Torchlight exclusive to Xbox LIVE; first details
Torchlight, announced for Xbox LIVE Arcade last night, is an console exclusive for the Microsoft platform. Developer Runic Games confirmed their single-platform route on their official forums, earlier today.
“No PS3 plans to speak of,” developer Travis Baldree confirmed. “Microsoft is acting as the publisher on this one. And given how much work it was to get one console game done, I’m a little relieved we didn’t attempt both platforms at once anyway.”
Baldree used the thread to share tons of new details on what’s new and what’s changed in the Xbox LIVE Arcade version. There’s a lot to take in.
He wrote: “Control is direct – no virtual cursors ever. Combat is a little different – you move forward slightly with melee attacks and all the attack animations are redone to support this. You don’t ‘target’ enemies – you’ll get a red highlight for a ‘primary’ target that is in range, but for melee attacks you hit everything in your damage cone (secondary targets get secondary damage ). Feels natural and does what you expect.
“Ranged combat is actually in many ways easier – kiting and dodging are significantly more viable with a controller and the autotargeting for ranged attacks works pretty well. ‘lobbed’ skills mapped to the triggers have a default distance, but you can finesse them for longer or shorter throws by holding the trigger at a given depth.
“Combat pace feels ‘faster’ and more maneuverable. If you’ve played classics like Dark Alliance or Champions of Norrath, you have the general idea. ( but no jumping ) Movement speed is analog – you can move slower by easing on the stick, something you can’t do at all on PC.”
The game’s user-interface has been completely overhauled. Apparently, nothing works the same in comparison to the PC version. Still, “pretty much everything” from the PC version of the game is inside the Xbox LIVE version, minus secondary weapon sets, as “there was no way we could find that didn’t feel horrible in inventory management.”
As for improvements, the Xbox LIVE game has received some improvements originally brought to light in Torchlight 2. These include: faster load times, better animation blending, automaps, three new armor sets, a few new random quests, a chakawry pet, and more.
It’ll all fit in a download around 200mb in size.
The first screenshots of the Xbox LIVE Arcade version can be seen at the gallery. The game launches next month.
