Huh. Well, this is kinda unexpected. Runic, the band of former Diablo devs that produced Torchlight and the especially excellent Torchlight II, have just lost two key members. Founders Travis Baldree and Erich Schaefer are departing the little ARPG studio that could because, er, it apparently grew too large for their tastes. 20 people under one roof? You’re practically Ubisoft at that point. For real, though, both Diablo and Torchlight wouldn’t exist without these two, so it’s pretty wild to see them go. More on that and also Runic’s “crazy, cool, completely secret project” in the loot-ridden dungeons below.
Have you recently suspected that you’re living an Inferior Life? You might not be wrong. Thousands of people are diagnosed with Inferior Life Syndrome every day, and to hear forums, gaming sites, and Internet comment threads – all of which are made up 100 percent of doctors – tell it, it’s probably because those people aren’t playing the right games. There’s plenty of science to back up these allegations, too. I mean, have you honestly not played Torchlight II? Seriously? Many Web MDs (and probably also WebMD) would declare you legally dead on the spot. Fortunately, Steam is here to help. Runic’s furiously fun hack ‘n’ slash is free all weekend.
Holy cow, everyone. People bought a videogame! Look at all these HOT NUMBERS, sensitive bits conjuring curiosity from behind the slimmest of dollar signs. Yes, I know this sort of news isn’t typically very exciting, but I think Torchlight II warrants an exception to that oh-so-sacred of RPS rules. Runic’s finished taking count on the fingers and toes of all its employees and their many pet millipedes, and the total tally’s come out to two million. In ten months. That’s pretty huge for a PC-only ARPG from a developer not named Blizzard. But then, Torchlight II did a rather incredible number of things right.
Torchlight II‘s actually already seen some rather brilliant mods, which is impressive given that modders have only been able to paddle themselves through its stat-laden sea of systems with their wits. For its part, however, Runic promised official mod support ages ago, and now – after maybe a little more time than most people were expecting – it’s finally delivered. So then, what do burgeoning loot pinata crafters have at their disposal? GUTS. Which, honestly, was how I would’ve answered that question no matter what because I’m in a weird mood right now, but luckily, it’s actually relevant in this case! That, you see, is the name of Torchlight II’s spiffy new modding suite, and it locks in with Steam Workshop like a gem into a modding-suite-shaped socket.
When you played through Torchlight II, did it feel like something was – I don’t know – missing? Wait, for real? Because there was a whole, whole lot of stuff in Runic’s brilliant sophomore slasher (read that phrase again; videogame lingo is weird sometimes, you guys), so I was mostly joking for the purposes of introducing this sentence: Torchlight II was a glorious loot pinata explosion of glowy, sparkly, monster-y things, but a positively mad mod team has decided to add more anyway. Heaps more. A new Necromancer class, 108 Elite monsters, 28 raid dungeons, a new hub, and new quest lines. And that (available right now) is only the beginning of a plan so absurdly grandiose that it may as well be the sun to vanilla Torchlight II’s tiny disposable travel bag flashlight.
I am a monocled engineer with a pet bulldog called Mr Kibbles. Eyebrows aside, the only hair on my head is an attractive piece of lip furniture that I call The Handlebars of +4 Roughhousing. Torchlight II really does seem like a pleasant way to click away the hours, as John excitedly reported yesterday. If you’re not convinced that this is the ARPG for you, or if you’re not convinced by ARPGs at all, you could always try the demo and see if your fancy is tickled. I’m not entirely sure how much content the demo includes but it shouldn’t take long to decide if the rest of the game is something you’re willing to invest in. Download it from Runic or on Steam.
RPS Feature
Still Fails To Feature Torchlight In A Significant Way
I’ve played Torchlight 2 for 20 hours, killed 8339 monsters (1352 of them exploded), gathered 179,463 gold pieces, died 115 times, and completely pointlessly smashed 1,368 bits of scenery. Which I believe makes me ready to tell you Wot I Think.
It’s been a long road to the release of Torchlight II. Not Diablo III long, mind you, but it technically started with the original Torchlight, which didn’t even release until 2009. And all the while, there’s been Torchlight ports and constant demand for a Torchlight MMO – among other things. I wouldn’t be surprised if talk of Torchlight-branded torches, lights, and lighters crept into the conversation at some point. Point is, Runic’s been stuffing loot pinatas and shuffling dungeon tiles for quite some time now. So then, is it time for something new? I asked Runic CEO Max Schaefer as much during a recent interview (which you’ll be seeing all of soon), and he told me many things.
Torchlight II will be out on 20th September of this very year and that’s pretty much all there is to say. Does anyone remember when it seemed like there’d be a collision between Diablo III and the indie charmer? For a moment back before summer failed to begin, I imagined a pileup of ARPGs, all rushing down the internet pipes, erupting in an +4 burning damage fireball and fusing into a mangled mess of stats and potions. It’s strange to think that Torchlight II won’t be something to look forward to for very much longer but hopefully actually being able to play it will make up for that. And there’s always Grim Dawn to take its place in the future-time anticispace. I’m hoping for some jolly multiplayer shenanigans from this one.
If the Internet serves as a representative sample (and I don’t see why it shouldn’t), the first thought on the minds of most humans – the goal that sustains our insatiable will to live – isn’t love, sex, eating, fighting, curiosity, or figuring out how many licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop. It’s Torchlight II‘s release date. When word got out that the vibrant hack ‘n’ slash was facing an uphill battle to completion, chaos ensued. The Internet collectively wept, and hope festered into bitter sorrow. All of which is, in retrospect, pretty silly, because everything’s probably going to be a-okay.
