BONUS ScreenShot

[Zhoulomcrist]

This is a bonus shot that I took a few moments ago just for the hell of it. But, it shows Diablo (Prime Evil Class) against the Diablo (Izual Replacement) making a pretty cool Diablo II Vs. Diablo I shot . You can view it by clicking here

[Brother Laz]

Looks dark... scary... the kind of atmosphere I'm trying to achieve in DT3 (and failing). I CANNOT WAIT!!

Of course, take your time perfecting the mod, I'll sit here waiting patiently after eating my mousepad, mouse, keyboard and 63 diskettes.

[DewMan]

Heh, very nice
I can't wait anymore to play that mod!!!
Promise me I,ll be a Beta tester!!

[MikeTheGreat]

Hmmm...well the way to make it darker (or at least from what I've found) is to edit the R/G/B values in levels.txt, just in case anyone didn't know that...it can darken the game significantly, but it still can't really capture that creepy atmosphere very well.

Zhoulomcrist, how did you create the dark, creepy kind of theme in your mod? Well, even though I have said this so many times before, I also CAN'T WAIT!

[Zhoulomcrist]

There's 2 things I did, just darkening the RGB and making intensity changes is one thing. After that, I darkened the light given off by missiles, monsters, objects, light sources, etc...... considerably.

The difference can be quite dramatic when you do that. The only problem is that big fat light given off by the player character . But, even that aint too big of a deal, especially if you're runnin' an 800x600 setup which almost everyone, including myself, is using.

Yes, the mod is very dark and some areas have additional lighting effects such as the dark red-colored lighting that covers ACT 1's overworld. Now, put that in combination with Diablo 1 Hell Music which it is in this case.

[turanic prowler mark.]

its a good screenshot and i cant wait to dl this one!
i can beta test too if ya whant .. im a very good one

[Zhoulomcrist]

Once the mod reaches the open beta testing phase, which will be awhile from now, I'll post in the Member's Announcements forum and people can sign up then.

Here's another screenshot which will be part of a new collection of shots that I'll be uploading to the CryptForge site within the next couple of days.

This shows a great example of how dark and creepy you can make things given the proper techniques. This is a shot of The Kurast Docks

*The Dungeon Master speaks.....*
*Zhoulomcrist: Upon clicking on the screenshot, the darkness of the atmosphere swallows you whole as you hear the music of the Defiler's Hive (Hellfire Music) in the background, coming from within the dark jungles beyond. What demonic horrors and treasures await you beyond the gates leading from the Docks..........? *

A note on music, All music in CryptForge has been given dramatically increased volume in the sounds.txt to allow for more flexibility when adjusting music volume.

So, if you're playing D2X and find that the music is generally too quiet and you would like it to be louder and fuller, I have increased the volume on it a good bit so you can hear it alot better. For the Diablo 1 and Hellfire music, I increased the volume on it both within Cooledit Pro and in the sounds.txt since it seemed to come out quieter than the D2 music in the beginning. That's been fixed, now.

[Myhrginoc]

I have also had that problem importing music into D2. I suspect the D2 music is quite compressed.

That shot of Kurast is beyond gloomy. Maybe it is my IE setup, but the only things I could see were Baal, the two torches (dimly), and (almost completely undiscernable) the vèvè on the ground right of the central pyramid.

[Zhoulomcrist]

Hmmm, I can see it perfectly well on mine. It's dark, like I had intended it to be, but not too dark that I can't see hardly anything. It's crystal clear on mine. I can see Baal, the two torches, part of the side of the pyramid structure in the middle, and the ground around me (that part of it which is lit by my character standing there).

Admittedly, it is somewhat darker viewing it in Internet Explorer. However, it looks a good bit better and cleaner in-game although it's still deliberately real dark in-game in order to set the mood and atmosphere .

[Alkalund]

There's 2 things I did, just darkening the RGB and making intensity changes is one thing. After that, I darkened the light given off by missiles, monsters, objects, light sources, etc...... considerably.

AHA!! This is the trick then... thanks a lot Zhoulomcrist, this will surely help me give Act 2 the feeling I want. By the way, if you haven't checked my old thread in the Multimedia Forum, this is sort of how my act 2 will be (of course now much darker ):

Lut Gholein

Only changing the lightning color and intensity was not enough to achieve this, so I had to change the DT1 files themselves... act 2 is now a chilling cold, evil place 8)

Both your screenshots are really cool Zhoul. Using my defult 45/40 brightness/contrast setup for web browsing I can indeed only see baal and the two torches in Kurast. I can see some of the ground on my 60/50 gaming setup though, so its cool

[MikeTheGreat]

Wow, exactly how do you edit those DT1/DS1 files to make them other colors? That looks great!

