Diablo 2 Resurrected - Everything we know so far

https://diablo2.io/resurrected/index.html?width=wide#filter=.Balance_Changes

Will Resurrected get any balance changes?

No. Very clearly there will be no changes to skills, stats, drops etc.

A Sorceress casting Lightning in the Mausoleum

Blizzard 19th Feb 2021 16:56
At it's core we want this to still be the same. So right away things the balance, the monsters you see, spawn rates, item drops and things like that are the same.

And what we're doing is trying to take any of the rough edges you see: compatibility issues, resolution issues, and obviously the art - improving the art as well... all these kind of things you come to know from a remaster but still very much maintaining what the game is.
Andre Abrahamian - Lead Designer

Paladin opening the entrance to Duriel

Blizzard 19th Feb 2021 17:30
When it comes to the features we added, this is probably the biggest area where we scrutinised so much: is this addition straying too much? Does it still create the same gameplay experience?
Rob Gallerani - Lead Designer

Necromancer fighting in the Act II Desert

Blizzard 19th Feb 2021 23:52
We've had a lot of talks back and forth, play testing and things like that. You know, a big challenge too was categorising all those 300 character skills to see how each of them really played, to see what challenges there were.

The necromancer iron golem is a favourite of ours to continuously talk about because of the various ways it can target. A Sorceress' telekinesis is another example.
Andre Abrahamian - Lead Designer

They are very clear on this and thank goodness for that. The question remains when is something 'new' a QoL upgrade or something immersion-breaking? What about PvP balance?

https://diablo2.io/resurrected/index.html?width=wide#filter=.Release

When is Diablo 2 Resurrected being released?

September 23, 2021. A Beta will take place in August.

Blizzard 19th Feb 2021 45:00
As for the game itself it will be released in 2021.
Andre Abrahamian - Lead Designer

Diablo fight in the Chaos Sanctuary

The game appears to be in a very advanced state already. The announcement of a technical alpha also suggests that the officially announced 2021 release for the game is realistic.

https://diablo2.io/resurrected/index.html?width=wide#filter=.Offline_Play

Can I play Diablo 2 Resurrected offline?

Yes! They're keeping offline characters separate from online characters, that includes shared stash. You'll just have to connect once to verify you have a legit copy of the game.

Character select screen with Act-specific backdrop and tabs for 'Local' (offline) and Online characters.

Blizzard 19th Feb 2021 27:10
You can still play online or offline.
Andre Abrahamian - Lead Designer

Low-geared Barbarain idle in Lut Gholein

Blizzard 19th Feb 2021 44:19
We do still allow you to play offline - you will need to authenticate that your copy is legit, but after that you won't be bothered. There's a reason why we leave those characters quarantined away from online.
Rob Gallerani - Lead Designer

Holy shit! Yes! This is probably the best of all the conservative choices they have made with Resurrected. So many people will appreciate this. Wonder if LAN support will still be a thing? The tab does say 'local' after all..

https://diablo2.io/resurrected/index.html?width=wide#filter=.Lord_of_Destruction

Will Diablo 2 Resurrected include the Lord of Destruction expansion?

Yes, LoD is being included.

Lord of Destruction playable classes - Assassin and Druid.

Blizzard 19th Feb 2021 24:35
Yes, we are going to be including both the base Diablo 2 and the expansion Lord of Destruction as well.
Andre Abrahamian - Lead Designer

Players will be able to create non-expansion (pre-LoD) characters in Resurrected

Another potential pitfall has been hurdled - no DLC partitioning of the game. Fantastic decision!

https://diablo2.io/resurrected/index.html?width=wide#filter=.3D

Is Diablo 2 Resurrected 3D?

Yes, the game will be running in a full 3D environment with new graphics systems in place like dynamic lighting and special effects.

A Sorceress in Jail/Catacombs showing off new SFX and models.

Barbarian standing in Lut Gholein, fully rendered in 3D.

Blizzard 19th Feb 2021 05:02
Well I mean evolving from a 2D sprite game to a 3D game is very challenging. We basically had to write a complete new PBR renderer, so a physically based renderer, on top of the old game logic.

It's difficult because you're dealing with models versus 2D sprites where you have to basically write the dynamic lighting, the effects, a lot of that is an additional system that we had to work out on our end.
Chris Amaral - Lead Artist

The particles for rain and dust look insane and add so much to the atmosphere. Also observe how accurate the 3D lighting is - the way it slowly creeps around corners and fills rooms in a very true-to-the original fashion. Lightning looks especially sick.

https://diablo2.io/resurrected/index.html?width=wide#filter=.25_FPS

Will Resurrected still run at 25 FPS?

Yes, it will - 'under the hood'. All the game mechanics are still following the timings of the original 25 FPS frame rate. Visible frame rate will still be 60+ FPS.

Diablo 2 Resurrected running at 25 FPS under the hood

Blizzard 19th Feb 2021 08:34
Like Chris was mentioning our new art engine/graphics engine is running on top of the game and its mimicking what is running underneath - it's still following all the old data and rules and timings of everything. So we are still being true to that 25 FPS of what the game is underneath, but rendering it in a way that has more frames per second.
Andre Abrahamian - Lead Designer

An Amazon standing at the entrance to the Chaos Sanctuary

Blizzard 19th Feb 2021 09:17
So all of the logic and how the game talks with the server and everything like that runs on that cycle and that hasn't changed. So we still have benchmarks in all of our content say for animations of when a hit frame occurs, how long it can recover and all that, that all matches exactly.

