Torque 3D Development - Release!!!
by Brett Seyler · 09/28/2009 (10:33 pm) · 335 comments
We're finally here. Release day!
Download the Torque 3D 1.0 release from your account now!
It's been a bit quiet for the past month while we sprint to the finish. I've been in Europe demoing Torque 3D to publishers, studios and the press (you'll hear more about this soon). Meanwhile, the whole team here has been putting in a monster effort to bring you the most stable, solid release of Torque ever.
If you've already made the jump, you know that this is a whole new breed of Torque. The tools are ground breaking for development productivity. The content pipeline gets your art into Torque at light speed and live asset updating lets you iterate on your content in tools of your choice and watch them update in Torque instantly.
What's Inside
If you've been following these dev blogs, you've seen almost every feature of Torque demonstrated first hand. You can also find all these details neatly organized on the Torque 3D page as well. So down to details...here's what's in this release:Engine Advanced Lighting* Particle System Revamped Terrain System COLLADA Import Pipeline Audio API Improved Material System Improved Skinned Mesh Performance PostFX System* Improved Water Blocks and Planes Physics (via PhysX)* Live Asset Updating New Tools River Editor Road Editor Datablock Editor Decal Editor Particle Editor Material Editor Shape Editor Viz Toggles Collada Exporter (for Interiors) Improved Tools Terrain Editor Terrain Painter Object Editor GUI Editor | Publishing** Windows (D3D) OSX (OGL) Web (FF, IE, Chrome, Safari) Projects PhysX: Cloth FPS Example: Burg * Limited or N/A on OSX ** Console licenses for all major platforms available separately. Contact licensing@torquepowered.com for details. |
FPS Example? Yes. If you've been a part of the beta groups, you've seen "FPS Genre Kit" as a project in previous builds (including Beta 5). We are planning to build out a much more robust and complete for-pay "FPS Genre Kit" (with improved functionality and documentation), but we want to minimize confusion between the projects. "FPS Example" has all of the same functionality as "FPS Genre Kit" from the betas. What you're seeing here is less content, but primarily a renaming.
Now, some of you are wondering "what's Burg?" Here is your answer...
In a couple weeks, we'll also be releasing Rasmus Deguchi's War Machine demo. Check it out here:
What about...
Gerhard's stuff
From the beginning, we've been very impressed with Gerhard was able to do with older version of Torque. I had hoped to ship Torque 3D with at least one demo of his stuff, but we encountered a few obstacles. Gerhard lost the artist he was working with and on the programming side, we struggled to keep his projects compatible with the Torque core, particularly GFX. Demos like "Wetness", "Depth of Field", "SSAO", and "Soft Particles" all showcase some great artwork and clever extension of Torque. We now have all these technical features in this release and neatly integrated in the PostFX system, with the exception of Wetness. We're going to follow up on that and build a nicer, more flexible implementation of Wetness into PostFX. See the discussion of that here. Much <3 to Pat Wilson and Sickhead for doing all this kickass PostFX stuff, including Light Rays, Scatter Sky and yes, even lens flares / coronas.
Undercity Demo
The Undercity Demo was built primarily to show at GDC last March. We're really proud of what Logan put together for us and we're looking at doing more work on this demo before releasing it either as part of the forthcoming FPS Genre Kit, or as a FPS Example.
Pacific Demo / Forest Kit
The Pacific Demo is built using Sickhead Games' Forest Kit foliage technology add-on. The Forest Kit is slated for a release to coincide with Torque 3D 1.1. This branch is already being actively worked on and you'll hear more about both the 1.1 release and the Forest Kit add-on in the coming weeks. Tom's already posted a nice teaser showing ground cover materials being properly lit by both Advanced Lighting, and Basic Lighting, all with wind animation.
Barricade Demo
The Barricade Demo was originally built to show off Torque technology circa 2006. Yikes. Sickhead Games are working on an updated version of this to be released in the near future.
Warrior Camp Demo
We never got to a point where we were satisfied with the way this looked, so it's been paused until we decide what (if anything) we want to do with it.
Luma's Racing Kit
Still in the works! Luma's been jamming on all kinds of other cool projects, including Rev, but they are working on finishing the Racing Kit in the next few months.
How is Torque 3D licensed?
