Shattered Horizon breaks new ground and deserves to continue forward in this vote for breaking new ground as well as advancing the use of DX10 and the Vista/ Win 7 platform

i loved torchlight, excellent game but in the end its a diablo clone (with few nice ideas added)

on the other hand Shattered Horizon is a original fps set in space, a breath of fresh air in the world of stagnating multiplayer fps games.

this is why i can only vote for shattered horizon.

I just love space sooo much and i am pretty sure Diablo series are on different level than that torchlight.

Own them both, but shuttle goes for SH this time for it’s originality.

neither of these games are original, so get it right.

SH is a Decent clone with new/shinny clothes on.

Torchlight is a clone of Diablo from the designers of Diablo (and a few other notable designers of other Diablo clones)

I’m also confused by the notion of what constitutes an “indi” game as neither of these games are all that Independent.

Runic had the financial backing of Perfect World entertainment to produce Torchlight and Futuremark are the dudes that make 3D-mark for Christ’s sake! how are two titles produced with funding from major software corporations (one internally and one externally) qualified to be termed “indi”?

Based on the backgrounds of these two titles Guild-wars is also an indi title and while we are at it so is everything from EA’s LA studio.

now, I love torchlight, and SH looks like a cool game but this is stretching the definition of “Indi” too far and I for one protest their inclusion in this as violating the spirit of being an Independent developer.

I think Torchlight counts as Indie because Perfect World didn’t contract them to make it, they only contracted the MMO and this came about as a sort of side project.

I agree with your comment though. The whole “indie” thing has started to confuse me.

Descent was indoors game and pretty good at it, but SH is out there on space with total freedom of movement, so get your facts straight fakeassname.

erm how is SH clone of descent ?

SH = First Person Shooter
descent, any game where you fly a plane/etc = not a FPS

Torchlight! Woot!

You bring up a good argument. Now allow us to present ours:

http://www.diygamer.com/2010/06/indie-independent-difference/

You don’t have to participate if you don’t want to. Fact of the matter is that we allowed all student, indie, and independent games to be nominated by gamers (we didn’t pick these game, mind you)…

it is too a clone! the primary game mechanic is zero G + an unlocked camera, I remember reading interviews where even the developers compared SH to Decent.

not that I’m saying that being a clone is bad, but calling SH original out of one side of your mouth yet decry Torchlight for being unoriginal with the other is hypocritical.

@Geff: ok, but I still think they shouldn’t be called indi regardless of user votes and the link you provided kinda clashes with a few points in this:
http://www.diygamer.com/indie-devs/what-is-an-indie-game/

… not to start a pissing contest: you work here, I don’t. I’m just pointing out that there is some discrepancy there.

You’re right, and since Runic Games was bought we have stopped reporting on them and their news, but to retroactively remove them from the tournament would have gummed things up entirely. We made it clear in the tournament when this happened what our intentions were and how we were proceeding in the future.

As for Futuremark Game Studios. They are most certainly an independent game company, not necessarily what many would consider “indie” but they’re certainly independently funded, they’re not a large developer or a large publisher and they don’t create corporate sponsored games.

There are no discrepancies here. We’ve never claimed to do anything other than report on indie, independent, and student games.

Fact of the matter is that figuring out just what is what these days is incredibly difficult. We don’t have access to financial records, or financial incentives from larger companies.

Take Shank, as an example, the game’s developer is arguably independent, but now has a game being published by EA Partners. We don’t know what the real deal is behind the curtains, or whether EA is actually funding some of the game themselves. We’ve got to play it by ear, sometimes we get it sometimes not.

[...] made it into the Semi-Finals, and is against Shattered Horizon. According to the information on the voting page, until the Torchlight vs. N match-up Shattered Horizon was getting the most votes in the entire [...]

[...] and if you like the game, be sure to vote for Torchlight on the DIYGamer [...]

Thank you Geoff. That actually makes a lot of sense to me now.

So what you are saying,fakeassname,is that any game featuring zero-g combat is a Descent clone? Hardly… and the reviewers did compare it to Descent but not even close to saying “its a Descent clone”,unlike Torchlight reviews…now on topic: i think this will be the biggest battle in this tournament,since both games are great and both are my favorites (although SH prevails)…and also both companies are pretty strong and on the edge of indie/independent,so they pretty much negate themselves, making it a fair game..

Lol,75% off! So thats why their votes suddenly jumped!

Wow, close battle here, 49 to 51 :O

50/50

Oh dear. Go Shattered Horizon!

[...] of competitions, have you voted in DIYGamer’s Torchlight vs Shattered Horizon competition? The score is currently tied at 50%, so you should go vote and help us turn the tides! [...]

how can you say that sh is a clone?! if it is what is the original game that they built it off of? its the first 3d space game with full rotation. no game was EVER made like that.

you’re totally wrong ever played Descent 1, 2 or 3, Hellbender, Forsaken?

As an Shattered Horizon fan I’m impressed, this makes me want to try out Torchlight.

WOW! SH pulls ahead in the last minute.

Very very close match-up here but good to see Futuremark into the next round Top notch guys.