Torque 3D 50% off for Blade3D Developers
by Deborah M. Fike · 08/14/2009 (4:09 pm) · 67 comments
In these tough economic times, companies come and go. We recently heard that Blade3D is winding down, meaning a lot of small developers are going to lose their investment in these tools. This is unfortunate since the toolset offered a lot of promise for Xbox 360 and PC game development.
In the midst of this development, we saw other game engine companies are offering a discount on their products to ease the transition. Although we wish we would have thought of this ourselves, we try to avoid the "not-invented-here" syndrome. So in the spirit of getting Blade3D developers back on their feet, we're offering a 50% discount on Torque 3D.
Like Blade3D, Torque 3D offers a robust set of editors so you can start developing games quickly.
Torque 3D will not be Blade3D. However, we do publish to multiple platforms including not only Xbox 360, but also the Wii, iPhone, and the web. We also offer an intuitive COLLADA art pipeline for game artists, a slew of great editors to craft your game, and great rendering and particle effects to create a stunning game. And, of course, Torque owners can take advantage of our best asset, our 150K+ developer community.
Check out what Song Yongjin and others are already creating with Torque 3D in the show-off thread.
If you want to take advantage of the offer, send your Blade3D purchase receipt to support@garagegames.com before October 31st. We will get back to you in 2-3 business days with a coupon code so you can purchase Torque 3D with the discount.
Here's hoping we can help out a few misplaced developers to get back on their feet quickly and making great games!
About the author
I write games for a living. <3 my job.
#2
The Blade 3D death was a very sad fact that let us wondering what to think of indie tools. Seeing that Garage Games and other companies care about this kind of thing is reasuring.
Thanks GG for the support, we really need it! ;)
08/14/2009 (5:38 pm)
I congratulate Garage Games on this effort as I believe it will strengthen the Indie Community as a whole. The Blade 3D death was a very sad fact that let us wondering what to think of indie tools. Seeing that Garage Games and other companies care about this kind of thing is reasuring.
Thanks GG for the support, we really need it! ;)
#3
Blade users, Novack would say his greets but he is busy with his layers!
08/14/2009 (6:31 pm)
Welcome Indeed!Blade users, Novack would say his greets but he is busy with his layers!
#5
Am I missing something here ?
08/14/2009 (7:33 pm)
Unity is giving credit for up to 50% of Unity's cost, for Blade subscribers... & let me get this right, GG is just giving 50% to them, with any receipt ? ..Even a person that paid $14.95 one time ?Am I missing something here ?
#6
That's rough for the developers who were working with Blade 3D, but on the other hand ..WOW Deborah! that's a great deal on Torque 3D!
08/14/2009 (7:52 pm)
...Karma can be an @$$ kicker. That's rough for the developers who were working with Blade 3D, but on the other hand ..WOW Deborah! that's a great deal on Torque 3D!
#7
By the way eb, Unity will give discounts up to 50% off... Which means there will be discounts between 0-50%. T3D is giving a flat out 50%
08/14/2009 (7:55 pm)
Will it be for Professional? Or basic? Or both?By the way eb, Unity will give discounts up to 50% off... Which means there will be discounts between 0-50%. T3D is giving a flat out 50%
#8
08/14/2009 (8:04 pm)
@Blade3D Users - Our doors are open, come on in. I look forward to seeing you in the forums =) 
#9
Weird thing is I checked out the Blade site a few weeks ago and was pretty much expecting this outcome unfortunately, but not because of the subscription model ;)
Oh well, welcome Blade3D users, your good (and safer) hands with the torque community and tech :)
08/14/2009 (8:25 pm)
Nice one gg, even if you were beaten to it :PWeird thing is I checked out the Blade site a few weeks ago and was pretty much expecting this outcome unfortunately, but not because of the subscription model ;)
Oh well, welcome Blade3D users, your good (and safer) hands with the torque community and tech :)
#10
Think of it as a game of Hungry Hungry Hippos with the Blade3D users as the balls, and GG and Unity as the Hippos...
The visual of that is kinda disturbing, and yet funny... =)
08/15/2009 (6:06 am)
Quote:Am I missing something here ?
Think of it as a game of Hungry Hungry Hippos with the Blade3D users as the balls, and GG and Unity as the Hippos...
