[PC] Torchlight II

[psychoclown]

	Game Details Classes Races Screenshots Polls Links News Updates Changelog Daves2hd heeft alvast een IRC kanaal aangemaakt waar je kunt kletsen over Torchlight II: #torchlight2 Torchlight II ignites the franchise created and developed by Runic Games in this exciting sequel to the award-winning Action RPG Torchlight. Runic Games, located in Seattle, is a veteran team composed of the designers and leads of projects like Diablo, Diablo II, Mythos, Fate, and Torchlight, which won the Game Developer’s Choice Award for Best Debut of 2009. Torchlight II is richly textured with our unique art style, drawing from traditional animation influences and expanding on the whimsical and quirky world captured in the original Torchlight. We aim for that broad appeal that’s appropriate for older kids, but is really intended for the kid in every adult. Co-op Action The most exciting new feature of Torchlight II is the multiplayer element. Play with your friends, and use the free peer-to-peer matchmaking service to meet new players of a similar level and interest. Together players will discover expansive randomized outdoor areas and deep ominous caverns; random instanced and persistent dungeons, a huge variety of all new monsters and villains, endless variations of loot to find, and quests to complete. Players journey through the perilous Overworld, enjoying all new weather features, time of day events, and a rich and cunning story to drive gameplay. Backstory Beyond the town of Torchlight lies a world shrouded in adventure and mystery. Guardian-warrior Syl appears in a prophetic dream, summoning the player to the Estherian Steppes. There, you meet with the Destroyer and soon venture across the continent of Vilderan, an exotic frontier besieged by forces of evil. A discovery unfolds, that the Alchemist, following his conquest of dark ember, disappeared on his quest to defeat the unknown corrupted force responsible for destroying the mystical race of Estherians. Aided by Syl, the remaining Estherian Guardians, and clues left behind by the missing Alchemist, you will find yourself battling a powerful enemy that threatens to unravel the elements of the entire world. Runic Games will release Torchlight II initially as a digital download in Spring of 2011. 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. Return to Top Op het moment van schrijven is er nog maar heel weinig bekend wat betreft de classes. Opzich is dat ook niet verwonderlijk gezien de game pas op 04-08-2010 is aangekondigd. Wel heeft Travis Baldree in het PCGamer interview het een en ander uitgelaten over de eerste twee classes: Travis Baldree: I guess they’re called the Outlander, now. Who has, what’s a good way of describing this so that somebody also doesn’t kill me? It’s kind of a Dune Fremen sort of character, someone who’s on the fringe and has survivalist tendencies, various facility with ranged weapons and low magic. The other classic is the Railman, who’se like an engineer melee warrior class that basically, on the frontier, trying to push forward into unpopulated areas, and they’re responsible for constructing the means of getting there and also the advanced fortifications and they also have to be able to protect themselves. They have some of that steam-punky mechanical bent from Torchlight. The Engineer The workhorse of the Empire, the modern Engineer’s strength lies in his Ember-fueled, steam-driven armor—a technological marvel devised by top scientists at the Industrium (the Empire’s academy of science and technology), and crafted personally by the Engineer as his journeyman project. So equipped, Engineers carry out any mission involving technology that the Empire requires, from building mighty Herkonian Embercraft transports to delving into ancient ruins in search of long-forgotten knowledge—sometimes as part of a team of Imperial soldiers, but more often than not as “independent” contractors. As time passed, though, the role of the Engineers evolved. Some strictly pursued research and theory, locked away in factory-labs and paid kingly sums to examine dwarven artifacts and develop new designs from them. The Engineers find work aplenty on the continent of Vilderan, exploring dwarven ruins for more artifacts, maintaining the Empire's transports, and overseeing work in the Ember mines. But the conditions have forced the Engineers to adapt their methods and equipment. Gone are the leather aprons and tidy toolboxes—replaced by armored plates and massive, two-handed spanners that conveniently also serve as weapons. Now the Engineer is more soldier than scientist—more warrior than workman. The Engineers' technological expertise lets them imbue their weapons and armor with the power of Ember to deliver blasts of energy through devastating melee strikes, or directly from the armor itself! Their gear might be a bit weightier to accommodate all that technology—but "a good, heavy spanner is just the right tool for stubborn bolts ... and stubborn beasts!" That combination of brawn and tech makes the Engineer a formidable front-line combatant—a powerhouse of melee attacks and short-range energy bursts. Return to Top The Dwarves The oldest myths of the creation of the world always mention the dwarves: Short, stout beings who discovered the secret of Ember-powered clockworks, and, with it, conquered all of Vilderan and much of the rest of the world. But their lust for Ember led them to make war on the dragons, and, ultimately, brought them to the brink of destruction. As the dwarves' power waned, the races they had subjugated rose up and decimated them, sacking their glorious cities and plundering their precious Ember-powered machines. All that is left now of the once-mighty dwarven empire are their dead, grotesquely animated by the corruption of Ember, and their wondrous machines; all still steadfastly defending their deserted mines and ruined cities from invaders who never come. The Ezrohir Although the Zeraphi finally recognized the dangers of Ember and gave up their war over the Estherians' Ember, one faction refused to lay down arms. The Ezrohir pursued the retreating Estherians, seizing their mines. With the Estherians' Ember, the Ezrohir eventually perfected their own process for encasing souls in suits of armor. But the process was flawed. The Ezrohir gained immortality - but the corrupted ore burns out over time, and the Ezrohir die unless they can procure more Ember. Their insatiable need for Ember led to a disastrous war with the Zeraphi, and the Ezrohir were driven out into the Mana Wastes, forced to hide in their ancient fortresses. For centuries they have waited, and plotted ... and their vengeance is finally at hand. The Sturmbeornen In the far north of Vilderan dwell the Beornen: a race of bear-men who have developed a primitive culture built around exploration and trade - and, from time to time, plunder. These raiders, or "Sturmbeornen," cross the northern channel and ravage the coastline settlements, pillaging and slaughtering in their quest for power, glory, and battle. Most of these raiding parties consist of a few dozen bear-men, but a veritable army of Sturmbeornen has recently arrived in the Estherian Steppes - far outside their usual range. Led by the fearsome warlord, General Grell, the Sturmbeornen push ever nearer the Enclave, the last city of the Estherians, and not even the might of the Vanquisher Corps can stop them. The Varkolyn After dwarven civilization collapsed, their oldest enemies, the Varkolyn, crept from the shadows, claiming the ruined keeps and palaces as their dominion: the Kingdom of the Dark. For centuries afterward, the Varkolyn ruled over the dwarven ruins, making war on their neighbors and preying on anyone who strayed within their territories. Ultimately, they failed to grow their civilization: The First Great Varkolyn Empire was also the last. For all their pretense of civilization, for all their glorious plans, the Varkolyn lack the expertise to carry them out. Those on the fringes of Varkolyn society have a tendency to backslide into barbarism, splitting into feral clans and even going to war with their more advanced cousins. All that still unites them is their utter contempt for other races. Return to Top Return to Top Ga je meteen aan de multiplayer beginnen? #1 - Ja #2 - Nee Ook een poll maken? Klik hier Return to Top Informatie Torchlight - Officiële Torchlight site Torchlight II - Officiële Torchlight II site Runic Games - Developer site Perfect World - Torchlight Publisher site Wikipedia.com - Torchlight wikipedia Video's Youtube.com - Torchlight II Trailer HD GC 10: Floor Walkthrough (Cam) HD Return to Top Updates 04-08-2010 - Update1: PCgamer - Torchlight 2 Interview 04-08-2010 - Update2: PCgamer - Torchlight 2 Artwork 06-08-2010 - Update3: Gamasutra - Torchlight 2 Interview 08-08-2010 - Update4: Front Towards Gamer Radio - Torchlight II Podcast Interview 14-08-2010 - Update5: [IndieCast] Interview With Runic Games – Torchlight II 18-08-2010 - Update6: Youtube.com - Torchlight II Trailer HD 20-08-2010 - Update7: GameInformer - Torchlight II GamesCom Hands-On 21-08-2010 - Update8: IGN - Torchlight II Preview 25-08-2010 - Update9: Gamer.nl - Torchlight II Hands-on 27-08-2010 - Update10: Gamesxtreme - Torchlight II Interview 06-09-2010 - Update11: GamingNexus - Torchlight II Hands-on 06-09-2010 - Update12: DIYgamer - Torchlight II PAX Hands-on 08-09-2010 - Update13: TenTonHammer - Torchlight II PAX Preview 24-09-2010 - Update14: Gamocracy - Torchlight II interview 08-10-2010 - Update15: RunicGamesFansite - Exclusive Interview with Jesse Tucker 09-11-2010 - Update16: ManaPool - Torchlight II Preview 10-02-2011 - Update17: Torchlight II Delayed Until July Return to Top Deze TS is gemaakt door psychoclown. Mocht je suggesties hebben of fouten vinden laat het me weten via DM!

[ Voor 93% gewijzigd door psychoclown op 04-09-2012 20:01 ]

[psychoclown]

	05-02-'10 - Torchlight II topic gepost! 05-02-'10 - Layout topic gemaakt 06-02-'10 - Topic uitgebreid en bijna afgemaakt 10-08-'10 - Poll toegevoegd 23-04-'11 - Race sectie toegevoegd 10-08-'11 - The Engineer toegevoegd Return to Top

[ Voor 95% gewijzigd door psychoclown op 10-08-2011 11:03 ]

[Bisamrat]

Eerste deel vond ik niet zo leuk, omdat ik juist het multiplayer onderdeel miste. Ben benieuwd wat deel twee gaat bieden.

Hoe zit het trouwens met de Torch Light MMO? Wordt hier nog steeds aan gewerkt?

[psychoclown]

Bisamrat schreef op donderdag 05 augustus 2010 @ 11:38:
Hoe zit het trouwens met de Torch Light MMO? Wordt hier nog steeds aan gewerkt?

Jazeker en eigenlijk speelt Runic Games dit heel slim.
Torchlight en Torchlight II zijn opstapjes naar de MMO versie van de game, waarbij Torchlight diende om kennis te maken met het publiek en Torchlight II een uitbreiding zal zijn op het gebied van objecten/classes/skills/animaties/textures en natuurlijk de (p2p) netcode. Met Torchlight II vergroten ze dus eigenlijk de basis voor de MMO versie - omdat het in dezelfde stijl zal zijn kunnen ze zowat alles gebruiken uit deel 1 en 2 - en tegelijkertijd komen ze de fans tegemoet om een geheel nieuw deel uit te brengen met Co-op/Multiplayer mogelijkheden

[Botticelli]

Ben op zich wel benieuwd naar Torchlight II. Ken Torchlight niet, maar staan toch wel een aantal features die de interesse wekken

psychoclown schreef op donderdag 05 augustus 2010 @ 11:08:
New User Interface
Overworld Areas
Retirement System

Klinkt goed, weet niet hoe deze features de gameplay gaan beinvloeden, maar ik ga zeker de nieuwsberichten volgen (en misschien eens kijken of Torchlight aangeschaft moet worden om "in de stemming te komen"...)

[Bulls]

@ psychoclown

jij bent er ook gelijk als de kippen bij als het een nieuwe H&S RPG betreft he?

Keep up the good work.

[ Voor 7% gewijzigd door Bulls op 05-08-2010 12:25 ]

[psychoclown]

Botticelli schreef op donderdag 05 augustus 2010 @ 12:16:
Ben op zich wel benieuwd naar Torchlight II. Ken Torchlight niet, maar staan toch wel een aantal features die de interesse wekken


[...]


Klinkt goed, weet niet hoe deze features de gameplay gaan beinvloeden, maar ik ga zeker de nieuwsberichten volgen (en misschien eens kijken of Torchlight aangeschaft moet worden om "in de stemming te komen"...)

Het retirement systeem vind ik eigenlijk een beetje flauw, kan natuurlijk niet bepalen of ze er aanpassingen aan gaan maken maar het zat ook in Torchlight. Verder ben ik heel benieuwd naar de verbeterde UI want ik vond de UI in Torchlight het werk al heel goed doen dus ik vraag me af wat er precies aan verbeter kan worden.

Torchlight zou ik voor die paar euro zeker niet laten liggen! Heb je onwijs veel plezier van en het kost maar een habbekrats

Bulls schreef op donderdag 05 augustus 2010 @ 12:24:
@ psychoclown

jij bent er ook gelijk als de kippen bij als het een nieuwe H&S RPG betreft he?

Keep up the good work.

Uiteraard, ik was ook veel sneller dan het nieuwsbericht op tweakers omdat ik ze er gister op gewezen heb
In het Torchlight topic staat een interview van PCGamer met Travis Baldree en Max Schaefer die heel erg de moeite waard is, zeker lezen als hack&slash fan bulls

Deze dus: psychoclown in "[PC] Torchlight - Deel 2"

[psychoclown]

Gamasutra - Torchlight II Interview

With the buzz around new and upcoming games like DeathSpank, Diablo III and DarkSpore, you might come to the conclusion that the classic PC style of action RPG is making a comeback. (Or you might come to the conclusion that Diablo set off some kind of trend with the letter "D". )

For Max Schaefer, CEO of Seattle-based Torchlight developer Runic Games, action RPGs never really went away. A veteran of Blizzard North and a contributor on Diablo I and Diablo II, he has had an affinity for the genre for years. And his team at Runic, made up of a staff that also worked on games like Mythos, Fate and Hellgate: London, also have deep interest in the genre.

This week, the studio announced Torchlight II, the sequel to 2009's original that incorporates much-requested co-op play, character customization and a larger scope.

In this Gamasutra interview, Schaefer explains why the team is working on an action RPG sequel alongside the previously-announced Torchlight MMO, what business and design lessons the studio learned from its freshman effort Torchlight and interest in bringing its games to console.

The Torchlight MMO -- you said you're still working on it alongside Torchlight II but why not just focus on the MMO first?

There are a couple reasons. I think that we were overwhelmed by the response after Torchlight came out. Everyone said they loved it, and there were generally good reviews, and I think that literally every comment in every review said it would've been better with co-op. The more we thought about it, we could give people what they're asking for, and give them a nice, co-op Torchlight experience a lot faster than we could do an MMO.