The Torque 3D 1.x license is currently posted on the Torque 3D page. You can view it there. This document governs the Professional and Studio licenses. You'll find no reference to the "Basic." Why? As I've mentioned on several occasions where it's come up, we were never really hot on the spec for "Basic." It confuses the primary product spec ("Professional" and "Studio" share identical features) in creating a feature delta and frankly, the number of people who've jumped on the "Professional" license has convinced us that a "Basic" version is not really needed. What you'll see contemplated in the EULA we've posted is an "Artist" version instead. What we're considering here is offering a binary only, full-featured version of Torque 3D for $500 / seat. Discounts for owning prior versions of Torque would apply.If you'd like to make your opinion known, log your vote in the form below. We'll defer making a final decision about this for at least a month or two.
No matter what the results, there will be other changes to the Torque product line up as well. Biggest of all, as of November 1st, 2009, past versions of Torque (TGEA, TGE) will no longer be available for purchase.
What's Next?
A couple weeks ago we spun up an official Torque 3D 1.1 branch for work in parallel to the 1.0 release. The primary goals for the 1.1 release are:1. Performance and optimization
This will mostly be targeted at improving Advanced Lighting (shadows), but the uber geniuses at Sickhead and GameClay keep coming up with ways to get cycles back all over the place. Don't be surprised to see huge improvements (over the already great performance) on mainstream hardware and embedded devices in the next couple releases.
2. Usability improvements
We've a bevy of new tools and we're not silly enough to think we did everything perfect the first, second (or 50th) time, so go, use them. Tell us what you like and don't like. We'll keep improving until they are as perfect as they can be.
3. Particle System refactor
This has been in the works for months actually and Pat (with the help of pureLIGHT) is preparing a fully awesomed-out particle system for 1.1. I'll save going into the spec for a separate blog, but it's going to be all kinds of hawt. Here's Pat showing off wiring up 150 point lights in a PhysX "Lightfall."
4. Core improvements necessary for compatibility with Forest Kit
These are ongoing, but expected to wrap with 1.1 and coincide with the much anticipated release of Forest Kit by Sickhead.
5. OSX feature parity
We're obviously a *little* disappointed we weren't able to get Advanced Lighting to run well enough on OSX to ship with this release (see Alex Scarborough's forum post on Advanced Lighting for details), but we're confident that Torque 3D is the best game engine ever released for OSX games. Basic Lighting (what you're seeing in the Burg Demo) is really a very advanced, very fast forward renderer capable of more than any previous lighting system we've had. Objects and materials can recieve up to 4 lights at a time and each light can cast projected shadows optionally. We'd also like find a workable cross-platform solution for physics. PhysX supports everything *except* for OSX, so we're likely to look at Bullet in the next few months. In all likelyhood, we may never achieve feature parity, but we'll push OSX as hard as it can be pushed for you guys, and then we'll push it harder.
The developer community is already on Torque 3D in a big way. Here are some highlights from past weeks you might not have seen. As always, cool, well made stuff contributed back will go into the core for everyone to use.
Special thanks to Sickhead Games for contributing more to this release than I thought possible. You guys rock!
Torque 3D development blogs:
- Post #1 - Kickoff
- Post #2 - Apparatus and Warrior Camp
- Post #3 - Luma's racing kit
- Post #4 - Josh Engebretson and Web Publishing
- Post #5 - Pricing and Licensing
- Post #6 - Pricing and Licensing CONTINUED
- Post #7 - Wetness & Precipitation
- Post #8 - Screeen Space Ambient Occlusion (SSAO)
- Post #9 - Matt Langley and the Torque Launcher
- Post #10 - Chris Robertson and Collada
- Post #11 - Depth of Field
- Post #12 - Advanced Lighting
- Post #13 - Soft Particles
- Post #14 - World Editor
- Post #15 - Pricing and Licensing ANNOUNCED!
- Post #16 - GDC Live Edition
- Post #17 - River & Road Editors
- Post #18 - Beta is UP!
- Post #19 - Light Rays, Undercity, and the Material Editor
- Post #20 - Mass Market Hardware
- Post #21 - Beta: Part Deux
- Post #22 - Marching Towards Beta 3
- Post #23 - pureLIGHT
- Post #24 - Lighting, Terrain, and Cloth
- Post #25 - Beta 3!
