What would you like to see addressed in Torque 3D?
by Matt Fairfax · in Torque Game Engine Advanced · 01/09/2009 (7:10 pm) · 281 replies
Hi all,
We've asked before but I thought I would take the opportunity to build a fresh list of what you would like to see addressed in Torque.
This can be everything from a long-standing bug, to a resource that is so useful you find yourself integrating it over and over, to a complete wish for something. Whatever it is we want to hear it!
Please keep in mind that just because you ask for it doesn't mean that you will get it. I am making no promises but it is always helpful to us to hear what you are interested in or concerned about.
Our community is hugely diverse and something that is absolutely essential and of the highest priority to you and your game may actually be something that other games never use so don't take it personally if we don't address your specific concern.
I am going to make sure that everything specific that you mention gets logged into our task tacker so that it can be prioritized and reviewed even if we don't get to it for Torque 3D. I say "specific" because statements like "vehicles suck" aren't useful to us however if you can narrow it down to "FlyingVehicles crash when they run into the ground too fast" then it is something we can look into.
I am very serious about this...if you ever want a chance at having your concerns addressed then you need to speak up.
We've asked before but I thought I would take the opportunity to build a fresh list of what you would like to see addressed in Torque.
This can be everything from a long-standing bug, to a resource that is so useful you find yourself integrating it over and over, to a complete wish for something. Whatever it is we want to hear it!
Please keep in mind that just because you ask for it doesn't mean that you will get it. I am making no promises but it is always helpful to us to hear what you are interested in or concerned about.
Our community is hugely diverse and something that is absolutely essential and of the highest priority to you and your game may actually be something that other games never use so don't take it personally if we don't address your specific concern.
I am going to make sure that everything specific that you mention gets logged into our task tacker so that it can be prioritized and reviewed even if we don't get to it for Torque 3D. I say "specific" because statements like "vehicles suck" aren't useful to us however if you can narrow it down to "FlyingVehicles crash when they run into the ground too fast" then it is something we can look into.
I am very serious about this...if you ever want a chance at having your concerns addressed then you need to speak up.
About the author
By day, I am a senior programmer at The Playforge, makers of the popular iPhone game Zombie Farm. By night, I work on my own games as Night Heron Games. I am an ex-GarageGames employee who helped ship TGE, TGEA, Torque 3D, and Constructor.
#162
01/17/2009 (10:06 am)
@Konrad & J.C. - I think you'll be pleasantly surprised on that one. ;) 
#163
01/17/2009 (11:00 am)
This might be reaching too far, but what about adding something like: Interior Mapping - A "new" technique for realistic buildings that uses shaders to add depth to buildings by rendering interiors, without requiring additional geometry. Would be great for those who need or want to build cities.
#164
It should be pretty easy to add to TGEA 1.8... it doesn't require anything but a simple custom shader.
01/17/2009 (4:36 pm)
@Michael - That is too game specific to be anywhere near the top of the TODO list for Torque 3D.... although it is a really neat trick.It should be pretty easy to add to TGEA 1.8... it doesn't require anything but a simple custom shader.
#165
01/17/2009 (9:32 pm)
@Michael & Tom: I do think that would be a great idea as well, considering that our company plans on working on more mech games. 
#166
01/18/2009 (3:43 pm)
I'd like shadows that work better with interiors 
#167
Instead, replace them with physics ideas, and it simply generate the actor based on what physics you define in code (or, preferably, an in-game live editor).
So, a car would be a box with mass 1000 and drag .3 and "forward anti-drag" (I can't think of the correct word ;)) of .1 with 4 cylinders with mass 10 and grip of 200 and rolling resistance of .05 attached with springs with dampening .5 and spring force of 1200. You should be able to script things such as how much torque is applied to wheels when "forward action" is received by the object. Same with turning the wheels and such.
Players could be represented with this system as well, but maybe with more restrictions (such as, a force to help keep the player oriented).
Something like that would increase the power of the scripting system. Though, I'm sure there would be performance issues that might need to be ironed out, or maybe networking... but still, the idea could be done, and it would make it so that there would be less requirements to dive into the C++.
I would also like to see more work done into shadows. I don't like the effect the baked in shadows gives.
