Torchlight 3: A Partnership Forged

Our team was ecstatic to find out we were getting to work with Echtra Games team on Torchlight 3 (Torchlight Frontiers when we initially started). In fact, some of our team were already huge fans of the series, so it was a treat to be able to contribute to making the game.  

We had the pleasure of modeling, texturing, rigging, and animating some of the characters, creatures, and pets, three of which we can reveal – Chakawary, Eagle, and the Burrower!

This was a collaborative project between All Pixels and Streamline Studios (All Pixels with the modeling, Streamline with the rigging and animations). The ability of the modelers, riggers, and animators to communicate directly with each other ensured a smooth production. This also made the team comfortable with sharing ideas and working collaboratively with Echtra. Echtra has also been a great partner in being completely open to us making artistic decisions along the way.

We were able to use Echtra's concepts as a starting point to bring the characters to life in 3D. However, one of the main things the artists needed to keep in mind was to maintain the characters’ fidelity even up close - the crisp, strong, readable details as they are viewed isometrically. Things such as straps, teeth, and fur were built into the lowpoly model, giving the characters visual fidelity up close. This has given the art a lot more scalability.  

Every character we worked on was unique. This meant that our approach to each character was tailored to the individual character requirements. Whether the character has a tongue, wings, specific deformities – the rigs had to be made in such a way that the animations could bring life to these features.

Engine performance was also big a priority for us – considering the number of assets on screen at the same time and needing to strike a careful balance between visual details and efficiency. We achieve this by putting in place a consistent workflow and keeping quality at the forefront.

Echtra has a very clear direction for their game, which in turn has helped us understand their vision. At the end of the day, adapting to the project has been fun, almost like working on adorable and colourful miniatures that can be viewed up close. For a more close-up view of the creatures, do check out our ArtStation.

We’re excited to see what the future brings for the game! Wishlist Torchlight 3 on Steam and check out the Torchlight 3 Discord, Twitter, Twitch, and Facebook channels for more development news.