So it felt like there was a vacuum there. We decided to do it, because it'd make the MMO better in the long run because we'll have a little more experience with making a multiplayer Torchlight, and it'll give people what they want in the meantime. We kind of ran out of reasons not to do it.

It also seems like a lower-cost way to expand the franchise, and it'd help fund the MMO, correct?

Sure yeah, to the extent we make a profit on it, it'll be going into helping out the MMO, so that's a big part of it. But mainly, the motivation is just giving the players what they want.

You announced back in May that Torchlight had sold 500,000 units. How have the sales progressed since then?

I don't think we have an exact number right now, but we're up well over 600,000 now. It still sells well. But we haven't done an inventory of all our distributors for a little while.

Are you noticing pretty good legs on the game?

Yeah, it certainly slowly trails off. I think we lose something like 10 percent every week or so, but that's punctuated by sales, which always kick up the numbers pretty well. It still sells like crazy every time it goes on sale.

Can you estimate the ratio of digital downloads vs. box unit sales?

I would say it's almost four-to-one. I think that will even up as time goes on, just because there are different markets – I think boxes last a little longer in terms of their sales curves – but right now it's four-to-one, and that's conservative.

And the new one is coming to both digital download and boxed retail.

Yes.

Aside from the idea that you need co-op in the sequel, what did you learn from the first game, either distribution and business-wise or design-wise?

First, distribution and business-wise, we expected that things had moved to digital downloads from boxes since the last time we published and put [out a game]. But we were kind of struck by just how far that's gone now. The vast majority of our sales are through digital download, either through our site, Steam, GamersGate, or through any of the sellers out there. We didn't expect it to be so biased towards that. I mean, it's good for us, we do better on a download than we do on a boxed sale. But that's something we have to realize, that that's where the market is for this type of game, and we should really be playing towards that.

With respect towards design, a lot of what drove Torchlight I's design was necessity, and the need, want and desire to get something out quickly. People felt a little claustrophobic with the structure – Torchlight is just one town and a series of dungeons underneath. So the obvious remedy for that is to make big overworlds and different cities, so we're doing that.

The other thing that people wanted was more character customization, so in Torchlight II people will have the ability to select hair styles, basically customize your character a lot more than you could in Torchlight I.

Have you guys thought about console games?

Yeah, we talk about it a lot. The limiting factor on that is that we're a small studio, and we want to stay small. So it limits the vigor for which we should pursue some of these things. But it's definitely something we're talking about and working on. We think Torchlight would make a great console game. It's just about make all the puzzle pieces fit.

Action RPGs– and you guys I think are a part of this movement – are making a comeback on PC it seems like. Maxis just announced Darkspore. What are your thoughts on this reemergence?

I think there's always been a market for the action RPGs, and it was just kind of an underserved market. It's harder than you think to make a good action RPG, just to get the feel perfect. But I think the players are out there for them. It's just fun, and that never goes out of style.

[Botticelli]

psychoclown schreef op vrijdag 06 augustus 2010 @ 13:36:

Gamasutra - Torchlight II Interview

The limiting factor on that is that we're a small studio, and we want to stay small.

Vraag me dan wel af of dit nu juist de beste instelling is, of dat het valse bescheidenheid is (hoop op het laatste). Maar ga van het weekend eens kijken of ik Torchlight te pakken kan krijgen voor een mooi prijsje om te kijken hoe het bevalt.

[Charly]

Ik weet niet hoe blij ik met die overworld moet zijn, die hebben ze toen bij Mythos ook later toegevoegd geloof ik en dat voegde imo niet bijster veel toe.... Het maakte de gameplay alleen maar slomer eigenlijk.

(Wat lijkt het al weer lang geleden dat ik mythos speelde )

[psychoclown]

Botticelli schreef op vrijdag 06 augustus 2010 @ 14:15:
[...]


Vraag me dan wel af of dit nu juist de beste instelling is, of dat het valse bescheidenheid is (hoop op het laatste). Maar ga van het weekend eens kijken of ik Torchlight te pakken kan krijgen voor een mooi prijsje om te kijken hoe het bevalt.

Ik denk dat het voor Runic Games juist wel goed is. Het zijn allemaal mensen met ervaring in hack&slash games en gezien de weg die ze zijn ingeslagen (OGRE engine) hebben ze in principe ook niet veel mensen extra nodig. Torchlight hebben ze in een maand of 10-12 in elkaar gezet en voor Torchlight II hebben ze zo'n 18 maanden waarbij ze al enorm veel resources tot hun beschikking hebben. Bij de MMO zal dat alleen nog maar meer zijn want dan hebben ze nog meer classes, bovengrondse wereld, uitgebreid(er) verhaal en een netwerkcode. De MMO versie zal natuurlijk met meer man sneller afkomen maar dat brengt ook extra kosten ed. met zich mee en al je dus bedenkt dat ze tegen die tijd al heel veel voorwerk hebben gedaan met de twee delen dan kan ik het goed begrijpen

Charly schreef op vrijdag 06 augustus 2010 @ 14:21:
Ik weet niet hoe blij ik met die overworld moet zijn, die hebben ze toen bij Mythos ook later toegevoegd geloof ik en dat voegde imo niet bijster veel toe.... Het maakte de gameplay alleen maar slomer eigenlijk.

(Wat lijkt het al weer lang geleden dat ik mythos speelde )

Kwestie van slechte implentatie?
In principe zou een andere setting natuurlijk nooit invloed moeten hebben op de gameplay anders lijkt het me dat het meer voor het gevoel zo lijkt.

[ Voor 20% gewijzigd door psychoclown op 06-08-2010 14:29 ]

[Charly]

psychoclown schreef op vrijdag 06 augustus 2010 @ 14:27:
[...]
Kwestie van slechte implentatie?
In principe zou een andere setting natuurlijk nooit invloed moeten hebben op de gameplay anders lijkt het me dat het meer voor het gevoel zo lijkt.

Uiteraard is het een kwestie van implementatie, maar die vond ik bij Mythos (van 'de zelfde' makers) dus juist niet zo sterk. Vandaar dat ik me een beetje zorgen maak.

De gameplay van die overworld was trouwens ook wel echt anders als ik het me goed herinner. Niet random en eindeloos respawnende low level monsters waar je door heen moest.

Maargoed, we gaan het zien.

IIG wel leuk dat er weer een soort gadgeteer komt, al noemen ze hem nu Railman

[ Voor 4% gewijzigd door Charly op 06-08-2010 14:44 ]

[psychoclown]

Charly schreef op vrijdag 06 augustus 2010 @ 14:43:
[...]


Uiteraard is het een kwestie van implementatie, maar die vond ik bij Mythos (van 'de zelfde' makers) dus juist niet zo sterk. Vandaar dat ik me een beetje zorgen maak.

De gameplay van die overworld was trouwens ook wel echt anders als ik het me goed herinner. Niet random en eindeloos respawnende low level monsters waar je door heen moest.

Het was me even ontschoten dat het team deels afkomstig is van Flagship Studios maar dan heb je op zich een punt. Ik denk alleen wel dat ze ervan geleerd hebben en het zal, neem ik aan, toch wel in dezelfde trant liggen als Torchlight dus een moblvl die bij het gebied past etc. Ze willen uiteindelijk verder met de MMO versie dus de overworld zullen ze eigenlijk wel nodig hebben

[psychoclown]

Front Towards Gamer Radio - Torchlight II Podcast Interview

[quote]Once again we will cover the main points of new info in the bullet points below, but for the full experience you should listen! The interview starts about ten minutes in. There is less new information this time, but if you want a refresher course on some of the history of Runic, Torchlight, and the devs, it is definitely worth listening to!

• The max number of players will be somewhere between 4 and 8 players (to clarify if yesterday's notes were confusing). The final number will depend on the player count and summons.
• They wanted multiplayer in the original Torchlight anyway, and everyone asked for it, so they decided on doing Torchlight 2 first.
• The old classes won't be playable.
• "New wrinkles" to gamplay to make it more interesting.
• Hardcore mode confirmed.
• Won't be starting in Torchlight, and not even sure if they will return to the original town in this game.
• Each of the three terrains will have their own hub town.
• Many more side quests and events to make it more interesting to explore.
• The randomized dungeons and outside areas will stay the same in single player until you start a new character.
• In multiplayer the player who hosts the seed will determine the randomization of the areas.
• Dungeon/Treasure maps will return.
• Boss Maps will be available.
• They haven't specifically taken any mods from Torchlight 1 and implemented them in Torchlight 2...
• ...but identification will be less annoying or removed.
• Art team is now at 12 people.
• Digital Downloads make it easier to sell games cheaply. Developers get very little for a 20 dollar boxed game.
• They want the interface to be intuitive and easy.
• More pets, likely giving them some unique abilities.
• There will be a netbook mode, and the new game should run on "similar" machines.
• No plans for an iPad version at this point.
• Even now the story is a lot more fleshed out than before.
• There will be a special playable build for Gamescom later this month.

If you want to hear more about the above statements, and some of the history of the devs and Runic, go check out Front Towards Gamer Radio!

[Daniel_Elessar]

Torchlight demo is via steam te downloaden(€15 om te kopen), erg vermakelijk. hoop dat in het vervolg iets meer dingen zijn aan te passen aan je character. Verder zoals gezegd leuk spel en lekker old school, heerlijk deze komt wel op mijn lijstje naast diablo3. Ik speel het overigens op een mbp 13" instap met alles op high en het loopt prachtig.

[psychoclown]

Daniel_Elessar schreef op zondag 08 augustus 2010 @ 22:03:
Torchlight demo is via steam te downloaden(€15 om te kopen), erg vermakelijk. hoop dat in het vervolg iets meer dingen zijn aan te passen aan je character. Verder zoals gezegd leuk spel en lekker old school, heerlijk deze komt wel op mijn lijstje naast diablo3. Ik speel het overigens op een mbp 13" instap met alles op high en het loopt prachtig.

Als je de TS even leest:
• 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.

[Dakreal]

Daniel_Elessar schreef op zondag 08 augustus 2010 @ 22:03:
Torchlight demo is via steam te downloaden(€15 om te kopen), erg vermakelijk. hoop dat in het vervolg iets meer dingen zijn aan te passen aan je character. Verder zoals gezegd leuk spel en lekker old school, heerlijk deze komt wel op mijn lijstje naast diablo3. Ik speel het overigens op een mbp 13" instap met alles op high en het loopt prachtig.

Je begrijpt hopelijk wel dat dit spel zo is geprogrammeerd dat het zelfs goed draait op Netbooks?

[Bart ®]

Geinig spelletje, maar het miste net de diepgang van Titan Quest. Te weinig mogelijkheden om je character te vormen zoals jij het wil. Hopelijk pakken ze dat aan in deel 2, dan heeft het nog wel de potentie om écht wat te worden .

[psychoclown]

Bart ® schreef op maandag 09 augustus 2010 @ 11:52:
Geinig spelletje, maar het miste net de diepgang van Titan Quest. Te weinig mogelijkheden om je character te vormen zoals jij het wil. Hopelijk pakken ze dat aan in deel 2, dan heeft het nog wel de potentie om écht wat te worden .

Zoals ik op de frontpage ook had gezegd is Titan Quest een volledig spel waar ze een jaar of 3-4 aan hebben gewerkt en Torchlight is een spel wat in een jaar tijd is gemaakt
Maar voor de rest heb je gelijk en waar ik me het meest aan stoorde waren de gedeelde skills... erg jammer dat ze niet allemaal een unique skillset hadden! Ik heb in ieder geval goede hoop voor Torchlight II.

[Bart ®]

psychoclown schreef op maandag 09 augustus 2010 @ 12:04:
[...]

Zoals ik op de frontpage ook had gezegd is Titan Quest een volledig spel waar ze een jaar of 3-4 aan hebben gewerkt en Torchlight is een spel wat in een jaar tijd is gemaakt
Maar voor de rest heb je gelijk en waar ik me het meest aan stoorde waren de gedeelde skills... erg jammer dat ze niet allemaal een unique skillset hadden! Ik heb in ieder geval goede hoop voor Torchlight II.

Ze hebben er inderdaad niet lang aan gewerkt, dus ik snap de oorzaak ook wel . Maar dat neemt niet weg dat het een verbeterpuntje voor deel twee is . Voor de mainstream speler is het prima, maar de gamer die iets meer diepgang wil, zal zichzelf denk ik toch niet echt kunnen vinden in TL1, in ieder geval niet voor langere tijd, zoals de 100+ uur die ik al in TQ heb zitten. Als je TL zo lang speelt, dan verveel je je echt dood .

[psychoclown]

Ja daar heb je een punt en de diversiteit van de verschillende gebieden zullen hopelijk ook leiden tot meer afwisseling en dus langer vermaak. De Multiplayer zal sowieso een groot deel replaywaarde op zich nemen want dat was de echt grote minpunt in Torchlight. Overigens heb ik me wat langer met Torchlight weten te vermaken, ongeveer 100 uren in tegenstelling tot TQ/IT die gezamelijk voor zo'n 900 uurtjes spelplezier gezorgd hebben

[Dakreal]

psychoclown schreef op maandag 09 augustus 2010 @ 12:22:
Ja daar heb je een punt en de diversiteit van de verschillende gebieden zullen hopelijk ook leiden tot meer afwisseling en dus langer vermaak. De Multiplayer zal sowieso een groot deel replaywaarde op zich nemen want dat was de echt grote minpunt in Torchlight. Overigens heb ik me wat langer met Torchlight weten te vermaken, ongeveer 100 uren in tegenstelling tot TQ/IT die gezamelijk voor zo'n 900 spelplezier gezorgd hebben

Gebruik jij X-fire als tellertje ofzo? Ik denk dat ik mzelf dan echt ga schamen voor de tijd die ik aan WoW besteed heb...

[Bulls]

Je kan bij TQ op je char zien hoelang hij heeft gespeelt, dus je kan een ruwe schatting maken.

[Bart ®]

psychoclown schreef op maandag 09 augustus 2010 @ 12:22:
Ja daar heb je een punt en de diversiteit van de verschillende gebieden zullen hopelijk ook leiden tot meer afwisseling en dus langer vermaak. De Multiplayer zal sowieso een groot deel replaywaarde op zich nemen want dat was de echt grote minpunt in Torchlight. Overigens heb ik me wat langer met Torchlight weten te vermaken, ongeveer 100 uren in tegenstelling tot TQ/IT die gezamelijk voor zo'n 900 spelplezier gezorgd hebben

100 uur nog?
Ik had het echt na een paar uur wel weer gezien .

