Torque 3D Development - The only good bug...
by Brett Seyler · 10/19/2009 (3:07 am) · 42 comments
Morning Torque people!You didn't think that you'd seen the last Torque 3D dev blog with our 1.0 release last month did you? Definitely not. After a couple weeks break from blogging, I'm back on it and we've already got some meat for the lions.
Download Torque 3D 1.0.1 now!
---Improvements---
Polished the Documentation and added more to the Scripting section
Fixed the performance loss incurred when child window loses focus under Web Deployment (http://www.garagegames.com/community/forums/viewthread/102493)
Added support for the original "Col-" collision node naming schema to the Collada import pipeline (http://www.garagegames.com/community/forums/viewthread/102597)
Fixed weapon rendering when eyeOffset is set to zero (http://www.garagegames.com/community/forums/viewthread/102565/1#comment-680489)
Fixed interiors so that they now properly submit RIs for translucent materials (http://www.garagegames.com/community/forums/viewthread/102601)
Fixed an uninitialized variable in MatInstanceParameterHandle
Improved GFXD3D9Shader::_init()[/b] so that it now clears mShaderConsts to avoid leaking MatInstanceParameterHandles after each reload
Improved object selection when clicking on the terrain in the WorldEditor so that it now gives more intuitive results(http://www.garagegames.com/community/forums/viewthread/102473)
Fixed GFXD3D9ShaderConstHandle::isSampler() so that it now works correctly for vertex shader constants (this would cause random failures when Material's were reinitialized)
Improved rendering of translucent objects that are not in the depth pass so that they now get fogging when in Advanced Lighting
Added protection against negative subshapes in TSShapeInstance::buildPolyListOpcode() and TSShapeInstance::castRayOpcode()
Fixed mTargetChainIdx to now be properly reset in RenderFormatToken::_updateTargets()
Fixed DecalData's Material initialization to now properly use the DecalVertex type
Fixed the deleteDataBlocks() ConsoleFunction so that it no longer crashes when deletion of a Datablock triggers deletion of other Datablocks
Fixed trigger to now properly call scriptOnAdd() (http://www.garagegames.com/community/forums/viewthread/102407)
Fixed GuiEditCtrl.readGuides() to now correct prints the object name if an object is not found
Fixed Selecting a GUI from the GUI Editor dropdown list to now work correctly (http://www.garagegames.com/community/forums/viewthread/102523)
Fixed saving with the "Emitter" selected in the Particle Editor so that it no longer gets you into a bad state (http://www.garagegames.com/community/forums/viewthread/102667)
Fixed a broken path on the stock LightFlareData's and moved lights.cs to core/art/datablocks
Fixed GameTSCtrl::onMouseUp() to now call the correct script function (http://www.garagegames.com/community/forums/viewthread/103107)
Improved installers to now install the proper version of OpenAL (http://www.garagegames.com/community/forums/viewthread/102675)
Improved ShaderGen so that it should now continue to work even if it can't write to its procedural shader folder (helps with UAC issues)
Fixed rendering bug in Particle's with premultiplied alpha in OpenGL
Updated the GLSL projectedShadow shader and ported the latest projectedShadow filtering
Fixed Toolbox comments to now properly save and reload
Changed Toolbox to now only pop up the tray icon message the first time it is run
Updated the main.cs files to handle -level parseArg with spaces in the name
Updated the Full Template gameCore script to be fully compatible with the RTS Prototype tutorial
Fixed the depth buffer so that it no longer gets improperly discarded when running under the DirectX Debug Runtime. See:
http://www.garagegames.com/community/forums/viewthread/102557
http://www.garagegames.com/community/forums/viewthread/102573
http://www.garagegames.com/community/forums/viewthread/102571
Whew! Not bad for a couple weeks! Feel free to comment on the changelog in the forums. There's a lot more coming as most of the team is now hard at work on our 1.1 release which you'll all have your hands on (at least in beta form) before the end of the year. My next Torque 3D dev blog will go into more detail covering the 1.1 spec, hopefully showing some of the new features, and providing some insight into the roadmap beyond 1.1.
Alright, before signing off here, I want to take a little time here to follow up on the two most-discussed items from the comments of the last blog.
1. Should we offer an 'Artist' version of Torque 3D? You guys gave us your feedback we're going to go with it.
Releasing a full-featured, binary-only 'Artist' version of Torque 3D is just a matter of time. Expect to see this in the Torque store in just a few weeks.
2. Sales of TGE / TGEA discontinued as of Nov. 1. This was understandably a hot topic. Many of you we're happy to see greater focus and commitment to a single 3D engine technology (Torque 3D). Many of you voiced legitimate concerns about the continuity of your own projects currently based in TGE or TGEA. I hope we addressed these concerns adequately in the comments and that as a whole, you understand that we are doing what we think is best for the technology and the community. We want to unify the user base and focus our development efforts. It was a mistake to even try to support as many products as we currently sell right now, and you're going to see continued moves to consolidate and focus our development effort and products.