- Post #26 - Documentation
- Post #27 - Beta 4!
- Post #28 - Shape Editor
- Post #29 - Beta 5!
- Post #30 - Collada Import GUI Dialog
- Post #31 - 1.0 Release!!!
- Post #32 - Coming Soon!
About the author
Since 2007, I've done my best to steer Torque's development and brand toward the best opportunities in games middleware.
#282
Don't agree that's the case at all - Given what you get for the price and comparing price with what's out there it's still an indie price. Specially when you really look at the licences. They matter too.
What amazes me the most is that so many people complain and no one really makes the one question that should be asked with TGE/A going away.
What will be of iTorque 3D (Torque 3D for the iPhone)? I thought it REQUIRED a TGE licence sold separatly.
10/04/2009 (5:30 am)
Quote:RIP Torque "Indie"
Don't agree that's the case at all - Given what you get for the price and comparing price with what's out there it's still an indie price. Specially when you really look at the licences. They matter too.
What amazes me the most is that so many people complain and no one really makes the one question that should be asked with TGE/A going away.
What will be of iTorque 3D (Torque 3D for the iPhone)? I thought it REQUIRED a TGE licence sold separatly.
#283
yes i totally agree its not the case,i was referring to the usage of the name "indie" which i think GG should not let go of.
i wasnt complaining and tgea isnt going anywhere afaik,
10/04/2009 (5:34 am)
@luis :yes i totally agree its not the case,i was referring to the usage of the name "indie" which i think GG should not let go of.
i wasnt complaining and tgea isnt going anywhere afaik,
#284
Brett - thanks for taking the time to respond to my points and congratulations on release 1, you guys really have taken things to the next level. T3D looks like its worth every penny, and then some.
10/04/2009 (6:03 am)
Josh - I hope I wasn't being too much of a hungry troll! Where I was coming from with my questions is that Brett responded to one of my posts in a previous T3D blog by saying that he expected TGEA would continue to be available and that he thought it was still a really good option for people who wanted to learn about the programming side. I was just struggling to understand why the position had changed. But things change in business as in all parts of life, so I'm over it now.Brett - thanks for taking the time to respond to my points and congratulations on release 1, you guys really have taken things to the next level. T3D looks like its worth every penny, and then some.
#285
Currently, if you don't own TGE and want to buy Torque 3D for the iPhone, you'll see it automatically included in the price ($650 for "Indie"). If you read my post here, you'll see that we're committing to updating the iPhone tech in a big way. The biggest piece will be that you can use Torque 3D's editors to make iPhone games. You won't be stuck using TGE's 3 year old UI. The next biggest thing is that we're in the midst of a major refactor of the underlying engine to further optimize it for the iPhone and other mobile devices, so it will take a Torque 3D scene that has no business running on the iPhone, and automatically convert / optimize / fallback to mobile friendly subsystems that will run fast. This stuff is still months away from a beta, and a HUGE improvement over our current 3D iPhone tech, but we're going to make it free to people who already own Torque 3D for iPhone.
10/04/2009 (6:09 am)
Quote:What will be of iTorque 3D (Torque 3D for the iPhone)? I thought it REQUIRED a TGE licence sold separatly.
Currently, if you don't own TGE and want to buy Torque 3D for the iPhone, you'll see it automatically included in the price ($650 for "Indie"). If you read my post here, you'll see that we're committing to updating the iPhone tech in a big way. The biggest piece will be that you can use Torque 3D's editors to make iPhone games. You won't be stuck using TGE's 3 year old UI. The next biggest thing is that we're in the midst of a major refactor of the underlying engine to further optimize it for the iPhone and other mobile devices, so it will take a Torque 3D scene that has no business running on the iPhone, and automatically convert / optimize / fallback to mobile friendly subsystems that will run fast. This stuff is still months away from a beta, and a HUGE improvement over our current 3D iPhone tech, but we're going to make it free to people who already own Torque 3D for iPhone.
