Business application
by Kevin James · in Torque Game Builder · 03/24/2005 (7:34 am) · 17 replies
A few years ago, I wrote a simulation of our plant operations using Delphi 5.0. Honestly, the graphics are pathetic but it gets the job done. It shows real-time activity of machine resources, forklifts, tubs of parts, scale stations, everything that gets tracked by the barcode system. We have 3 plants. Each plant manager uses "SimPlant" as a visualization of what is happening on the floor, most importantly the status of product that is being manufactured. It gets this real-time activity from a commlog stored in an Oracle table.
I bought T2D for my son to learn programming concepts and have fun making games, but I must say, this would be make the PERFECT simulator engine for my "SimPlant". I'll assume that T2D does not have built in database support, but that is a minor issue. My question is about licensing. This isn't the type of application that we would market, its only for internal use. I know I'll have to at least purchase another seat to develop it at work, but are there any other issues I should be aware of?
Thanks
I bought T2D for my son to learn programming concepts and have fun making games, but I must say, this would be make the PERFECT simulator engine for my "SimPlant". I'll assume that T2D does not have built in database support, but that is a minor issue. My question is about licensing. This isn't the type of application that we would market, its only for internal use. I know I'll have to at least purchase another seat to develop it at work, but are there any other issues I should be aware of?
Thanks
About the author
Hobbyist game developer -- free and open source games FTW.
#2
I need to make a demo for my boss and see if he green lights a full blown upgrade to the project using T2D. I can't imagine why he wouldn't. I mean, geez, now he can fire missles at forktrucks just like he always wanted ;)
03/24/2005 (8:39 am)
Thanks. I would think since its a private, not for sale, internal application, that a commercial license would be uneccessary. But, that's why I had to ask!I need to make a demo for my boss and see if he green lights a full blown upgrade to the project using T2D. I can't imagine why he wouldn't. I mean, geez, now he can fire missles at forktrucks just like he always wanted ;)
#3
I'm not a GG employee, nor a licensing expert, but my guess would be that a commercial license is where you would need to go. As an aside, a commercial license would free you up to actually go ahead and sell the application, were that to interest you!
03/24/2005 (8:47 am)
LOL! That does sound really interesting!I'm not a GG employee, nor a licensing expert, but my guess would be that a commercial license is where you would need to go. As an aside, a commercial license would free you up to actually go ahead and sell the application, were that to interest you!
#4
But then again, who knows.
03/24/2005 (8:52 am)
I don't quite understand why he would need a commercial licence. I could make a game and sell it to a guy who only had 5 bucks and I could sell it to a guy who has 6 billion. It doesn't mean that I have 6 billion dollars of capital.But then again, who knows.
#5
Josh would be the expert here, I'm just throwing out my thoughts based on how licenses are handled with the other apps.
03/24/2005 (9:07 am)
Because the Indy license only allows for the production of "games". Any commercial application that is not a "game" requires a commercial license--regardless of the asset/revenue values. That's how TGE/TSE works currently, and I would kind of expect T2D to be the same...except that there isn't actually a commercial license set up at the moment.Josh would be the expert here, I'm just throwing out my thoughts based on how licenses are handled with the other apps.
#6
03/24/2005 (9:11 am)
Ok, just to be safe, I'll call it a "game". There, problem solved :D 
#8
It will be awhile before I get serious about this. First I have to finish the other 10 projects with higher priority :\
03/24/2005 (10:04 am)
Wow, you guys work fast!It will be awhile before I get serious about this. First I have to finish the other 10 projects with higher priority :\
#9
btw Torque 3D Engine has implementations of MySQL and SQLite (haven't tested them) though I think they will work just fine in T2D...
personally I worked up a Database in Torquescript (though not as fast as C++ of course, it shows the power of Torquescript)
03/24/2005 (10:06 am)
Lol we are a bit crazy here, but in a good way :) (I think lol)...btw Torque 3D Engine has implementations of MySQL and SQLite (haven't tested them) though I think they will work just fine in T2D...
personally I worked up a Database in Torquescript (though not as fast as C++ of course, it shows the power of Torquescript)
#10
03/24/2005 (10:14 am)
Does that mean you could connect to an external Oracle table using Torquescript? That would be sweet. My "knee-jerk" solution was to have a small service on the db server that fed the commlog to a text file that would in turn be picked up by T2D.
