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Welcome Back GarageGames!

by Eric Preisz · 01/20/2011 (4:27 am) · 553 comments






You've been patiently waiting and the time has come. GarageGames is back! We've changed our name back to GarageGames and we are dropping the prices on all products to $99.00 to celebrate our new direction and return to our indie roots. It's been a storied ten years for the GarageGames name and we are looking forward to ushering in the next decade.

The return of GarageGames is much more than a $99 price point. It's a commitment to the community who grew with us over the years. It's a return to the values that brought people together to make great games without the burden of unbearable pricing or royalties. Our community is a diverse group of people who are willing and able to help each other grow as game developers and we can't wait to take that community to the next level. So before I dive into details, let's put some stakes in the ground:

We are committed to delivering you a full source solution without royalties at a price that indies can afford,

We are committed to a better out of the box experience: more intuitive tools focused on design, better tutorials and documentation, and web-site updates that support our most valuable feature…our community,

We are committed to bringing in more talent that can help us execute reliable processes, provide better quality, and set higher standards that exceed your expectation ( btw…we are hiring ).

You will find real evidence of our commitments scattered through this site that we updated late last night. The most obvious is the $99.00 price tag. We believe that this price makes the Torque product line available to everyone with a serious itch to make a game without opening the flood gates for free users who may not be as committed to the same goals as paid developers who rely on our support in the forums. You will notice that we are sun-setting TorqueX and providing refunds to those who pre-ordered iTorque 3D. We know that what we need more than anything is a more focused roadmap and these choices are a difficult, but necessary, step in that direction. You can find more product updates on this blog.

You may be wondering who the new owners are. First off, they are modest, so they asked that I not make them the focus of this blog. I'm guessing; however, that you do want to know that we are in good hands. Trust me...we are. Over the past couple of weeks I talked with dozens of interested parties but none of their values aligned as closely as they do with Graham Software Development. I can't thank them enough for suggesting and supporting the low price-point and the resurgence of the GarageGames brand. These guys are just like us; they are indie developers with the drive and desire to build something that changes the way people make games.

There's a lot for us to do. Setting and achieving a new, higher standard for game development tools won't happen overnight. On top of that challenge, we are switching over to new services ( web hosting, payment processing, etc. ) and moving into a new building (we are staying in Vegas, just moving to a bigger location ). We are also hiring and will be adding new people to the team ( did I mention that we are hiring? ). So you may see a few fresh company faces in the forums. Because of these moving pieces, you may notice the occasional web-site glitch or other disruption. So thanks, in advance, for your patience as we make these changes.

In closing, I can’t thank you enough for sticking with us during this time. The team stayed together through the transition and I can't help but think that your enthusiasm and kind words played a big role in making that happen. We look forward to meeting our new goals so that we can continue to deliver on the promise of bringing royalty free, full-source, game engines to everyone!

So let’s hear it in the comments. It's time to make some noise for GarageGames!

~Eric Preisz
CEO, GarageGames, LLC.

About the author

Manager, Programmer, Author, Professor, Small Business Owner, and Marketer.

#521
01/31/2011 (4:31 am)
you should be careful Max. Some of the devs have an allergic, rage enhanced reaction to the mention of THAT shader. In IRC it is a very bad word and is now called the puppy shader to reduce its effect. HEHE
On the other hand, I can't wait to see what yummie goodness comes our way in the next T3D release.
#522
01/31/2011 (5:37 am)
There never was a puppy shader. That's all you need to know. Now check out the big shader thread for a better alternative which actually IS a shader :)
#523
01/31/2011 (6:17 am)
This is great! As a tinkerer I never could justify the former price-tag (marriage > toys). But I had no hesitation in plopping down less than a hundred bucks for something that I can learn from. I've been wanting to play with some level design / art conceptualization. This will be just the ticket:)

Thanks again:)
#524
02/01/2011 (1:37 pm)
YES. YES. YES. YES!

Finally, something with the same price as UDK commercial but without the 25% royalty fees. I'm so buying when I get the $100.
#525
02/02/2011 (10:35 am)
Brings so much of the happy tears to my eyes!


In other words, YAHOO.
#526
02/02/2011 (11:25 am)
I'm really excited to hear that GG is back. I'm hoping to purchase T3D a.s.a.p., but I have some licensing questions that I emailed Licensing@garagegames.com about a couple days back, and still haven't heard back. Do any staff have an idea of when I might expect a reply? Thanks =)
#527
02/02/2011 (11:35 am)
@Thomas - Are your questions of sensitive nature? If so, it may take a day to get to them via licensing. If you need some more immediate answers, send me a PM in our IRC channel.
#528
02/02/2011 (12:53 pm)
Not sensitive per se, but I'd definitely like to have an "official" answer through licensing -- but if you're still on IRC when I get out of class I'd appreciate chatting to get an idea of what the response might be.
#529
02/02/2011 (1:07 pm)
@Thomas - Well, if it's not sensitive then we can possibly answer here in the blog. I'll be in IRC for the rest of the day.
#530
02/02/2011 (3:33 pm)
The gist of it is in regards to the additional licensing restrictions on scripting (which in my case translates to community involvement with my hobby project) for someone using T3D instead of TGE. I've burned a lot of time I wanted to give to gameplay development trying to upgrade some of the rendering and physics technology in TGE, so obviously I'd like to transition onto the latest tech, but the restrictions on scripting mean that I won't be able to have my supporting community (http://www.cemetech.net) continue to participate in the development of the game I'm making for their enjoyment if I choose to upgrade. Obviously I'd like to reach some sort of compromise that would allow me to have an open script base while still upgrading to T3D.
#531
02/04/2011 (1:21 pm)
Erik,

Any Chance the new GG will get "Green Ear" back?
#532
02/04/2011 (1:26 pm)
That will depend on their company and product focus moving forward as well as any new agreements that take place between their company and ours.
#533
02/04/2011 (3:21 pm)
very nice indeed i already purchased the itorque2d for 99 however cant seem to find any it2 tutorials thru search bar , but not main question haha main ? is back some time ago i had purchased t3d for 1,000 $ so do i get the full source now or do i need to buy it again for 99$ ? thx and this site rocks!
#534
02/04/2011 (3:23 pm)
You already own Torque 3D Professional. No need to repurchase!
#535
02/04/2011 (3:34 pm)
oh ok lol thanks david , you guys have such awesome support and very awesome products. very happy everything is going well.
#536
02/05/2011 (11:24 am)
I paid for the torque 3d without the source code for 100 and now its that much for the source code. am i out of luck or can i get the source code now?
#537
02/05/2011 (11:52 am)
There is not an upgrade option at this time. If you look at the cost for moving to source in December ($900) to moving to it now ($99), we have significantly dropped the barrier for entry. But we do regret that some people have been unhappy about the new pricing.
#538
02/05/2011 (12:39 pm)
Ok thank you for letting me know i wasnt sure. will there ever be an upgrade?
#539
02/05/2011 (12:44 pm)
We have not made any determination on whether there will be an upgrade price for binary owners.
#540
02/05/2011 (11:15 pm)
Holy cow I am so glad you guys did not disappear! You guys have one of the best engines out there and always had great access to everything on the inside. I never intended to upgrade to the new version of the engine and have been find with TGE 1.5.2. However after seeing your turmoil and new awesome pricing ($99 source and no royalties!) I had to bite! Want to see your engine last forever and it was the least I could do. I may even play around a bit with the new toys...tools in the new engine. I know my kids want to write code for games and this is a great place to do it. Thanks for sticking it out and returning to the Indie roots.

Oh, and thank goodness you went back to GG. Never did like all the name changes. Cheers to a bright new future!