Some Torchlight 2 Art By Sirio Brozzi

Original Pitch For the 'Collect Robot Parts' Quest

So Torchlight 2 is finally out! Have you guys been playing it? It seems like the response has been overwhelmingly positive, which has been really fantastic, especially considering that the game only cost $20. Some of you might not know, but AwesomeRobo was founded around the time that I was working at Runic Games as a concept artist for Torchlight 1 and 2. The team was small, ambitions were astronomically high, and the project turned out to be one of the most challenging (Yet ultimately rewarding) experiences in my career so far.

I left Runic halfway through Torchlight 2 to pursue other opportunities, but in the 2 or so years at the company I must have cranked out a few hundred concepts to accommodate the breakneck schedule of creating an epic game with a fifth of the team size typically associated with such a production. The biggest struggle was maintaining a good balance between quality and quantity when time was the biggest detractor, and when we'd only have a small handful days per concept. Considering that this game is an ARPG, the asset list for the sequel especially, which was about 5-6 times grander in scope was mind boggling. Yet at the end of the day, it all came together into a game which exceeds the original in just about every way imaginable..And which I hope you've had a chance to pick up at this point to support the folks and families at Runic.

After the break you can check out a ton of art for used and scrapped concepts I had a chance to work on during my time at Runic. Enjoy, and feel free to shoot any questions my way!

Original concept for the 'Railman,' which went on to become the groundwork for the Engineer class.

The original cast from Torchlight 1: Alchemist, Destroyer, Vanquisher

Marketing piece/splash screen for Torchlight 1.

An early idea for some high level armor for the Engineer, as well as gameplay idea scribbles.

Early visual exploration for the Outlander class. Had a more melee style feel which eventually ended up in the Berzerker's lap.

Early concept art for the Estherian Enclave.

Early preproduction color key and thumbnails to get ideas for Zone 1 areas in TL2.

A concept for a frozen underbelly area with Estherian influences.

High level dungeon visual language for an area called 'The Estherian Archives.'

A mockup of a dungeon rendered in 2D.

A sample armor concept, created by riffing off of mobs created by another concept artist for Zone 2 (Zeraphesh)

Call outs for a vendor area in the Estherian Enclave.

Early color keys and visual exploration for a corrupted Estherian Archive.

Early concept of Syl, who gets her ass kicked in TL2's opening cinematic.

Vendor tables!

These are the types of prop sheets we'd have to crank out for dungeons to give them a visual identity and personality.

Smashed statue concepts for the open world and dungeons.

Visual exploration for the mechanized Zeraphesh dungeons. Initially we thought this area would look like an inverted ziggurat.

Enchantment shrine concepts.

Corrupted Estherian mobs! These were a ton of fun to work on.

The might look very familiar. Another sample sheet of concepts based off of early exploration for the Zone 1 dungeon tileset.

You fight these Mirka baddies in the snowy areas of Zone 1.

An early idea for a banshee/trap NPC for Zone 2.

The Red Panda! Proposed as a race, they eventually became the Socketing merchant.

Hope you guys enjoyed looking at some of the work that went into the game! Support the team and pick up a copy, well worth the $20!