Also, if we're going to be going back to the older style terrain, I hope that you make sure to keep the "infinitely repeat" available... that way games with larger open spaces with the ability to see far out don't have to worry about players seeing the edge of the map and having the experience ruined.
quick edit: one last thing... No more misleading on the product page. In the hands of a skilled programmer, an engine supports anything. The only thing that is interesting is currently supported features. It didn't negatively affect me, but it burns me up that you guys are cluttering up your product page with wording that would mislead beginners or mislead someone who lightly misreads the page. Don't do it again. I swear, I'll refuse to buy T3D out of principle if you guys let your marketing guys do something like that again... let alone, you face potential lawsuits for intentionally misleading people (as you are now definitely aware that your wording has the potential to be misread, and it's utterly obvious that you hope for that).
01/19/2009 (11:16 pm)
I'd almost like to see the ideas of "vehicles" and "players" disappear in later versions.Instead, replace them with physics ideas, and it simply generate the actor based on what physics you define in code (or, preferably, an in-game live editor).
So, a car would be a box with mass 1000 and drag .3 and "forward anti-drag" (I can't think of the correct word ;)) of .1 with 4 cylinders with mass 10 and grip of 200 and rolling resistance of .05 attached with springs with dampening .5 and spring force of 1200. You should be able to script things such as how much torque is applied to wheels when "forward action" is received by the object. Same with turning the wheels and such.
Players could be represented with this system as well, but maybe with more restrictions (such as, a force to help keep the player oriented).
Something like that would increase the power of the scripting system. Though, I'm sure there would be performance issues that might need to be ironed out, or maybe networking... but still, the idea could be done, and it would make it so that there would be less requirements to dive into the C++.
I would also like to see more work done into shadows. I don't like the effect the baked in shadows gives.
Also, if we're going to be going back to the older style terrain, I hope that you make sure to keep the "infinitely repeat" available... that way games with larger open spaces with the ability to see far out don't have to worry about players seeing the edge of the map and having the experience ruined.
quick edit: one last thing... No more misleading on the product page. In the hands of a skilled programmer, an engine supports anything. The only thing that is interesting is currently supported features. It didn't negatively affect me, but it burns me up that you guys are cluttering up your product page with wording that would mislead beginners or mislead someone who lightly misreads the page. Don't do it again. I swear, I'll refuse to buy T3D out of principle if you guys let your marketing guys do something like that again... let alone, you face potential lawsuits for intentionally misleading people (as you are now definitely aware that your wording has the potential to be misread, and it's utterly obvious that you hope for that).
#168
what about implementing sky objects? The SunFX object is not really adaptable for other purposes... The idea would be implementing it like SunFX but adding the support for animated IFL so you can put against the sky an FX like a pulsing nebula or an aurora borealis ... I see in the past there was discussions about how to implement it but seems noone succeed in doing it...
01/20/2009 (5:50 am)
@Matt & Tom:what about implementing sky objects? The SunFX object is not really adaptable for other purposes... The idea would be implementing it like SunFX but adding the support for animated IFL so you can put against the sky an FX like a pulsing nebula or an aurora borealis ... I see in the past there was discussions about how to implement it but seems noone succeed in doing it...
#169
1) More documentation! The video tutorials recently posted are a nice supplement to written docs. I'd happily pay for online classes or courses to learn things from the GG experts.
2) Bigger support for shader development (this is definitely the future of games and I'd like more help working with ShaderGen)
3) Better support for development on MacOSX (could be better and more stable, I'm not a fan of VC++)
4) Improve or re-do the art/development pipeline
- Consider thinking outside the box on this, many game engines I've seen go with a basic world builder app and have tons of extra steps to getting assets into the game and messing with them.
5) Alternate scripting languages
- TorqueScript is nice, but LUA and Python have bigger traction and documentation. People use UnrealScript for Unreal games, but thats because they're the big kid on the block. The Torsion app is not an option for a Mac based developer like me.
I used to be a "dreamer" as one of the blog posts on here says, but I'm definitely getting more serious about making my "dream" a reality. Currently, thats a little impossible with the unstable, barely documented 1.8 release I have in my hands.
01/20/2009 (9:55 pm)
This is my list if I'll be paying a higher price:1) More documentation! The video tutorials recently posted are a nice supplement to written docs. I'd happily pay for online classes or courses to learn things from the GG experts.
2) Bigger support for shader development (this is definitely the future of games and I'd like more help working with ShaderGen)
3) Better support for development on MacOSX (could be better and more stable, I'm not a fan of VC++)
4) Improve or re-do the art/development pipeline
- Consider thinking outside the box on this, many game engines I've seen go with a basic world builder app and have tons of extra steps to getting assets into the game and messing with them.
