Torque on iPhone plausible?
by Miguel Angel Friginal · in Torque Game Engine · 03/13/2008 (8:47 am) · 6 replies
Hi guys,
I suppose all Mac developers in this forum already know of the new iPhone SDK. I was wondering if porting the Torque engine to the iPhone is possible (cause I know it is desirable for sure) and if GarageGames has any plans on this respect.
Things I understand we can do on the iPhone environment:
- Interface with C++ code (will need to change the way views work so Torque uses the very specialized Cocoa NSViews of the iPhone, but I remember somebody already had implemented successfully a MacOS X Cocoa interface for Torque)
- OpenGL ES (probably lots of code has to be changed to use valid methods of ES, but is there any show stoppers here?)
- OpenAL for sound
I know lots of other features will have to be eliminated/simplified and that this will not be a straightforward job. My question is basically... is it feasible?
I suppose all Mac developers in this forum already know of the new iPhone SDK. I was wondering if porting the Torque engine to the iPhone is possible (cause I know it is desirable for sure) and if GarageGames has any plans on this respect.
Things I understand we can do on the iPhone environment:
- Interface with C++ code (will need to change the way views work so Torque uses the very specialized Cocoa NSViews of the iPhone, but I remember somebody already had implemented successfully a MacOS X Cocoa interface for Torque)
- OpenGL ES (probably lots of code has to be changed to use valid methods of ES, but is there any show stoppers here?)
- OpenAL for sound
I know lots of other features will have to be eliminated/simplified and that this will not be a straightforward job. My question is basically... is it feasible?
#2
As to whether it is feasible or not, I don't know. I do know that Orbz was ported to a handheld device, meaning that it is definitely possible to work within the strict constraints of such a thing. But it may require a complete platform layer, from scratch, to integrate somewhat correctly.
It is definitely a cool idea, though. Too bad my are has crappy reception for their carrier.
04/07/2008 (6:03 pm)
Actually, Unity being iPhone compatible is nearly a no-brainer. The engine can export directly to Widgets, which is a similar concept to an iPhone application (except with much, much more strict constraints).As to whether it is feasible or not, I don't know. I do know that Orbz was ported to a handheld device, meaning that it is definitely possible to work within the strict constraints of such a thing. But it may require a complete platform layer, from scratch, to integrate somewhat correctly.
It is definitely a cool idea, though. Too bad my are has crappy reception for their carrier.
#3
04/07/2008 (7:31 pm)
Hmm... Maybe iTorque?
#4
In other words, I bet it's technically feasible, but it'd take a fair amount of work and the reward is small unless you have a sure thing to justify it (like a contract guaranteeing a certain size advance).
If anybody gets Torque up and running on the iPhone I'd love to see it. I think it'd have to pretty much have to be a labor of love. :)
04/07/2008 (9:23 pm)
I suspect - and I don't speak as a policy maker on this so don't go quoting this back to anybody as official GG opinion - that Torque will probably stick with bigger, easier to target platforms. I've seen one-off ports of Torque on a variety of portable platforms, but it's hard to keep it as friendly as it is on desktop, and the licensing is usually stricter, nevermind that sales are usually much less.In other words, I bet it's technically feasible, but it'd take a fair amount of work and the reward is small unless you have a sure thing to justify it (like a contract guaranteeing a certain size advance).
If anybody gets Torque up and running on the iPhone I'd love to see it. I think it'd have to pretty much have to be a labor of love. :)
#5
04/08/2008 (6:27 am)
Well, then I better get cracking :) Thanks for the responses guys
#6
I'm very much interested in working on a Mac port, and will do it myself if someone doesn't beat me to it. I would be happy to collaborate with you on it. I'm an experienced Mac developer (since 1988) though unfortunately not as familar with the Cocoa APIs. Apparently the iPhone SDK is all Cocoa, not Carbon, though I believe there is a lot of overlap between the Cocoa and Carbon APIs these days.
My email is in my profile if you are interested in collaboration.
04/11/2008 (7:48 am)
@MiguelI'm very much interested in working on a Mac port, and will do it myself if someone doesn't beat me to it. I would be happy to collaborate with you on it. I'm an experienced Mac developer (since 1988) though unfortunately not as familar with the Cocoa APIs. Apparently the iPhone SDK is all Cocoa, not Carbon, though I believe there is a lot of overlap between the Cocoa and Carbon APIs these days.
My email is in my profile if you are interested in collaboration.
Torque Owner Miguel Angel Friginal