Diablo is basically Blizzard's second most famous action role-playing series, next to Warcraft, where instead of fighting orcs, you're on a mythical quest to murder everyone's friendly neighborhood dark-lord.
Diablo was originally developed as a turn-based game by Condor Inc.2 Condor was later bought by Blizzard Entertainment and transformed into Blizzard North. As part of the arrangement, Diablo would have to include real-time combat instead of turn-based combat, and feature multiplayer. Blizzard was convinced that these two features were key after the success of Warcraft. It turns out that they were correct. David Brevik experimented with real-time combat by simply reducing the turn length to 0 seconds, and the rest is history.
Sub-Pages#
Development Info
Prototype Info
Bugs
HellfireUnused content in the expansion. Now with more nuts!
Cut QuestsHaha! They have you hunting worms now? What's next, leaf collecting? Picking up mushrooms?
Cut MonstersThe sanctity of this place has been fouled.
Cut AudioI've never been here before...
Cut GraphicsI do not need that.NPCs#
Tremain#
Originally, the town of Tristram was going to feature a priest, Tremain. Tremain only had dialogues for two quests, and no gossip. Other NPCs' gossip about Tremain pointed he could come and go in Tristram, meaning he could be absent when not giving quests. Graphics for this character exist in /towners/priest/priest8.cel, implying that he was either the eighth character developed or that there were eight different iterations of his graphics. His dialogue is in /sfx/towners, along with all the other townsfolk.
The first quest involves cursed sword Shadowfang and ends with Tremain's death. This quest is completely cut from the final game. The second quest is about Archbishop Lazarus, which is present but simplified in final game. Since Lazarus quest is part of the endgame of Diablo, it is not compatible with Tremain's death. However, the French translation manual has Tremain's dialogues in Archbishop Lazarus quest and not Shadowfang. This suggests that the second-to-last Diablo version before release had cut Shadowfang quest and kept Tremain for Archbishop Lazarus quest, then the released game cut Tremain's role in Archbishop Lazarus quest.
Graphics |
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File Name |
Audio |
Transcription |
Notes |
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priest00.wav |
All I can do now is pray for us all. |
Most likely his greeting when you interact with him, just like with other characters. |
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priest01.wav |
I seek a champion to undertake a serious duty and the people of this town speak well of your courage and skill. The Archbishop Lazarus, once King Leoric's most trusted advisor and a member of our order, has taken the path of evil. Not long ago, Lazarus lead a party of simple townsfolk into the labyrinth to find the king's missing son, Albrecht. Only a few of them escaped with their lives. Curse me for a fool! I should have suspected his veiled treachery then, for I have learned that it was Lazarus himself who kidnapped Leoric's son and has since hidden him within the labyrinth. I still don't understand why the Archbishop has turned to the darkness, or what his interest is in Albrecht. Unless...he means to sacrifice him at the full moon! That must be what he has planned! The survivors of his rescue party say that Lazarus was last seen in the deepest bowels of the labyrinth, some sixteen levels beneath the cathedral. You must hurry, and save the prince from the sacrificial blade of this demented fiend! |
Lazarus is on the fifteenth level in the final game instead of the sixteenth (which has Diablo). Like the Strange Map quest, that quest was likely cut to remove time limits from Diablo. |
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priest02.wav |
Why do you delay? Time is of the essence! The prince and the people of this kingdom are counting on you! |
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priest03.wav |
So, Lazarus has paid the price for his betrayal, and justice is served. For your services this day, I bestow this mace unto you. Its name is Lightforge, and it is the holiest of our order's artifacts. As I am the last of this order, I entrust it to you. May the light guide you. |
Lightforge exists and can be found in the final game as a random unique item. Deckard Cain is also revealed to be the last member of an ancient order; perhaps this plot point was reused. |
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priest04.wav |
This is terrible! Lazarus will surely burn in hell for his horrific deed. Although the boy you describe may not be our prince, I believe that Albrecht may yet be in danger. Whatever vile power lies beneath the ground has assuredly secured its foothold in our world. All I can do now is pray for us all. |
This is possibly the "bad ending" if "not Albrecht" is not saved in time. |
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priest05.wav |
I have had a most disturbing experience that I must share with you, my friend. Earlier today, I was called upon to help one of the men that escaped from the labyrinth. He was deranged, violent, and kept lashing out at all of those who tried to calm him. I suspected that he was possessed by some sort of demonic entity, and so, began to drive the evil from within him. After many hours, I was able to exorcise a demon who called himself Fleshdoom, but the hellion fled into the labyrinth. You may think that I am mad, but after speaking with the man and battling with Fleshdoom, I believe that the labyrinth has somehow become a gateway to the underworld. As you descend deeper, you may find yourself upon the doorstep of hell itself. Finally, the man who was possessed retained memories of an ancient demon blade named Shadowfang. If you find the demon Fleshdoom, beware this foul sword. While I fear the dangers below grow even greater, you must find Fleshdoom and slay him. Bring the sword to me and I can destroy it. But do not wield it; for its power can corrupt absolutely. |
