skill icons

[eliot]

skill icons

I don't know if anybody gripes about this specifically, but...

I'd like to see the same style of skill icons in diablo 3 as in d2.

earthy, chipped, like prehistoric tools almost. you know, they looked like stones with a symbol carved into them. playing diablo2 I sometimes felt as though I was consulting my collection of carvings I had made to remind me of what skills I learned....

the ones we are seeing now look like cartoons - kind of separated from the world entirely, arbitrary, imaginary.

may be a step in quelling the tide of people complaining about how the game looks too similar to some other title.

maybe somebody will think about it in 2012 when the game is in beta stage

 

[Akse]

Re: skill icons

The ones we are seeing now are placeholders. That has been confirmed by Bashiok. Almost every item/skill/ui icon are placeholders for now. They are designing new ones but I suppose it's not on top of the priority list.

 

[Krugar]

Re: skill icons

In any case it is quite possible they don't differ much from what we are seeing. They did mention liking the fact different type of skills having different colored background as a quick visual hint during gameplay. To me this makes sense and doesn't bother me.

 

[stillman]

Re: skill icons

I believe someone from Blizzard working on this very thing went into great length talking about it....it was uncanny. At least you can rest assured that Blizzard is putting waaaaaay too much time and effort into the icon appearance. They'll probably get it right in the end.

[If it were up to me, they should make the game bug free and only then put the finishing touches on icon art, but what do I know.]

 

[isak viking]

Re: skill icons

ADMIN EDIT - Please keep it civil in here. ~ Elly

 

[SlechtWeerBeer]

Re: skill icons

my dick is this <---------------------------------------------------------------------> long

"My dick spans all the way from A to Z" imo (A and Z are adjacent on the keyboard, for those who don't get it)

On topic; I don't mind how the icons look. I won't be bothered by a little red and blue on the hotbar.

 

[isak viking]

Re: skill icons

"My dick spans all the way from A to Z" imo (A and Z are adjacent on the keyboard, for those who don't get it)

On topic; I don't mind how the icons look. I won't be bothered by a little red and blue on the hotbar.

i dont realy know how to answear this in english but... i like icons, they might give some perspective of what the skill is about, if its only little red or blue like u say it would be boring? the icons should give a signal of the strength and yeah... they are neat. my dick is from a to k then, about not a-z dont know about u but im about ak.

 

[Knight_Wolf]

Re: skill icons

In any case it is quite possible they don't differ much from what we are seeing. They did mention liking the fact different type of skills having different colored background as a quick visual hint during gameplay. To me this makes sense and doesn't bother me.

Sadly in the latest incarnation of icons (with the latest UI update that included the new fury meter) they removed the color coded icons from the WWI 08 with full color detailed icons which frankly really look out of place and unnecessarily detailed.

I really preferred the abstract color coded ones from the debut gameplay trailer, bring them back BLIZZ :crazyeyes:


And to the OP, no ... just no .. i don't want to see the same exact freaking D2 icons with the same freaking style .. when people are going to realize it's a sequel not an an expansion.

 

[Funkopotamus]

Re: skill icons

I did like the simple, chipped look of the d2 icons. I haven't seen the new icons but as long as they're simple and recognizable it'll work for me. Not that I demand complete change purely because the game has an extra "I" at the end of the title. Either way is fine.

This is unfortunate, considering I'm on my iPhone right now

Oh man, I laughed and I laughed.

 

[SlechtWeerBeer]

Re: skill icons

i dont realy know how to answear this in english but... i like icons, they might give some perspective of what the skill is about, if its only little red or blue like u say it would be boring? the icons should give a signal of the strength and yeah... they are neat. my dick is from a to k then, about not a-z dont know about u but im about ak.

...It was just an expression. I meant that icons, for what I care, can have a little color. Sure, the icons D II had were nice, but that doesn't make alternatives bad.
And the a-z line was a joke *rolleyes*

 

[Knight_Wolf]

Re: skill icons

I made thing pic to help make my point clear, I think it pretty much says everything.

I really don't understand the last visual update the gave to the icons .. it was totally unneeded, talk about fixing what wasn't broken.

 

[Krugar]

Re: skill icons

The color coding still exists on the last set of icons. You are just looking at the same type of icons. Hence all being redish.

But overall I don't partake of your feelings. I look at the last set as an overall improvement over anything shown so far. Different opinions.

 

[Knight_Wolf]

Re: skill icons

The color coding still exists on the last set of icons. You are just looking at the same type of icons. Hence all being redish

Nope it doesn't, icons are colored randomly, there are icons from the other trees that are reddish and bluish as there are from this tree ... i don't see any coherent color coding at all .. you can check the latest two screenshots on the gallery here for that http://diablo.incgamers.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=2649&cat=611 http://diablo.incgamers.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=2647&cat=611 .. check the skills tab (which has skills from another trees) and the skills tree shown.

