The Future of Torque 3D is Open Source!
by Dave Wyand · 09/10/2012 (9:03 am) · 95 comments
The Future of Torque 3D is Open Source!
The big news coming out of GarageGames today is that Torque 3D will be going open source under the MIT license. This is huge, and something that we’ve discussed internally for a while. Eric has just posted a blog talking about why Torque 3D is heading in this direction and a little of the history behind the decision. If you haven’t yet read Eric’s blog please head over there and read it first.The other piece of news that I’m excited to share is that I will be leading the charge on future Torque 3D development with the help of, well, you, of course!
Personal Introduction
While the veterans out there know who I am, many of our newer community members may not. I’ve been a part of the GarageGames community since January 2002, and most of that time I’ve been an Associate. My first commercial game dev product was Torque ShowTool Pro in 2004, which was one of the first 3rd party products sold through the GarageGames online store. Those were exciting times when the whole Indie game development scene was trying to define itself and building momentum.After the launch of TST Pro I began working closely with GarageGames. I’ve had my hand in nearly every game engine we have launched (plus a few internal ones), and along the way I came on board full-time (and have been for a number of years now). Last year I was the Technical Lead on Torque 3D 1.2, the last retail version of the engine.
In 2010 I launched my own gaming portal Zworldo that focused on Torque 3D based web games. A lot of what I learned there made its way back into T3D 1.2, which shows that it really helps to use the products you make.
How will the open source version work?
We’ve chosen GitHub to host the Torque 3D repositories. GitHub has taken on the role of the location for Open Source projects on the Internet. It allows for great community interaction, encourages the forking of code bases, and easy merging of changes. And if you’re not yet into git (GitHub for Windows and Mac are tools that really help), GitHub supports both Subversion access and automatic Zip archives of all repositories.
Anyone may have Read Access to the public Torque 3D repositories. You create your own fork and do your development work there. You can merge updates from the master branch into your own as they become available. And if you have changes you wish to share with the community to be integrated back into the master, you create a pull request and someone with Write Access can review the changes and merge them in.
Who will maintain the repositories?
To maintain the master Torque 3D branch a committee will be set up that has Write Access and may respond to pull requests. This committee is dedicated to making the best core version of Torque 3D so that others can build upon a reliable foundation. Performance, reliability, maintainability and scalability (should turn that into a crest :) are the goals of this committee.The launch committee will consist of the following GarageGames members:
- Dave Wyand
- Eric Preisz
- David Montgomery-Blake
- Scott Burns
Quote:Our mission is to build a foundation for a sustainable environment that fosters collaboration and community development of the greatest open source game development platform.
However, we don’t believe that committee members should only come from GarageGames. One of our primary tasks is to seek out and retain qualified core team members that are dedicated to our goals. Over time everyone but myself will be replaced by members of the community and the committee will be allowed to grow as required.
What will be included in the open source version?
The complete Torque 3D 1.2 source code, along with the four starting templates, will be included in the GitHub repository. A separate repository for reference documentation will be set up. Other items, such as the FPS Tutorial template, will be part of a separate download to help keep the main repository to a manageable size.There are other, closed source components of Torque 3D that I would like to open up following our launch.
Post Launch
Following the launch of Torque 3D on GitHub, another job of the committee will be to come up with a roadmap. We’ve decided to wait until after launch to do this because we want community feedback to help chart our course. My personal list of things I’d like all of us to tackle are:- Performance and bugs
- Further separation of core from other layers
- Additional platforms (OSX and Linux)
- Dave
About the author
Producer at GarageGames LLC
#3
09/10/2012 (9:09 am)
@David are you kidding me? I have been awaiting this blog all day! :) Checking the website once every 5 minutes! :) 
#4
EDIT.. Removed stupid comment. :)
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09/10/2012 (9:15 am)
Hmmmm.... Dont really know what to say....EDIT.. Removed stupid comment. :)
.....
