The Torchlight editor – TorchED – is available for download.

I’ve been eagerly waiting for this…  I’ve wanted a fish to turn my pet into a mimic permanently.  I wonder how hard that will be to accomplish?

In addition to TorchED being available for download here.  There’s a thread on the Runic Games forums with some known bugs.  And the release notes are amusing as well:

So, we’re about to put the editor up for download. There are already bugs we know about (and it some cases have fixed), but didn’t want to hold up the release any longer. So, Disclaimer: You may run into goofy things. In the case that this happens, Say “God damn you, Greg Brown. Your parents should be ashamed.” Then let us know about it. If you can give good steps for reproducing the problem, you may even get a hug out of it.

Bare in mind, this thing was really built for use to make content in house. We’ve done a number of thing to make it more conducive to a modding. In doing so we’ve introduced a new feature: quirky crap. Aside from that, there’s other stuff that we’ve just grown to live with internally, which which are probably actually bugs, but I tend to think of as “Fun.”

I’ve been hanging out on the Torchlight forums lately…  Mostly watching to see when the editor and/or patch are going to be released.  And I’ve seen some folks on there complaining that they’re already bored.

Now, Torchlight is a game that was developed in only 11 months.  There is just one town.  Everything happens in, basically, one dungeon.  There are only three classes.  There is no multi-player.  So, yes, I can see where the game is somewhat limited in comparison to some other titles currently available.

But, honestly, if you’re already bored with a game that has only been out for 8 days – you’re doing something wrong.

Granted, they’re advertising roughly 10 hours of gameplay.  So one might very well assume that the game is over and done with after just 10 hours.  But it is an ARPG, and that 10 hours refers to the main storyline progression.

ARPGs are known to be rather light on storyline.  You don’t play something like Diablo II for the stunning character development and deep storyline.  You play an ARPG for the addictive gameplay.  You play it to kill huge swarms of enemies, sift through their bodies looking for treasure, eke out just one more level, and find the elusive last piece of your uber set of armor.

It was possible to finish Diablo II, complete with the Lord of Destruction expansion, in roughly a day.  The time I actually spent playing it, however, was far greater…  I went through those dungeons over and over and over again…  I killed those bosses over and over again…  I rolled up new characters fairly routinely…  I played that game for literally months.

Torchlight offers the same kind of gameplay.  Sure, maybe you can make your way to the end of the storyline in just 10 hours…  But you aren’t really supposed to stop there.  You’re supposed to play through it again on a harder difficulty setting, or maybe roll up a new character, or go back and play through your favorite dungeon, or go hunting for some unique piece of loot.  You’re supposed to keep grinding away at it.

But this problem really isn’t limited to ARPG games.  I’ve seen similar whining and complaining on the message boards for all sorts of games…  MMOs and FPSes and full-blown RPGs and RTSes and everything else.  And it is indicative of a kind of player who just does not understand what a game is.

These folks sprint through a game like they’re running a race.  They get to the end just as quickly as they can, barely noticing the sights and sounds along the way.  Then they stand over the corpse of the fallen endboss, panting like a runner at a marathon’s finish line, and ask now what?

A game is not a destination.  It is not a goal.

A game is an amusing way to waste some time.  It’s a diversion, a distraction.  A game is a journey.

You aren’t supposed to run to the end just as quick as you can, you’re supposed to play the game.  You’re supposed to listen to what the NPCs have to say…  You’re supposed to admire the sights and sounds…  You’re supposed to actually be enjoying yourself.  Not hurrying to get it over with.

When I see these folks complaining, I always have an image in my head of some kid who has rented the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy, extended edition, on DVD…  And then just fast-forwarded through it all to the closing credits of the final disc…  And now they’re wondering what everyone else thinks is so great about those movies.

So you finished the entire game in record time?  Congratulations!  I’m sure you’re quite pleased with yourself.  You have fun watching those end credits…

I’m going to go back to playing my game.

I spent pretty much all night playing Torchlight last night.

It has been quite some time since I spent an entire evening raptly engaged in a single game.  Normally I check my email, fart around the web for a while, check some news sites, waste some time on Facebook…  Then I’ll play some game for an hour or two…  And normally I’ll head up to bed around 9:00 or 10:00 or so.

Last night I fired up Torchlight after dinner, around 6:00 or so, and did not shut it down until I went to bed around 11:30.  Yup, it is just that good.

Playing Torchlight is a little weird.  There’s a very strong sense of deja vu.  Depending on where you are and what you’re doing, the game reminds of either Diablo or Diablo II.  And the resemblance is downright uncanny.  I could almost be playing some kind of total conversion mod.

Which is not to say that the game is a complete re-implementation of Diablo…  There are some significant changes and refinements…  But the soul of Diablo is definitely present.

So, I’m playing a Vanquisher.  I’m really not sure what the backstory is behind the class…  They seem to be some kind of elite city guard or investigator or something.  You can use ranged weapons, melee weapons, and traps.  They remind me a bit of a cross between Diablo II‘s Amazon and Assassin classes.

I deleted all my characters from the demo and started over fresh last night, but I still don’t really know what I’m doing.  So far, I’m playing my vanquisher as a ranged fighter…  But I’m tempted to wade into combat and see what happens.

I’ve been spending my attribute points in as balanced a way as I can – allocating one to pretty much every attribute every level.  I haven’t spent a single skill point.  I have no idea where to put them.  I know I really ought to be trying different things out and spending my points…  But, much like Diablo II, the only real way to retrain your character is to delete and re-roll.

