So who's making games out there anyway?
by Andy Hawkins · in General Discussion · 07/12/2005 (11:17 pm) · 38 replies
I wanted people to write in and tell us all...
- what game they are working on (type / torque tools used)
- when they expect it to be released
- how much they plan to sell it for
- how they are going to market it etc.
It would be an interesting study to see what Torque is being used for.
It seems that a lot of people are still struggling with the code / learning the code / learning the engine and are a long way from releasing a game.
Please feel free to elaborate - I think an open forum on where we are all at will be good for the Torque community. It's just that I fear there are many people out there overwhelmed by the sheer depth of Torque and game development it might be good to put things in perspective and maybe help a few people stay on track.
Please don't discuss delicate IP issues however. For example when talking about what type of game, maybe just say a Sci Fi FPS, rather than saying, a epic saga of love, death, life and riches as the player flies from one end of the universe to the other in an attempt to rescue the beautiful princess Daphina from the ruthless Dr Drago!
Andy H.
- what game they are working on (type / torque tools used)
- when they expect it to be released
- how much they plan to sell it for
- how they are going to market it etc.
It would be an interesting study to see what Torque is being used for.
It seems that a lot of people are still struggling with the code / learning the code / learning the engine and are a long way from releasing a game.
Please feel free to elaborate - I think an open forum on where we are all at will be good for the Torque community. It's just that I fear there are many people out there overwhelmed by the sheer depth of Torque and game development it might be good to put things in perspective and maybe help a few people stay on track.
Please don't discuss delicate IP issues however. For example when talking about what type of game, maybe just say a Sci Fi FPS, rather than saying, a epic saga of love, death, life and riches as the player flies from one end of the universe to the other in an attempt to rescue the beautiful princess Daphina from the ruthless Dr Drago!
Andy H.
#22
I have several goals for this game:
a) It should actually be complete
b) It should have Fallout-like combat
c) It should have a full-featured graphical map editor
d) It should use the rather confusing RPG system I've developed
I've tried my hand at RPGs before and never done particularly well. The last time, I had a complete RPG engine, but it wasn't exactly what I wanted. So I figure I should be able to get it done this time.
I had something that was similar to Fallout-like combat in the last game, but it was lacking in several ways. I only had a really rudimentary text-based set of development tools, and I'm already far enough along on the graphical map editor that I'm better off than before.
This time, I'm not going to try to add every feature that someone suggests. I'm not making this game to sell - I'm making it for the sake of making it. I'm taking a good long time doing it (since I can't quit my job to make a free video game), and I'm making it to my own specifications.
Estimated Completetion Date: November 31, 2005
07/16/2005 (10:19 am)
Rabbits - a freeware 2D RPG. I'm programming it in Java, so it doesn't use Torque. It's going to be a fairly low-key game, and I'll probably only have limitted art and music resources.I have several goals for this game:
a) It should actually be complete
b) It should have Fallout-like combat
c) It should have a full-featured graphical map editor
d) It should use the rather confusing RPG system I've developed
I've tried my hand at RPGs before and never done particularly well. The last time, I had a complete RPG engine, but it wasn't exactly what I wanted. So I figure I should be able to get it done this time.
I had something that was similar to Fallout-like combat in the last game, but it was lacking in several ways. I only had a really rudimentary text-based set of development tools, and I'm already far enough along on the graphical map editor that I'm better off than before.
This time, I'm not going to try to add every feature that someone suggests. I'm not making this game to sell - I'm making it for the sake of making it. I'm taking a good long time doing it (since I can't quit my job to make a free video game), and I'm making it to my own specifications.
Estimated Completetion Date: November 31, 2005
#23
We've had the 2d version tested at an event in the UK called submerge
www.submerge.org.uk/
where the gameplay dragged quite a few people in for a half-hour sesh before viewing another project.
It's simplistic, old-skool gameplay but over a multiplayer arena which seems to work quite well, view our buggy demo at www.elemental-entertainment.co.uk/
Not done anything much with C++ before but I've done a fair bit of reading up on it and it seems a bit more complicated than anything else I've done before but that won't stop me hehe :)
07/26/2005 (10:24 am)
Going to attempt to make a conversion of a recent Visual Basic game created as a demo for a university project called Wingmen, probably in Torque 3d now up from the 2d version made using DX7 / VB 6. We've had the 2d version tested at an event in the UK called submerge
www.submerge.org.uk/
where the gameplay dragged quite a few people in for a half-hour sesh before viewing another project.
