T2D update review (from 1.0.2 to 1.1 so far) ... and a question
by Josh Williams · in Torque Game Builder · 09/08/2005 (4:13 am) · 71 replies
Hello all,
Alrighty, I've been meaning to get an update out to everyone going over the changes we've made to T2D since we started jamming on version 1.1... it's been a long road, but man, things are looking good. People have asked to get regular updates on what we're working on, so I'm writing this post to go over, at least at a high level, the changes we have in T2D right now and what we've been working on. I also have an important question to get you guys' opinions on at the end here.
So, what have we been up to? First off, I would highly recommend that you read the T2D dev teams' .plans: Melv #1, Melv #2, Melv #3, Object Editor, GUI and Inspector work, Turn-based Networking. Between these .plans, you can get a pretty good idea of what we've been cranking away on. In this post, I want to cover the other areas we've been working on, and update you all on what's happening.
The high level list of changes we've made to T2D is below. Briefly though, I just wanted to let people know that a lot of what's gone into T2D 1.1-- and a big part of the reason it's taken so much longer to get out than we originally hoped-- is that the engine is being actively used in full-on commercial game development right now. There are two big studios working on multiple T2D titles at the moment, and here at GG, we have a T2D game in the works as well (which we'll be talking more about at the Indie Games Con!). All this has led to *tons* of great T2D feedback, a lot of which we've incorporated in the T2D 1.1 dev plan as much of it was interwoven and connected to work we were already doing for 1.1. Getting all this feedback on T2D has resulted in a much, much, much more solid and stable codebase, as well as many performance improvements in addition to the core features we had planned for T2D 1.1.
As for what we've changed:
-Simplified physics set-up -- added easier to understand script calls, and made it so you don't have to use the T2D physics system by default. Added new automated physics response modes.
-Added object editor - now you can edit any t2dSceneObject's information using a GUI-driven Inspector, similar to the GUI Editor, or TGE's World Editor Inspector. You can also draw collision polys with a point and click interface
-Created T2D GUI event system... you can now both have T2D objects receive GUI events (so your sprites can receive onMouseEnter, onClick, etc, etc), and/or make T2D control standard TGE GUIs!
-Refined and fixed turn-based networking.
-Tons of bug fixes
-Tons of performance improvements
-Set-up T2D area on TDN-- The Torque Developer Network, which is our forthcoming community-focused, wiki-based documentation and tutorial site)
-Added new docs, and updated all existing docs to work with T2D 1.1
-Re-named all T2D core objects... the naming convention is no longer fx__________2D, but t2d_________________. So, fxStaticSprite2D is now known as t2dStaticSprite. The rest of the calls on the objects are still the same though (or, 99% the same), so getting existing scripts to run in T2D 1.1 pretty much just involves searching and replacing the class names.
-Added much more flexible object saving mechanisms... version-safe, so we won't break saved art assets, tile maps, particle effects, etc in the future in T2D updates after version 1.1
-Many, many smaller changes: added new GUI controls, extended collision system, refined datablocks, refined default physics / collision values, extended t2dVector, OS X fixes, etc, etc, etc.
Alrighty, I've been meaning to get an update out to everyone going over the changes we've made to T2D since we started jamming on version 1.1... it's been a long road, but man, things are looking good. People have asked to get regular updates on what we're working on, so I'm writing this post to go over, at least at a high level, the changes we have in T2D right now and what we've been working on. I also have an important question to get you guys' opinions on at the end here.
So, what have we been up to? First off, I would highly recommend that you read the T2D dev teams' .plans: Melv #1, Melv #2, Melv #3, Object Editor, GUI and Inspector work, Turn-based Networking. Between these .plans, you can get a pretty good idea of what we've been cranking away on. In this post, I want to cover the other areas we've been working on, and update you all on what's happening.
The high level list of changes we've made to T2D is below. Briefly though, I just wanted to let people know that a lot of what's gone into T2D 1.1-- and a big part of the reason it's taken so much longer to get out than we originally hoped-- is that the engine is being actively used in full-on commercial game development right now. There are two big studios working on multiple T2D titles at the moment, and here at GG, we have a T2D game in the works as well (which we'll be talking more about at the Indie Games Con!). All this has led to *tons* of great T2D feedback, a lot of which we've incorporated in the T2D 1.1 dev plan as much of it was interwoven and connected to work we were already doing for 1.1. Getting all this feedback on T2D has resulted in a much, much, much more solid and stable codebase, as well as many performance improvements in addition to the core features we had planned for T2D 1.1.
