The Future Is Almost Now

The Road Till Now

In case you have not noticed, iTorque has really taken off. For each beta and point version of the engines, at least one app has been pushed to the App Store. Recently, the amount of completed iTGB games has caused us to dedicate an entire page to games made with iTorque.

iTGB Update

Past versions of iTGB had specific purposes:
Beta: Proof of concept
1.0: Base engine running
1.0.x and 1.1: Optimization and stability
1.2: Usability improvement
1.2.x: Bug fixing

The bug fixing process has already started for 1.2. This Friday (6/5/09), we will be releasing iTGB v1.2.1. This update is dropping due to the excellent bug collection and reporting by the community. The bug reporting process set up by Ken Holst for Torque 3D has worked quite will for the iTorque forums.

iTGB 1.3 focuses on 3.0. The logical path for 1.3 would be:

1.3.0: Compatibility and new features
1.3.x: Bug fixing

iTGB Roadmap

iTGB 1.3: The highest priority is upgrading the engine to work with the 3.0 OS and SDK for iPhones. This includes compatibility and integrating the new features.

* Compile iTGB against 3.0 SDK, with GCC 4.2
* Push Notifications with example
* Store Kit framework integration with examples
* Full motion video playback, with examples exposed to script
* Displaying pictures from device library
* Playing music from device library
* Camera access from device


In addition to 3.0 compatibility and new features, the following improvements to the base engine will be made.

* Integration of Melv May’s memory reduction code
* Significant load time reduction
* PVR for cell-based sprite sheets
* New iPhone features exposed to TorqueScript via C++ handlers
* Gesture callbacks for swipe, pinch, and zoom
* More documentation on creating optimized games, using iPhone specific features, and general reference to frameworks (engine code)
* Community member contributions
o Vibration by Dave Calabrese
o Loading and saving game data to device by Dave Calabrese
o Multi-Touch and gestures by Dave Calabrese and Justin Mosiman
* General optimizations that will increase fps

iTGE

The recent releases of Marble Blast Mobile and iFPS are great news for iTGE. Luma (MBM) and Pick Up and Play (iFPS) are contributing code they wrote for their games to iTGE. This will finally push the engine out of beta and into 1.0. We are still working out the logistics and roadmap, but iTGE 1.0 will get its own blog soon announcing 1.0 and a solid future.

Additionally, we are looking at the concept of shipping future engine updates with solid tech demos taken from games already in the App Store. This will be our way of providing you with solid examples of how to optimize your games to run as smoothly as the two games I just mentioned.

How Can It Be Done?

We are expanding our iTorque team temporarily. In addition to the usual dev team, I have scouted out a few community members and associates to help out with QA, bug fixing, and contributing new code. As community members, continue doing your part: making games, posting bugs, submitting resources, and helping your fellow devs out. iTorque would not be where it is today without the efforts and contributions of the community. Congrats to all who have completed their games, and I look forward to what the rest of you can come up with.

Update:

I forgot to post some kind of visual for you all...since I do not have any new iTorque screenshots, here's a bit of funny for you. I just got back from a 1.5 week vacation in Florida, where I finally got married. It's difficult to balance out a job in the game industry with your social and family life. It takes patience and effort, but my marriage is the perfect example of

"Having your cake (shoved right up your nose) and eating it too".