Torchlight

[no51]

Who here has been playing Torchlight? I think I just pumped at least 3 hours in the DEMO alone. And with the full game at $20, it's practically a steal. I've never played any dungeon crawler type games like Diablo, so I can't say I have the proper background. I've been enjoying it. Apparently, it was developed by some guys that were part of the Diablo team and Mythos. Mythos was killed off last year, but from the previews I heard that it was great. There's a demo up on steam for those interested.

[etilena]

I preordered it off Steam so got it for $18. Managed to put in about an hour or so yesterday. Anyone who has played Diablo would be easily comfortable with the controls. Even the music is familiar as they got Matt Uelman, the composer for the original Diablo games on board to do the sound/music. Started on normal and haven't found it too challenging yet (unlike in Diablo, where one started screaming and running around frantically when they opened the door to first meet the Butcher).

The pet is useful to have around, for extra inventory space, as well as sending it back to town with regular stuff to sell. You don't have to stop gameplay to manage all the little things like scrolls/potions, which drop at about just the right rate for me.

Simple game to learn and pickup, and I'd like to install it on my netbook to see how it runs. The recommended spec is a Geforce 2 so most computers these days can run it. Now if only they added multiplayer on it, I can imagine myself spending plenty of time on this game.

[ssidbroadcast]

I just tried out the demo. I liked what I saw, but now I have to go to bed.

[no51]

Simple game to learn and pickup, and I'd like to install it on my netbook to see how it runs. The recommended spec is a Geforce 2 so most computers these days can run it. Now if only they added multiplayer on it, I can imagine myself spending plenty of time on this game.

There is a netbook mode in the settings. Don't know what it does though.

[bdwilcox]

There is a netbook mode in the settings. Don't know what it does though.

Makes it look like this:
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas ... enture.gif

[kvndoom]

I bought Fate a few years ago and couldn't stay interested in it more than a week or so. But this looks like it's done right. I may have to shell out a greenback for this one, just for something new.

[Jigar]

If it's like Diablo, i might give it a try...

[emkubed]

If it's like Diablo, i might give it a try...

It's as "like diablo" as it gets.

If I wasn't devouring Borderlands and L4D2, I'd get this too. Trying to give each game a full go rather than overload myself. but I will pick this up eventually.

[tanker27]

If I wasn't devouring Borderlands and L4D2, I'd get this too. Trying to give each game a full go rather than overload myself. but I will pick this up eventually.

Dont forget Dragon Age: Origins next week

[emkubed]

If I wasn't devouring Borderlands and L4D2, I'd get this too. Trying to give each game a full go rather than overload myself. but I will pick this up eventually.

Dont forget Dragon Age: Origins next week

I know it's Bioware and all, but I really have zero interest in it. The theme is stale. One would think I'd be sick of zombies or post-apocalyptic wastelands, but at least they ares not (yet) as overdone as the fantasy genre. Granted, Torchlight is just that, but I don't know, maybe it's the presentation. A $20 diablo refresh, fine. An AAA "whoo hoo, dragons and knights and elves and sluts and swords" title, it's just not grabbing me.

[Jigar]

If I wasn't devouring Borderlands and L4D2, I'd get this too. Trying to give each game a full go rather than overload myself. but I will pick this up eventually.

Dont forget Dragon Age: Origins next week

I know it's Bioware and all, but I really have zero interest in it. The theme is stale. One would think I'd be sick of zombies or post-apocalyptic wastelands, but at least they ares not (yet) as overdone as the fantasy genre. Granted, Torchlight is just that, but I don't know, maybe it's the presentation. A $20 diablo refresh, fine. An AAA "whoo hoo, dragons and knights and elves and sluts and swords" title, it's just not grabbing me.

+ i am interested because it's old school type for me. Refreshing old memories...

[ssidbroadcast]

I know it's Bioware and all, but I really have zero interest in it. The theme is stale. One would think I'd be sick of zombies or post-apocalyptic wastelands, but at least they ares not (yet) as overdone as the fantasy genre. Granted, Torchlight is just that, but I don't know, maybe it's the presentation. A $20 diablo refresh, fine. An AAA "whoo hoo, dragons and knights and elves and sluts and swords" title, it's just not grabbing me.

+1 Agreed. I have ZERO interest in sleazy high fantasy. A budget-priced diablo refresh seems more up my alley. Even though the graphics are simple by today's standards, I can tell the art lead is good at what he does: there's a lot of "character" in the visuals. Kindof like that Penny Arcade rpg I never played.

Also, I couldn't help but smile with pleasure when while playing Torchlight the gold dropped by monsters could be collected by merely walking over it. No more clicky-clicky fests!! One of the most ANNOYING things about DiabloII is either a mis-click because of too much loot/gold on the ground, or dancing in place frustratingly due to collecting a bunch of gold.