If you’re anything like me, then not only are you uniquely handsome, but you’re also wondering what the bloody hell is taking action RPG Torchlight II so long. Come ON Torchlight 2! My mouse has just recovered from Diablo III, and I need SOMETHING TO CLICKCLICKCLICK on. Oh, they’ve said. As Eurogamer spotted, Runic bossman Travis Baldree has posted on their forums saying why there’s still not a release date for the pre-orderable game.
If you don’t have a muscular clicking finger a lot of the discussion around these parts may be a little disheartening as of late. It’s all Diablo this and Grim Dawn that, and maybe Exile the other. How about a bit of Torchlight II to go with all that, or as an alternative to Blizzard’s biff ’em up? If you haven’t already had a chance to play the Tochlight beta, this weekend could be your lucky two days. Runic have announced that this will be their final stress test: “We’ll be sending out many more beta codes to those who have already made their Runic Games Account. Haven’t signed up yet? Go for it now! Creating your account is always your best chance to receive a beta invite – especially this weekend.”
It’s the weekend. I should have a perpetual grin plastered across my face as I skip down the street with cartoon birds fluttering in my wake. Instead, I’m feeling a bit like finding a corner with a shadow that’ll cover my face just so and gazing wistfully out a window. The cartoon birds are still invited, but this isn’t really their scene, you know? And who, pray tell, de-springed my step? Why, that’d be Runic, purveyor of whimsical hack ‘n’ slash rainbow adventures and opening cut-scenes that kill everyone – in lavish, faded-parchment-style 2D, no less, but my point still stands. At any rate, this new villain apparently packs quite the punch. Watch as he politely introduces himself – and then, somewhat rudely, does that whole murder thing – after the break.
An MMO has always been the end goal for Runic’s proposed heir to the throne of click-click-click, but its path to production has been anything but straightforward. Originally, Torchlight was the warm-up, and the MMO would follow soon after as the main event. Then Runic decided it needed to spec its collective skill tree into multiplayer, and thus, Torchlight II was born. So, naturally, the runway’s now finally clear for the MMO, right? Not exactly, Runic CEO Max Schaefer told us.
In almost a month on the dot, Diablo III will finally, honestly, truly launch. This is not a test. Opinions on the beta have been mixed, but still, it is the third entry in a positively massive franchise about everyone’s favorite spicy Latin brand of Satan. We’ve been waiting for more than a decade. All eyes are rightfully on Blizzard’s loot lusting opus. Which is a bit odd, if you think about it. What other genre is so completely indebted to one game? Moreover, is that the slowly festering mark of a stagnant game type? After the curious news that Runic seemingly intends to release Torchlight II a month outside the shadow of Blizzard’s behemoth, I got in touch with Runic CEO Max Schaefer to clarify that comment and chat a bit about the future of the genre he helped pioneer.
In much the same, incredibly depressing way we’re all destined to become our parents, I tend to believe gaming’s spiritual successors slowly but surely inherit oddly specific qualities of their forefathers. For instance, Serious Sam riffed on Duke Nukem, only for Serious Sam: BFE to spend years in uncharacteristic silence with nary a peep as to its development progress. As time passed, I began to worry that Torchlight II would suffer the same fate, ultimately following in Diablo’s languid footsteps. But then I felt an odd fluttering sensation in my Anger Regions. Is this… optimism?
The year they call 2012 will be full of dungeon crawling and loot hauling. Thousands of people probably descended on the Path of Exile for the first time this weekend and there’s the not inconsequential matter of Diablo III’s mid-May arrival. But what of Torchlight II? I feel like it hasn’t been clamouring for my attention as loudly as perhaps it should and a short video showing animated animals is hardly the most clamorous display. Still, that is one cute bulldog.
Joystiq‘s crystal ball lit up earlier today with notification of a blog post by Runic bosslord Travis Baldree in which the man from Runic states that “a game of this scope up to the quality and polish level we want to achieve is going to take a little longer,” and also: “We’ve probably had 18 months of full development time on it so far – not excessively long yet, as far as that goes. The amount of time we need to take it the rest of the way is relatively small.” Basically, it’s not going to hit in 2011 as expected.
“Besides, you’re all playing Skyrim right now anyway, aren’t you?” observes the astute Mr Baldree. Why yes, I am. I just saw a giant totally bat a wolf up the side of a mountain! Awesome.
An announcement on the Torchlight II site confirms that the game will ship for $20. Here’s the kind of statement that you would think more company bosses releasing PC games would include in their press release: “It’s always been our goal to provide exceptional value for the price,” says Max Schaefer, CEO of Runic Games. “Everyone who wants to play Torchlight II will be able to comfortably afford to do so, and they’ll be able to play with their friend online or via a LAN, or play single player offline, all with no further purchases.” Ha.
The Embermage page (the final class to be revealed and inevitable ranged spellcaster) is here.
A million is a big number. For instance, if you put a million hairbrushes in a pile end to end it would reach Pluto. That’s not true, but it serves as a useful illustration for a million being a big number. Still not got it? Well, imagine a tennis ball. Now imagine a million of them. See, that’s a lot of tennis balls! Also, Torchlight has sold a million copies.
