Hi! In a previous thread, I mentioned that I was considering buying Diablo 2 to play with a friend, and I got a good response about the cooperative gameplay. Thus, I downloaded a demo, and was quite pleased with it. I plan to buy the game as soon as I can get the demo to work properly on my computer, as opposed to my sister’s.
I do have a few more quick questions for before I buy it, and I know it is still fairly popular here.
I noticed a striking resemblence to the game Angband in Diablo 2, and from what I read, it is even more visible in Diablo 1. Now, as a longtime Angband player and fan, I think this is great (I love Roguelikes), and after some Googling, I’m certainly not the only player to notice. Has Blizzard ever said anything explicit about being inspired by Angband/Moria?
Are there any minor patches to add a few conviences? Specifically, I wonder if there’s some way I can automatically travel from one location on my automap to another easily after I’ve cleared out all the enemies en route. I know that for big jumps, we have town portal and waypoints, but I think it’d be nice for smaller distances too. Also, I’d absolutely die for the ability to tell my character to attack monster X until it dies, rather than having to click each time. I need to be kind to my poor mouse.
Can one choose their characters’ gender? I realize that certain classes will be female, and probably the reverse, but I wondered if there were some where it was an option.
Are there any graphical mods to eliminate the blood/gore? I know that most people love it, and I don’t bregrudge them for that in the least, but I honestly find it a bit irritating, and would be happier without it. (I’m the sort of person that always plays the American version of console games so the blood is gone).
Thank you in advance! I’ll try and play with some SDMB players if I can get it up and running!
I don’t know about official statements but it is a Rogue clone with pretty graphics. Not that that’s a bad thing!
There don’t need to be patches, those are things that are in the game from the get go – there are waypoints you activate every few areas that eliminate runs through areas you’ve already been. However, every time you load the game the level is repopulated (though quests are still completed) so if you do go back through an area you’ve already been you still need to kill everything. As for the clicking thing, in D2 if you click and hold on an enemy you attack until it’s dead.
However, there’s been some major patches since the game was released that change and enhance the game far beyond just fixing bugs. Incidentally, pick up the expansion pack at the same time as you get the original game. It includes fundamental changes that make the game a lot better, including making it playable at 800x600 instead of 640x480 resolution.
No, the characters in the game are characters rather than classes so there’s no customisation from the get go other than names. They do look different depending on the armor they wear, my gf likes to tease me cause occasionally I’ll wear weaker armor than some I pick up because it looks better :).
I’ve seen mods that’ve done this in the past, but I can’t track any of them down right now (nevermind one for 1.11). It’s definitely possible. It’s pretty much reassigning the blood graphics to 100% transparent graphic.
That said, be careful of using such a mod on Battle.net. Even if it’s a client-side “tweak” the anti-cheat stuff doesn’t like that sort of thing.
That’s rendered kind of pointless by the death animations isn’t it? I mean, ok there’s no blood on the ground but the imp still just keeled over gushing blood from a severed stump of a head…
You don’t have to click over and over on a monster; if you just click and hold, you’ll keep hitting it until you die (whoops, Freudian slip–until it dies, or you let go of the mouse button). Also, with some of the attacks like Frenzy, if you right-click and hold and move your mouse, you’ll run in that direction and attack anything you run into until it dies.
I’ll look into being able to make the blood 100% transparent, and see if it would be more trouble than it’s worth. I do think it’d help (I recognize why the corpses need to stay on-screen, despite my squemishness), but it sounds like I would be obliged to switch it on and off for multiplayer. I will have to check to see whether that would be more trouble than it is worth.
Thanks for the information about holding down the mouse button! It would make my games much easier on my poor hardware! I of course shall buy the Battle Chest version (it only costs about $20.00), allowing me access to the expansion pack as well.
Too bad about the female characters, but it is great to hear that armor actually does change one’s appearance. I am the same sort of person, and often try to choose fashionable equipment combinations in other such games.
Finally, when I asked about a travel command, I think I was unclear. I was just hoping that somewhere, there was a patch to allow me to click somewhere on the automap, and have my character walk there on his or her own. Of course, this would be an awful idea if that part of the dungeon remains populated, but I’d really appreciate it during the occasional moments when I need to backtrack.
If you click an hold on a monster, your character will attack until that monster is dead. That’s been covered already. However, if you’re using a ranged attack, such as an Amazon’s arrows, or a Sorc’s Frozen Orb, when the monster dies, if you’re still holding down the attack button, your character will run or walk to the spot where your pointer is. If there’s a huge mob of monsters in that same area, this can suck. To keep your character rooted in place while continuously attacking by holding the attack button, hold the shift key down as well. When the monster is dead, your character will just keep firing.
There is no official Blizzard method of doing so–you have to do it the hard way: run. There are myriad hacks and unofficial methods to “enhance” one’s gameplay, but I strongly urge you not explore them, since 99% are viruses, trojans and keyloggers.
About multiplayer: 50% of the players are 13 year old kids with aggression problems; 49% are bots; 1% might actually be decent. Do try to play someone you know and trust; don’t play multi alone until you’re fully comfortable with the system–otherwise you will be mocked and ignored.