PopCap Tried to Create "Cute" Diablo

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Tom Goldman

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Aug 17, 2009
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PopCap Tried to Create "Cute" Diablo



What would happen if you mixed PopCap Games with Diablo? The world may never know.

PopCap Games is known for taking genres and boiling them down to their essences to create casual titles that anyone can play. Take Diablo [http://www.amazon.com/Bookworm-Adventures-Pc/dp/B0019017Y8/ref=sr_1_1?s=gateway&ie=UTF8&qid=1285643392&sr=8-1].

PopCap co-founder Jason Kapalka told Develop: "We had a role-playing game where we had this idea of how to approach the RPG genre for a more casual market. I can't really go into details about the game, but it got pretty far. It was in beta, and it felt like a turn-based version of Diablo that was very cute."

Excuse me while I scream in terror about a game like this hitting PopCap's cutting room floor instead of my hard drive. Okay... now we can continue. Kapalka says that the Diablo-style game is now in PopCap's "design review" file.

For every game that makes the cut at PopCap, there many that don't which could end up stuck in design review. These titles are games that PopCap may have decided not to focus on, but are still potentially in the company's view for the future.

While Kapalka calls the Diablo game "really fun," he reveals its issues saying: "We had a lot of problems with the game's complexity spiraling out of control and, in the end, not being as casual as we wanted it to be." It seems my screams were not in order, because Kapalka also says of the design review file: "We do always want to go back to these games, take another look at them and figure out how to fix them. These games are never 100 per cent dead."

I, like many others, would be supremely interested in PopCap's take on a game like Diablo. Even if it just came up with some really cute concept art of Diablo monsters I'd probably put them in a slideshow and watch for hours on end. PopCap has proven itself as one of the masters of cute graphics and fun gameplay, so I'm hoping something that takes gamers into a dungeon with a similar style emerges from the studio eventually.

Source: Develop [http://www.develop-online.net/news/35961/PopCap-on-its-cancelled-cute-Diablo-game]

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Weaver

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Apr 28, 2008
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IMO even if the game is complex they should still go for it.
I know they define themselves as being in the casual market, but a massive amount of "core" gamers love popcap games as well.
 

Jaebird

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Aug 19, 2008
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Now I have this image of Diablo with kittens in my mind. Lovable, cuddly kittens of death!
 

RvLeshrac

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Oct 2, 2008
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"The complexity spiralled out of control."

Why in the nine hells is that a reason to not continue making the game? What's with the position companies seem to take on only making games for a single audience, never straying?

Also, what's with the thought that a game's complexity and fun have to be an either/or proposition? There's absolutely no reason a game can't be complex while simultaneously being easy and enjoyable, just look at Altitude.
 

Dirty Apple

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Apr 24, 2008
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I'm pretty sure Popcap could release a public bathroom cleaning sim and it would sell like... well, a Popcap game.
 

Contun

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Mar 28, 2009
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I'm starting to really like this Blizzard-PopCap relationship.

 

boholikeu

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Aug 18, 2008
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RvLeshrac said:
"The complexity spiralled out of control."

Why in the nine hells is that a reason to not continue making the game? What's with the position companies seem to take on only making games for a single audience, never straying?
Brand name recognition. If I see the name PopCap on a game I know it's going to be a casual game. This is especially important when your audience doesn't usually frequent game news or review sites.

RvLeshrac said:
Also, what's with the thought that a game's complexity and fun have to be an either/or proposition? There's absolutely no reason a game can't be complex while simultaneously being easy and enjoyable, just look at Altitude.
There are plenty of other companies that do this, just not PopCap. Like I said before it all comes from what people expect when they see a PopCap game.
 

2xDouble

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Mar 15, 2010
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For some reason I was thinking something along the lines of this game [http://games.adultswim.com/candy-mountain-massacre-action-online-game.html].
 

Tiamat666

Level 80 Legendary Postlord
Dec 4, 2007
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Diablo already is RPG boiled down to the bare, minimal bones. Point, click, level-up.

How could you possibly make Diablo any more casual? Why would you want to?
 

Nouw

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Mar 18, 2009
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jamesworkshop said:


It worked for this, why not a cute version of the dawn of war games6
Oh god this! Popcap, that should be your next game.

In relation the to the thread at hand, that's a shame. Oh well, didn't like Diablo that much anyway.
 

samsonguy920

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Mar 24, 2009
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Contun said:
I'm starting to really like this Blizzard-PopCap relationship.

*Fixed that for ya.
Now I remember there was a Mummy game that felt a lot like the puzzler's answer to the dungeon crawler genre. Only played the shareware version on Popcap's website but I found it quite fun. [small]Would love to see that put into affect in Tanaris.[/small] Ahem, anyway, I look forward to anything that comes up that prevents me from finally giving in an getting Plants vs Zombies and kissing the rest of my life away.
 

JEBWrench

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Apr 23, 2009
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Tiamat666 said:
Diablo already is RPG boiled down to the bare, minimal bones. Point, click, level-up.

How could you possibly make Diablo any more casual? Why would you want to?
Thank-you. Someone else recognizes this.

You have earned my respect comrade.