Torchlight 2 Catch-All

Option 4: each mob exploding like a Pinata in a shower of phat lewt

'Torchlight II' pushed back to July

Runic Games has revealed a short delay for Torchlight II.

CEO Max Schaefer told DS that work on the Xbox Live version of Torchlight has moved the game beyond its scheduled May or June release period.

"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."

Runic Games will release the original Torchlight for Xbox Live Arcade on March 9.

Link to article

So ok... new improvements on the Xbox also in the PC version. But to delay the pc version for a console.....Sucks.....

Sparhawk wrote:

So ok... new improvements on the Xbox also in the PC version. But to delay the pc version for a console.....Sucks.....

The funds from the 360 help keep their company afloat. I can wait.

Yup. I don't mind a small push if they can get the 360 version out and get even more money for funding and improving T2. I just can't fault Runic for anything - they've personally helped me with bugfixes so I don't have to wait for a patch and they made an amazing game. They've won me as a fanboy and the support that comes along with that

Sparhawk wrote:

So ok... new improvements on the Xbox also in the PC version. But to delay the pc version for a console.....Sucks.....

I dun know. It sounds more like this to me:
Due to how crappy the 360 is and having to make things in our already not-demanding-on-system-requirements-at-all game work even better, we've found ways to make our sequel improved. But since we had already set our timeline that fits tightly to our ability to finish the product, we now need to delay the game to hand the user a better overall product instead of patching post-release on something we are 100% sure is going to be implemented.

Sucks about the delay, as I'm really looking forward to the game. I can't image myself playing it on the XBox though, although I really hope that increases visibility of both the game and genre. Then agian, I wonder what the impact of the PSOne version of Diablo was...

Considering how amazing this year looks to be, I am, maybe for the first time, not bothered by any delays. And even if for some crazy reason there's not a new game for weeks, I've got my backlog to occupy me. Torchlight 2 will be ready (I hope) when it's ready.

cyrax wrote:

Considering how amazing this year looks to be, I am, maybe for the first time, not bothered by any delays. And even if for some crazy reason there's not a new game for weeks, I've got my backlog to occupy me. Torchlight 2 will be ready (I hope) when it's ready.

I'm with you. If a company is delaying a game to make it better, so be it. It'll be great, which is what matters.

mrtomaytohead wrote:

Due to how crappy the 360 is and having to make things in our already not-demanding-on-system-requirements-at-all game work even better, we've found ways to make our sequel improved.

Way to turn an innocent comment about how they worked hard on an interface into a flame-baiting personal take on consoles vs. PC.

Reading some of the interviews with those guys, it sounds like they really put a lot of thought into the 360 interface. The way you play a game with a controller (and on a couch some distance away) is bound to be significantly different than on a PC with mouse and keyboard attached. Getting that interface right is crucial to the success of their product, and thus to the success of the company. This says nothing about how 'crappy' the 360 is. If you listen to them, the developers have been saying they've now all gone over to playing the 360 version as their preferred version. That may just be PR-speak, but the full versions of their recent discussions with the media certainly don't make it sound like they're unhappy with the 360.

Not all, but some of them prefer the 360 version.

liquid wrote:

Yup. I don't mind a small push if they can get the 360 version out and get even more money for funding and improving T2. I just can't fault Runic for anything - they've personally helped me with bugfixes so I don't have to wait for a patch and they made an amazing game. They've won me as a fanboy and the support that comes along with that :D

Wow, really? That's awesome, particularly since Torchlight was a solid product to begin with. Kudos to them for support like that.

firesloth wrote:

Reading some of the interviews with those guys, it sounds like they really put a lot of thought into the 360 interface. The way you play a game with a controller (and on a couch some distance away) is bound to be significantly different than on a PC with mouse and keyboard attached. Getting that interface right is crucial to the success of their product, and thus to the success of the company. This says nothing about how 'crappy' the 360 is. If you listen to them, the developers have been saying they've now all gone over to playing the 360 version as their preferred version. That may just be PR-speak, but the full versions of their recent discussions with the media certainly don't make it sound like they're unhappy with the 360.

If they can make it control similar to or better than the Dark Alliance or Champions of Norrath games, it will be a great 360 title. I could see why people would prefer that control method to the PC version.

ahrezmendi wrote:
liquid wrote:

Yup. I don't mind a small push if they can get the 360 version out and get even more money for funding and improving T2. I just can't fault Runic for anything - they've personally helped me with bugfixes so I don't have to wait for a patch and they made an amazing game. They've won me as a fanboy and the support that comes along with that :D

Wow, really? That's awesome, particularly since Torchlight was a solid product to begin with. Kudos to them for support like that.

