Torque heading towards piecemeal?
by John Vanderbeck · in Torque Game Engine · 03/19/2004 (5:45 pm) · 27 replies
Ok so i'm probably goign to get flamed again here, but i'm curious about something. The Torue Shader thingy was announced, and the Torque Network Library was announced. Both appear to be add ons that cost an additional chunk of change. Is there more? Is Torqeu essentially moving towards a more piecemeal approach? IE Instead of us just licensing Torque 2.0, we instead license all these pieces? How much are we looking at to license all these new pieces which essentially seems to be Torque 2.0? I'm curious because they all look really good but i'm starting to think I can't afford them. I fund my compnay totally out of my own pocket right now.
#22
"Yes. some of us might not be able to afford it right now, but it does give us options to invest in the future. Make your game playable, sell it, take the money made from it and buy TSE, update your game and release a new version of your game, make more money. That's what I plan on doing. Think about the games you like the most and why you like them. Was it the game play or the graphics? Go from there. The option to spend the extra money is yours."
For me, I'm going to wait and decide at a later time. I am not running out and going to purchase anything until I do the research and see if it it will meet the needs of my project that I am working on. I got to say the prices are low for the technology and will be interesting on how the bigger companies will react to this. As Josh said "chill out" and wait. I think I'll do what Jeff does... jump on his bike and go for a ride, but mine is a ATV:)
I think it is great what is going on GG. Also for those who think this is expensive, try researching other engines for what you get for the price. It is really a good price compared to other engines. Don't forget the license fees as well when you do your research. Wait and see! That's all they are asking.
03/21/2004 (10:17 am)
I agree with you, Josh.I think the lack of info about TSE and TNL is freaking people. People need to wait and see what is going to be. As I said in another thread about the TSE: "Yes. some of us might not be able to afford it right now, but it does give us options to invest in the future. Make your game playable, sell it, take the money made from it and buy TSE, update your game and release a new version of your game, make more money. That's what I plan on doing. Think about the games you like the most and why you like them. Was it the game play or the graphics? Go from there. The option to spend the extra money is yours."
For me, I'm going to wait and decide at a later time. I am not running out and going to purchase anything until I do the research and see if it it will meet the needs of my project that I am working on. I got to say the prices are low for the technology and will be interesting on how the bigger companies will react to this. As Josh said "chill out" and wait. I think I'll do what Jeff does... jump on his bike and go for a ride, but mine is a ATV:)
I think it is great what is going on GG. Also for those who think this is expensive, try researching other engines for what you get for the price. It is really a good price compared to other engines. Don't forget the license fees as well when you do your research. Wait and see! That's all they are asking.
#23
03/21/2004 (11:17 am)
Yeah, especially since you can't even buy TSE yet... ;)
#24
Frustrating it is..
03/22/2004 (12:01 pm)
Hmm.. as someone who purchased the engine a whole 5 days ago, I'm sort of troubled to find out that what i purchased is already "second gen". It's been probably close to 8months that I've been looking for an engine, and deciding if I (not a coder by trade) wanted to invest the time for GG engine, purchase a copy of Visual C++, Milkshape, so that I could start working. now, 150 or so in the hole, I need ANOTHER 150 dollars to be current with the tech.. and Torque 2 is coming out.. I guess I should have waited.. Frustrating it is..
#25
TSE is a long ways out from being done, and even when it is done - it's just graphics tech. It's graphics tech with a clear upgrade path, too. You have everything you need to get your game done, and done really well, in Torque 1.2.
03/22/2004 (1:02 pm)
Dude, chill out. :)TSE is a long ways out from being done, and even when it is done - it's just graphics tech. It's graphics tech with a clear upgrade path, too. You have everything you need to get your game done, and done really well, in Torque 1.2.
#26
03/22/2004 (1:23 pm)
You actually saved yourself $45 by buying the TGE. The TSE will only cost $150 if you want it, but if you hadn't bought the TGE, then TSE would cost you $295.
#27
03/22/2004 (2:57 pm)
Also if the old engine was "good enough" for your project, why would that change now? If thats still true than don't upgrade and save the $$$. If its not true then thank GG for giving you the ability to upgrade your copy to something that is "good enough" for your game.
Torque Owner Josh Williams
Default Studio Name
You are correct.. nothing was subtracted from Torque (TGE 1.2). Torque licenses are not affected at all by any of the new announcements and technologies. Everything that was there before is still there.
The only difference is now you actually have the *option* to upgrade the tech, if you want to. Before, you had paid the $100 license for TGE, but if you needed shaders, for example, you were S.O.L. Now, you have an optional upgrade path where none existed before.
Things have actually gotten better for those who just want the $100 Torque engine. Those folks still will have everything they had before, and now they get the bonus potential to upgrade their tech, if they ever decide it is worth it in the future.
Anyway, all these questions about future product plans are understandable. Change can be freaky. And it is difficult to operate on partial information.
But my advice is... chill out. In about 3 weeks, everything regarding the licensing for TNL and TSE will be clear. Until then, what is the point of sweating it? For anybody that just can't help worrying about things for the next few weeks, you'll just have to exercise a bit of faith. GG has never been out to screw people... quite the opposite they have been amazingly egalitarian and pro-indie. I swear you will be pleased with how everything turns out.