[Daniel_Elessar]

Dakreal schreef op maandag 09 augustus 2010 @ 09:35:
[...]


Je begrijpt hopelijk wel dat dit spel zo is geprogrammeerd dat het zelfs goed draait op Netbooks?

Ja dat begrijp ik ook nog wel:) het is gewoon een fijn spelletje, en het ging erom dat je de demo van deeltje 1 gewoon kan downloaden.

[psychoclown]

Dakreal schreef op maandag 09 augustus 2010 @ 14:24:
[...]


Gebruik jij X-fire als tellertje ofzo? Ik denk dat ik mzelf dan echt ga schamen voor de tijd die ik aan WoW besteed heb...

Dat gebruikte ik vroeger wel en ach het meeste heb ik nog wel aan CoD besteed 18xx uur in totaal
Maar zoals gezegd kun je dat ingame zien per char.

Bart ® schreef op maandag 09 augustus 2010 @ 15:24:
[...]

100 uur nog?
Ik had het echt na een paar uur wel weer gezien .

Ja want ik ben een rasechte mf-er dus ik ben de endless dungeon nog tot zo'n 50+ doorlopen en een Summoner gestart maar toen had ik het wel eventjes gezien. Wellicht dat ik het binnenkort weer eens voor de gein oppak

[Bart ®]

psychoclown schreef op maandag 09 augustus 2010 @ 21:30:
[...]

Dat gebruikte ik vroeger wel en ach het meeste heb ik nog wel aan CoD besteed 18xx uur in totaal
Maar zoals gezegd kun je dat ingame zien per char.

[...]

Ja want ik ben een rasechte mf-er dus ik ben de endless dungeon nog tot zo'n 50+ doorlopen en een Summoner gestart maar toen had ik het wel eventjes gezien. Wellicht dat ik het binnenkort weer eens voor de gein oppak

Gek .

[psychoclown]

Voor de meesten was de multiplayer het gemis van Torchlight. Nou ben ik benieuwd, zullen jullie meteen aan de multiplayer beginnen wanneer Torchlight II uit komt?

Ga je meteen aan de multiplayer beginnen?
#1 - Ja	#2 - Nee

^{Ook een poll maken? Klik hier}

De poll staat uiteraard ook in de TS!

[Bart ®]

Nee, ik begin toch altijd eerst met singleplayer. Tweede character misschien coop vanaf het begin af aan met een vriend, en dan samen een hele playthrough maken.

[Anoniem: 241964]

Multiplayer is meestal gewoon fataal voor de verhaallijn, er is altijd wel iemand die het spel heeft uitgespeeld en er zo snel mogelijk door heen wil gaan, doe het liever een keertje rustig in mijn eentje en daarna lekker samen spelen .

[Bulls]

Op zich wel gelijk, want ook als ik TQ Coop speel dan klik je alle speech gewoon zo snel mogelijk door. Er zijn nog steeds verhaaltjes waar ik alleen de 1e 2 zinnen nog van gehoord heb

Het is leuk dat het er is speech maar meestal is het gewoon zo langdraderig.

[psychoclown]

De resultaten lopen best wel gelijk op, iets wat ik niet helemaal verwacht had maar dit zijn nog lang geen definitieve cijfers natuurlijk

Zelf had ik ook op 'Ja' gestemd omdat je ook op multiplayer nog het een en ander mee krijgt en sowieso is mijn intentie om voornamelijk met vrienden en tweakers te spelen.

[psychoclown]

Zijn er nog GamesCom gangers die tevens Torchlight fans zijn?
Torchlight II pre-alpha build zal namelijk speelbaar zijn op GamesCom en PAX!
Ik ben heel erg benieuwd, hopelijk zullen we nog wat ninja video's zien op youtube

[Pedr0]

psychoclown schreef op vrijdag 13 augustus 2010 @ 13:03:
Zijn er nog GamesCom gangers die tevens Torchlight fans zijn?
Torchlight II pre-alpha build zal namelijk speelbaar zijn op GamesCom en PAX!
Ik ben heel erg benieuwd, hopelijk zullen we nog wat ninja video's zien op youtube

Yep, ik zal ook Torchlight II grondig gaan bekijken/spelen volgende week. Zal hier mijn bevindingen posten!

[psychoclown]

Leuk, ben benieuwd wat je allemaal te zien zal krijgen

[Hurtebise]

Net deel 1 geherïnstalleerd. Wordt tijd dat ik deze eens uitspeel.

Vroeg mij af. TL1 zit in Steam-cloud. Dus saves worden op Steamserver bijgehouden. Is dat voor veel Steamgames het geval? Zou mooi zijn als ze dit per game konden aangeven.

[psychoclown]

Dat is bij meer games het geval maar ik zou niet precies weten welke. Overigens lijkt me dat niet echt de plaats om dat hier te bespreken

[psychoclown]

[IndieCast] Interview With Runic Games – Torchlight II

[quote]First and foremost, August 11th, 2010 was Runic Games' Birthday. Happy Birthday from all of RGF and the community.

Even on their Birthday and the amount of recent interviews, the team was able to do another one. Tonight we have Immortal Machines with a podcast interview with Max Schaefer, Erich Schaefer, Jason Beck and Wonder Russell in the background.

Once again we'll cover the new information in bullet points below, but you really should listen to this one, the team chemistry really shows! The interview starts around 3:00 minutes in. Instead of Travis in this interview we have the perspectives of another designer on the team, Erich Schaefer, so that provided a new insight into the development of both Torchlight I and II. An interview truly worth listening to.

• Mods and Multiplayer, It is possible for players to essentially create their own worlds.
• Runic has had no discussion on an external mailing tool.
• Runic intends to improve the synergy between skills, TL2 will have support skills, and skills are being worked on early unlike TL1. TL1's Skill system was partly due to time constrants.
• Ferret Pet is in their internal build, might return in TL2
• Game will still have lots of loot.
• Rarity settings(filters) is something Runic considered for Torchlight I.
• Erich has a concept for enchants that differs from enchantments you get from drops, but everything is still being discussed.
• Torchlight I was intended to have more complex bosses, this is something that will be addressed in Torchlight II.
• Pet Shopping List.
• For Torchlight, the pet had a skill tree, but it never made it.
• Larger cast of NPCs.
• Monsters and NPCs will feel like they have a reason to be where they are.
• The First Zone and the announced classes are ready for the conventions.
• Console Version, is a "definite Goal"
• No Physics
• Wardrobe system is much easier to use
• Price Range, Starts with a 2

Podcast is hier te beluisteren

[Bart ®]

psychoclown schreef op zaterdag 14 augustus 2010 @ 09:20:
• Price Range, Starts with a 2

2,99?

[ Voor 28% gewijzigd door Bart ® op 14-08-2010 09:23 ]

[mindcrash]

Bart ® schreef op zaterdag 14 augustus 2010 @ 09:23:
[...]
2,99?

Denk meer 20,99 - 5 euro meer voor de Multiplayer feature

[fladder]

Misschien kunnen ze hun game mechanics ook eens flink overdenken. Sommige item attributes deden in torchlight helemaal niets. Wel leuk zo'n hacknslash maar het is wel zo prettig als de damage-getallen op je character scherm OF die onder je skills daadwerkelijk gebruikt worden als je daadwerkelijk damage doet (ipv dat er 3 verschillende berekeningen achter zitten).

[psychoclown]

fladder schreef op zaterdag 14 augustus 2010 @ 14:06:
Misschien kunnen ze hun game mechanics ook eens flink overdenken. Sommige item attributes deden in torchlight helemaal niets. Wel leuk zo'n hacknslash maar het is wel zo prettig als de damage-getallen op je character scherm OF die onder je skills daadwerkelijk gebruikt worden als je daadwerkelijk damage doet (ipv dat er 3 verschillende berekeningen achter zitten).

Geef eens een voorbeeld? Kan me niet echt heugen dat er nutteloze attributes waren, in ieder geval niet zo expliciet als in Diablo 2

[psychoclown]

Houdt de Torchlight II site in de gaten want morgen kunnen we genieten van de eerste trailer!

quote: http://twitter.com/runicgames/status/21398287273

We WILL have a trailer, btw, and it will be going live tomorrow on torchlight2game.com!

Hij is er en ziet er ongelooflijk gaaf uit!
Youtube.com - Torchlight II Trailer HD

[ Voor 22% gewijzigd door psychoclown op 18-08-2010 10:44 ]

[Nivk]

Inderdaad! Dacht even dat de trailer alleen maar wat tekst en plaatjes zou zijn, de laatste 50 seconden maken het goed.

[psychoclown]

De buiten omgevingen voelen ook meteen vertrouwd aan. Ik denk dus dat dat wel goed

[Magic666]

damn, nice!

Eerst deel nog maar grijs spelen dan

[Shodan]

Mmm... Lijkt me toch wel erg gaaf weer! Moet deel 1 nog steeds uitspelen. Trailer is gaaf, thuis eens wat uitgebreider kijken. Gebrek aan multiplayer is inderdaad het grootste minpunt van deel 1, maar ook het gebrek aan het kunnen verkennen van een omgeving buiten het stadje vond ik een erg groot minpunt, waardoor het relatief snel ging vervelen. Gelukkig is ook aan dat laatste dus aandacht besteed in deel 2.

TL2 is mooi een game om voor diablo 3 nog even lekker te spelen. Gelukkig heb ik nu starcraft 2 om de tijd te doden voordat TL2 uitkomt. (en de Witcher nog en oblivion en X3TC en.. en...... Ik kom tijd te kort!)

[psychoclown]

GameInformer - Torchlight II GamesCom Hands-On

Runic Games' follow-up is looking good. Within ten minutes of playing PC dungeon crawler Torchlight II at GamesCom, I had leveled up, eviscerated several dozen enemies with a variety of spinning blade throws, and Hoovered my way through a random dungeon or two. Yep, Torchlight II is exactly what we expected: a better Torchlight with online multiplayer.

Taking feedback and their own thoughts on the hurried original into account, Runic is polishing up every part of Torchlight they can. I'm told that both of my major complaints are being addressed: bosses will be better tuned, and classes will be more distinct and have more fun unique abilities.

The Railman class, playable at Gamescom, has a alternate resource system where he powers up his abilities during combat, doing more damage the longer he continuously battles. Runic tells me that it's likely that each of the four classes will likely have similar unique mechanics, though nothing is set in stone at this early stage of development.

Most importantly, online session-based multiplayer is in. This isn't the long talked-about Torchlight MMO -- that will likely come after Torchlight II, and while Runic isn't actively working on the MMO at the moment it does expect that a lot of the work on this project will carry over. Players will again have access to powerful editing tools, and you'll be able to play Torchlight II mods multiplayer so long as everyone has the same mods active.

Torchlight II will have a matchmaking service of some kind beyond a game browser, but Runic isn't sure yet what exact form it will take. The developer will not be hosting mods, but Runic minister of culture Wonder Russell did express her deep appreciation of all the work done by the Torchlight community in mod creation and distribution, particularly the TorchLeech folks. (And if you're a Torchlight player who hasn't grabbed TorchLeech yet and explored the wonderful world of mods, shame on you! There's so much awesomeness out there.)

Torchlight II is very early in development, but what Runic showed at GamesCom behind their curtain of shame* is looking fine indeed. I will crawl through these dungeons, and I will loot them so hard that it might be a little uncomfortable.

* A wrinkle in the odd patchwork of European censorship rules forced them to demo Torchlight II behind a blackout curtain because it wasn't rated as safe for children. Having seen the game, that's nearly as ridiculous as saying that LEGO Star Wars isn't kid-friendly. I don't get it. Didn't stop me from making fun of Russell and the rest of Runic for their curtain of shame, though.

[psychoclown]

IGN - Torchlight II Preview

It's a pretty good time to be an action-RPG fan. There are a number of promising genre entries on the horizon, and one of them is most definitely Runic Games' Torchlight II. This one's actually not that far off at this point, as I'm told it's currently on the release schedule for around April or May next year. Considering the original came out as recently as October and the team at Runic is around 30 strong, it's impressive another game, especially with the feature set of Torchlight II, is going to be ready so soon.

If you missed the original, it's a fun single-player loot game with three character classes that shot and sliced their way through essentially one large multilevel dungeon. In the sequel, the world is being expanded quite a bit. You'll find multiple towns, large overworld sections featuring various weather conditions and a day-night cycle, as well as plenty of dungeons to explore. The enemies and layouts are randomized so you never quite know what's going to pop up as you move through with four new characters classes, two of which are being talked about right now.

So far we know about the Railman, a melee class that can serve as a tank, and the Outlander, a magic class that attacks from range, and every class can be created as a male or female avatar. These classes are hybrids of a sort, meaning they're playable solo, but the good news about Torchlight II is that multiplayer will be a feature. According to Runic play is best with 2 – 4 players, and as you add more to the mix through the game's peer-to-peer multiplayer system the difficulty will scale accordingly. Fighting over loot shouldn't be an issue in the game since you'll only ever see your own, and if you pick up something another class could use it can then be traded over.

Pets will still be running around in the game, of which there'll be more of this time to let you unload extra inventory or get some help in a fight. I didn't get to see it running this time since the game is still pre-alpha, but I'd imagine it's got to look pretty neat with four players running around -- with pets -- steamrolling through dungeons. The game retains its cartoon-like style, and you can expect new types of monsters and effects. Runic is also trying to get away from the notion that you're just wading through fields of wandering monsters, and so numerous types will surprise you when you enter an area, whether it's phantoms drifting up through grates in a subterranean crypt to spiders dropping from the ceiling.

There are still a number of features currently under development. For example, identity scrolls may be phased out entirely, and it's still being decided if there'll be a way to replay the game once the content's been exhausted with more difficult adversaries. While it's not possible to say what all the class skills will be like, what's in the game now seems like it'll be fun to play with. The Railman, for instance, builds up charges as he strikes that orbit about his character model as little emerald wisps. These can then be combined with an ability for added effectiveness, useful for powering up something like the area of effect ember hammer smash that deals damage to whatever's unlucky enough to be standing in front of the Railman. Naturally you'll level as experience is gained, and be able to allocate points to strength, dexterity, magic and defense as well as dump points into a skill tree. Back in towns you'll find a variety of vendors and familiar characters, as well as the always welcome option to gamble for better items.

