Torchlight
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Torchlight gets big Steam update, half-price weekend
Valve knows you, conservative Steam user. You've been holding out for a discount on the already low-priced Torchlight from Runic Games, using the game's lack of Achievements and Steam Cloud support as an excuse to do so, haven't you? Haven't you?! It's alright (and we're sorry for yelling)! But we had to get your attention to tell you that Steam's benevolent overlords are already thinking a few steps ahead, adding the aforementioned Cheevos and Cloud support in an update last night as well as dropping the game's price by 50% for the duration of the weekend. For $9.99, you can venture into the land of Torchlight and click to your heart's content -- there's even a demo if you're so inclined. The deal last's until Monday, so let's hope you're an expedient Steam user as well as a conservative one. %Gallery-72098%
Runic Games talks Torchlight, the upcoming MMO, Diablo comparisons, more
Can't wait for Diablo III? Try Torchlight. The single-player action-RPG, available for just 20 bucks via digital distribution, has got PC gamers talking. But why should Massively readers care, you ask? Because eventually, in about two years or so, developer Runic Games will make it a full-fleged MMO. We spoke with Runic Games CEO Max Schaefer, who worked on the Diablo series, and lead designer Travis Baldree about what they plan for the Torchlight MMO, what they learned from their time at Flagship Studios, and if their game will be the World of Diablo we've all been waiting for.
Runic Games interview, part 3
There's no Diablo III release date yet, but does its release concern you in terms of your playerbase? Baldree: Honestly, we tried to go a different way. We knew Diablo III was going to come out eventually, and we know it's going to be fantastic and amazing, but we wanted to make a game that sat in a different slot, so we chose to make a single-player mod-able game and then an MMO with a persistent world. We tried to go on both sides of Diablo. Schaefer: Diablo III has the controversy with the new artwork being too colorful and not having the somber, gothic tone of the old Diablo games. We went way further, and again, in a conscious attempt to be different. We didn't want to be Diablo. We wanted to be in that genre and do well the things that Diablo does well, but it's a different style. It feels different. Speaking of color, did you have any debate using colors, since many RPG players like the dark, gloomy color schemes? Baldree: We definitely talked about it, but I think we were all on board with going for a more, broadly accessible look. It took us a few months to hone in on exactly what we wanted to do. I think the Pixar angle is really the best comparison. Pixar has a style that is really broadly appealing. Who doesn't like a Pixar movie? It's cartoony without feeling juvenile, which is what we were kind of hoping to aim for. We tried to reinforce that with the sound of the music. We intentionally didn't make cartoony music. Schaefer: I think that we should disclose that we were looking for an art style that was conducive to a low tech approach. One that didn't need all kinds of fancy shaders to look good and didn't have to approach realism, just because we're a team that is two percent the size of Blizzard's, if that, and we need to be more efficient. Baldree: We have about 25 or 26 people now. We really wanted the game to run on everything we could get it to run on too. So having lower system requirements was one of our internal mandates, and the art style really fit in well with that. To Diablo fans specifically, why do you think they should care about this game? Schaefer: Um... we're available for sale and you could play today! (laughs) Baldree: I think some of the main advantages are it's $20 and it's got a full modding suite, so if there's something you wanted to play around with, you can. Schaefer: Everyone's a critic about the Diablo style of gameplay too. Everyone's like, "They should've done this or done this this way or fix this mechanic here." Now people can go and do that (in Torchlight). And I suspect we're going to have lower system of requirements than Diablo III. Baldree: Another thing is, if you like these kinds of games, you'll enjoy it. And