TGE 1.5.3

#1 When I consulted the Magic 8 Ball, it said "DEFINITELY!"

I see this as a good sign for TGE. It has only failed me once. The shattered pelvis is still healing.

#2 @david,

Thanks for the link. I also consulted the Magic 8 Ball, and got the exact same answer "Definately!". I think this is a good sign, but perhaps I should have asked it something about when the new version was due.

#3 I have to contest the Magic 8 Ball...I think it is busted:

My Question: "Can Deborah make 'teh' awesome cookies?"

Answer: Absolutely!

I call shenanigans.

#4 Hey David, that's a really clever link.

I asked, "Will Barack Obama win?" and the 8-Ball replied, "Check back with me later."

So I asked, not to be deceived, "Will Hilary Clinton lose?", to which the 8-Ball replied, "Outlook not so good!"

So now that I know the 8-Ball is really smart, I'll ask something important.

#5 "Will Rudy make a comeback?" => "yes"

"Will my code ship this month? => "definitely"

This 8-ball walks the fine-line between hopeful and delusional. :-P

#6 Imagine if the Iraqi Information Minister www.welovetheiraqiinformationminister.com/ had been as sneaky as David ;)

Hmmm, Hey, when did this "David Blake" character appear, anyway? !

#7 He did not appear. He simply is and has always been. Think Cthulhu, but benevolent, Torque savvy, and less tentacles.

#8 All,

This 8-Ball Oracle thing reminds me of my favorite joke, one that gets a laugh in any situation, whether a cocktail party or with children.

Seems there was a travelling salesman back in the 50's who was driving through Texas and happened on an old Indian reservation where the folks would set blankets with various hand-made articles laid out for sale at the front gate. And there was also a teepee with a sign that said "Famous Indian Oracle, will answer any questions". Having a little time on his hands, the salesman stopped the car and got in line to catch a quick glimpse at his future, perhaps. As he approached the tent, he was thinking he should ask a simple question or two just to be sure the oracle was legit. So when he finally go inside the tent, he asked, "What did I have for breakfast?" and the indian replied quickly, "Eggs."

So realizing that was indeed correct, the salesman started to ask the real question on his mind but the Indian stopped him rather impatiently and said, "One question per customer, go back to the end of the line." Whereupon the salesman abruptly left, got in his car and drove away as he had spent too much of his time already.

About 40 years later the salesman, now retired, was driving through Texas and came upon the reservation again, which had now become a huge gambling casino with the Indians driving Mercedes autos etc. All the blankets and beads were gone but there near the gate was the old teepee, now a bit tattered and torn. There was no oracle sign but the salesman stopped anyway, out of curiosity. He causiously appoached the tent once again, this time determined to get his question answered. As he poked his inside, he saw the now very old Indian still sitting in the middle on a blanket and politely said "How". To which the old oracle quickly said, "Scrambled! And don't ask me anymore of your silly questions!"

#9 Good Joke :)

#10 The magic 8 ball said my name was not Cory Anderson. Then I asked it if my name was Rex. It said definitely... dammit.

#11 I asked if tge 1.5.3 will be scrambled and it said "Absolutely!".

#12 I asked it "Cookies?" and it replied "Ask again later."

Well played, Magic 8 Ball, well played.

#13 Well, thats what you get for being vague ;)

#14 I asked, "Will this thread ever end?" It said, "My sources say, 'No'."

#15 Seems accurate then

#16 Amazing! For a little while there, I was beginning to doubt! ;o)

#17 Well that's all fine.....and fun....but it'd be nice if an employee would actually give us developers a memo or post or a link somewhere that has updates and features on upcoming game engine releases, some hard facts. Something to indicate what is being worked on, what additions are being added and when the release date (approximately) for these updated game engine versions will be........maybe I just simply missed that link?
I heard a rumor that there might be a TGEA for pc and mac? Things like this would be nice to know in advance when it comes to the planning and brainstorming cycles of game development......

#18 Very very good point, DALO. When planning a game it is essential to be aware of what technologies are accesible to you.

It is very hard to find anything on future releases on this site, and that annoys me. Garagegames works behind a wall of secrecy. Lame.

#19 More communication would be nice. But I'm not gonna bring up the open development issue again... (oops I just did).

#20 The best place for a snapshot into what is happening at GG is through Matt Fairfax (another one) and Brett Seyler's blogs (and the comments below as well for clarification) right now--these should answer the rumor speculations; as well as the beta releases of TX 3D, TGEA, and the on-going one for TGB 1.7.3. Though those blogs and their comments are projections and ideas, not promises of what will be coming down the pipe. At this time, we do not have a public roadmap of what we are working on because it has burned us too many times in the past and we want to do it right and stop the potential burn to us and the community. We've been working on a transparent development web platform so that you can understand what is happening, decisions that are being made, etc, but the framework has taken a lot longer than planned because there is nothing like what we wanted out in the wild right now. So we've been trying to get the community involved in the betas to find the things that people are doing with our engines and how our engines work under outside circumstances. That's a step, but not a very big one. But it is definitely a baby-step in the right direction.

If you're working with TGE and have a project going on or in planning, I would recommend working with 1.5.2. You have it in your hands, you can develop with it, and you don't have to worry about features in a hopeful projection list being cut before the next engine release. And you can make a determination whether or not you wish to integrate it with the next release depending on your codebase modifications. I know teams that have their projects on 1.3 because they have made such huge modifications that it would require a number of man-months to actually get it going on 1.5.2. Even with a 1.5.3 on the horizon, I wouldn't recommend waiting or banking upon specifics that may or may not be cut from the final release. Doing so may inadvertently (and unnecessarily) lengthen the development process.