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Earlier this year, senior technical game designer Wyatt Cheng delivered a detailed talk at GDC 2013 titled "Through the Grinder: Refining Diablo III's Game Systems." This talk focused on the power of iteration, revealing the many stages of design through which key systems like health recovery, combat controls, and character skills went through during the initial development of Diablo III. Thanks to the wonders of technology, this insightful behind-the-scenes talk is now available to watch online. (Sweet!)

Head on over to the GDC Vault now to watch "Through the Grinder", as well as other keynote talks presented at GDC 2013. 

Want to know a bit more about the talk before watching? Here's the official overview:

"As with all Blizzard games, Diablo III went through many iterations before the final product was released. Wyatt will describe different game systems that were attempted, explored, and then ultimately removed. We'll go into detail about the pros and cons of each system, what worked and didn't work, and how the team used each failure to bring them closer to success.

1. Health Recovery: From Regenerative Damage Shields to potion dilution, where potions become less effective as you drink them, many different health recovery mechanisms were tried. What were the major issues with each of these systems and how did it lead to health globes in the end?

2. Controls: At Blizzard, control is king. Although simple on the surface, a number of iterations were required to polish the Diablo III interface, in order to provide the player with tight and responsive controls.

3. Skill System: The skill system underwent multiple revisions. Early systems involved different variations of point spending, an evolution from Diablo II. Later systems had runes, with multiple rune ranks that dropped as items, which could be used to modify skills."

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Written by Aaron Williams and illustrated by French artist Joseph Lacroix, Diablo: Sword of Justice has been unleashed today!

Previously released separately, these five issues of Diablo: Sword of Justice will now also be available in one comprehensive volume. This edition of the book will also feature never before seen concept art and sketches.

Click here to view all four cover sketches.

From the dark world of Sanctuary comes the tale of a hero's birth. Haunted by his harrowing past, a wanted man named Jacob finds his destiny at the foot of a mountain shattered by the legendary sword of Tyrael, the archangel of Justice. 

You can check out previews of some of the standalone issues below.

Issue #3	Issue #4	Issue #5

Interested in finding out more about the story of Diablo: Sword of Justice? Get your copy now at the Blizzard store, or preorder your copy today at Amazon and Barnes and Noble!

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Join the TwizzCast crew this Wednesday, July 10, at 6:00 p.m. Pacific (8:00 p.m. Central) as they sit down with Josh Mosqueira, Jason Bender, Wyatt Cheng, and Travis Day to chat about "the current state of the game, the upcoming console version, the future of the game, and everything else in between."

To catch the podcast live, be sure to head on over to http://www.twitch.tv/twizzcast at 6:00 p.m. PDT on Wednesday. If you can't tune in, don't worry! The full interview will be uploaded to BlizzPro's official YouTube channel and an audio version will be available for download from TwizzCast.com following the show.

Have a question you'd like asked during the podcast? Let TwizzCast know! Email podcast@blizzpro.com or simply leave a comment here to submit your suggestions.