Topic: Torchlight 2

[idolminds]

Coming Spring 2011

KEY FEATURES

    * Multi-player – Play with your friends over a local area network, or over the Internet. A free matchmaking peer-to-peer service lets you make new friends for exciting co-op play.
    * Customizable Characters – Players create and customize a character from one of four classes available and choose an animal companion. Through cosmetic, class, and gender choices, skill path decisions, and the treasures they acquire, each character can be custom-tailored to each player’s needs.
    * Moddability – Torchlight II will release with an updated version of TorchEd, the Torchlight editor. Players have the option to create their own mods, adding even more content to the world. You and your friends can download the same mod and play together!
    * New User Interface – Torchlight II boasts an entirely new, improved user interface, designed to be easier than ever for new players to pick up and play. Thanks to this intuitive interface, players have immediate access to a rich and varied world, with little experience necessary.
    * Overworld Areas – Torchlight II has large randomized overworld areas to explore with weather, time of day cycles, and random events that provide players with even more content to experience.
    * Random Dungeons – Delve into randomly generated dungeons within the game at any time for extra experience and rare loot. Dungeons in Torchlight II have even more branching paths to explore with friends filled with random events, rewards and dangers.
    * Retirement System – Once characters are sufficiently leveled up, they can “retire” and bestow specific benefits and perks onto new characters.
    * Pets – Players choose a pet to accompany them. Pets level up along with the player, and help in battle, learn spells, carry items, and perform a variety of support services.
    * Fishing – Fishing returns in the sequel! Players can take a break from the high-energy pace of adventuring to relax by one of the many fishing holes and see what they can catch. Fish have unique benefits for the player and pet, while a number of other rewards can also be discovered.

The MMO has been delayed while they work on Torchlight 2. No screens yet, but the game will be playable at Gamescom later this month as well as PAX in September.

Yay! Co-op!

[MysterD]

AWESOME!!!

EDIT - Aug 5, 2010:
Runic's CEO Max Schaefer on Torchlight 2.

[Pugnate]

The only thing that worries me is that these are still the idiots who did Hellgate: London.

I hope they are smart enough to realize what made Torchlight a success, and Hellgate a failure, and work from there.

[idolminds]

Actually, these are the guys at Flagship that were working on Mythos. Which, if you ask anyone in the beta, was WAY better than Hellgate. Torchlight is basically Mythos in singleplayer. The Torchlight MMO will be pretty much Mythos 2. And Torchlight 2 is like...well, something different, but awesome.

[Pugnate]

I didn't realize they were two different teams. I did know that they made this after they couldn't sell Mythos.

As for the mistakes of Hellgate, I basically meant how so many of the design decisions were determined by how they wanted to make more money off of their buyers, rather than how to make the game more enjoyable.

[MysterD]

I didn't realize they were two different teams. I did know that they made this after they couldn't sell Mythos.

Some of those guys that worked on Mythos for Flagship Seattle division - they were part of the team that worked on Fate for WildTangent.

Basically, Torchlight's a MUCH better and more evolved version of Fate. Fate was good and addictive, I might add.
 

As for the mistakes of Hellgate, I basically meant how so many of the design decisions were determined by how they wanted to make more money off of their buyers, rather than how to make the game more enjoyable.

HGL's biggest problem was it shipped out-the-box in a bad state, resulting in lots of gamers bitching and reviewers tanking the game. Word spread fast - people that didn't get caught in the original hype just ignored it, since sales started off good and quickly...but then quickly stopped.

We can blame EA and Flagship Cali for that one - since EA should've never kicked the game out in that state and since Flagship Cali couldn't get that game done right by the release date. Add the stupid money-making schemes - i.e. "Lifetime" Founder's Fee for around $150 and not much DLC to keep players paying and playing to pay that $15 fee per month - forget it. Plus, you couldn't even use DLC in SP mode. Plus, they kept patching MP mode more often than SP mode - so you really should've stuck w/ the MP mode, while the servers were up.

[idolminds]

Podcast with lots of info!