Now can l a faster frame rate - modern games run on time, not frames but all of the logic still runs on those same things. So you can wait for your breaks to occur - all of those things still happen at the exact same time. That was through no small effort but it's super important right - because even if you can't see it right away you feel it when it's different.
Rob Gallerani - Lead Designer

Blizzard 19th Feb 2021 11:02
Rob was mentioning animation and animation was also very challenging because you only had a few of the frame counts basically to make the animation, so it wasn't like a modern game where you have tonnes of different keys to make it a very fluid animation. We had to really maintain that timing, that pace, the posing was a big focus for us - we wanted to get those iconic poses for each character and then align that silhouette.
Chris Amaral - Lead Artist

Replicating the core 25 FPS in a modern environment is a challenge that I don't think many directors would want to even think about attempting in a remaster. Incredible effort being put in by VV and Blizzard here to preserve the flow of the old gameplay.

https://diablo2.io/resurrected/index.html?width=wide#filter=.Technical_Alpha

Will there be a closed Alpha or Beta of Diablo 2 Resurrected?

Yes - you can opt-in now to the technical alpha over on the official site. A beta of some sort will likely follow that with future invites.

Blizzard 19th Feb 2021 44:52
We will be doing a Technical Alpha - you can sign up on our webpage today for future waves on invites.
Andre Abrahamian - Lead Designer

https://diablo2.io/resurrected/index.html?width=wide#filter=.Ladder

Will Diablo 2 Resurrected still have ladder?

Yes, ladder seasons are confirmed. They will be shorter - 'reduced from 6 months'.

A concept of the ladder window, showing new filtering/sorting options

Blizzard 19th Feb 2021 33:12
So we have the leaderboard where you can see each class going to level 99 - there are easier ways to filter through that. We're also looking into saving that - so that you can always look back to previous (ladder) seasons. So in a way we're creating that legacy now that has been drawn from the past.
Andre Abrahamian - Lead Designer

Druid fighting Mephisto in Act 3

Blizzard 19th Feb 2021 32:22
We're reducing ladder seasons overall. Right now ladder seasons in Diablo 2 are six months - and we're looking at reducing that as well, to have more engagement and kind of drive more incentives too you know... six months is a long time, so if we make it shorter we can have greater feats throughout the year as well as seeing people strive harder to get that level 99.
Andre Abrahamian - Lead Designer

Awesome preservation of this legacy feature, and good to see that improvements on exploring the leaderboards have been added. I also like Andre's reluctance on 'rewarding' people for reaching the top spot... after all that is the reward in and of itself.

https://diablo2.io/resurrected/index.html?width=wide#filter=.PC_and_Console

Is Diablo 2 Resurrected launching cross-platform?

Yes. The game will launch on PC, Nintendo Switch, PS4/PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. Controller support is being built in fully and we can expect a great experience on both PC and Console.

Launch platforms for Diablo 2 Resurrected, including consoles. From the official website.

https://diablo2.io/resurrected/index.html?width=wide#filter=.Hardcore

Will Diablo 2 Resurrected still have Hardcore mode?

Yes, we think so. Although not explicitly mentioned, the hardcore button is visible on the character creation campfire scene:

https://diablo2.io/resurrected/index.html?width=wide#filter=.LAN_Play

Will Diablo 2 Resurrected support LAN play?

Possibly!. Nothing has been mentioned officially so far, but the character selection screen might be giving something away with the naming of the 'Local' tab. Why not name it 'Offline'?

LAN mode for PC users - is this asking a lot?

Given the promises that have been made so far about authenticity it wouldn't surprise me if they added LAN play.. in 2021. All we need now is some CRT monitors and pizza - we've created a time portal to the 2000s.

https://diablo2.io/resurrected/index.html?width=wide#filter=.Non_Expansion

Will I be able to play classic Diablo 2 (before LoD) on Resurrected?

Yes, you will be able to create non expansion characters.

A Barbarian near Akara in Act 1, skill shrine active

Blizzard 19th Feb 2021 24:44
We're even keeping the mode of playing non-expansion character as well. So you can still play a classic Barbarian for example.
Andre Abrahamian - Lead Designer

Blizzard 19th Feb 2021 25:08
It's very much a mode we wanted to keep, based on popularity it might not be as much but it's still part of the game and it still leads to interesting ways of playing too. A lot of its even data-driven too.

A lot of the reasons to keep it were clear to us. Let's make sure we're not taking something away from this remaster.
Andre Abrahamian - Lead Designer

I'm guessing that 'classic' D2 characters will also have the same balancing changes from pre patch 1.07, say at patch 1.06 just before LoD hit.

https://diablo2.io/resurrected/index.html?width=wide#filter=.Cinematics

Will Diablo 2 Resurrected have remastered cinematics?

Yes!! Cinematics will be refilmed in HD with new models etc.

Check out MrLlamSC's expression when he hears this XD

Blizzard 19th Feb 2021 12:52
(All) Yes!! :D Yes we are - the full, the entire 28 minutes or whatever is going to be all remastered, with new high fidelity art. It's going to look amazing by the way.
Chris Amaral - Lead Artist

Blizzard 19th Feb 2021 39:27
...a lot of the cinematics cover the same locations [as the in-game ones] - think of like Tal-Rasha's tomb with Baal, and finding sources like that to try and match as much as possible Blizzard's goal.. and I'm glad to say we did find those kinds of things in there matching them very well, so it's helping our cinematics too.
Andre Abrahamian - Lead Designer

So long as they don't muck about with the original voice acting in these cinematics I'd say yet another surprising and high-budget feature coming into this remaster. Very cool.

https://diablo2.io/resurrected/index.html?width=wide#filter=.Graphics_Switch

Will I be able to switch back to old graphics in Diablo 2 Resurrected?

Yes. There will be a toggle feature between old legacy graphics and the new Resurrected graphics.

