Torchlight 2 Could Have More Multiplayer Than You Need

John Funk

U.N. Owen Was Him?
Dec 20, 2005
20,364
0
0
Torchlight 2 Could Have More Multiplayer Than You Need

How many people should you play Torchlight 2 with? About four - but that might not stop developer Runic from letting you play with more.

I absolutely loved 2009's seems to be fixing many of those flaws [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/editorials/reviews/6697-Review-Torchlight], including the lack of multiplayer.

Runic boss Max Schafer - one of the original developers of Diablo at Blizzard North - spoke with VG247 [http://www.vg247.com/2011/01/07/interview-runics-max-schaefer-on-torchlight-and-torchlight-ii/] and laid everything out about the upcoming Torchlight sequel. Schafer touched on issues like the growing place of small-scale, small-budget games in today's blockbuster-driven market, and discussed just what had made Torchlight such a hit among gamers.

He also discussed the multiplayer in the upcoming sequel, saying that while the game had a "sweet spot" of four characters playing together at once, Runic might let players double that anyway.

[blockquote]It's entirely soloable, so you can play as one person. We haven't set the party maximum just yet. The sweet spot, just from playing in the office, is 1-4 players. There's no technological reason why we can't increase that, but once you get up to, like, eight players, it gets ridiculously crowded if you're at all in the same area.

It is possible to have a group of four in the late game and then another group of four in the early game in, technically, the same game session and you just never see [each other]. It works fine. It's an ongoing debate right now where we set the maximum number of players in the game. It'll probably be between four and eight.[/blockquote]

Incidentally, this was the same conclusion reached by the Diablo III team [http://www.warcry.com/articles/view/conferences/blizzcon_08/5358-Blizzcon-08-WoW-Diablo-3-Press-Conference]: When you have more than four players in a game, they just aren't playing together.

Or if they are, they're trying to kill each other - Schafer said that the team would enable an optional PVP mode, but that they wouldn't try to balance it: It was just about trying to beat up your friends.

The full interview with Max Schafer is a fantastic read, and you can check it out over at VG247 [http://www.vg247.com/2011/01/07/interview-runics-max-schaefer-on-torchlight-and-torchlight-ii/].

Permalink
 

Korten12

Now I want ma...!
Aug 26, 2009
10,766
0
0
sounds good, reason why I held off TL1, was becuase the lack of Multi, a game like Torchlight, is more fun with friends.
 

Onyx Oblivion

Borderlands Addict. Again.
Sep 9, 2008
17,032
0
0
Oh god. 8 people...That'd be pretty crowded in the corridors of the dungeons, especially with all of their pets, too.
 

Terramax

New member
Jan 11, 2008
3,747
0
0
Still been meaning to get this game. Maybe after I finish Venetica.

Personally, I find 4 people in a single world not enough.

Perhaps up to, say, 16 people in a single world with 4 teams of 4 wandering around?

Mind you, having a group of 20 battle it out against a super hard boss would be just like that episode of South Park and the WoW massacre, which would be great fun.
 

BENZOOKA

This is the most wittiest title
Oct 26, 2009
3,920
0
0
I bought Torchlight from Steam a couple months ago. I had high hopes for it as I love Diablo II and Titan Quest, but I didn't like Torchlight at all. It's too arcadeish and messy and simple.

As for the multiplayer question; I don't like to play these kind of games as multiplayer, so it doesn't matter how many players you could play with.
 

Nimbus

Token Irish Guy
Oct 22, 2008
2,162
0
0
Why is it that regardless of genre, 4 seems to be the co-op sweet spot?
 

SmugFrog

Ribbit
Sep 4, 2008
1,239
4
43
I hope they leave it open for up to 8, at least.

I sometimes hate it when a dev limits something for what they think is the best experience; if they limited it to 4, and you have a 5th friend, now he's just left out.

Those that complain that 8 is too many? There's a simple fix - just don't play with 8.
 

Echo136

New member
Feb 22, 2010
1,004
0
0
Korten12 said:
sounds good, reason why I held off TL1, was becuase the lack of Multi, a game like Torchlight, is more fun with friends.
Thats a terrible reason. Torchlight is unbelievably fun even without multiplayer.
 

