Which One should I buy?

#1 Which engine is totally dependant on:
1. Your skill level in programming
2. The type of game you want to make

TGB is a 2D engine. An example type of game would be space invaders, ping pong, checkers.

TGE is the older, outdated basic engine that works on just about every computer out there, but is no longer being supported with updates. It's a great engine tho, and easy to use.

TGEA is the shader engine. It's an upgrade of tge that includes shaders. (to put it super mildly.) It is an advanced engine that Torque 3D is based on.

Torque X is (I believe) an xna engine.

My suggestion is to download the demos. They are free, and will show you what the engine is capable of. You can use them to learn the scripting language that torque uses, and even the editors are included. You just can't publish a game with them.

#2 Ok thanks you so much for your help... Also does this site have documentation and tutorials on the scripting language?

#3 Yes. At the top of the site, under support. The first link is documentation. :-)

#4 Thanks a ton!

#5 You are quite welcome. Happy torquing and welcome to the community.

#6 Torque Game Engine 1.4.2 (updates are discontinued): $100
Torque Game Engine 1.5+ (updates are discontinued): $150
Torque Game Engine Advanced (constantly updated): $300

NOTE: These are only the indie prices. TGEA is a GREAT engine. I strongly recommend it. But don't expand to make a game overnight, over a week, over a month, or possibly a year depending on what you have in mind to accomplish. Also, it will take months of getting used to, learning TorqueScript, other scripting, the functions, etc... But there are books to help you advance. But keep in mind, some people learn faster than others :)
Good luck.

#7 Hi All,

I'm new, and I too have questions...

Does the TGB allow you to use 3D objects on a 2D plane? Example: imagine the game asteroids with 3D real-time rocks rotating as opposed to pre-rendered animations of rocks rotating. Or if I was flying an airplane in a top down game could I make it bank pitch and roll in real-time (even though its flying on a 2D plane)? If this is possible, then I have to ask if you can also move these objects in a 3D field than a 2D plane?... I assume not or it would be the 3D engine.

Does the Torque 3D also have the TGB engine in it? Meaning, is TGB a subset of Torque 3D or TGEA (I assume TGEA and Torque 3D are one in the same based on what I'm reading here)?

Most of the games I want to do are classic remakes but I'm a 3D veteran wanting to them up in modern graphics (think Atari Evolved for PSP), so I may move onto Torque 3D. Is there an upgrade path from one engine to the next? Or do you just buy each one that you need and not get any discounts in the upgrade process? I read there are price hikes coming. I suppose that would happen with the next major release... any ideas when the next release is coming? Is the next release a combo of the 2D and 3D engine? As someone about to plunk some coin into this I guess I'd like to know if its wasted money or just hold off and wait for the upgrade. I read in one of the blog posts it was sometime in 09, but I don't want to wait a year to start learning this.

I have downloaded the demo but the included docs (TGB) ask you to load in a project that is nonexistant... rather frustrating given its the first tutorial and we are already off on the wrong foot, but tonight I discovered one of the tutorial pages online still works (only one of the links on the docs TGB page works), so I'm hopeful enough that I may buy it tonight. I thought I'd stop by here first and ask some questions.

Nice to meet you all. I look forward to learning TGB.

James

#8

Quote:Does the TGB allow you to use 3D objects on a 2D plane?

No. TGB is 2D only.

Quote:Does the Torque 3D also have the TGB engine in it?

Yes and no. They share the same "basic" engine, but are written for 2 different purposes.

Quote:I assume TGEA and Torque 3D are one in the same based on what I'm reading here)?

Yes. Torque 3D is a major upgrade under developement of tgea.

Quote:Is there an upgrade path from one engine to the next?

Yes. From tge to tgea and tgea to Torque 3D. (once T3D is released) I don't believe there is an upgrade path from TGB to T3D tho.

Quote:Is the next release a combo of the 2D and 3D engine?

Already answered. No.

Quote: I read there are price hikes coming. I suppose that would happen with the next major release...

Yes. When the next release comes it will be a major one, so the price will go up. Look up Brette Saylers blog posts. They are quite informative.

Quote:As someone about to plunk some coin into this I guess I'd like to know if its wasted money or just hold off and wait for the upgrade. I read in one of the blog posts it was sometime in 09, but I don't want to wait a year to start learning this.

There is no reason to wait. If you purchase now, then you won't have such a large chunck to lay down later.

I don't own TGB, so there are many things I can't answer that deal with it. I own tge and tgea.
Welcome to the community tho. :-) Hope these answers help you.
If you are used to making games in 3D, I would suggest getting tge or tgea as they are both 3D engines. You may be able to fake the 2d elements if you are a good programmer. I've never had a reason to try it tho. I do know there are advanced camera resources that give you side scrolling cameras and such if that helps.

#9 well to what xxShanexx09 said about tgea and it being constantly updated it will only have bug updates. t3d is the new engine that will be out and there's not much that can be done on tgea and tge anymore.

#10 Thanks Mike,

No I'm no programmer. I've used LW3D for many years in various capacities throughout my career. This is my first step into game development. I started out messing around in Python, but this seems much more appealing to me. Back in the 80's I was dabbling with simple graphic and sound programming on Atari, Apple, and Amiga, and I just wanted to get back into it and take it much further, given I can create my own graphics in 3D.

You say TGB is 2D only... I thought I saw a demo of it at my work where a 3D object was loaded in and it moved around. I am not for sure if that was the stock TGB or someone modified it... kinda hoping you are wrong. :-) I would like to load 3D geometry with UV maps in to move on a 2D plane and rotate in 3D on that 2D plane as I saw demoed.

If I have to prerender my graphics, its not the end of the world, but just a preference cause I've dealt with rendering graphics out of 3D apps since 89, and would prefer to work with them in real-time. The TGEA sounds like overkill for what I need right now just starting out, but like I said before, I'll probably move towards it as I learn more, and expect more from the software.

Thanks again for your insite. Its been confusing cause the day I started comparing the apps, was the last day of the old website. I had found a comparison chart that basically showed both TGB and TGEA to be the same thing except TGEA had plugins, and editable source, both had "3D" checkboxed. Of course I can't find that page now to help with my purchasing decision. Just trying to dig up what info I can.

James

#11 I loaded in the 3D objects that came with it, and they do rotate. Happy Day! :-)

#12 Also how come the documentation isnt working... it is asking me to log in but i am already logged in????

#13 your clicking on wrong links some links work for non torque owners and some work for torque owners only.

#14 I think there's some kind of problem with newly created accounts and TDN access, might be related if it's TDN stuff you're trying to look at. There's a thread or two about it, probably find more info there.

edit: this one seems to be the main thread discussing it.