Torque 3D Development - 1.1 Alpha!
by Brett Seyler · 11/19/2009 (5:06 pm) · 143 comments
Greetings Torque 3D users! In the last Torque 3D dev blog, we showed that the Torque 3D team has no plans of slowing down after the 1.0 release. In this blog, we're thrilled to unveil some more of the new tech we have been working on.
Download Torque 3D 1.1 Alpha from your account now!
Got your downloads started? Good, now read on...Torque 3D 1.1 Alpha New Features
Forest Editor
Since GDC '09, you've all been patiently (or not so patiently) waiting for Sickhead Games' foliage rendering and painting technology. We showed you videos of Tom demoing the 'Forest Kit' and Pacific Demo. For those of you who have not heard about it, the Forest Editor is a tool that allows you to quickly create massive amounts of vegetation for your level. This includes patches of trees, forests, and fields of smaller elements such as shrubs and plants. You can paint an entire forest using multiple brushes, which will lay down 3D models for you. In addition to these great tools, Sickhead has done a tremendous amount of work to make sure Torque 3D can render vast forests with ease.We never officially announced pricing for 'Forest Kit' (now officially 'Forest Editor'), and of course, in the end it was Sickhead's creation and their choice to put an appropriate price on it. For what it provides, we were looking at prices anywhere from $100 to $500 / seat as an add-on. Sometimes, where it's appropriate for Torque, we try to work out a deal to offer 3rd pary add-ons like this as a fully integrated feature of the core engine. I'm happy to say that we were able to work out this kind of deal with Sickhead. As great as these guys are to work with on development, they are also very flexible on the business side, with the best interests of Torque and Torque users in mind.
Let me make this crystal clear for all you anticipating use of the new Forest Editor then, but perhaps fretting the cost...it's now included in Torque 3D Professional, free of charge. All current Torque 3D license holders can download the 1.1 Alpha and begin using this amazing tool. The Official Documentation will be updated later today to show you how to use it. I'd suggest jumping on IRC hour today to say thanks to Sickhead for helping us make this happen and to ask questions about how to get the most from this new feature.
Sketch Tool
We have another surprise feature for the 1.1 Alpha, yet another fantastic Sickhead creation. The Sketch Tool allows you to quickly generate convex meshes without going to 3rd party modeling applications, such as Maya or 3DS Max. The interface allows you to quickly sketch out convex shapes via simple mouse actions. You can edit the faces of your mesh to roughly resemble what your final assets might look like. As with the Forest Editor, the Official Documentation will be updated later today with a guide to using the Sketch Tool. Again, big thanks to Sickhead for making rapid iteration in Torque 3D ever more powerful.In the hands of a non-artist, such as myself, I was able to create a few simple houses which I then duplicated to create an entire village:
For experienced artists, such as Sickhead's Russell Fincher, the levels you can create in less than 2 hours is amazing:
Prefabs
Another major win for rapid iteration in Torque 3D is the addition of prefabs. Rather than copying and pasting multiple selections (rinse & repeat), the prefab system allows you to group multiple objects together and combine them into a single file. Imagine you are making a city with hundreds of working lamp posts? Simply combine the lamp model and point light into a single prefab. You can now load the prefab file into your level as much as you want without having to create each lamp and point light by hand.
We also put together a quick and dirty version of this new feature in action. Please forgive the lack of editing, narration and music...we'll build something nicer to show this later on.
Major GUI Editor Improvements
Rene Damm performed a full usability pass on Torque 3D's GUI Editor to clean up the interface and add new adjustment options, making the GUI Editor much easier to use. Of course, he couldn't stop with just general improvements...Gone are the days of manually editing every single GUI profile by hand via TorqueScript. Rene Damm integrated a Profile Editor into Torque 3D's GUI Editor! If you didn't already know, GUI Profiles are what determine the overall appearance of your interface elements. Want your buttons to be opaque? Need to use 20 different fonts depending on the text control type? Making these changes are as simple as loading the Profile Editor.
Major SFX Upgrades
Speaking of Rene, his SFX work also deserves major spotlight time in this blog. The overall goal was to move from the very rudimentary and primarily code-driven SFX system in 1.0 to a primarily data-driven system that can be set up and controlled entirely from within the editors.- Ambient Audio: Audio behavior can be directly assigned to objects within a level as well as to levels themselves. As the listeners roams around, an ambient audio mix is automatically created and maintained by the system.
- Interactive Audio: Audio can be set up to react to game state changes using SFXParameters and SFXStates. The system automatically responds to changes to these objects.
- FMOD Designer Support: Complex game audio effects and interactive music can be designed in the FMOD Designer tool and dropped right into Torque. Events can be used just like any other track type.
