Octopus Overlords

Blizzard let GOG work on and re-release Diablo 1. It also appears they will be releasing Warcraft 1 & 2 in the near future.

Which brings us to today's seriously surprising news: Blizzard has just put Diablo 1 on sale digitally, a first for that 1996 game, with no prior announcement. It's not a remaster, per se, but it does come with some quality-of-life updates and is Blizzard's first DRM-free game launch in years.

What's more, Blizzard has handed the game's keys to a completely different storefront: GOG.com. This famously DRM-free marketplace is run by CD Projekt Group, the Polish company that also owns game developer CD Projekt Red (The Witcher). You'll have to go to GOG, not the Blizzard Launcher app, to purchase and download Diablo 1 (for $10, right here). Once you download the files, designed for Windows PCs, that's it—no online check-ins or CD keys required. All of that is a first for a Blizzard game sold as a digital download.

And it won't be the last. GOG has already announced that it will follow this Diablo launch with future re-releases of the first two WarCraft RTS games' original files.

I can't see going back to Diablo (1). Too many other games eventually did it better, not the least of which is Diablo II.

I could see going back and re-buying Warcraft II or Starcraft. They both hit a similar playable high mark before the nature of the RTS changed into something else.

Diablo does have a very near and dear place in my heart though. It was the first game I installed on the first computer I built from the first apartment I moved in to. It was the reason I learned how to build a personal network, even if we did it by serial cable chaining, which was still way awesome for 1995 me. Co-ax.... and a hub!!! would still be another year away for me.

I'll admit I got pretty excited initially about it. Then I remember I never even managed to beat that game - got down to the hell levels but then just could not get any further.

Warcraft 1 and 2, I might go for (on sale price, because that's the way I am). "What what what", "Quit poking me", etc. Or maybe not - again, I wasn't actually any good at those two.

Starcraft is on Battle.net already, so that's unlikely.

NickAragua wrote: ↑Thu Mar 07, 2019 11:47 am Warcraft 1 and 2, I might go for (on sale price, because that's the way I am). "What what what", "Quit poking me", etc. Or maybe not - again, I wasn't actually any good at those two.

Starcraft is on Battle.net already, so that's unlikely.

I don't know that I was particularly good at any RTS but there are bits of history that seem to be highmarks for my enjoyment.

Herzog Zwei was the first great RTS for me but I don't I could go back to it.
Dogs of War, I think, was second and I don't think I could go back to it.
Dune 2 was the third and as I much as I passionately loved that game, I still don't think I could go back to it. I think the UI and graphics and campaign that wasn't really a campaign would just ring hollow.
Warcraft 2 and then later Starcraft added some magic, partially in graphics, partially in interaction, partially in a sort of complexity that was still graspable. I think I could go go back to either of those games replay the campaigns (which I'm not sure I finished either) and still love them.

After these two, no advancement in RTS held me. The move to 3D didn't work for me and making things more and more twitchy while I become less and less able to play twitch games saw me receive, for instance, Warcraft III, as a gift and probably spending about 15 minutes on it.

I'm with you. When I saw the news my first thought was "Awesome!" but then I remembered it's no longer 1996 and the game play design is from another era.

I didn't play Diablo 2 and begrudgingly made it through Diablo 3. I think I'll leave the original where it belongs - as a game I loved at one point. It's not you, it's me Diablo.

The only classic RTS game I find myself pining for it the original Command and Conquer. It wasn't just the game play, but the FMV and the soundtrack. I'd probably play the hell out of that if it magically appeared on STEAM. I've played all the other ones, but they just quite aren't the same as the original.

Amazingly, I never actually played the original Warcraft RTS. It was out just ahead of the time I owned my first computer and I missed it.

I did not play the original WC either and I was late to the WCII party. It took great reviews and my love for Diablo to get me shell out my monies.