Don't want to listen? Yeah, me either. Heres the bullet list:

    * Max was likely a bit tipsy when he slipped about Torchlight II at GDC earlier this year. (2:20)
    * Runic is still "relatively" Independent, and Perfect World is the "Investor." (2:49)
    * Currently at 32 people on staff and no plans to get much bigger. (3:25)
    * Roughly 4 Digital Downloads for every 1 boxed copy of Torchlight sold. (4:25, beginning of Runic Team Growth Talk)
    * They want console releases, but haven't managed it so far. (6:00)
    * Never really considered Torchlight II as an expansion pack. (7:00)
    * MMO pushed to the back-burner for now. (8:04, beginning of MMO talk)
    * More classes, non-linear advancement and outside worlds. (8:45)
    * Mac version sooner after the PC release than the last game. (9:39)
    * Likely to have Steam availability on day 1. (9:12)
    * No modding tools for Mac again, because they are programmed in C#. (10:04)
    * A writer has been hired and there will be actual narrative. (11:05)
    * You will not be starting in the town of Torchlight.
    * Lots of regions and cultures in Torchlight II.
    * In a lot of ways the changes from Diablo 1 to Diablo 2 are comparable to Torchlight 1 and Torchlight 2. (12:20)
    * No plans on any kind of import from the old game to the new one. Much of the game has been revamped or improved, which makes it difficult to try to import anything. (13:00)
    * Itemization system is being changed and will match the new classes. (Starts at 12:47)
    * The Railman class is "an engineer turned into a melee tank." They are charged with developing transportation and pushing it into the wilderness. (15:40)
    * The Outlander is a hybrid of ranged with "superstitious magic." Survivalist vibe. (16:25)
    * Torchlight has its own style of steampunk that they have been working with for the art style. (17:22)
      [Image]
    * The UI has been totally overhauled. (18:30)
    * Identification system will be changed, if not completely removed. "Less onerous." (18:47)
    * Chatting in multiplayer. (19:09)
    * Trying out a bag-based system for the inventory. (19:16)
    * New pets, but Dogs and Cats of some sort will be included. (19:55)
    * More monsters scaling this time, not as much as oblivion but better than the main dungeon in the original game. (20:20)
    * A lot more balance between classes this time, especially for skills. (21:15)
    * Endless dungeons and retirement will return "in some way, shape or form." (22:09)
    * PvP might appear in the game, but it won't be possible to do it cheat-free. (23:30)
    * They want to make it possible for people to play with mods with other people. (25:20)
    * There will be a friends list. (26:20)
    * Inline character saves so that people can play on the go from anywhere. (26:40)
    * Monster scaled via proximity. "If you are in Act 3 and I'm in act 1..." then the Act 1 monsters won't get harder. (27:50)
    * The loot you see drop will belong only to you, and item trading will be available. Trading interface included, but you can throw things on the ground for anyone to pick up if you want. (28:15)
    * Co-op is a minimum of four players, and a possible maximum of eight. Summons are a major factor in these numbers. Not finalized. (28:52)
    * Video at Gamescom! (29:50)
    * The game will be playable in Pre-Alpha form at Gamescom later this month. (30:4
    * Alpha (or Beta?) testing MAY be early next year, and they want to involve the community but don't know how they want to do that yet. (31:10)
    * You can see what mods someone has if they join your game, and they will need to be the same to join.
    * Skill system has changed.
    * The world will be divided into zones with sub-areas, and random outdoors. (35:44)
    * Three major distinct outdoor types - Grassy mountain Steppes, Desert and Dark, Spooky Battlefield Forest (Swamp?) (36:19)
    * Random events like caravans being attacked. (38:14)
    * 200+ Unique weapon models. (38:25, 39:10 Key points)
    * New weapon types, including Cannons and Fist weapons. (39:20)
    * Weapon specific walking and attack animations. (39:45)
    * Fishing may be revised, but it will return. (40:50)
    * No mounts. (43:30)
    * Price point close to the last game. (44:30)

[Xessive]

Nice! Nice.

[idolminds]

Gamescome trailer

[MysterD]

Gamescome trailer

I was sold as soon as Torchlight 2 was announced - before the details.
Even more sold, once more details rolled out.

But, yes - that MP Trailer looks sweet.

[MysterD]

IGN -> Torchlight 2 preview from GamesCom 2010.

