07-01-2008, 10:16 AM
I was referring to slow walk speed being required due to the technology available in 1996, rather than a design choice of the game.
You're really serious about all this? Either you've never played much post-level 30 Diablo or your memory of the game is very foggy. High level warriors who follow the tactical advice of Bolty's guide are likely to cast teleport over 200 times on a level full of ranged attackers, not as a reset button but as a way to get close to the enemy faster. High level mages aren't likely to ever walk at all, except in town or to avoid annoying their playing partners with all the wooshing sounds. Bow rogues probably benefit from teleport more than anyone, since it gives them an instant distance advantage over all enemies and costs a fraction of even a single stonecurse.
I just did about 200 blind teleports through normal hell with a level 27, low AC mage without mana shield and only a few levels of teleport, and never died or experienced any of this "loading" you speak of. Unlike D2, Diablo has no dynamic level loading. The level you are on is in memory, and the others are not. You cast teleport, the screen redraws sometime in the next .05 seconds or so, end of story. There is a slight glitch with the cursor location sometimes causing you to teleport to the wrong spot in rare circumstances but it's hardly a show stopper. The bottom line is, they could have made Diablo character move at whatever speed seemed appropriate, they chose the one they chose, and they happened to make most of the enemies move at roughly the same speed which turned out to be a good choice. That, and the supposedly faster pace of D2 or any other RPG is almost entirely illusory, because Diablo can be one heck of a frantic game if you choose to play it that way.
You're really serious about all this? Either you've never played much post-level 30 Diablo or your memory of the game is very foggy. High level warriors who follow the tactical advice of Bolty's guide are likely to cast teleport over 200 times on a level full of ranged attackers, not as a reset button but as a way to get close to the enemy faster. High level mages aren't likely to ever walk at all, except in town or to avoid annoying their playing partners with all the wooshing sounds. Bow rogues probably benefit from teleport more than anyone, since it gives them an instant distance advantage over all enemies and costs a fraction of even a single stonecurse.
I just did about 200 blind teleports through normal hell with a level 27, low AC mage without mana shield and only a few levels of teleport, and never died or experienced any of this "loading" you speak of. Unlike D2, Diablo has no dynamic level loading. The level you are on is in memory, and the others are not. You cast teleport, the screen redraws sometime in the next .05 seconds or so, end of story. There is a slight glitch with the cursor location sometimes causing you to teleport to the wrong spot in rare circumstances but it's hardly a show stopper. The bottom line is, they could have made Diablo character move at whatever speed seemed appropriate, they chose the one they chose, and they happened to make most of the enemies move at roughly the same speed which turned out to be a good choice. That, and the supposedly faster pace of D2 or any other RPG is almost entirely illusory, because Diablo can be one heck of a frantic game if you choose to play it that way.