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Torque X Builder 3D Public Beta

Name:	John Kanalakis
Date Posted:	Aug 11, 2008
Rating:	5.0 out of 5
Public:	YES
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Blog post

Ready to make 3D games for the Xbox 360 and then make money from them with the Xbox 360 Community LIVE Service? Then Torque X Builder 3D is really going to help you out. Davey Jackson summarized the great opportunities for Torque X games described here and now Torque X Builder 3D is ready for public Beta.

Ken Holst is generously launching a community-oriented public Beta for Torque X Builder 3D as announced here. Torque X Builder 3D is not quite ready for commercial release, but it's really close. With your help, we can get it there. All we ask is for your help in finding bugs and reporting them back into Beta testing forum thread. More details are on the way.

For newcomers, Torque X Builder 3D offers the fastest way to create 3D scenes that are compatible with the Torque X Game engine. It provides a WYSIWYG editor that lets you add 3D shapes (.dts, .x, .fbx) into a scene and then position them. You can create material definitions, assign components, and specify object types just as done with the 2D Builder. The saved *.txscene level file is then loaded by your Torque X game.

The reason for the public Beta is two-fold: 1) We really want to get as much feedback as possible to make this as productive as can be. And 2) we understand there's a lot of anticipation around this release by individuals and teams that want to use Torque X to create 3D Xbox 360 games for the Dream-Build-Play competition as well as the Community LIVE platform.

Again, this is a public Beta. So, you should expect some changes (and certainly many bug fixes) between this version and the commercial release on the way. To get started, you're going to need the following:

* Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 (Express or any other edition)
* Microsoft XNA 2.0
* GarageGames Torque X Engine 2.0
* Torque X Builder 3D Beta

Here are the relevant links...

Download Torque X Builder 3D Public Beta

Download the Getting Started Tutorial

Submit a Bug is in this Thread

Provide general Feedback is in this Thread

Again, please provide constructive feedback and bear in mind that this a pre-release look. The final release of Torque X Builder 3D will include further bug fixes and incorporate as much of your feedback as possible.

Also, in the way of printed resources, The Complete Guide to Torque X has started its press-run and is expected to be in stores around Labor Day, at the beginning of next month. The book covers both 2D and 3D programming with Torque X.

That's all for now, I can't wait to see your amazing games on my Xbox 360!

John K.

Recent Blog Posts

List:	10/18/08 - AirSpace Community LIVE Arcade Game 08/11/08 - Torque X Builder 3D Public Beta 05/26/08 - Torque X Builder 3D Update 05/04/08 - Torque X Book Completed 04/22/08 - Torque X Builder 3D Progress: The Axis Gizmo 04/07/08 - Development Journal for Torque X Builder 3D 03/31/08 - Torque X 2.0 Tutorials Updated 11/04/07 - A New Casual Game

Submit your own resources!

Chip Lambert (Aug 11, 2008 at 19:55 GMT)

Hell yeah.

Doug Reichard (Aug 11, 2008 at 22:59 GMT)

Awesome. I plan on using the book this fall in a class. I reworked the class to anticipate the book in October. But can certainly re-rework if I get it sooner!!

And I'll be playing with the beta starting tonight.

Thanks for all your hard work.

jydog (Aug 11, 2008 at 23:24 GMT)

ExcellANT!
Got it.

Sailendu Behera (Aug 12, 2008 at 04:50 GMT)

Great...

Grugin (Aug 12, 2008 at 09:37 GMT)

thank you very much John for this great app !!!

Matthew Shapiro (Aug 12, 2008 at 12:46 GMT)

Gratz John on getting this out :)

James Mintram (Aug 12, 2008 at 21:43 GMT)

Where do i get the required key to activate it?

John Kanalakis (Aug 13, 2008 at 01:54 GMT)

Thank you everyone, this has been a great project. As anyone who has downloaded and run the Beta will see, there's a lot of work left. We're moving as quickly as possible to get this to a commercial-readiness so that all of you are empowered to make awesome 3D games with Torque X and XNA.

James, there is no issued product key for the Beta. You should be free to use this Beta for 30 days without a key. Once released, another 30 day grace period is most likely to be offered to everyone.

John K.

