[Grall]

Originally Posted by Bouncing Zabaglione Bros.

Looks like release has been pushed back to late summer now.

Wut...

They need to just get it finished instead of obsessing over every little detail.

[Bouncing Zabaglione Bros.]

Originally Posted by Grall

Wut...

They need to just get it finished instead of obsessing over every little detail.

I'm disappointed too, but it explains why Runic didn't announce a release date at E3 as a lot of people expected. They learned things from the beta that means they are going to do some tweaking and minor changes that will make big differences. It's like the old days when devs used to take the time to polish a game to perfection and make the difference between a good game and a truly great game.

Better than a lot of companies that run betas, get feedback, and then launch without acting on that feedback and with the same bugs everyone reported.

[Grall]

We need concrete evidence though that the time spent is to actually make small changes that have big differences, rather than simply obsessing over trivialities that don't really matter, and/or couldn't be easily fixed with a post-release patch.

We all know of all of those games where devs were trying to polish their game to perfection, and instead ended up wasting oodles of time staring themselves blind at unimportant issues. Or in one very famous case, re-making the same game over and over in an attempt to perfect it, and ending up wrecking both their famous franchise and the company itself. Shit, Runic have a past reputation of doing that themselves, with Flagship, which sunk spectacularly some years ago...

[Bouncing Zabaglione Bros.]

Well for instance, people on the beta complained that targeting was difficult, especially because some of the big effects made it difficult to see what you were targeting. These are both being tweaked to make them work better. Also the power-trees have been tweaked to make higher powers varied, rather than just more powerful. It's these kinds of details that get rid of annoying things and make them much better.

These are things that Runic considered important to sort out before release, rather than a month after release when everyone has finished the game. Don't forget, this is primarily a download release via the likes of Steam, so Runic can patch right up to just before release as they don't have to worry about store release schedules, disc duplication or distribution, and just concentrate on getting the game right.

[Cyan]

Originally Posted by Bouncing Zabaglione Bros.

Some more Torchlight 2 info over at IGN with a nice little gameplay preview.

Looks like release has been pushed back to late summer now.

Some beta co-op play:

That's really cool - thanks for sharing - these videos actually show people discovering things about the game as they experience it and I am happy with some of the new features of the game.

The classes are very interesting, so are the pets. You can make interesting builds as usual, and judging from the comments the game seems to be extremely fun.

[Bouncing Zabaglione Bros.]

More beta play to keep you going from the Yogscast guys (who I'm finding pretty entertaining).

[Bouncing Zabaglione Bros.]

Reading about, latest news says Runic "is shooting for July/August" for T2 release.

[warcrow]

So I got to interview Max Schaefer while I was at E3 last week, and it was so much fun! We ended up discussing the future of the Torchlight series including the MMO, Diablo 3 and why it’s release has been very good for Torchlight 2, the now infamous ‘Error 37’ and why he hopes they’re fortunate enough to experience it, Torchlight 2 on XBLA & Mac, how Minecraft could meet Torchlight, plus his overall inspirations in games design.

Check it out and let me know what you think. It's pretty in depth, and I'm sort of proud of this one.

http://eat-games.tumblr.com/

[Bouncing Zabaglione Bros.]

I though T2 was really going to get pounded by D3, but watching the Yogscast guys go through the beta, seeing the disgruntled comments about D3, it seems that Runic made a good choice. They've taken the same genre, and gone in a different (I think better) direction in tackling the same issues.

It may turn out that T2 ends up better than "the other game", and had been able to ride on the coat-tails of D3's publicity.

[Bouncing Zabaglione Bros.]

Yogscast interview with Max Schaefer at E3:

[Cyan]

Originally Posted by warcrow

So I got to interview Max Schaefer while I was at E3 last week, and it was so much fun! We ended up discussing the future of the Torchlight series including the MMO, Diablo 3 and why it’s release has been very good for Torchlight 2, the now infamous ‘Error 37’ and why he hopes they’re fortunate enough to experience it, Torchlight 2 on XBLA & Mac, how Minecraft could meet Torchlight, plus his overall inspirations in games design.

Check it out and let me know what you think. It's pretty in depth, and I'm sort of proud of this one.

http://eat-games.tumblr.com/

Yes, something to be proud of, being able to interview one of the geniuses of this industry.

Thanks for sharing, and I have to add that I loved the contrast between the background and the words of your interview. I felt so comfortable reading the interview because of your choice for a presentation, it was very relaxing and nice to read for that reason.

I say this because in other sites I get distracted when they aren't that chilly and it takes a bit more effort to read the text. Reminding people the unforgettable strumming sound of that guitar was a nice touch, too.

I hoped he would commit himself a bit more when asked about Diablo 3, and the *difficult* questions about some obvious mediocrities of Diablo 3.

I can't wait to play Torchlight 2. I have it pre-ordered and paid already, before that 40% spike in pre-orders.

RE: Bouncing Bros. I am going to take a look at that video now. edit: I understand watching the first minutes of it he is still friends with the Blizzard people.... so that explains he is liking Diablo 3 after all. In that sense I understand him, despite how bad Diablo 3 is, in my opinion, compared to Max Schaefer's previous masterpieces.

[warcrow]

Originally Posted by Cyan

Yes, something to be proud of, being able to interview one of the geniuses of this industry.

Thanks for sharing, and I have to add that I loved the contrast between the background and the words of your interview. I felt so comfortable reading the interview because of your choice for a presentation, it was very relaxing and nice to read for that reason.