Yup. During the first few weeks of release there were a few bugs and problems people were having and some guys from Runic were personally helping with their problems via their forums/emails with editing save files to bypass some problems or helping with some configs, etc.
My character got stuck in one of the higher levels and I couldn't get out. They had fixed the problem in the patch but it wasn't coming out for another 2-3 days (Steam procedures or something) so he asked me to email him my save file and I could continue playing the game instead of waiting. Truly awesome guys.

DrunkenSleipnir wrote:

Then agian, I wonder what the impact of the PSOne version of Diablo was...

That's where I first played Diablo.

As far as the delay goes, it will give me more time to finish the 360 version before having to buy the 2nd game.

clever id wrote:
DrunkenSleipnir wrote:

Then agian, I wonder what the impact of the PSOne version of Diablo was...

That's where I first played Diablo.

As far as the delay goes, it will give me more time to finish the 360 version before having to buy the 2nd game.

Me too, actually. I just don't know how big a deal it was '97 is a lot different then '11, though.

I'm dissapointed it was delayed because I am thinking Diablo 3 will be around that time, I still hold on to that hope but I like Torchlight 1 so much that I will pick up Torchlight 2.

Don't hold your breath for D3 this year. http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20... Best case scenario for D3 is this holiday season, imo.
It's more likely that Torchlight MMO hits the shelves at approx. the same time D3 is out.

firesloth wrote:
mrtomaytohead wrote:

Due to how crappy the 360 is and having to make things in our already not-demanding-on-system-requirements-at-all game work even better, we've found ways to make our sequel improved.

Way to turn an innocent comment about how they worked hard on an interface into a flame-baiting personal take on consoles vs. PC.

I wasn't really talking about the interface, (see bit about system requirements) but was more referencing all the technical upgrades to load times and such mentioned in the article after the interface stuff that they mentioned they implemented.

Sorry the wording was poor and quite flame-baitish. That's what I get for sitting on a post and forgeting about it at work and then just hitting post later. I typically go back and edit that stuff out.

I guess it just strikes me odd that technical improvements came via the console port when the system should have been able to handle the game with loads of headroom so you'd think they wouldn't have to bother with that in porting it.

Any updates on this one? No one has posted since Feb!

Here ya go: http://www.joystiq.com/2011/06/08/to...

People are getting some hands on at E3, so I'd expect a flood of info sooner rather than later.

I thought it was meant to be out in July.

Same. Runic got awfully quiet in the last few months and I was hoping for some big explosion of news - videos, walkthroughs, release date. So far - nothing. At least put it on pre-order so you can have my moneys!

No news?

NO NEWS?!

lan play!!!!!

Hands On posted at RPS. Sounds great. "I think you made this level too big. It’s seriously big. There’s a lot of South."

Hypatian wrote:

Hands On posted at RPS. Sounds great. "I think you made this level too big. It’s seriously big. There’s a lot of South."

The game sounds promising, but what a mess of an article.

Montalban wrote:
Hypatian wrote:

Hands On posted at RPS. Sounds great. "I think you made this level too big. It’s seriously big. There’s a lot of South."

The game sounds promising, but what a mess of an article.

I thought the same thing. Looks like they hired a new person.

Torchlight was out in Nov 09 after a blisteringly fast development ... I think it was only a year. The MMO was supposed to follow 18-months later. Then they announced that Torchlight 2 would follow instead a year after the original. If I recall, it was supposed to be a bridge before the MMO so they wouldn't have to wait so long for another revenue stream. Then they dropped the release of T2 until July of this year. July is almost here and there hasn't even been a whisper about this game being ready for prime time. I did not expect to see this after how efficient they were with the first game. Not sure if this will mean a more polished game or they are having problems with development.

And yet T2 will still be out before Diablo 3 (which was announced in 2008).

Hypatian wrote:

Hands On posted at RPS. Sounds great. "I think you made this level too big. It’s seriously big. There’s a lot of South."

This part doesn't bode well at all for it being released in July as once expected:

Speaking of which, there are going to be four character types in Torchlight II ... The fourth is, in one of those classic PR moves to build buzz, yet to be revealed.

So it's June already, and they still haven't revealed all the classes.

Copingsaw wrote:

Torchlight was out in Nov 09 after a blisteringly fast development ... I think it was only a year. The MMO was supposed to follow 18-months later. Then they announced that Torchlight 2 would follow instead a year after the original. If I recall, it was supposed to be a bridge before the MMO so they wouldn't have to wait so long for another revenue stream. Then they dropped the release of T2 until July of this year. July is almost here and there hasn't even been a whisper about this game being ready for prime time. I did not expect to see this after how efficient they were with the first game. Not sure if this will mean a more polished game or they are having problems with development.

In an interview I watched they said the release date will be in the fall of this year.l