Torque 3D Development - GDC Live Edition
by Brett Seyler · 04/04/2009 (2:31 pm) · 333 comments
Wow...another GDC behind us. This was a big one. I dare say it was GG's biggest ever. Josh Williams and I gave a talk on Thursday titles "The Future of Web Games" which ended up being packed full with standing room only. There was a tremendous amount of interest in both InstantAction Technology and Torque 3D. That went off fabulously. We did some private demos for the big gun studios. The GG booth was jam packed for 3 days straight, and despite bringing a full staff of GG'ers to San Francisco to help, I think everyone was overloaded with excited questions and lots of "when can I get that!!??" The really exciting part for Torque 3D stuff (which was absurdely well recieved) is that we've still only shown probably 50% of what we're working on. Some of you saw Tom Spilman's uStream walkthough of the "South Pacific" demo. That's all been captured and posted for you relentless viewing and scrutinizing below =) Obviously a lot of people put hard work into Torque 3D, but we really owe a lot to Sickhead Games for helping us SHOW rather than tell all of what Torque 3D is capable of.
Tom's gone way above and beyond creating a new terrain implementation (as you'll see in the videos), physics, procedural object placement brushing tools (called "Forest Kit" after the original tech it's based on), and of course, the new Advanced Lighting. It's not just Tom though. Russell Fincher, a great artist, is responsible for making most of this look as good as it does. James did the River and Road tools and Ross worked a lot on bending the World Editor to make all this stuff easily accessible and easier to use. That's just the high points, but they really are a great crew. We're lucky to have their help.
So, in this blog, I'm just posting the Torque 3D relevant footage from GDC. You'll see two demos below, both pretty ground-breaking stuff. There's a lot more on the way. This shakey cam stuff is great, but the video is low resolution and I want to get some straight-from-the-machine captures out to really show how good this all looks and how easy it all is to use.
There truly is a lot more to come. There's a more in depth look at the World Editor, a focus on the Road and River tools, Gerhard's AI and GPU Cloth, Physics, new demos, genre kits, and more. We're also going to try to get a live demo embedded on the website so you can see this stuff for real. All that, and our first build for pre-order customers is just around the corner. Since we opened up the pre-order promotion last week, you guys almost broke our ecommerce system with the flood of purchases. Sorry to those of you who were turned away while we tried to patch things up last week. Hopefully everyone who wanted in got in. Shirts are on their way, and the Torque 3D private forums are alive with anticipation. I can't wait to see what you'll all do with this new technology. I have high hopes :)
I also know that there a lot of unanswered questions from the nearly 500 comments on the last blog. I'm going to re-read those thoroughly this week and try to answer them all. Thanks for you patience and thanks again to everyone whose kept the faith and stuck with us. It's great to know there's still such a huge community behind Torque.
More development blogs to come. This is post #16.
Torque 3D development blogs:
- Post #1 - Kickoff
- Post #2 - Apparatus and Warrior Camp
- Post #3 - Luma's racing kit
- Post #4 - Josh Engebretson and Web Publishing
- Post #5 - Pricing and Licensing
- Post #6 - Pricing and Licensing CONTINUED
- Post #7 - Wetness & Precipitation
- Post #8 - Screeen Space Ambient Occlusion (SSAO)
- Post #9 - Matt Langley and the Torque Launcher
- Post #10 - Chris Robertson and Collada
- Post #11 - Depth of Field
- Post #12 - Advanced Lighting
- Post #13 - Soft Particles
- Post #14 - World Editor
- Post #15 - Pricing and Licensing ANNOUNCED!
- Post #16 - GDC Live Edition
- Post #17 - River & Road Editors
- Post #18 - Beta is UP!
- Post #19 - Light Rays, Undercity, Material Editor
- Post #20 - Mass Market Hardware
- Post #21 - Beta: Part Deux
- Post #22 - Marching Towards Beta 3
- Post #23 - pureLIGHT
- Post #24 - Lighting, Terrain, and Cloth
- Post #25 - Beta 3!
- Post #26 - Coming Soon!
About the author
Since 2007, I've done my best to steer Torque's development and brand toward the best opportunities in games middleware.
#322
Another question is how compatible is TGEA vs. Torque 3D... Such as the process for importing an animated 3d model with the TGEA demo while waiting for Torque 3D.
...Only 8 days left in April. I wonder when the closed beta will start, when the pre-order period will end, and when the first public version (including Basic) will be released...
04/22/2009 (3:37 pm)
License question... If one developer (such as a coder) gets the Pro version, and his partner (such as a 3d model artist) gets the Basic version, then will everything be smooth and compatible. Such as the Pro user creates stuff with the rivers and roads tools, then saves this to the map... Then the Basic user opens it and can import 3d models with animations, etc?Another question is how compatible is TGEA vs. Torque 3D... Such as the process for importing an animated 3d model with the TGEA demo while waiting for Torque 3D.
...Only 8 days left in April. I wonder when the closed beta will start, when the pre-order period will end, and when the first public version (including Basic) will be released...
#323
That is pretty much exactly the intention behind the Basic license =)
We've tried to maintain a degree of backwards compatibility but it isn't going to be quite "drop and play" for your TGEA missions.
The two primary areas that you are going to have to do some work to bring over are Terrain and Lighting. 3D models (DTS's) that work with TGEA should pretty much "just work" with Torque 3D.
Eeeek! Don't remind me!
