Torchlight II Announced
#1
Runic Entertainment - you know, the guys from Flagship Studios who are the guys from Blizzard North, who are the guys that made the game this website was originally created for and stuff - announced that Torchlight II is coming.

I'm pretty stoked about this one. I enjoyed Torchlight a lot, but like many others, found that its lack of multiplayer gave it a short lifespan in terms of playing time. Here's the marketing hype:

Quote: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.

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

Personally, I actually have more interest in this than Diablo III, seeing how Blizzard as of late is becoming more and more the evil empire of computer gaming. I have reservations that Runic Games won't have the network code and willpower to stop rampant cheating, though, which is nowadays ever-present in all multiplayer games.

We'll see! Looking forward to it.
Quote:Considering the mods here are generally liberals who seem to have a soft spot for fascism and white supremacy (despite them saying otherwise), me being perma-banned at some point is probably not out of the question.
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#2
(09-12-2010, 07:37 PM)Bolty Wrote: Torchlight 2 stuff...
From that quick blurb, that's sounding more like what I think Diablo 3 would have been had Blizzard North stayed Blizzard North. In any case, I thought Torchlight was nifty, but the lack of multiplayer kept me from buying since there wasn't anything really all that different in it from most other single player ARPGs (aside from the graphics, which remind me a bit of Dungeon Runners). Torchlight 2 sounds like it might be worth it, especially if it keeps the "indie" pricing the first game had.
Alea Jacta Est - Caesar
Guild Wars account: Lurker Wyrm
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#3
(09-12-2010, 07:37 PM)Bolty Wrote: I have reservations that Runic Games won't have the network code and willpower to stop rampant cheating, though, which is nowadays ever-present in all multiplayer games.

They've been up front that they won't even try, especially since they want to encourage people playing mods online. This is not a game to play in pubbies (and indeed, it's not even clear what matchmaking would be available...)

I thought the first torchlight had very solid basic combat feel, but more than lack of multiplayer, any semblance of polish and endgame balance was completely lacking and that severely limited longevity. As a multiplayer game that will be even more make-or-break. This still seems more like a tie-over than a long-term investment, but that's far from unwelcome.
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#4
I'm so upset that this was pushed back to a 2012 release date. I guess I'd rather have a polished game though so I can't really complain. Does anybody know the new release date or is it still just "sometime in 2012"? I really wish that the human resource management at Blizzard would put a date on the game so we have at least a general time-frame of its release.
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#5
They're taking a page from their old Blizzard playbook and saying "when it's ready."
Quote:Considering the mods here are generally liberals who seem to have a soft spot for fascism and white supremacy (despite them saying otherwise), me being perma-banned at some point is probably not out of the question.
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#6
(01-11-2012, 04:52 AM)Bolty Wrote: They're taking a page from their old Blizzard playbook and saying "when it's ready."

Actually more than that. Wink They're going so far as to say "With so many other great games coming out soon or already out, what's the rush?" Personally, I found the answer more appealing than "It's ready when it's ready." Just seemed more genuine somehow. Maybe because it's new and different? Personally, I'm glad they pushed it back. Torchlight was a solid game, and there's absolutely no reason to rush the release.
Roland *The Gunslinger*
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#7
(01-11-2012, 09:40 PM)Roland Wrote: Actually more than that. Wink They're going so far as to say "With so many other great games coming out soon or already out, what's the rush?" Personally, I found the answer more appealing than "It's ready when it's ready." Just seemed more genuine somehow. Maybe because it's new and different? Personally, I'm glad they pushed it back. Torchlight was a solid game, and there's absolutely no reason to rush the release.

To be fair, they have the luxury of saying stuff like that now. You can be damn sure if Diablo III released at the end of last year they wouldn't be saying that. They would have had the game out in October which was the original target date.

The formula I've been working with for when Torchlight 2 will get a release date is (Diablo III relase date announced) + 24 hours = Torchlight II release date announced.
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#8
(01-17-2012, 09:03 PM)Chesspiece_face Wrote: To be fair, they have the luxury of saying stuff like that now. You can be damn sure if Diablo III released at the end of last year they wouldn't be saying that. They would have had the game out in October which was the original target date.

The formula I've been working with for when Torchlight 2 will get a release date is (Diablo III relase date announced) + 24 hours = Torchlight II release date announced.

Heh. Perhaps! Regardless, the sentiment remains true. I'm in no hurry for Torchlight II at present, as I'm still juggling far too many titles (and far too much gaming ADD) to bother with adding on yet another.
Roland *The Gunslinger*
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