Toggling between new and old graphics in game

Blizzard 19th Feb 2021 08:16
...another way to look at it is our legacy toggle feature where you can flip back between the full visuals of the game and our current visuals. It's not even just a simple art swap - it really is the old game running underneath.
Andre Abrahamian - Lead Designer

F11 to toggle between Legacy and Resurrected graphcis

RIP all the nerds crying about the graphics 'popping' too much. All jokes aside though it's so cool to see this feature making the cut.

https://diablo2.io/resurrected/index.html?width=wide#filter=.PvP

Will Resurrected still have PvP?

Yes, the game will still have PvP as you knew it.

A Sorceress in the Burial Grounds - ganked before Blood Raven? :)

Blizzard 19th Feb 2021 31:05
So with multiplayer we want to keep all the features you've known and loved there. So PvP will still be there, down to opening the party window and engaging hostility.
Andre Abrahamian - Lead Designer

Liking that they aren't trying to cash cow on this and expand or 'improve' it. Diablo 2 PvP was unbalanced, hectic, and player-initiated. No matching or lobbying or ranks. Excellent stuff.

https://diablo2.io/resurrected/index.html?width=wide#filter=.Dark_style

Is Resurrected still a dark game or is it too bright?

It still looks very dark. The original 3D lighting has been emulated, meaning dark corners and dingy rooms remain the same. The gothic art direction has not changed at all and that iconic granular 'look' remains.

The Mausoleum/Tomb in Act 1 Burial Grounds

Blizzard 19th Feb 2021 28:38
I think the game has gotten a little scarier. I think that there are certain areas in the game where just the way that the 3D lighting is and the way the sound is, I play it on a big screen TV sometimes and it feels scarier, creepier, a little more claustrophobic in certain areas. There's not just one feature there's a lot of things going on there, but I think it's really cool. I would like to hope that had the original creators had the tools we had today, it's the experience they would have wanted to make.
Rob Gallerani - Lead Designer

Amazon in the Sewers under Lut Gholein

Blizzard 19th Feb 2021 29:12
The lighting really helps because we're a 3D game - that's one of the biggest differences between the original game. What the game had before with sprites with 3D models built into sprites was not a true, real-time lighting system.

Because we're pushing that with a 3D graphics engine running on top of the game and actually getting 3D lighting in those kind of caverns and corridors, it makes for a very interesting experience because it feels more immersive with having light react around you like that.
Andre Abrahamian - Lead Designer

These guys must have been briefed on the rainbow unicorns fiasco when D3 came out and learned from it. Just because it's more colourful and saturated doesn't mean it's better. Looking at the clips so far I think they've nailed that ominous and disturbing tone from the original art.

https://diablo2.io/resurrected/index.html?width=wide#filter=.Trading

Will Resurrected still have in-game trading?

Trade will remain as it was in the original game.

Blizzard 19th Feb 2021 31:15
Trading is still going to function the same as you know - you can go into games, trade items, or talk in chat channels and stuff like that.
Andre Abrahamian - Lead Designer

Trade was a huge element of the multiplayer both in-game and on sites like d2jsp etc. A great choice to keep it in place.

https://diablo2.io/resurrected/index.html?width=wide#filter=.Controller_Support

Will Diablo 2 Resurrected have controller support?

Yes. More precise movements within one square will be possible, and by the look of things there is dedicated controller UI.

Part of a controller UI concept allowing for use of D-pad and analog controls.

Blizzard 19th Feb 2021 20:34
There's a lot of paths we could have taken with controller support. Obviously for controllers on console which we're coming out on, but allowing you to just plug the controller in for accessibility reasons.

But it's a PC-first experience. For example there's still an inventory grid, there's still inventory tetris. That's core to what Diablo 2 is. Taking that away? it starts to become something different.
Rob Gallerani - Lead Designer

Sorceress running through Lut Gholein on controller

Blizzard 19th Feb 2021 22:07
To say it wasn't a challenge would be a bold lie... there's a couple of things:

For the most part how the game thinks you're still using a keyboard and mouse with a controller. That was almost a rule we kept that helped keep us on the rails. Because we didn't want to be sacrificing that authentic experience. But we did want to make it more accessible, bring it to a modern audience.

There are people who were born after this game came out who we want to enjoy it and play it and a lot of those people are used to just more modern titles that could use a controller. Two big things - one is you're changing the way you play the game from being an eye in the sky and telling your hero what to do by clicking on areas, to actually being your character and directing them.
Rob Gallerani - Lead Designer

A Sorceress using Teleport in Tal'Rasha's Tomb - on controller

Blizzard 19th Feb 2021 23:21
So pathfinding is gone (on controller) because you're doing the path finding, which creates interesting things. For example the Sorceress' teleport is suppose to teleport to wherever you click.

So in that area, when you're playing on the console, we will have a default distance that you will teleport to. Whereas on the PC you can click wherever you want. Same with Barbarian's leap, although that one's interesting because it levels.
Rob Gallerani - Lead Designer

Barbarian leaping - on controller

Nice point on accessibility uses of the controller. Like how the focus was brought back to the PC rendition swiftly though :P

https://diablo2.io/resurrected/index.html?width=wide#filter=.Shared_Stash

How does the shared stash in Diablo 2 Resurrected work?

The shared stash is a new feature.

It is 10x10 squares across (100 one square slots). The images so far seem to show different numbers of tabs available, so we don't know what the full capacity is yet.

Ladder characters can't mix with non-ladder, offline can't use with online characters etc. I presume it's the same with Hardcore characters too.

Blizzard 19th Feb 2021 17:49
We know people use mule characters. So adding a shared stash we felt was the right choice. Yes, we have a shared stash :)

Now the way that the shared stash works - there are rules right. You can't have your ladder characters mixing a stash with a non-ladder character, and you can't have your offline characters use your online character's.

