Torque 2D Development - Editor Design

In our last Torque 2D development blog, we talked about how integrating with the Torque 3D codebase will offer some solid wins for our 2D engine. Although developers value things like stability and a smaller engine footprint, what really gets people excited is sharing capabilities and editors across the two engines. So here's a sneak peek on how integration efforts are affecting editor design between Torque 3D and Torque 2D.

Like integrating the two engine codebases, we had a few objectives in mind. First, we wanted there to be cross sharing between editors where applicable, so we can maintain one codebase and get a lot of cool editor wins in terms of bug fixes and features. Second, we wanted to keep things separate enough so that we could create 2D or 3D specific editors and not have to worry about maintaining one monster codebase that tried to "do it all." In the end, we designed something like this:




If you're experiencing déjà vu from the last chart, then you're on the right track! Some 2D and 3D editors may be written on different code, but they are designed to be familiar so you can utilize common knowledge between the two engines. If you're a Torque 3D owner and jump onto Torque 2D, you'll no doubt enjoy using the new editor setup. It offers a cleaner, more intuitive workflow with a similar look and feel of what you've grown familiar with. And for those people who want to start with Torque 2D, moving up to Torque 3D won't feel alien to you. Double win for both user bases.

But familiarity between editors is only part of the story. We're performing a ground-up development of the editor so that it not only brings it more inline with the Torque 3D editor look 'n' feel, but also builds upon the solid editor experience you've had with the original Torque Game Builder. Flexible design has been the key practice employed while working on the editors. Better asset support, less micro-management of the scene, and larger scaled project development are just a few areas that are receiving strict attention from our editor team. Streamlining the workflow will make it easier to create both large and small projects with the revamped editors.

So from out in the community, I can hear the voices now:

"C'mon, woman! What specific editors are we going to see in Torque 2D?"

Patience, young developer. We'll get to that in time, once we get closer to a solid alpha state. But I will leave you with one not-so-small hint:




This is post #4.

Torque 2D development blogs:

• Post #1 - Real-Time Networking
• Post #2 - Expectations
• Post #3 - Integrating with Torque 3D
• Post #4 - Editor Design
• Post #5 - Coming Soon!