After the recent turbulent time with various microtransactions, I thought I would go back to the beginning. Diablo 1! A bird had whispered in my ear about a mod that would both add HD, but also transform the game to Diablo 1.5, ie a mixture between the 1st and the 2nd. I have always thought that both the 1st and the 2nd are good games, but that the 1st has a bit too linear gameplay with the lack of spells and that the replayability therefore decreases after passing Hell on normal.
I entered an international discord where the developers of the mod hung. They had a great guide to installing everything you need to get started. Or yes, there is not much you actually need to do.
1. You mount the diablo iso (because surely you have a genuine copy at home? If not, you can buy a cheap copy on GOG with a conscience), and then you copy the large file DIABDAT.MPQ to a directory of your choice .
2. Then you go in and download the latest mod patch for the game: https://github.com/qndel/tchernobog_versions/releases and puts all the files in the same directory as the large file you first copied. Then just start via the launcher file.
3. To run in multiplayer, this only works within its own intranet. This is solved through Zerotier which creates a virtual intranet between those who connect to it. https://www.zerotier.com/download/ . Then of course everyone has to connect to the same server to be able to access each other.
4. Done!
I must first apologize for the pictures being taken with a mobile camera and not print screened from the game, but something went wrong when I would do it and only the first picture worked to do that way, hence these mobile pictures instead.
The first thing I see is that the game can be really zoomed in with the help of the mouse wheel
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Another thing I react to is that even in D1 you can now switch between different weapon modes via the W. button.
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With a simple push of a button on the letter G, you can turn on and off various things that make the game even more personal.
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The fact that the game now has a personal stash ingame with as many as 50 tabs does not make things worse. In addition, this stash is shared with all your other characters that you create, so you will find a cool bow with your warrior, so you can put it in your stash, log in as your archer and then take it from one and the same stash. There is also a public stash that all your friends can access during the game.
The game scales the difficulty level quite well. If you go down yourself, you will have some small problems with the mobs already on the second floor, but if you also play in a group, the mobs will be rock hard already in level 1 with a boost in XP linear after the difficulty increase. Here, a good collaboration within the group is required and it can be a sensible solution for someone to take on the role of tank, while the others stand behind and do a lot of damage. Here the original differs significantly because you could more or less run through the tracks.
To survive, you initially need all the money for repairs and new pots, but also the different skills that the different classes get from the start. As before, the Warrior class has a skill that can repair an item that is damaged. In the original, half of the durability disappeared when using this skill, which meant that no one used it. This has been reworked and now the item does not lose durability and instead it is a coldown on the skill. The magician has also got an improved skill with the same coldown where the player can replenish spells’ charges, which is also a very good early game because the mana ball often runs dry when you both lack sensible gear, or have not had time to spend so many points on intelligence.
For those of you who have played Diablo 2, you will definitely recognize many of the skills that are dropped, but also class-bound spells that are unlocked as you level up. You will also recognize many of the classes you can play and currently there are as many as 7! It’s not because the mod goes by the nickname Diablo 1.5.
Then the developers have added crafting and gems, among other things. You can play up to 8 players in the same game, from the original 4.
A water divider that came with Diablo 3 with free respecc has both been praised, but also complained about when people change specc as another changes underwear, but also this is for better or worse. In Chernobog, they have instead made a smart solution that still keeps a well-planned player high, but also gives players a second chance to reset their stats if they happen to put them out wrong. By typing / respec in command, you will delete your stats in order to be able to put them out again. What you also remove in connection with this is also all the skills that you have learned through books and in this way you maintain respect for the particular build you have started. You also get a respec free when you reach level 60.
So who is this courage aimed at (or should I say games as there is technically not much left of the original)? I would say to those who are of the old school and where you do not want anyone to hold your hand, but also to those who like Diablo 2. Also to those who want a very dark hack´n´slash game as Blizzard gradually moved towards the slightly more cartoonish-like side. It is difficult from the beginning and it is both good and bad. Instead of playing a game for over an hour before you go into the wall, you do it directly in Chernobyl, which is also the point.
I have started a Zerotier server for Diablo Chernobog for Swedish interests. Everyone is welcome.
ServerID:d5e5fb6537a9a022
I have also posted a Discord for just this purpose.
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