Jeremy Easoz (Aug 13, 2008 at 15:42 GMT)

I start it up.
Maximize the Window. (Works fine if I dont maximize, but it's a pain)
Crash

System.ArgumentException was unhandled
Message="ResolveBackBuffer target texture is not the same size as the backbuffer.\r\nParameter name: resolveTarget"
Source="Microsoft.Xna.Framework"
ParamName="resolveTarget"
StackTrace:
at Microsoft.Xna.Framework.Graphics.GraphicsDevice.ResolveBackBuffer(ResolveTexture2D resolveTarget, Int32 backBufferIndex)
at Microsoft.Xna.Framework.Graphics.GraphicsDevice.ResolveBackBuffer(ResolveTexture2D resolveTarget)
at GarageGames.Torque.XNA.TorqueEngineComponent.OnEndDraw()
at GarageGames.Torque.GameUtil.TorqueGame.EndDraw()
at Microsoft.Xna.Framework.Game.DrawFrame()
at Microsoft.Xna.Framework.Game.Tick()
at Microsoft.Xna.Framework.Game.HostIdle(Object sender, EventArgs e)
at Microsoft.Xna.Framework.GameHost.OnIdle()
at Microsoft.Xna.Framework.WindowsGameHost.ApplicationIdle(Object sender, EventArgs e)
at System.Windows.Forms.Application.ThreadContext.System.Windows.Forms.UnsafeNativeMethods.IMsoComponent.FDoIdle(Int32 grfidlef)
at System.Windows.Forms.Application.ComponentManager.System.Windows.Forms.UnsafeNativeMethods.IMsoComponentManager.FPushMessageLoop(Int32 dwComponentID, Int32 reason, Int32 pvLoopData)
at System.Windows.Forms.Application.ThreadContext.RunMessageLoopInner(Int32 reason, ApplicationContext context)
at System.Windows.Forms.Application.ThreadContext.RunMessageLoop(Int32 reason, ApplicationContext context)
at System.Windows.Forms.Application.Run(Form mainForm)
at Microsoft.Xna.Framework.WindowsGameHost.Run()
at Microsoft.Xna.Framework.Game.Run()
at TorqueXBuilder3D.TorqueXBuilderGame.Main()
InnerException:
Edited on Aug 13, 2008 15:43 GMT

Davey Jackson (Aug 19, 2008 at 07:53 GMT)

Great work, you're awesome John!

Nermin Maximo (Aug 20, 2008 at 22:19 GMT)

it crashed as soon as I started it after install. here is a screen

My system specs:

AMD 64 X2 Dual 4600+
2.41 GHz, 3 GB Ram
WinXP Service Pack 2
NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS

What to do to get it running?
Edited on Aug 20, 2008 22:21 GMT

Torks (Sep 01, 2008 at 18:09 GMT)

So is this only for 360 or is it also possible to create PC games

David Montgomery-Blake (Sep 02, 2008 at 13:45 GMT) Resource Rating: 5

It is built on XNA, which targets both the 360 and PC.

Torks (Sep 03, 2008 at 19:39 GMT)

Thx for info, do you plan to support visual studio 2008 when xna 3.0 is being released? I don't feel like installing visual studio 2005 again ;-)

David Montgomery-Blake (Sep 03, 2008 at 20:05 GMT) Resource Rating: 5

Once TX is compatible with the stable release, I'm sure it will be 2008 compatible since it shares the XNA requirements and most recommendations. Of course, the TX 3.0 version will follow the full release by some time depending on the changes. I'm not sure what the timeline would be.

Alexander Tran (Sep 25, 2008 at 06:12 GMT)

Do you guys know an ETA on the commercial release of the TXB 3D? Thanks.

Takuan (Sep 28, 2008 at 14:34 GMT)

That screenshot looks wonderful, and once this thing is running I expect it will be quite helpful. Unfortunately for me, I can't for the life of me figure out how people are using this thing, as it's been 100% useless for me so far. I cannot add a terrain or sky at all, and when I do manage to add a shape or primitive the only thing I can do with it is move it around on a black background. Trying to rotate *anything* in the scene results in that object becoming distorted beyond recognition, and it's hard as heck to use the rotation gizmo in the first place.

Also, I cannot find any mention of whether it will have terrain editing abilities, so maybe someone could comment on that?

Michael Straeubig (Oct 09, 2008 at 14:33 GMT)

Would you rather fix Torque X Builder 2D because it is - as others have reported here - completely boken on Vista.

Kenneth Holst (Oct 09, 2008 at 17:21 GMT) Resource Rating: 5

@Michael, please post the issues with the 2D builder in the appropriate forums, and I will look into whatever problems you are running into with Vista and see what I can come up with. Thanks.

Steve Marshall (Nov 11, 2008 at 08:18 GMT)

Ok, I installed the 3D builder more than 30 days ago, but was strictly using the 2D Builder. Now I want to use the 3D Builder and its asking me for a key.

I've looked all over this site and haven't found any information regarding this.

How can I get it to work?

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