I say this because in other sites I get distracted when they aren't that chilly and it takes a bit more effort to read the text. Reminding people the unforgettable strumming sound of that guitar was a nice touch, too.

I hoped he would commit himself a bit more when asked about Diablo 3, and the *difficult* questions about some obvious mediocrities of Diablo 3.

I can't wait to play Torchlight 2. I have it pre-ordered and paid already, before that 40% spike in pre-orders.

RE: Bouncing Bros. I am going to take a look at that video now. edit: I understand watching the first minutes of it he is still friends with the Blizzard people.... so that explains he is liking Diablo 3 after all. In that sense I understand him, despite how bad Diablo 3 is, in my opinion, compared to Max Schaefer's previous masterpieces.

Thanks for all the kind words Cyan, I really appreciate it! So glad to hear you enjoyed the interview, as well as visiting my little blog.

[Cyan]

I don't think this is news for you, but just in case, your interview has been featured in Diablo.Incgamers -former diabloii.net-. That's gotta count for something...!

http://diablo.incgamers.com/

[warcrow]

Originally Posted by Cyan

I don't think this is news for you, but just in case, your interview has been featured in Diablo.Incgamers -former diabloii.net-. That's gotta count for something...!

http://diablo.incgamers.com/

Yeah traffic has spiked over the last few days--it's amazing! Lots of gaming news sites linking to it now.

[Cyan]

New interview with Max Schaefer, and Pokket. I really liked some of the things he said.

[I.S.T.]

Originally Posted by warcrow

So I got to interview Max Schaefer while I was at E3 last week, and it was so much fun! We ended up discussing the future of the Torchlight series including the MMO, Diablo 3 and why it’s release has been very good for Torchlight 2, the now infamous ‘Error 37’ and why he hopes they’re fortunate enough to experience it, Torchlight 2 on XBLA & Mac, how Minecraft could meet Torchlight, plus his overall inspirations in games design.

Check it out and let me know what you think. It's pretty in depth, and I'm sort of proud of this one.

http://eat-games.tumblr.com/

I keep forgetting to say this, but thanks for including my question.

[Bouncing Zabaglione Bros.]

Well, on the Runic forums, there's a bit of a ruckus. People are upset at still no game or release date, especially as people gave their money on pre-orders, thinking the game wouldn't be far off (given that Runic are taking pre-orders). So there's a bit of love turned to hate, and a heck of a lot of frustration. Even more so when the weekly updates are nothing about the game, but other incidental stuff.

So it looks like Runic have reinstated a developer blog/post/news article that this week explains what's been going on, why the game still isn't out, and how things are progressing towards a release. It's quite long, but a pretty good read.

Many folks are anxious to see the game released - many have preordered, and want a date! We've been deliberately vague on this point. My hope is that if I give you an idea of what we're doing, what it takes to do it, and the scale of it, it will make it apparent why that is.

[Grall]

From the wording of that (perhaps context-challenged) excerpt, it sounds as if release is more like months away rather than weeks. What the hell's taking so long?

[Bouncing Zabaglione Bros.]

Originally Posted by Grall

From the wording of that (perhaps context-challenged) excerpt, it sounds as if release is more like months away rather than weeks. What the hell's taking so long?

Short answer: Polishing, and dealing with issues from the beta test. They are nearing the end.

Long answer: Read the article and you'll find out. I could have pasted the whole thing (not that you would have read it, it seems ), but the quote was just a taster. You're supposed to click on the link and read the article, because we're not supposed to steal other sites' content wholesale.

[Bouncing Zabaglione Bros.]

New blog post from Travis explaining why Torchlight 2 is taking so long. This week he's talking about what polishing they have done in the last week, and the scale differences between Torchlight 1 and Torchlight 2, including this graphic:

[Malo]

Wow, that's a good way to make your point Besides, waiting this long I believe has been beneficial to them considering the general community outcry of Diablo 3. By the time T2 ships, players will be beating at their doors hoping it will be "Diablo Done Right"

[pcchen]

Actually that's probably too long. The best time for Torchlight 2 to be released is probably after one month of Diablo 3's release, because that's when Diablo 3 was at its weakest form, and the public is still interested enough in this genre, so they can save a lot of marketing effort. September will be too late. Even now it's a little too late.

[Bouncing Zabaglione Bros.]

I think they are finally getting there. My take on it is that it sounds like they have another week of polishing left on Acts 2 & 3. Then that leaves Act 4 which will probably take another week because it's shorter, and there will be more people available to work on in. I'd predict the second half of August for a launch.

I think a month after D3 would have been better because the D3 hype would still be in peoples' minds, yet they would have had a chance to get D3 out of their systems.

Still T2 has a million plus pre-orders, so Runic can't be too far off.

[tongue_of_colicab]

I think they are probably better of launching not within the same time as D3. D3 hype is, as the name indicates, D3 hype. People are hyped about D3 so thats the game they wanna play so they buy D3, not torchlight 2.

Bought torchlight 1 today. First time I played this type of game but having fun so far. Though up until now it's really easy on normal setting. Hopefully it will get a bit harder.

[Bouncing Zabaglione Bros.]

The major problem with D3 is that it's not like D2. That's where Torchlight 2 will come in, by being able to present something that's more like an upgraded D2 than D3 is. I think a lot of people who didn't like D3 but are looking for a sequel to D2 will be very tempted by Torchlight 2. And for $20, it's easy to take a chance on liking it.