The Deal

60 Tons is the name of the game I've been developing as a hobby for some time now. I need help to lift the game to its next level. The 60 Tons website has videos, screenshots, forums and download information so you can see the current state of the game. The game was started with TGE and has since migrated to T3D 1.2.

Payment

None. There are no current plans to make money off of this endeavor. At this point I would be happy if people played and enjoyed the game. I do receive an occasional donation which I use to buy packs. Any help given to the game will be credited. The credits are currently available from the Help menu of each build. If you feel this is insufficient than we can talk.

The Game

It's a FPS with tanks. The gameplay is heavily influenced by the now defunct game Tanarus which was published by SOE way back in the late 90s.
I very much enjoyed playing that game and in particular loved the team playing aspects. However the game suffered because it didn't emphasize team play enough. Solo play was allowed which split and ultimately frustrated the player base to the point where most people quit playing. My game will be totally team play and I need help designing it as such. There is no AI and none planned. It is strictly Players vs. Players.
The name 60 Tons comes from the approximate weight of an Abrams tank. The Abrams tank model used in the game originally came from the BraveTree Tank Pack.

What I Have So Far
I came across Ted Southard's advice while researching for this blog. It's great advice, thanks Ted. I've been doing step 5 for a while. Now seems like a good time to progress to step 6.
There is a working prototype that you can immediately play. Most of the gameplay is already there. I've had as many as 9 people playing at once.
I've been putting out playable builds soon after starting development. The last build number when using TGE was 50 something. The build number reset after migrating to T3D and it is currently 30.
Here is some build 25 testing

What I Can Offer

Credits and collaboration
I've been using Torque since 2005 and have developed some expertise in it. My day job is business software development which I've been doing for almost 30 years so I have some idea what it takes to make and deliver a product.

Why I Post Like This

It's been said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. I've been reading Konrad Kiss's blogs and forum posts for a long time now. This format is nearly identical to what he used in a blog discussing his latest project. Thanks Konrad.

What Help Do I Need

Testing Testing alone is arduous and time consuming. Having a team that could meet regularly to really put the game through its paces and to open bug reports or enhancement requests would be great. I just started using Trello for this sort of thing. Thanks again Konrad for that recommendation.
Modeling I don't even have a working model for the tank I'm using (long story for another blog) plus I need more tanks anyway. The current tank I'm using is derived from the now defunct Tank Pack.
Game Design Specifically tweaking weapons and other settings to get the balance correct. Also want to explore features that will encourage or even better demand team play.
Sounds The game's current sounds are just a haphazard selection of available assets. I can do the programming but need someone to figure out what works best and perhaps even create new sounds.
GUI Design I don't particularly care for GUI design and it shows. Need help there.
Level Design I've been playing the same mission for years, I'm sick of it, help me build a new one!
Experienced Eyes Up until now I've been flying solo when it comes to Torque programming so I'm probably doing dozens of things incorrectly or inefficiently. I'm hoping that experienced users of the Torque will give me valuable feedback after trying the game. E.g. why is your terrain file so big? Didn't you know that if you did X, Y and Z it would be 1/10 the size! (I do have a large terrain file but I don't know if that can be fixed).

How to Apply

Send me an email. kcpdad@yahoo.com Occasionally you can find me in the Garagegames IRC channel as kcp or kcpdad.

Final Words

I'm looking forward to working with some new faces. This is a fun hobby for me. There isn't any pressure on you to deliver. Just try to have fun with it. This works both ways since I may be unavailable at times due to family and work commitments. However if you look at my track record you will see steady progress.
I welcome all people, experienced developers, artists and designers that like to share their knowledge and talent, new game makers just starting out who want to learn what it takes to make a complete game using T3D or gamers that just want to blow up tanks.
Much of the heavy lifting has been done. This isn't smoke and mirrors. I need your help to bring this project to the next level. This is a real chance to put your stamp on something that people will enjoy playing and hopefully play regularly.

If you do decide to try out the game make sure you watch this game introduction