There was no concrete plan, only a vision: Like Diablo, but bigger and better.Īct I's mosaic of pastures, caverns, and blood-splattered temples began in the Blood Moor. 2 If it felt too small, they'd drop tiles back in. Act I's pastures and fields were meant to be big, but if one felt too big, they would give it a haircut, shaving off tiles here and there. 1 Iteration was the driving force behind the game, as it had been on Diablo. Dave, Max, and Erich would make a plan for the month, or the week, or the day, or the hour. Blizzard North's team worked in fits and starts: the broad outline for a hero one day, visual direction for one of the game's four Acts another. Stieg Hedlund, designer, Blizzard NorthīIT BY BIT, pixel by pixel, Diablo II took shape.
There was no sense of being in a world you were just in a tiny town and all of the dungeons underneath it. Michio Okamura, artist, Blizzard Northĭiablo always felt very limited, not grim, to me. The sense of committing to each step, and the anticipation of horror, disappeared. They said, "Yeah, we're making Diablo II." And I said, "Sign me up." -David Glenn, artist, Blizzard North This post is not considered an endorsement of his book, or its crowdfunding campaign. Craddock is the author of the Stay Awhile and Listen series, and the longreads editor at. Stay Awhile and Listen: Book II chronicles the making of StarCraft and Diablo II, and reveals never-before-known details about cancelled projects and the history of Blizzard Entertainment and Blizzard North.ĭisclosure: David L. The following is an excerpt from a near-complete edition of Stay Awhile and Listen: Book II – Heaven, Hell, and Secret Cow Levels, now funding in ebook and paperback formats on Kickstarter.