But Torchlight was all about providing a taste of different regions and a bunch of variety. To some degree, logic sort of had to take a backseat when you're essentially stacking a crypt on partially submerged ruins, and the ruins on a waterfall-filled cavern, and the cavern over a lava fortress, etc. With Torchlight we were trying to create as many wildly different themes as we could to maximize our variety and give players a new experience every few levels.

Jason: The degree of variation is a bit hard to quantify, but our goal for TL2 differs considerably from Torchlight. How much variation is there between each tile-set and will there be continuing themes between them, or will they be more dramatic in their changes? - asked by Darker123 So, it's a big step up from the single little mining town of Torchlight, but it allows us a great deal of real estate to play with later on in the MMO. Within each of those 3 regions there are various zones, passes, dungeons, and cities. Those 3 regions make up about 1/5th of the continent. Jason: In Torchlight II you'll be traveling across 3 distinct regions of the continent of Vilderan, one of two major continents in our game world. How much of the world will we visit in TL2? - asked by Seer There's a second consideration in that we try to make navigation a pleasant experience, so making it clear what is pathable and what isn't sometimes dictates how a tileset is built or a level is constructed.

That said, there's a constant balancing act going on between what we want or what looks good with what feels good to play and what serves the gameplay the best. Jason: Yes! Our outdoors, in particular, are built to have many more steps in elevation. Not just different 'cliff levels' with ramps or stairs to go up or down, but actual pathable gentle slopes and grassy hills, sharp diagonal inclines for rocky areas, and such? - asked by Arkham Will outdoor terrain have any kind of elevation/sloping to it? I.E. Occasionally we can manage something that's 'crazy awesome' and then reward ourselves with beer. Sometimes it's something crazy that one of our level designers did that makes us want to play that particular element up more and other times it's how the environment artists constructed the tileset that allows us to do something awesome we hadn't considered. It's a very iterative process that really requires a lot of back and forth. We try to define some major landmarks, some variance within a zone (for example a transition from a lush, green subtropical landscape to one dusted with snow in the same zone), and key story elements in that area. From there we get concepts for a slice of a zone going along with the first prototype of the tileset. But as far as our typical process goes, we discuss in broad terms the region type, the types of creatures that inhabit it, and the general tone and mood of the area. Some tilesets shaped the story and others were shaped by the story. Going into TL2 we brainstormed some zone types we wanted to tackle and vetted those against our story ideas. Jason: With our team it changes somewhat from origin to completion from one tileset to the next. Level Design Q & A with Jason Beck and Patrick BlankД¬an you give a rough breakdown of steps / people involved from vague concept to completed level? - asked by Paws This week, we have a double feature! Here we have a Level Design Q & A with Art Director Jason Beck and Lead Level Designer Patrick Blank, with questions asked by Runic Forums members! In addition, we have a sneak peek into a few environments of Torchlight II. Every other week until E3, Runic Games is giving you a glimpse of the awesomeness that is Torchlight II! Last time around, we gave you a sneak peek of the music you will hear on your journey.

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