#5
I suppose the best consolation is that you have had a huge head start using the product and your value as a knowledgeable Torque developer just increased 10 fold. You are now one of the best of a much, much, larger community. There will be more people to sell add-ons, training, support, and services to.
09/10/2012 (9:23 am)
@Alienforce - We know that some people would feel burned by that and we apologize for that. Ultimately, this means you will have a much better product and community in the long run. I suppose the best consolation is that you have had a huge head start using the product and your value as a knowledgeable Torque developer just increased 10 fold. You are now one of the best of a much, much, larger community. There will be more people to sell add-ons, training, support, and services to.
#6
Fading into the background slowly again :)
09/10/2012 (9:26 am)
@Eric - Removed my comment... i actually did not think about the positive side of going open source... before i pressed "post" Sorry about that.Fading into the background slowly again :)
#7
Additionally, it means to me that there will probably be more "action" on bug-fixes and improvements (which you will still have access to), which is great for everyone. Also, updates to documentation should be much faster and more frequent as well. Tutorials should start popping up like weeds (but more useful).
It's easy to focus on negatives, but there are a lot of good things about this and I hope people will decide to look up to the bright blue sky instead of down at the garbage can.
09/10/2012 (9:28 am)
@Alienforce - Me too. At the same time, if you were to start making art assets for T3D and loading them on the store you might find a way to make that money back; Free engine means more users to sell art and script packs to.... And now you can take the GarageGames splash screen off (though we'd appreciate it if you kept it :) ).Additionally, it means to me that there will probably be more "action" on bug-fixes and improvements (which you will still have access to), which is great for everyone. Also, updates to documentation should be much faster and more frequent as well. Tutorials should start popping up like weeds (but more useful).
It's easy to focus on negatives, but there are a lot of good things about this and I hope people will decide to look up to the bright blue sky instead of down at the garbage can.
#8
09/10/2012 (9:32 am)
:) Well said Richard, totally agree with you.
#9
The point of the Community Edition was to much more rapidly fix bugs and add 'necessary' elements missing from the engine, as the build rate for GG was slower.
Given that this move is partially designed to alleviate that, I'm curious how something like the CE would move forward. Would CE be kept a separate beast, as it gets faster, but smaller iterations compared to the main distro, or would the idea be to have the people leading the push with the CE to be on the committee and they would push any confirmed, stable changes to the main build?
I guess the greater question is, with it moving into the Open Source space, what's the plan for how updates to the main repo will be created and pushed, and would the CE be a part of that in any way?
09/10/2012 (9:54 am)
Mich posted a response into the CE discussion thread, so I'm sure others will filter in through here throughout the rest of the day, but it is a good point.The point of the Community Edition was to much more rapidly fix bugs and add 'necessary' elements missing from the engine, as the build rate for GG was slower.
Given that this move is partially designed to alleviate that, I'm curious how something like the CE would move forward. Would CE be kept a separate beast, as it gets faster, but smaller iterations compared to the main distro, or would the idea be to have the people leading the push with the CE to be on the committee and they would push any confirmed, stable changes to the main build?
I guess the greater question is, with it moving into the Open Source space, what's the plan for how updates to the main repo will be created and pushed, and would the CE be a part of that in any way?
#10
Personally I think the CE should go into the main repository of T3D or atleast be linked to it in some way, since they essentially fulfill the same purpose. The CE is simply a bit more mature version of the new OpenT3D
09/10/2012 (9:58 am)
Yes, should the CE follow it's own path or should it be branched into the the T3D main repository?Personally I think the CE should go into the main repository of T3D or atleast be linked to it in some way, since they essentially fulfill the same purpose. The CE is simply a bit more mature version of the new OpenT3D
#11
We have some ideas about how WE would like to roll out updates to our branch, but ultimately, we want YOU to help us establish an open forum that is community driven. So even though we have our preferences, it will be up to the greater community to help us determine how we will move forward.
If it's not democratic and open, then we aren't doing it right.
