The New iTorque 2.0 and Windows Surface speculations
by Watermark · in iTorque 2D · 09/22/2012 (9:38 am) · 6 replies
I know this is probably pretty out there but I was just thinking: What if the new iTorque 2.0 can port to Microsoft Surface (Win8 app)?
My reasoning goes something like this:
1. From what I gather from forum talks, iTorque is rapidly facing an increasingly difficult battle with an increase in competitors anywhere from ye-olde-Flash to Unity to GameSalad, all of which is pretty good with upgrades. Also with the indefinite pause in iTorque upgrades, this doesn't seem to be getting better.
2. Doesn't Torque already make windows games? I think. And it definitely has a Windows IDE. So I am assuming it would be easy to transfer this to publishing for Windows 8? Heck. There's even Torsion on Windows! This is just speculation of course.
3. Microsoft Surface is looking pretty good and has a good chance of becoming the third Big after Apple and Android. I as a developer am definitely interested in publishing beyond the Apple platform. And Microsoft looks to have potential this time around. I don't know if any other third party tools are going to support it, but so far it seems the only way to develop for it is to use Microsoft's tools. Looks like an open market.
4. According to blog posts, isn't iTorque getting completely rewritten anyway? With a COMPLETELY new language (or something like a Torque Script 2.0 at the very least). This news is a real big headache for us developers. seriously. What this means is that anything I write with the current iTorque 1.5 engine will probably have to be rewritten for the new iTorque 2.0, and I will have to learn a new language to do it too. And there prob won't be docs, at least not till the volunteers are done with them. And I can still only publish to Apple. Android nope. Microsoft tablet nope. PC probably. I am also assuming that GarageGames will probably charge for the new update too? Reasonable. Still. hmm... the appeal of this new iTorque 2.0 is starting to look a lot less sparkling...
Personally, I don't know anything about the Microsoft app store. I just know it exists. Anyone out there actually published on it? Would be helpful if anyone had and can comment.
Anyway, to end my whole spliel, what I want to say is: If the new iTorque 2.0 can publish to Microsoft tablet as well as Apple tablet, it would be a great competitive advantage. And I would buy it.
My reasoning goes something like this:
1. From what I gather from forum talks, iTorque is rapidly facing an increasingly difficult battle with an increase in competitors anywhere from ye-olde-Flash to Unity to GameSalad, all of which is pretty good with upgrades. Also with the indefinite pause in iTorque upgrades, this doesn't seem to be getting better.
2. Doesn't Torque already make windows games? I think. And it definitely has a Windows IDE. So I am assuming it would be easy to transfer this to publishing for Windows 8? Heck. There's even Torsion on Windows! This is just speculation of course.
3. Microsoft Surface is looking pretty good and has a good chance of becoming the third Big after Apple and Android. I as a developer am definitely interested in publishing beyond the Apple platform. And Microsoft looks to have potential this time around. I don't know if any other third party tools are going to support it, but so far it seems the only way to develop for it is to use Microsoft's tools. Looks like an open market.
4. According to blog posts, isn't iTorque getting completely rewritten anyway? With a COMPLETELY new language (or something like a Torque Script 2.0 at the very least). This news is a real big headache for us developers. seriously. What this means is that anything I write with the current iTorque 1.5 engine will probably have to be rewritten for the new iTorque 2.0, and I will have to learn a new language to do it too. And there prob won't be docs, at least not till the volunteers are done with them. And I can still only publish to Apple. Android nope. Microsoft tablet nope. PC probably. I am also assuming that GarageGames will probably charge for the new update too? Reasonable. Still. hmm... the appeal of this new iTorque 2.0 is starting to look a lot less sparkling...
Personally, I don't know anything about the Microsoft app store. I just know it exists. Anyone out there actually published on it? Would be helpful if anyone had and can comment.
Anyway, to end my whole spliel, what I want to say is: If the new iTorque 2.0 can publish to Microsoft tablet as well as Apple tablet, it would be a great competitive advantage. And I would buy it.
About the author
Three iTorque 1.5 games published: Sorceria 1: The Mad Doctor RPG Sorceria 2: Sunken City Sagas: RPG Boardgame and Name Generator For more info see our site: http://wmrpg.weebly.com
#2
And claims it worked like a charm, afaik T2D and iT2D runs on a pretty similar codebase (or atleast going to lol) so I believe there is reason to keep your hope up.
Also TorqueScript is not completely going away in the new merge between T2D and iT2D they just came up with something, xml like that should be way better for some parts of development.
