The Virtual Trillium Trail
by Maria C R Harrington · 02/01/2011 (3:13 pm) · 17 comments
So, I took the plunge last year and bought a copy of the T3D Pro then built a simple game for education on an old (2007) IBM laptop with 2 GB of RAM and a NVIDIA's graphics card. I call them Educational Simulations. I am ready to publish it, but would like to know what you think. It is different, not really a typical game, so you may not be excited about it, but I am, and Torque delivered a realistic world that Unity could not, (Unity is 2 1/2 D and offers only about 70% of T3D), and Unreal refused to offer a license, (Unreal does not offer source code, and T3D is about 95% equal to Unreal). I am very grateful that Torque was available and the community was so very supportive. A big thank you goes out to the guys who helped the most, Adrian Wright and Matt Mitman at Max Gaming and all of the people on these forums who helped and responded to my questions. Now, I just hope I am doing the right things with the logos on my game's splash page and on my web site! Any feed back will be taken as constructive! www.virtualtrilliumtrail.com
About the author
Virtual Field Trips,LLC specializes in the design, production and publication of simulations and virtual environments for learning and entertainment. Simulations for Exploration, Discovery, and Intrinsic Learning Designed for the Young Child in All of Us.
#2
My children and I will try to wait patiently for the demo. :)
02/01/2011 (3:30 pm)
Maria, this is absolutely wonderful! I homeschool two children and will buy this as soon as its out. What a wonderful way to teach children about science! And it uses the Torque engine which makes it doubly attractive to my family. I will also pass the link onto the other parents in our homeschool group.My children and I will try to wait patiently for the demo. :)
#3
02/01/2011 (5:19 pm)
Great news, Maria! I'll be sure to give this a try - and see what my kids think of it. This will be the second Torque game I'm willing to let them check out after Venture Arctic. The lack of violence itself is a huge motivator for me as a dad. :) 
#4
Looks great! Keep us posted on how it was received and about the demo!
@Steve
Somehow I was expecting to find a McDonalds or an Starbucks in that shot... :)
02/01/2011 (5:57 pm)
@MariaLooks great! Keep us posted on how it was received and about the demo!
@Steve
Somehow I was expecting to find a McDonalds or an Starbucks in that shot... :)
#5
Good job creating something in Torque that is educational.
02/01/2011 (10:42 pm)
This looks great Maria!Good job creating something in Torque that is educational.
#6
02/02/2011 (12:50 am)
That looks beautiful Maria. Great job on getting your project to completion! :) 
#7
It's obvious you've been out in nature, only one that has could put together something that resembles nature's beauty.
I'd like to see some screenshots from another angle. Maybe alittle more above the horizon line and zoomed out a touch, also if you have any streams trickling down hill into a lake or something would be cool to see screens of those as well.
02/02/2011 (5:36 am)
Cool animal models. Good attention to detail in plants. Rocks look like could be a touch better, but I don't think some of those screenshots are taken from the best angle.It's obvious you've been out in nature, only one that has could put together something that resembles nature's beauty.
I'd like to see some screenshots from another angle. Maybe alittle more above the horizon line and zoomed out a touch, also if you have any streams trickling down hill into a lake or something would be cool to see screens of those as well.
#8
02/04/2011 (12:47 pm)
Thanks everyone! I did the best I could... second release will improve many details. 
#9
Didn't parallax mapping get into T3D finally? That could be used to great effect for rocky streambeds and forest floor debris. Examples from Crysis:
www.thebuzzmedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/crysis_high.jpg
h-2.abload.de/img/1n93h.jpg
02/04/2011 (5:25 pm)
Well done! Looking forward to seeing some video...Didn't parallax mapping get into T3D finally? That could be used to great effect for rocky streambeds and forest floor debris. Examples from Crysis:
www.thebuzzmedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/crysis_high.jpg
h-2.abload.de/img/1n93h.jpg
#10
@Steve - Screen shots in blog just for you ;)
@Guimo - what is the best practice for building and releasing a demo? Set the game duration time to what? 5 min? DRM with esellerate?, and then host it on my ISP? Sorry, never done this before..... any advice would be appreciated...
@Konrad - I am a fan of Andy's work at Pocketwatch games... would like to collaborate with him someday...
@Kevin and Sidikian - yes using parallax would improve the ground tremendously... thank you, any more ideas?
02/05/2011 (6:51 am)
@Konrad & Teila - that is it... it is all about providing high-quality, educational, and fun games for kids! Can't wait to get your kids feedback!@Steve - Screen shots in blog just for you ;)
@Guimo - what is the best practice for building and releasing a demo? Set the game duration time to what? 5 min? DRM with esellerate?, and then host it on my ISP? Sorry, never done this before..... any advice would be appreciated...
@Konrad - I am a fan of Andy's work at Pocketwatch games... would like to collaborate with him someday...
@Kevin and Sidikian - yes using parallax would improve the ground tremendously... thank you, any more ideas?
#11
02/07/2011 (12:13 pm)
Beautiful work, Maria!!! Looking forward to more!
#12
02/22/2011 (6:09 am)
Thanks Chris, and your work is beautiful too! I also like that outfit with the red dots... 
#13
02/22/2011 (12:15 pm)
Wow! I'm with all the folks above--breathtaking work. I will buy the demo as soon as you've got it ready--please keep me posted. 
#14
One question, though... Is there any reason why you didn't use shadows?
02/23/2011 (9:37 pm)
Looks really nice! =)One question, though... Is there any reason why you didn't use shadows?
#15
02/25/2011 (9:13 am)
Shadows created a performance hit that just pushed the fps over the edge into the "unacceptable" range, and so they were sacrificed.... but that was a decision I made when I was developing on a 2007 PC with only 2 GB RAM... now that I have a newer faster machine, I will go back and try! Thanks for pointing that out Oscar! The shadows will add more life. Also, any "groundcover" plants (Spicebush and some trees) do not cast shadows, but all 3D models do, unless specified not to, which was also done to reduce the demand...
#16
01/11/2012 (7:45 am)
Great News!!! Great News!!! Kickstarter has accepted my proposal for The Virtual Trillium Trail. Will need some help, please critique the video here: vimeo.com/34113016. I will also need some help in migrating it to the newest release, cleaning up the models, and adding some features to the user interface.
#17
01/11/2012 (7:54 am)
Associate Steve Acaster
[YorkshireRifles.com]
Screenshots in blog!
Awwww, it's bambi ... about to be eaten by an eagle ...
Look forward to the demo.