Torchlight 2 Catch-All

MeatMan wrote:

At first I was like
Then I was like :mad:

Then I took an
IMAGE(https://encrypted-tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSzQ8Tb2F73AUi-qpr9lFn4PCYuqzGHANWoiVgsaRgRMWd9Z-J0kcUZPeW6fQ)to theIMAGE(https://encrypted-tbn3.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQLIUCmX9WCOm_dUq6TCGNzLfLYEoElxdM_qimn9KuP0aSClmZEVmyLBQ)

Didn't the video the other day say it was going to be a quick beta at least? My impression is that they're really dialing it in in-house.

Weekly updates on their newly redesigned website. The first was the above video. Screens on the 17th.

Also, on their twitter

@RunicGames How can we be a part of beta testing? T2 is my most anticipated game of 2012!

@stargirlheuser We will announce as soon as we are ready for sign ups!

That's kinda sad news buried in there. Basically meaning the game's not even ready for external beta testing and so it's gonna be a while before it's officially released. Hopefully it'll be a short (yeah, right) beta period.

LiquidMantis wrote:

Didn't the video the other day say it was going to be a quick beta at least? My impression is that they're really dialing it in in-house.

Didn't watch the video, actually since I don't have audio at work and I never remember to watch at home.

mrtomaytohead wrote:
LiquidMantis wrote:

Didn't the video the other day say it was going to be a quick beta at least? My impression is that they're really dialing it in in-house.

Didn't watch the video, actually since I don't have audio at work and I never remember to watch at home.

Yeah, the vid said short public beta.

garion333 wrote:
mrtomaytohead wrote:
LiquidMantis wrote:

Didn't the video the other day say it was going to be a quick beta at least? My impression is that they're really dialing it in in-house.

Didn't watch the video, actually since I don't have audio at work and I never remember to watch at home.

Yeah, the vid said short public beta.

That makes me a bit more happy, but we still have no idea when that will happen. I'm guessing short public beta means like 1-2 months max? Hoping it means like 2 weeks. I've honestly not paid much attention to betas in the past, but for some reason am looking at a ton of them right now.

It really depends what they're testing. I think their online is probably comparable to battle.net v1, although I'm not sure if TL2 games are hosted by Runic or by one of the players (I think player hosted is more likely). I get the impression it's just a login to access multiplayer and matchmaking, everything else is down to the clients. Maybe they're doing character storage online like D2 as well.

That's all speculation though, I don't think they've gone into detail publicly yet. The less online components, the less need there is to test. I'd imagine a beta would function as a stress test, and final shakedown of anything that's broken and needs tweaking. The certainly seem to be going for as complete and finished as they can before any public release, it's not "beta while we finish it off".

Queueball wrote:

Now it's a race. D3 or T2.

The race is on.

carrotpanic wrote:
Queueball wrote:

Now it's a race. D3 or T2.

The race is on.

I seem to remember that they wanted it out first because they would all be playing D3 themselves.

Scratched wrote:
carrotpanic wrote:
Queueball wrote:

Now it's a race. D3 or T2.

The race is on.

I seem to remember that they wanted it out first because they would all be playing D3 themselves.

Maybe 2013 then.

carrotpanic wrote:
Scratched wrote:
carrotpanic wrote:
Queueball wrote:

Now it's a race. D3 or T2.

The race is on.

I seem to remember that they wanted it out first because they would all be playing D3 themselves.

Maybe 2013 then.

They'll still be playing D3. So, maybe 2014.

These guys need to seriously get their act together. With D3 announced for May 15th, that gives them I think about a month to release this game and expect serious enthusiasm from the general gaming community and not just the hardcore fans. If they wait to release until D3 is out or a week or two away, I'm sure I won't be the only person who either doesn't care or can wait until its 75% off on Steam to pick it up.

They made the mistake of originally announcing that T2 would have a 12-month development cycle just like T1. It's been almost 2-1/2 years and no game. Now they are faced with releasing a Diablo clone at the exact same time as Diablo3. I can't be the only one who sees this as really bad planning.

Copingsaw wrote:

They made the mistake of originally announcing that T2 would have a 12-month development cycle just like T1.

Agreed, that was dumb.

It's been almost 2-1/2 years and no game. Now they are faced with releasing a Diablo clone at the exact same time as Diablo3. I can't be the only one who sees this as really bad planning.

Eh. It's going to appeal to people who don't care for the Diablo III skill changes, who don't want deal with battle.net always-on connection, and who want modding. It's a more flexible package and cheaper. It's going to be fine.

It's probably going to release before Fez, The Witness, SpyParty, Battleblock Theater and a handful of other indie games that have been in development just as long if not longer

garion333 wrote:
carrotpanic wrote:
Scratched wrote:
carrotpanic wrote:
Queueball wrote:

Now it's a race. D3 or T2.

The race is on.

I seem to remember that they wanted it out first because they would all be playing D3 themselves.

Maybe 2013 then.

