Just found this thread. I am the lead designer of Flesh Asunder, and started Fledgling Studios. We ARE a bunch of random people from all over, but over time, we've slowly been weeding out those that will flake out on us and have been building a strong core development team.
First, I'd like to say that I am very excited about Torchlight 2 and am proud to be a member of the beta. I've enjoyed this genre of games since I played the original Diablo as a young lad. Torchlight 2, from what I have seen, is a very well-made ARPG.
Second, allow me to tell you a little about myself. I am 25 years old. I live with my wife, our puppy, and a friend. I hold a bachelor's degree in Game and Simulation Programming, for what little that is worth. Basically, I have been playing games since I was five years old. The first game I ever modded was Duke Nukem 3D. I own about 300 PC games. I work full time at my aunt's restaurant. I like to shoot guns and read in my spare time. If you'd like to know anything else, feel free to ask.
We've come a long way since our days over at freeforums. We now have a new location for our forums, along with a Facebook page, and a MODDB page. Here are the links...
http://fledgstudios.com/forum/index.phphttp://www.facebook.com/fledglingstudioshttp://www.moddb.com/games/flesh-asunderFlesh Asunder is essentially Diablo meets Hellgate: London (in America). Despite its glaring issues, Hellgate: London had some good ideas. It took place in a more modern setting than many of us were used to, and included guns as part of the gameplay/loot hunt. These are elements we want to include as well. We want to create a game that provides an engaging story (but one that can be ignored if so chosen), balanced versions of classic ARPG mechanics (skill trees, stat points, etc.), and perhaps most importantly, tons of loot for the player to find.
Now, all of this sounds great (I hope) in theory, but what work have we actually completed? Well, check out one of all of the links to see some of our visual progress. Beyond that, we have completed a good chunk of our back end programming, including the following features:
*Random loot drops, which are based upon item level, monster level, item classes assigned to the monster, and drop chance for the assigned item classes.
*Experience gain/leveling up.
*Primary stats, such as health, mana, critical hit chance, critical hit damage, and more.
*Passive boosts to stats upon level up.
*Stat points, which, as of last week, may be spent in several areas to boost a variety of stats.
We are indie developers in the truest sense of the word. For now, Flesh Asunder is being developed on an extremely small budget. Every member of the team is an unpaid volunteer. We are working hard to put a demo together. Any support the community can provide would be appreciated. I personally read everything that is posted on our pages, both good and bad (unless they be trollin'). The game players are the ones that matter in this business. Without the players, there would be no reason to make games. They are our priority, and we believe they should be the priority of every developer. Beyond that, we are all game players ourselves. And since I am creeping up on my 20th year of gaming, I know exactly what I want to go into Flesh Asunder. Its just taking me some time to gather the resources to make it a reality.
Hope to see some of you on the pages or over at the forums. If nothing else, I'd love to generate some discussion about our planned gameplay mechanics. Feel free to ask me any questions you might have. We are being extremely forward with our development ideas.
-Tony
P.S: Killious is perhaps our most dedicated fan. He's getting beta access for sure.
An individual should strive to understand how and why something is implemented into a game, instead of merely complaining because the game isn't exactly the way they want it to be.
I'm a PC user, and I happily pay for new content.