This begins the Shadowfang/Fleshdoom quest. |
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priest06.wav |
Fleshdoom's demise is a great good to the world, yet Shadowfang remains. It must be found and destroyed. Do not attempt to use the demon blade, champion. It will corrupt and madden any mortal who wields it. I alone can end its dark evil. |
Presumably this would be used when talking to Tremain after killing Fleshdoom but while not possessing Shadowfang. |
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priest07.wav |
Light be praised! You found the cursed demon blade. Only its destruction can ensure the safety of us all. Wait. What treachery is this? Ow! It burns! Hellfire, consuming me! You must take this to the Hellforge, and cast it in before...no! |
Tremain dies after saying this line. |
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The other townsfolk have unused, voiced gossip lines about Tremain:
Speaker |
Audio |
Transcription |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
Adria |
Faith is absolute belief in the unseen. The priest Tremain is from a holy order long asleep in this land. He keeps a promise and a charge issued ages ago and sustains a union with realms that even my vision cannot reach. He knows much, but not as much as he believes. |
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Deckard Cain |
Tremain is an occasional visitor to our town, and seems to have little problem coming and going. It is strange how at times anyone that tries to leave Tristram is hunted down and slain by the cloaked rides, and at other times it is a simple matter to leave. I think that it is that uncertain fear that keeps some of us here. But we are glad for Tremain's bravery and luck in keeping some contact with the rest of the kingdom. |
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Farnham |
I haven't ever see a priest around here. If I did I'd kick him right in the *BBBBUUURRRPPP* Can't even keep a church free of those Hell spawn - bastards. What good are they, those holy men? Liars! Liars! |
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Gillian |
I really don't know much about the priest Tremain. He never visits the tavern, preferring to keep to the company of Pepin and Cain. Perhaps it is because they, too, have more scholarly pursuits. |
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Griswold |
The priest Tremain. *Griswold Noise* He's a solitary fellow who has no time for most of us. He seems to prefer the company of Pepin or Cain. Ah, that's fine by me. I respect his passion and his commitment to his order, but I've no time for his prattling. |
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Ogden |
The priest Tremain is a bit of a mystery. He certainly never stays here, and he often comes and goes to many of the nearby towns. |
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Pepin |
His Holiness is a wondrous man of great knowledge and understanding. He has shown me many cures for rare and deadly diseases. He brings me books and reagents for my work whenever he can. But I fear that he may some day take on a task that is too great even for him. |
This is foreshadowing a later event. |
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Wirt |
Yeah, Tremain. He gets around, doesn't he? Or haven't you heard? My friends in some of the other towns say that he passes through. Picking up some books here, a pinch of bat claw there. Never seems to have the kind of problems most do getting in and out of Tristram, that's for sure. |
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Unused Walk Sequences#
Walk sequences exist for Griswold, Gillian and Ogden in eight directions. All town NPCs are stationary in the final game, and these sequences go unused.
Filename |
Character |
Animation |
|---|---|---|
towners/smith/smithw.cel |
Griswold |
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towners/twnf/twnfw.cel |
Ogden |
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towners/townwmn1/wmnw.cel |
Gillian |
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Cut Spells#
In many prerelease screenshots, the spellbook can be seen with 6 tabs instead of the 4 that are present at release. If the player clicks at a very specific spot on the spellbook page, they can access the fifth page, which doesn't show any spells on it.
Sentinel/Sentinal#
Sentinel (misspelled as "Sentinal" in the code) unleashes a floating eyeball that shoots fireballs at enemies. Given that this is very similar to Guardian, it was probably cut for this reason. Spell icons, graphics and code all exist for this spell, but it is unable to appear as a book or charges on a staff and the code for it is incomplete. The spell would've used a red book, similar to Fire Bolt and other fire spells.
File |
Description |
|---|---|
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The spell icon for Sentinel. |
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The fireball sent by the Sentinel? |
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The sentinel in its idle state. |
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The sentinel spawning. |
The Town Portal spell uses a sound effect called sentinel.wav instead of portal.wav (which goes unused), indicating that this sound effect was probably used for the Sentinel spell at one point.
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sentinal.wav (used for Town Portal) |
portal.wav (unused) |
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Blood Boil#
Blood Boil would've slowly killed a target in melee range, while also dealing damage to yourself. A spell icon and sound effects exist for this spell, both of which were re-used (except bldboil.wav, which is listed here) in Hellfire for the Rage skill. Unfortunately the code for it in the retail game is incomplete and does not work correctly.