For the most part, people do this with a mule character so it's okay to give them this feature.
Rob Gallerani - Lead Designer

An Amazon standing next to her stash in Kurast Docks

Blizzard 19th Feb 2021 18:53
Like I said maintaining the core was a thing - but the other aspect was to see where we can improve and the shared stash is one of them. We saw it as a very common concern especially around muling, which people used as workarounds. So that was one thing...
Andre Abrahamian - Lead Designer

Another image of the shared stash - less tabs visible

Many will breathe a deep sigh of relief at this new feature. No more muling and losing items to disconnected games! I like the way they have kept restrictions in place.

I hope there are enough tabs/slots in order for people to complete Holy Grail on Resurrected.

https://diablo2.io/resurrected/index.html?width=wide#filter=.Botting_and_Exploits

How will botting, duping, maphacks etc be handled in Diablo 2 Resurrected?

Security against exploits will be to the modern Battle Net standard.

Blizzard 19th Feb 2021 44:00
Moving onto modern Battle Net helps us with a lot of those types of things. To say it's lock-tight I wouldn't dare do that - that's like throwing a gauntlet down to the community. But all of that should be far more secure now.
Rob Gallerani - Lead Designer

Blizzard 19th Feb 2021 44:32
Yeah we have a server team working on it, and these are some of their efforts. We want to stop the bots, stop duping, as much as possible. There's a lot of stuff happening in the back end of things.
Andre Abrahamian - Lead Designer

A big concern that I think could do with a more detailed answer. Diablo 2 was a game whose multiplayer was defined by rampant and unchecked botting for two decades.

https://diablo2.io/resurrected/index.html?width=wide#filter=.Global_Servers

Will Resurrected have regional servers like before?

No - instead they are opting for global servers, meaning you won't have to sacrifice latency to play with someone on the other side of the world.

Blizzard 19th Feb 2021 35:06
Going to global servers is a new thing we're doing, in which the concept of US West/US East and EU are no longer going to be a thing in terms of being on separated servers.

So now for the push for global play with Diablo 2, you'll now be able to join forces with people from around the world.
Andre Abrahamian - Lead Designer

Loving this advancement to global servers. Will be greatly appreciated by all. Wonder how language restrictions will work, if there are any?

https://diablo2.io/resurrected/index.html?width=wide#filter=.Art_Direction

How is the art in Diablo 2 Resurrected being remastered?

70% of the artwork will be a faithful 1:1 reproduction of the original artwork, and the other 30% will be improved in a responsible manner.

A Sorceress inside the Cathedral (demonstrating 1:1 reproduction)

An Amazon in the Mausoleum (demonstrating 30% 'new' direction)

Blizzard 19th Feb 2021 04:02
Luckily we had a tonne of good inspiration from the original D2 art. Our primary focus is always nostalgia; we want to make sure we focus on getting this right and deliver an authentic experience that players remember from 20 years ago.

Every choice we make with the art, the models, the environments should really ignite that nostalgia and then reinforce that emotional connection from the original game. We came up with a 70/30 visual guide:

70% is basically the classic - this is where we don't touch what works - we want to maintain those iconic shapes, colours, tones. Everything should be 1:1 and faithful to the original. We want things that feel authentic and preserve the original designs.

With the 30% new that's kind of like where we're going to elevate that art. Every change we make sure we signify that step forward visually.
Chris Amaral - Lead Artist

All of the footage we've seen is astonishingly close to the original art direction. Whether that's the emulated 3D lighting with those dark and unlit corners from which monsters appear, to the original re-used and upscaled textures or even the icon artwork itself. The art team(s) working on this have a very good understanding of what makes D2 look like D2.

https://diablo2.io/resurrected/index.html?width=wide#filter=.Items

How are items being remastered in Diablo 2 Resurrected?

Every single item in the game will be remodelled in 3D and on top of that new (faithful) 2D artwork is being made for the item icons themselves.

The inventory user interface - note the hold shift to compare help-text :)

Blizzard 19th Feb 2021 05:48
Everything is being redone. So we remodelled everything - and of course everything has to drop in the game - so you have your icon art, and you have your 3D-space art that flips. We basically had to remodel everything.
Chris Amaral - Lead Artist

The inventory UI is honestly my favourite reveal of all. It maintains that sharp definition throughout the framing and the item artwork itself is gorgeous. Dropped items also almost identical in their presentation.

https://diablo2.io/resurrected/index.html?width=wide#filter=.Inspiration

Where did the art team draw inspiration from for Diablo 2 Resurrected?

VV and Blizzard were able to get their hands on archived material, including original source models and scraps from the original game developed by Blizzard North.

The Mosque in Lut Gholein - original 3D model part-rendered

The Mosque in Lut Gholein - original model rendered non-isometrically

Blizzard 19th Feb 2021 06:02
As far as the inspiration we were inspired by some original documentation that we found from Blizzard North where there was a huge word doc of like where the original artists pulled inspiration from, so a lot of that was historical landmarks, locations, very very much real world referencing.

So its kind of like what we pulled our inspiration from as well - we wanted that functional design the original art had, that felt like it was believable. And that detail really does help to give it some realistic context and makes you feel more immersed in the game - makes you feel like you're part of this world where you can see every single buckle and strap.
Chris Amaral - Lead Artist

Loving the comments regarding believability - one of the core art conventions of Diablo 2 was how it avoided more exaggerated Tolkien-esque visuals and settled on a much more sombre and realistic tone for it's environments and items.

https://diablo2.io/resurrected/index.html?width=wide#filter=.Garlic

Why is everyone talking about garlic?

