What a year... Here comes 2008!
by Brett Seyler · 12/21/2007 (5:05 pm) · 24 comments
It's been an exciting year here at the Garage and it looks to be a mind-blowing 2008 not just for gamers with the impending launch of InstantAction, but for the technology side of the business as well. Torque is now taught or used to teach in more than 200 schools and universities worldwide. The education part of the business is on the serious up and up with new books by Brad Strong, Mike Duggan, and John Kanalakis. There's also online training for anyone ramping up at Torqueschool here in the U.S., at SIM University with Playware Studios in Singapore. On top of that, the GG crew is headed to Texas in a couple weeks to run a boot camp at SMU Guildhall and people are taking notice.
Indies and Commercial developers alike have been cranking out AWESOME games, and more generally developing really impressive products with Torque. Consider this ridiculous list of games Powered by Torque. Trust me too, you guys haven't seen anything compared to what's coming in 2008. It's not just indies, big commercial developers are using Torque too. Torque has been licensed by NC Soft, Sony, Disney, Vivendi Universal, Hasbro, even without hands on commercial services and support. We're also now officially officially supported middleware for both Microsoft and Nintendo, so wherever you want to go with your Torque game, the road is well-paved.
In the non-game space, we're seeing lots of really cool stuff too. We've been licensed by NASA, L3, Lockheed Martin and many others for serious games projects. C2C and Eric Preisz consult and develop applications for this space regularly. Just last month in Montreal, Davey Jackson and I took a look at an oil rig training simulation powered by Torque that knocked our socks off. Seeing all these non-game applications is inspiring and very interesting both from a technical and business perspective, but it's never really been our core focus. We've always been concentrated on empowering *game* development and we want to continue to do that.
To further that goal, we're updating our EULAs for commercial licensing available on GarageGames.com. The standard EULAs available through online purchase now permit only games for entertainment. If you're wanting to profit from a simulation, serious game, virtual world, machinima, educational game or other game-not-for-entertainment application of Torque, you'll need to contact us at licensing@garagegames.com for licensing details. We already do this for Nintendo Wii and Xbox 360 licensing, so it's really not much of a change, but it makes sense for us and for people doing non-game development. Torque is still freely available for non-game applications under a very similar license. Please contact us for more information at licensing@garagegames.com.
The fact is, when huge companies or government agencies have licensed Torque in the past, they've almost always demanded changes from our standard EULA. It should be easier for us to handle this work knowing beforehand what Torque is being licensed for so we can offer a license that better suits the application. It has always been our goal to empower indies, and we want our product to be accessible to anyone, but we didn't fully anticipate the many ways Torque would be used when we first established our Commercial EULA more than 6 years ago.
We'll also now be requiring the display of a Torque logo or "splash screen" as just about every other game technology company does to help build their brand. Emergent, Epic, Unity, Valve and others all do this and it makes sense. This will help us identify the Torque stuff we're really proud of and make noise about it! Without this requirement in our EULA, identifying the best games powered by Torque often happens months after the game ships or not at all. This is unfortunate both for other developers working with Torque who want to see what's possible and for us because even though a splash screen is not a requirement, developers often don't even both to send us a link or post something in the forums. So, we want to see what new stuff happens with our technology, and we'd like to be identified with it. If this creates an undue burden for commercial developers or their publishers, we're happy to remove it in a custom license if you contact us at licensing@garagegames.com.
So that's it :) Lot's of cool stuff in 2007 and way more in 2008! Pretty minor changes to the commercial EULAs.
To answer some predictable questions...
Q. Has anything changed if I'm an Indie?
A. Nope :) We'll continue to improve GG tech and keep it affordable with a liberal license and support this rockin' community.
Q. Will the price of Torque be higher for non-game applications?
A. Possibly. It will depend on what you're doing. It's also possible that it could be cheaper if you're part of a non-profit or doing research.
Q. When are the changes effective?
A. The posted EULAs are now changed and the changes are effective January 1st, 2008. Even though our EULA allows amendments or changes at any time without notice (and no other company on Earth would do this sort of thing, but...), we're giving people the opportunity to purchase Torque under the old EULA until 2008.
Q. If I have a 2007 or older 'indie" license can I make a simulation, serious game, virtual world, machinima, educational game or other non-entertainment application?
A. No. Indie license have always been for games only. Contact licensing@garagegames.com if you want to use Torque to make these products.
Happy Holidays!
-Brett
Indies and Commercial developers alike have been cranking out AWESOME games, and more generally developing really impressive products with Torque. Consider this ridiculous list of games Powered by Torque. Trust me too, you guys haven't seen anything compared to what's coming in 2008. It's not just indies, big commercial developers are using Torque too. Torque has been licensed by NC Soft, Sony, Disney, Vivendi Universal, Hasbro, even without hands on commercial services and support. We're also now officially officially supported middleware for both Microsoft and Nintendo, so wherever you want to go with your Torque game, the road is well-paved.
