As usual, the Diablo 4 development team just released their blog at the end of the quarter. The previous one was dedicated to fundamental game mechanics like loot and talent trees. This time, it is the aesthetics of the game that is put forward. In addition to a long blog (in English) from the developers, we are entitled to some very nice images of different environments, as well as 4 videos. Given the format of the images, playing on an ultrawide screen shouldn’t be a problem.
Diablo 4 environments
To quote the developers, Diablo 4 is intended to be a dark and low fantasy world. It is in this spirit that a wide variety of places have been developed. Five distinct regions are planned, as well as hundreds of dungeons. This will each time combine different popular activities: killing monsters, exploring and collecting loot.
The development team insists that the environments will be both darker and more believable than in previous games. Their goal is for it to be believable, not realistic, since it’s not a recreation of the real world. The goal remains to offer exotic architectures and objects to the players during their exploration of the dungeons and the open world.
The weather will also interfere and enrich the local biome and present places whose position and evolution over time seems appropriate in a dark medieval fantasy context. When it rains, puddles form, everything gets wet, the atmosphere is heavier. The atmosphere and the light will also be more careful in order to offer a real atmosphere. By entering a crossroads, you will find a rare refuge and a little heat.
On the other hand, there are also much more arid regions, with the dust covering everything, which gives a different palette and sometimes a little discolored. To render all of this correctly, the developers are using new, modern tools to manage light and reflections with much more realism. The elements are also all created at the end in order to offer a much richer level design.
The World of Sanctuary
The developers then gave some information about the different regions and environments, with accompanying videos. The first zone is the Scosglen Coast, which effectively includes a coastal part, by the sea, and an inland part, with a transition. The beaches are desolate and covered in seaweed, rotting carcasses and wreckage. The fishing villages that struggle to survive in this environment battered by the elements like the waves and the wind are also an integral part of it.
Next is the monastery of Orbei, located in the arid steppes. The Zakarum was once very present, but only the monastery still functions more or less. It is an area with more or less grassy plains. Overall, the environment is also flatter and more regular than the others. In order to offer variety, there are also salt lakes, and other blue ones, filled with alkaline substances, with geothermal wells.
Then comes Kyovoshad, a frigid and oppressive place, but which still serves as a place of refuge for its inhabitants in places. There is a fortified and heavily defended camp. Once out of the walls and barricades, we approach coniferous forests and fractured peaks. The city of Kyovoshad consists of different neighborhoods, but the ghetto with densely concentrated simple shelters is the most important.
Dungeons
The rest of the blog has focused on dungeons, the content of which is going to be procedurally created, like previous games. However, features have been added to make them more interesting. There will be over 150 dungeons, and the environments are flexible enough to be used in many locationsand not in a single dungeon, which makes it possible to create mixtures.
One of the locations detailed is an ancient temple in which corruption is spreading. He bets a lot on horror, and one of the advantages offered by the fixed camera is that it is possible to place elements in the background, without risking blocking the field of vision, nor reducing the area in which the character can move. .
Other environments that adopt this “return to darkness” ethos of the game are the “wretched caves” and the sunken depths. Each of these places has its own atmosphere, a particular atmosphere, and its own dangers. With a different approach to horror each time. The goal is not just to offer a huge world, but also a varied world, with replayability.