[Jigar]

Cool, bought the game from Crossword. This game costed me Rs 2000 that's almost $50, i hope this game is addictive like diablo.

[Airmantharp]

If I wasn't devouring Borderlands and L4D2, I'd get this too. Trying to give each game a full go rather than overload myself. but I will pick this up eventually.

Dont forget Dragon Age: Origins next week

I know it's Bioware and all, but I really have zero interest in it. The theme is stale. One would think I'd be sick of zombies or post-apocalyptic wastelands, but at least they ares not (yet) as overdone as the fantasy genre. Granted, Torchlight is just that, but I don't know, maybe it's the presentation. A $20 diablo refresh, fine. An AAA "whoo hoo, dragons and knights and elves and sluts and swords" title, it's just not grabbing me.

I think I'm the opposite of you; I've three BioWare titles under my belt, being both KOTOR's and Mass Effect, and as far as I'm concerned they're the new ****. I also have Risen to play, which is mildly interesting; it might sit on a shelf for a while when I get back home.

As for Torchlight, I'll have to look this up; I might have to grab a mouse and attempt to play it on the crappy laptop I checked out, might be a good diversion while I'm away from home and stuck in a hotel!

[emkubed]

I played and enjoyed both KOTORs, despite them being set in the very overdone SW universe; they were a fresh take on that genre, and the way the games played were different from other games in their time.

Dragon Age smacks of, as ssid put it, "sleazy high fantasy". At least to me, it's out of the gate "elves and wizards fantasy", and it hasn't interested me enough to even want to play a demo of the game.

[Airmantharp]

I played and enjoyed both KOTORs, despite them being set in the very overdone SW universe; they were a fresh take on that genre, and the way the games played were different from other games in their time.

Dragon Age smacks of, as ssid put it, "sleazy high fantasy". At least to me, it's out of the gate "elves and wizards fantasy", and it hasn't interested me enough to even want to play a demo of the game.

I can't deny that the premise isn't way overdone- but I didn't buy it for the premise, I bought it based on BioWare's track record of producing high quality games that have engaging story lines and incredible character and decision integration. Try playing Mass Effect as 'good,' and then play it again as 'evil,' and you'll see what I mean. It plays like a completely different game, and is thoroughly entertaining both times.

[Airmantharp]

Demo ran fine at lower settings on my crappy issued laptop, I'm glad to say. It's a good game, but I'd need a mouse to play it, I ran through the demo on easy because of having to use the track pad. Might just pick up one of those new mice that replaces Logitech's G5, as mine seems to have worn through it's pad somehow and the eject button on the bottom is now scraping against my Ratpad.

[Skrying]

Picked up the demo, thinking I'll buy the full game. Runs great on my laptop with Intel X3100 graphics. Smells and plays like an updated Diablo II and that is not a bad thing! Enjoyable so far, I think it'll serve well as my addiction between getting things done for a while.

[Airmantharp]

Picked up the demo, thinking I'll buy the full game. Runs great on my laptop with Intel X3100 graphics. Smells and plays like an updated Diablo II and that is not a bad thing! Enjoyable so far, I think it'll serve well as my addiction between getting things done for a while.

I went ahead and bought it- and the really nice thing is, Steam just took the 'Demo' part off of the name, and unlocked the full game. No further downloading necessary. Since I have two more weeks away from my gaming computer, it looks like I'll get to know this little game pretty well .

[FubbHead]

Would be more interesting if it weren't for the "no multiplayer" thing. :/

[Skrying]

Would be more interesting if it weren't for the "no multiplayer" thing. :/

Apparently they're developing an MMO that will use the Torchlight universe. They wanted to release a game before hand though. For $20 its well worth it. From what I've read they're planning for the MMO to be free to play but it's over a year out at best.

[dolemitecomputers]

It is really refreshing and very well done. I love a good dungeon crawl. It does have some bugs but nothing major. There are a few that you kind of have to watch out for:

1. When swapping a gem with a item that has a socket available in your inventory, it will actually place the gem in the socket rather than swapping the items around.
2. The fish that turns your pet into a mimic "permanently" does not change their default appearance. Once you feed them another type of fish they will change back to the dog or cat. I guess that is kind of obvious but they should change the tool tip for it.
3. Pets getting stuck behind behind walls because they have problems path finding. This is worse when you have more than 1 because once you run up or down to get them to find you the other one becomes stuck.

[ssidbroadcast]

Apparently they're developing an MMO that will use the Torchlight universe.

Yeah that's a big managerial mistake in my book, and I can't help but feel like that some individual emotions are behind it. When will upstart developers learn that MMOs are expensive to make (decently) and nearly impossible to make inroads with?

If they want to succeed, all they need to do is follow these simple steps:

Just patch-in a simple D2-style multiplayer. Even a LAN-only or direct TCP/IP play would suffice.

