Which ITEM ICON set is better:
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(rejected by Bliz)
bnetcmsus-a.akamaihd.net/cms/gallery/B2I91UC3N7Q31582662150361.jpg
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(actual version)
bnetcmsus-a.akamaihd.net/cms/page_media/F6OF7Z07FR5E1607721493120.jpg
P.S. In DIABLO IV QUARTERLY UPDATE—FEBRUARY 2020 Blizzard said:
“With item icons, we’d initially pursued a painterly style to stay in line with the overall art direction of the game, and we’re finding that it doesn’t come across as well when we’re talking about small elements in the UI. We’re now exploring another approach more directly based off the 3D models to give them natural texture and realism.”
P.S.S. I personally love 1st variation. Which do you like more?
Fix your links.
And yes, you can make functional links by turning them into preformatted text.
1 Like
done, thanks for the tip.
I agree with you. I prefer the first variation.
2 Likes
Where’s the current version?
The current version is “2”
I like the 3D models better. Edited for not uderstanding what was being compared at first.
For me the first variation feels like a master piece in itself. Gorgeous 2D items, subtle and smooth colors. Beautiful background patterns that fit well for each boxes. Everything is easily distinguishable. Its almost as if the overall really tells us a story in itself.
The current variation feels boring. Every 3D items are ugly, i can’t even discribe what it looks like. Worst, they all seems pixelated as hell, no smoothness at all. There’s no colors, everything is just grayscale. It just feels like a random version of POE. I’m sad 
Even Diablo 3 UI is far better than this sh*t.
2 Likes
Blizzard obviously have lots of meetings/distractions about this that’s probably why it’s never ready on time. I preferred the dark and gritty Diablo not Twilight glistening zones.
Stylistically I prefer the first one. But also dont exactly care one way or the other.
The 3D models are likely much easier to make, since well, they already have them for the characters.
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Exactly. “2” is easier to make, which is why Bliz chose it, I think to save time before release.
But the “1” one is more appropriate for Blizzard work, it stands out from the crowd. (like other diablo-clone-games do).
Also please look to DImmortal item icons:
https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/-df07fyHI84DH1jxhKGW3G3hhDo=/0x38:1920x1043/fit-in/1200x630/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23604462/DIM_Launch_InventoryScreen_GTS_01.png
It looks pretty good too.
Do you know how much resources would go into making unique 2D art for every item in the game? It isn’t that it’s easier because making the 3D models of the items itself is resource intensive. It’s a ridiculous amount of time and money to do. Art is the most expensive part of developing a game these days and now you are asking for them to create 2 individual pieces of art for every item. It just doesn’t make any sense from a development no financial perspective.
And before yoy say but they already did. They had generic 2D art, probably placeholders for most ite.s and much didn’t look like the items on the model. The smaller 3D models of the actual items is a much better way to go, and I’d rather see exactly what I’m getting.
Second version is better imo
obviously armour and metal is shiny but I couldn’t help but notice a few details on videos that frustrated me. I will obviously play the game and comment further.
I’m a bit of an UI fanatic and I don’t like both. Artistically both are fine but:
- the 3D character needs to go away, it takes up to much space and is already present on the game screen (it would make sense in the transmog UI though)
- item icons are to small and cluttered with sockets and buttons (especially in the current version, which changed again a little bit)
- the inventory hides your resource globe in D4 making it harder to play the game while the inventory is open
- the UI is a compromise to work with mouse and gamepad, I think this is a bad thing and was much better done in D3
2 Likes
Id rather see how thebitem looks on my character than on a big inventory item. You ca hiver over the icon and it enlarges. The items are clear and readable enough on your monitor. Much better to be uniform than have two different UIs.
I disagree on the current readability. There are some socketed items where you cannot tell what it is currently and hovering over the item is an unnessacery obstacle.
As far as I know we haven’t seen the transmog UI yet. Not sure if it was in the closed beta. IMO it should be different to the inventory since it has a different purpose.
Agreed. This is not necessary in my opinion.
It was and it is. In rega4ds to gem slots, the item is clearly visable on the character model in the center.
I’m talking about items in your “backpack”. Staffs, daggers, crossbows etc. are mostly hidden by the sockets. The available space of the inventory panel should be used to render those items bigger with smaller sockets in relation. It’s a drawback of going with single cell items instead of differently sized items.
For UX it is very important the player can “read” what type of item has been picked up without hovering the items first.