The Beta should start very soon. The pre-order will end when we ship the final release which is still in the ballpark of the end of May.
04/22/2009 (4:03 pm)
Quote:
License question... If one developer (such as a coder) gets the Pro version, and his partner (such as a 3d model artist) gets the Basic version, then will everything be smooth and compatible. Such as the Pro user creates stuff with the rivers and roads tools, then saves this to the map... Then the Basic user opens it and can import 3d models with animations, etc?
That is pretty much exactly the intention behind the Basic license =)
Quote:
Another question is how compatible is TGEA vs. Torque 3D... Such as the process for importing an animated 3d model with the TGEA demo while waiting for Torque 3D.
We've tried to maintain a degree of backwards compatibility but it isn't going to be quite "drop and play" for your TGEA missions.
The two primary areas that you are going to have to do some work to bring over are Terrain and Lighting. 3D models (DTS's) that work with TGEA should pretty much "just work" with Torque 3D.
Quote:
...Only 8 days left in April.
Eeeek! Don't remind me!
Quote:
I wonder when the closed beta will start, when the pre-order period will end, and when the first public version (including Basic) will be released...
The Beta should start very soon. The pre-order will end when we ship the final release which is still in the ballpark of the end of May.
#324
04/22/2009 (5:12 pm)
Sorry to bump this up, but it didn't get answered...Quote:
Sorry if this has been asked already, but what is the release schedule for the Forest Kit. Not looking for exact date, just generally speaking. Will it come out at the same time as T3D or are we looking at months down the road?
Peter
#325
"we are shooting for as close to Torque 3D launch date as is humanly possible."
Also, Brett has said in just about every blog that he'll have a blog about the Forest Kit, so we'll all know everything in time.
04/22/2009 (5:19 pm)
That's probably because you didn't read the whole thread ;)"we are shooting for as close to Torque 3D launch date as is humanly possible."
Also, Brett has said in just about every blog that he'll have a blog about the Forest Kit, so we'll all know everything in time.
#326
In anticipation of (Torque 3D), we did a simple model import to the TGEA demo using .dts (original model was in Blender). Trying to also import animations with .dsq files, but it's not working yet... But it sounds like Matt said if we get it working in TGEA demo, then it should just work in Torque 3D too.
However, is this what we should actually use for (Torque 3D), or will (Torque 3D) use some other better (or easier) process for importing models and animations? Such as directly using collada (I think .dae extension, containing geometry and animations in the same file)?
04/22/2009 (5:52 pm)
@Matt, ThanksIn anticipation of (Torque 3D), we did a simple model import to the TGEA demo using .dts (original model was in Blender). Trying to also import animations with .dsq files, but it's not working yet... But it sounds like Matt said if we get it working in TGEA demo, then it should just work in Torque 3D too.
However, is this what we should actually use for (Torque 3D), or will (Torque 3D) use some other better (or easier) process for importing models and animations? Such as directly using collada (I think .dae extension, containing geometry and animations in the same file)?
#327
Yeah, but that was 280 posts ago!! I must have short term memory loss... :)
04/22/2009 (6:33 pm)
@TomQuote:
That's probably because you didn't read the whole thread ;)
"we are shooting for as close to Torque 3D launch date as is humanly possible."
Yeah, but that was 280 posts ago!! I must have short term memory loss... :)
#328
04/22/2009 (11:17 pm)
Torque 3D does support Collada and you can use it for animated characters.
#329
04/23/2009 (12:38 am)
Er, I guess I was trying to ask if it's somehow better to use (the new more standard collada file format) rather than (the old TGEA .dts .dsq files)...
#330
In general, it is far easier to use Collada for static geometry than it was to use the DTS exporters.
For animated characters, I would still say that you are going to get better results with the DTS exporters if you take the time to learn the ins and outs of it.
04/23/2009 (12:57 am)
There are some challenges with Collada because it doesn't have the same "NeverExport" masking capability that the DTS\DSQ exporter has. With careful construction of your model this shouldn't bother you.In general, it is far easier to use Collada for static geometry than it was to use the DTS exporters.
For animated characters, I would still say that you are going to get better results with the DTS exporters if you take the time to learn the ins and outs of it.
#331
I thought the web export was going to use InstantAction's plugin (GameLauncher),and then, once it is installed, the web export
require no installation (like Flash game or InstantAction's games).
But no, export web game generates an installer (plugin + game)
Although it remains interesting, it loses some of its usefulness (One install, many games)
10/02/2009 (9:24 am)
I've a question, after some test with Web play + export package web (in the demo of Torque 3D). I thought the web export was going to use InstantAction's plugin (GameLauncher),and then, once it is installed, the web export
require no installation (like Flash game or InstantAction's games).
But no, export web game generates an installer (plugin + game)
Although it remains interesting, it loses some of its usefulness (One install, many games)
#332
10/02/2009 (10:08 am)
We have been clear in all of our communication since the web plugin was announced for Torque 3D to maintain that it is not the same as the IA plugin. The tech is completely separate.
#333
Yes i know that. And i 'm sorry if i'm misspoke. What i meant is not that you would use the IA's plugin , but the principle of having a plugin installs a single time, and can run games without explicit installation.
10/12/2009 (8:11 am)
@David Montgomery-BlakeYes i know that. And i 'm sorry if i'm misspoke. What i meant is not that you would use the IA's plugin , but the principle of having a plugin installs a single time, and can run games without explicit installation.
Torque 3D Owner Brett Seyler
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