File |
Description |
|---|---|
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The spell icon for Blood Boil. |
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This would've played if a character died, similar to the Stone Curse shattering effect (also cut). |
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Blood Ritual#
Blood Ritual exchanges health for mana in various prototypes, but does not function in the retail game. A spell icon exists for this spell. Notable is that the spell icon design was later reused for the Slow Missiles skill in Diablo II.
Doom Serpents#
Doom Serpents appears to be a missile skill that shoots serpents at your foes. A spell icon exists for this spell, but it is a duplicate of the Guardian spell icon. Additionally, there are sound effects, graphics and an entry in the spell table within the code.
File |
Description |
|---|---|
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The spell icon for Doom Serpents. |
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The missile. |
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The "explosion" effect when it hits something. |
Invisibility#
This spell would've most likely made you invisible for a period of time, but the code does not function. A spell icon and a sound effect exist for this spell. The design of the spell icon was later reused for the Teleport skill in Diablo II.
File |
Description |
|---|---|
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The spell icon for Invisibility. |
Etherealize#
This spell would make you stop taking damage for a certain period of time.
File |
Description |
|---|---|
 |
The spell icon for Etherealize. |
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This icon would appear above your head, similar to Mana Shield. |
Mind Mace#
All that exists of this spell in the retail game is a single graphic, mindmace.cel, which looks like a spinning mace.
Unused Misc Spell Icons#
There are five additional unused spell icons that are not attached to any particular spell. Given that they have a red tint to the icon, they would've costed Life to cast instead of Mana.
Unused Areas#
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To do:
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The Hall of Heroes#
levels/l1data/hero1.dun and levels/l1data/hero2.dun are unused sections of the Cathedral map. Originally, they were related to the Catacombs sections; in the pre-alpha versions of the game, the Catacombs were accessible through a special room called "The Hall of Heroes", where you needed to read a book to open the door, but later the entrance to the Catacombs was changed to just a stairwell. The text was later re-used for the Chamber of Bone quest, and the mention of "The Hall of Heroes" was left as an oversight.
Old Butcher's Chamber#
levels\l1data\rnd5.dun is an old variant of the Butcher's Chamber. Still can be seen on old screenshots.
The Maze#
levels/l1data/Lv1MazeA.DUN and levels/l1data/Lv1MazeB.DUN are unused - they are part of an unused Maze level. They were used for an old variant of the Ogden's Sign quest, that originally used the same name—"The Maze". In the final game, it uses a little sub-area instead of separate level.
The Lair?#
levels/l3data/lair.dun is not used. It was likely intended for the cut quest involving worms beneath the town.
Hidden Developer Messages#
Installer#
Hidden between Diablo's horns in the setup and boot executables for the first Windows release:
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Original |
Edited |
|---|---|
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The text on the left reads "BUY WAR II", while the other set reads "NATALIE PORTMAN ROCKS". While it's not 100% certain what the former refers to, it's most likely Warcraft II, another Blizzard game.
Diablo's Lair#
Entering Diablo's lair plays an ominous-sounding demonic chant. Reversing the audio, however, reveals the decidedly non-demonic message of "Eat your vegetables and brush after every meal." This is satirizing the Satanic Panic, in particular the idea that certain songs could be played backwards to reveal demonic messages.
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Original |
Reversed |
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Mac OS Dialogs#
Some development remnants survive in the resource fork:
(Diablo never would support 680x0 processors.)
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To do: |
Mac OS French translation guide#
Diablo was not translated, so in France, Mac OS release included a translation guide. However, this guide included some outdated information, giving hints about abandoned quests:
- Tremain has a translation page, but only for Archbishop Lazarus quest, suggesting he only appears in town at that point. Other characters dialogs are consistent with this version of the quest.
- Diablo quest is included as Map of the Stars, with corresponding dialogs.
- Butcher quest has all the dialogs corresponding to final game version, except for Adria, whose lines in English are those of the final game, but French translation corresponds to Butcher's Chamber Town portal version.
Also, many quests are referred under different names, mostly using special items names: Lachdanan quest is called "Veil of Steel", Arkaine's Valor is called "Stones of Blood"; "The Magic Rock" is called "Ring of Infravision", suggesting the original reward was a permanent infravision ring.
Notes#
- David Brevik states that the game was released on December 31st, 1996. Blizzard put out a press release in 1997 and 2000 stating that the game was released in January 1997, despite the game's copyright screen labeled as "1996". Later, Blizzard acknowledged the 20th anniversary of the game's release on December 31st, 2016.↩︎
- Diablo - Game Concept by Condor, Inc↩︎
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The Diablo series | |
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Windows |
Diablo (Hellfire; Prototypes) • Diablo II • Diablo III |
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PlayStation |
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Mac OS Classic |
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Mac OS X |
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Nintendo Switch |
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