Sometimes the words 'This is a great mod'
seem lame and empty. Sometimes a mod is so good, so new, and
so cool, that all one can do is say, hey everyone... And then
drool for a few moments. Hell on Earth, is one of those mods.
It should be noted, that Hell on Earth isn't public yet. But
luckily through my ties to several secret organizations, I
was able to steal a pre-release alpha version from Goldark's
PC. And woo... Let me tell ya, well... Let me start off by
saying... Ummm... Really, I'm speechless. *DROOL*...*Drip...Drip...Drip*
OH! Err... On with the Mod of the Week!
The Hell
on Earth Mod is simply incredible. It finally manages
to balance out the beginning middle and endgame all together,
rather than balance the endgame and leave the early stages
as boring as picking dingleberries from my rear. Spellcasters
are now fun to play for the first few levels, as melee classes
have always been, and the skill system... Oh! It's pure gold.
One of my most hated 'features' of Diablo II was it's prerequisite
system. I suppose I would not have minded if most of the early
skills weren't completely useless later, but alas, they are.
Hell on Earth has completely done away with prerequisites,
a skill point can be dropped into any skill as soon as you
meet the level requirement, making saving skill points much
more useful now than it ever was before. On top of that, a
good number of skills have been completely reworked. The early
Necromancer skill Teeth for instance, is now a free skill,
and ramps in damage quite nicely, making it a viable backup
skill or even as a primary attack skill up until Act II Nightmare.
The Sorceress however, has many, many new and cool skills,
I don't want to spoil the surprise, but there are some really
neat changes to her skill tree, so many that it simply begs
to be explored.
On top of a completely reworked skill engine,
Hell on
Earth also has a rather innovative crafting and rune system.
Crafts are no longer slightly crappy, but immensely powerful.
Reagents used for crafting are often dropped by monsters,
these can be used to add different features to an item, both
strong, high level crafts, and weak, low level crafts are
available, even class specific crafts! Also, runes can no
longer be found, they must be made, runes are constructed
by using the cube in conjunction with a blank 'stone'. This
stone is used to make level one runes, which, when combined
create level 2 runes, and so forth. This system takes some
getting used to, but it soon becomes apparent that it's more
versatile than that of standard Diablo II.
Unfortunately, the alpha build which I am
privy to is lacking new sets and uniques, Goldark has told
me that they are on the way, but even without new sets and
uniques, Hell
on Earth has the feeling of a very competent and lovingly
crafted mod. And wait until you see Goldark's mad art skills,
which are abound, you will not be disappointed.
Highs: More new stuff than I could
shake a really big stick at, and by big, I mean REALLY big.
Finally, a mod that reaches the golden heights that Eastern
Sun set, and in it's alpha stage no less. Lows: You can't get it yet.
With all of the skill changes, this mod requires
a bit of thought.
General: Avoid dropping points into
prerequisites on accident, trust me, this one hurts. Also
make sure you know exactly what kind of character you want
to be, study the skill changes in depth, the make quite
a few things possible that weren't before. Also, be absolutely
sure to read up on the complex crafting system present in
HoE, it's a beautiful system, that deserves to be used.
Oh boy do we have a goody this week!
An honest to goodness interview with Goldark and Selenaia!
Give a warm welcome to the German towers of modmaking
power!
Q: With all of the new things you've
added, it seems like hell on earth has a bit of backstory,
indulge me
A: Seriously, the mod
has no such backstory. With D2X released, we were
heavily disappointed to be honest. Blizzard has built
in so many awesome possibilities for items, skills
and a extra challenge-factor though nothing of that
was used in the way we want to have D2X. It ironically
looks like they intended to build an enhanced mod-making-kit
for all us modders out there, somehow ;) We are pretty
happy about that though, many of the brick walls we
had once hit in Classic Diablo 2 modding are gone
and gave us a real freedom in modding - props to Blizzard's
programmers in that point.
Q: This mod plays quite a bit like
classic Diablo I, was this an intended effect, or
a pleasant coincidence?
A: It wasn't intended
to be honest. I think, the fact that we liked Diablo
I better than it's sequel brought the feeling into
the mod. So many things we always missed in Diablo
2, such as Superuniques you remember 3 weeks after
the fight (I can attest, these superuniques will kick
your ass so hard... well, I can't even think of an
analogy. - Red), unique items which simply let your
eyes plot out of your head and crafting in a more
detailed way in which you need to collect your stuff
*and* get well rewarded for the work and time you
have invested.
Q: In a few words, what is your
philosophy for modding in general, your prime directive
as it were?
A: Set a goal for yourself
and reach it. :)
Q: How many licks does it take
to get to the center of a tootsie roll tootsie pop?
A: Depends in which direction
you lick it ;) I myself dislike tootsie pops.(Damnit!
The world will never know! -Red)
Q: Do you have any future plans
for Hell on Earth? It is already an INCREDIBLY ambitious
mod, what else would you like to do with it?
A: First off, thanks
for the kind words :) This is a very hard to answer
question. If the mod hits ground like an a-bomb and
a fan community grows around it, more and more stuff
will get added in perhaps weekly updates. If not...(Yeah,
right Goldark, if this mod doesn't go over, I'll mail
you 10 bucks to keep working on it. -Red) we'll see.
It always depends on the fan input you get. Why should
professional game developers work on a expansion or
sequel to a game, nobody is interested in, except
for cash of course ;)
Q: Can I have a hideously overpowered
unique named after me?
A: What about a Elite
Unique Grim Wand..? A lot of people right from Phrozenkeep-community
will get a unique named after themselves, if the nickname
allows for it of course :) Anyone remember Bouley's
Thorn from HoE I? Greetings Jeff ;)
Q: Currently, the mod is unfinished,
but judging by the alpha build I've got, it looks
prime for release... When can we expect a public beta?
A: A public beta will
be launched as soon as uniques, sets and runewords
get done. We are progressing well with the uniques
and runewords so far...a release in a week could be
do-able, no promises though.
Q: If you could say one thing to
the mod community, what would it be?
A: Always remember that
you mod for yourself, not for others. Implementing
ideas from fan's input always is good and you should
be thankful for each feedback you get, no matter how
minor it is. :)
Though it hasn't gone public yet, drop
by the Hell on Earth site, check it out, and tell Goldark
and Selenaia how much you want Hell
on Earth!
RSS Feeds
