Could someone come up with a reasonable explanation why the layout of Kurast docks, and the entire new area and locations are messed up compared to D2?
I hope there is a reasonable explanation but i couldn’t find.
Kurast docks is only barely resembling it’s former self. Not because about 20 years passed and some new houses has been built or some thorn down. But the entire fixed stone structure and dock became a totally different layout. Only the town portal remained the same compared to the center pyramide, and the blacksmithing location and market where Hratli and Natalya used to hang out.
Also taking into consideration that the town portal is still on the north-eastern part of the docks, the entire game is still set in the way that UP=north, DOWN = south ect. (other point of comparison is Alcarnus)
So in Diablo 2 even if maps were randomized, it was always NORTH where we ventured forth, and doing so, reached Travincal through Lover /Upper Kurast and Bazar.
But now it is placed south from Kurast Docks.
What the hell?
So…ideas?
3 Likes
Because they decided to change the layout. It’s that simple.
They did the same thing with Caldeum from D3 to D4.
Fair enough. But Caldeum was a bad design too. That they messed that up too doesn’t justify this one.
But we could argue that Caldeum is a huge city and we only got to see a small portion in D3 and an other small portion here in D4 too.
EDIT: Just checked because i didn’t remember anymore. But here in D4 they got at least the general directions right with Caldeum /Alcarnus/Hidden camp. They are currently there in regards to each other where they should be and were in D3
Still placing entire regions in totally different cardinal directions is a major fakap. But maybe they explain it in the story somehow?
If so, sorry.
But i recall Kurast being already known as a location of the new expansion. That was i think hardly a spoiler.
2 Likes
No problem, but yeah, Kurast is/was special place with fond memories.
But who are we to argue with mighty Blizz 
1 Like
I don’t think it was just the city of Caldeum though. I think it was the whole area. I kept expecting to find things in certain places, and they were in different directions than I thought they would be.
Honestly, I kind of suspect the layouts for these things are different because the devs figured they’re new games, it doesn’t matter, and only used the names.
1 Like
Yeah you might be right.
But that only shows how little Blizz care about the continuity and consistency of their own lore and world.
remember the famous red shirt guy? (The guy who corrected Chris Metzen about the lore error in one of the WoW expansion) 
But that was an error from their part, not intentional.
2 Likes
I was just thinking about this a bit more. Maybe the layout in D2 and D3 isn’t what we thought it was. In D3, you arrive on the coast and head north. Heading north in D4 would lead you to Scosglen, not Caldeum. Maybe what appears to be north was actually east. It’s either that or it was ignored. Could go either way lol
1 Like
Wasn’t the map alwas random in D2 or was there always a general directon and distance, and just sections of the map were randomized?
1 Like
That I’m not 100% sure on. I want to say parts were randomized, like in D3, where sections changed but not the whole layout. But I could be wrong. There’s like a 15 year gap between my playing D2 and D2R, and I didn’t play D2R beyond two characters, neither of which I even hit level 50 on, and that was my most recent.
1 Like
Yeah i was thinking about that too. But if you take Kurast Docks layout, it has the same general direction setup as it was in D2. Blacksmithing place on the right, the town portal on top right ect. That would imply that they still stick to the same directional system.
In D3 you can also check the map, caldeum is slightly to the northwest to the hidden camp and Alcarnus to the north east. Here if you get to the hidden camp location, it is the same. But the distances are also different between these games.
Yes the map layouts were. As i already wrote. But one thing was a constant. You ALWAYS headed upwards (presumably NORTH) to go through Flayer jungle, Spider Forest, Lower Kurast, other Kurasts ect.
Here you go the opposite direction 
3 Likes
Kurast is the new Gae Kul. Way too big for no good reason just to waste people’s time getting from one thing to another. And the streets are just annoyingly narrow to make horsing through more difficult. Just bad design all around, imo.
Not really a spoiler if you’ve ever looked at the world map for Diablo.
Clearly it was hit by an earthquake and rotated 90 degrees.
2 Likes
Ok the placement of things here is just a headache. Travincal was at the middle of a lake or a river and Kurast was adjacent to a major river.
They even portrayed Travincal more accurately earlier in the game.
2 Likes