If you've been paying attention to what Runic's been doing you might be curious what happened to that Torchlight MMO that was mentioned a little while back. It's not gone at all, just put on the back burner while the team works on getting Torchlight II out the door. From what was shown off at Gamescom, Torchlight II looks good and appears to play smoothly, as did the original. There won't be any microtransactions or subscriptions required to play, and Runic is saying the goal is to offer it for 20 dollars US when it's ready, though we'll have to wait and see if that winds up happening.

[Pedr0]

Net terug van GamesCom en ook TL2 30min gespeeld, zal vanavond een verslagje doen!

[Cpt-Cholo]

Pedr0 schreef op zaterdag 21 augustus 2010 @ 17:37:
Net terug van GamesCom en ook TL2 30min gespeeld, zal vanavond een verslagje doen!

[Bart ®]

Houdt het wel even nuttig.

[ Voor 91% gewijzigd door psychoclown op 24-08-2010 19:28 ]

[Pedr0]

Torchlight II (hands-on) Gamer.nl

Een van de eerste dingen die opvalt bij het spelen van de game zijn de nieuwe omgevingen. Waar Torchlight zich afspeelde in een steeds dieper wordende kerker, daar situeren de omgevingen van Torchlight II zich een stuk vaker in de openlucht. Zo bevonden we ons in de door ons gespeelde demo in een heuvelachtig landschap vol met bomen en af en toe een rivier. Zoals in de eerste game zullen er verschillende soorten landschappen zijn, die deze keer allemaal worden voorafgegaan door een nieuwe stad.



Bovendien valt op dat de landschappen veel ruimer zijn dan de nauwe paden uit het eerste deel. Nog steeds wordt elk level compleet willekeurig gegenereerd, zodat iedere speler een andere ervaring krijgt. Door de wijdere opzet is er echter meer ruimte om van het pad af te wijken en op zoek te gaan naar verborgen schatten. In onze korte speelsessie was echter nog niet in te schatten hoe groot de willekeurige generator de landschappen zal maken noch hoe vaak er van landschaptype gewisseld gaat worden, al zijn de vier á vijf steden die er in Torchlight II zullen zitten een goede indicatie.

Aanpasbaar
De klassen in Tochlight 2 zijn geheel anders dan die in het vorige deel. De die klassen uit het eerste deel hebben plaatsgemaakt voor vier geheel nieuwe, waarvan de eerste twee reeds zijn bekendgemaakt. De Railman richt zich vooral op mêlee-wapens terwijl de Outlander vooral beschikt over lichte magie en langeafstandswapens. Ook de huisdieren zijn weer terug. Hoeveel verschillende beesten de speler kunnen assisteren is nog niet bekend maar in de demo waren in ieder geval de hond, kat en fret beschikbaar.

De aanpasbaarheid van Torchlight II is ook flink op de schop genomen, want iedere klassen heeft niet langer een standaard uiterlijk. Iedere klasse heeft verschillende gezichten, haarstijlen en haarkleuren en zelfs het geslacht van de klasse kan nu bepaald worden, zodat deze wat unieker aanvoelen. Het aanpassen houdt daar niet op want bij Torchlight II zal een complete level editor geleverd worden die het zelfs mogelijk maakt om complete mods te maken en deze zonder probleem te spelen via multiplayer.



Multiplayer
Daarmee is ook meteen de grootste nieuwe toevoeging genoemd want in tegenstelling tot het eerste deel zal Torchlight II de mogelijkheid bieden om met meerdere spelers de wereld te doorlopen. Momenteel is het mogelijk om met vier verschillende spelers over LAN en internet te spelen, al hoopt het ontwikkelteam uiteindelijk ondersteuning te geven voor acht spelers. Daarmee is meteen ook het grote minpunt van de eerste Torchlight verdwenen en zal de spelduur van het tweede deel vermoedelijk een stuk verlengd worden.

Torchlight II lijkt op de goede weg om zowel fans van het eerste deel als nieuwkomers een zeer vermakelijke ervaring te leveren. Alle grote en kleine fouten lijken verholpen, al zijn de veranderingen niet zo gigantisch als nieuwe delen bij veel grotere series. Dat mag echter niet deren want de prijs zal rond hetzelfde lage niveau als het eerste deel liggen, waardoor zelfs de grootste scepticus tot aanschaffing verleid zal worden.

Bron: http://www.gamer.nl/preview/60419/torchlight-ii-hands-on

[Pedr0]

Sorry voor de late reactie. Echter met bovenstaande hand-on preview is al veel gezegd

Wat mij ook opviel was de Char customisation, het uiterlijk hiervan lijkt regelrecht uit WoW te komen. Verder zag de 'Overworld' er erg goed uit met meerdere towns. Een ding is zeker, als TLII uitkomt voordat D3 wordt gereleased....hebben ze een klapper in handen

Gameplay 1: YouTube: Torchlight 2 (Gamescom '10)
Gameplay 2: YouTube: Torchlight 2 boss fight (Gamescom '10)

[ Voor 34% gewijzigd door Pedr0 op 25-08-2010 08:02 ]

[psychoclown]

Ziet er goed uit zeg! Die boss fight lijkt ook een hele kluif te zijn.
Ik had al eerder gezegd dat ik die 'overworld' er goed uit vind zien maar dat geeft toch een tikkeltje meer variatie en sfeer moet ik zeggen. Bij Torchlight was het soms ook meer van hetzelfde helaas

[Cpt-Cholo]

waaaw, echt top. Ik kan nauwelijks meer wachten en dat terwijl er al een 3 in de pipeline zit: nieuws: Schaefer: Torchlight 3 verschijnt eerder dan Diablo III

[psychoclown]

Daar zet ik nogal mijn vraagtekens bij.. Ze moeten niet naast de schoenen gaan lopen vond ik. Dat ze Torchlight 2 af krijgen voordat Diablo 3 uitkomt gaat ze wel lukken want ze mikken op Q1/Q2 2011 en de kans dat Diablo 3 in die periode uitkomt schat ik niet heel groot in. Dus dat ze nog eentje uit de grond stampen binnen een half tot driekwart jaar zie ik nog niet so gebeuren.

[patrickos85]

ik had er nooit van gehoord maar ziet er best leuk uit. ik ga kijken of ik deel 1 nog ergens vandaan kan krijgen

[Crell]

Maar dat Diablo 3 NIET in 2011 uit komt maar later zou mij dan weer niet verbazen. Eind 2011 beta en dan gedurende 2012 release. Met een dergelijk schema is het best mogelijk om Torchlight III nog voor diablo 3 uit te brengen. Ik denk dat hij daar ook beetje op gerekend heeft bij zijn uitspraak.

[SirNobax]

Hopelijk spenderen ze ook wat tijd aan het maken van unieke en interessante omgevingen.
Bij Torchlight had ik het allemaal al gauw gezien, in no time spawn je voor de zoveelste keer in dezelfde Tileset, met compleet "generieke" opbouw.

[psychoclown]

Goede gameplay video van Torchlight II, GC 10: Floor Walkthrough (Cam) HD

[psychoclown]

Gamesxtreme - Torchlight II Interview

We talk with JD Wiker, Lead Writer for Torchlight II, about the game and a few other things.

1. Hi there, first of all can you introduce yourself and explain a little about your role within Runic games?

Hi, Darren. I'm JD Wiker—and, no, I don't use punctuation in my first name; it's just a little quirk of mine. I come from a background in the tabletop RPG industry: I worked on the Star Wars RPG for Wizards of the Coast, and, in my spare time, I'm president of a d20 design studio called The Game Mechanics. Up until late 2009, I was also a writer for Warhammer Online, at Mythic Entertainment.

As for Runic Games, I'm currently the lead writer here at Runic Games, meaning that I generate the majority of the storyline, the quests, the backstory, the dialogue, the names of weapons and armor ... if it uses text or punctuation, I probably have a hand in it somewhere.

2. What are the features of Torchlight 2 that are going to really set it apart from its predecessor and other games of this kind?

Obviously, the big answer is the multiplayer mode—but what I can better speak to is the story. The original Torchlight's story was deliberately vague; it mostly served as a framework to explain all the different environments of the Torchlight mines.

Torchlight 2 is going to explore a slightly larger piece of the world—its "cradle of civilization," as it were. That means exploring the backstories of the world's oldest races—the dwarves, the Estherians, and the Zeraphi (and their Ezrohir cousins)—as well as telling the story of what the characters from Torchlight have been doing since their triumph over Ordrak, and introducing the closest thing to "gods" in the world: the elemental Guardians. It will also answer some questions about Ember, that oh-so-dangerous mineral, including why people keep using it when it has such terrible side-effects.

3. We’re told that Torchlight 2 is going to be a co-operative experience, how many players can we expect to adventure with and is there going to be an additional cost or is it free to play?

I don't think we've set a limit so far. As for the logistics of the multiplayer experience, the plan is that you'll pay once for the game, and that's it.

4. Can you tell us more about the Torchlight 2 engine, graphically Torchlight had a very unique look and feel...will 2 build on that?

The art director, Jason Beck, and his team have put together some really fine graphic elements that build on the original game, without just rehashing it. In fact, I recently had a long conversation with Jason about how important the look and feel of those elements are to us both, and how we want to see stuff in Torchlight 2—and, eventually, in the MMO—that play off the original game's look and feel, while at the same time improving on it.

5. Can you tell us anything about any of the cool weapons, spells or items that we might find in Torchlight 2?

That's actually a lot of what I've been working on lately. For example, folks who've played the demo at Gamescom (and, soon, PAX) will have already seen the cool new throwing weapon of the Outlander in action, and the massive, massive "tool/weapons" of the Railman. We're also going back over the item lists and coming up with new weapons and armor, including some fun "uniques" that I hope will bring a smile to the faces of the players—things like the "Shield of Dreams," or the "Necromagnum," or "Spear-Bot 2300."

6. Are there going to be any new classes for the game, what’s your own personal favourite class?

I've mentioned the Outlander and the Railman already—and we've got more in the works. I just can't tell you about those yet.

Of what I've tested so far, though, I really like the Outlander. There's just something kind of viscerally appealing about firing rifles at bear-men and skeletons ...

7. What kind of story writing will go into Torchlight 2...is it story-lite or something a little meatier?

Oh, it's a lot meatier—but, then, I would say that, wouldn't I?

There's going to be a main storyline that takes the players on a tour of some of the more exotic areas of the continent of Vilderan—the "new world" from the human perspective; it's actually the home of the world's oldest races, and where the mining town of Torchlight is located. They'll visit the last enclave of the Estherians—the mystical race whose magical traditions have been taught to humans, like Syl from the original game—and be introduced to the Guardians ... and find out why they're important to the world.

They'll also get to visit the crumbling, mostly-abandoned city of Zeryphesh, the home of the immortal Zeraphi, who gave up their flesh for a kind of immortality—eternity encased in alchemical armor. They're having problems with their old enemies, the Ezrohir, and the players get to participate in that conflict.
We're also planning on exploring the ruins of dwarven civilization, and finding out exactly why they abandoned that mine under the village of Torchlight. And we're also brainstorming about an extra-special, completely exotic zone for a final confrontation with the forces of evil—something we're all very excited about. (I really, really hope we don't have to cut it from the final product ...)

8. Are we going to see cut-scenes in the game?

It's kind of hard to tell a story without them—particularly when so many gamers skip over quest text and NPC dialogue. Nothing wrong with that: I'm all in favor of catering to every type of gamer's play style, whenever possible.

9. How important do you think modding is to a particular game, especially one like Torchlight 2 where a level editor would allow players to make their own challenging content for each other?

Modding is absolutely brilliant. I think that any sort of "creative-commons"-style license encourages creative people to push the boundaries of what is possible—and there are a lot of really great games out there that wouldn't have been possible if some other company hadn't allowed the general public to create mods.

10. What are some of the biggest influences would you say, for a game like Torchlight 2, in terms of theme/setting and so on?

Some of the developers describe the Torchlight setting is "Dragon's Lair meets The Incredibles." I think that's pretty much on the money. Torchlight 2 continues on in that vein, but there's an element of Terry Pratchett's Discworld in there, along with a fair amount of, hm, maybe not "steampunk," per se, but perhaps "dieselpunk" or "clockpunk?"

Maybe we need a new term to describe the Torchlight theme and setting? How about "dungeonpunk?" Define it as a world esthetic in which the heroes are adventurers who live in a violent world, where they effect change by themselves practicing violence—particularly upon monsters, and frequently in underground settings?

11. Lastly, since this is a short Q&A – sell our readers on the game, the virtual floor is yours, go nuts and pimp Runic and anything regarding Torchlight 2 you’d like!

Certainly!

Torchlight 2 doesn't really need me to sell it, though. Really, if you liked Torchlight, but wanted to play alongside your friends (or strangers you met online), you'll want Torchlight 2. If you liked Torchlight, but wanted more variety of zones, you'll want Torchlight 2. If you liked Torchlight, but wanted more varied challenges—such as puzzles—you'll want Torchlight 2. If you liked Torchlight, but wanted more story, you'll want Torchlight 2.

Seriously, I come from a background in game design: twelve years of designing in the industry itself, and thirty years before that of playing games—everything from Monopoly to Dungeons & Dragons. I've been playing video games since Radio Shack released their Pong "console." Earlier than that, if you count arcade games. I pay particular attention to what makes games fun—and I recognize that it's something different for different people.

For some, Torchlight 2 is going to be about bashing monsters on the head and picking up the loot, and that's great. That's the core mechanic. But for others, it's going to be about exploring the world, and it's my goal to make that a worthwhile pursuit for those players. Some are going to want to get complete sets of armor, and I want those pieces of armor to have some cool stories behind them. And when players really want to chat with the NPCs of the Torchlight world, I want the NPCs to have something interesting to say—perhaps even occasionally something significant to the overall story.