[MysterD]

Runic's CEO Max Shaefer is saying we can probably expect Torchlight 3 before Diablo 3 - seriously.

EDIT - 9-3-2010:
G4TV -> Preview.

[MysterD]

Shacknews -> Torchlight 2's Co-Op might be somwhere around somewhere b/t 4 to 8 players.

[MysterD]

DigitalSpy -> Torchlight II is delayed until July.

[MysterD]

Charge-Shot.com -> Interview w/ Max Schaefer of Runic on Torchlight for consoles, Torchlight 2, and Torchlight MMO.

Something to note:
Torchlight MMO will have no subscription fees. You buy the game, it's yours to play (probably as long as the servers are going).

[MysterD]

GameSpot -> Torchlight II - 35 mins of gameplay.

[MysterD]

Kotaku -> Currently, Torchlight 2 is too big for XBLA's Memory Limit.

[Cobra951]

"Torchlight on Xbox Live did very well for us. I think it's the number one revenue game on XBLA for the year so far. We missed out being the top for units sold to Full House Poker by a little bit but they cost less than we do. It was definitely a profitable and valuable experience and we're happy with the results."

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-08-04-torchlight-2-is-too-big-for-xbla

I'd say that's good motivation for "comprehensive redesign".  The game is probably good enough for a full retail release, but file size isn't the barrier.  RAM usage is.

UPDATE: Runic has clarified via its Twitter feed that it's the XBLA memory limit that's the problem, not the file size restriction.

[MysterD]

Max Schaefer talks about Torchlight 2 vs. Diablo 3.

Summary: Torchlight 2 is built to be open and flexible, while Diablo 3 is meant to be closed.

Torchlight 2 will have MODS allowed; MUCH improved SDK; easier way to Trade Mods; flexibility for gameplay mods [Offline, LAN, Runic's Lobby for Online play, etc]; nowhere as crazy DRM [one-time activation for Non-Steam version; Steam version gets Steam DRM]; NO Real-Money Transactions.

[MysterD]

IGN - Preview from Gamescon on Torchlight 2.

The advantage for Runic's game is you can play an offline solo game if you wish.
Torchlight II will also support LAN play and online adventuring for around six to eight players, though through modding those limits can change.

That's sweet - even though TL2 is built for 6-8 players, you can just mod the LAN play player limit an increase it, if you so choose to.
Cool.

[K-man]

Priced at 20 bucks!  Awesome!

[idolminds]

$20 again? Holy hell, thats awesome.

[MysterD]

$20 again? Holy hell, thats awesome.

Yes.
So, Diablo 3 isn't looking so attractive at $60 - especially given the DRM circumstances...

[K-man]

Let's be real, D.  Torchlight 2 will be nothing but an afterthought once D3 hits.  That's why Runic wants T2 to hit so bad this year.

[Pugnate]

Let's be real, D.  Torchlight 2 will be nothing but an afterthought once D3 hits.  That's why Runic wants T2 to hit so bad this year.

[Quemaqua]

Speak for yourself. I have no plans to buy D3 or any other Blizzard products anymore. If I want a Diablo fix, this is where I'm going to have to get it.

[W7RE]

Speak for yourself. I have no plans to buy D3 or any other Blizzard products anymore. If I want a Diablo fix, this is where I'm going to have to get it.

Path of Exile has a bit more of the style of Diablo, and will be free to play. Though I'd be surprised if it came close to being as good as Diablo or Torchlight.

[Cobra951]

Speak for yourself. I have no plans to buy D3 or any other Blizzard products anymore. If I want a Diablo fix, this is where I'm going to have to get it.

*Sigh*  That is what it comes down to.  I have to wait for console versions anyway, so let's see what shakes.

Edit:

Path of Exile has a bit more of the style of Diablo, and will be free to play. Though I'd be surprised if it came close to being as good as Diablo or Torchlight.

OK, cool, but the sticking point is no offline mode in D3.  Path of Exile doesn't solve that.

[MysterD]

OK, cool, but the sticking point is no offline mode in D3.  Path of Exile doesn't solve that.

What about Grim Dawn? [shrug]

Speak for yourself. I have no plans to buy D3 or any other Blizzard products anymore. If I want a Diablo fix, this is where I'm going to have to get it.