OtOH, as much as Gone Gold as a collective raved about C&C and as much as I fell in love with Dune 2, I never played any incarnation of C&C. The RTS style of game only had so many slots for me. I had my RTS passions in StarCraft and Dungeon Keeper 2 and money had already been pissed away on failure to broaden my RTS appreciation on games like Black and White and Force Commander. I was on my way to my video gaming dark ages at that time, where AAA title after AAA title were moving toward a new game purchase moratorium.

Smoove_B wrote: ↑Thu Mar 07, 2019 12:20 pm Amazingly, I never actually played the original Warcraft RTS. It was out just ahead of the time I owned my first computer and I missed it.

When I played it, I must have been 13 or 14. First, I tried to play it normally. Standard RTS formula - build peasants, collect resources, build a base, crank out units. I was a slow turtler, so what I'd do is build as many archers as the game allowed me to, then slowly advanced them one square at a time towards the enemy base. Because you could only select 4 guys at a time, managing assaults was difficult (but not as difficult as in Dune II, where you could only select ONE unit at a time).

Then, hallelujah, I found a cheat. It let me edit units. So I gave my archers the maximum possible range (255, obviously) and max hitpoints (32767). Suddenly, those damn orcs had no chance. And then, I encountered a mission where you had to fight other humans. Imagine two sets of max range/max hitpoint archers very slowly whittling away at each other. I literally couldn't kill them faster than they'd build new ones.

LordMortis wrote: ↑Thu Mar 07, 2019 12:06 pm Dune 2 was the third and as I much as I passionately loved that game, I still don't think I could go back to it. I think the UI and graphics and campaign that wasn't really a campaign would just ring hollow.

There are a couple of open-source "engine upgrades" out that use the assets from the original game. There are a couple of QOL improvements (multi-unit selection, queuing, etc), but the main thing a lot of them do is upgrade the AI so that instead of one unit at a time, it masses its forces then rolls you over before you even have a chance to get a factory up and running.

NickAragua wrote: ↑Thu Mar 07, 2019 1:05 pm

Smoove_B wrote: ↑Thu Mar 07, 2019 12:20 pm Amazingly, I never actually played the original Warcraft RTS. It was out just ahead of the time I owned my first computer and I missed it.

When I played it, I must have been 13 or 14. First, I tried to play it normally. Standard RTS formula - build peasants, collect resources, build a base, crank out units. I was a slow turtler, so what I'd do is build as many archers as the game allowed me to, then slowly advanced them one square at a time towards the enemy base. Because you could only select 4 guys at a time, managing assaults was difficult (but not as difficult as in Dune II, where you could only select ONE unit at a time).

Then, hallelujah, I found a cheat. It let me edit units. So I gave my archers the maximum possible range (255, obviously) and max hitpoints (32767). Suddenly, those damn orcs had no chance. And then, I encountered a mission where you had to fight other humans. Imagine two sets of max range/max hitpoint archers very slowly whittling away at each other. I literally couldn't kill them faster than they'd build new ones.

LordMortis wrote: ↑Thu Mar 07, 2019 12:06 pm Dune 2 was the third and as I much as I passionately loved that game, I still don't think I could go back to it. I think the UI and graphics and campaign that wasn't really a campaign would just ring hollow.

There are a couple of open-source "engine upgrades" out that use the assets from the original game. There are a couple of QOL improvements (multi-unit selection, queuing, etc), but the main thing a lot of them do is upgrade the AI so that instead of one unit at a time, it masses its forces then rolls you over before you even have a chance to get a factory up and running.

I was a turtler, too. However, I'd use the peons to dig a path through the forest right next to their resources, then cut huge cavities on either side of the path that I'd whittled into the trees. I would pack the archers in there, then send a knight through on horseback (for speed) and kill all their peons, then kite the enemy through the Bataan Death March I'd made. Any ranged units got slaughtered by my foot soldiers as they were attacking my ranged units. After I'd emptied the city of units, I'd use the peons to open the floodgates and spill my army into the encampment, laying waste to anyone they created while I was razing the city.

Of course, I only played against the dumber than a box of rocks AI, because that would have worked for about 10 seconds against someone with a 1st grade or higher understanding of tactics.