[Alkalund]

Thanks MikeTheGreat

I sort of exposed the problem and presented a solution in the following thread:

Changing DT1 palettes

[Zhoulomcrist]

Yeap, in fact, I happen to have Paul's DT1 tools on hand. But, never did bother to extract them and put them to use. Very cool stuff. I didn't know that such things could be accomplished with that. Lot of work if you're wanting to go full circle and do the whole game like that. But, very cool.

In any case, folks, prepare to see this mod get even creepier than it is now (SNEER). This gives me something new to play around with. I've already begun doing some preliminary experimenting with ACT 1, which uses a Red Haze lighting on the overworld. I'll have a shot up, later on.

Before I go off to finish this job, that picture of Lut Gholein looks very cool. I like that. Makes it look very different. With a grey tint, that land would look very similar to what the Undead Realm of Nocrodor should look like .

[Alkalund]

Before I go off to finish this job, that picture of Lut Gholein looks very cool. I like that. Makes it look very different. With a grey tint, that land would look very similar to what the Undead Realm of Nocrodor should look like .

You know, that's exactly the impression I had from your description of Nocrodor

Thanks for the comment Zhoul

[Zhoulomcrist]

You're welcome. That's exactly right. Virtually, the only difference between Nocrodor and the Aranoch desert (name taken from D2 Manual) is that Nocrodor is even deader . No plant life, cacti, oasis, etc.... and, of course, virtually all greyness.

This gives me alot of cool things to play around with.

[Lord Of Shadows]

it still looks cool although you guys said it has a grey tint. on my computer it shows up all blue. all the other screenshots look fine on my screen which is why i dont get how i see that so different from you guys oh well

[Alkalund]

it still looks cool although you guys said it has a grey tint. on my computer it shows up all blue. all the other screenshots look fine on my screen which is why i dont get how i see that so different from you guys oh well

Hmm, that screenshot of the blue Lut Gholein is from MY mod, and not from CryptForge Sorry for any confusion

[DaRtH_sPiRiT]

hmm it looks very cool Alkalund congrats

[Alkalund]

Thanks DaRtH_sPiRiT, I appreciate it

And now, please lets get back to CryptForge discussion here

[DaRtH_sPiRiT]

np Alkalund ( i heared what u said but i 4got to say if that modification has been released as a plugin, i really liked it ) and all the towns are modificated?

[Alkalund]

I sent a Private Message to you answering your questions DaRtH_sPiRiT. The last thing I want is to flood Zhoul's place with stuff from my mod. If you want to further discuss this, please reply my PM instead.

Ok folks, CryptForge stuff from now on please, I'm a little embarassed here... sorry about that Zhoul

[Zhoulomcrist]

And here we go back into the darkness .

I implemented 3 new classes. You can now play as Sonic, Tails, or Knuckles. Just Kidding!!

Anyway, here's alittle more update on things. Due to the fact that some areas seemed alittle barren of monsters, I've increased the density of those areas and also increased monster variety further in some areas and re-arranged alot of the Diablo 1 and Hellfire monsters as well.

In the jungles of Kurast, you're not gonna fight Sezark the Burning no more. Instead, you're gonna duke it out with the Defiler from the Hellfire Nest.

Next on the list are 2 of the Lesser Evils. I'm sick of fighting Andariel and Duriel. So, no problem . Animations and serious monster changes here. So, go fight Belial and Azmodan this time . They're using some pretty damned cool animations that I managed to hunt down and they aint no easy . Those 2 are still being worked on and aren't completely finished.

Next on the list, I gave Halbu in ACT IV the boot and put Griswold in his place. Diablo 1 voices added as well for him and dialog. He's also got a quest for you .

Next, the individual you once knew as Nihlathak (Non-NPC version) has decided to exit stage left . You will now face off against NaKrul instead.

Nihlathak's NPC counterpart in town is also NaKrul. You'll find out why after the mod releases as I've decided to change ACT V from the Mountainous North to a very hellish region. Think of it as a kind of extension of ACT IV . You're still in Hell but in a different part of it. Areas have been renamed, Halbu replaces Larzuk and all other ACT V vendors have been replaced with Demon animations which are being formatted and edited to function without causing crashes.

[Brother Laz]

How come you can make it dark and receive nothing but praises, while when I make it dark I get comments along the lines of 'this mod sux i cant see anything its WAY WAY WAYYYY to dark'?

Maybe you could add TREMAIN somewhere in there too? (unused D1 beta NPC) Not sure if there even exist anims for him, but his speech is just too funny.

[Zhoulomcrist]

How come you can make it dark and receive nothing but praises, while when I make it dark I get comments along the lines of 'this mod sux i cant see anything its WAY WAY WAYYYY to dark'?

Hmmm, never bothered me enough to make note of it. The mod is excellent .

Yeah, there's an animation out for Tremaine, I'm pretty sure. I may chunk him in ACT 3 to take Ormus's place at the front of that big pyramid. Even if I can't whip out an animation for him, I can substitute in some way, form, or fashion.