yeah, we're going to buy Diablo III and play it in the office. I love the genre, so I love it when games arrive in it. A lot of people are wondering what Blizzard's next MMO is, and for a time, people suspected it could be "World of Diablo." Would you say this is, in a way, the Diablo MMO that some people were hoping for? Schaefer: Um, yeah. As far as I know, (Diablo III) is doing more of the Battle.net matchmaking-style session that Diablo II had. So yeah, (Torchlight) is the action-RPG MMO. People seem to keep trying to make the WoW killer... Baldree: Yeah, we're not really interested in that. Schaefer: Frankly, that's a terrible idea, to try and make a WoW killer. They put well over $100 million into the budget right now, 10 years, and 200 of the best developers in the world. Why would you try to beat that? Baldree: What we used to say about Mythos is that we wanted it to be the game you would play while waiting for your WoW raid to start. (laughs) Do you think it's just dangerous for a developer to shoot that high? Or do you think it's just a ratio of budget to the amount of users you expect? Schaefer: It's just a losing game because, not only are the resources incredible that you have to put into it, but then you have to make something that's actually better. Baldree: I think we went down that road in a smaller scale at Flagship. Rather than do that this time around, we went with wanting to build on a smaller success and work our way up, instead of trying to slay Goliath the first time out. Do you see this game ever coming to consoles? A lot of MMOs these days are trying to make that jump. Baldree: We talked a lot about it. I think it would be really neat. I think the first person to do a free-to-play MMO on Xbox Live that uses points for in-game purchases is going to do really well. Schaefer: We'd like that to be us but it won't be an in-house project. That would be something we would have to outsource, and there's a lot of logistical issues. It's on our wish list, but it's not something we're directly pursuing right now. What can we expect from Torchlight in the near future, before the MMO? Schaefer: Lots and lots of mod community action. We left a lot of room in the game for people to be creative and do wonderful things. We had a tiny team here, but there's hundreds of modders out there. So we're hoping that they come out with some really cool stuff over time now. Baldree: For our part, we'll be spending a lot of time with the modding community, injecting assets, being helpful, offering advice, showing how things work. What have you guys learned from your time at Blizzard and then Flagship for Torchlight? Schaefer: Well, I can speak to Blizzard. From Blizzard, we definitely just picked up a real appreciation for production values and making sure whatever you're doing, you're doing really well, even if it's at the expense of cutting lots of features just make sure what you're doing is super tight, super polished and don't release it until it's there. That was the biggest thing from Blizzard that I think we took. From Flagship, the lessons were myriad from there, but really a lot of it was don't try to do everything for everybody. Start with manageable tasks, start with attainable goals, and just pay a lot of attention to budget, efficiency, team size and partners. Baldree: Basically, starting Runic and working on Torchlight, what we wanted to do was choose something that we thought we could do and excel at with the time and resources we had. And that also fits in with the single-player game. What we had to work with was a small but really good team. Do you think of the online PC games market is still healthy despite naysayers? Schaefer: I think so. I think we went through a little rut where there just wasn't a horribly compelling product being made, because everyone was trying to make WoW killers. (laughs) Baldree: I think it's definitely changed a lot, and it's not the same market it was years ago, that's for sure. Schaefer: It seems you're seeing more clever things come down the pipe nowadays. Like Torchlight? Schaefer: Yes, exactly! (laughs) Torchlight is available now for $20. The retail version of the game will in stores on January 5th and is available for pre-order at Gamestop and Amazon. Runic Games also says they're currently working on a Mac version.