I never played Diablo 1...or Warcraft (any version), or C & C. I have played Diablo 2 & 3, though. I'd like to give Warcraft and C&C a shot. I can put up with horrible graphics to see what all the fuss was about.

stessier wrote: ↑Thu Mar 07, 2019 2:38 pm I never played Diablo 1...or Warcraft (any version), or C & C. I have played Diablo 2 & 3, though. I'd like to give Warcraft and C&C a shot. I can put up with horrible graphics to see what all the fuss was about.

Although the fuss about them was in part that they were pretty groundbreaking at the time (they and Dune 2 more or less *created* the RTS genre). So going back and playing them now is likely to be underwhelming, because they're models that other games built on.

If you're going back to play old RTS's, I'd go with Red Alert (if you haven't played it). It's still retro, but it has a fair amount of complexity, plus the story is a little bit better / funnier.

Red Alert 2 still has the best storyline. C&C was campy but unaware of it, Red Alert 1 still took itself a little too seriously. They finally figured it out with RA2 though.

Tempted to buy it just so I can stay a while and listen.

I never "beat" the game on the hardest difficulty, but did sink many many hours into it.

I really only remember two things about Diablo 1.

1. The ground around the dungeon portal was absolutely littered with hundreds of items that I brought back, but didn't want to get rid of. You could just toss them on the ground, and they'd stay there forever, so the ground of of Tristram ended up becoming the world's largest storage chest
2. Someone said the music sounded like Bauhaus, I band I had never heard of before. I immediately went out and bought the "In the Flat Field" album and absolutely fell in love with them.

Like others, I doubt I'd be able to go back to it at this point, but am glad to see it's available if I ever get the itch for some reason.

Smoove_B wrote: ↑Thu Mar 07, 2019 12:20 pm I'm with you. When I saw the news my first thought was "Awesome!" but then I remembered it's no longer 1996 and the game play design is from another era.

I didn't play Diablo 2...

Diablo 2 is the jewel of the franchise as far as I am concerned, went back to it many times over the years. Definitely worth it if you have never played.

I actually found my Diablo 1 original CD's a while back, so I played through with all 3 classes. To me it is unplayable unless you can dupe (it's like an in game mini-game), but maybe that's just me.

I wonder if GOG will include the Diablo 1 expansion as well. Hellfire.

Decades and drugs later suggest to me Hellfire was a bad 3rd party add on and not an expansion, the modern equivalent of a pretty bad mod (though probably pretty accomplished for its time). Am I wrong? I have visions of a memory of having paid money to see the same creatures from the original release with slightly modified skins and that's about all it did.

Played them all. Have them all in boxes still. Have great memories.

Torfish wrote: ↑Thu Mar 07, 2019 5:19 pm I wonder if GOG will include the Diablo 1 expansion as well. Hellfire.

this will never be re-released - one of the co-creators has officially disowned it - referred to it as "a teddy bear quest"

LordMortis wrote: ↑Thu Mar 07, 2019 5:29 pm Decades and drugs later suggest to me Hellfire was a bad 3rd party add on and not an expansion, the modern equivalent of a pretty bad mod (though probably pretty accomplished for its time). Am I wrong? I have visions of a memory of having paid money to see the same creatures from the original release with slightly modified skins and that's about all it did.

your memory is correct. it wasn't good even when it was released. if one still has the original CD-ROM, they might have a minor collector's item in their possession.

While I recommend getting it from GoG you can get the original ISO, belzebub mod, and a Direct X mod and play it on Windows 10. I did this just last week and have been playing through the game. I disagree completely that the game is outdated or underwhelming. That may be the case if you never played but I am having a blast. I recently played D3 for a few minutes again after a very long break and just didn't get into it. D1 had the opposite effect. Been playing it a few hours a day for the past week and enjoying the hell out of it. The Belzebub mod adds some things to the game that came with the Hellfire expansion (there is a storage chest for instance). The higher rez graphics work well and the game actually looks pretty good. Not sure how they did it but it's not really pizellated even on my 28" 4k monitor.