In the Deep Dive panel the development leads talked about how they found original 3D models of parts of the game environment taken from a different camera angle - and on going into the tavern in Lut Gholein found garlic hanging from a beam, which was indiscernible in the original pixel art.

Garlic hanging from a beam in Lut Gholein's tavern (Resurrected)

Blizzard 19th Feb 2021 06:40
I remember when we went to the tavern [in Lut Gholein] and there was garlic hanging from a beam - and we're all like what's the garlic? But then you know this is full 3d everything and they're like 'oh yeah there was garlic in the old game'. So we'd go back in was like 4 white sprites. It was really cool to see it almost for the first time.
Rob Gallerani - Lead Designer

Original game render showing garlic on left.

Blizzard 19th Feb 2021 07:07
It's funny because original SD was made in all 3D. We actually came across a bunch of screenshots that were a different camera - it wasn't the isometric camera it - was either the marketing art or something else, or maybe exploration. There was shots of that garlic in the original art. You could never really see it in the pixel art, but it was there. It was telling that they were trying to achieve something very grand with this art.
Chris Amaral - Lead Artist

The reason this is memeing is because it's a well picked example of the attention to detail we're seeing so far. It's also wonderful to know that a lot of the original art scraps survived and are being truly resurrected. I hope someone releases that image dump :P

https://diablo2.io/resurrected/index.html?width=wide#filter=.Zoom_Camera

Will the camera be zoomable in Diablo 2 Resurrected?

Yes. This is a new feature they've added in.

The new camera zoom feature

Blizzard 19th Feb 2021 07:57
We have one new feature on the art side of things - there's a zoom camera. It'll help you get in there and look at all the details. It's something I felt very strongly about. A lot ARPGs that come up now all have a zoom feature. This will really get you up and close and personal with your armor, your weapons - everything, the rooms...
Chris Amaral - Lead Artist

Liking this new feature which will help us appreciate the high fidelity artwork!

https://diablo2.io/resurrected/index.html?width=wide#filter=.Movement

How will movement work in Resurrected?

The game will still align you to a grid, and you will still path to grid areas just like the original. On controller, there is no path-finding (due to tighter analog controls).

Barbarian pathing to grid in Durance of Hate

Blizzard 19th Feb 2021 10:05
The original game only had so many sprites to render your rotation - so you'd have your character and they're rendered out at so many angles, and the monsters even less, but you could actually walk at greater directions - you have i think it was 64 different squares around you that you'd path to and you'd have feet sliding - we've increased that so that now there's more granularity - obviously its 3d so your character can still run straight.

But underneath the hood this is a game made back when the inspiration was tabletop games and so the game is a grid - so - it still respects that grid. On the controller will still allow you to move amounts because you push the stick a little bit, but you're still either in a run state or a walk state, stamina is still a thing, so once again all that game logic is all being driven by the old game. That hasn't changed.
Rob Gallerani - Lead Designer

Just like the frame rate conservatism they've even kept the isometric grid movement. This game is going to feel so authentic with the two combined. Like Gallerani said we'll be able to 'feel' it if it were done in any other way.

https://diablo2.io/resurrected/index.html?width=wide#filter=.Uniques_and_Sets

Will the special artwork from uniques & sets appear on my Resurrected character?

Yes. This is one of the few changes from the original - equipping an item with unique/set icon art will now also show on your character. Before it could just show a default graphic on your character sprite.

The 3D model of the unique maul here matches its icon artwork

Blizzard 19th Feb 2021 12:31
Shields or weapons and a lot of the unique items that you find in the game had special special kind of icon arts and that's something that we're going to be showing on your character - the new visuals.

It will be the same model that you see on those icons.
Andre Abrahamian - Lead Designer

Watch the character model as Coif is equipped

Blizzard 19th Feb 2021 12:02
So our goal was to be one to one with parity with the original game, so we've built every piece of armor that was in the original game and is now in the remastered version. The only difference we did is with the icon items - now we have a more connected visual with the icon and item that drops in the game (or seen on character) whereas before you had different visuals. That's the only thing we pushed on for modernisation.
Chris Amaral - Lead Artist

Necromancer wearing Trang'Ouls or Wall of Skulls?

I think this might actually be a point of contention for some people. Personally I'm very happy with this change as we get to see in greater detail what the original artists were going for (remember they have exact source models to work from, not just sprites).

https://diablo2.io/resurrected/index.html?width=wide#filter=.Audio

Will the audio in Diablo 2 Resurrected be remastered?

Yes. The sound will be remastered in a similar approach to the way graphics are being done - they are keeping some iconic sounds that can't be replicated, and improving on others where they can.

'Pop' :D

Blizzard 19th Feb 2021 13:12
All of the audio has been remastered - as well we've added additional surround sound features. There's more ambient, there's more effects going on. It's just a richer experience if you want to play with your full setup.

However we have to use that measured hand as well with audio - there's just a lot of very very iconic sounds that we really couldn't change, right? If you put a skull into your inventory that 'pop' noise? Exactly right?

There's certain things you'll hear - for example your footsteps when running you'll have some variety. When the rain kicks in it's going to have a lot more depth. When you go to the jungle you'll hear a lot more life in those trees.

But yeah there's just some sounds we couldn't mess with.
Rob Gallerani - Lead Designer

Sounds I'm hoping they keep: 'Rakanishu!', and Khalim's Brain drop sound. Ew! Looking forward to the remastered music score as well.

https://diablo2.io/resurrected/index.html?width=wide#filter=.Remaster_or_Remake

Is Diablo 2 Resurrected a 'remaster' or a 'remake'?

VV panelists described the game as a 'remaster' that preserves the original game and not a 'remake', which they say would be totally different.