Runic Games interview, part 2
What business model are you going with for the MMO? Schaefer: Right now we're looking at free-to-play: item sales and free download. We like that model because we think subscriptions are just too restrictive. Everyone's got a (World of Warcraft) subscription already, so who wants to put more money on their credit card every month whether or not they play the game? So we like the item sales model. Having said that, it's two years until it releases and that's an eternity in this industry, so we reserve the right to change that. (laughs) The economy isn't in good shape either. Do you think that's also a good reason to go free-to-play? Schaefer: It is internationally. The question is, would (free-to-play games) get adopted in the U.S.? Baldree: The nice thing about (free-to-play) is that it's a low barrier to entry. You get in and try out our game. And we'd like everything about the game to be that way. We don't want you to have a high-end rig to have to run it; we want it to be something people can easily try out. Schaefer: And we don't want you to have to buy a $60 box so that you can start paying the subscription to play the game. Do you think the free-to-play market is getting too crowded though? Schaefer: I think consumers are business-model agnostic. They'll get word of mouth that some game is cool and that's what they'll play. Baldree: I think we just have to make a really good game. That's the most important thing. Schaefer: Right. And if it says, "Hey, come check out this game, you don't have to pay anything to try it out," I think that works. Now item sales is more challenging from a design perspective than subscriptions. With item sales, you have the whole issue of having to balance out what you're selling and not angering the free guys, not angering the pay guys and making everyone happy with it. And it's certainly possible, but it is more work. Baldree: In the end, I think the game has to come first and if we make a really good game, regardless of what we do business model-wise, it'll work. What kind of items will we be paying for? Baldree: A lot of things we talked about are things that really still encourage you to play the game. We really don't want to charge people to skip the game. Schaefer: Right, we don't want you to buy a cool sword. We want to make it so that the guy who pays has a little better chance to find the cool sword than the free guy. Baldree: And we don't have that much interest in grinding; we want you to just play and have a good time. A good example is one of the things we were going to be doing with Mythos. We had the concept of cartography. You could buy maps that would make a private instance for you and all of your buddies, and you could control the properties of those areas. So you could say, "I want this to have more champions" or "I want it to be luckier so I can get slightly better loot." These were options you could change for small amounts of money. So you could have one person who would spend a buck and create an epic map for you and your party to go into. Schaefer: Right, so everyone can participate; you just got to get one guy in your party to buy the map. Baldree: Things like high-end balance and guild-housing and cosmetic features. We really don't want to be selling the biggest, shiniest sword in the game for money and then have people buy that because it just doesn't feel fair or right. Schaefer: That's not fun for anybody. Let's go back to the beginning though. How did the idea for Torchlight come about? Baldree: A lot of us worked on all of the Diablo games, and all of us have worked on action-RPGs for a lot of years. And we were working on an action-RPG, Mythos, when (Flagship Studios) closed. So I think it was kind of just a momentum thing. We wanted to finish what we started with the Mythos project, and we thought we were on to something pretty cool with that so we didn't really debate it much. When we started the new studio, we were like, "Let's get a real cool-looking action-RPG going as fast as possible." And having worked on Mythos and Diablo, did you try to differentiate Torchlight from those games? What did you take from those projects and what did you try to avoid? Baldree: We definitely wanted to approach it with a different visual style and tone, because we're really not trying to make Diablo. We're making a game in that genre, so we consciously went for a more Pixar kind of look to things. Overall, the look of the game isn't quite as grim. Schaefer: I think also we brought a lot of lessons from the development of action-RPGs from those projects. We learned a lot about the process of making them and how to do them efficiently, and I think we've applied those lessons to the single-player version and will apply the lessons from the single-player version to the MMO. I think every time you do it, you get a little better at it. Obviously, just from having worked on Diablo and creating a game in the same genre, people are going to make inevitable comparisons to the past Diablo games and the upcoming Diablo III. How do you feel about those comparisons? Schaefer: I think it can't do anything but help. I mean, Diablo III is a relatively high-profile project with some pretty significant expectations, so as long as the comparisons aren't discouraging we're pretty happy with it. And obviously that is going