Aegis Maps is a series of 3 dungeons created for Runic Games' Torchlight. It was made using the Torchlight Editor. Combined, the 3 Volumes includes 19 map chunks, a dozen new monsters, new monster skills, textures, particle affects, and 2 new bosses. Most importantly, Aegis Maps adds a few interesting puzzles to the game that injects a new dynamic to the game while sticking strongly to the game's original feel.

If you have Torchlight, feel free to grab any of the Volumes and give them a try:
Volume 1
Volume 2
Volume 3

You can also read on about some select design elements involved.

Torch Race



This puzzle requires players to reach a portal before the torches go out. Torchlight includes an element of Movement Speed for the player characters; each of the 3 classes has a slightly different base speed, and movement speed can be enhanced by various items and spells. However, this was never really utilized in the vanilla game, as movement speed is never an issue and there's never any reason to need a character to move faster.



The player first encounters the base of a portal (A), but it is inactive. There is also a series of unlit torches (B) that wind around to a lever (C). Pulling the lever lights all the torches, but they will slowly go out one by one working clockwise (from the lever back to the portal). If the player can reach the portal before all the torches go out it will be active and will take the player to the next area.

The torches are carefully spaced and timed, so that the player can always see the next torch and the last one going out, so there is a constant sense of urgency working his way back to the portal. There is a one-way shortcut from the portal back to the lever, so that the player can try again without having to walk all the way back around. A player who takes the quickest route should be able to make it to the portal just before the final torch goes out, but if the player is having difficulty he will finally have a use for his speed augmenting items and spells.




Four Bridges



The player reaches a series of four floor-switches (A) that raise and lower a series of bridges. Stepping on a switch will cause two sets of columns to rise out of the water, creating a bridge, and the rest will sink. On the map below, if the player steps on the NW floor switch the columns will rise connecting N and W, if the player steps on the SE floor switch the columns will rise connecting S and E, and so on. The player needs to reach N to proceed, but of course there is no way to erect a bridge from S to N.



Crossing a bridge to W the player fnds a small bit of treasure and also a hidden passage that unlocks an alternate route to S. Now the player can step on the NW switch, backtrack through the new passage to W and finally cross to N. To ensure the player does not grow bored during the backtrack through the passage, a new poison dart trap is activated and a pair of strong enemies are spawned at W




Combination Lock

The vanilla game includes a couple puzzles where lighting a brazier or flipping a lever opens a gated door, but it is usually overly simple, with a lever right infront of the door that it opens. This puzzle makes things a little more interesting, and forces players to pause for a moment and think.



The player enters a room with gated doors and six braziers: three he can interact with and three raised ones he cannot. The player must light the bottom braziers in the correct order to open the gates. Each of the bottom braziers go out immediately after being lit to allow for multiple input, such as Left Left Middle, or Right Left Right; the braziers above keep track of how many inputs the player has entered, and after the third either (correct input) the gates are opened or (incorrect input) a group of monsters pours out of the raised doors and the puzzle is reset



The rest of the room acts as a clue to the correct combination. There is a series of three walls, each bearing 3 wall-torches that allign with the braziers. Only one torch is let in each set, indicating which brazier to light. Since this might suggest two combinations (one read Nnorth to south, the other south to north), there is also a group of vases at the base of each torch-set indicating the correct order.



The correct combination is randomly generated when the player starts the level and the proper torches are lit. In this image the combination would be Middle Left Middle.


Statue Garden

The player enters a very open area with dozens of braziers at the feet of statues. The first one the player encounters is lit. The player can light any brazier he wishes, but it will immediately go out if they are not done in the correct order. Each statue, however, is looking in the direction of the next one that needs to be lit. By following the path of the statues' gaze the player will light the torches in the correct sequence, ending with one adjacent to the gated door guarding the next area, which will open once the final brazier is lit.



Since this is one of the chunks that could be approached from either direction (because of level randomization the player may need to proceed from North to East, or from East to Noth), the chunk detects which way the player is going, opens / closes the appropriate gate, lights the appropriate starting brazier, and removes one of the statues.




Enemy Design

Much of combat in Torchlight involves hacking through waves and waves of enemies, most of which don't call for any type of tactic or strategy: just spam the attack button. Each new enemy in Aegis Maps adds something unique that would forces the player to pay attention to what is going on and makes combat more exciting.

The Dark widow is a slow enemy with a very high attack. She is always accompanied by a group of regular black spiders. The player will have to always keep an eye on the Dark Widow when fending off the regular spiders and make sure she does not get too close.

		The Blind Nethermancer introduces a small element of "rogue" strategy to the game. The enemy has two modes, passive and active. So long as the player does not enter the Nethermancer's circle, she will be passive and merely walk around. If the player gets too close though she will become active, raising a shield and summoning a couple of very formidable Blood Imps. The player can either choose to steer clear, or can neutralize the Nethermancer by using the "Silence" spell.

Integration



All of the chunks except the bosses were designed with the ability to be integrated with the rest of the games' dungeons. Tochlight boasts a level randomization system, where each level is built out of a number of chunks in a random order, so that each level is unique. The Aegis Maps chunks were also integrated with this system so that they might appear in the main dungeons, seamlessly alongside Runic Games' own chunks.

One aspect of accomplishing this was to ensure the chunks could work with multple dungeon themes. Each dungeon has its own unique lighting and set of monsters, so the Aegis Maps had to work with the themes from the original campaign as well as the new ones created for Aeigis Maps.