vdogmr2522

Joined 02/02/2012

He looked bigger when I couldn't see him.

21 Posts

I know most of you already own Torchlight, but for those who don't, I put a copy up on Steam Gifts. The drawing closes Friday the 12th at 4pm. Good luck!

http://www.steamgifts.com/giveaway/0bGla/torchlight



Today is a sad day in gaming. Psygnosis (AKA Studio Liverpool) has been closed. This developer has been one of my favorites, primarily because of their WipEout racing series and the game Lemmings. I honestly didn't think I could feel this sad about a game company closing its doors.

http://kotaku.com/5936821/sony-closes-one-of-the-oldest-video-game-developers-in-the-world


This game was a lot of fun. You switch between dimensions to change the properties of the objects around you allowing you to make your way to the exit. The puzzles can often be solved in different ways, and for an added challenge there's a "par" for each level based on time and number of dimensional switches made. My biggest complaint is length. It was way too freaking short. DLC will be released for the game, though, and given the release price of $20 it seems reasonable enough. Best part of the game is that John DeLancie (Star Trek's "Q") is the acting GLaDOS.


So with E3 and the big tech season passing through there's one aspect I'm really intrigued with: game engines.

Epic has released info on Unreal engine 4.

http://youtu.be/OZmRt8gCsC0?hd=1

Square Enix has release a tech demo called Agni's Philosophy as well as posted job openings for next-gen game engine development.

http://youtu.be/UVX0OUO9ptU?hd=1
http://www.square-enix.com/na/careers/getech/

I'm curious what your thoughts are on the two. I'm blown away as always with the textures and animation in most everything Enix does. Epic on the other hand is doing fantastic things with lighting and color. That's pretty funny considering how brown, dull, and dark their games are, but progress is awesome.

What are your thoughts on this E3's engine/graphics developments?


http://i.imgur.com/t6VCy.jpg
So I was playing Borderlands with my dad one day. We were about half way through the Secret Armory DLC. I was driving. Dad was in the gunner's seat. I hit a side rail just right and parked in a rather bizarre fashion. Do you guys have any funny/odd Borderlands stories?


I just want to say that when I first started playing this, I kept screaming, "I'M BATMAN!!" and, "SWEAR TO ME!!!" At 11 PM, that's a good way to piss off the neighbors.


I know in the midst of Diablo 3 excitement that Torchlight 2 is not in the forefront of gaming nor will it do as well as many AAA titles. Despite that, I'm looking forward TL2. I've played Diablo 2 and had trouble getting into it, but when I played Torchlight, I racked up tones of hours in-game and even got my dad hooked. Between the two of us, we've played about 250 hours in just Torchlight. We played other games at the time too, but this was something we really enjoyed. As to why I liked it more than Diablo, I think I just found myself enjoying the atmosphere more. The games play very similarly, but the atmosphere is very different. Enough about that.

So I've been playing the Torchlight 2 beta, and this is an improvement over the first in almost all areas. There's now 4 classes, as most probably have heard. I've been enjoying the Outlander who's like the Gunslinger from the first game, but instead of using traps and turrets, the Outlander has more direct attack abilities, such as different attacks with a glaive and special gun abilities. I haven't tried the other classes, but I am looking forward to seeing how some of these work. To add to it, there are more weapon types. As the Outlander, I've come across pistols, bows, crossbows, shotguns, cannons, and I think a few rifles too. The best way I can describe the game is that they've made everything broader.

The item system is the same with a few changes. The pet has a bigger inventory (or at least seems to be). I haven't encountered an enchanter in a town yet, but I've found a few in dungeons, and they're more specialized, like one enchanter will add ice enchantments. Also, there's a limit to enchantments you can put on an item making finding new items more important.

The graphics are improved by quite a bit. It's no Diablo in that regard, but it is a step up from before, particularly in the textures and polygons. The music is better, but not great. In the first game, I got annoyed with the music after a while, now I get kinda bored with it. It is very atmospheric to the game, but I find my self wanting something that ties into the game more than just something to be played in the background.

The story is a continuation from the first game. The Alchemist from the last game has grown corrupt with the power of ember and destroyed Torchlight. The goal for the player(s) is to stop him. I know the Gunslinger makes an appearance as an NPC who is there to guide and help along the quest. No sign of the warrior yet, but I expect him to show up at some point. In stead of dungeon crawling like last time, the world is more open. You go across surface territories completing quests and making trips to side dungeons. One thing I like a lot about this change is it allows for more side quests.

The biggest change is multiplayer. The TL2 beta supports up to 6 players over the internet, and the full game will feature LAN and single player, as well. All I can say is it runs well.

So cool stuff coming from this one. I'm excited for its release.


I know with the hype of Diablo III it almost seems moot, but being a Baldur's Gate fan, I thought I should share this. Baldur's Gate is getting remade with better graphics and new content. It's planned to be released in the summer. The sequel is going to be remade and released later.

http://baldursgate.com/

I'm so excited for this. I get to wield a trash-talking sword again!


This game's goal in life is to destroy the player. It's hard. The enemies are tough. Low level minions can still kill you with relative ease if you aren't careful, and the bosses can often kill in two hits or less. Did I mention the enemies level up when you die? It also auto-saves whenever you die or change gear or reach a certain point. Fun times. Fun times. While this game is tough, it's not impossible. It requires that you take things slow and think. You'll survive 9 times out of 10 if you don't get ahead of yourself. I love it for that. The other part of the game I enjoy is how everything is linked to souls. You get souls for killing enemies and they are used as currency. The interesting part is how to use them. You need souls to but gear, repair gear, buy spells, and level up stats. The last part of that is key, as you don't level up by gaining XP, only by spending souls. There's much more to this game, but I love these mechanics in particular.