After I'm through I think I'll get out my D2 disks and compare but right now I'm addicted to D1 (again).

Daehawk wrote: ↑Thu Mar 07, 2019 6:24 pm Played them all. Have them all in boxes still. Have great memories.

D1 is going for a minimum of $65 + shipping with the box on eBay.

Well the OO effect got me again. I wanted to see how far I could progress with a legit character. Actually pretty far, as in a level 22 mage with +65(!) to all stats so far. All it takes is some knowledge and a little obsessive behavior:

I went ahead and donated my ten bucks to GoG. I'll get my moneys worth for sure.

dbt1949 wrote: ↑Tue Mar 12, 2019 7:05 pm I went ahead and donated my ten bucks to GoG. I'll get my moneys worth for sure.

Damn you forum effect!!! I did the same. And ordered a couple of other games too, argh!!!!!

What was it you had to type to make the game harder?...............Players 8?

dbt1949 wrote: ↑Tue Mar 12, 2019 7:16 pm What was it you had to type to make the game harder?...............Players 8?

I think that was #2. Wasn't #1 limited to 4 players max?

So I got a copy of the Hellfire expansion for D1. GOG does not have it, so I bought a used disc through Amazon. It took some massive tweaking to get it to run on a modern machine without game breaking pixelation, which surprised me since the original D1 disc fired right up. I remember reading some bad reviews when it first came out so never tried it. It does have some sweet items and a new dungeon to explore. One nice feature is you can run through town. It comes with a new class of Monk, which is kind of fun, but with only staffs and weak defense I can see how it could be disastrous down the line.

An interesting aspect is that it contains two more undocumented classes, a Bard and a Barbarian which were nixed by Blizzard, but can be accessed through an easy hack. The Monk has new character graphics - but the Bard looks like the Rogue, and the Barbarian like the Warrior.

They screwed the pooch on the Barbarian - you can't put any points in magic (only via items) and when its rage special ability wears off you get permanent stat loss (wtf?). You can exploit around it but who needs that. And allegedly they could use a two-hander in one hand and a shield in the other, but I tried it and it didn't work.
Edited to add: It works with a 2H sword or maul, but your damage goes down

Surprisingly the Bard actually works well. They can dual wield and their special ability of identify is great.

Jaymann wrote: ↑Sat Mar 23, 2019 1:05 am So I got a copy of the Hellfire expansion for D1. GOG does not have it

They do now.

LordMortis wrote:I can't see going back to Diablo (1). Too many other games eventually did it better, not the least of which is Diablo II.

I could see going back and re-buying Warcraft II or Starcraft. They both hit a similar playable high mark before the nature of the RTS changed into something else.

Diablo does have a very near and dear place in my heart though. It was the first game I installed on the first computer I built from the first apartment I moved in to. It was the reason I learned how to build a personal network, even if we did it by serial cable chaining, which was still way awesome for 1995 me. Co-ax.... and a hub!!! would still be another year away for me.

Diablo 1 had the best atmosphere of any of those games. It does get killed by the resolution however (800x600 max, as I recall).

Does it include the expansion levels? Those were only ok, but still nice to have.

I got this because I thought they had improved the graphics.
They had not.

GoG

Travelers looking for the authentic Diablo experience can play the game as it was in 1996, with period-appropriate 20 FPS SVGA graphics, and the ability to matchmake through the classic version of Blizzard’s Battle.net® online-gaming service.

For those wanting something a bit more modern, Blizzard and GOG.COM have collaborated on an updated version of the game tuned for today’s gaming PCs, which includes out-of-the-box Windows 10 compatibility, a host of bug fixes and high-resolution support via aspect ratio-correct upscaling.

Pyperkub wrote: ↑Wed Jun 05, 2019 3:35 pm

LordMortis wrote:I can't see going back to Diablo (1). Too many other games eventually did it better, not the least of which is Diablo II.

