movement speed improved, damage or attack speed increased or more magic/gold find.

Items and Loot

In the console version of Diablo 3 less junk loot drops to avoid cluttering up the screen. In general, less drops but what does drop will be better quality as players do not have access to the Auction House to ease character progression and less inventory access will be needed helping keep gameplay flowing.

In offline multiplayer games any loot on the ground can be picked up by any player so some rules of play will need to be set by those who are playing. 'Round robin' or 'need over greed' for example or just go for ninja-looting for seat-of-your-pants gaming.

Quick Equip feature

Items on the ground can be equipped without entering the inventory by using the Quick Equip feature. Picking up an item will display its details by your on-screen UI. It will display the name of the item, an icon indicating the slot it would occupy but most importantly whether it is better than the item you currently have equipped by way of up to a maximum of 3 green arrows (1 being slightly better and 3 being significantly better) in three criteria. To indicate an inferior item the arrows will be red down arrows and an item neither better or worse will display minus lines. From here you can either equip or drop the item on the ground for someone else to pick up.

Using the D-Pad you can scroll through the last few items picked up in this way too. Unlike accessing the inventory screen this action will not interrupt game play in local offline play.

Loot in online multiplayer games is handled as it is in the PC game. Loot drops for each player and it's only visible to whoever it belongs to and accessing the player's inventory will not interrupt other players' game play.

Console-Only Items

All pre-orders of the Xbox 360 and the Playstation 3 version of Diablo 3 will come with special bonus items. All classes will get the items.

• "Infernal Helm" – Wearable at level 1, the console-exclusive Infernal Helm in-game item confers a +EXP bonus to help you whip your new PlayStation® or Xbox characters into shape
• "Angelic Wings" – Taunt the forces of the Burning Hells by sprouting a cosmetic pair of glowing angel wings
• "Bottled Cloud Dye" – Dye your armor sets a cloudy white with this heavenly dye
• "Bottled Smoke Dye" – Dye your armor sets an eerie smoky black with this sinister dye

Playstation 3-Only Items

There are also items that come with the Playstation 3 version regardless if it is preordered. These come with the game automatically, they do not need to be found.

Gallery of Items

• 

  Angelic Wings

• 

  Crimson Angelic Wings

• 

  Hero's Journey

• 

  Infernal Helm

• 

  Leoric's Gauntlets

Monsters

Monster density has been tailored to better suit the console. The waves of monsters aren't as large as the PC version and there aren't any attacks from off the visible screen. Density will increase however when the difficulty is ramped up in Inferno difficulty ('Medium' and upwards).

Boss fights have also been changed somewhat so they feel like more traditional console boss fights.

Difficulty Levels

Difficulty levels are the same as the PC version (Normal, Nightmare, Hell and Inferno) and completing one gives access to the next. However, instead of the traditional Monster Power setting you can select within those four difficulties to increase the challenge on the PC version, there are extra grades as detailed below. As with Monster Power these increase monster damage, magic find, experience points, more powerful loot etc.

On Inferno difficulty on Medium setting or above the monster density will also increase although not to the degree it does on PC.

The list below shows the difficulty setting and it's equivalent in the Monster Power level on PC. This could change before the console version releases. ^[12]

Easy = Monster Power 0

Medium = Monster Power 2

Hard = Monster Power 4

Master I = Monster Power 6

Master II = Monster Power 7

Master III = Monster Power 8

Master IV = Monster Power 9

Master V = Monster Power 10

User Interface

On-screen UI

The user interfaces have been remodelled so they work intuitively with the consoles' controller.

The on-screen user interface is a simpler, more condensed version of the PC version. There is no health orb, that is replaced by a simple bar under which sits the level up gauge and the character's level. Above or below that sits the skills currently equipped and the potions button, all of which are overlaid with the key needed to access. Next to that is the resource globe. It contains all the basic information needed but takes up much less space than the PC version.

Console Inventory

Skill Interface

The character's inventory is automatically organised by item slots as opposed to one large bag as is the case with the PC version. Items are grouped so highlighting the slot on the radial menu on the left will display items in the inventory that can be equipped there. Selecting one of the items will compare it to the currently equipped item that is displayed on the right of that. The new item can be equipped from there or you can carry on looking through the items available for that slot or drop the item on the ground for someone else.

The Quick Equip (as detailed above) enables players to compare and equip items they've recently picked up without opening the full inventory which, in offline multiplayer games, interrupts gameplay.

The Skills interface is the same arrangement with a radial slot selection area on the left and on the right details of the skills available. This area looks pretty much the same as the PC version although it only displays the simplified skill information.

In offline multiplayer players will need to take it in turns to access their various user interfaces as they open full screen and so only one interface can be viewed at a time.

Town Portal

Town Portals work slightly differently depending on the group set up you have.^[13]

• Multiplayer local games on the same console everyone will return to town if someone casts a town portal.
• Multiplayer games online casting a town portal will return only the caster to town (same as PC).

