Gamebanshee interviews Leonard Boyarsky

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Beelzebud

A Smooth-Skin
Forgive me if this has already been posted, I searched around and didn't see an obvious thread with it.

Gamebanshee recently got Leonard Boyarsky to do an interview. It's a great read with one exchange cutting to the core of things.

Here is a link to the interview, and the quote which had me cheering at my monitor:

http://www.gamebanshee.com/interviews/diabloiii1.php

GB: Why was the decision made to keep the isometric viewpoint of the original Diablos and was there ever any doubt or discussion on using the same camera scheme in today's market? What are the advantages and disadvantages of using an isometric viewpoint for a game like Diablo III?

Leonard: There was never any question that we'd be using the isometric view. The advantages for this camera angle are many: It is the established camera angle for the series; we want our game to expand and improve on the classic Diablo feel, which is irrevocably tied to isometric gameplay; and we are able to create art specifically for that camera angle, which allows us to place polygons and textures strategically, so our game looks great and highly detailed while also running well on a wide range of systems. I suppose one possible disadvantage is that it is harder to involve the player on an emotional level for scripted scenes, because the characters are small and aren't in the player's face like they are from other camera angles -- but that's what we have our cinematics for.
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Moved to General Gaming.

And yes, that interview was difficult to get but worth it. Blizzard had no issues with my questions and Leonard answered them well. The franchise-related questions might be a bit too easy for Diablo, I guess, but still worth asking.
 
Thanks for moving it. I realized it was in the wrong spot about 2 seconds after hitting the submit button. :)

Great job scoring that interview. It was a nice read, and as I said I REALLY loved hearing him discuss the camera angle issue. "It is the established camera angle for the series" sums it up better than anything I've ever read on the subject.
 
Short, but good. I've never been a fan of the Diablo series because of the lack of a good story and the constant combat, but after reading this interview it seems there might be hope number 3 turns out to be more interesting than the previous episodes.

I think it's very important to really look at what has gone before and honor it and capture its flavor. If you're going to change something, you’d better have a good reason.
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Troika should've made FO3... :cry:
 
Does anyone have an idea of what music Troika used for that demo. I like that soft, atmospheric sound so much, but I have no idea whether it's something that already existed or something they made themselves.
 
alec said:
Short, but good. I've never been a fan of the Diablo series because of the lack of a good story and the constant combat, but after reading this interview it seems there might be hope number 3 turns out to be more interesting than the previous episodes.
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Blizzard always leaves it to the manuals and NPCs to do the story telling. You have to be actually playing attention to find the nuances of their lore.

Really, the premise is somewhat generic but so are the plots of most classic films, what sets them apart is the telling, and Diablo has some great exposition in the manuals and hidden inside of the games.

Might not change your mind, but it's still interesting to see a company that prefers to leave the meat of the story to people actually looking for it while others can simply ignore it.

PS - Story = superflous! Enjoy your games!
 
alec said:
Does anyone have an idea of what music Troika used for that demo. I like that soft, atmospheric sound so much, but I have no idea whether it's something that already existed or something they made themselves.
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I agree, that was great music. I've sent some emails to see if I can find out.
 
alec said:
Does anyone have an idea of what music Troika used for that demo. I like that soft, atmospheric sound so much, but I have no idea whether it's something that already existed or something they made themselves.
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I could ask Leonard. Though he usually starts waving his cane and shouting "get off my lawn" when I ask about his older games.
 
A question: did he know that the person who interviewed him was involved in NMA and was a rabid Fallout fan?
 
maximaz said:
A question: did he know that the person who interviewed him was involved in NMA and was a rabid Fallout fan?
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That's where I know him from. I've been emailing back and forth with Leonard Boyarsky (and some of the other Fallout leads) for years now. He was one of the devs I interviewed for the retrospective interview.

That said, the question wasn't really intended to be a lead-in for Fallout 3 criticism, it's more a juxtaposition of Blizzard's attitude with the attitude of the rest of the game industry - including but not limited to Bethesda.
 
Brother None said:
That said, the question wasn't really intended to be a lead-in for Fallout 3 criticism, it's more a juxtaposition of Blizzard's attitude with the attitude of the rest of the game industry - including but not limited to Bethesda.
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Makes it more awesome though. The questions may not have been a lead-in but he couldn't have not realized that his answers would shit all over Bethesda in our eyes, don't you think?

There is not a single word I dislike about his answers. It probably has something to do with the lack of bullshit that we've been hearing more and more of, as of late.
 
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