I could see going back and re-buying Warcraft II or Starcraft. They both hit a similar playable high mark before the nature of the RTS changed into something else.

Diablo does have a very near and dear place in my heart though. It was the first game I installed on the first computer I built from the first apartment I moved in to. It was the reason I learned how to build a personal network, even if we did it by serial cable chaining, which was still way awesome for 1995 me. Co-ax.... and a hub!!! would still be another year away for me.

Diablo 1 had the best atmosphere of any of those games. It does get killed by the resolution however (800x600 max, as I recall).

Does it include the expansion levels? Those were only ok, but still nice to have.

see the post immediately above yours.

hitbyambulance wrote: ↑Wed Jun 05, 2019 6:50 pm

Pyperkub wrote: ↑Wed Jun 05, 2019 3:35 pm

LordMortis wrote:I can't see going back to Diablo (1). Too many other games eventually did it better, not the least of which is Diablo II.

I could see going back and re-buying Warcraft II or Starcraft. They both hit a similar playable high mark before the nature of the RTS changed into something else.

Diablo does have a very near and dear place in my heart though. It was the first game I installed on the first computer I built from the first apartment I moved in to. It was the reason I learned how to build a personal network, even if we did it by serial cable chaining, which was still way awesome for 1995 me. Co-ax.... and a hub!!! would still be another year away for me.

Diablo 1 had the best atmosphere of any of those games. It does get killed by the resolution however (800x600 max, as I recall).

Does it include the expansion levels? Those were only ok, but still nice to have.

see the post immediately above yours.

Yeah, I caught the Hellfire stuff after I posted. that's what I get for posting from my phone!

hitbyambulance wrote:see the post immediately above yours.

Isgrimnur wrote: ↑Wed Jun 05, 2019 1:03 pm

Jaymann wrote: ↑Sat Mar 23, 2019 1:05 am So I got a copy of the Hellfire expansion for D1. GOG does not have it

They do now.

Well worth it if the price is cheap. I wonder if the other two classes (Bard and Barbarian) are unlocked OOTB or if you have to hack.

I see they come together for $8.99 so great deal. No mention of the two hidden classes.

I didn't realize they had added Hellfire to my Diablo.

I remember finishing Diablo but never did play Hellfire.

I own Diablo 2 but NEVER PLAYED IT somehow. The disks got lost in the shuffle, ya know.

it's also been reverse-engineered - code hosted here:

https://github.com/diasurgical/devilution

web port:

https://d07riv.github.io/diabloweb/

I bought D+HF on GOG, and played it for a few levels, then quit. The Quality of Life improvements that I was expecting from more modern games (like Van Helsing ) are seriously missed.

I thought the graphics had been improved but alas, no. My olde age eyes can't handle it.

Kasey Chang wrote: ↑Sun Aug 04, 2019 2:35 am I bought D+HF on GOG, and played it for a few levels, then quit. The Quality of Life improvements that I was expecting from more modern games (like Van Helsing ) are seriously missed.

Titan Quest Anniversary Edition + DLC expansions makes for a more enjoyable action RPG experience on modern systems IMO. Having said that, I've never been a fan of mouse-clicking all the time to control one's character, but the free Universal WASD Controls utility helps rectify that.

Anonymous Bosch wrote: ↑Sun Aug 04, 2019 12:22 pm

Kasey Chang wrote: ↑Sun Aug 04, 2019 2:35 am I bought D+HF on GOG, and played it for a few levels, then quit. The Quality of Life improvements that I was expecting from more modern games (like Van Helsing ) are seriously missed.

Titan Quest Anniversary Edition + DLC expansions makes for a more enjoyable action RPG experience on modern systems IMO. Having said that, I've never been a fan of mouse-clicking all the time to control one's character, but the free Universal WASD Controls utility helps rectify that.

Titanquest is hold to attack but you do have to click to select an enemey. Less clicking than Diablo but more than say Grimdawn. Zero chance I could play Diablo longer than 15 minutes with all that old school clicking.