Achievements

There are achievements in the console version but not quite as many as the PC version. There are Playstation 3 Trophies and Xbox 360 Achievements.

Auction House

There is no Gold or Real Money Auction House.

As online characters can be stored on the console's hard drive there would be security implications in allowing items to be bought by other players. There is no way to validate the items are not duped or altered in some way and so the trading environment would quickly descend to what we see in Diablo 2. The economy would be undermined and duped or hacked items could also disappear leaving players out of pocket and Blizzard inundated with claw-back claims. ^[14]

Items can still be traded in via the in-game trade window however.

Finally, to Note

• There is no Collector's Edition for either console version.
• Console versions of the game can not be purchased with Battle.net Balance.
• Patching frequency is still to be clarified.
• Can not transfer heroes from PC version to a console version.
• There is no beta for the console version of Diablo 3.
• Gold cost for crafting has been reduced on the console to compensate for the lack of Auction House.^[15]
• The PS4 is not backwards compatible with the a PS3 disc.
• Only the Xbox 360 version allows you to play your own music. Both PS3 and Xbox360 have the same full Diablo 3 score as the PC version.
• A version for Xbox One has not been confirmed.
• Reaper of Souls has not yet been confirmed for the console.
• There is an official printed strategy guide by Brady Games

From Rumour to Announcement

Development of the console version began back in 2011 but with a very small team led by Josh Mosqueira. Blizzard spent the following months recruiting to fill all manner of posts. ^{[16] [17]}. Full development did not begin until after Diablo 3 was released on the PC in May of 2012. ^[18]

• Read about the Console versions of Diablo 3.

Early Diablo 3 Console Statements

Before a console version was officially announced ^[2] Blizzard danced around the question alluding to the project but resisting confirming its development until February 2013.

Jay Wilson to Shacknews, October 10 2008 chimed in on the oft-speculated topic, noting that the game's control scheme would work rather well on consoles.. ^[19].

Jay Wilson to Play.tm, November 2008. ^[20]. On suitability of Diablo for console.

Jay Wilson to GamingShogun, August 22 2009. ^[21]. On priority of console version.

Jason Bender and Christian Lichtner in an interview from Blizzcon, October 27 2010. ^[22]

After years of hints, Blizzard finally acknowledged that they were starting work on a Diablo 3 console game on November 15 2010, via a forum post by Bashiok, the Diablo III community manager:^[23]

Mike Morhaime March 15 2011 repeated the same lines. ^[24]

Jay Wilson commented on the ongoing Diablo console project from Blizzcon October 22 2011. There were still no specifics, but Blizzard announced the hiring of Josh Mosqueira as the head of their console team in mid-2011, largely as a spur to hiring other qualified applicants. ^[25]

Console Announcement

After months of rumors and official non-denials, on February 20, 2013 Blizzard officially announced a Diablo 3 console version coming to the PlayStation 3 and 4.^[1], ^[2]

The official Console page went online that day, but without a release date announced. Many more details about the console were revealed in March 2013 at the PAX gaming show and at that time console release was said to be coming, "Soon-ish."^[4]

The Diablo console project (not merely a Diablo 3 port, Blizzard insists) has been underway for a long time. From the start the project was headed up by Josh Mosqueira, and positions are still open in 2013. ^[26]

• See dozens of Diablo 3 console news items via Diablo.IncGamers.com.

Blizzard's History in the Console Market

Blizzard Entertainment started out small, churning out console ports for various long-forgotten games in the early 1990s. They eventually made two original console titles, The Lost Vikings and Rock and Roll Racing, before turning to larger original computer games, starting with Warcraft and Warcraft II. You can see a full listing of their early games on the Wikipedia page.

Their next console effort was Starcraft: Ghost, which was produced by independent game studios working in conjunction with Blizzard. The game lingered through several development cycles before finally going into indefinite delay in August, 2005.

Blizzard has announced no console plans since that point, though they've spoken frequently about their interest in returning to their console gaming roots, either with a port of one of their other titles or an original game, like Starcraft: Ghost.

"...we're a company of gamers. I have two consoles at home. Sam has consoles. We're a culture of gamers. We will definitely work on a console game at some point. I have no doubt about that. It's just [a matter of] what game. What makes the most sense?"

J. Allen Brack, production director for World of Warcraft [1]

As always with Blizzard, they are unlikely to announce anything until the project is well underway, but from their frequent comments on the issue it seems very likely that they've got something in the works.

Gallery

Official console "sizzle" trailer and a video of the console in action from PAX East 2013.

Screenshots showing off the Console version. Key differences are the interface and menus, and a modified camera angle. The game content is almost identical to the PC/Mac version; only the presentation varies.

• 

  Artist's conception of multiplayer on the same console machine.

• 

  Barbarian in Act 3.

• 

  Demon Hunter in Act 2.

• 

  Redesigned console skills interface.

• 

  Redesigned console inventory.

• 

  Act 2 action.

• 

  Battling Diablo's shadow clone.

The official console announcement by Chris Metzen, from February 20, 2013.

References