[project1dev] Re: [OT] Torchlight makers runic
- From: eric drewes <figarus@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: project1dev@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 19 May 2010 13:53:25 -0400
hey did you get a chance to check out demigod yet?
On Wed, May 19, 2010 at 1:46 PM, Alan Wolfe <alan.wolfe@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> I agree with you 100% on that, its cool we are on the same page.
>
> Also, I like it because act raiser was a fun game and doom was cool (and
> the fps part is hopefully going to feel kinda like doom... we'll see if we
> can do it).
>
> But also i feel like a lot of games these days are all kinda similar styles
> (basically shooters - oops... we are making part of our game a shooter too..
> im a hipocrite lol), and the "old style" game play seems to have
> disappeared.
>
> In a way i think it would be neat to continue on this style of taking an
> older game's gameplay that doesn't have an analog in modern day gaming, and
> bring it back with updated graphics, tech, and maybe gameplay, but keeping
> the core of what made it so great the same. I think old ideas could have
> life again for a younger generation that has never experienced them (:
>
> That isn't the most original or imaginative idea ever so i dunno how you
> guys feel about it and i dont think we should only do that... but i think it
> might be a neat blanket idea to toss into our idea bucket as always
> something to fall back on if we need another game idea.
>
> I think too that theres a lot of ways we could make a good amount of money
> in markets that big game companies would never go after because its small
> potatoes to them.
>
> thats my hope anyways.
>
> but yeah im with you eric
>
>
> On Wed, May 19, 2010 at 10:23 AM, eric drewes <figarus@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
>> i think the key to making great games is balance, like starcraft is a game
>> i consider "perfect" because its so well balanced, the depth comes from
>> individual styles and not just complexity of game mechanics. Chess is the
>> deepest game ever made, but also very very very elegant in its simplicity.
>>
>> i think the key for us as a team is to make sure we set realistic goals
>> and expectations... like dirty harry says, "a man's got to know his
>> limitations"
>>
>> do i believe we can make kick ass games and a kick ass game company?
>> you're god damn right i do. However, like with the RPG i think even if all
>> of us quit our jobs and put in 50 hours a week, the scope and depth of what
>> we still needed was too much for us. eyes bigger than our stomachs. (or my
>> stomach at least)
>>
>> one of the reasons i am a fan of doing act raiser is that it is a chewable
>> bite, and will let us get our feet wet and some real experience under our
>> belt as we build into a real dev studio.
>>
>>
>>
>> On Wed, May 19, 2010 at 1:17 PM, Kent Petersen <kentkmp@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>>
>>> That's still pretty inspiring as far as I'm concerned
>>>
>>> The other day angela asked me what I would do if I made a game that we
>>> sold and made money off it. I told her, "I would quit my job and makes
>>> games." I'm excited. I think we can make kickass games.
>>>
>>>
>>> On Wed, May 19, 2010 at 10:12 AM, eric drewes <figarus@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>>>
>>>> oh and i dont have access to the article but i read it was $500,000 in
>>>> sales not 500,000 copies sold
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Wed, May 19, 2010 at 12:51 PM, eric drewes <figarus@xxxxxxxxx>wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> well... from wikipedia:
>>>>>
>>>>> Development of the game is led by Travis Baldree, designer of
>>>>> *Fate<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fate_%28video_game%29>
>>>>> *, and Max Schaefer and Erich Schaefer, co-designers of
>>>>> *Diablo<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diablo_%28video_game%29>
>>>>> * and *Diablo II <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diablo_II>*, joined by
>>>>> the team that developed
>>>>> *Mythos<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mythos_%28video_game%29>
>>>>> *
>>>>>
>>>>> Pre-production on *Torchlight* began in August 2008, shortly after the
>>>>> dissolution of Flagship
>>>>> Studios<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flagship_Studios>.
>>>>> Runic Games was founded by Travis Baldree (lead developer of *Fate*and
>>>>> *Mythos <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mythos_%28video_game%29>*) and
>>>>> veterans of Blizzard
>>>>> North<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blizzard_North>and Flagship: Max
>>>>> Schaefer, Erich Schaefer and Peter Hu.