Ground Cover
Torque 3D's Ground Cover system is very powerful and can make level building go much faster, especially when used in conjunction with the Forest Editor. There has always been confusion about how to properly use a GroundCover object, such as getting it to paint the terrain based on the material. Previously, you had to hard code the material for the foliage and figure out which terrain layer to cover (based on a numerical index) from memory. Rejoice, for we have given the system a major usability pass to make it much easier to use. You can now select the cover material (such as grass) and the terrain texture right from the object using our Material Selector:
Shape Editor and COLLADA
Nothing seems to slow Chris Robertson down. Improving Torque 3D's asset pipeline is a constant effort and for the 1.1 Alpha he has delivered again. Chris has improved the COLLADA Importer (both backend and interface) and added new functionality to the Shape Editor. The two biggest improvements to the Shape Editor include viewing and controlling LODs, and linking the Material Editor to the Shape Editor. While viewing a shape, you can switch to the materials tab then edit a selected material without having to switch to an entirely separate editor.
This is an exciting time to be involved with Torque 3D, whether you a part of the development team or a licensed owner. This month, most of the team are picking up their lives and making the move to our new Las Vegas headquarters. With such a great internal team and so much support from our external dev partners, I doubt you'll see us miss a beat. Torque 3D and 2D are both making rapid progress toward the vision you've helped us create. Thank you for your consistent, constructive feedback. You all help us make Torque better.
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, and the 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 - Documentation
- Post #27 - Beta 4!
- Post #28 - Shape Editor
- Post #29 - Beta 5!
- Post #30 - Collada Import GUI Dialog
- Post #31 - 1.0 Release!!!
- Post #32 - The only good bug...
- Post #33 - 1.1 Alpha!
- Post #34 - 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.
#42
More questions. Is it posible to load a prefab and identify each object in the object viewer control? That would be really amazing. Create a prefab scene, then load it in the GUI... easy way to create a 3D scene as a background in your GUI!!!!
Is the prefab file complex? I mean... is it a text file which we can easily read/write on the fly or it is a binary to be used during edit time only?
I'm wondering if I have a 128x128 tile based map file where each tile entry defines the id of the prefab, and I have a proper library of prefabs, then I can command the players to build the map on each client just by passing the small map file. Would be awesome... I may even build randomized maps on the fly... Diablo style... my head huuuurts... I hate you GG.... need to continue my game... resist... resist...
11/19/2009 (8:18 pm)
I'm really salivating with the prefabs... my head explodes!!! So many things to do with them!!!! More questions. Is it posible to load a prefab and identify each object in the object viewer control? That would be really amazing. Create a prefab scene, then load it in the GUI... easy way to create a 3D scene as a background in your GUI!!!!
Is the prefab file complex? I mean... is it a text file which we can easily read/write on the fly or it is a binary to be used during edit time only?
I'm wondering if I have a 128x128 tile based map file where each tile entry defines the id of the prefab, and I have a proper library of prefabs, then I can command the players to build the map on each client just by passing the small map file. Would be awesome... I may even build randomized maps on the fly... Diablo style... my head huuuurts... I hate you GG.... need to continue my game... resist... resist...
#43
11/19/2009 (8:22 pm)
Awesome work! I hope a sketching competition is on the horizon :) 
#44
Great idea!
@Guimo
I think that control is setup to render a model / mesh but not an entire ( or multiple ) objects so it would not work.
The prefab files are not binary, they are regular torquescript files that look much like a mission or gui file.
Prefab objects are actually not even ghosted, they only exist on the server, well, unless you manually allocate one on the client is suppose.
But the intention is to have a Prefab object in your mission which is created on the server when the mission is loaded, then, any objects within the prefab that are ghostable will be ghosted to clients just as normal objects are. So the Prefab object itself is really just a set of instructions to create objects.
In general, once you define set of objects as a prefab and save them out to file you can treat that file as you would any other art asset, like a dts except instead of describing geometry it is whole-intact Torque objects.
11/19/2009 (9:14 pm)
@Tom Great idea!
@Guimo
I think that control is setup to render a model / mesh but not an entire ( or multiple ) objects so it would not work.
The prefab files are not binary, they are regular torquescript files that look much like a mission or gui file.
Prefab objects are actually not even ghosted, they only exist on the server, well, unless you manually allocate one on the client is suppose.
But the intention is to have a Prefab object in your mission which is created on the server when the mission is loaded, then, any objects within the prefab that are ghostable will be ghosted to clients just as normal objects are. So the Prefab object itself is really just a set of instructions to create objects.
In general, once you define set of objects as a prefab and save them out to file you can treat that file as you would any other art asset, like a dts except instead of describing geometry it is whole-intact Torque objects.
#45
11/19/2009 (9:14 pm)
I like....hahaha...GG very good. 
