Questioning the TGE & TSE
by Michael "Doodle" Golden · in Torque Game Engine Advanced · 04/24/2006 (7:15 pm) · 7 replies
To Whom it May Concern,
My name is Michael, and currently, I am in the course of designing a standalone Gaming Development project. At this time, I am bringing into consideration what software I will need to be able to support my project, and whether or not it can lead to the proper course of development. I have taken some time searching for information regaurding the Torque Game Engine, as well as the Torque Shader Engine, and have found myself rounding about to a tad bit of a quandery. So, I can merely ask each user, as specifically as I can bring myself to ask, these questions:
~ I understand that the TGE is required for an Early Adopter Release of the TSE
(Which is the only release currently available.) - Which Engine would best
support a graphically pleasing 3rd Person Environment?
~ Over the course of a 3 year development span, would a basic function such
as bump-mapping, which is apparently unavailable in TGE (But should be under
the TSE), be easily adopted in a near-finished product?
~ It comes to assumption that upon purchasing the TSE, that a user would
recieve all updates concerning that product from that point forward?
~ What Level of Detail or Polycount, is supported by Characters In-Game?
~ I have been finding that Maya does not function properly when working with
the TGE/TSE. Will this change now that their companies have merged? Can
I properly design an interior, say a multi-level structure, and place it within the
terrain without issue? (As I have heard that it is the creation of terrain itself
that causes instability.) (Is there a difference within the TSE/TGE regaurding
this?)
I thank you all for any and all assistance.
Later,
Michael
My name is Michael, and currently, I am in the course of designing a standalone Gaming Development project. At this time, I am bringing into consideration what software I will need to be able to support my project, and whether or not it can lead to the proper course of development. I have taken some time searching for information regaurding the Torque Game Engine, as well as the Torque Shader Engine, and have found myself rounding about to a tad bit of a quandery. So, I can merely ask each user, as specifically as I can bring myself to ask, these questions:
~ I understand that the TGE is required for an Early Adopter Release of the TSE
(Which is the only release currently available.) - Which Engine would best
support a graphically pleasing 3rd Person Environment?
~ Over the course of a 3 year development span, would a basic function such
as bump-mapping, which is apparently unavailable in TGE (But should be under
the TSE), be easily adopted in a near-finished product?
~ It comes to assumption that upon purchasing the TSE, that a user would
recieve all updates concerning that product from that point forward?
~ What Level of Detail or Polycount, is supported by Characters In-Game?
~ I have been finding that Maya does not function properly when working with
the TGE/TSE. Will this change now that their companies have merged? Can
I properly design an interior, say a multi-level structure, and place it within the
terrain without issue? (As I have heard that it is the creation of terrain itself
that causes instability.) (Is there a difference within the TSE/TGE regaurding
this?)
I thank you all for any and all assistance.
Later,
Michael
About the author
Recent Threads
#2
04/26/2006 (4:43 am)
Since the release of TGE, all updates to the core of the engine were free. There are some extras that you wouldn't want to be without such as the Torque Lighting Kit, but I haven't seen or heard anything that would indicate that TSE will start charging for normal updates. 
#3
From the TGE product page
Topic: Some "Official Clarification" on 1.4 info...
So it's only reasonable to expect TSE to eventually follow the same path...?
04/26/2006 (10:41 am)
I haven't heard anything solid regarding update fees for TSE, but I know major updates for TGE will cost you.From the TGE product page
Quote:From Jeff Tunnell (employee)
TGE 1.4 is the last free upgrade in the Torque Game Engine line. If you're looking for an upgrade beyone TGE, you should check out the Torque Shader Engine.
Quote:The Forum Thread with Jeff's entire post
The next version of Torque will require current owners to pay an upgrade price.
Topic: Some "Official Clarification" on 1.4 info...
So it's only reasonable to expect TSE to eventually follow the same path...?
#4
I've also learned that I should check back here more often, seeing as how quickly it was responded to, which to be quite honest, shocked me.
TTFN,
Michael
04/30/2006 (1:01 pm)
Ah well, Thank You, Tim & J.C. - I'm certain that I shall be going with the Torque Engine, however, I will most likely spend more time designing the 3-d aspect of the project, rather then the coded end. As such, I will make another post in the 3-d end of the forums, and will hope to learn more concerning the subject. Again, I Thank You all for your help.I've also learned that I should check back here more often, seeing as how quickly it was responded to, which to be quite honest, shocked me.
TTFN,
Michael
#5
05/21/2006 (1:51 pm)
Sorry, I failed to get back to you the other day. I spent most of yesterday looking up Forward and Inverse Kinematics. From what I could tell, it basically sets a field of movement for which the selected joints are allowed to move, such as allowing it to move in one direction in it's hierarchy, or the general ability to move in any it so pleases. My next problem is, I'm trying to figure out how to set the names of joints into it's own hierarchy, so that I am not having to split the percentage of weights incorrectly. Most likely, I'll just have to give it a shot and see what happens. Thanks for your help.
#6
05/21/2006 (2:24 pm)
Sorry, I failed to get back to you the other day. I spent most of yesterday looking up Forward and Inverse Kinematics. From what I could tell, it basically sets a field of movement for which the selected joints are allowed to move, such as allowing it to move in one direction in it's hierarchy, or the general ability to move in any it so pleases. My next problem is, I'm trying to figure out how to set the names of joints into it's own hierarchy, so that I am not having to split the percentage of weights incorrectly. Most likely, I'll just have to give it a shot and see what happens. Thanks for your help.
#7
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=FD044A42-9912-42A3-9A9E-D857199F888E&displaylang=en
07/16/2006 (2:50 am)
Use DX SDK 2004 Summer update :http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=FD044A42-9912-42A3-9A9E-D857199F888E&displaylang=en
Torque Owner Tim Heldna
- Normal mapping is in TSE but without pixel lighting it doesn't look very good. Dynamic lighting and shadows (I find this bizarre from a programming standpoint) will be one of the last things implemented into TSE.
- One would assume so however I have heard rumours of licensees being required to pay for additional updates.
- Hard to answer, depends on a lot of different factors. If you want a consistant frame rate, smooth network and gameplay, and relatively large / detailed levels I would keep most things under 5K.
- I use max so I can't answer that question