Torque 2D Development - Integrating with Torque 3D

You might have heard here or there that a lot of time has been devoted to integrating the Torque 2D codebase with the Torque 3D codebase. Because there's a lot of confusion over this issue, I'd like to give you some more detailed information on the work that's being done between these two engines.

Quick Jaunt Down Torque Memory Lane

Before we talk about what's happening now, though, it may help to understand how Torque Game Builder was originally developed. To read a much more detailed (and hilarious) version of events, you can refer to Melv May's past blog on the subject. The big takeaway is that we saw a huge need for game development tools that the "bigger" fish in the pond just didn't see. Casual games were on the rise, and more studios were focusing their resources on making 2D games for places like XBLA, casual portals, and mobile platforms. So we took the original Torque Game Engine, started a new branch in subversion, and built a new codebase which eventually became Torque Game Builder.

Because of the 2D specific features we built into TGB, we decided to keep the two codebases separate. Since it's launch, Torque Game Builder has never looked back at the 3D codebase.

Until now.

Integrating 2D and 3D

Deciding to keep the two codebases separate certainly made things easier from a code management perspective. On the other hand, separation has the huge downside of not sharing features between engines. TGB could have clearly benefited from having real-time networking from TGEA, while TGEA could have taken a few pointers from TGB's more robust editors.

However, a complete re-merge of both engines would also suffer severe setbacks. When writing a 2D engine using a 3D engine as a base, you encounter many interesting challenges, most of which are related to the fact that it is not common to take a 2D engine into account when designing a 3D engine!

So we decided to split the difference. The chart below shows all the different layers that Torque is concerned with. The layers labeled in red are those that we built directly into our Torque engine. The rest are layers that impose restrictions on our engines from outside developers (such as console platforms, physics standards, etc.) Note how Torque 2D and Torque 3D share low and mid-core layers, but have completely separate engine product layers. This allows us to share many properties between the two engines, but still maintain a layer that is specific to 2D or 3D games respectively.




How does this separation benefit game developers?

Stability: Both engines share two layers of the same core systems, meaning that they help stabilize each other. Both products can be improved by the same bug fixes and community resources. And as improvements are made to GFX, SFX and the core layers over time, they'll improve both engines simultaneously.

Smaller Engine Footprint: Since the engines are only sharing what they need from each other, 2D and 3D specific features will not show up in both engines. In Torque 2D, we can happily remove terrain, sky, water, and roads, resulting in less bloat for the engine.

Familiar User Experience Shared layers means users can more easily pick up Torque 2D and Torque 3D and feel comfortable with them both. Not only will the engine and the editors have a similar look and feel, the forums can also be shared. This means 3D users can potentially help out 2D users, and vice versa.

Games With 3D and 2D elements: Merging the two engines means developers can use elements of both 3D and 2D game play in one game. Things like 3D games made in Torque 3D with GUI interfaces made in Torque 2D are now more accessible.

Shared Capabilities: Features that are developed at the core levels can be exposed to both engines. One obvious examples is that Torque 2D now gains much more sophisticated rendering capabilities. This is important for the aggressive rendering requirements of tile-layers and particle-effects.



Torque 2D will be able to take advantage of some of Torque 3D's sophisticated rendering capabilities. (Screenshot provided by J)

What other shared features will Torque 2D share with Torque 3D?

There's still a lot of shared features that we have yet to announce. This is primarily because we still have a Torque 2D-specific feature that needs to be finished before we feel comfortable announcing more information. Future development blogs will expose shared capabilities so you have a good idea of what to expect before the Torque 2D beta goes live.

This is post #3.

Torque 2D development blogs:

• Post #1 - Torque 2D Development - Real-Time Networking
• Post #2 - Expectations
• Post #3 - Integrating with Torque 3D
• Post #4 - Coming Soon!