#286
10/04/2009 (6:17 am)
@Adrian: You're welcome! And thanks for sticking with us and being understanding about what we're trying to do. I did say that I thought TGEA would be around for some time, and remain a great, lower priced-option for programmers. We didn't make the decision to stop selling it lightly. My hope is that if people really want to work with Torque and can't afford Torque 3D, they'll go with the 'Artist' version when we make that available or they'll buy TGEA now with plans to upgrade to Torque 3D when they can afford it. The need to simplify our offering is just too great to keep selling TGEA. And like I (and others) have mentioned, it's really only new users that are affected, and that's the effect we want. They'll either try out the Torque 3D demo, get the Artist version, or go with the full source Professional license. The bar is a bit higher, but not so much that we'll be harming the community.Quote:T3D looks like its worth every penny, and then some.Thanks! That's what we were aiming for. Just wait until you see 1.1! We're moving faster than we ever have before and there are some *really* new, cool things coming for free, in addition to bugfixes and optimization.
#287
10/04/2009 (6:24 am)
@Brett - thamks for the quick answer - was asking because anyone going to the product page will read there that they need TGE and that it is sold separatly - so am guessing you guys will update that soon 
#288
@Brett: I think the Artist version is a splendid idea. I would consider a slightly lower price on it or maybe a license delta (like Houdini)... as nothing sells engines like good art... and GG's community has always been programmer centric.
10/04/2009 (6:57 am)
@Adrian: Not at all, the first rule about trolls is that we don't talk about trolls :) Man, I need to watch that movie again... been quite a few years now.@Brett: I think the Artist version is a splendid idea. I would consider a slightly lower price on it or maybe a license delta (like Houdini)... as nothing sells engines like good art... and GG's community has always been programmer centric.
#289
A free pure artist tool can create a lot of free advertising.
But besides that I see much more features for a good artist tool: I see a good model editor with the option to control lod and collision. So you could add lod meshes and collision meshes, group them, change options when a certain LOD appears on screen, change material options and much more. This would be a very important tool to improve the workflow and should not cost additional money to the freelance artists.
Just an idea.
10/04/2009 (7:57 am)
In terms of "artist version" I always think about something like a free tool to render models or to create levels with no option to make a full game. Maybe the demo is something like that.A free pure artist tool can create a lot of free advertising.
But besides that I see much more features for a good artist tool: I see a good model editor with the option to control lod and collision. So you could add lod meshes and collision meshes, group them, change options when a certain LOD appears on screen, change material options and much more. This would be a very important tool to improve the workflow and should not cost additional money to the freelance artists.
Just an idea.
#290
10/04/2009 (10:05 am)
I think that the guys at GG are doing great. Yes, Torque 3D is more expensive, and people know this, if TGE/TGEA was a few hundred dollars below Torque 3D then would people complain? Yes and No, depends on their circumstances. I'd rather pay $1000 for an engine that is going to be supported and upgraded constantly with a bigger team, than a lower price having a smaller team come up with fixes and enhancements a year down the line. Since the Torque 3D Beta's started you can see how quickly GG are turning around updates faster than they have ever done, and this is truely amazing work. Before I start getting settled with one BETA the next one comes along and now we are R1, yes it's not 100% perfect with some things working in BETA 5 and now not in R1, but hey I'm sure 1.1 will fix that and from what I gather 1.1 will have some kick-ass updates. Rock on! Since GG were acquired, things of course need to go up in price. I for one, wouldn't take a business on if I was not going to get an investment back. But honestly, could you see the GG guys survive on what they were paying themselves? Even some did it for love not money - building up a business over several years and keeping community going is no easy task, so it's now paid off. For those of you who stick around GG is bringing game development to an all new high. Hate to be blunt but If you can't afford Torque 3D - work with what you have got and save up - simple as. 
#291
I mean, would be great to have covered the whole spectrum of options ofered previously by the TGE/A Demos, that is, a fully modable enviroment.
Also, I would like to uderstand a bit better how the new toolset limitation is going to work. Tha tool cannot be redistributed at all, or thats going to be under certain situations, depending on the product, etc?
@Andrew Brady; I was satirizing the situation, no harm intented.
10/04/2009 (11:21 am)
@Brett, one thing I would like to confirm is, this Artist version, would allow for scripting?I mean, would be great to have covered the whole spectrum of options ofered previously by the TGE/A Demos, that is, a fully modable enviroment.