#46
So if you decide to explode, edit, and resave the prefab all the other instances of it in the level will update.
@James - On PhysX we're working on it... you'll see more stuff in 1.1 beta. Networking is hard and the "right" fix is taking longer than i had hoped.
11/19/2009 (9:39 pm)
Also prefabs work with the live asset updating.So if you decide to explode, edit, and resave the prefab all the other instances of it in the level will update.
@James - On PhysX we're working on it... you'll see more stuff in 1.1 beta. Networking is hard and the "right" fix is taking longer than i had hoped.
#47
11/19/2009 (10:02 pm)
Thank you Sickhead & GG. Simply stunning. 
#48
Any chance I could make a feature request for 1.1?
Pressure sensitivity for the terrain editor. would be a really awesome.
Be able to give it 2 functions.
pressure controls brush size or,
pressure controls strength. or,
I guess you could turn on both.
Maybe check boxes in the GUI.
if it is possible, It would be good to have the CTRL click invert the brush. and SHIFT do the smooth brush.
This is how all Sculpting applications pretty much function.
Would be cool to be able to sculpt terrain just like you do geometry in zbrush or mudbox.
Just food for thought.
11/19/2009 (10:10 pm)
Tom you Rock! you guys have made my week!Any chance I could make a feature request for 1.1?
Pressure sensitivity for the terrain editor. would be a really awesome.
Be able to give it 2 functions.
pressure controls brush size or,
pressure controls strength. or,
I guess you could turn on both.
Maybe check boxes in the GUI.
if it is possible, It would be good to have the CTRL click invert the brush. and SHIFT do the smooth brush.
This is how all Sculpting applications pretty much function.
Would be cool to be able to sculpt terrain just like you do geometry in zbrush or mudbox.
Just food for thought.
#49
11/19/2009 (10:12 pm)
Forest Kit is part of T3D. Forest Kit is part of T3D... Forest Kit is part of T3D !!! Yeah ! I read and re-read it more then 3 times infact to ensure my eyes weren't deceiving me ! I can only say... OMG !!!!!!! Thanks guys !
#50
11/19/2009 (10:15 pm)
WOW....when I read this blog I nearly fell out of my seat because I wanted to jump for joy! Awesome news, and great work from both GG and Sickhead. The prefab and sketch tools will make my life so much easier, and I love that the Forest Kit is part of T3D even though sickhead really had all right to charge an additional $100 at least.
#51
11/19/2009 (11:10 pm)
I would be nice to be able to buy the forest editor separately for TGEA, nice update though
#52
11/19/2009 (11:21 pm)
@Morrie - Won't happen... too many features of the forest system depend on core improvements in Torque 3D. You can either port Ben Garney's Forest Pack code or make due with fxShapeReplicator.
#53
11/19/2009 (11:43 pm)
Awesome work guys! Can't wait to try out the new tools! 
#54
11/19/2009 (11:53 pm)
Wow!! What awesome news - especially about the forest editor - but everything else too. I just yelped with joy! My wife is looking at me funny... 
#55
Can you texture sketches(all the ones shown use the orange texture)? And could you theoretically create an entire map with only sketch and tools in the engine?
11/20/2009 (12:02 am)
I like it. A lot.Can you texture sketches(all the ones shown use the orange texture)? And could you theoretically create an entire map with only sketch and tools in the engine?
#57
11/20/2009 (12:47 am)
We're thrilled that you're happy with this guys. More good news (this time on the licensing front) coming before the end of the month too.
#58
But remember. This is not a tool ment for production art... its just for prototyping out your level. So don't count on getting the same quality or performance from the Sketch tool as you would from 3dsMax.
11/20/2009 (12:54 am)
@Nick - You can assign any material you like on it... its not just that orange texture. We plan to expose the "current" material to the toolbar or something before the beta release.But remember. This is not a tool ment for production art... its just for prototyping out your level. So don't count on getting the same quality or performance from the Sketch tool as you would from 3dsMax.
#59
The Sketch Tool really is a big thing for me in hindsight (it didn't really occur to me that I might need something like that). It makes mocking up models that fit the environment very easy. Thanks for thinking for me.
11/20/2009 (1:15 am)
Wow! A marble game will be a breeze now :) Kidding (although I love marble type games - Mercury on my PSP is my all time favourite game even though it drives me insane).The Sketch Tool really is a big thing for me in hindsight (it didn't really occur to me that I might need something like that). It makes mocking up models that fit the environment very easy. Thanks for thinking for me.
#60
11/20/2009 (2:22 am)
Extremely solid release, have spent a couple hours just having fun with the editors. Keyword: Fun! Not a single crash in sight! :) 
Torque Owner David Robert Pemberton
www.deadlyassets.com