Blizzard 19th Feb 2021 14:06
With Blizzard we're creating new games - one of our design philosophies is to 'find the fun' - and when we were looking at D2 again, we very felt much like the fun is still there. So it's actually one of our core pillars for Diablo 2 Resurrected specifically was to keep the fun. And keep that at it's core.

And because of that we're looking at it more as a remaster at that point, and what can we do based on what the community wants and what features are actually necessary for making this game run on modern day systems and stuff like that.
Andre Abrahamian - Lead Designer

Loading screen in Resurrected

Blizzard 19th Feb 2021 14:43
Also we want to thank and appreciate the fan base - this is really a true nod to the original game. We want to preserve that game and the structure of that game as much as we can. If we went with the remake, it would be a complete different game. So that's the reason why I think we chose this.
Chris Amaral - Lead Artist

The taint of the botched Warcraft 3 remake still lingers amongst Blizzard fans and a lot of people will be looking at D2R with healthy skepticism as a result.

Perhaps this little soundbite was a marketing strat to change the language people use to describe D2R so they don't associate it with WC3R?

https://diablo2.io/resurrected/index.html?width=wide#filter=.UI

Is the user interface changing in Diablo 2 Resurrected?

Yes - the bottom action bar is seeing some significant changes and an advanced stats window has been added for MF etc.

PC version - reorganised action bar showing moved stamina bar and skill icons

Playstation (?) version - new action bar UI showing controller support

Blizzard 19th Feb 2021 19:09
We are reimagining the UI in the game - we're still trying to stay very faithful to what you've come to expect.

So you'll still have the classic globes on the HUD screen, the skill icons, the potion belt and all that. But we are re-organising a little bit, and we're trying to integrate the menu buttons and the stamina bars closer together within the HUD so it's built a little bit cleaner.
Andre Abrahamian - Lead Designer

Character window UI and advanced stats pop-out

Blizzard 19th Feb 2021 19:31
Naturally with reimagining a UI we have some liberties to add a few things. So going back to the information I was talking about - a big thing we're doing on the character screen is we're adding an advanced stats screen as well. So we're going to be showing you all the information you get from items as well. So you don't have to do that math with like looking at each of your items and calculating how much magic find you have for example. It's summarised right there for you.
Andre Abrahamian - Lead Designer

Character screen with available stat points to spend and advanced stats addition

The advanced stats must be from PlugY, although it didn't get named :P Again loving how conservative they are being with this - they know full well what needed improving/modernising on the UI, and what needed 'reimagining' (no doubt to accommodate console play).

https://diablo2.io/resurrected/index.html?width=wide#filter=.Auto_Gold

Is there auto-gold in Resurrected?

Yes. The feature is notably opt-in and mainly for controller play.

Druid picking up gold automatically

Blizzard 19th Feb 2021 20:21
We've also added auto gold, so you can opt-in. It is a feature which you can turn off, which is one of the things we have to be careful about.. a handful of other things were like 'if you want this you can turn it on', but you can also keep it off.
Rob Gallerani - Lead Designer

Again, making solid design decisions to both appease old PC players and new console ones. Love that it isn't turned on by default on PC.

https://diablo2.io/resurrected/index.html?width=wide#filter=.Studio

Which studio is building Diablo 2 Resurrected?

Vicarious Visions have partnered with Blizzard to produce D2R.

Vicarious Visions' logo

Blizzard 19th Feb 2021 03:04
It's been a great partnership. We've actually worked with Blizzard for a while now, couple years.. even starting with some Battle.net integration type things... it just seemed like a perfect match for us to work together.
Rob Gallerani - Lead Designer

These are the guys that produced the remasters of Tony Hawks Pro Skater (Metacritic 89) and Crash Bandicoot (Metacritic 80) - both very well received titles that were faithful to the originals and performed well on launch. This bodes well.

https://diablo2.io/resurrected/index.html?width=wide#filter=.Quick_Keys

What are stash 'quick keys'?

'Quick keys' are being added to stash interactions, meaning you won't have to drag drop items in and out all the time.

Blizzard 19th Feb 2021 25:47
One thing we're looking into is making it easier to interact with your stash. Having quick keys to move to your stash is one thing - versus like dragging the mouse every time you want to move something in your stash.
Andre Abrahamian - Lead Designer

Yep, pretty useful.

https://diablo2.io/resurrected/index.html?width=wide#filter=.Comparison_Tooltip

How does the item comparison tooltip work in Resurrected?

Item comparison tooltips are going to be very basic - there will be no stats comparisons, just the ability to view the other item alongside your equipped item.

Comparing items with new tooltip extension

Blizzard 19th Feb 2021 26:01
Another thing we're looking into is an item comparison tooltip, so in case you're looking at some other item, you can hold shift or whatever (or controller button mapped) and you can see what equipped items you have just for quick glances etc.
Andre Abrahamian - Lead Designer

Blizzard 19th Feb 2021 26:17
The item comparison is a great example of us adding it, but adding it with a measured hand. We don't suggest any gear for anybody, the gear in Diablo 2 is so quirky and different and every class can use everything - so us recommending things like that was more confusing to people. You literally hold shift and here's what you got equipped, here's what it is.
Rob Gallerani - Lead Designer

This ties back into how there will be no balance changes to the items - I love how they recognise that the quirkiness of D2 items is one of its defining characteristics. The tooltips will be useful but unintrusive.

https://diablo2.io/resurrected/index.html?width=wide#filter=.Languages

Is Diablo 2 Resurrected releasing with any new languages?

Yes. They are adding five 'new languages' - we don't know what they are yet.

The original game already had English, Spanish, German, French, Portuguese, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Polish, and Russian.