It's simplistic, old-skool gameplay but over a multiplayer arena which seems to work quite well, view our buggy demo at www.elemental-entertainment.co.uk/
Not done anything much with C++ before but I've done a fair bit of reading up on it and it seems a bit more complicated than anything else I've done before but that won't stop me hehe :)
#25
We're in the "figure out the features that will make it into the final game/artists' concept" stage of development. I'm mostly just messing around with the script to get familiar with it.
07/26/2005 (12:09 pm)
We are: http://www.garagegames.com/index.php?sec=mg&mod=project&page=view.project&qid=3142We're in the "figure out the features that will make it into the final game/artists' concept" stage of development. I'm mostly just messing around with the script to get familiar with it.
#26
07/26/2005 (12:19 pm)
Working on a stock car racer, using Torque. It should be ready for late 2006. 
#27
Release Date: The day blood starts leaking from my eyes.
-Josh Ritter
Prairie Games
07/26/2005 (12:48 pm)
Minions of Mirth, which is our massively single player, multiplayer, persistent world RPG.Release Date: The day blood starts leaking from my eyes.
-Josh Ritter
Prairie Games
#28
07/26/2005 (1:18 pm)
I'm making a puzzle game with Torque 2d! You can see it come to life starting with my latest .plan! I am at the gui stage right now. My brother and I are making it together. We finished all of the scripting last night and now it's just making it pretty and testing the gameplay(which is really a total copy of all of the other 3 match puzzle games out there) and making all of the levels(which in our case, since we are using animal photographs, means picking animal photos for about 150 levels, sheesh!)
#29
- looking at an alpha release this fall
- www.ogreforce.com
I've released one previous game "Back Alley Brawl". Wrote the 3D engine for that one myself.
07/26/2005 (2:36 pm)
Kodiak Jones - Pest Control is an action/adventure game.- looking at an alpha release this fall
- www.ogreforce.com
I've released one previous game "Back Alley Brawl". Wrote the 3D engine for that one myself.
#30
www.aura-online.net
type: MMO
budget: $2000
using: We are using the Torque Indie License and will upgrade to commercial before release.
ShowTool, Maya, Shader Engine, cloth content pack.
Release: 1st quarter 2006
price: begining at 2 dollars a month
market: posters at local gaming store's, internet.
WE ARE LOOKING FOR PROGRAMMERS CONTACT ME AT: AURAONLINE@GMAIL.COM
07/26/2005 (3:49 pm)
Aura-Onlinewww.aura-online.net
type: MMO
budget: $2000
using: We are using the Torque Indie License and will upgrade to commercial before release.
ShowTool, Maya, Shader Engine, cloth content pack.
Release: 1st quarter 2006
price: begining at 2 dollars a month
market: posters at local gaming store's, internet.
WE ARE LOOKING FOR PROGRAMMERS CONTACT ME AT: AURAONLINE@GMAIL.COM
#31
Expected release... PC: October 2005, Mac: November 2005, Linux: ???
Price: 20 dollars
Developed with TGE, ShowTool, Maya, .NET 2003
Distributed by Trymedia (and others...)
07/26/2005 (4:01 pm)
Wildlife Tycoon: Venture AfricaExpected release... PC: October 2005, Mac: November 2005, Linux: ???
Price: 20 dollars
Developed with TGE, ShowTool, Maya, .NET 2003
Distributed by Trymedia (and others...)
#32
ishbuu and I are doing an adventure game with Torque, there should be a screenshot soon, but as of now the soldire pak has filled it up
3ds Max PhotoShop TSE or TGE/Synapse Audacity
release unestablished yet
07/26/2005 (8:01 pm)
Hmm...ishbuu and I are doing an adventure game with Torque, there should be a screenshot soon, but as of now the soldire pak has filled it up
3ds Max PhotoShop TSE or TGE/Synapse Audacity
release unestablished yet
#33
So, currently no game projects. I have a nearly complete version of "Bomb-a-Deer" (a Bomberman clone) in BlitzMax for a tutorial I was writing. But recently, I've been playing with TGE+T2D to create Vagrant Story styled in-game cut-scenes. It could have been done with GUI elements, but was more intuitive with T2D and the effects that I had at my disposal cut the case deep. Of course, working on this may be the reason I have a knee-jerk reactionary viewpoint when it comes to people asking whether Torque can have cut-scenes. The vast majority of the camera-work was already exemplified in the feature demo, damnit. I like wheels I don't have to reinvent. And yet, I also understand where people are coming from because I've been there, not understanding paths, etc. But still...if I can do it anyone can. I've considered a "backdrop"-esque resource that allows for pre-rendered (Resident Evil/Final Fantasy vII) backgrounds and collisions, but that would be a more major undertaking that playing with the scenegraph and camera.