Later, patch-in more and more features into the multiplayer, like server browsing, dedicated server, and VOIP.

Keep adding gameplay content via patches. If you must, charge like $5 for a "booster" pack that adds new monsters, items, quests, dungeon tilesets, etc.

Hey presto! A profitable game with a loyal, large fanbase. Even the above is difficult, but it's WAY more manageable than an entire MMO.

[Skrying]

They specifically released a paid-for single player game in order to get a game under their belt that is of high quality. I'm sure they are well aware that MMOs are very expensive. For some reason though I doubt they're thinking WoW-like in any sense. Be that size, draw, or design. I'm going to guess it'll be much more D2 like than you're thinking. But that's just my opinion.

[Airmantharp]

Just got to the point of 'retiring,' but the chick in the graveyard is still giving me stuff to do, think I'm at level 6. I set the game to easy, as this laptop is stuttery and slow, and I think it was too easy- oh well. Will have to try it on a real machine later, maybe I'll get through it on hard .

I encountered the socket thing- that was annoying, but at this difficulty level I've yet seen the need to socket anything- I have a collection of ever nicening gems in one of my chests.

My biggest complaint, and that's probably due to this computer, though I am using a mouse, is how easy it is to try and click on something you want to interact with, and have your character just walk past it instead. My favorite weapons have been ones that steal life, and if I'm doing it right I almost never have to use potions, but for that to work I have to actually hit stuff!

The coolest thing I wasn't expecting was that your pet can be a tank- and a good one. Life-stealing guns made many situations that should be hard, not. Your pet can also be a spell caster good too! I've let him cast the sword, and the one that makes your enemies fight for you. I'd like to try the summon skeleton one next, and see how he handles it, particularly, if he can keep all 5 active at once.

Speaking of skeletons, these guys can win the game for you. You can keep 5 of them out there fighting at a time, and if you have the mana regeneration for it, you can just summon one every 3 seconds. This makes sure they're all healthy all of the time, and even in combat, it makes sure that you've got some close by to intercept patrols, in case they got distracted. And they're great at intercepting. Even if you use a ranged weapon and do most of the damage yourself, I've never seen a skeleton die in just one hit. You can just keep them deployed in front of you to absorb the nasty rushes a few of the bad guys use quite effectively, and then just let them fight it out or jump in yourself.

Last, I found a 'heal everyone' spell. This thing is great, and it is more powerful on my character than a lower level version of the straight heal. I use it to heal my pet and my skeletons while they're all out doing the dirty work .

[dolemitecomputers]

My biggest complaint, and that's probably due to this computer, though I am using a mouse, is how easy it is to try and click on something you want to interact with, and have your character just walk past it instead. My favorite weapons have been ones that steal life, and if I'm doing it right I almost never have to use potions, but for that to work I have to actually hit stuff!

I don't know if this helps but if you hold down shift then your character will stay in place when interacting. That helped me a lot since I found myself running past enemies when I clicked on them.

[Airmantharp]

My biggest complaint, and that's probably due to this computer, though I am using a mouse, is how easy it is to try and click on something you want to interact with, and have your character just walk past it instead. My favorite weapons have been ones that steal life, and if I'm doing it right I almost never have to use potions, but for that to work I have to actually hit stuff!

I don't know if this helps but if you hold down shift then your character will stay in place when interacting. That helped me a lot since I found myself running past enemies when I clicked on them.

Yeap, worked great when I started playing 'hunter' and using pistols with my pet tanking. But, I found myself upgrading to an axe and a mace, which combined did about 220 life steal each hit, and knock-back, and had to move forward to re-engage. Those two weapons single-handedly beat the last boss .

[Skrying]

Reached the "retire" place in the game. I've been playing as Destroyer. I used dual wielding near exclusively though now I've switched to the items you get from the final boss. I've found that I never use the normal attack so having life and mana stealing never really comes into play. I use a decent amount of mana potions but it's easily supported by my gold collecting/item selling. Playing it on the Normal difficulty level and I have to say it's way too easy. I died once and that was a easy to avoid mistake (was hitting 2 instead of 1). I'll probably go at it again on the Hardcore setting.

[emkubed]

Picked this up this weekend since apparently Borderlands, L4D2 Demo and Machinarium aren't enough to sate my game-lust.

Torchlight is win. The price is right. It's a must buy.

Now I need to get this running under Linux so my son can play.

[Jigar]

^ X2, this game is addictive and fan. I have already reached level 30, and i think, i might complete it in a day or 2.

EDIT: BTW, i am playing as a Alchemist, and i am usually not using any hand weapon to fight, i have a spell (don't remember the name of the spell) it's like Lazer and i just hold right click and whoosh every one is toast ...

EDIT: Plus, i have 2 Golems, 2 Zombies, 2 Minions and a pet fighting for me.