Also, I would like to uderstand a bit better how the new toolset limitation is going to work. Tha tool cannot be redistributed at all, or thats going to be under certain situations, depending on the product, etc?
@Andrew Brady; I was satirizing the situation, no harm intented.
#292
np
- from the talk I've been seeing around the net, it appears a $500.00 option for an artist version is exciting people a great deal.
10/04/2009 (1:15 pm)
@ Novacknp
- from the talk I've been seeing around the net, it appears a $500.00 option for an artist version is exciting people a great deal.
#293
10/04/2009 (7:53 pm)
I am sure $399 would sound better, but hay :-). Was there any thought into another tool like showtool (or a stripped down version of the shape view in T3D) just for artists to make sure their model looks and works properly in the engine? I can understand the willingness to charge for the tools/editors as they are a major part of the reason to upgrade, but some kind other option wouldn't hurt either.
#294
10/04/2009 (8:11 pm)
@Josh: Yeah, that's something we're looking into as well. 
#295
The point is, people that are morally bankrupt enough to pirate your software are going to pirate it regardless of how much it costs, even if it's a buck. So the notion that charging more for T3D is going to encourage more people to pirate T3D I think is not a defensible argument. Pirates will pirate T3D, people that are not pirates will not.
10/04/2009 (8:36 pm)
I recall reading a story from a developer a while ago that was selling a game (World of Goo) for less than $20, which according to their statistics collected from updating scores online was being played by 10 times as many people as they had sales. That's a ~90% piracy rate for a product that costs $20.The point is, people that are morally bankrupt enough to pirate your software are going to pirate it regardless of how much it costs, even if it's a buck. So the notion that charging more for T3D is going to encourage more people to pirate T3D I think is not a defensible argument. Pirates will pirate T3D, people that are not pirates will not.
#296
10/04/2009 (8:51 pm)
I think Gerald hit the nail on the head in regards to piracy. 
#297
1) Great job guys!!!! I love the way T3D is off to an awesome start! It's so shiny and pretty. I showed the new version (Beta 5 even) to a friend and he was "Wow. This is Torque?" Yes indeedy... He had a bit of sticker shock but said he wanted to pick it up as soon as he could scrape the money together. So it's already selling itself. The tools really are so much better they sell T3D.
T3D = Epic Win
2) Brett or any other GG employee: Recently someone discovered that even in T3d (beta at the time) the scripting was not as optimized as it could be, can we look forward to having this addressed, or even rolled into an upcoming release of T3d? Hopefully one of you has already decided to get this implemented into all future versions of Torque already. My understanding is that T2D would get a major boost from this since so much of game creation is scripted vs engine change. Increasing TorqueScript speed by reducing overhead
3) To all the money conscious people, whiners, nay-sayers, et al. Yes, it's more expensive, it's less hobbyist, slightly less "indie"(read solo studio), but 100% pro. It's alright to call a quarter-horse a quarter-horse and an Andalusian an Andalusian, but beyond the fact that they are both horses, they are in completely different classes. Someone posted a car example previously and it is highly appropriate; someone else mentioned cameras, also appropriate. The reality is that people have gotten used to GG and Torque being the "great bargain priced engine" and are now upset that GG is maturing and moving beyond its roots. It's alright guys, shed the tears and move on; in whichever direction best suits YOU and YOUR game. That's what this is about: a change that suits GG and the community they want to grow best. Call it, the "new vision." Garage games is growing up and they have renewed their image with the "new vision" as their goal. No amount of belly aching will change that.
I will be the first to say that I was upset about the pricing structure, and also highly skeptical of my ability to come up with the cash to jump on the bandwagon. I was also pretty certain of their final price target even though I had hoped they would aim for half their final price. They still chose less than the higher end they had originally considered.
Somehow... midst this terrible economy...I became so enamored by the goodies, and improved utilities, and art pipeline..and..and..well everything that is the goodness of T3D that I scrimped, saved, begged, cajoled, and finally bought the upgrade. I got lucky and got in the EA program. (Where's my T-shirt!!!!)
Oh... and guess what? I fall strictly into that hobbyist category with too little funding and too many bills. But like most guys who get something stuck in their heads, that special something that MUST BE HAD; I managed to get it.