[Haay]

Cpt-Cholo schreef op woensdag 25 augustus 2010 @ 14:03:
waaaw, echt top. Ik kan nauwelijks meer wachten en dat terwijl er al een 3 in de pipeline zit: nieuws: Schaefer: Torchlight 3 verschijnt eerder dan Diablo III

Ik heb het gevoel dat Schaefer met Torchlight 3 doelt op de Torchlight MMO waar ze al vanaf het begin mee bezig zijn en wat hun uiteindelijke doelstelling is. Dus tja... Als Diablo III wordt uitgesteld tot 2012, en de Tochlight MMO goed op schema ligt, dan zou het zo maar kunnen dat Torchlight 3 = Torchlight MMO uitkomt vóór Diablo III.

Maar goed, we zullen het meemaken! Vooralsnog kijk ik nu eerst uit naar Torchlight 2!

[daves2hd]

Hm ik vraag me stiekem af wat de echte meerwaarde is van multiplayer in torchlight. Ja het miste in 1 zeker wel maar zoals de game opgezet is bij 1 en wat ik tot nu toe vooral van 2 gezien heb (het zelfde, andere gebieden en classes). Is vooral een vrij straight on gebied met een breed pad zeg maar om te volgen met daarop vijanden die vooral snel liggen met sterke AoE skills op hoog tempo.
Wat gaat partyplay echt toevoegen naast elkaar in de weg lopen en "kill-rippen" voor de lol zeg maar.

Diablo2 heeft dat probleem ook een beetje met de overpowerde sorc en pala hammer builds die alles killen voor een andere ook maar in de buurt kan komen zeker melee figuren. Duidelijk is Torchlight 1 opgezet voor singleplayer en torchtlight 2 moet dan voor zowel sp als mp leuk blijven. Maar vraag me stiekem toch af of ze echt een bijzondere waarde aan partyplay kunnen gaan geven tov singleplayer. Naast meer man = meer dps en misschien iets sterkere vijanden.

Bedoel game zal tuurlijk weer gewoon dikke pret zijn als 1 hoor, alleen toen ik het filmpje van laatst aan het kijken was ontstond er in m'n achterhoofd toch een beeld of multiplayer niet meer gewoon een optie was om community weer makkelijk te voeden ipv een echte toevoeging aan de game en gameplay

[psychoclown]

Ik denk dat het een hoop zal toevoegen. Tuurlijk moet je geen volledig spel a la Diablo verwachten voor die 2 tientjes maar het zal doen wat het moet doen en dat is partyplay. Eerlijk gezegd zie ik eigenlijk niet echt de problemen die jij beschrijft voor me. dave. PvP zal volgens mij geen onderdeel van Torchlight II uitmaken en verder is het doel van hack & slash toch ook zoveel, zo bruut en zo snel mogelijk hordes monster neermeppen? Tenminste dit is heel duidelijk aanwezig in Torchlight dus daar leent de partyplay zich uitstekend voor
Er moet ook niet vergeten worden dat hetgeen wat je nu hebt gezien allemaal nog pre-alpha is en dus nog lang niet in tweak-fase.

[psychoclown]

GamingNexus - Torchlight II Hands-on

Torchlight 2, the sequel to last year's sleeper hit, expands everything that was good about the original: new character classes, new maps, new enemies, and the sweetest feature of all: online cooperative multiplayer.

Following last year's sleeper hit Torchlight, Runic Games is stickin' to that old chestnut: if it ain't broke, continue to exponentially build on your success by improving on virtually every aspect of your game while providing a rock-solid point-and-click experience. What, you've never heard that one? It's a thing, I swear.

Torchlight 2 is a deceptively deep point-and-click adventure, with all the hallmarks of the genre: piles and piles of loot, 4 player classes to choose from, and sprawling maps connected by hub-towns, each with a different theme. But simply describing it doesn't do it justice: this is, in all fairness, a pre-alpha build, with two whole character classes not yet revealed and level designs/numbers not yet finalized, and it is still one of the most fun point-and-click RPGs I've ever played.

There were two playable classes on hand at PAX: the Outlander class, a marksman-style ranged character, and the Railman, a melee character who pounds enemies with a giant hammer; the character designs are heavily steam-punk influenced, and Torchlight 2 will also feature character customization, from gender to hair-style and color. Having tried both, the play styles are different even if the mechanics are the similar: you point and click to attack, right click for a special attack, and there are a variety of other powers and spells that you can bring to the battle. The difference becomes more apparent when you incorporate one of the most important new features: multiplayer.

Multiplayer monster-bashing will support up to 8 players (though that number is not set in stone) via a multiplayer lobby, and joining a game was remarkably intuitive and easy. Once you join a game the other players show up on your radar/map, and you go join the fight; it's just that simple.

Torchlight's mod community is very active, and Runic won't be leaving them out in the cold: yet again Runic will be providing the dev tools necessary to build your own levels.

Torchlight 2 is targeted for a Spring 2011 release for PC, with a Mac release following later in the year.

[psychoclown]

DIYgamer - Torchlight II PAX Hands-on

Late last year a small, but incredibly well made action RPG was released that, eventually, went on to become a footnote in the annals of RPG history. That game was, of course, Torchlight, a game which was not only well received critically, but also went on to be a financial success for Runic Games as gamers were heralding the title as the next best thing to Diablo 2. Luckily for us the guys over at Runic were on hand at PAX showing off the title and Max Scheafer himself helped guide us through the bigger and better world of Torchlight II.

To say that Torchlight II is simply a bigger version of Torchlight would not be doing any justice to the title. Let’s put it this way. The first Diablo was good. A lot of people really enjoyed the game and overall it was a success in establishing a franchise. Diablo 2, on the other hand, not only continued that franchise, it established a legacy. This is the volume by which Torchlight II will surpass the original game, which makes sense since Max himself worked on both the original Diablo games as well.

So, first off, there are four brand new classes. While the original three are no longer playable they will appear as NPCs in various areas of the game. Unfortunately, only two of the four new classes were playable on the floor: the Outlander and the Railman. The Outlander plays as a sort of gunman/shooter character with a bit of magic enhanced abilities. The Railman, on the other hand, is a sort of engineer tank. What this means is that you’ll be building up runes in order to help bash your way through waves of enemies. It’s an interesting concept and one that isn’t easily grasped unless you play the game. Still though, both new classes are incredibly interesting and fun to play. The final two classes have not yet been announced.

Continuing on, and this will be a delight for those of you who like to play with others, Torchlight II will ship with online multiplayer/co-op. It’s a pretty simple service, basically just peer-to-peer. There’s no chat rooms or other such areas a la Diablo 2, but what is there seemed solid. While the actual multiplayer functionality will be pretty barren, Max did say they would include clan tags so that you and your friends could form up official-ish groups.

Of course, what would all these great new toys be without a great new world to explore? This, in my opinion, is where Torchlight II will really shine. Where as the original game simply had you in a single town going down various levels in a mine, Torchlight II features an overworld with plenty of outside areas to explore. Additionally, the game will features a number of environments and more than a single hub town, similar to what you had in Diablo 2. And, as with Torchlight, all dungeons — caves, forests, underworld, overworld, etc. — will continue to be randomly generated to ensure a unique experience through each locale.

Finally, as with the original game, Torchlight II will ship with the complete engine that the game was made on. This means that the entire game will be modable. You can create new weapons, maps, dungeons, skills, and even new classes should you decide to invest that kind of work. The tools the developers are using right now to create the game will be the same ones you’ll have access to upon the release of the game ensuring that the game has an active modding community attached to it.

Torchlight II is destined to be another smash hit so long as Runic can keep up with the same level of polish that the first game had. Overall, and this is from Max himself, the game is roughly four times the size as the original game, which means you’re not only getting a meatier game willed with features lacking in Torchlight, you’re also getting a much longer game.

Torchlight II is set for release in either April or May of 2011 with the same price as the original ($19.99), and, as with the original, you can expect the game to be available on a number of digital distribution platforms as well as the developers own site (where they retain 100% of the profits).

We’ll keep up with our Torchlight II coverage as we get updates from the developer. Stay tuned!

[Dakreal]

Haay schreef op vrijdag 27 augustus 2010 @ 13:36:
[...]

Ik heb het gevoel dat Schaefer met Torchlight 3 doelt op de Torchlight MMO waar ze al vanaf het begin mee bezig zijn en wat hun uiteindelijke doelstelling is. Dus tja... Als Diablo III wordt uitgesteld tot 2012, en de Tochlight MMO goed op schema ligt, dan zou het zo maar kunnen dat Torchlight 3 = Torchlight MMO uitkomt vóór Diablo III.

Maar goed, we zullen het meemaken! Vooralsnog kijk ik nu eerst uit naar Torchlight 2!

Ik hoop dat ze het halen, dan kunnen ze misschien nog wat van de playerbase van Diablo afsnoepen. Al denk ik toch dat de meeste Diablo fans het als tussendoortje zien, en echt wel voor Diablo gaan als die uitkomt.

Begrijp me niet verkeerd, Torchlight is een leuke vermakelijke game. (1x) Bij het uitspelen voelde ik niet de drang om betere items te verzamelen.. of om de endless dungeons te doen, persoonlijk voelde de verhaal al als een endless dungeon.

Uiteraard voor 15 euro of minder is het spel zeker wel een aanrader, maar een vervanger voor Diablo ? nevah!

[psychoclown]

TenTonHammer - Torchlight II PAX Preview

The recent announcement of Torchlight II was bittersweet news for the fans of the upcoming Torchlight MMO – bitter that the MMO won’t be Runic’s next release, but sweet that in early 2011 we’ll have an expansive new world based on the hit original action RPG to explore. Better yet, this time around we can explore it with friends, as Torchlight II will have integrated small-scale multiplayer. How small is something still under consideration, but we comfortably ventured out with a four-person party at PAX.

PAX 2010 attendees had a chance to tool around the first few levels of the game with two of the game’s classes: the Railman and the Outlander. The Railman is a brilliant blend of John Henry and a garden variety robber baron, sporting both a giant hammer and a fashionable monocle. The Outlander, on the other hand, has a look that combines a little Indiana Jones with Lawrence of Arabia, attacking from range with a quiver of four-bladed weapons called glaives. As we noted in our first look article from GamesCom, player characters will be customizable, but all characters will share the same “faction” and starting area. Depending on your class choice, however, you may hear some subtle dialogue differences that give some color to your character.

With such unique yet functionally familiar classes, I asked how the Runic Games team comes up with class concepts, Producer Travis Baldree noted that the emphasis is on style. “We want it to be more God of War than Excel,” he laughed, explaining that he wants players to focus on how cool and powerful they are, rather than focusing on “fiddley” stats and abilities to make themselves more powerful.

Not that you can’t fiddle – as in the original, each class will have three archetype skill trees and assign skill points to one of four stat categories (strength, dexterity, magic, and defense) every level. Only a handful of these skills were in the PAX demo – those that had definitively made the cut. “We make tons of skills, then throw most of them away,” Travis noted, explaining that the skills that make it into the game have to be both cool and powerful, but also unique enough to differentiate themselves from other skills.

For example, the Outlander’s skill set included Sandstorm, a magical glaive attack which summoned a bouncey sandblasting tornado around the screen (more than one could be summoned at a time), and Severing Leap, a jump attack that did damage to all enemies in the direction of the mouse cursor. Combat consisted of using skills assigned to your left or right mouse button, with lesser-used skills and potions assigned to numbered hotkeys.

As with the original, Travis noted that skill respec might come in a patch after launch. I could tell that he’s hesitant about the concept in general. “I guess we want players to bite their nails a little,” he jokes. Travis noted that a big part of the fun in action RPGs like Torchlight is players making semi-permanent decisions and changing their playstyle to suit their chosen build, rather than vice-versa: constantly refining their build to suit their playstyle.

Pets, the loyal helpers that not only fought beside every class in Torchlight but ferried your extra loot to town and returned with money, are back in Torchlight II. We saw one of the new pets – a ferret, and I saw that pets had more spell slots than in the original game. Everyone loved the idea of a zombie-summoning cat in the original Torchlight, and Travis explained that pets’ mobile turret capacity would be equally important as their “muling” capacity in Torchlight II.

The biggest question I had for the Runic Games team was this: how will gameplay grow to make the addition of multiplayer worthwhile? After all, four-plus groupmates and their pets would make short work of anything in the original Torchlight, even if enemies’ hitpoints were simply scaled fourfold. Travis explained that Torchlight II’s classes would have more support abilities and positional abilities than their predecessors, skills like healing or damage buff rings that players must be inside of to take advantage.

Also, the boss battles will require a little more cunning and coordinated movement than in Torchlight I, and that was immediately apparent in our level three battle with the fire-breathing General Grell (who cooked my Ten Ton Hammer counterpart Sardu a time or two, sorry man). But Travis emphasized that as with skill respecs, when a decision between accessibly joyous hack’n’slashiness and hardcore micromanagement must be made, Runic will side with the former.

Runic doesn’t plan on having any public presence at end-of-the-year events like New York Comic-Con or GDC Online, so PAX Prime may well be our last chance to check out the game before it goes live next spring. If so, we can say that Runic is making full use of the strong foundation of the original Torchlight; that they’ve found a formula that clearly appeals to gamers and are simply scaling up to support a larger overland world and multiplayer areas. As for any other surprises Runic might have in-store, we’ll have to wait and see.

[psychoclown]

Gamocracy - Torchlight II interview

Last month at Gamescom, Runic Games’ final boss, Max Schaefer, said yes to me!

I was only proposing for an interview but I still found it to be quite a big deal.

Torchlight’s daddy is definitely someone I would have wanted to talk to: not that I had played his game (now I have) but I had heard and read so much about it all year. Not to mention it’s one of the best ranked games on Gamocracy.

Icing on the fiery cake, Max and his crew somehow managed to make us believe that their very nice inaugural game was only the first course in an XXL super sized gaming meal we didn’t even know we had ordered.

Not a specialist of Action RPG’s, I asked for some help from Gamocracy’s community to find the right questions. Acerayl from Tempe, Arizona, answered the call with an amazing set of his own. In the end there’s more of his stuff than mine below.

