The way out will take place very soon Diablo II: Resurrected – remake of the legendary role action Diablo 2 With addition Lord of Destruption in the kit. The original game, as well as the first part, was created in the conditions of a rigid crash – if the notorious Jason Schreyer wrote his books at that time, then he would probably have received excellent material for future bestsellors at his disposal. However, the creative backbone of the developer team and so did everything for him after almost two decades.
On the eve of the release of Remeyk, we would like to remind you of who was responsible for creating a legendary game and how the fate of these wonderful people developed.
David Brevik, programmer and designer
David Brevik came to the Game Industry back in the early 90s and managed to work on the quite famous platformer at that time Aero The Acro-Bat and sports arcade NBA JAM. Already in 1993, together with Erich and Max, he founded the studio Condor , from the pen of which two parts of a sports simulator came out NFL QuarterBack and Mega Drive version of fighting Justice League Task Force, received negative reviews in the press.
Later, a team that changed the name to Blizzard North , I released the first Diablo. Brevik acted as a leading programmer, and when working on a sequel, he shared the status of the head of the project with the master. As noted earlier, the team worked for wear, since the creation of games had to be combined with higher-ranking positions: David served as the head of the studio, and the Schaefer brothers were vice presidents.
As Brevik later recalled, Diablo 2 had no plan at all. The developers simply began to create new content immediately after the release of the first part and planned to release the continuation in 1998. However, the testers noted that the sequel is really looking like the original, so the development was delayed, and the second part was released in 2000. A curious fact: the idea to add a tree of skills to the sequel came to Brevika literally in the soul, and the source of inspiration served Civilization II. David was also one of those who drowned for the use of fashionable and progressive three -dimensional technologies, but, as often happened in those years, violent fantasy and technical restrictions could not agree among themselves.
The following year, the add -on II: Lord of Destruction arrived. Another addon was also planned, which, from the words of Brevik, included MMO elements, but it didn’t reach production: largely due to the fact that all three founders left the studio in 2003. The reason was largely regular conflicts with Blizzard Entertainment , dissatisfied with an abundance of satanic themes, as well as a desire to engage in other projects.
After his departure, Brevik founded the chefers along with the chefers Flagship Studios , in the walls of which he managed to work on only one game – gloomy role -playing action Hellgate: London, The public met without much enthusiasm. It is significant that the studio closed a year after the release of the game. Further, https://maximum-gb-casino.co.uk/ David managed to visit the creative leader Dungeons & Dragons Online: Eberron Unlimited and work on a multiplayer role Marvel Heroes, which received devastated reviews on the release, but later was successfully restarted.
Now Brevik is heading his own independent studio Graybeard Games And works as a game designer. On the account of the offices are two games: free puzzle The Nonomancer And It Lurks Below – solid variation on the topic Terraria, which the author himself, however, positions the spiritual heir Diablo 2.
Erich Shefer, programmer and designer
As a child, Erich Shefer loved two things very much: Dungeons & Dragons And the Italian trash-crops about zombies-the echoes of the hobby subsequently found their reflection in the projects, to which Erich put his hand. Working on the original Diablo, he combined the posts of the screenwriter, designer and art director, and the second has already become one of the project managers, simultaneously engaged in the programming and smoking of artists.
Erich Shefer (second on the right) together with brother Max (Free on the right)
Schaefer left Blizzard North with his brother and bravik in order to establish his studio. Having worked on Hellgate: London as a designer, Erich soon moved to a founded brother RUNIC Games , where he attached a hand to the design of two parts of the role action Torchlight. Schefer stayed in a new place for six years, after which he followed the example of a Brevik and founded an independent studio Double Damage Games. The latter, as of 2021, released exactly two games – space simulator Rebel Galaxy And the prequel to him.
Max Schaefer, designer
The creative path of Max Schaefer both in the framework of work in Blizzard North, and beyond, looks like his brother's career. Unless in the first Diablo he had to take part in the voice acting of some characters, and after the closure of the Runic Games, Shefer founded his own studio Echtra Games. The latter has developed Torchlight III, originally conceived as mmo. In March, the largest developer online game Zynga I acquired Echtra Games, and that, in turn, transferred the rights to Torchlight III Publisher Perfect World.
In his free time, Max takes care of with carnivorous plants located at his house and plays hockey with pleasure.
Steg Hedlund, designer and screenwriter
If you measure success by the number of projects, then Hedlund will leave his former colleagues far behind. During his almost 30-year career in the industry, Stig managed to try on many positions. Specifically, when working on Diablo 2, he acted as a manager for the selection of voice actors, designer and screenwriter. However, even before the arrival at Blizzard North, Stig took part in the creation of such cult creations as The ooze , Comix Zone And Die Hard Arcade, well -known hardcore audience with solid experience.
From the Diablo Developer studio, Hedlund left before the game is released so that you will not believe it, also to establish your own studio Full-on Amusement Company. She united immigrants from a number of large companies, including Sony , Sega , Electronic Arts and a number of others. It was reported that the team is working on a certain non -anced project on the engine Lithtech 2.0 production Monolith , But the further fate of both the project and the company are shrouded in secret.
Fortunately, Steig later worked as part Ubisoft over several tactical shooters based on the works of Tom Clansy. A little later, in his life, the MMO Dolgostroy adopted Gods & Heroes: Rome Rising, announced in 2005 and hobbled to gamers only six years later. The game turned out to be few, and even the transition to a conditionally paying model did not correct the situation.
Currently, Stig Hedlund, judging by his LinkedIn Profille, is involved in creating mobile games in the walls of Gram Games as a creative leader.
Mark Kern, producer
The career of producer Mark Kern, who, however, lingered in Blizzard, a little longer than his colleagues, having managed to lead the work on the work on Word of Warcraft. After Kern founded Red 5 Studios , creating exactly one game – a multiplayer shooter Firefall, released in 2014 and did not gain wide popularity.
In parallel to this, Kern founded the community League for Gamers , which advanced for the rights of gamers and advocated the bill “On Counting Online Piracy”, as a result, never adopted. It is interesting that, despite the cool reception, Firefall, Mark subsequently came to Indiegogo with a spiritual heiress in the person EM-8er And the kush tore off. The game exists and even lives, although it is quite rarely updated.
Matt Oulman, composer
Last but not least, Diablo 2 is remembered thanks to the enchanting neoclassical soundtrack, where there was a place for both relatively calm and very atmospheric tracks, which excesses anxiety at the right time. Matt Oulmen worked with the bravik on Justice League Task Force, but really opened his talent already in the walls of Blizzard, where he also had a hand in writing soundtracks for the first part of Diablo, Starcraft and one of the addons to Wow.
The young generation of players Matt is probably better known as the composer of the Torchlight trilogy. Diablo fans are still hoping to see Oulman's tracks in Diablo IV, But, since Blizzard refused his services when creating a third part, she believes in this with great difficulty.
Despite the relatively recent fiasco Warcraft III: Reformged and an unhealthy atmosphere in Activision Blizzard , which is aggravated by everything with new and new scandals, gamers with trepidation are waiting for a remake output. The creators actively spoiled fans with trailers, and the reaction to them was mainly positive. As, however, our preliminary opinion.
It is interesting that just two years ago, the Brevik and the Schaefer brothers questioned the possibility of Remaster’s exit, explaining this to the loss of the source code. And David also refused to somehow comment on Diablo II: Resurrected, obviously implying the very toxic atmosphere in the company. The ex-producer did not stand aside, criticizing the creators of the remake for censorship.
And what are your expectations from the updated classics?
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