Blizzard 19th Feb 2021 27:05
We added five more languages. So that's a feature to lots of other people who speak those languages.
Rob Gallerani - Lead Designer

https://diablo2.io/resurrected/index.html?width=wide#filter=.Character_Creation

What does the character creation screen look like?

It looks exactly the same as the original. Luckily there are no 'customisation' features or anything like that.

The classic campfire scene when starting a new character

Blizzard 19th Feb 2021 27:42
For me one of the things i've been waiting for since first starting on this game was to see that character creation campfire scene come to life in our new art.

I'm really happy to see how far it's progressed and I love seeing that - it's just such an iconic moment - it's the first thing you really see in the game before you get started and it's.. it's amazing :)
Andre Abrahamian - Lead Designer

Barbarian creation pose by campfire

Amazing that they kept this despite all of the other front-end modernisation. As Andre says this is an iconic part of the game - those character poses are so memorable. I wanted to see the barbarian sharpening his axe but the clip was too short! XD

https://diablo2.io/resurrected/index.html?width=wide#filter=.Character_Selection

Is the character selection screen different in Resurrected?

Yes. You now have a warcraft-esque selection list on the right and your character stands in the centre with an act-specific backdrop.

Barbarian on character selection screen with Lut Gholein backdrop

Blizzard 19th Feb 2021 28:10
We added an act specific screen in the front-end. It's basically this large screen - we have a diorama of each act. It feels like you're really there and you can see the detail - you can see every aspect of the scene - it just has that very immersive feeling to it. So that's probably my favourite part.
Chris Amaral - Lead Artist

This shot of the barbarian in Lut Gholein actually has me so hyped - love the mosque in the background and the archway. The departure from the old scrolling window with smaller previews is a good one IMO.

https://diablo2.io/resurrected/index.html?width=wide#filter=.Multiplayer

Will Resurrected still have 8-player multiplayer coop?

Yes, you'll still be able to play coop with 7 others players.

Necromancer playing with a full party in Act 1

Blizzard 19th Feb 2021 30:43
8 player multiplayer... that just works!
Andre Abrahamian - Lead Designer

Love the character portraits in the top left - they're almost identical. I can see Blood/Iron Golem at the bottom. I wonder if we'll still have the /players8 command for more XP/MF in single player.

https://diablo2.io/resurrected/index.html?width=wide#filter=.Online_Play

How will online game creation change in Resurrected?

I will be almost the same as the original Battle Net, but changes to how games are searched for and created (including passwords) seem to be in under scrutiny.

An Amazon in the Barracks, looks like Horadric Malus room

Blizzard 19th Feb 2021 31:24
Like I said going back to my mentioning of re-imiagining a lot of the UI - there are going to be improvements to the battle net lobby.

We're trying to look at some things like improving how you browse server games, so when you're looking at a game to join, and typing passwords and things like that thats the kind of area we're trying to see if we can smooth out in ways - making sure you can browse normal/nightmare/hell games even if you've graduated to the higher difficulty etc.
Andre Abrahamian - Lead Designer

Anyone for Nightmare Duriel? Me neither.

Looking for lower difficulty boss run games will be a lot easier with this QoL feature. I wonder how passwords are changing - possible will be restricted to friends on an invite system?

https://diablo2.io/resurrected/index.html?width=wide#filter=.Char_Expiry

Will characters still expire in Resurrected?

No. You won't have to refresh them after ladder resets etc.

Radament in the Sewers

Blizzard 19th Feb 2021 34:02
Character expiration will not be a thing anymore by the way. Due to modern battle net integrations you will not have to worry about refreshing your characters, so they will stay with you :)
Andre Abrahamian - Lead Designer

Another small but welcome QoL change that'll allow us to revisit past ladder toons. Awesome!

https://diablo2.io/resurrected/index.html?width=wide#filter=.Duplicate_Names

Will duplicate names be allowed on Bnet?

Yes, but your Bnet ID/gamer tag will be appended to your name to distinguish you from others with the same name.

Blizzard 19th Feb 2021 34:19
This is something we talked about for a very long time. Because we are moving to global servers and we have cross-progression, we will allow duplicate names.. because with everyone being in the same thing across all consoles/platforms etc. you would very quickly bump into duplicated like on day 1.

So we are allowing duplicate names, however they will also be appended with your gamer tag or your battle net ID etc. so that you are still 'unique'. This allows people to play the game quicker - because we can autofill in your name and stuff like that.
Andre Abrahamian - Lead Designer

No strong feelings on this either way. Awesome to hear that there are global servers though - what an ambitious step forwards!

https://diablo2.io/resurrected/index.html?width=wide#filter=.Archives

What did the developers find in the original Diablo 2 archives?

Source files, models, old concept scraps, re-used artwork from Diablo 1... basically a treasure trove of stuff. Read on!

Lord of Destruction title screen background image - from the archive

Blizzard 19th Feb 2021 36:19
There's a lot of the love and care going on in this - we're very passionate about Diablo 2. I can even give you a little anecdote - when I started on the team, naturally as a designer I want to know as much as possible about this game in order to make good decisions on a remaster.

I asked around - what kind of files and leftover archives do we have from before - from Blizzard North. I was given some and told 'that's it' - which I quickly disbelieved. I like to do just do my own little digging around to find out things.
Andre Abrahamian - Lead Designer

Monochrome basic render of the environment for D2's Burial Grounds (by the look of it)

Blizzard 19th Feb 2021 37:03
So I dug around a lot in archives and in different teams, because naturally for a game from 20 years people have moved on to different teams data has moved around across our other games - across Blizzard.
Andre Abrahamian - Lead Designer

Blizzard 19th Feb 2021 37:18
It was within 'folders within folders' I like to say, that I found a lot of old source files from Diablo 2; stuff we should archive. There was a lot of stuff indeed - we're talking model source files, old tools that Blizzard North used to create the sprites and things like that.