But overall I don't partake of your feelings. I look at the last set as an overall improvement over anything shown so far. Different opinions.

For each his own, but still to me they are detail overload for no good reason or purpose, the abstract look did the job .. too much details is distracting .. and the removal of the clear color coding is my biggest gripe.

Like i said in the text in my pic, traffic signs and all universal signs are drawn simple and color coded because they need to be recognizable on the fly .. and that's exactly what's needed for the skill icons .. you need to instantly recognize the skills icon in the heat of combat specially if you want to switch skills .. and evidently the brain recognizes colors and abstract shapes faster than details.

-------------------------------------------

Actually all the new skill icons art, dark reddish and heavy blue coloring on the new icons seems as a failed attempt to cater for the "dark diablo look" fans regardless of how practical those designs will be .. maybe new art director wants to leave his mark .. i really don't know.

 

[Krugar]

Re: skill icons

Nope it doesn't, icons are colored randomly, there are icons from the other trees that are reddish and bluish as there are from this tree ... i don't see any coherent color coding at all ..

Because -- and this has been repeated numerous times -- they are still only placeholders. They aren't the final thing. Just an approximation of what they want it to become in order to fill the UI and get a better picture of how it will look in the end.

A color coding scheme is planned for the skill icons. This also has been said before.

 

[Knight_Wolf]

Re: skill icons

Because -- and this has been repeated numerous times -- they are still only placeholders. They aren't the final thing. Just an approximation of what they want it to become in order to fill the UI and get a better picture of how it will look in the end.

A color coding scheme is planned for the skill icons. This also has been said before.

Hope so, i'm just worried about the direction the UI art and the Skill icons art is going to.

 

[Nimbostratus]

Re: skill icons

D2 had a neat setup with its skill icons, but I think it would be bad for them to keep the same style for D3. Freshen things up a bit, eh?

 

[nEgativezEro]

Re: skill icons

I made thing pic to help make my point clear, I think it pretty much says everything.

I really don't understand the last visual update the gave to the icons .. it was totally unneeded, talk about fixing what wasn't broken.

I agree the WWI icons are the best of the bunch in that picture, but it also needs to be said that the Post Blizzcon icons are the worst of the bunch. There are a few grayed out icons that have the same abstract design to them rather than the mini-art style. Overall though I think it should be the WWI style with the polish of the Post Blizzcon.

Of course we need to remember also that we know the design of the entire skill tree changes constantly as well. It's one single tree as we've last been told so I imagine things already look worlds different from the Blizzcon icons.

 

[Dimmu]

Re: skill icons

I guess I'm the only one that agrees with the OP. The old icons actually felt like they were special in d1 and d2 because you knew exactly what they did but at first glance, someone who's never played the game probably wouldn't. Now they're all cartoony and just an overly detailed representation of exactly what the skill does, it just looks like a cluster of stuff that you can do, not an almighty symbol of yout ultimate power.

I don't know, that probably doesn't make sense but it's hard to explain. One could argue that the hotbar requires more instantly distinguishable icons, but I've memorized my hotkey setup for every character relatively fast in d2 without needing to look at icons, I doubt d3 would be different.

 

[RedDog]

Re: skill icons

I don't know if anybody gripes about this specifically, but...

I'd like to see the same style of skill icons in diablo 3 as in d2.

earthy, chipped, like prehistoric tools almost. you know, they looked like stones with a symbol carved into them. playing diablo2 I sometimes felt as though I was consulting my collection of carvings I had made to remind me of what skills I learned....

the ones we are seeing now look like cartoons - kind of separated from the world entirely, arbitrary, imaginary.

may be a step in quelling the tide of people complaining about how the game looks too similar to some other title.

maybe somebody will think about it in 2012 when the game is in beta stage

There is a big difference in the visual queues required for the Diablo 2 icons and the Diablo 3 icons. As others have said, in Diablo 3 we will need to gather visual information from the icons (cooldowns coming up, etc..) in the hotbar as well as our mouse buttons. In Diablo 2, you just had to right or left click so having the monotone carved stone icons wasn't an issue.

 

[SlechtWeerBeer]

Re: skill icons

I guess I'm the only one that agrees with the OP. The old icons actually felt like they were special in d1 and d2 because you knew exactly what they did but at first glance, someone who's never played the game probably wouldn't. Now they're all cartoony and just an overly detailed representation of exactly what the skill does, it just looks like a cluster of stuff that you can do, not an almighty symbol of yout ultimate power.

So a white depiction of a simple sword is an almighty symbol of ultimate power?
Ultimate power is cheap these days.