We've been aware that Crate Entertainment licensed the Titan Quest engine from Iron Lore for awhile now, but it wasn't until this afternoon that founder Arthur Bruno was willing to chat with us about it. Here are the details he was willing to provide:
"Crate Entertainment has licensed the Titan Quest engine from Iron Lore. THQ owns the rights to the TQ IP, so we won't be making a TQ2 anytime soon but we are developing a new game for PC that will offer similar ARPG gameplay but in a darker fictional setting. Right now we have no outside funding and are operating as a privately funded indie-developer. So if we continue in this manner, the scope will be somewhat reduced from TQ in terms of total art assets but we're developing gameplay systems in a new way that will allow us to actually have more depth in certain areas. The game is still in its formative stages, so the design isn't set in stone yet, but we want to improve various aspects of gameplay, manage content more closely to ensure smooth performance, and introduce some cool new features. A few of the new things we're considering include having over 100 character levels, a less linear more replayable world with secret unlockable areas, an ultra-challenging difficulty mode balanced for team play, and shooter-style rapid healing when you're out of combat to reduce dependency on potions. We hope to have some more detailed information in the coming months."
And, in case you were wondering, their previously announced action RPG Black Legion has been set aside for the time being in order to devote their resources to this new project.
En résumé :
- le moteur est maintenant exploitable, mais la propriété intellectuelle appartient toujours à THQ, donc il ne s'agira pas d'un TQ n°2
- investissements privés, donc peu de moyens pour l'instant ... projet sans trop d'envergure s'ils continuent dans cette voie
- design non finalisé
- orientation plus " sombre "
- gameplay quelque peu modifié
- optimisation des performances
- 100 niveaux pour le personnage
- un mode ultra difficile, équilibré pour le jeu en multi
- meilleure re-jouabilité avec une aventure moins linéaire comportant des passages secrets à débloquer
- un système de régénération de santé pour limiter l'utilisation des potions
(autant les cœurs dans Diablo III, je trouve ça astucieux, autant le système mollasson façon sacred 2 ... bearkkkk)
- des informations dans les mois à venir
- le projet Black Legion a été mis de côté car l'équipe se consacre à celui-ci
J'avoue avoir du mal à cerner quelles sont leurs orientations du coup ... priorité console ou PC ??????????
Je pense qu'il est préférable d'attendre de vraies news concrètes, plus que des articles de ce genre servant surtout à rassurer les fans
(voir tenter de créer un buzz ^^).