Making the World of Torchlight II and Q&A

Continuing their pre-E3 updates, Runic Games offers two new site features for Torchlight II. Lead level designer Patrick Blank discusses the different area types in the game.

Let’s talk about Passes first, and give a few examples of what makes them different. Passes are tighter and typically more heavily themed areas that connect between other zones. They offer players a different feel and gameplay experience from the Overworld areas. These are more of a push your way through to the other end type of levels. Passes are also randomized in many ways. There are multiple versions of each pass that can roll, and even within each version, there are several random elements that can change your gameplay experience every time. One of the early Passes in the game is called “Path of the Honored Dead”. This area is dark and dreary, covered in fog, and crawling with all types of walking dead. Basically, it’s always a Monday in here. This pass is the cemetery/memorial of the Estherian Enclave. The area is lined with graves, and shrines, and is home to the dungeon, “The Defiled Crypt”, the first dungeon players will encounter in the game.

Next, they have a community-based Q&A art director Jason Beck and lead level designer Patrick Blank on level design.

What kind of different areas will be in the new world, What are your favorites? Can you give us some details of some of them? – asked by eniyis

Jason: Our 3 major regional flavors are the Estherian lands which transition from subtropical green foothills into snowy temples, the desert and Mana Wastes of the Zeraphi and Ezrohir, and the haunted forests, swamps, and remnants of the last Dwarven battlefields. Those are simply the broad stroke flavors. We reserve the right to maintain some surprises 🙂

I feel really good about not having a clear favorite. I think it’s a strong indicator that we’re hitting our marks and nothing is slipping behind in quality or something hasn’t emerged as clearly superior. That said, from a pure ‘personal taste’ and artist geekishness standpoint, I’ve been wanting to do our version of a classic haunted forest since the moment we committed to an overworld. Undead Dwarves, Werewolves, Varkolyn, Witches…oh my.

Patrick: There isn’t one that I immediately favor over the other in any big way. They each have several factors that I love and get excited about. At the moment I’m really digging the desert areas. We try to experiment with every new area and try new techniques to see what we can do differently to improve on from the last area, and desert feels so much different than other deserts in games I have played. There’s a lot of variety in our desert areas, and even though when people here the world (Desert) they think of barren, and desolate boring dunes of sand, the desert areas in TL 2 are packed with cool things, and places to explore