If it IS what you really want, find a way. Hold a fundraiser, beg your neighbors, offer people their names in the credits, do what it takes to get it. If you only have so much, then get what you can or find something else that will fulfill YOUR needs. You can still get TGE/A and anything you spend will be applied toward your final purchase of T3D when you finally do.
In short: Don't waste your time complaining, find the nearest tech YOU CAN afford, get it, make your game, then upgrade to the tech you want when you can afford it!
10/05/2009 (2:10 am)
Hopefully the GG people are still reading despite this thread's prior negativity... 1) Great job guys!!!! I love the way T3D is off to an awesome start! It's so shiny and pretty. I showed the new version (Beta 5 even) to a friend and he was "Wow. This is Torque?" Yes indeedy... He had a bit of sticker shock but said he wanted to pick it up as soon as he could scrape the money together. So it's already selling itself. The tools really are so much better they sell T3D.
T3D = Epic Win
2) Brett or any other GG employee: Recently someone discovered that even in T3d (beta at the time) the scripting was not as optimized as it could be, can we look forward to having this addressed, or even rolled into an upcoming release of T3d? Hopefully one of you has already decided to get this implemented into all future versions of Torque already. My understanding is that T2D would get a major boost from this since so much of game creation is scripted vs engine change. Increasing TorqueScript speed by reducing overhead
3) To all the money conscious people, whiners, nay-sayers, et al. Yes, it's more expensive, it's less hobbyist, slightly less "indie"(read solo studio), but 100% pro. It's alright to call a quarter-horse a quarter-horse and an Andalusian an Andalusian, but beyond the fact that they are both horses, they are in completely different classes. Someone posted a car example previously and it is highly appropriate; someone else mentioned cameras, also appropriate. The reality is that people have gotten used to GG and Torque being the "great bargain priced engine" and are now upset that GG is maturing and moving beyond its roots. It's alright guys, shed the tears and move on; in whichever direction best suits YOU and YOUR game. That's what this is about: a change that suits GG and the community they want to grow best. Call it, the "new vision." Garage games is growing up and they have renewed their image with the "new vision" as their goal. No amount of belly aching will change that.
I will be the first to say that I was upset about the pricing structure, and also highly skeptical of my ability to come up with the cash to jump on the bandwagon. I was also pretty certain of their final price target even though I had hoped they would aim for half their final price. They still chose less than the higher end they had originally considered.
Somehow... midst this terrible economy...I became so enamored by the goodies, and improved utilities, and art pipeline..and..and..well everything that is the goodness of T3D that I scrimped, saved, begged, cajoled, and finally bought the upgrade. I got lucky and got in the EA program. (Where's my T-shirt!!!!)
Oh... and guess what? I fall strictly into that hobbyist category with too little funding and too many bills. But like most guys who get something stuck in their heads, that special something that MUST BE HAD; I managed to get it.
If it IS what you really want, find a way. Hold a fundraiser, beg your neighbors, offer people their names in the credits, do what it takes to get it. If you only have so much, then get what you can or find something else that will fulfill YOUR needs. You can still get TGE/A and anything you spend will be applied toward your final purchase of T3D when you finally do.
In short: Don't waste your time complaining, find the nearest tech YOU CAN afford, get it, make your game, then upgrade to the tech you want when you can afford it!
#298
.
Want your own nexgen Model? Check out the GG Store Now!
Direct Link of Image
10/05/2009 (6:14 am)
Woot for T3D.Want your own nexgen Model? Check out the GG Store Now!
Direct Link of Image
#299
10/05/2009 (2:02 pm)
Great render and an amazing job to the artist who modeled that! 
#300
10/05/2009 (10:16 pm)
DIf rendering has become so bad. . . . 
Torque Owner Jojimbo
@ brett having a fully functional binary version for $500
is the way to go mate i think i mentioned that some time back.
people are going to be far better off buying into the full features than a broken down ie "no proper shaders or shadows or post processing",which your other competitors still do.
so dropping the basic and hopefully introducing the "artist" is all good.as a matter of fact,its a goddam marketing goldmine which will make other game engine devs seriously consider doing the same.
Basic $200
Artist $500 renamed "indie"
Pro $1000
(hey look ^^ i should be employed :P)
RIP Torque "Indie"