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Diablo III is similar in style to its predecessor, Diablo II. The proprietary engine will incorporate Havok physics and feature destructible environments with an in-game damage effect. The developers are aiming to make the game run on a wide range of systems, and have stated that DirectX 10 will not be required.[7] Diablo III will use a custom 3D game engine[8] in order to present an overhead view to the player, in a somewhat similar way to the isometric view used in previous games in the series[7] Enemies will utilize the 3D environment as well, in ways such as crawling up the side of a wall from the depths into the combat area.[5] Every creature model will have around 35 unique death animations.[9]
As in Diablo II, multiplayer games will be possible using Blizzard’s Battle.net service,[10] with many of the new features being developed for StarCraft II also available in Diablo III.[7] Players will be able to drop in and out of sessions of co-operative play with others.[11]
An enhanced quest system, a random level generator, and a random encounter generator are slated for use in order to ensure the game provides different experiences when replayed.[2] Overall, the game will include both static and randomly generated levels.[11] Additionally, there will be class-specific quests to go along with the main storyline quests.[12] They were originally planning to have in-game cutscenes,[13] but decided it would divert from the gameplay and have decided against this idea. Two new armor pieces will be available: the shoulder plate, and the leggings.[9]
Unlike previous iterations, gold can be picked up merely by touching it, rather than having to manually pick it up.[13] Sidekicks, unlike Diablo II, are now distinct NPCs who join the player, rather than randomly-generated and endlessly replaceable hires.[13] One of the new features intended to speed gameplay are health orbs that drop from enemies, replacing the need to have a potion bar, which itself is replaced by a skill bar that allows a player to assign quick bar buttons to skills and spells; previously, players could only assign two skills (one for each mouse button) and had to swap skills with the function keys. Players can still assign specific attacks to mouse buttons.[13]
Skill Runes, another new feature, are skill-modifying items that are randomly dropped by monsters and used across all classes. Similar to runes in Diablo II but instead of changing equipable items, they can be attached to each skill like an item, often completely changing the gameplay of each skill.[14] They also have the ability to make one particular spell in each class more powerful, and give the player options as to how the rune will enhance a particular spell. For example, investing Skill Runes on the Wizard’s “Lightning” can allow the players to make the lightning jump towards additional enemies, or, alternatively, adding the runes with explosion effect blows the enemy up and causes damage to the surrounding area.[15]
[edit] Character classes
As of August 2009[update], four of the five classes have been unveiled: the Barbarian, the Witch Doctor, the Wizard and the Monk.[2][16][17][18] Players may choose the gender of each class, a change from the fixed class genders in the previous two games.[5] The Barbarian, previously featured in Diablo II, is the only class that Blizzard is planning to bring back for the initial release. Blizzard has stated that the Monk was not related in any way to Diablo: Hellfire Monk class.[19] The Archivist was presented on April 1, 2009 following Blizzard’s April Fool’s Day joke tradition.[20]
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