Some of the developers at Runic Games are former Wildtangent employees. Also Travis Baldree (President of Runic Games) was also a former employee and worked on Fate. So there is good reason for the similarities between Fate and Torchlight.
Update: Torchlight Studio: iPhone MMO Stole Assets "Wholesale"
- Thread starter kitsuta
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That's not assets. That's ideas/mechanics. And Runic actually said they wouldn't mind a clone, the problem they have is they took their files, modified some of them a little, and then used them. Which they really have to care about for legal reasons. FATE was also made by one of Runic's cofounders, so stealing his own ideas and mechanics isn't something I really care about anyway.lacktheknack said:
I'm not sure about the polygons - I mean the textures look like almost direct rips - but the models seem to be lower polygon counts, maybe they ran the media through a polygon reducer.
Inspiration is one thing, practically every game is inspired by other games - there are very few original ideas out there. It's not a problem though, if an established idea works for a game, then why shouldn't it adopt it as it's own. That's a given, and comparing Torchlight to Fable is a fairly pointless and petty argument.
Stealing media directly from another game is plain retarded. It probably happens all the time, hell - I've had media 'stolen' from me, well, lets say 'used without credit'. It kinda sticks in your craw, especially when all you'd really care about is a little recognition - like that team of a dozen artists listed in the credits, that dozen people stealing from 1 poor indi developer (for instance), well it's pathetic... where indipendant artists are concerned - having their name in the credits can make a big difference, it can be more valuable than being paid, when trying to secure future work for instance. God only knows just how much media industry professionals have used without permission.
Thing is though, they really dropped the ball. If I had made a game like that, that looked like Torchlight, played like it, stole from it... well I'd contact Runic and put the game forward as a mobile version of Torchlight - I mean, a mobile Torchlight, how fricken well would that do on the App store! - A Diablo-like that isn't Dungeon Hunter, that would be awesome.
Inspiration is one thing, practically every game is inspired by other games - there are very few original ideas out there. It's not a problem though, if an established idea works for a game, then why shouldn't it adopt it as it's own. That's a given, and comparing Torchlight to Fable is a fairly pointless and petty argument.
Stealing media directly from another game is plain retarded. It probably happens all the time, hell - I've had media 'stolen' from me, well, lets say 'used without credit'. It kinda sticks in your craw, especially when all you'd really care about is a little recognition - like that team of a dozen artists listed in the credits, that dozen people stealing from 1 poor indi developer (for instance), well it's pathetic... where indipendant artists are concerned - having their name in the credits can make a big difference, it can be more valuable than being paid, when trying to secure future work for instance. God only knows just how much media industry professionals have used without permission.
Thing is though, they really dropped the ball. If I had made a game like that, that looked like Torchlight, played like it, stole from it... well I'd contact Runic and put the game forward as a mobile version of Torchlight - I mean, a mobile Torchlight, how fricken well would that do on the App store! - A Diablo-like that isn't Dungeon Hunter, that would be awesome.
In terms of fish and gems, they WERE lifted wholesale. They're literally identical.infinity_turtles said:
There was other stuff, too, but I don't have time to check right now.
No they arent literally identical. The mechanics are almost identical, and they serve the exact same purpose. The art, sound effects, and even the code, are not the same. Google them, and then do a side by side comparison. They're close, using the same sort of artstyle and being fish/gems, and again mechanically they serve the same purpose but with only the slightest deviations in how they effect stats. They copied Fate yes, but then the guy who made it co-founded Runic.lacktheknack said:
Now, Armed Heroes literally, and I mean literally, took Torchlight's files, altered some, and plopped them into the game. They copied wholesale the sound file from a gag weapon, which is voiced by one of their members. They have sound effect files named after Torchlight's enemies and bosses, complete with misspellings. Some of the enemies have their textures edited very slightly, but all of them use the same models and animations from Torchlight.
Copying a games design and stealing assets are not the same thing.
Captcha: have fun
I would captcha, but Orcs Must Die 2 doesn't come out until the 30th
Again, I don't begrudge them that. They just could have fooled me (and did).infinity_turtles said:
I'm certainly not defending Armed Heroes. They have plain old poor form.
Runic handled this rather well.
Also, funny how they accuse Runic for getting inspired by games that some of them actually made.
Also, I wonder if the guys at Runic intentionally misspelled the names.
When working on a program I intentionally misspell some parts that won't be visible to the user. That way I can always see if someone actually just copied my work or not. I was even accused of copying someone else MC mode until I proved that that mod is just a copy of my mod.
Funny how people try to earn money or respect in a community by taking other peoples work.
Also, funny how they accuse Runic for getting inspired by games that some of them actually made.
Also, I wonder if the guys at Runic intentionally misspelled the names.
When working on a program I intentionally misspell some parts that won't be visible to the user. That way I can always see if someone actually just copied my work or not. I was even accused of copying someone else MC mode until I proved that that mod is just a copy of my mod.
Funny how people try to earn money or respect in a community by taking other peoples work.