# About Max Schaefer, gaming careers & Runic Games

Hello Max, you have come a long way from VP of Blizzard North, through your time at Flagship, and now at Runic Games. What advice can you give to those who are looking to start their own game studio?
Max Schaefer: Make the game that best suits the talents of the team. Do not try to hastily assemble a group to do a particular project. Your first projects should be small, efficient, and quick. Build your way up to bigger projects over time as your team gains experience.

How did you go from graduating with a BS in environmental design to becoming a CEO of your own game studio?
Max Schaefer: Back in the stone age when I started (the early ’90s), a “game company” consisted of a few guys in someone’s living room, so being CEO of a company didn’t exactly require Harvard training. I was lucky to have broken into the industry then – everything is bigger and more complicated now, but by the time projects became multi-million dollar behemoths, we were experienced developers.

Do you have any advice for game students looking to break into the industry? What kind of skills do you look for in a student entering in the industry?
Max Schaefer: Everything is so much more specialized now. We joke that there are positions available out there for “texture rotators” who just spin textures around for mapping, but it’s pretty close to the truth at the larger developers. But aside from developing a specialty, you have to show an employer that you have skills that are valuable to them, and that you are willing to work. The best way is to work on demo games with friends or fellow students. Show the initiative to make something that isn’t a class assignment. Show a passion for games.

Explain an average day at Runic Games. What kind of craziness can one expect if they walk through the doors of your studio?
Max Schaefer: Fire breathing clowns, and calliope music. Actually, like a lot of jobs, game-making is a lot of grinding, a lot of buckling down and working like crazy. So it’s pretty boring to see sometimes, though we have a small enough office that people gather around someone’s machine to see what new cool thing they are working on.

When you created Runic Games with Travis Baldree, Erich Schaefer, and Peter Hu, what did you envision the studio to become? Was torchlight the first game you decided as a studio to design?
Max Schaefer: We really wanted to return to a simpler approach to making games – to focus on what we do best, and not try to be something we’re not. The experience at Flagship Studios taught us a lot about business, and about the new economy, and it instilled in us a hyper-awareness of schedules, cash flow, and the need for efficient production processes.

Our thought with Torchlight was that we really liked where our previous project, Mythos, was going when we were shut down, and that we should work our way back to making something along those lines one step at a time.

# Crafting Torchlight

Each level has some sort of story to it, mostly in the visuals of the level. How important was story for this game? Did you have any problems trying to explain story for each level?
Max Schaefer: It’s important that the world feel genuine, and the goal in Torchlight was to highlight the idea that many cultures over centuries had succumbed to the corruption of the ember. This gave us the construct necessary to explain vastly different tile sets and architectural styles on each level type. The story basically works around the mechanic that you want the player to experience a variety of settings along their journey.

What made you decide to do a simple character selection over a complex character creation for the game? Will there be more than three player classes to choose from in Torchlight 2?
Max Schaefer: We decided to keep the character creation simple in Torchlight because it was a single player game. Character customization is primarily to distinguish you from other players in the game, and that’s not necessary in a single player game. Since we had such a strict budget and timeline, we sought to strip out anything that isn’t directly related to the goals and object of the game, and the character selection was one of them. For Torchlight 2, which is a multi-player game, we’ll have more customization. You’ll be able to pick from male or female, and customize the look to your liking.

The variations of weapons and armor, as well as the upgrades you can perform to them were extensive in the game. How many more weapons and armor types are we to expect in Torchlight 2?
Max Schaefer: There are more, as would be expected, but more importantly we have more time to balance them and make better use of the assets we have.

Even for a big established studio, making one successful game is very hard. You guys are a new born indie dev team and still you bet from the start you could make two successful games in less than three years. Can you talk about that leap of faith?
Max Schaefer: We took a leap of faith in thinking people would want to buy games that play well, look good, and run on your old computer, even if they don’t have the bleeding edge graphics technology, elaborate pre-rendered cinematics, or all the extras and bells and whistles that modern games tend to have. We think that PC game production has generally become too ponderous, too bloated, and too expensive, and that the old approach results in too few games and not enough risk-taking. So our goal was to strip down game development to the basics, make good tools right from the beginning so that our developers are at maximum efficiency, and focus like a laser on what our vision is for the game. All the while keeping things simple and low tech.

And how’s the bet looking? Torchlight seems like it’s met an audience but would you have numbers to share?
Max Schaefer: We have exceeded our expectations for Torchlight sales, particularly given we didn’t do almost any marketing, and that nobody had heard of it prior to release (thank you Steam!) More than that, though, our customers and community have let us know we made the right bet, and it’s an approach we’ll stick with.

Did you expect an Action-RPG title without a multiplayer mode to do that well in 2009/2010?
Max Schaefer: We had no idea, but we sure hoped so. We know that the action RPG market is under-served, and that there is pent up demand for some good old-fashioned hack and slash, but making it single-player and available only for digital download at first was a bit of a risk. We’re happy with the results for sure, but look forward to giving our players multi-player action in Torchlight 2.

# The Future of Torchlight

When you released Torchlight 1, you announced another Torchlight game that would have multiplayer in it coming in 2011. We called it “Torchlight MMO” on Gamocracy . But a few weeks ago, you announced Torchlight 2, which seems to be yet another game. So, what’s Torchlight 2 compared with the game that was initially announced?
Max Schaefer: Yes, it was our intent to roll right into making a full MMO right after Torchlight, but the demand for a simple co-op multi-player Torchlight was unanimous. There are great things you can do in MMOs, and we still look forward to making an MMO of Torchlight, but we have an opportunity to do a simple co-op game much more quickly. With a peer-to-peer co-op model, you don’t have to charge subscriptions or items sales, and you get to do things like releasing the modding tools again, so it’s something that we think the fans will appreciate and enjoy. In the meantime, we’ll get valuable experience with what works and what doesn’t in multi-player Torchlight, and that will make for a much better MMO.

Do you have a release date for the next Torchlight game? And the next?
Max Schaefer: We’re targeting April/May of 2011 for Torchlight 2, and then a couple years roughly for the MMO after that.

Thank you very much for your time, Max. Best of luck to you and everyone at Runic Games!
Max Schaefer: Thanks!

[psychoclown]

RunicGamesFansite - Exclusive Interview with Jesse Tucker

1. First question! Can we have a small introduction? Who are you, where are you from, how did you get into the games industry and how did you end up at Runic Games?

My name's Jesse. Before working at Runic Games, I was a level designer for Fallout 3. I was also in charge of implementing traps for the game. I ended up at Runic about eight months after I left Bethesda and moved in with my wife in Albuquerque, NM. Believe it or not, there isn't really a huge game development scene down there. In fact the job market is actually pretty crappy there in general. I miss my wife, but she'll be able to get a job up in Washington soon!

2. What is it like working in the Runic Games offices? We see pictures, but either everyone is partying or they all have headphones on and are focused on their work. Is there any in-between level of activity?

Runic is a really fun place to work. The atmosphere is pretty positive and relaxed. There's a phenomenon that occurs where if you have a few people interested in what's on someone's monitor, there will be a crowd of people huddled around the desk in seconds. Having an open office is a great way to share the latest cool thing that gets into the game.

3. You've said you worked on Fallout 3! What was your favorite area that you worked on? Why?

I really enjoyed working on Fallout 3 in general. In particular, I really liked making areas that had some sort of special gameplay, or that told some sort of story. There was a place that had been overrun by Mirelurks (giant crab-man) but before that it was a successful mirelurk cake production plant. You got to go in and figure out what went wrong. I also did a few things that were really fun in some of the DLC. To be honest there's a part of The Pitt DLC that I've always liked, mostly because I took a simplistic single apartment structure and made a set of interesting rooms to explore out of them. In one room, the ceiling has collapsed into a ramp to get to the higher level, and you get ambushed by mutated Trogs. In another, there's the skeleton of an old woman, surrounded by cartons of cigarettes and hooked up to an oxygen machine. In another, you find the hidden stash of a covert Chinese operative. Similar, repeated layout, but walls torn down and floors collapsed in order to make an interesting but realistic level.

4. I remember those areas from Fallout 3, especially the Mirelurk nest. Do you have many chances to do that kind of work for Torchlight 2's levels?

I hope to do more stuff along those lines like easter egg hunts and various little things to uncover while exploring. With randomized layouts, the format is obviously going to be a little different. You generally don't have the luxury of having one specific layout to work with, and that has its weaknesses but also has strengths, especially when it comes to replayability.

5. A good tie-in to the answers above: Will there be more pre-made dungeons than the first game? More along the lines of those dungeons you mentioned from the later patches for TL1.

We do have some larger, generally non-randomized areas. Featured in the PAX demo, there were two passes. One was the area with the bears and barricades before you got to town, and the other was the spooky-themed outdoor area. There are multiple versions of each of those, but with the exception of some randomized bits here and there each version of a pass is one big structure. It's nice, because it allows for a more paced and specific gameplay experience. Don't worry though, the majority of the game is still randomized.

6. How difficult was it for you to start working with TorchED? Any funny learning experiences you might want to share with us?

TorchED uses a kit-based approach, and luckily so does Bethesda's GECK. The controls and workflow are totally different, but the building mentality is pretty much the same. For my application, I really had no idea how the randomized chunks fit together, so I simply made sure that it had the same footprint and connections that an existing chunk did. For all the awesome tutorials that Runic put out, I never really got a solid idea for how the room chunks got put together until I actually saw it in action.

7. I see you made a few level editing videos for Fallout 3. Do you have any plans to do something similar for TorchED2? We could always use a few official guides *wink*wink*

I totally want to make some tutorials for the next TL game! One of the reasons I applied to Runic is their focus on the community. A really simplistic "here's the basics on how to make a good, optimized level" tutorial would be good, and I'd probably work up a fancy "So you want to do something tricky with scripting..." tutorial as well. Beyond that, who knows? There are only so many hours in a day, but maybe some of those hours can go to helping the community make a great game even better

8. What didn't you like about the level design in the first Torchlight?

What didn't I like? How about I start with what I liked? There were a lot of good things about Torchlight, after all. I liked the variety of levels, how they made things look good in a very small amount of time, and I liked the puzzle levels that got introduced a little while after release. I'd like to do more stuff like that. I didn't like the feeling that I just kept pushing forward in a straight line, slaughtering enemies in my path until I got to the next area. Final Fantasy 13 had the same problem - you just kept going forwards until you got to the end of the dungeon. There really wasn't a sense of dynamic action either - enemies would come at you in a steady flow. I prefer moments of quiet exploration and moments of intense firefight.

9. I don't know if this falls into your area or not, but can you tell us anything about any plans to make boss areas more interesting for Torchlight 2? A lot of Torchlight 1 involves kiting the bosses in a relatively square area that is easily forgotten. Perhaps any plans for more interactiveness and strategy with the environment?

Bosses are generally handled by Travis and Marsh because they require a little bit of coding and tweaking for the sake of polish. I'm definitely interested in playing around with incorporating puzzle elements into a boss fight, although not necessarily environmental elements. MMOs tend to have a trinity of DPS, Tank and Healer - I think it would be interesting to have enemies that relied on a similar system. A simple example would be to have a beefy boss monster that occasionally supplies a devastating attack, but mostly spawns weaker enemies that also attack you and heal the boss enemy. Do you attack the boss directly? Do you go for his minions first? Do you divide the duties up between you and your teammates? I have hopes for this type of stuff getting into the game, although nothing's for certain.

10. You mentioned the possibility of having more complex battles with monsters that can cooperate. Are those kinds of things actually planned for TL2? Is it very difficult for you personally to create, or can regular modders manage it as well?

I'd say it all depends on how clever you are when modding! The monsters wouldn't necessarily be cooperating with each other, but rather you could set up relationships between monsters. In the first TL there was a large ghost monster that would turn zombies into other ghost monsters. Once you realized how this system worked, you were a lot more motivated to kill the zombies early on before they turned into much more difficult enemies. Someone could make a boss monster tomorrow in Torchlight that spawned lesser enemies and then slowly upgraded them until they were just as powerful as the boss itself. As more features are added modders will obviously have more to work with.

11. Will we be able to make multiple height floors in Torchlight 2? There only seemed to be "on top" and "behind something" states in Torchlight 1, and I know many people hoped to add some indoor rooms and were never able to.

Probably not. In all honesty, it's ok even though it's limiting for level design. The path node algorithm basically drops viable path points from the sky, and then connects to nearby points. The big plus is that this process is almost completely automated. Instead of spending 1/3 of my time explaining where enemies can travel in my areas, I only have to spend about 1/100th of my time doing this.

12. Following up on the answer about tileset height, is it impossible to do with the current engine, or is it just too much of a hassle to code and pathfind for to make it in to TL2? Do you know if there are plans for any height implementation for the MMO?

I couldn't say for sure, that's really a question for Travis. Over the years I've learned that most things are possible, but they're rarely the most effective use of a very limited amount of development time. It would be a nice feature, but maybe something else would be a nicer feature.

13. (This was sent in from Danes on the forums) What sort of world building is Torchlight 2 going to feature and will cities contain a more lively, actively changing community of NPCs this time around?

There's a ton of information out there already on this, but there will be multiple towns. Having very active and robust cities really doesn't seem to be the focus right now. In the PAX demo, there were a few people walking around, talking and meditating in the town and I'm sure we'll be adding more of that type of stuff as time goes on.

14. How much branching will dungeons and other areas do for Torchlight 2? As you said, TL1 was pretty much a guided path. Diablo 2 had a fair amount of dead-ends in its dungeons, which some people like and other don't like. Personally, I always liked the idea of having side dungeons unrelated to the story that you can stumble onto and do puzzles, treasure hunting, and extra bosses. What can we expect for TL2?

I wouldn't say the dungeons themselves branch a bunch. Backtracking over corpses isn't exactly exciting. On the other hand, randomized outdoor areas are pretty open and you can set out in a lot of different directions to find various encounters and smaller dungeon entrances.

15. So for branching, would you say that indoor dungeons will probably still be just as guided as the original game, but outdoor areas will allow for more exploration in all directions? Or will we see some more exploration in the indoor areas as well?

I would say the overall layout of smaller dungeons will be more or less the same, although I really want to present people with little interesting things to do along the way.

16. Let's hear more about these passes! We heard about the different themed versions of tilesets being possible, but what you described about the randomized pieces within non-randomized areas actually sounds a lot like what Diablo III is doing. Any further explanation on passes as a whole?