#11
something about
03/24/2005 (10:22 am)
Go up to the top search bar, make sure the drop-down is on resources... then type in oracle... I think its the first result that pops up (ODBC), at least would be a good place to startsomething about
#12
And yes, there are many solutions for connecting TAP (T2D, TGE, TSE, any of them!) to a database. My project personally started out with ODBC to a MySQL back end (through a resource here in the community), and then moved to a PostGreSQL backend (work in progress).
Others have connected via an HTTPObject and PHP through a web page, and you could even go "whole hog" and use TNL to get other applications to talk to Torque without having to write custom data protocols. In any case, while your commlog to a text file could work, there are a wide variety of solutions available to you!
03/24/2005 (10:27 am)
Yes, I stand corrected on their not being a commercial version of the T2D EA, sorry about that--should have done my research first!And yes, there are many solutions for connecting TAP (T2D, TGE, TSE, any of them!) to a database. My project personally started out with ODBC to a MySQL back end (through a resource here in the community), and then moved to a PostGreSQL backend (work in progress).
Others have connected via an HTTPObject and PHP through a web page, and you could even go "whole hog" and use TNL to get other applications to talk to Torque without having to write custom data protocols. In any case, while your commlog to a text file could work, there are a wide variety of solutions available to you!
#13
03/24/2005 (10:49 am)
Awesome. 
#14
Sounds very cool, would love to hear updates on how this project comes along once you start. So you know, yes, you'd need to purchase a commercial license to T2D to do this project.
And regarding database connectivity, I'll just chime in officially to say that many of the resources concerned with getting Torque talking to all the major DB solutions, as well as SQLite, are quite good. :) I love this place!
03/24/2005 (11:05 am)
Darren,Sounds very cool, would love to hear updates on how this project comes along once you start. So you know, yes, you'd need to purchase a commercial license to T2D to do this project.
And regarding database connectivity, I'll just chime in officially to say that many of the resources concerned with getting Torque talking to all the major DB solutions, as well as SQLite, are quite good. :) I love this place!
#15
Remember, a person who bought the indie license version had to agree to this EULA before purchase. That means if a person is making any type "simulation" or "walk-through" the indie license does not apply to that person and they would have to have a Commercial License for Torque2D.
03/24/2005 (11:05 am)
Just a clarification, according to the first paragraph of the "indie -source version" of Torque 2D:Quote:The T2D Indie License is intended to be used for games only, by very small independent companies or individuals funding their own game development. Any other use is governed by the Torque 2D Commercial Product License.
Remember, a person who bought the indie license version had to agree to this EULA before purchase. That means if a person is making any type "simulation" or "walk-through" the indie license does not apply to that person and they would have to have a Commercial License for Torque2D.
#16
03/24/2005 (11:13 am)
This application would require a Commercial License. Simply calling it a game would be pushing our very liberal license past its limit. Our pricing, even for the commercial licenses is very low. We sell our Indie Licenses to struggling game makers for below cost with the business strategy that commercial licenses, games sales, and other opportunities make up for the difference. The price for the commercial license of T2D is $395 per programmer seat. Our goal is to keep the cost of commercial versions of our engines in the range of shrink wrapped software. A company can easily spend more than that for a compiler, editor, Photoshop, a 3D editor, a database, etc. I hope you will not hold our low Indie licensing fee against us.
#17
03/24/2005 (11:34 am)
@Jeff: I agree completely. If my boss likes the demo I show him, he wouldn't even blink at $395.
Torque 3D Owner Stephen Zepp
It actually sounds like an outstanding and interesting project, and you may want to contact Josh Williams via email with some more details and see what he thinks!
My personal suggestion would be to proceed currently with what you have planned as a prototype with T2D EA, and query GG (through Josh probably) to clean the licenses up if needed.