to be the comparison. I think one of the reasons we've picked this genre is we feel that there aren't enough games in it. There are a million games that play like WoW, but there really aren't a lot of good action-RPGs or MMOs out there. So yeah, obviously, Diablo is the biggest one and therefore we're compared to that. But I think that's kind of testament to the fact that there aren't that many good ones. Can you comment on some of Torchlight's similarities to Diablo? Schaefer: I think there are interface conventions that are not just from Diablo and Torchlight that people use because there's no point in reinventing something that everyone already knows how to use and is already comfortable with. It's kind of just frustrating to figure out how interface works or how a skill tree functions when everyone already knows the standard way to do it. So we didn't want to reinvent how you control one of these games or what they look like, we just wanted to give you a new and fresh take on it. And Diablo certainly didn't invent a lot of those things that people would say are striking similarities. We consciously used things from other games that worked and felt right. And I think every game does that. How many games use the WASD keys and mouse look controls? It's because it's good, and it works. People know how to do it. Baldree: I think it gets down to the fact that the genre right now doesn't have that many games in it. Right now you have Borderlands, Rage and Fallout 3. All of which are post-apocalyptic, semi-RPG shooters. But the genre is so large at this point that the internal comparisons aren't made as much. Fair enough... but you could've added a pants slot! Baldree: (laughs) The pants slot comes in the MMO! Page 3 of the Runic Games interview
Torchlight dev speaks about Blizzard competition, MMO plans
Max Schaefer, co-founder of Torchlight developer Runic Games (and former Blizzard North staffer) recently sat down for the most terrifying interview of his life. In an interview with German gaming news site PCGames.de, Schaefer was buffeted with strongly-worded interrogatives, at one point being told to "Defend yourself!" The harsh questioning was worth it -- Schaefer opened up about similarities between his studio's game and Diablo, explaining, "we plead guilty to trying to perfect a style of game we've worked on since the early 90's." The more intriguing part of the interview came when Schaefer discussed the future of the series -- a future which involves a free-to-play MMORPG based in the world of Torchlight. Just because the game won't put a hurt on your wallet doesn't mean Runic Games is skimping out; according to Schaefer, the Torchlight MMO will be a large production, complete with "a lot of customization, an overworld, random and instanced dungeons, PVP, and much more!" Schaefer added that the MMO is still about two years out. The studio plans to go into pre-production as soon as it squashes all the bugs in the offline version of Torchlight, and hopes to have the game reach the community with alpha and beta testing phases "as quickly as possible."
Torchlight begins retail excursion on Jan. 5, 2010
Encore Software and developer Runic Games have announced plans to enchant its relationship by entering an exclusive publishing agreement that will send the addictive download-only PC title Torchlight to retail stores on January 5, 2010 for a MSRP of $19.99. Combining skills like so many elemental gems, Runic's design posse includes members from the original team that developed titles like Diablo and Diablo II (anyone ever heard of those?).Torchlight -- which recently released free editing tools to its users -- is currently available for PC via its website. A Mac version is planned for sometime in 2010. Sometime, meaning "not soon enough."
Torchlight editor 'TorchED' released, full of modding riches
Now may be the perfect time to come up from the deepest bowels of Torchlight's dungeons to take a breather from all of your greedy hoarding, as Shacknews reports the game's mod tools are now available. Runic Games originally announced the tool set would be a separate download following the late-October release of the game and the dev has made good on that promise, gifting us all with TorchED. TorchED allows one to manage all aspects of the game, from creating custom levels to modifying skills right down to quest construction. For you budding quest composers out there, Runic offers a list of tips to get your mod on that you may wish to check out. [Via Shacknews]
Aion grips top ten digital sales charts a month past release
You'd be forgiven for thinking Aion would've fallen off the Steam and DIrect2Drive top ten sales charts, what with the fire hose blast of new PC releases. Fortunately for NCsoft, that isn't the case as the game is still clinging to said charts in the face of games like Dragon Age: Origins, Borderlands, Torchlight and Left 4 Dead 2. Boldness! Actually, the game is pretty darn good -- if you don't mind your peanut butter with extra grind -- so that's not a huge surprise all things considered. It's always a good sign when an MMO can stay on the top ten after its launch, moreso when it does so against high profile, high pedigree releases. So, rejoice Aion players, you've likely got a strong community! (We could've just told you that, but now numbers vindicate said observation.)