5) Alternate scripting languages
- TorqueScript is nice, but LUA and Python have bigger traction and documentation. People use UnrealScript for Unreal games, but thats because they're the big kid on the block. The Torsion app is not an option for a Mac based developer like me.
I used to be a "dreamer" as one of the blog posts on here says, but I'm definitely getting more serious about making my "dream" a reality. Currently, thats a little impossible with the unstable, barely documented 1.8 release I have in my hands.
#171
give us better pipeline, get rid of dts and allow us to import models and animations as easy as it is in Unity3D.
01/21/2009 (3:52 am)
Improve the editor interface, make it more modern, for inspiration take a look at zBrush, give it better look and easier to navigate etc.... give us better pipeline, get rid of dts and allow us to import models and animations as easy as it is in Unity3D.
#172
2. Integrated physics.
3. Complete character (jump, climb, slip, crouch, etc...), including radoll deaths.
4. High quality starter kits: racing, fps, platform.
5. Automatic fallback system, which allos Torque to run on old machines - even if it has to switch to flat-shading mode.
6. An improveed gui editor.
These will make it king of the hill - oor keep it there, that is.
Cheers.
01/21/2009 (10:14 am)
1. Web player.2. Integrated physics.
3. Complete character (jump, climb, slip, crouch, etc...), including radoll deaths.
4. High quality starter kits: racing, fps, platform.
5. Automatic fallback system, which allos Torque to run on old machines - even if it has to switch to flat-shading mode.
6. An improveed gui editor.
These will make it king of the hill - oor keep it there, that is.
Cheers.
#173
Looks like more busywork for me then... Hope you guys can actually program a physics engine this time around.
I believe he means... Oh.. I dunno... Make this feature on your own and put it in your own engine? Yeah, last I checked that's totally your call.
Damn programmer art!
One of the big reasons I won't ever buy a Torque engine again... You guys always... ALWAYS call your engines AAA engines... Yet SSAO, DoF, all this stuff is low priority? You guys are always releasing engines that are years behind any current tech... That's sad.
They're bug fixes... Obviously they're the most "actionable" as its a BUG in your current engine.
01/21/2009 (1:11 pm)
Quote:One of the lower priority things we are looking at with Torque 3D is providing an abstract interface for physics libraries like PhysX and ODE to plug into Torque a lot more cleanly.
Looks like more busywork for me then... Hope you guys can actually program a physics engine this time around.
Quote:We would also like to see this but it isn't our call.
I believe he means... Oh.. I dunno... Make this feature on your own and put it in your own engine? Yeah, last I checked that's totally your call.
Quote:Our artists are pretty solidly booked with tasks for Torque 3D.
Damn programmer art!
Quote:One of the things I would *like* to see in Torque 3D is a better post-processing effects system however this is also a bit lower priority than some of the other things on our list. We *are* making some changes to rendering that will make this kind of stuff a lot easier.
One of the big reasons I won't ever buy a Torque engine again... You guys always... ALWAYS call your engines AAA engines... Yet SSAO, DoF, all this stuff is low priority? You guys are always releasing engines that are years behind any current tech... That's sad.
Quote:Good stuff! This is some of the most "actionable" items on your list.
They're bug fixes... Obviously they're the most "actionable" as its a BUG in your current engine.
#174
I'm sorry that your disapointed in your $300 engine being a little behind the $300,000+ engines.
01/21/2009 (1:35 pm)
Quote:You guys always... ALWAYS call your engines AAA engines... Yet SSAO, DoF, all this stuff is low priority?You know idTech4 doesn't come with SSAO and DoF out of the box... is it not a AAA engine? Unreal and Source only got these in the last year or so.
I'm sorry that your disapointed in your $300 engine being a little behind the $300,000+ engines.
#175
No...high priority is the actual rendering system. Yes SSAO, DOF, etc is great, but are you going to run it on an engine that doesn't render well? Just buy the content pack for PPE shaders if you want them that bad. You know, this engine is $300, and frankly you should be happy to get it at that price. Besides, in the last blog update they showed that they had someone working on it.
01/21/2009 (6:47 pm)
Quote:One of the big reasons I won't ever buy a Torque engine again... You guys always... ALWAYS call your engines AAA engines... Yet SSAO, DoF, all this stuff is low priority? You guys are always releasing engines that are years behind any current tech... That's sad.
