Torque 3D 3.6.2 released

Yesterday, those of you who are watching our repository, wiki, or IRC channel may have noticed that version 3.6.2 of Torque 3D was completed! This was accompanied by much fanfare, such as release notes.

So what's new in this version? A couple of existing community fixes went in, like correcting the initial transform in GuiObjectView, and properly determining the ear transform when using different control and camera objects. A crash when adding a Player with a shapeless datablock was mitigated to a soft failure, and TSShape's castRay logic when using bounds collision was corrected. There were also assorted little tweaks made to clean up existing issues, and we added a new file, CONTRIBUTING.md, in the root of the repository. This is a GitHub-specific feature, popular in open-source projects. A link to this file is displayed on the pages for creating new issues or pull-requests, so we hope it will provide some guidance for new contributors.

This was a small, quick version, which is the point of these 'patch', 'hotfix' or 'z' releases. For those of you still unfamiliar with our new version policy, here's the deal:

X.Y.z

• X is a major version, and this number is only incremented when we make big changes to the way the engine works in a way that will break your game. This'll mean users rewriting large parts of their games, which is unfortunate, but necessary when we need to push the technology forwards.
• Y is the minor version, and changes to it represent adding new features, or redesigning existing functionality in a way that may require minor game tweaks (changing constant values, adding a line here and there).
• z is the patch version, and represents new bugfixes that don't change existing functionality in any way, just prevent crashes or other undesirable behaviour. You shouldn't have to change your game at all between patch version releases, unless you've made conflicting source modifications that require merging.

More details are available here. We're trying to get these patch releases out as quickly as we can. It's partially a marketing strategy - it lets you know we're working! But it's also a matter of a tighter loop between having a minor bug/fix reported and getting it into your hands in an official capacity. One of the benefits of open-source, it's been said, is quicker bugfix cycles. Well, with six months between 3.5.1 and 3.6.1, we weren't exactly living up to this promise, so we decided to start moving a little quicker on our feet!

The wiki

A few of you have noticed that we have a new wiki. We've now activated a new domain for it, thanks to Nathan Martin, so while you can still find the wiki at its old address, its new home is

wiki.torque3d.org

We've recently started new pages for collecting links to art assets usable in Torque and downloading Torque (making sure you have all the right files in the right places).

Steering Committee member applications

We've had a few applications for new Steering Committee members since Andrew's departure, and today we'd like you to know that in seven days' time, we will no longer be considering new applicants, and will choose from among those we already have. So the last day to apply, wherever in the world you are, is the 13th of November.

I've had questions about what exactly we're looking for in prospective applicants. What would their role be, and what would be expected of them? If you'd like, you can read our charter, but basically, we're looking for people who want to work with us on these things:

• Reviewing community contributions to the engine! Love to see people contributing code? Help us help the community make Torque the best it can be. This involves a lot of talking to people about their code, evaluating it for technical soundness and making sure it's an appropriate addition to the engine. Strong leadership and communication skills help! We also have to write and maintain the roadmap for the engine and make decisions about its future.
• Improving the state of Torque's templates and stock art. First impressions count, and currently Torque's starter art doesn't show it off in the best possible light. We want talented artists to provide great art to shot off the engine, but also to provide example content to new users. You don't necessarily have to produce all this content yourself - the SC is primarily a leadership body, so managing and directing art contributions is an important part of the role.
• Keeping Torque feature-comparable with other engines, in terms of platform support, editors, pipelines, and all that user-experiency jazz. This is the nitty-gritty technical work we all love so much. If you have a good head for pragmatic ways to improve the experience for Torque's users, and don't mind getting your hands dirty with low-level coding, we'd love to have you on board. Again, of course, this role involves leadership - unless you can single-handedly keep up with the Unity and Unreal development teams, we're going to have to solicit contributions and delegate tasks!

If any of that sounds attractive to you, don't hesitate to email me (email is in my profile) or any of the other committee members with your application. You can also often find us on IRC.