Comment by 👾 skaffi

Hmm, @gritty @ps @softwarepagan and @digler - I'm just going to put a thought out here.

A while back, I had the idea to start a sort of ladder or leaderboard for Diablo 1 with the Living off the Land ruleset. Something not at all dissimilar to:

I had made a pretty decent draft for a ruleset, but the idea was to adjust or change it based on feedback, and ideally have consensus among the initial players. But another hobby got in the way, before I got any further with the whole thing, so the project was shelved indefinitely. Well, it could be unshelved.

I would have fun facilitating something like this, where people can have some friendly competition. It might stay fairly casual, but there's nothing wrong with that. I will take care of hosting the leaderboard, and see if there could be a way of automating the process of updating it upon receiving new submissions. Perhaps a subspace could also be set up here on the BBS, both for banter and for organising groups, etc.

Of course, it doesn't make sense to go any further with this, unless at least a few people could see themselves giving it a shot. Well, this thread seems like the best place to gauge interest. So, do you would be inclined to start a run, solo or in a group, in the near or the far future, if I set something like this up?

Feb 12 · 10 months ago

5 Later Comments ↓

with two younger kids I can't really commit to anything, but it sounds fun

@digler Absolutely! I think you are on point, and running is such a great example of how the "feel" is lost. I've come to appreciate how much walking slowly does, both for the atmosphere, as well as the gameplay, by making each movement a commitment (yes, you *will* move a full grid square, yes, you *will* do it slowly, and yes, you *will* get Butcher'ed making that move at the wrong time!). It seems that games really do need friction, in order to really be "felt" - too smooth, and you just coast along.

I never learned to like D3 myself. I had the impression of playing an unfunny parody, or a fanfic of very dubious quality, with gameplay that just didn't jive with me. Now that I think about it, a lot of the parts I didn't like about the gameplay were things where they had removed friction. Diablo III was smooth as a perfect sphere, to its detriment.

I can definitely still see how it could work much better, when approaching it as essentially a speed running game, for sure, though.

I barely know anything about D4, but I got the feeling right away that I would do myself a favour by skipping it. The art looks much improved, but I got the impression that it just got a can of the ol'e nostalgia paint splashed in its face to sell tickets - that it only resembles the original Diablos somewhat, due to being an entirely regurgitated puddle.

But I actually really appreciate your "recap" of the story! And yet, I am not suprised. I can only imagine the silly lengths that goes to. I am sure it is chock full of "surprising" plot twists, too! :D

Though, I would still be curious to hear what your take on D4's gameplay was, as compared to the previous entries in the series, if you're up for it! To me it looked fairly similar to D3, at least in general feel.

@gritty Oh, no commitment needed, as I'm just trying to gauge interest. And if I can automate it, then I would keep it around in perpetuity - so you can still compete in 18 years. :p

I've heard that Kids II is better than Diablo I, though, so I get it. :)

haha! well then I might be interested

@gritty That's awesome to hear! And hey, before you know it, you'll be able to do a trio run with the kids, to earn that top spot. ;p

Original Post

Just played Diablo 1 multiplayer for the first time in like 20+ years. The other two players I think were seeing how far in hardcore mode they could get. Devilutionx is a neat project.