Passes are essentially one large area that could be considered a complete entity rather than being made from randomized chunks. This lets you design a lot more specifically - you know which direction the player is coming from and you have a lot more room to work with. The randomized sections within a pass or level chunk is nothing new to Torchlight - the original had tons of level chunks that would randomize decorations or even the path that the player takes. Even if you saw the same level chunk, chances are it wouldn't be exactly the same. A staircase might be moved around to the other side of a raised area, a bridge might be moved elsewhere, or a gap may be filled in completely. The tools for the game make this really easy to do.

17. I've heard that Torchlight 2 will feature entirely new artwork. Is there any chance for the old dungeon types to be included somewhere as well? I know I wouldn't mind another trip to the Shadow Vault with new characters, for nostalgia's sake.

I don't know, honestly. I don't doubt that they would get modded in though.

18. What can you tell us about the difference between the multiplayer experience and single player? Even if it isn't finalized yet, can you tell us anything about any ideas being tossed around to make the two experiences different?

I don't think I can really go into specifics, but having multiple people cooperating really opens up some design doors.

19. Can chunks be set to load based on player count? (Sent in by RGF staff member Omnifas)

I'm not sure if basing things on player count is possible now, but it seems like something we'd look into.

20. Traps were an interesting aspect of Torchlight 1, in that they were found in many places and affected players and monsters equally. You said you did a lot of trap work for Fallout 3. Are you working on traps for Torchlight 2? Anything we'd be interested in hearing about?

I'm just starting to play around with the tools for making various moving parts and environmental hazards, and I have to say I'm pretty impressed with them. Nothing to really talk about yet, but I'm definitely a fan of puzzles, chain reactions and big explosions. After working on the traps for Fallout 3, I've also developed a philosophy for what makes traps fun, and also what makes them not fun.

21. In the original Torchlight there were some areas where you could see monsters or areas in the background that you could never reach (such as the Ratmen miners). Will there be any similar areas in Torchlight 2, and will we be able to get down into some of them?

We haven't done anything with background enemies yet. And if I see an enemy I generally want to kill it, so maybe we won't. There are a couple of places outside where you're up on a mountainside and you can see enemies down below, and you can shoot fireballs at them or walk down and handle them at closer range.

[psychoclown]

ManaPool - Torchlight II Preview

Back in August, Runic Games announced Torchlight II, the highly anticipated sequel to the original action-RPG dungeon crawler. They’ve heard the complaints of the masses – generally whose only real gripe with the original game was its lack of multiplayer – and are now creating a coop-multiplayer experience, in preparation for the eventual MMO that they plan to release. As well as playing with your friends, you will be able to make use of Runic’s free peer-to-peer matchmaking service in order to meet new players who are at a similar level to you. The number of players per session hasn’t been decided yet, with Runic suggesting numbers ranging from 4-7 players, but the decision will be based on how quickly a party of whichever size is able to progress through the game. Monster difficulty will tune to the number of players that are in the nearby area which should make for good balance, and loot will be assigned to a specific player which should help prevent any arguments over who gets what.
Torchlight 2 Mana Wastes

Runic is also keen to make sure there are some interesting ways to cooperate with your party mates beyond just ganking the same monster together. They’ve talked about special placeable “auras” which can be dropped on the ground, near a boss for example, bestowing buffs or other benefits to your nearby adventuring buddies. Sounds a bit like WoW’s shaman totems, which I think sounds like a great way of implementing this kind of feature without any fiddly targeting or range issues which wouldn’t really fit in with the fast paced nature of the game.

Happily, it also seems that Torchlight II will have a more overarching plotline than its predecessor, making it more of an RPG title than the original action dungeon crawler was.

In Runic’s own words:

Beyond the town of Torchlight lies a world shrouded in adventure and mystery. Guardian-warrior Syl appears in a prophetic dream, summoning the player to the Estherian Steppes. There, you meet with the Destroyer and soon venture across the continent of Vilderan, an exotic frontier besieged by forces of evil. A discovery unfolds, that the Alchemist, following his conquest of dark ember, disappeared on his quest to defeat the unknown corrupted force responsible for destroying the mystical race of Estherians. Aided by Syl, the remaining Estherian Guardians, and clues left behind by the missing Alchemist, you will find yourself battling a powerful enemy that threatens to unravel the elements of the entire world.

Torchlight 2 EzrohirSo as well as exploring Torchlight’s familiar dungeon setting (featuring both randomly generated instances and persistent dungeons), players will be able to venture out together into expansive randomized outdoor areas of the Overworld, where you will experience Torchlight II’s new weather system and “time of day” events. You will begin in a lush, mountainous region of the world, but the idea of Torchlight II is that your characters will progress through a series of very distinct areas, each with their own style and cultural background. Sounds like a good idea to us – this progression should make it feel like you (or your party) really are on a journey, battling a whole host of new monsters, finding tons of loot and completing quests along the way rather than the slightly forced notion of simply delving into a dungeon in order to complete quests. In addition to that, the levels are less linear than in the original Torchlight, so you can be out exploring and stumble across a cave, or find multiple exits to a region which should give the game a more natural feel. There will also be random events in the world – and you can decide whether to intervene or ignore them – which will definitely make it feel more RPGish.

Torchlight 2 charactersOnly two character types have been announced at this time, the “Outlander” and the “Railman”. (Note that these are working names and Runic might still change them before final release!) The Outlander sounds like a bit of a ranger type – a bit of a survivalist outsider who’s proficient with ranged weapons and low magic. The Railman is more like a melee warrior, engineering type who wants to push the frontier into new unpopulated regions. Runic has confirmed that the original Torchlight classes will not be playable in the sequel, to avoid rehashing old material. Though you are likely to come across them during the course of the game to give it a coherent, sequel feel rather than randomly throwing them out altogether. The new characters in Torchlight II will also be customisable so you can pick your own hairstyle and gender, etc.

It’s also been mentioned by Runic that they will be adding some new pets to the game, though details haven’t been shared as yet – beyond the fact that the cat and dog will definitely make their return. They have also stated that the role of pets in the game will be expanded, and that they will be given varying abilities depending on which you choose (though the firm details of this system haven’t been decided yet) which will certainly make pets a bit more interesting.

Runic is also keen to keep supporting the modding community in Torchlight 2, though there is some uncertainty about how feasible this will be due to the multiplayer element of the game so this is not yet finalised.

Runic Games will release Torchlight II (initially as a digital download) in 2011.

[psychoclown]

Torchlight II Delayed Until July

While Runic Games has never actually pinned a release date on Torchlight II, they've always suggested that we'd see the game in May. That doesn't seem to be the case anymore, as Digital Spy has word from Runic's Max Schaefer that the work they've done on the Xbox Live Arcade port of Torchlight has forced them to push the action RPG sequel back to July:

"I'd say that the Xbox project, having to do the extra work with the interface, has pushed us back a little bit, so we're probably talking July right now for Torchlight II," he explained.

"It's going great, however. We've actually got some optimisations and technical improvements that went into making the Xbox version that we've been able to go back and implement into Torchlight II for PC.

"We've got load times down, we've got some animation stuff that's a little bit better, and it's feeling really good right now."

He added: "Torchlight II is playing really snappy and really sharp, so I'm very excited about that."

[Pedr0]

Nou, dat ze dan maar eens wat gameplay vids laten zien als goedmakertje

[psychoclown]

n4g - Interview with Runic Games

Erich Schaefer, Brock Jones, and Wonder Russell answer our questions about Torchlight for 360 (achievements!), Torchlight 2 (new pet!), and what to do with PC gaming doomsayers.

CS: For anyone that hasn’t heard the news - Torchlight is coming to Xbox 360. How long has that been in the works and when will it hit?
RG: We’ve been working on the new game since Fall of 2010, and are very happy that it will be launching on Wednesday, March 9th 2011.

CS: What about Torchlight makes it a good game for a move to console?
RG: Xbox doesn’t have a game like Torchlight; the Action-RPG market is really underserved. Tons of fans told us they wished they could just play Torchlight on the couch instead of curled over their PC, and we agreed. The fast paced combat and the fact that it’s save-anywhere are just two reasons Torchlight is really well suited for the console.

CS: Can you tell me about what the process of getting the game on the console was like?
RG: Technically, it was a big process of figuring out how to translate the gameplay from a mouse and keyboard to a controller. We had theoretical plans for how that would work that seemed great on paper, but when we began implementation, there were many elements that just didn’t feel right. We iterated a lot on new theories for things like attack skills, skill trees, and UI to feel cohesive and like they had a natural flow.

CS: How much was done outside Runic Games, and what sort of things did you have control over?
RG: Runic had control over the whole project. We worked in part with a contractor, World Domination Industries who also helped on our Mac port, but the entire project, start to finish, is a Runic project.

CS: What will PC gamers who also want to play the game on their 360 notice that’s different?
RG: Gamers will notice a difference in UI, in skill trees, in potion stacking, and especially a difference in combat. One of the best examples are the Vanquisher’s ranged attacks. Depending on how you automap the skills, traps will be thrown either at a fixed range or a range determined by how long you hold down the button. There were also changes to AoE attacks. And, there are three new armor sets for each character and a new pet.

CS: How did the process of Torchlight on 360 affect the development of Torchlight II?
RG: We learned a lot of lessons in making Torchlight for Xbox that are being implemented into Torchlight II, so it was a great process for us internally. Some of those things are the skill trees, UI, and combat, that we found just worked better, simpler, and were more intuitive. A lot of engine optimizations also carried over. Torchlight II has multiplayer and updated graphics, but we hope it will run at least as well as the first Torchlight.

Also, Xbox system specs made us focus even more on efficiency, and we’re implementing a lot of that in Torchlight II. Specifically, better memory management and loading optimizations.

CS: What can you tell PS3 gamers wondering if they’ll get a shot?
RG: Right now, we have an exclusive publishing agreement with Microsoft.

CS: What are some of the Achievements in the 360 version?
RG: There are 12 achievements, with a total of 200 points, which is the maximum for an XBLA/downloadable game. Achievements include defeating a few of our bosses, successfully enchanting an item 5 times, and transforming your pet.

CS: Any plans for DLC?
RG: We have no current plans for DLC – the best ideas we have from now on will go into Torchlight II.

CS: How are plans for the MMO progressing?
RG: The plans are still there but are just that: plans. Right now, we’re focused 100% on Torchlight II.

CS: Has the possible 2011 release of Diablo III impacted any of your plans for Torchlight II?
RG: Nah. Not much we can do except make the best game we can. And, we’re looking forward to playing it, eventually!

CS: Can you talk some about the pets in Torchlight II? Any additional abilities and options?
RG: The new pet in the Xbox LIVE version is called the Chakawary; it’s a sort of a cassowary + frilled lizard hybrid. It pretty much has the same abilities as all the others: combat, inventory, spell-learning. We have some cool new ideas, but nothing implemented yet.

CS: Torchlight 2 multiplayer online - have you settled on a how many players?
RG: Not yet – we’re still shooting for between 4-8.

CS: About how long will the Torchlight II campaign be?
RG: We’ll have to see what makes the final cut, but it looks like it's shaping up to be about twice Torchlight's, which we estimate at 8 to 10 hours!

CS: Anything on PvP?
RG: Yep, we’ll have some form of PvP. But we’re all adults here so it will be….how do I put this? Consensual.

CS: You’ve revealed the Railman class, a tank-engineer combo, and the Outlander, a magician suited to ranged combat. What about the other two character classes?
RG: We’ll be revealing them. Eventually.

CS: What do you think of the “PC gaming is dead” doomsayers?
RG: Nonsense. They haven’t played Torchlight, I guess!

CS: You guys follow a different model - can you talk a bit about what led you to create a comparatively modest game at a lower price point than most?
RG: We know we wanted to be a small team. People work better and just have more fun when they're more than a small cog in a giant machine. Our small size means that we have to stay realistic about the scope of the games we make. We leverage things like randomized levels and loot to let us make great games with a small team. Furthermore, we don't have vast cash reserves to fund development, so we have to work fast or we won't be able to pay the rent. We set our price at a point where we hope that the value is obvious to our customers and will make it easy for them to recommend it to their friends.

We consciously made a 'modest' game as our first project, and from the very beginning we intended to charge a fair price for it. We want to deliver high value for the buck. This decision was supported by external factors like piracy prevention - why steal it when it's only $10 on Steam? - and our increased revenue share model with electronic distribution.

CS: What games distract the Runic Games team?
RG: Minecraft – that was a huge timesuck for us! Such a great game. It isn’t uncommon for us to “call in sick” the day a big game releases – we’re gamers, after all!

CS: And finally, still planning an April-May release for Torchlight II?
RG: We don’t have a launch date yet. We haven’t set one yet but we’re getting closer. Probably not Spring, though. Maybe Summer, but since it’s still in development, we’ll see. We're on a good pace.

Thanks again to Brock, Erich and Wonder!

[psychoclown]

Nieuws! In de aanloop naar de E3 brengen ze nieuws naar buiten, elke week een beetje.
Laatst monsters in Torchlight 2 en deze week de races.
Die laatste heb ik meteen ook in de TS opgenomen, de monster sectie laat nog eventjes op zich wachten

	05-02-'10 - Torchlight II topic gepost! 05-02-'10 - Layout topic gemaakt 06-02-'10 - Topic uitgebreid en bijna afgemaakt 10-08-'10 - Poll toegevoegd 23-04-'11 - Race sectie toegevoegd Return to Top

[psychoclown]

Gameinformer - Torchlight II Preview

Runic Games’ upcoming isometric action/RPG has a lot of expectations to live up to. My time playing the newly revealed Berserker class at E3 reassured me that Torchlight II is on its way to be just about everything its many fans want.

You’ve seen Runic talk about the new races and random level creation capabilities in the sequel, and both come through immediately when you pop into the game. Torchlight II threw three dramatically different environments at me within five minutes of sitting down at the computer: a snowy wasteland filled with corrupted priests and swarming goblins, a cavern infested with minotaurs, and an airy hub town that calls to mind the fanciful cities of Arabian mythology. Simply wandering the overworld brought me to dangerous dungeons, several minibosses, and secret loot rooms. Torchlight II’s world is rich with content.