No...high priority is the actual rendering system. Yes SSAO, DOF, etc is great, but are you going to run it on an engine that doesn't render well? Just buy the content pack for PPE shaders if you want them that bad. You know, this engine is $300, and frankly you should be happy to get it at that price. Besides, in the last blog update they showed that they had someone working on it.
#176
*I would love to see a FPS with a splitscreen (similiar to what they did with TX3D.
http://www.garagegames.com/products/torquex-3d
*Event and trigger system
*Time of Day(day and night cycle)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcpjcuoBDSs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gsIzP9s_t0&feature=PlayList&p=316562C2FA67DC55&playnext=1&index=10
*weather system
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMAqTXCd1Sg&NR=1
*One thing that I notice about antime torque creates a new engine they leave out the lightning. This time please don't do that add in lightning with a dynamic glow on the lightning bolt.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhuVmbynjng
*please add some kind of global illimination and radiosity for outdoor scenes.
Look forward to see what is going to become of torque 3d!
01/27/2009 (3:01 pm)
Somethings I would like to see in T3D.*I would love to see a FPS with a splitscreen (similiar to what they did with TX3D.
http://www.garagegames.com/products/torquex-3d
*Event and trigger system
*Time of Day(day and night cycle)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcpjcuoBDSs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gsIzP9s_t0&feature=PlayList&p=316562C2FA67DC55&playnext=1&index=10
*weather system
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMAqTXCd1Sg&NR=1
*One thing that I notice about antime torque creates a new engine they leave out the lightning. This time please don't do that add in lightning with a dynamic glow on the lightning bolt.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhuVmbynjng
*please add some kind of global illimination and radiosity for outdoor scenes.
Look forward to see what is going to become of torque 3d!
#177
But when I use the numeric pad (On most right hand side of keyboard)
to type in data makes the View change , i.e ( top, left,right.perspective)
It would be nice if I could use the numeric side pad
like the top row numerics of the standard keyboard
01/27/2009 (7:34 pm)
I dont know if its just on my P.CBut when I use the numeric pad (On most right hand side of keyboard)
to type in data makes the View change , i.e ( top, left,right.perspective)
It would be nice if I could use the numeric side pad
like the top row numerics of the standard keyboard
#178
01/28/2009 (10:48 am)
@Surge, This issue has been fixed.
#179
01/29/2009 (3:34 am)
Deferred Shading. Will be standard very soon.
#180
and from what I seen from gerhard
http://www.garagegames.com/community/blogs/view/16165
http://www.garagegames.com/community/blogs/view/16083
torque 3d has the potential to be as good or better than cryengine 2
http://www.gametrailers.com/player/17763.html
http://www.gametrailers.com/player/17757.html
I can't wait to hear about the lighting system.
A couple of suggestion time of day system like cryengine 2
also volumetric clouds and weather like simul software
www.simul.co.uk (site may be down)
youtube videos
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9CfhyajVjY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzA8W2MCnm4
(the owner of simul software may be willing to make a deal with garagegames. I've already emailed him about intergrating simul weather sdk into TGEA 1.7, and he was very interested.
Oh by the way the software does have a demo verison free to download, the simulweather you can obtain by requesting it. There are licensing options if you sell your project commerically!
Anyways, I would love to see it in the new engine. Can't wait for my info!!!
01/29/2009 (7:10 am)
From the pictures on flickr that sickhead is working on (I think) http://www.flickr.com/photos/sickheadgames/and from what I seen from gerhard
http://www.garagegames.com/community/blogs/view/16165
http://www.garagegames.com/community/blogs/view/16083
torque 3d has the potential to be as good or better than cryengine 2
http://www.gametrailers.com/player/17763.html
http://www.gametrailers.com/player/17757.html
I can't wait to hear about the lighting system.
A couple of suggestion time of day system like cryengine 2
also volumetric clouds and weather like simul software
www.simul.co.uk (site may be down)
youtube videos
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9CfhyajVjY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzA8W2MCnm4
(the owner of simul software may be willing to make a deal with garagegames. I've already emailed him about intergrating simul weather sdk into TGEA 1.7, and he was very interested.
Oh by the way the software does have a demo verison free to download, the simulweather you can obtain by requesting it. There are licensing options if you sell your project commerically!
Anyways, I would love to see it in the new engine. Can't wait for my info!!!
Torque 3D Owner J.C. Smith