Torchlight to explore retail shelves in January
Torchlight, the action-RPG from Runic Games, is available right now via the game's official site or Steam. However, early next year, the game will also be available at brick-and-mortar shops, Joystiq sister site Big Download confirms. The news comes from Runic Games' head of PR, who says that a boxed version will hack and slash its way to retail shelves sometime in early January. Currently, Torchlight is only compatible with Windows, but the team is hard at work getting it ready for Macs and is also preparing the game's first patch and mod tools. If you fancy yourself a fan of the Diablo series and have Steam, then give the demo a chance -- Torchlight was created in part by Diablo and Diablo II co-designers Max and Erich Schaefer, after all. %Gallery-72098%
The Digital Continuum: Torchlight my fire, page 2
Torchlight's setting is somewhat fantasy with a little bit of steampunk -- right now I'd say it feels something like 75/25 leaning towards a unique fantasy world. Can we get a little more steampunk, though? Of all the many strengths it possesses, story and setting are the game's biggest weakness.
The Digital Continuum: Torchlight my fire
For the past week I've been delving deep into the dungeons of Runic Games' Torchlight and found the experience to be nothing short of joyous. Granted, like many other people I also wish some kind of co-op shipped with the game (even over LAN) but thankfully the developer's next project will be an MMO built upon the foundation laid down by last week's release. My joy for this game most definitely bleeds into its MMO incarnation, which has led to far too much thinking on additions I'd like to see made. So this week, I'm going to get them all off my chest in the hopes that I'll stop obsessing over them. Of course, there's never a guarantee with these things.
Torchlight demo released on Steam for frugal fantasy fans
Your money is precious, like a precious, precious flower, made out of a precious crystal of some sort. We understand your hesitance to drop a wad of cash -- or in this case, a lone $20 bill -- on unfamiliar IP. Fortunately, so does Runic Games, developer of the recently released top-down RPG Torchlight. The studio has answered the call of the "try it before you buy it" contingency and added a demo for the game to Steam. It's there right now, and it's free, and it has Diablo-ish sensibilities. If that's as enticing to you as we think it is, you can click right here and make it your own.
The Daily Grind: Getting Torchlight?
Today is the launch of Runic Games' Torchlight, although you probably know them best as the guys who worked on Mythos. The MMO version of Torchlight isn't out for another 18 months or so, but you can get a taste of it as of today, which is of course the game's release date -- imagine that! Not only is the game developed by the former Mythos team, it's also headed by Max Schaefer and Erich Schaefer, co-designers of Diablo and Diablo II. Speaking of those games, we hope you liked their music, because the same man who wrote it worked on Torchlight as well. The pedigree is definitely high, and from our hands-on experience it shines through exceedingly well. So will you be getting Torchlight? At the low price of $20, it's not a hard sell considering the quality of the game. Plus, with full mod tools being included in that price, free fan-made content should be falling down from the heavens in no time flat.
Steam to be lit by Torchlight on October 27
We were a little concerned with the limited release plans for Runic Games' ultra-charming Diablo-esque RPG Torchlight, which would've been sold directly through the game's official site on October 27, then on Steam one month later. Fortunately, Runic recently saw fit to strike up a new agreement with Steam, which will now host the game on the day of its release for the budget price of $19.99. Hopefully having the might of the undisputed king of digital distribution behind its franchise from the get-go will allow Runic to follow through with that Torchlight MMO it's always dreamed of. You know, the one with the isometric white picket fence.
Runic Games dreams of XBLA Torchlight
Speaking to 1UP, Runic Games' Max Schaefer intimated that he'd like to see the company's upcoming RPG Torchlight make an appearance on Xbox Live Arcade. Unfortunately, Schaefer admitted that Runic is a small developer and is focused on bringing out the Torchlight MMO next, so an XBLA version may not be in the cards. He noted his belief that an XBLA version "would really do great," however. Given the enjoyable time we spent with the PC version at PAX, we're inclined to agree. A dungeon crawler in the same vein as Diablo, Torchlight would be a perfect fit for consoles, especially with the addition of multiplayer. Here's hoping Runic finds a way to make it happen.
