Casual Games - The Solution
You have a great idea for a game, but not enough time, know-how, or resources to start from scratch to create your own tools and technology. Or maybe you've always dreamed of creating the next blockbuster game, but lacked the knowledge of where to start. The Torque Development Platform paves the way for everyone from hobbyists to professional casual game developers to make their games faster, freeing developers up from the tedious tasks of engine development and allowing more time to refining the fun factor of their games.
Studios like Large Animal have found success and received critical acclaim for their game RocketBowl Plus using the Torque Game Engine. For many years, casual and downloadable game creators used simplified programs like Flash or Director to create their web-based games. But today's exciting and feature-rich casual games are hitting the glass ceiling with programs like Flash, that were never really built for games. Check out Scott Bilas's white paper about looking for alternatives to Flash. Isn't it time to come home to actual game engines and unleash the game you've always wanted to make?
Case Study: Large Animal Games Adopts Torque PlatformLarge Animal Games studio has adopted the Torque Development Platform as its solution across their entire spectrum of game development needs. With a background in casual 2D game development, Large Animal decided in 2003 to take on their first major 3D casual game project, RocketBowl. Their idea was to create a fun, physics-based bowling game, with attractive 3D graphics that would run on a wide spectrum of machines. Large Animal Co-Founder Wade Tinney had this to say about their decision-making process:
"After investigating a number of 3D engine possibilities, we settled on GarageGames' Torque engine. This option was attractive for a number of reasons: GarageGames was very vocal in its support for independent game development, the price was within reach ($500 for a commercial license), and it had fostered an active community of developers around their engine. This community proved to be an incredible resource for us."
Large Animal found Torque to provide a wide range of integrated, proven game technologies, and Wade Tinney summarizes, "RocketBowl has been a huge success for Large Animal." Large Animal went on to be nominated as a finalist in the Indie Games Festival Game of the Year award 2005 for RocketBowl, and the game won the IGF's Technical Excellence award, further proving that Large Animal made wise technology decisions.
After seeing first hand the power of the Torque Development Platform, Large Animal has decided to adopt it for many more game projects. The studio is presently working on several 2D casual games based on Torque 2D Game Builder, including Saints & Sinners Bowling, which was again nominated as a finalist for the 2006 IGF's Game of the Year Award.
Gamespot.com predicts that by the year 2008, the casual and downloadable industry will be worth more than $2,000,000,000. Currently, this market is too risky for AAA and major studios to chase after, opening up a HUGE segment of the industry for smaller studios who can make downloadable games. The Torque Development Platform does all the heavy lifting, you just need to add the creative spark.
Game developers everywhere that have been looking for a better and faster way to create their game can now find a home in the huge GarageGames development community. When GarageGames first launched the Torque Game Engine with the groundbreaking $100 Indie License and support for the independent game development community, the market was still called "Shareware" and game engines cost millions of dollars. Small developers simply did not have access to world class game development technology and they were essentially locked out of the publishing market. GarageGames is proud of how far the market has moved to support independent game makers with new market opportunities ranging from small PC based downloads to console titles.
As an 
Indie game developer using Torque technologies, you join the ranks of
successful studios around the world, like 21-6 Productions, who
has harnessed the power of Torque to make fun and exciting games. Torque games, like Orbz, have
won many accolades for their technical excellence, fun factor, and player's choice awards in contests, on web sites, and in magazines around the world. Not only does the Torque
Development Platform provide a great foundation upon which to build your game, GarageGames also is a
publisher of top-quality and fun games. For more information about publishing your game with GarageGames, please click here.
Torque technologies are the perfect launching point for hobbyists seeking to build their resumes or wanting to learn how to make games. Not only is it fun to make games, but you have access to the world's largest, most active game development community to answer your questions and help you get started. There are tons of ways to get involved as a hobbyist. Submit your work to the Image-of-the-Day area. Get involved in the Game-in-a-Day competitions that happen once a month. Join other like minded developers and learn from seasoned professionals. Build your resume. Attend IndieGamesCon and much more.
Modding is one of the fastest ways to get into the gaming industry according to some experts. What better way to get involved in the modding community than by actually modding/making your own game. A modder uses two tools to re-craft a game, they use art assets and scripting. The Torque Game Engine Demo download opens the door to everyone with the ability to use the Torque Script language and import created art assets into the engine for the low cost of FREE. Yes, GarageGames is essentially giving the Game Engine away to people who want to play around with scripting and modding for FREE. And when you want to take the engine and your game further, you only have a small price to upgrade and get the full source code.