Korten12

Now I want ma...!
Aug 26, 2009
10,766
0
0
Echo136 said:
Korten12 said:
sounds good, reason why I held off TL1, was becuase the lack of Multi, a game like Torchlight, is more fun with friends.
Thats a terrible reason. Torchlight is unbelievably fun even without multiplayer.
Uh, no its not. A game like Torchlight, I have played before, and I like them, but for me, I like to be able to play with friends.
 

Togusa09

New member
Apr 4, 2010
75
0
0
I think it'd be best if they left a default of 4 for 'official' or whatever games, but leave it easily editable to whatever people want .ie. lets see how many players can join before it crashes.

Though I understand that they will need to optomise the net code for 4 or 8 players whichever they choose, I just like options.
 

Catalyst6

Dapper Fellow
Apr 21, 2010
1,362
0
0
Cripe, I can't imagine what eight players simultaneously would do to the average computer. Eight people sending off giant beams of particle effects, you may as well ship it with a tiny ball gag and stilettos!

I kid, of course, but I assume that it would be an issue.
 

SL33TBL1ND

Elite Member
Nov 9, 2008
6,467
0
41
I remember on the steam page for the game, they said whoever bought TL1 would get a free patch eventually to add multiplayer or MMO capabilities to the game. I see the haven't kept their word. Oh well.
 

Weaver

Overcaffeinated
Apr 28, 2008
8,977
0
0
Nimbus said:
Why is it that regardless of genre, 4 seems to be the co-op sweet spot?
I know this is a PC game, but on consoles it's because there are 4 controllers ;)
 

Fiskmasen

New member
Apr 6, 2008
245
0
0
AC10 said:
Nimbus said:
Why is it that regardless of genre, 4 seems to be the co-op sweet spot?
I know this is a PC game, but on consoles it's because there are 4 controllers ;)
But then you've got those games that have no splitscreen support but still only allow 4 players to cooperate. Personally, I think it's because developers realize most people who play games above avarage (I refuse to use... ugh... the term "hardcore") are by nature assholes - in the games that is, I can't speak for anyones personal life here. So once you step above that sweet spot of 4 people, you get to much assholery to be contained in a single game. What ensues is a clusterfuck of obscure references and namecalling, that will almost always end in violence.
 

IndianaJonny

Mysteron Display Team
Jan 6, 2011
813
0
0
Multiplayer capability (either local or LIVE) would certainly make T2 an appealing console prospect - which is why I don't get why they're releasing T1 for Xbox Arcade under the 'House Party' set instead of simply waiting to release T2 for consoles.
 

Enigmers

New member
Dec 14, 2008
1,745
0
0
SL33TBL1ND said:
I remember on the steam page for the game, they said whoever bought TL1 would get a free patch eventually to add multiplayer or MMO capabilities to the game. I see the haven't kept their word. Oh well.
There was a free-to-play Torchlight MMORPG in the works, which I think is now slated to be released after Torchlight II. It's just that most people would rather have a more selective multiplayer than an MMORPG (myself included).
 

Eric the Orange

Gone Gonzo
Apr 29, 2008
3,245
0
0
Terramax said:
Still been meaning to get this game. Maybe after I finish Venetica.

Personally, I find 4 people in a single world not enough.

Perhaps up to, say, 16 people in a single world with 4 teams of 4 wandering around?

Mind you, having a group of 20 battle it out against a super hard boss would be just like that episode of South Park and the WoW massacre, which would be great fun.
I guess it depends how you think of the game. If you see it like an MMO then yeah a lot of people should be able to play at the same time, just not necessarily together. But if you look at it from a one world one group perspective, then having more than 4 people on the screen at one time would create what we in the business call a "cluster fuck".
 

Usurpurus

New member
Oct 12, 2009
108
0
0
benzooka said:
I bought Torchlight from Steam a couple months ago. I had high hopes for it as I love Diablo II and Titan Quest, but I didn't like Torchlight at all. It's too arcadeish and messy and simple.

As for the multiplayer question; I don't like to play these kind of games as multiplayer, so it doesn't matter how many players you could play with.
Hah, what you said was EXACTLY what I feel/think like. TQ was awesome but Torchlight was sooo repetitive.

The whole 8 player thing would not work in this game. The levels are way too small for more than about 3.
 

Dogstile

New member
Jan 17, 2009
5,093
0
0
What is it with people assuming it would be a crowded game. We've not even seen any of their level designs yet.

Assuming much guys?