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Exclusive Diablo 3 Interview: Part Two
Art Director Chris Lichtner and Lead Technical Artist Julian Love talk to us about the new look of the loot driven series
Written by Andy Griffiths, 22 September 2009
Continuing our interview with Chris Lictner (Art Director) Julian Love (Lead Technical Artist) of the Diablo III art team, today we talk about how the team works together and their take on the fan feedback to the Diablo III screenshots which has been controversial to say the least.
The Barbarian War-cry at work.Tomorrow we talk system specs, the light radius issue is finally put to bed, and the status of the console conversion.
Check out the recently smote wizard.GZ: You've talked about how it's been a collaborative effort. The amount of content in a title like Diablo III is simply staggering. How is the art team broken down into different responsibilities? Do you treat it as a specific team for characters, backdrops, monsters or do you integrate the work and ensure the differences are intentional.
Yippee ki-yay.CL: That's an interesting question, I think as far as the art goes it's very important for us to support the gameplay first and foremost. That said the way the departments are split is somewhat more traditional that you would think - we have a character team, we have backgrounds teams, we have the effects team which is responsible for effects and technology. Even within the environments we have splits between the interiors and exteriors because there are different technical challenges we have with each one of those. That said the people we have on the team are incredibly talented and they really are talented at more than just one thing. That also contributes to us having a team that can really contribute and collaborate on everything.
GZ: Were you surprised when you initially showed the game, how people took it upon themselves to Photoshop how they believed Diablo III should look?
PCGZine Issue 47
For our latest Diablo coverage, click here to download PCGZine Issue 47 for free.CL: Not at all. I think Blizzard are really lucky to have some of the best players that any game company could hope for. Meaning the community that plays our game our integral to us and they are amazing. So it's not a surprise that they feel strongly about something like that and obviously it's something that we are very passionate about as well. You know it's kindred spirits really.
GZ: Did it prompt any specific changes to the existing formula?
CL: We always listen as a company but the art style was set after many, many iterations already. We went through a lot of different looks and the one we decided on we were very, very happy with. It really serves the game in the best way possible, it really supports what we are trying to do from a surprising point of view. Obviously we've gotten some really good feedback regarding the look from people playing it.
GM: Do you think there's any real validity in comparing Diablo III's art with that of Diablo II? After all, Diablo II had to be designed to work with 256 colours and up, which is presumably not something you have to worry about today? Surely that influences what can be done with a more free colour palette?
JL: Well yeah, looking back at those games and trying to extrapolate what we felt we really good about what they did, there certainly were a lot of things they were trying to do or did do only because that was the way that they could do them. As I recall I think they took a lot of heat for making a sprite-based game when people were looking at 3D coming online. So we kinda felt there was a repeat of that in a way, we're taking this franchise which was done with sprites and moving it forward. Then along the way finding out that there's a lot of things integral to that game and the way they work that didn't work out in 3D very well.
GZ: How do you respond to criticisms like the art direction of Diablo III looks "cartoony" or "not Gothic enough"?
CL: I think what we've shown so far is obviously just a snippet of the game and when people see the whole game, they will very much like what they see. They will realise we are definitely shooting for a moody and dark game. We are fans of the previous games, so we want to make sure that it's a game that fits nicely into the Diablo universe. I really don't think that's going to be an issue.
Diablo coverage available in PCGZine Issue 47 - click here to download it for free!
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