An insight into the art of Torchlight
While many eyes are glued to the revitalization of the Mythos IP, many other eyes are looking in the direction of Runic Games's Torchlight. For those not in the know, Torchlight is being made by the original Mythos team -- the ones who were on staff at the time of Flagship Studios's untimely closing -- while Mythos is now in the hands of HanbitSoft, the publisher who had a massive stake in Flagship.While Torchlight won't be ready for the MMO scene anytime soon, the developers are still coming up with the single-player game that will be the base component for the MMO edition. With that in mind, we'd thought you'd like to check out this Gamasutra article that focuses on the art style and history of Torchlight and how exactly Mythos has impacted that style. It's a great read (although it's a little long at six pages of narrative) and a must see for all fans of the upcoming action RPG.
PAX 2009: Hands-on with Torchlight
We never thought a completely new game would rise from the ashes of Mythos in just over a year, but that's exactly what Torchlight represents. We played through Torchlight for half an hour at the show, and it's a delightful action RPG that looks like a cartoon version of Diablo ... which doesn't mean it's for toddlers. There's still killing of the smashing, bashing and magical varieties throughout this thing, you know!%Gallery-72098%
PAX 2009: Runic Games announces Torchlight launch for October 27
Runic Games announced at the Penny Arcade Expo today that Torchlight is slated for an October 27th launch, with Perfect World as the game's publisher. Torchlight will be a fully downloadable game, sold at $19.99. Massively had a look at Torchlight at E3 2009 and noted the game is influenced by titles like Diablo and Fate, which should come as little surprise given that the Runic Games is headed up by CEO Max Schaefer (co-designer of Diablo) and President Travis Baldree (designer of Fate). Runic Games now has a "Meet the NPCs of Torchlight" page up on the game's official site and will be giving fans an early peek at the game at PAX 2009. For the rest of us who can't be there, they'll also be on Twitter with updates from the expo.
Mythos teaser and closed beta registration page emerges
Things are stirring behind the scenes in the world of Mythos, the little MMO that could. A newly launched site offers a very small teaser, but also, a closed beta registration form which is of far more interest. While Mythos was much-loved in its previous form, we don't doubt the followers of the Diablo-esque dungeon-crawler are keen to see if the magic is still there in HanbitSoft's re-envisioning.If you're not up on the history of this title, now (at its new beginning) seems a good time for us to sum things up. It started out as a way for Flagship Studios to test their networking technology for the then-upcoming Hellgate: London, but soon grew into a popular game in its own right through a widespread closed beta test. It was all set to transition from experiment to fully-fledged title and move into open beta when the well-documented trouble at Flagship derailed the whole thing. However, Flagship's Korean publisher HanbitSoft acquired the game's license and decided to make use of it. They reassured eager fans only a few months ago that Mythos would be re-born better than ever. Only time will tell if that's true, but with this new closed beta registration, it shouldn't be too long before a select group finds out for themselves. In the meantime, all of the old Mythos devs will be working away on Torchlight at Runic Games. Torchlight undoubtedly stands to be significant competition for Mythos in the future, but it won't be ready (in its MMO form at least) any time soon.
E3 2009: A complete roundup of Massively's coverage
Electronic Entertainment Expo 2009 proved to be a significant event for the gaming industry once again, with a fair amount of news and announcements related to MMOs. Massively was there on the ground for E3 this year and we've been putting up breaking announcements, interviews, and hands-on previews throughout. Given how much info came out of E3 on Massively, here's a roundup of our coverage, day-by-day. Be sure to check out the rest after the jump as there's plenty more content, plus you'll find E3 galleries for these games as you click through. To cap it all off, we've also put together an E3 2009 wrapup video for you at the end of this post. Read on to see where the MMO industry is headed in the next year and beyond! Day One Star Wars: The Old Republic world's first fully-voiced MMO Final Fantasy XIV announced Jumpgate Evolution releases E3 trailer EA to publish All Points Bulletin in 2010 PlayStation Home hits 6.5 million accounts Trion World Network unveils Heroes of Telara Massively's day 1 video from the E3 floor
