Diablo IV - Catch All

garion333 wrote:

Quarterly update.

Native controller support for PC is a huge thing for me.

Oh good. With D3 I hate having to choose between my preferred input method and being able to play where my friends are.

I wonder if the PC version will support same-screen co-op with controllers.

Now we just need mouse and keyboard support for console.

Shadout wrote:

Now we just need mouse and keyboard support for console.

Mice and Keyboards. Same screen multiplayer and all that.

Sure. Though I'd settle for one player being able to do that. I dont know if the consoles support multiple mice/kb connected.
If not, for co-op one could be mouse/kb and the other players on gamepad.

Not too keen on this "one size fits all" approach to the UI. I think I'd rather they made separate UI's and it changed on the fly depending on your input, or it changed with a menu toggle.
Though I suppose the UI will be scalable and there'll be things you can change to tailor it to your liking. Hopefully it'll work well across the board on different platforms.

I'm hoping they learnt a lot of lessons during diablo 3 and it's a better experience out the gate. I won't be holding my breath for an offline mode. I think it worked so well as an anti piracy measure on pc that there's no putting that genie back in the bottle.

Always wondered how these games play with a pad. I like playing ranged so I'm assuming that works like a twin stick shooter?
I'd definitely give it a go, though I can't see me switching over. I'm too set in my ways now and I really the way these games control on m/kb, it's a big part of the fun.
Being able to slump back and play an ARPG with my feet up might be too much for me anyway, I might never get anything done ever again

I've played many, many hundreds of hours of various ARPGs on the pc with kb/m and never thought anything is missing from the experience. Then I played Diablo3 on the PS4 with a controller and now I just can't go back to using kb+m. It just feels so much more of a game, than a spreadsheet with graphics with you clicking all over the place furiously.

clippa wrote:

Not too keen on this "one size fits all" approach to the UI. I think I'd rather they made separate UI's and it changed on the fly depending on your input, or it changed with a menu toggle.

I like the idea of playing with a controller and then managing my skills and inventory with the mouse. I'd rather not have to dig through a menu to toggle controls, and I don't want the whole UI to shift if I bump the mouse. It still kind of bugs me in other games when on-screen command prompts shift between the two on the fly.

Don't get me wrong, I'd rather have two UIs than one unified one that doesn't work, but if they can make the one work then that's my preference.

Though it could be nice if you could choose the interface on a per-screen basis in the options. So like you play the game and take quests and deal with dialog with the controller, but when you open your skill tree or inventory you get the mouse interface.

@Suvanto, I've heard people say that sort of thing about mouse and keyboard before, like "it feels like I'm dragging a crosshair around and clicking on peoples heads" and I get it, but it's never been an issue for me, it's just another input device to me.

There's this guy on another forum who says he can't get on with arcade sticks, he says he feels like he's using some old farming machinery

They're all just tools to me and I try to use the right one for the job on a game by game basis.
I haven't tried an arpg with a pad as I've always played them on pc and until now, some games might have included it but I never even thought to try.
Isn't inventory management and comparing items an absolute pain in the chuff? Do you have to keep taking your thumb off the right stick to activate skills? Surely there aren't enough buttons for everything. I can just see that there'd be a lot of radial wheels and menu diving. It's probably not as bad as I'm imagining.

I'm more than willing to try it, I'm just worried that it might be one of the magic ingredients that keeps this genre just engaging enough for me to enjoy in a relaxed, semi-brainless state.
I'll definitely try it when it's out.
Like I say though, if I can play this sort of thing propped up, just barely breathing, I'm worried where that might lead!

Why Diablo works so well with a controller is because they gave you direct control of the character with a dodge function. That dodge/roll and direct control of your character (instead of click to move) is what sets it apart for me. Directly controlling a character in an ARPG feels so much better and more like a typical action game. (A lot of other ARPGs with controller support or on console don't give you the same feel that Blizzard managed with D3. It's a real shame as I'm consistently let down by one of my favorite genres on console.)

You do lose a little of the precision you would get for casters and pet classes when dropping spells or crowd control, but the tradeoff is worth it for me and I can see D4 unifying everything so no matter which way you play there isn't a need to balance everything for two SKUs.

clippa wrote:

Do you have to keep taking your thumb off the right stick to activate skills?