The shared stash is very nice – something that was distinctly missing in Diablo II, and was much appreciated in Hellgate.  I used that shared stash to save everything from those characters I deleted.  Everything, that is, except for their money.  You cannot store money in your stash.

The inventory is a little weird…  Everything takes up exactly one box, regardless of what the item is.  So a quarterstaff or a spear takes up just as much room as a potion or a gem.  It is nice not to stop in the middle of a dungeon to re-pack your bags…  But it doesn’t really make a whole lot of sense.

You’ve got a second inventory tab just for spells.  Spells are found in the world or purchased from vendors, and it doesn’t matter what class you are.  A vanquisher can learn to hurl a fireball just the same as anyone else.  So far, though, I haven’t found enough spells to justify their own inventory tab…  I’ve found maybe a dozen of them across all my characters so far.  Seems like that tab could have been better used if it would store gems and potions as well.

You’ve got a third inventory tab just for fish.  Throughout the world you find fishing holes…  Pools of water with ripples and bubbles that you can click on.  This kicks off a fishing mini-game of sorts, where you have to click a button at the right time to catch a fish.  You can then feed these fish to your pet, to give them various abilities and transformations.  Most of the fish produce temporary results…  But some are permanent.  I haven’t spent that much time fishing yet…  But I can foresee acquiring enough fish to make a separate tab useful.

The dungeons are procedurally generated.

Each dungeon is built-up out of hand-made sections.  These sections can have scripted events, buttons, levers, tunnels, scenery, whatever…  Those sections are randomly assembled together into a dungeon.  This gives a slightly more coherent and interesting layout than a completely random dungeon.

In addition to the ember mines where the main game takes place, there are some side-quest type dungeons.  There’s a treasure hunter in town who will periodically send you on a quest to recover loot from one of these random dungeons.  Some monsters will create a portal to a random dungeon when they are killed.  And there are scrolls that you can find or purchase that open portals to random dungeons.

As you descend into the ember mines, you discover multiple layers with distinct themes.  The first few floors look like you’d expect in a mine…  There’s mine cart tracks all over the place, roughly-hewn tunnels, torches, shafts, crystals…  It looks like a mine, or maybe a cave.

After descending through a half-dozen levels, you get to an area that looks more like a castle or a crypt.  The walls are made of fitted stones, there are braziers and candelabra instead of torches; there are chairs, and tables, and bookshelves, and crypts…  I haven’t gone any further yet myself, but the screenshots also show a jungle-looking place and some area filled with lava.

Everything is done with an exaggerated, comic-book-style visual theme.  This is not to say that the creatures aren’t creepy and the heroes aren’t impressive…  But it is all a little over-the-top.  Especially some of the attacks.

Certain attacks will toss enemies across the room, or make them vanish in a puff of bloody gristle.  Other attacks shake the entire room.  Some of them send cracks across the floor or ricochet realistically off of walls.

Loot is pretty random…  You’ve got generic, plain items of various types.  And then enchanted items, and rare items, and unique items…  And some of these items can have sockets, that you can put gems into.  And all of it looks different on your character.

The end result of this is a truly addictive click-fest.  I literally did not notice the time going by until my eyes started feeling heavy.

Torchlight is almost instantly addictive to anyone who’s enjoyed the Diablo games.  Terri and I are both hooked.

Much like the original Diablo, you’ve got three classes to choose from – a melee warrior, a ranged rogue-ish thing, and a magic user.  Also like Diablo, the action is confined to a single town and a single dungeon.  There are also some cross-class spells that pretty much anyone can use, much like Diablo.

There are also some features that remind me a lot of Diablo II…  The skill tree, for example, looks a lot like what you’ve got in Diablo II.  And the classes are more clearly defined, like in Diablo II.

Just like the Diablo games, it’s an action/RPG clickfest.  Click on an enemy to attack it…  Keep clicking until it is dead…  Collect the loot…  Rinse, repeat.  Just like the Diablo games, you’ve got randomly generated dungeons, monsters, and loot.  Just like the Diablo games, the storyline is really just an excuse to run around bashing badguys.

Where Torchlight really differentiates itself from the Diablo games is the setting…

Torchlight takes place in a distinctly steampunk setting.  There’s some kind of robotic minstrel in town.  The ranged class can use various pistols and rifles.  The magic user is walking around with brass goggles on his head.  I could easily see Jules Verne or H.G. Wells stumbling out of the ember mines, muttering about morlocks and phlogiston.

The graphics are absolutely lush.  The game is presented with large, blocky, polygonal 3D graphics that remind me a lot of those used in World of Warcraft.  Much like in WoW, they add tons of personality while still looking believable.  There’s a real sense of motion and force behind all your attacks…  Weapons seem to have weight to them…  Enemies lumber, or charge, or leap realistically…  It feels like you could reach right into the screen and pull out a tiny steam-driven robot.

You’re given a pet to help you along your way.  You can choose a dog or a cat, though the choice appears to be largely cosmetic.  Your pet can equip a couple rings, some spells, and a necklace.  Your pet also has inventory space of its own that you can use for additional storage.  You can feed your pet different kinds of fish to temporarily transform them into different creatures.  And, in addition to helping you fight, you can send your pet back to town to sell off its inventory.

There is, unfortunately, no multiplayer.  This was a pretty big disappointment for me…  There’s talk of later patching in some kind of MMO-type gameplay…  I guess we’ll see if that happens…  But, for now, it’s purely single-player.