Today’s tidbits are interesting in the way that that using a telescope is interesting: you can tell something big is on the horizon but you can’t make out the fine details yet. With that said, I have a few things to mention before getting into today’s tidbits:

• We got the answers to the Interview Questions you all submitted today! There is more than enough teasingly interesting information there if the tidbits aren’t enough for you.
• Our Runic Games T-Shirt contest is still going! So far we have only one entry, so the odds of winning are pretty good!
• There was some confusion about yesterday’s announcement of Torchlight info being in the latest PC Gamer. Apparently the magazine people were throwing around the words “the next issue” meaning “the next issue that we haven’t already printed off yet,” rather than “the next issue due out in stores – unless you have a subscription and got it early.” Don’t worry if you checked it out and there was nothing there! The good stuff (more on that in the tidbits) is on its way soon!

Now to get right into the latest information. Today’s topics include:

• What will be in the next issue of PC Gamer
• When the third class will be announced (July 23!)
• Meshes and melting and the Ogre3D engine

Not a lot today, but I’d rather post them in smaller pieces than let them all pile up and whip Sp3tsnaz until he posts for me ^_^ Let’s move on to the teasing that is the information about the next PC Gamer (US edition) and the revelation of the third class:

Wonder: You are correct – my bad, guys, sorry about all the fuss -

Working with the super nice guys at PC Gamer, we only talked about the “next” issue, and we had an extremely short production deadline –so we assumed it was the next issue to hit the stands. It’s not. It’s the next issue to go to print.

September’s issue! Gah! Don’t worry, half of us were suckered in, too, we ran out to Borders this morning, bought it and tore it open and “….where…?”

But I guess that’s a good leak just a bit early, eh?  We *will* be in the next next issue!

Wonder: Well, the tease was partly true! We are going to be in an issue. Just, uh, not this one. Oh the shame!!! Seriously, sorry guys for the hoopla over nada – working with PC Gamer we just tossed around the all-too-general term “next issue” which means different things to different people – half of us here thought it was the issue out today, the other more wise half knew it’s the one coming out next. Doh!

But I can promise it will be worth the wait, there will be exclusive art we’re not releasing anywhere else, and it’s been really hard to not leak it!! Can’t wait for it to finally see the light of day!

Wonder wrote:…

But I can promise it will be worth the wait, there will be exclusive art we’re not releasing anywhere else, and it’s been really hard to not leak it!! Can’t wait for it to finally see the light of day!

jamesl wrote: do I sense the revelation of the 3rd class ?

Wonder wrote: Ooooo…THAT, my friend, may come sooner than you know …

Wonder wrote: The third class will be revealed July 23.

Demiurge wrote:…was wondering HOW do you translate the different pieces created as the level architecture (rooms, walls) into stuff for ogre. Do you “melt” all the static stuff in a single mesh?…
Demiurge

Bebop says: Demiurge – yes we do actually. Each piece is loaded up and then constructed into a single mesh. A nice feature of how we are doing it is that we can actually flag specific pieces not to be welded together. This allows for us to make nice large static pieces( nice performance boost ) with the occasional secret door or animated room piece.