I'm sure I'll buy D3, but it just won't be anytime soon...especially at an expensive price w/ "Always online" requirement.
Just like I did w/ D2, I'll just sit back and wait for the inevitable price-drops and/or sales...

Torchlight 2, though - geez, what won't this game do? [shrug]
It does SP, MP, Co-Op, LAN, SDK, Mods, etc etc - and will ONLY be $20 upon release.

[W7RE]

OK, cool, but the sticking point is no offline mode in D3.  Path of Exile doesn't solve that.

True, but it's free. There is no "I didn't get what I paid for" because it doesn't have a $60 price tag attached to it. If that required connection becomes a problem, you can just abandon the game, and you've lost no money.

Similarly I keep trying to play a F2P game called Dragon's Nest. At first it would lock up 5 minutes after logging in every time. They've patched it, and now it locks up while trying to load the character selection screen. I can not play it at all. I didn't pay for it though, so I just bitch a little and then play something else. I'd be pissed if I'd paid for the game.

[Quemaqua]

Maybe that's the real secret, here. F2P has become so big because now developers, when confronted with broken games that don't do what they're supposed to, can just say, "Hey man, you didn't pay for it."

 

[W7RE]

I'm pretty sure the average person pays more for a F2P game than a subscription based game. I think most people don't have the willpower to resist buying unnecessary items. I recently played some Age of Conan with 2 friends (up to level 40). Within a week, one had subscribed, and both had bought about $10 in cosmetic equipment. They say they like F2P because the never have to spend anything, but they always spend anyway.

[MysterD]

PCG -> Torchlight 2 preview.
Torchlight 2 Website -> Doesn't look like Torchlight 2 will make 2011.
RockPaperShotgun -> Runic on Torchlight vs. Diablo; and the ARPG's slow evolution.

[MysterD]

Torchlight 2 - "New Heroes Will Rise" TRAILER.

[Pugnate]

Torchlight 2 = No one will give a fuck after Diablo 3.

[Quemaqua]

Barring those of us who don't give a fuck about Diablo 3.

[Pugnate]

haha I knew someone would bite.

I thought you were a big Diablo fan? No? Disenchanted with Blizzard I guess. I haven't been excited about a game for a long time. Excited for Guild Wars 2 also.

[MysterD]

haha I knew someone would bite.

I thought you were a big Diablo fan? No? Disenchanted with Blizzard I guess. I haven't been excited about a game for a long time. Excited for Guild Wars 2 also.

I think many of us are STILL not too happy w/ Blizz making the game require Battle.Net w/ the "Always Online DRM" requirement - especially when D1 and D2 had SP modes that you could play offline no problem. And they had LAN support, too.
I'll eventually get it, but I don't see myself buying it anytime soon, until it price-drops.

About Torchlight 2 - it'll have SP, MP, LAN - yeah, it'll do it all.

As for GW2 - as great as it looks, I need to finish GW1 + All Expansions.

[Quemaqua]

I was a tremendous Diablo fan. Blizz killed all their goodwill with me in the last few years development-wise, but it's mostly just the price point, the online-only stuff, my dislike of the art direction, and the fact that honestly nothing they've shown thus far looks interesting to me. Videos and screens just look meh. Grim Dawn looks way more like something I want to play.

I'm not saying I'll never play it or ever care, but at this point it just isn't exciting and there are way too many caveats. I doubt those will change, so my excitement is pretty much nil. I'm not paying $60 for a game that doesn't even look that interesting by a company whose collective ego has clearly outclassed the quality of their games.

[PyroMenace]

Well... I will vouch for Blizzard when I comes to the quality of their games. But I agree, they are making some development choices in their games where they could have made compromises for the players sake. I played the Diablo 3 beta, and I am really enjoying it, everything feels just right in terms of quality but the online requirements.. just isnt necessary. I wouldn't mind it as much if the game was always available for play but from what it looks like, all access to the game will be down when the servers are down and like WoW, this could be a once a week thing. But this is not an MMO which is the only exception I make for that case. I really hope they implement an offline feature in the future, hopefully enough player reaction will appeal to Blizzard's... hopefully more accommodating face.