In the non-game space, we're seeing lots of really cool stuff too. We've been licensed by NASA, L3, Lockheed Martin and many others for serious games projects. C2C and Eric Preisz consult and develop applications for this space regularly. Just last month in Montreal, Davey Jackson and I took a look at an oil rig training simulation powered by Torque that knocked our socks off. Seeing all these non-game applications is inspiring and very interesting both from a technical and business perspective, but it's never really been our core focus. We've always been concentrated on empowering *game* development and we want to continue to do that.
To further that goal, we're updating our EULAs for commercial licensing available on GarageGames.com. The standard EULAs available through online purchase now permit only games for entertainment. If you're wanting to profit from a simulation, serious game, virtual world, machinima, educational game or other game-not-for-entertainment application of Torque, you'll need to contact us at licensing@garagegames.com for licensing details. We already do this for Nintendo Wii and Xbox 360 licensing, so it's really not much of a change, but it makes sense for us and for people doing non-game development. Torque is still freely available for non-game applications under a very similar license. Please contact us for more information at licensing@garagegames.com.
The fact is, when huge companies or government agencies have licensed Torque in the past, they've almost always demanded changes from our standard EULA. It should be easier for us to handle this work knowing beforehand what Torque is being licensed for so we can offer a license that better suits the application. It has always been our goal to empower indies, and we want our product to be accessible to anyone, but we didn't fully anticipate the many ways Torque would be used when we first established our Commercial EULA more than 6 years ago.
We'll also now be requiring the display of a Torque logo or "splash screen" as just about every other game technology company does to help build their brand. Emergent, Epic, Unity, Valve and others all do this and it makes sense. This will help us identify the Torque stuff we're really proud of and make noise about it! Without this requirement in our EULA, identifying the best games powered by Torque often happens months after the game ships or not at all. This is unfortunate both for other developers working with Torque who want to see what's possible and for us because even though a splash screen is not a requirement, developers often don't even both to send us a link or post something in the forums. So, we want to see what new stuff happens with our technology, and we'd like to be identified with it. If this creates an undue burden for commercial developers or their publishers, we're happy to remove it in a custom license if you contact us at licensing@garagegames.com.
So that's it :) Lot's of cool stuff in 2007 and way more in 2008! Pretty minor changes to the commercial EULAs.
To answer some predictable questions...
Q. Has anything changed if I'm an Indie?
A. Nope :) We'll continue to improve GG tech and keep it affordable with a liberal license and support this rockin' community.
Q. Will the price of Torque be higher for non-game applications?
A. Possibly. It will depend on what you're doing. It's also possible that it could be cheaper if you're part of a non-profit or doing research.
Q. When are the changes effective?
A. The posted EULAs are now changed and the changes are effective January 1st, 2008. Even though our EULA allows amendments or changes at any time without notice (and no other company on Earth would do this sort of thing, but...), we're giving people the opportunity to purchase Torque under the old EULA until 2008.
Q. If I have a 2007 or older 'indie" license can I make a simulation, serious game, virtual world, machinima, educational game or other non-entertainment application?
A. No. Indie license have always been for games only. Contact licensing@garagegames.com if you want to use Torque to make these products.
Happy Holidays!
-Brett
About the author
Since 2007, I've done my best to steer Torque's development and brand toward the best opportunities in games middleware.
#22
Thank you.
12/23/2007 (2:14 pm)
Ok. That clears it up. So using new code updates to existing/licensed engine tech (like TGE) would require adopting the new EULA. I guess that makes sense. Thank you.
#23
12/23/2007 (8:25 pm)
So if I were to download the next version of TGB, any previous versions that I have been using will become affected by this new EULA? 
#24
And I'm really excited for all the new Torque games, and Torque-based books coming out! :) This is gonna be a great year!
Happy holidays everyone! :) Hope all your development-- game and otherwise-- is going great and staying on-schedule.
12/24/2007 (9:02 am)
Joe R, no you're old version is governed by whatever EULA was associated with it. New versions are governed by whatever EULA is associated with them (as is porting code from a new version to an older version, of course). So, this does not in any way force any change on anyone for products or versions you already own. It's only for new stuff. The same should be true any time a software maker introduces EULA changes... it only applies to the new version. It'd be wrong to do it any differently, I think. And I'm really excited for all the new Torque games, and Torque-based books coming out! :) This is gonna be a great year!
Happy holidays everyone! :) Hope all your development-- game and otherwise-- is going great and staying on-schedule.
Torque 3D Owner Brett Seyler
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