07/26/2005 (8:44 pm)
I'd been avoiding this thread just as I avoid most of its ilk, for I am the killer of projects (usually for reasons that have previously been stated by Jay--even if they appear in scope in the beginning). I'm not talking feature-creep. I mean underestimation of resources necessary, the "fun-factor" (to utilize a GamePro reviewism), and personal interest in projects that at first seem exciting and end up plucking your soul from your throat as you drown in your own blood and cerebrospinal fluid, dead-eyes glossed with what could have been. What the haruspex may make of my dead projects' entrails, I have no idea.So, currently no game projects. I have a nearly complete version of "Bomb-a-Deer" (a Bomberman clone) in BlitzMax for a tutorial I was writing. But recently, I've been playing with TGE+T2D to create Vagrant Story styled in-game cut-scenes. It could have been done with GUI elements, but was more intuitive with T2D and the effects that I had at my disposal cut the case deep. Of course, working on this may be the reason I have a knee-jerk reactionary viewpoint when it comes to people asking whether Torque can have cut-scenes. The vast majority of the camera-work was already exemplified in the feature demo, damnit. I like wheels I don't have to reinvent. And yet, I also understand where people are coming from because I've been there, not understanding paths, etc. But still...if I can do it anyone can. I've considered a "backdrop"-esque resource that allows for pre-rendered (Resident Evil/Final Fantasy vII) backgrounds and collisions, but that would be a more major undertaking that playing with the scenegraph and camera.
#34
My next project will be a T2D game again, but I haven't decided what. Options include
- Puzzle game in adventure style with a strong story line and two main characters
- Action adventure game with sophisticated AI and many lifeforms (stranded on a planet type)
Release for a next project would be within 2-4 months. EggStatic took bit less than 3 months... from buying T2D to finish. (I wont leave the 5% group that actually finishes games :) I can say that Jays' calculations are pretty spot on.. I spend about a week prototyping (which is excellent with T2D!). Of course not being familiar with T2D costed me some weeks...
- Edo.
@Matthew: Your 'Galactic Run' sounds like a very cool concept. I often thought of transforming 'Elite'/'First Encounters' into something similar.. and offer a little more arcade action and more direction in an other wise open-ended game.
07/27/2005 (12:49 am)
I am finishing up EggStatic, a Torque 2D, 1980s style platform game ( and inspired by Chuckie Egg). Expected release within a few days :)My next project will be a T2D game again, but I haven't decided what. Options include
- Puzzle game in adventure style with a strong story line and two main characters
- Action adventure game with sophisticated AI and many lifeforms (stranded on a planet type)
Release for a next project would be within 2-4 months. EggStatic took bit less than 3 months... from buying T2D to finish. (I wont leave the 5% group that actually finishes games :) I can say that Jays' calculations are pretty spot on.. I spend about a week prototyping (which is excellent with T2D!). Of course not being familiar with T2D costed me some weeks...
- Edo.
@Matthew: Your 'Galactic Run' sounds like a very cool concept. I often thought of transforming 'Elite'/'First Encounters' into something similar.. and offer a little more arcade action and more direction in an other wise open-ended game.
#35
Matt Langley Re Galactic Run: I've played that! Well obviously not that but something very similar. It's called Escape Velocity and it's tons of fun.
07/27/2005 (2:56 am)
I'm working on a game using Torque, but it's still secret (for another week or so... look for a dev snapshot about it soon). I suspect there are many more secret projects that don't want to blow the element of surprise.Matt Langley Re Galactic Run: I've played that! Well obviously not that but something very similar. It's called Escape Velocity and it's tons of fun.
#36
I just recently decided to do the Four Elments Four Contest. Ninja Vs. Pirates is going to be an Unreal/Counter strike style game So lots of Multiplayer mayhem! It's going to be a fairly straight forward action game, Maybe after the contest i could make a commercial version.
07/27/2005 (7:42 am)
I forgot to mention Ninja Vs. PiratesI just recently decided to do the Four Elments Four Contest. Ninja Vs. Pirates is going to be an Unreal/Counter strike style game So lots of Multiplayer mayhem! It's going to be a fairly straight forward action game, Maybe after the contest i could make a commercial version.
#38
Actually, this 5% figure you're speaking of, it goes across the board. Only 5% succeed at *anything* when they're their own boss, not just games ;)
07/29/2005 (11:42 am)
@JayActually, this 5% figure you're speaking of, it goes across the board. Only 5% succeed at *anything* when they're their own boss, not just games ;)
Torque Owner Lee-Orr Orbach