09/10/2012 (10:00 am)
The goal of the committee we have (and are going to establish with you) is to maintain the best version of T3D to build upon. We will certainly be looking at opportunities to incorporate any work done by others along that same vein.We have some ideas about how WE would like to roll out updates to our branch, but ultimately, we want YOU to help us establish an open forum that is community driven. So even though we have our preferences, it will be up to the greater community to help us determine how we will move forward.
If it's not democratic and open, then we aren't doing it right.
#12
I take it those ideas will be elaborated on in the near future as things get organized, so we can start figuring out as a community how to approach it?
09/10/2012 (10:03 am)
Makes sense to me, Eric.I take it those ideas will be elaborated on in the near future as things get organized, so we can start figuring out as a community how to approach it?
#13
And I thought other could make use of this. Will there then be a feature submission form or something that I would fill out and email to the board? Or what are your ideas on that?
09/10/2012 (10:07 am)
Another thing, if I came up with a great addition.. Say a MeshEmitter! (Oh my, how did I just make that up?)And I thought other could make use of this. Will there then be a feature submission form or something that I would fill out and email to the board? Or what are your ideas on that?
#14
What about having a up/downvote system on resources for consideration on integrating it with the core build?
Like in Lukas' case, he'd submit it as a resource, obviously, and people can go 'Oh snap, this is the BEST THING EVER', and flag that they'd be interested in seeing it integrated into the core. The committee can look at the resources that are submitted every now and again and see if they'd make sense to include in the core build.
This makes it a community driven effort, and helps make sure small fixes and resources that are globally useful don't get lost in the shuffle, but the committee still has the final say on if it makes sense to integrate.
09/10/2012 (10:10 am)
An idea towards that, especially if there's going to be a site overhaul/upgrade in the near future.What about having a up/downvote system on resources for consideration on integrating it with the core build?
Like in Lukas' case, he'd submit it as a resource, obviously, and people can go 'Oh snap, this is the BEST THING EVER', and flag that they'd be interested in seeing it integrated into the core. The committee can look at the resources that are submitted every now and again and see if they'd make sense to include in the core build.
This makes it a community driven effort, and helps make sure small fixes and resources that are globally useful don't get lost in the shuffle, but the committee still has the final say on if it makes sense to integrate.
#15
I think there already is a system for this just can't remember its name..
09/10/2012 (10:12 am)
@JeffI think there already is a system for this just can't remember its name..
#16
09/10/2012 (10:13 am)
When is it going to be up and open for download?
#17
09/10/2012 (10:15 am)
@Jeff - We are going to take it one step at a time. The next step (along with the actual release) will be an open recruitment of a committee who will run the master branch. Following in the steps of other successful open source project philosophies, we think it's best to have more than just GG staff in this group. They will start organizing the process with the community. 
#18
I am all for open souce, and I certainly look forward to contributing to the main Torque codebase.
09/10/2012 (10:18 am)
WOAH! This was certainly a pleasant surprise to me! :)I am all for open souce, and I certainly look forward to contributing to the main Torque codebase.
#19
Yes. This is definitely one of the key pieces that we want. Right now the committee is GG staff, but we want to transition most of us out of the mix and non-GG staff into it so that we have a strong community-driven project. That way everyone knows what is happening in the process and the roadmap can bee driven by what works in real projects.
09/10/2012 (10:19 am)
Quote:Following in the steps of other successful open source project philosophies, we think it's best to have more than just GG staff in this group.
Yes. This is definitely one of the key pieces that we want. Right now the committee is GG staff, but we want to transition most of us out of the mix and non-GG staff into it so that we have a strong community-driven project. That way everyone knows what is happening in the process and the roadmap can bee driven by what works in real projects.
#20
What components are those, exactly?
09/10/2012 (10:20 am)
Quote:There are other, closed source components of Torque 3D that I would like to open up following our launch.
What components are those, exactly?
Torque Owner Lukas Joergensen
WinterLeaf Entertainment
Oh boy this could be awesome news!
But that blog isn't available yet! Simply links to http://???
Excited about the blog!