Most weapons in Torchlight II have a small area-effect component to their basic attacks. The claws my berserker was equipped with have a narrow cone of effect, while two-handed hammers for example will have a wider impact zone. The difference from the genre’s traditional single-target attacks is subtle, but it’s one of the many little touches that make playing Torchlight II feel like an awesome carnival of destruction with occasional loot showers rather than a slogging grind through boring random levels.

The obvious love put into art and animation goes a long way toward Torchlight II taking big steps beyond the original. Uppercutting a goblin and having him fly off of a cliff rather than just fall over dead is a small difference, as is having a critical cold effect freeze an enemy solid so that he shatters into a hundred shards at the next blow. Taken in aggregate with the dozens of other special effects, at the pace that death is served out in Torchlight II, these little touches come together to put on a spectacular show that I’m all too happy to star in.

Of course, the big news with Torchlight II is the addition of co-op. I played live LAN co-op (yes, Runic added official LAN support. It does still exist!) at E3, and it was generally smooth. The difficulty scales on the fly unlike in most similar games, so the monsters don’t get tougher just by new people joining the game. Challenges crank up when more players are nearby – and not just in the same zone. In my time with the game, the scaling appeared to require more players to be close enough to aid the battle.


Online play looks likely to be relatively bare-bones, but the feature set will be more than robust enough to get games going with your buddies. Torchlight II will have basic matchmaking and server browsing, as well as social tools to make it easy to connect with friends, but don’t hold out hope for a powerful server-side solution to cheating or character storage. There may be something along those lines – Runic is still working out the details – but the sense I took away from my meeting is that Torchlight II won’t have anything along the lines of Diablo II’s Closed Battle.net or ladder system (not that those are without their flaws).

At the least, you’ll be able to filter servers by which (if any) mods they’re running, and you’ll probably have the option to only play with “pure” characters that haven’t been opened in the editing tools or played with any mods at all (like, say, a mod that cranks up the loot and XP while dropping the challenge). With Torchlight II being a peer-to-peer game that stores characters locally, though, dedicated hackers/cheaters will undoubtedly be able to have their way with the game. That doesn’t mean that they’ll be able to hack your private games with your buddies, of course, but I’m not terribly confident that public games are going to be a great experience.

Runic isn’t currently working on a console version, though the studio says that they’d love to. The company is still quite small, though, with a single team working on one thing at a time. A Mac version will be coming out sometime after the PC version ships, and a Runic representative told me that the studio will probably consider console ports after the Mac release.

My worry over the health of public servers aside, Torchlight II looks and plays like the game that I was hoping for as a huge fan of Torchlight/Diablo/Titan’s Quest/Dark Alliance/every other title in the subgenre. I was very pleased to be justified in dropping a Best of E3 Nominee badge at the Runic booth. Now I just wish that there was a firmer release date than “sometime in 2011.”

[Lomp]

Laat maar komen!!! Het word zo ondertussen wel een keertje tijd om een leuke hack&slash te spelen.
Wacht nu al jaren op dia3.
Torchlight 1 nooit gespeeld, Vind het veel mooier om met wat RL vrienden af en toe samen te spelen maar vooral de race naar het beste gear, die onderlinge competitie en het geluk ook moeten hebben dat je drops krijgt. Geweldig!!
Dus hoop ik ook maar dat droprates niet al te hoog zijn, Als iedereen al snel in het begin gegeared is haalt dat ook de levensduur onderuit natuurlijk.

[psychoclown]

Gewoon Torchlight een keertje oppakken. Het heeft dan wel geen multiplayer maar het is wel een heel leuke Hack&Slash die elke cent (en dat zijn er maar een paar) dubbel en dwars waard is.

[Rambie]

Al een release datum bekend?

[psychoclown]

Niet dat mij bekend is en anders had je het hier zeker gevonden

[Dreanor]

Ik heb gisteren TorchLight gekocht op steam voor maar 14.95€ en ik moet zeggen het is echt elke cent waard.

Ja het is enkel singleplayer, maar man man man wat speelt het lekker weg. Nog ff deze dungeon door, ff deze kamer bekijken en nog even je gear upgraden.

Ik moest wel even wennen aan het echte kerker kruipen, maar toen ik het door had werd het echt geweldig.

Ik kijk dus ook uit naar deeltje twee!

[Hurtebise]

TL2
35 min ingame footage: YouTube: ‪GameSpot Now Playing - Torchlight II (Mac, PC)‬‏

Release (zie einde filmpje): naar alle waarschijnlijkheid dit jaar, ze hopen zelfs iets voor het einde van het jaar.

[ Voor 27% gewijzigd door Hurtebise op 02-07-2011 23:49 ]

[sbmuc]

Hurtebise schreef op zaterdag 02 juli 2011 @ 23:46:
TL2
35 min ingame footage: YouTube: ‪GameSpot Now Playing - Torchlight II (Mac, PC)‬‏

Release (zie einde filmpje): naar alle waarschijnlijkheid dit jaar, ze hopen zelfs iets voor het einde van het jaar.

Wel erg jammer dat ze de release date zo ver hebben uitgesteld. Goede kans dat tegen die tijd een releasedate voor D3 bekend is en dat er veel minder mensen voor TL2 gaan.
Face it TL2 is gewoon de tussenstap tussen D2 en D3.

[DeepSeven]

Inderdaad, ik dacht dat hij voor september stond. Dit is een perfecte titel om in of net na de zomer uit te brengen. Vanaf oktober begint de enorme berg aan AAA games die uitkomen, en als ze T2 in dezelfde tijd uitbrengen als D3 doen ze zich zelf wel erg tekort natuurlijk.

[Anoniem: 63800]

voor al de geintreseerden tl1 nu voor 3 euries op steam

[psychoclown]

Hij stond eerder inderdaad gepland voor Juli/Augustus dus inderdaad jammer dat ze het hebben moeten uitstellen. Dat de release nu heel dicht bij die van Diablo 3 is komen te liggen is erg gevaarlijk.

Iemand een leuke verwijzing opgevallen in het filmpje?

[ Voor 13% gewijzigd door psychoclown op 04-07-2011 10:40 ]

[Anoniem: 230001]

Heb ergens gelezen dat ze bij de ontwikkeling van de Sbox versie dingen hebben gevonden die de game nog beter maakt en die wilden ze graag in T II verwerken voor een nog betere experience. Stond ergens op hun forum volgens mij.
Ik denk dat het meer een excuus is voor een aantal maanden vertraging die ze opgelopen hebben door de worst die MS ze voor heeft gehouden om Torchlight I voor de 360 te ontwikkelen. Erg jammer want ik hoopte in mijn vakantie T II te kunnen spelen. Als ze nu eind van het jaar uit gaan komen (oktober/november wordt ook genoemd) hebben ze veel concurrentie van andere games en als D3 dan ook uitkomt zullen ze dat zeker gaan voelen.

Edit: Staat inderdaad op hun site dat ze de release naar achter hebben verschoven dit jaar vanwege het geschikt maken van Torchlight I voor de 360.

When and how will it be released?
While the original estimate was Spring 2011, development of the XBLA version of Torchlight pushed it back to "Late summer." At E3 2011 multiple estimates were given, but our current guess is September of October of 2011.

Aan het eind van de Gamespotvideo die hierboven gepost is zegt een ontwikkelaar zelf ook dat ie hoopt dat het uitkomt voor D3, slimme jongen!

[ Voor 30% gewijzigd door Anoniem: 230001 op 14-07-2011 22:43 ]

[ravw]

hoop dat die wel voor Skyrim uit komt anders heeft het denk ik ook geen zin want die staat op 11-11-11 van dit jaar in de planning om uit te komen

[Anoniem: 230001]

Daar had ik niet eens aan gedacht, maar die staat ook op de planning. Dan hadden ze beter eerst Torchlight 2 uit kunnen brengen en daarna aan een Xbox versie van het tweede deel kunnen gaan werken, dit gaat ze minder verkopen opleveren. En het kost mij een boel speelplezier in de vakantie want ik keek er naar uit. Ik hou wel van die cartoony stijl.

[maniak]

Wat te denken van de nieuwe starwars MMO.. een release eind dit jaar gaat lastig worden voor TL2, aan de andere kant.. TL1 verkoopt nog steeds omdat het gewoon een geweldige game is, en nog steeds.. dat zal niet veel anders zijn voor TL2 verwacht ik.

[psychoclown]

De site is geupdate en zo ook de TS.
Zojuist The Engineer kunnen toevoegen, de andere 3 classes zijn nog niet zichtbaar.

[Bulls]

Nou, so much for the Torchlight 3 will be released before Diablo 3 statement. Als Torchlight 2 nog niet eens klaar is.

[sbmuc]

Bulls schreef op donderdag 11 augustus 2011 @ 11:11:
Nou, so much for the Torchlight 3 will be released before Diablo 3 statement. Als Torchlight 2 nog niet eens klaar is.

Idd bij Runic Games hadden ze een beetje een grote mond. Nu maar eens is zien dat Torchlight 2 nog voor Diablo 3 komt, ik denk het overigens wel maar Torchlight 3 iig niet.
Sowieso was Torchlight 2 alleen het tussenstapje voor ons naar Diablo 3. Tenzij het uit gaat komen voor october hebben ze een probleem. Als Diablo 3 eind dit jaar gaat uitkomen gaat iedereen daarop wachten en alleen de gamers met een heel klein budget zullen misschien voor TL2 gaan ipv D3.

Oh in november komt The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim uit... Is niet helemaal Torchlight publiek maar toch wel een flinke hap ervan.

Ik denk wel dat TL2 prima zal verkopen echter _VELE_ malen minder dan wanneer ze hun gerichte release date hadden gehaald... Dat zou Juli zijn geloof ik?

[Bulls]

Ik denk zelfs dat gamers met een klein budget wel iets weten te verzinnen om toch D3 te halen ipv TL2 omdat het voor zover is kan bedenken veel meer speelwaarde heeft. Ik ben nu TL1 aan het spelen, het is wel leuk maar iets te cartoony, voor der rest een leuke snack tussendoor tijdens het wachten op Diablo 3
Ik heb ook helemaal geen item koorts in TL alles is gewoon "och leuk" maar als het Diablo zou zijn dan heeft het toch gelijk een andere waarde. Heb ik trouwens met alle RPG's die geen Diablo 2 zijn, kan er gewoon niet aan binden zeg maar. Nu maar hopen dat het met Daiblo 3 wel weer zoals in D2 wordt.

[mindcrash]

Bulls schreef op donderdag 11 augustus 2011 @ 11:11:
Nou, so much for the Torchlight 3 will be released before Diablo 3 statement. Als Torchlight 2 nog niet eens klaar is.

Dat was dus ook gezegd voor ze een hele grote zak geld kregen van Microsoft om Torchlight te porten voor XBLA.

Dus i.p.v. TL1, TL2 en TL3 hebben ze nu dus TL1, TL1 voor Xbox en TL2 gemaakt.

[sbmuc]

mindcrash schreef op donderdag 11 augustus 2011 @ 12:27:
[...]


Dat was dus ook gezegd voor ze een hele grote zak geld kregen van Microsoft om Torchlight te porten voor XBLA.

Dus i.p.v. TL1, TL2 en TL3 hebben ze nu dus TL1, TL1 voor Xbox en TL2 gemaakt.

Wel zonde want nu zullen TL2 en TL3 een stuk minder verkopen dan wanneer ze deze 2 voor Diablo 3 hadden gereleased.

Blizzard hoeft niets meer te bewijzen, Diablo 1 was geweldig, Diablo 2 was beter met name omdat het online zo geweldig werkte en nu 11(!!!) jaar later werkt het nog steeds goed online. Elke PC gamer die ook maar iets met RPG / Hack & Slash heeft gaat D3 kopen.

Runic Games heeft nog een hoop te bewijzen, dat hadden ze kunnen doen door TL2 tijdig te releasen. Ik kan me niet voorstellen dat de grote zak met geld van Microsoft de gebrek in verkopen van TL2 niet kan goedmaken. But only time will tell.

[Anoniem: 230001]

T2 zal op zich wel goed verkopen alleen de verkopen zullen over een lange(re) periode uitgesmeerd worden. Ik had gehoopt dat ze zich aan juli zouden houden maar helaas. Nu gaat D3 voor en ik zie wel wanneer ik T2 haal.
Als T2 inderdaad te lijden gaat krijgen onder de release van D3 zullen ze zich nog weleens achter de oren krabben denk ik.

[Bulls]

Ach ja al melden dat je TL3 gaat maken voordat TL2 uitkomt is ook je eigen kruit verschieten. Het leuke van TL2 zou zijn dat er coop in zit en ook outdoor bezig kan gaan, en niet alleen maar dungeon na dungeon dieper onder de grond. Alhoewel Diablo 1 ook dat principe had.

Ik denk eerder dat de statement over TL3 eerder dan D3 een soort gebaar was dat het zo lang duurt met Blizzard.

Verder had ik gelezen dat TL1 en TL2 een soort van test game zou zijn voor een TL mmo ofzo.

[psychoclown]

Anoniem: 230001 schreef op donderdag 11 augustus 2011 @ 13:17:
T2 zal op zich wel goed verkopen alleen de verkopen zullen over een lange(re) periode uitgesmeerd worden. Ik had gehoopt dat ze zich aan juli zouden houden maar helaas. Nu gaat D3 voor en ik zie wel wanneer ik T2 haal.
Als T2 inderdaad te lijden gaat krijgen onder de release van D3 zullen ze zich nog weleens achter de oren krabben denk ik.

Dat denk ik ook wel ja, en de diehard fans zullen beide wel kopen (al is dat maar een klein deel) maar Diablo 3 zal de meest gespeelde van de 2 worden. Denk zelf dat ze ook zo druk bezig zijn met de console versie van TL2, daarin zullen zij wel voorlopen op Blizzard.

Bulls schreef op donderdag 11 augustus 2011 @ 13:20:
Verder had ik gelezen dat TL1 en TL2 een soort van test game zou zijn voor een TL mmo ofzo.

Dat klopt maar ook daar hebben ze inmiddels concurrentie, Path of Exile public beta (invites) is van start en Mythos draait al een tijdje.