All these things I spent months and months organising and communicated that out to the teams. I got the Blizzard library team to help out to, to help share as much info as possible.

All of this helps a lot with when we're adapting these old models and making new art out of it. A lot of those pixels aren't good enough and we have some kind of source model we can make closer decisions.
Andre Abrahamian - Lead Designer

Blizzard 19th Feb 2021 38:09
On that day when we found it [the archives] I think that really helped me greatly - we sent all that imagery - even the models, we sent over to the outsource teams and different art teams, which they used as a stepping stone.

The only piece of art we re-used 1:1 were tyrael's wings. We actually took the wings from the old MAX file and then just repurposed that for ours. We did very little work - very little modernisation of that - we just made it work.

We did follow a lot of the rules that the old game used for example - the Succubus and Witch - I think with an old Blizzard North model - they've re-used the Assassin mesh for the body and we do the same thing. We used our Assassin mesh for the Succubus.
Chris Amaral - Lead Artist

Blizzard 19th Feb 2021 39:00
Another example too is - because we found a lot of stuff - there's a lot of old texture files for some environments on the game, so for example the walls you see in the Act 2 tombs? With those kind of paintings on them? - They're the same textures we're using as we found the source files for those.
Andre Abrahamian - Lead Designer

Blizzard 19th Feb 2021 39:56
There was even concepts we repurposed - we found a couple of concepts that were amazing, from 20 years ago.. the Bloodhawk and the Bloodhawk Nest, and we used that completely to rebuild our new asset.
Andre Abrahamian - Lead Designer

Blizzard 19th Feb 2021 41:42
We look at D1 as well because naturally this being a sequel to Diablo 1, especially within the timespan (Diablo 1 - 1996, Diablo 2 2000) - a lot of things carried over from development. So going back to see D1 and what its like also helped us make decisions.

Even some of the art too - we discovered certain things that we didn't even realise before until later down the line. For example - in the Chaos Sanctuary you see a lot of statues with these black knights - those are actually the same Chaos Knights you see in Diablo 1.

Sometimes some of the things I find - even source files from D1 - were useful for us for reference, so we could make the new statues and stuff like that.
Andre Abrahamian - Lead Designer

Blizzard 19th Feb 2021 42:48
Even the Sorceror from D1 and the Act 3 hireling share very similar models - it was just additional helmet, or a bit of detail on the chest, but that was it.
Chris Amaral - Lead Artist

Really insightful commentary on this from the devs - I'd highly recommend watching the video hosted by MrLlamaSC on this.

One of the main things people brought up whenever a remaster was suggested was how 'all the original source files had been lost'.

The archives really show off how visionary Blizzard North's art team were - limited only by tools and technology available at the time.

https://diablo2.io/resurrected/index.html?width=wide#filter=.Amazon

Amazon

Miscellaneous images and clips of the Amazon

Amazon stands outside the entrance to Chaos Sanctuary

Amazon stands idle in Lut Gholein, zoomed camera.

https://diablo2.io/resurrected/index.html?width=wide#filter=.Assassin

Assassin

Miscellaneous images and clips of the Assassin.

Assassin running through Lut Gholein on Resurrected

Assassin opening the Countess' chest in the Dark Tower

Assassin about to fight Pindleskin in Act V

https://diablo2.io/resurrected/index.html?width=wide#filter=.Necromancer

Necromancer

Miscellaneous images and clips of the Necromancer

Necromancer fighting in the deserts

Necromancer in town, looks like wearing sets/uniques.

Necromancer pose at the campfire creation screen

https://diablo2.io/resurrected/index.html?width=wide#filter=.Barbarian

Barbarian

Miscellaneous images and clips of the Barbarian

Barbarian in Tristram, rescuing Cain

Barbarian fighting the terrifying scarabs of Act II

Barbarian running through camp with +2 to skills shrine active.

https://diablo2.io/resurrected/index.html?width=wide#filter=.Paladin

Paladin

Miscellaneous images and clips of the Paladin

A Hammerdin in the Barracks

Paladin opening the entrance to Duriel

https://diablo2.io/resurrected/index.html?width=wide#filter=.Sorceress

Sorceress

Miscellaneous images and clips of the Sorceress.

Sorceress in (Act III dungeon?)

Sorcereress running through Burial Grounds dungeons

Sorceress in Rogue Encampment with inventory open

https://diablo2.io/resurrected/index.html?width=wide#filter=.Druid

Druid

Miscellaneous images and clips of the Druid.

Druid in Kurast Docks, Act III

Druid in werewolf form, Act I.

https://diablo2.io/resurrected/index.html?width=wide#filter=.NPCs

NPCs and Hirelings

Miscellaneous images of NPCs and hirelings.

https://diablo2.io/resurrected/index.html?width=wide#filter=.Credits

Credits

Many thanks to:

Sublime Text • markup
Clipy • life saver
Pixelmator • raster graphics
Inkscape • vector graphics
Handbrake • video encoding
Gif Brewery • capture and animation
Photoshop • batch automation
Automator • automation
waifu2x GUI • upscaling
ImageOptim • compression
cWebP • compression
Minify • compression
XAMMP VM • virtual hosting
MAMP • virtual hosting
xScope • utility measure
Wolfenoctis • class icons

MrLlamaSC thank you for hosting the awesome deep dive panel, you did a great job asking the best questions we could have hoped for.

Blizzard, thank you for deciding to make this a good fucking game.

Thank you all for reading. Come chat on our Discord.