As for what we've changed:
-Simplified physics set-up -- added easier to understand script calls, and made it so you don't have to use the T2D physics system by default. Added new automated physics response modes.
-Added object editor - now you can edit any t2dSceneObject's information using a GUI-driven Inspector, similar to the GUI Editor, or TGE's World Editor Inspector. You can also draw collision polys with a point and click interface
-Created T2D GUI event system... you can now both have T2D objects receive GUI events (so your sprites can receive onMouseEnter, onClick, etc, etc), and/or make T2D control standard TGE GUIs!
-Refined and fixed turn-based networking.
-Tons of bug fixes
-Tons of performance improvements
-Set-up T2D area on TDN-- The Torque Developer Network, which is our forthcoming community-focused, wiki-based documentation and tutorial site)
-Added new docs, and updated all existing docs to work with T2D 1.1
-Re-named all T2D core objects... the naming convention is no longer fx__________2D, but t2d_________________. So, fxStaticSprite2D is now known as t2dStaticSprite. The rest of the calls on the objects are still the same though (or, 99% the same), so getting existing scripts to run in T2D 1.1 pretty much just involves searching and replacing the class names.
-Added much more flexible object saving mechanisms... version-safe, so we won't break saved art assets, tile maps, particle effects, etc in the future in T2D updates after version 1.1
-Many, many smaller changes: added new GUI controls, extended collision system, refined datablocks, refined default physics / collision values, extended t2dVector, OS X fixes, etc, etc, etc.
#62
10/24/2005 (4:08 pm)
I do believe that ISO is not dead. Neither is SOY nor SASHIMI. The question is always... how much do you need it... 
#63
10/24/2005 (6:02 pm)
@Alex Rice: Doing an isometric game, such as an RPG or strategy game in TGE or TSE would involve a much more complex art pipeline. The additional complexity of the art pipeline means added time investment and cost. For small developers wanting to do, say a turn-based strategy game (Civ Clone) or action RPG (like Sacred) using an isometric view, a 2D art pipeline would be preferable.
#64
10/24/2005 (8:26 pm)
@Joe, it does not necessarly mean a different art pipeline- just use TGE and billboard objects (w/ 2D bitmap textures) . Just my $.02
#65
10/24/2005 (8:43 pm)
Just to clarify that... Billboard objects in TGE are just textured rectangles with no depth and they always orient towards the camera. Kinda like a sprite in T2D :-)
#66
10/25/2005 (3:13 pm)
Hey thanks for pointing that out. When I read your post it sounded like you were talking about doing the art in real-time 3D, like Neverwinter Nights or Dungeon Siege 2. If you are talking about a implementing a 2D art pipeline into TGE/TSE then I would prefer to use T2D.
#67
the control move the camera along a set axis to give it ISO like movement?
10/26/2005 (10:53 am)
Could you not just use like RTS pack then lock the camera angle to give it a ISO look. Then havethe control move the camera along a set axis to give it ISO like movement?
#68
So the T2D engine will be extended as possible as I can to support the ISO mode.
And then, thanks Neo Binedell having a good start about it.
The links is:
www.garagegames.com/index.php?sec=mg&mod=resource&page=view&qid=8379
10/26/2005 (6:14 pm)
I agreed the "Joe Bird"'s viewpoint. Though the TGE is power then the T2D, in some methods, the T2D is easy to some game projects.So the T2D engine will be extended as possible as I can to support the ISO mode.
And then, thanks Neo Binedell having a good start about it.
The links is:
www.garagegames.com/index.php?sec=mg&mod=resource&page=view&qid=8379
#69
11/13/2005 (12:17 pm)
Is there anything new to this? Some date for the beta? 
#70
Check out Melv's .plan and the other recent threads on this.
Seems to have gotten a few others started rather than updating here.
11/20/2005 (8:59 am)
@MichaelCheck out Melv's .plan and the other recent threads on this.
Seems to have gotten a few others started rather than updating here.
Torque Owner Vashner
Then again I think I said that already sorry broken record.
They could wind up with 6 different engines... 2d, iso, GE, SE, SE+2d, SE+GE, SE+ ISO err GE+ISO.
Well 9 or 11 different flavors or Torque. Maybe 12 (TSE Phat ... with onions, cheese and bacon).
/insanity off