09/22/2012 (6:08 pm)
Giuseppe Bertone tested T2D on Win8And claims it worked like a charm, afaik T2D and iT2D runs on a pretty similar codebase (or atleast going to lol) so I believe there is reason to keep your hope up.
Also TorqueScript is not completely going away in the new merge between T2D and iT2D they just came up with something, xml like that should be way better for some parts of development.
#3
2. Yes, it does. We are unifying T2D and iT2D into a single product. So there will only be one Torque 2D, which deploys to Windows, OS X, and iOS. Maybe more in the future
3. Yes, I already know several 3rd party tools that will deploy to the platform. It's a safe bet we will be testing on it soon.
4. No, we aren't changing languages. We are keeping TorqueScript until we are finished fixing everything else. You will be able to keep a lot of your game logic, but you will need to change the format of all of your output files (scenes, particles, assets, etc).
Anyone who currently owns the 2D products will get this huge update for free. It's already been confirmed by Eric. This means you are going to get the full editor suite, source, publishing to three platforms, Box 2D, batch rendering, the new module system, the new asset system, the updated particle system, the updated tile map system, and many other updates. . .for free.
You should click on my profile and read through my most recent blogs. It covers a lot of these details.
09/22/2012 (11:21 pm)
1. To the general public, it seems stalled. Internally we have made more changes to T2D/iT2D in the past 9 months than we have in 4 years. 2. Yes, it does. We are unifying T2D and iT2D into a single product. So there will only be one Torque 2D, which deploys to Windows, OS X, and iOS. Maybe more in the future
3. Yes, I already know several 3rd party tools that will deploy to the platform. It's a safe bet we will be testing on it soon.
4. No, we aren't changing languages. We are keeping TorqueScript until we are finished fixing everything else. You will be able to keep a lot of your game logic, but you will need to change the format of all of your output files (scenes, particles, assets, etc).
Anyone who currently owns the 2D products will get this huge update for free. It's already been confirmed by Eric. This means you are going to get the full editor suite, source, publishing to three platforms, Box 2D, batch rendering, the new module system, the new asset system, the updated particle system, the updated tile map system, and many other updates. . .for free.
You should click on my profile and read through my most recent blogs. It covers a lot of these details.
#4
Also Unity and Corona have support for Nook, Fire, Android... everything. Pretty silly to use any other engine that doesn't have universal support like that. If you can't support all the platforms..then you should go open source :)
09/26/2012 (1:55 pm)
Unity and Gamesalad will have Windows 8 support very close or at Windows 8 launch.Also Unity and Corona have support for Nook, Fire, Android... everything. Pretty silly to use any other engine that doesn't have universal support like that. If you can't support all the platforms..then you should go open source :)
#5
While I understand where Johnny's coming from, I disagree with going open source if no support for EVERY platform. For me, it's actually more important for the engine to be robust and useful with a dedicated team working on it, regardless of whether it has a price tag on it. I think it's the combination of iTorque only supporting iOS currently and not keeping up with the updates that has us worried. Now that 3D has gone open source, perhaps more resources will be devoted to making the 2D version the very best one out there? That would be nice.
As your loyal customers, we b$tch and complain in the hope that your product delivers features we need, because ultimately, it would be best if I don't have to change. It's really not cost efficient.
Whew, been away for a while. Now let me go see what those blog posts say...
09/27/2012 (12:55 am)
That's good news Michael. Now an official release date would be even better news. ^^While I understand where Johnny's coming from, I disagree with going open source if no support for EVERY platform. For me, it's actually more important for the engine to be robust and useful with a dedicated team working on it, regardless of whether it has a price tag on it. I think it's the combination of iTorque only supporting iOS currently and not keeping up with the updates that has us worried. Now that 3D has gone open source, perhaps more resources will be devoted to making the 2D version the very best one out there? That would be nice.
As your loyal customers, we b$tch and complain in the hope that your product delivers features we need, because ultimately, it would be best if I don't have to change. It's really not cost efficient.
Whew, been away for a while. Now let me go see what those blog posts say...
#6
Unfortunately I will be going over to Unity as soon as I finish Are You Quick Enough 3. Too bad because I would love to stay here - there are some great forum members and employees here.
09/27/2012 (12:58 am)
I do agree with you, Watermark, and think Michael and Melv are going to do a great job on the new engine. Unfortunately I will be going over to Unity as soon as I finish Are You Quick Enough 3. Too bad because I would love to stay here - there are some great forum members and employees here.
Torque 3D Owner Ronny Bangsund
Torque Cheerleaders
Since they're merging TGB into iT2D of course it will work on any regular Windows OS. ARM Windows, slightly less likely. Slightly.