The visual of that is kinda disturbing, and yet funny... =)
#11
08/15/2009 (6:54 am)
I am all in favor of offering a good deal to Blade users, but I don't think it should be a better deal than someone who owned TGE, and then TGEA got. It's always like that...new cell phone users get a better deal than someone who has been with the company 10 years, new DirectTv users get xx months free. Good for the Blade people, I too welcome them here. 
#12
08/15/2009 (7:45 am)
@Ted: that's very disturbing vision indeed :D 
#13
08/15/2009 (7:50 am)
does this mean i will get some money back from my T3D purchase? lol, i got T3D when i saw Blade3D going down hill. Of course i have been a TGE user since version 1.1 or so. Really wish i had more time to work with T3D, it's great! It is great to see GG make such a generous offer too! 
#14
08/15/2009 (8:39 am)
That's kind of a slap in the face. I own TGE and TGEA and I only get what I have invested discounted from the price, but if I had paid $14.95 to use blade3d for one month I would have gotten an automatic 50% off? 
#15
08/15/2009 (8:44 am)
TGEA owners already got a chance at 50% off. Some, like me, waited for various reasons and missed that opportunity. Now, TGE owners, I can see a slight reason to complain, but not TGEA owners.
#16
08/15/2009 (9:01 am)
That would have been nice to know. I bought TGE back in 2003. I didn't once get an email or anything about the T3D special for 50% off. In fact this is the first I am even hearing about it. Sadly I was wasting my time with another engine when all the exciting news about T3D was going on. :( Still it bothers me that they are only checking receipts. Heck I could get a friend with a Blade3D subscription and just erase their name, change invoice numbers, and put my name on it and forward it to GarageGames. Nah its still a slap in the face Andrew. Even the entire time that the engine was available at $14.95, doesn't add up to what I have spent here at GarageGames for engines, content packs, books, and kits over the years. I guess I'm just bitter sorry. I'll go slink away now and try to keep saving my pennies before this thing goes to full price on me!
#17
08/15/2009 (9:10 am)
i figured it up and i spent about $300 on my Blade3D subscription ($24.95 x 12), maybe a little less.
#18
08/15/2009 (9:13 am)
Quote:That information has been freely available for several months now, as well as the ever decreasing 'early adopter' discount. There has even been a newsletter or two about it (came to an old email address for me). There is and will continue (I believe) to be a discount for those people who own TGEa -- just like there was and still is an option for TGE owners to 'upgrade' to TGEa. That discount doesn't ever expire, unlike this one presented to Blade3D subscribers. There always have been and will always be "new customer incentives" in any market, they're the ones who actually have a time-limited chance to jump on this bargain
I bought TGE back in 2003. I didn't once get an email or anything about the T3D special for 50% off. In fact this is the first I am even hearing about it.
#19
08/15/2009 (9:22 am)
Unity is not comparable to Torque 3D. While it my be a decent game engine it lacks simple features such as moving clouds, import of RGBA terrain splat layers, terrain bump, no day and night cycle to name a few. While some of these things can be scripted, the community has not developed a solid implementation of any of the features i just mentioned. You have to pay extra to have realtime shadows. Did i mention no source? Unity is probably in the same class as TGEA 1.8.
#20
off topic:
Unity is a good game tool. No.. it does not come close to T3D. It has a great editor that may be the best out of any I've seen. It seems most Unity users mainly now use it for the Iphone (there of course are exceptions). While their forums require.. how to put this.. the ability to ignore snark/sarcasm, there are several great people over there that go out of their way to help.
08/15/2009 (10:14 am)
Sorry guys, I see no problem with the 50% discount for the Blade people. The discount for the TGEA people was available not for weeks, but for months I believe. And as Michael pointed out, there still is a decent discount. After I was convinced that T3D was going in a sustained / right direction, I saved up and then purchased it. I got the same discount thats available now for TGEA licensees. off topic:
Quote:Unity is probably in the same class as TGEA 1.8.
Unity is a good game tool. No.. it does not come close to T3D. It has a great editor that may be the best out of any I've seen. It seems most Unity users mainly now use it for the Iphone (there of course are exceptions). While their forums require.. how to put this.. the ability to ignore snark/sarcasm, there are several great people over there that go out of their way to help.
Torque 3D Owner XanthorXIII
<Throws out Welcome Mat>
Come on in guys and make yourself at home.