Diablo 3
An action role-playing game from Blizzard.
Where Diablo 3 comes up2 episodes and tests
Gcreator of Game Maker's Toolkit testHow Game Designers Solved These 11 Problems
Gcreator of Game Maker's Toolkit testThe Two Types of Random in Game DesignBlizzard fixed potion spamming in Diablo 3 by prototyping quickly: diluted potions, stealth healing and a three-second no-damage heal all failed, but pointed to health crystals dropped by enemies, which made players aggressive. Its smart loot favors items for your class, keeping randomness useful. Lesson: test many cheap fixes and learn from failures, and constrain random draws so luck stays exciting.
- 1Dilute potionsFailed: players chugged four potions
- 2Heal when unseenFailed: enemy awareness was unclear
- 3Heal after three secondsFailed: players ran away passively
- 4Drop health orbsWorked: killed enemies dropped them, players aggressive
From Diablo 3 team on rapid prototyping
What was said about Diablo 3
Diablo 3's healing fix came from fast prototypes that failed. To stop potion spamming, Blizzard tried diluted potions, healing only when unseen, and healing after three seconds without damage. Each failed: players chugged four potions, enemy awareness was unclear, and players ran away passively.
The last failure pointed to health orbs dropped by killed enemies, which made players aggressive. Blizzard's view was that the failed ideas were "going to teach us a lot more about the problem". The material also uses this rapid iteration as an example of reframing the problem after a fix fails.
Diablo 3's smart loot favours items for your class. Smart loot constrains the random loot pool so drops stay useful to the player. Luck stays exciting without producing a pile of items the player cannot use.
It is cited alongside Pandemic's pile-shuffled epidemic cards and Tetris's seven-piece bag, which caps the drought between I-blocks at twelve pieces. All three limit the range of random outcomes.
How Game Designers Solved These 11 Problems
Blizzard tried diluted potions, stealth healing and healing after three seconds without damage. Each failed but pointed toward health crystals dropped by enemies, which made players aggressive.
Diablo 3's healing fix came from fast prototypes that failed. To stop potion spamming, Blizzard tried diluted potions, healing only when unseen, and healing after three seconds without damage. Each failed: players chugged four potions, enemy awareness was unclear, and players ran away passively.
The last failure pointed to health orbs dropped by killed enemies, which made players aggressive. Blizzard's view was that the failed ideas were "going to teach us a lot more about the problem". The material also uses this rapid iteration as an example of reframing the problem after a fix fails.
The Two Types of Random in Game Design
Uses smart loot that favours items for your class, constraining the random pool so luck stays useful.
Diablo 3's smart loot favours items for your class. Smart loot constrains the random loot pool so drops stay useful to the player. Luck stays exciting without producing a pile of items the player cannot use.
It is cited alongside Pandemic's pile-shuffled epidemic cards and Tetris's seven-piece bag, which caps the drought between I-blocks at twelve pieces. All three limit the range of random outcomes.
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