A new update for Blizzard's upcoming demon-hunting epic Diablo 4 has been released. The update does not contain any major announcements and has no release date, but it does reveal details about the game's basic systems, including how multiplayer action will be tackled and changes in the way the story is told.

While "Diablo 3" relied on "UI panes with character names and portraits" to talk to NPCs, "Diablo 4" will take a more complex approach with both auto-generated and "manually choreographed" chat.

"For simple dialogue with NPCs, the camera will be brought closer to the character (while maintaining an overall isometric feel) and a library of animations will be used to convey the general content of the conversation," Blizzard explains. For more complex conversations, we take a similar camera approach, but here the character movements and animations are more deliberately handcrafted." This allows us to blend into the world as much as possible while still providing complex story moments."

At particularly important moments in the story, Blizzard also employs "real-time cutscenes," where the game controls the camera for a more cinematic effect. This approach allows for a more personalized experience, as the armor and weapons a character is equipped with are shown and displayed at the current resolution and graphics settings.

On the multiplayer front, Blizzard stated that its broad goal is to include elements of a shared world without fully venturing into MMO territory.

"Dungeons and key story moments are always private to the player and their party. 'Once the story moments are complete and the town becomes a social hub, you'll run into some people in town. In their travels, they may run into players here and there. And finally, when you get to a place where a world event is taking place, you will see more players trying to defend against an attack by a horde of cannibals or trying to defeat Ashava, the demonic world boss we unveiled at BlizzCon."

It is also emphasized that "coordination is helpful," especially during world events, but you never have to join a party: just wander in, help out, claim your rewards, and go on your way. We think this seamless approach to multiplayer is working well." In our tests so far, the world has felt alive and dynamic without sacrificing the atmosphere of 'Diablo. And for players who want to party with the minions of Hell, we have new tools to help them find their group, including activities and proximity in the game world"

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The update also touches on open world elements, items, and progressions, but it is worth keeping in mind that none of it is etched in stone: the general feeling from playtesting is that things are going well, but still in alpha or beta status It is not. Blizzard added, "We don't typically discuss early milestones in development publicly, but we think it's especially important to continue sharing our progress in years when BlizzCon isn't taking place."

Diablo 4 was announced at last year's BlizzCon, which will not take place this year. There were no hints about a release date, but director Luis Barriga warned when it was announced that it would not be released immediately - not even "Blizzard soon."