They'll still be playing D3. So, maybe 2014.

Seriously though, I think crunch time just started for Runic.

Personally, I don't care when TL2 releases. I won't be playing D3, so I'll be ready whenever TL2 is done and released. And because it will surely appear on several Steam sales (like TL1 did), I'm sure it will rack up plenty of unit sales despite D3.

I am excited for Torchlight 2 regardless of when other action rpg's come out.

Copingsaw wrote:

They made the mistake of originally announcing that T2 would have a 12-month development cycle just like T1.

I thought they said 18 months, but I could be wrong.

It's been almost 2-1/2 years and no game.

Technically it's been 19 months, as TL2 was announced in August 2010. source

So the "blame" for TL2 not being released already goes to the development time spent on the XBLA port. I also think that TL1 sold better than they expected, which gave them a little more leeway to take time optimizing the sequel.

That said, I fully agree that not releasing TL2 at least a month before D3 would be poor planning on Runic's part.

In a perfect world they would have released at least a month before D3, they prolly don't live in that world though.

I think they'll have a lower price point and enough of a niche to sell decently no matter when they release. I'm planning on picking it up for sure.

Are they going to release without a beta? If they are going to have a public beta (as in open to the public, not just apply and you are in) they need to start it now.

I do think that TL2 may not be hurt as bad due to the lower price point and the offline and LAN play options. It certainly won't do as well as it would have with a release 6 months ahead of D3, however.

They've mentioned a beta, but I got the impression it was going to be short, as in a final check on their account system and online to make sure it's solid. TL2 isn't that big a departure from the TL1/classic diablo formula, so I guess they don't need as much balance testing.

Farscry wrote:

I am excited for Torchlight 2 regardless of when other action rpg's come out. :)

Same here. I'll be sad if it doesn't get the attention it deserves, though.

Scratched wrote:

They've mentioned a beta, but I got the impression it was going to be short, as in a final check on their account system and online to make sure it's solid. TL2 isn't that big a departure from the TL1/classic diablo formula, so I guess they don't need as much balance testing.

You are correct. They stated that the balancing and whatnot is something they're focusing on in-house and the beta is in large part going to be a stress test.

I've called this vaporware for 6 months I think. I stand by that. Their arrogance has always bothered me although it's not even close to blizzard levels of arrogance.

However, I will buy/pre-order/play it since I refuse to play D3, if it ever does come out.

ibdoomed wrote:

I've called this vaporware for 6 months I think. I stand by that. Their arrogance has always bothered me although it's not even close to blizzard levels of arrogance.

However, I will buy/pre-order/play it since I refuse to play D3, if it ever does come out.

You called it vaporware 5 months before their estimated delivery date? When they took on a new project in the middle of it and were very open about that? According to MeatMan's posts they're only 1 month late at this point and they added a whole new port of Torchlight in the process. I'm impressed, to be honest.

Also what arrogance are you referring to?

Definitely interested in TL2, but they've got to get the late game itemization right this time. In TL1, I felt like the game kind of ran out of steam about 2/3 of the way through.

SixteenBlue wrote:
ibdoomed wrote:

I've called this vaporware for 6 months I think. I stand by that. Their arrogance has always bothered me although it's not even close to blizzard levels of arrogance.

However, I will buy/pre-order/play it since I refuse to play D3, if it ever does come out.

You called it vaporware 5 months before their estimated delivery date? When they took on a new project in the middle of it and were very open about that? According to MeatMan's posts they're only 1 month late at this point and they added a whole new port of Torchlight in the process. I'm impressed, to be honest.

Also what arrogance are you referring to?

They originally said it would be last summer. Then they postponed it again and again. Then, and this is the arrogant part, they said "out in 2011 unless someone dies". I assumed someone died and I posted condolences for them only to find out that I was wrong. And it's not like they are even close, it'll be 6 months late at best, that's arrogant to me. I don't know what's going on internally and who's doing what but they appear publicly to be very flighty.

Scratched wrote:

They've mentioned a beta, but I got the impression it was going to be short, as in a final check on their account system and online to make sure it's solid. TL2 isn't that big a departure from the TL1/classic diablo formula, so I guess they believe that they don't need as much balance testing.

...and there's your problem right there. I hope for their sake that they're right, but I wouldn't put money on it.

Balance can always be patched/modded. I don't particularly see a need for them to really worry that much about it, as long as everything works to some degree.

ibdoomed wrote:

And it's not like they are even close, it'll be 6 months late at best, that's arrogant to me.

That's not arrogance, that's software development. Stuff is always late because human beings are absolutely terrible at estimates.

shoptroll wrote:

Balance can always be patched/modded. I don't particularly see a need for them to really worry that much about it, as long as everything works to some degree.

ibdoomed wrote:

And it's not like they are even close, it'll be 6 months late at best, that's arrogant to me.

That's not arrogance, that's software development. Stuff is always late because human beings are absolutely terrible at estimates.

Seriously.

http://www.quora.com/Engineering-Man...