We talk with Matthew Berger, level designer on the Diablo III console team, about why a game with random levels needs level designers, monsters invading your friends' games and other good stuff.
When asked how the PC design fits with console Berger offered this:
"It really depends on which area of the game if you look at the Crusader for instance which is the new class. The Crusader, some of his abilities are going to be, he has an ability where he throws his shield and it bounces between enemies, and that one works just fine. It works awesome on console just as it does on PC. But his other attack a falling sword where he leaps up into the sky and comes down like Iron Man and crashes into the ground. On console it's a little bit harder to target specifically guys in the back, and we kind of have to work at that. Make sure that the ability is going to be just as responsive and as usable on console and yet as precise as we can get it."
Berger went on to talk a lot about various aspects of the game including adventure mode, but also had this to say about the technical side of the PS4 edition.
"It's native 1080p. It looks gorgeous. We've added new shaders. We've spruced up the graphic engine. We've updated the lighting models so it's going to look a lot sharper."
When asked whether it's on par with PC or even better, Berger had this to say:
"I am told quite convincingly by our lead gameplay engineer that some of the stuff we've added to console is being taken back to PC. (laughter) So you know... Because... We're one big team. So we talk with one another. And sometimes we'll do something and we're "aww, yeah we should put that on PC", and often they do a ton of stuff and go "yeah, that's absolutely coming to console", so there's a lot of cross pollination."