>>>>> [24]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torchlight#cite_note-gamesource.it-23>
>>>>> [14] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torchlight#cite_note-shack-13> The
>>>>> "entire Flagship Seattle team" consisting of 14 people (the branch of
>>>>> Flagship which created the original *Mythos*) signed on to Runic Games
>>>>> at the time of its
>>>>> formation.[25]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torchlight#cite_note-warcry-24>
>>>>> [16]
>>>>> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torchlight#cite_note-eurogamer-15>Having
>>>>> lost the rights to
>>>>> *Mythos*, the Runic team saw the development of a new game as a way to
>>>>> "finish what [they] started," although they would have to start over with
>>>>> none of the code or art assets from
>>>>> *Mythos*.[26]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torchlight#cite_note-gamasutra-art-25>The
>>>>> company's founders decided to "go back to [their] roots" with a smaller
>>>>> game that they could refine and polish within a relatively short
>>>>> production
>>>>> cycle.[14]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torchlight#cite_note-shack-13>Full
>>>>> production on the game started around November 2008, giving the entire
>>>>> project a development period of approximately 11
>>>>> months.[27]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torchlight#cite_note-g4tv-26>As
>>>>> of July 2009, 25 team members were working at Runic Games.
>>>>> [20] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torchlight#cite_note-pcgames.de-19>
>>>>>
>>>>> In a feature article on *Gamasutra<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamasutra>
>>>>> *, art director Jason Beck explained that *Torchlight's* art style was
>>>>> inspired by comic books and classic film animation, using stylized
>>>>> character
>>>>> designs combined with painterly background
>>>>> textures.[26]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torchlight#cite_note-gamasutra-art-25>The
>>>>> developers have described the game's look as inspired by "
>>>>> *Dragon’s Lair <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon%E2%80%99s_Lair>*meets
>>>>> *The Incredibles
>>>>> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Incredibles>*."[28]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torchlight#cite_note-gamasutra1-27>The
>>>>> team chose to give the game world a lighter fantasy tone to make it more
>>>>> inviting, rather than utilizing a "dark and gritty"
>>>>> style.[26]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torchlight#cite_note-gamasutra-art-25>
>>>>>
>>>>> The game uses the OGRE <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OGRE> open
>>>>> source<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_source>3D graphics engine,
>>>>> although the rest of the game engine was built by Runic.
>>>>> The game was designed to run on a wide range of systems (including a
>>>>> 'netbook' mode) and does not require
>>>>> shaders<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shader>
>>>>> .[2] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torchlight#cite_note-zam-1>
>>>>> ...
>>>>>
>>>>> so, 25 people working full time using an open source 3d engine and
>>>>> headed by veteran designers and coders with some pretty beefy
>>>>> pedigree/experience
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> On Wed, May 19, 2010 at 12:43 PM, Alan Wolfe <alan.wolfe@xxxxxxxxx>wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> thats pretty rad... do you know how big the team was?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I wonder if they did it full time and lived off savings or if they had
>>>>>> funding from somewhere else or if they had other jobs or somethin?
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On Wed, May 19, 2010 at 8:23 AM, Kent Petersen <kentkmp@xxxxxxxxx>wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> It only took em a year or so to make it too
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> On Wed, May 19, 2010 at 8:23 AM, Kent Petersen <kentkmp@xxxxxxxxx>wrote:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Yeah man. It was fun but I didn't play it for more than a month. I
>>>>>>>> think the key is making the game simple yet fun.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> On Tue, May 18, 2010 at 5:39 PM, Alan Wolfe
>>>>>>>> <alan.wolfe@xxxxxxxxx>wrote:
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2010/05/18/lighting-it-up-runic-investment-and-sales/
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> they sold 500,000 copies of their game and sold part of their
>>>>>>>>> company for 8.4 million.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> wow...
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> if you guys have played torchlight, sure it was a decent game but
>>>>>>>>> it wasnt GREAT. i think there is major money to be had from small
>>>>>>>>> indie
>>>>>>>>> game groups such as ourselves :P
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>
>
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