In over 100 hours on the Switch version of Diablo 3, I don't think I ever put my thumb on the right stick unless I was just screwing around in town. It doesn't control like a twin-stick shooter; the left stick moves your character and aims your skills and the game interface is smart enough to make that work.

That said, I do like the idea of D4 baking the dodge roll into the game from the beginning. The move was interesting in the console ports of D3, but it was never a core part of the game so I pretty much just ignored it.

Also just bind your primary skills to the shoulder buttons, that way you don't need to take your thumb from the stick / other skill buttons.

I'll happily put my hand up and say that after thousands of hours playing Diablo 3 with Keyboard and mouse, it's too ingrained in me to change now.

Biggest thing I hear from people is they don't want to be behind a desk and would much rather game on the couch. That's cool, but ... well, I kinda like being at my desk. Nice big monitor, comfy chair, everything is there in front of me, place for my coffee.... like it's actually quite enjoyable for me. Plus I get the precision of the mouse, I can have my spotify in the background playing my music and I can just grind for a bit. My way of tuning out for a while and recovering.

BlackSabre wrote:

I'll happily put my hand up and say that after thousands of hours playing Diablo 3 with Keyboard and mouse, it's too ingrained in me to change now.

Same. I did buy D3 on console. And tried it. But I cant. I thought the controls were absolutely horrible.
I can appreciate the dodge ability though. It works great in Wolcen.

Which is why I mentioned mouse/keyboard for console. Would make me a lot more interested in playing the game on console at least.

But I likewise prefer playing games at my desk, vs. in my couch.

Seems sensible to have one UI for both PC and console, as long it is done right. At least they seem to be going for an inventory, and not an item list.

I used to feel that way, but after multiple decades of spending all my working day at a desk it's kinda the very, very last thing I want to do in my leisure time.

This is actually a bit of a problem due to the fact that I really like a lot of kb/m-only game types.

See, I never got that. I'm the same, and spend most of my day at a desk on my PC, but I can separate the two.

Boring PC and fun PC.

I like fun PC more. Much, much, much more!

I have my fun PC hooked up to a 65" television and enjoy engaging with it from the couch.

So... is anybody jumping in this weekend? I'm not springing for any of the versions that gets access now, but I'll be in at the proper launch.

Vargen wrote:

So... is anybody jumping in this weekend? I'm not springing for any of the versions that gets access now, but I'll be in at the proper launch.

I think you can get a KFC sandwich to get access.

I didnt plan to play, since I dont want to preorder.
But turns out getting access is fairly easy without. "Preorder" console version from Amazon, get beta key code, which also works for PC, then cancel at Amazon.
Likely works in any kind of store, but Amazon dont seem to charge immediately, whereas I dont know if other shops do.

Vargen wrote:

So... is anybody jumping in this weekend? I'm not springing for any of the versions that gets access now, but I'll be in at the proper launch.

Any preordered version of the game gets access now.

I get paid tomorrow, so probably.

Yeah, FOMO got me, downloading the beta now.

In and cautiously optimistic that they actually planned for some level of availability this weekend.

Yeah, picked it up so I'll see you in the beta tomorrow

Shadout wrote:

Any preordered version of the game gets access now.

Oh neat. I'll have to give it a look then...

Ah, the standard one doesn't get the 4 days ahead of the actual launch. That was confusing me.

I'm ready to play!

However, my wife's Bday is today so she's taking a half day. That gets her out at noon. I have a 20-25 minute window to play before she gets home (Ya, that's going to happen!). Then we are busy tomorrow night as well as Sunday afternoon. WHY BLIZZ. WHYYYYY??

I've been on the Diablo 4 reddit and it's not all doom and gloom there. I hope that bodes well for the game. I know it's only a beta weekend and we have another next weekend, but I really wish I had the entire weekend free to sit in queue and complain about not being able to play play D4.

I want to be excited.

But I'm worried about the queuing and problems on Day One. I swore, "No more!" after D3.

Sell me on this!

Top_Shelf wrote:

Sell me on this!

It's more Diablo.

merphle wrote:
Top_Shelf wrote:

Sell me on this!

It's more Diablo.

It's NEW Diablo.

I'm all ready to go on Xbox Series.

Thought the kick off of the pre-order beta was 9:00am PST? Still not live so maybe there's launch delays or it's actually 10am...

Tried a sorcerer, fun times, gamepad feels great, and while it’s not the wheel of D3, the grid here in D4 is easy to use with a controller.