We do have some good news for those you still working on TGEA. With the core improvements we've made to Torque 3D in recent months, Alex Scarborough has been kind enough to roll many of these up into a nice point update to TGEA. If you check your account, you'll see a nice shiny TGEA 1.8.2 update for your enjoyment. You can view the changelog here.
Special thanks to Alex Scarborough for all his help on Torque. You rock, Alex!
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 - The only good bug...
- Post #33 - 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.
#24
I am guessing that we can expect some updates to the toolbox for 1.1?
10/19/2009 (1:55 pm)
This is great, thanks!I am guessing that we can expect some updates to the toolbox for 1.1?
#26
10/19/2009 (6:04 pm)
About the Artist only version, i think your poll is quite misleading. I voted Yes, but for what is an editor, wouldn't be 300$ a better price tag? 
#27
10/19/2009 (8:15 pm)
I have to admit, I am stunned. I never expected to see another update to TGEA, thanks a ton guys. It speaks huge for you and your dedication to your customers.
#28
10/19/2009 (8:33 pm)
for the love of God, WILL THE ARTIST VERSION BE UPGRADABLE to the Professional version for an additional $500. Please answer Brett or GG employee. :) 
#29
TGEA 1.8.2 woot, props to Alex :)
10/19/2009 (9:39 pm)
So nice to see yet another roll out for T3D.TGEA 1.8.2 woot, props to Alex :)
#31
Good Morning from the South Pacific - lol - that's a good one - wish i was there
10/19/2009 (11:13 pm)
Why would TGEA be merged with AFX? AFX isn't even a GarageGames productGood Morning from the South Pacific - lol - that's a good one - wish i was there
#32
10/20/2009 (12:07 am)
@Stadi: Quote:for the love of God, WILL THE ARTIST VERSION BE UPGRADABLE to the Professional version for an additional $500.By the power of Grayskull, yes.
#33
10/20/2009 (12:38 am)
I guess this is not the right place to ask but what exactly is the "Studio" license of T3D? Is it a license for a whole team and is the price dependent on the number of the team members?
#34
10/20/2009 (1:48 am)
awesome! thanks Brett! 
#35
10/20/2009 (2:03 am)
@Picasso: The Studio licence is the floating one, tied to a company rather than an individual. See the links somewhere in the T3D page (I think they should add back the tab that gives you this straight away).
#36
Probably not most appropriate to ask GG, but I thought Jeff might be watching the thread and could chime in.
10/20/2009 (3:57 am)
@Luis: Because it's already merged for 1.8.1. As in right here.Probably not most appropriate to ask GG, but I thought Jeff might be watching the thread and could chime in.
#37
10/20/2009 (6:00 am)
Quick Question ... TGEA 1.8.2 says it now compiles using the August 09 DirectX SDK ... Does Torque 3D still require the march 09 DirectX SDK or can it use August as well?
#38
10/20/2009 (6:06 am)
Thanks for the great update guys :D Gona switch account and grab the 1.8.2 as thats what my current projects using :D
#39
just that it's 1.8.1 ready
if what you want to know is if they will release a version for 1.8.2 than you should ask tha AFX people not the GarageGames people
but i would say it's safe to assume a yes since they are now even working on a T3D version so they didn't stop the support
but in nowhere it says it comes merged with TGEA. Actually it says you need to have a previous TGEA Licence - that's all it says
10/20/2009 (2:51 pm)
@Robes - it says nowhere that it's mergedjust that it's 1.8.1 ready
if what you want to know is if they will release a version for 1.8.2 than you should ask tha AFX people not the GarageGames people
but i would say it's safe to assume a yes since they are now even working on a T3D version so they didn't stop the support
but in nowhere it says it comes merged with TGEA. Actually it says you need to have a previous TGEA Licence - that's all it says
#40
Can you guys fix the material editor. It is kinda useless right now. The artist needs the ability to control where the changes are being read and edited back to. Like a file picker that allows you to select a material.cs file to work with. Right now it seems that the materials are being written to the mission file. This is really annoying. It is a cool that you can write overriding materials to the mission file but it should not be the default behavior of the material editor. Perhaps a checkbox or something to enable this.
10/20/2009 (6:41 pm)
Brett and T3D Developers:Can you guys fix the material editor. It is kinda useless right now. The artist needs the ability to control where the changes are being read and edited back to. Like a file picker that allows you to select a material.cs file to work with. Right now it seems that the materials are being written to the mission file. This is really annoying. It is a cool that you can write overriding materials to the mission file but it should not be the default behavior of the material editor. Perhaps a checkbox or something to enable this.
Torque 3D Owner Nicolas Buquet
Nicolas Buquet
www.buquet-net.com/cv/