GG/Community Politics and Engines
by Shane McLeod · in General Discussion · 10/29/2002 (5:38 am) · 7 replies
How receptive is this community and the GG folks to discussions and questions concerning engines other than Torque?
I'm a bit torn about this. On the one hand, Torque IS GG. On the other, GG is the "home of independant games and game makers."
I have to be honest with you, I really like the Qube engine. Don't get me wrong, I love Torque, but the indoor lighting and other issues limit it a bit when it comes to Quake-like interior based games. Let's be honest, Torque is a killer engine for outdoor environments, indoor is another story.
So, some kind gent posted the link to the Qube engine in the resources section and I was extremely impressed.
Now comes my dilemma, do I come to this community and ask questions? Put together a Qube based team from within the community?
Ultimately I guess the question comes down to does this community and the GG guys support the independant developer or the independant developer using Torque.
Let me also say that nobody within the community or GG has said anything to make me think that I couldn't do this. It's more my paranoia that sparked the question. But I have said very little about my plans or where we are in the last month because of this.
Now for the second part...
If discussion about other engines is acceptable, why not add a board for that topic?
Anyway, I think the open approach would be great for GG. There would be people who join the community, create their games and ultimately sell the game through the player site. Win-Win situation.
To the "Torque is open sourced, you can do anything with it" crowd, some people just want to build a game, without having to code working doors and elevators, dynamic camera switching, etc. Sure I can code it, but I don't have the time. And yes, I don't own a license to torque, however, one of my teammates does.
I'm a bit torn about this. On the one hand, Torque IS GG. On the other, GG is the "home of independant games and game makers."
I have to be honest with you, I really like the Qube engine. Don't get me wrong, I love Torque, but the indoor lighting and other issues limit it a bit when it comes to Quake-like interior based games. Let's be honest, Torque is a killer engine for outdoor environments, indoor is another story.
So, some kind gent posted the link to the Qube engine in the resources section and I was extremely impressed.
Now comes my dilemma, do I come to this community and ask questions? Put together a Qube based team from within the community?
Ultimately I guess the question comes down to does this community and the GG guys support the independant developer or the independant developer using Torque.
Let me also say that nobody within the community or GG has said anything to make me think that I couldn't do this. It's more my paranoia that sparked the question. But I have said very little about my plans or where we are in the last month because of this.
Now for the second part...
If discussion about other engines is acceptable, why not add a board for that topic?
Anyway, I think the open approach would be great for GG. There would be people who join the community, create their games and ultimately sell the game through the player site. Win-Win situation.
To the "Torque is open sourced, you can do anything with it" crowd, some people just want to build a game, without having to code working doors and elevators, dynamic camera switching, etc. Sure I can code it, but I don't have the time. And yes, I don't own a license to torque, however, one of my teammates does.
About the author
#2
10/29/2002 (6:58 am)
I don't believe the GG game staff would have a problem with this. Just remember you probably won't get the support from the community like you would if you were using Torque. Not because they are against anything that isn't Torque; just that most of the community is working with Torque and are dedicating their time to it.
#3
10/29/2002 (7:08 am)
Niels, I didn't see anything on that website about costs. You will have to contact them for licensing information.
#4
Don't worry about offending people with non-Torque engine posts - Torque's license is so original at the moment that it has definite market share.
10/29/2002 (7:13 am)
Well I for one don't use Torque (making my own engine). That means 80% of the site is of little use to me - forum threads, code snippets, resources etc are usually Torque-based - but making a game is about more than just the engine you choose. This is still a valuable community.Don't worry about offending people with non-Torque engine posts - Torque's license is so original at the moment that it has definite market share.
#5
It's been my observation that the GarageGames staff have encouraged development with whatever tools people deem are appropriate. But this is also the home of Torque development, so most of the time if you have questions about an engine and don't specify one, people assume you're talking about Torque.
I'm sure a lot of people here have also played with lots of the engines out there. Take Crystal Space for example. People could probably help you with problems--it's just you might get better help by going to Crystal Space's site. Now imagine asking Torque questions on Crystal Space's mailing list and you'll see what I mean. ;-)
10/29/2002 (7:15 am)
Quote:Ultimately I guess the question comes down to does this community and the GG guys support the independant developer or the independant developer using Torque.
It's been my observation that the GarageGames staff have encouraged development with whatever tools people deem are appropriate. But this is also the home of Torque development, so most of the time if you have questions about an engine and don't specify one, people assume you're talking about Torque.
I'm sure a lot of people here have also played with lots of the engines out there. Take Crystal Space for example. People could probably help you with problems--it's just you might get better help by going to Crystal Space's site. Now imagine asking Torque questions on Crystal Space's mailing list and you'll see what I mean. ;-)
#6
You can talk about engines other than the Torque on this site, but you may not get much response. We do not care, but we are not going to give you specific forums or special support for engines we do not sell.
Jeff Tunnell GG
10/29/2002 (7:29 am)
Once our player's site is up, we will publish a game using ANY technology. But, we are going to be very selective about the quality of the games we publish.You can talk about engines other than the Torque on this site, but you may not get much response. We do not care, but we are not going to give you specific forums or special support for engines we do not sell.
Jeff Tunnell GG
#7
10/29/2002 (11:43 am)
Understood, and thanks for the reply. 
Niels
i looked up the site and here is it: http://www.alawargroup.com/active/?page=3dom
i thought it would fit in this topic, if not say so and ill post in in a new one.
im mentioning this because i want to ask you guys if someone here knows more about it. anyone know if this is going to be a low cost and easy to handle engine just as torque?
it looks nice by the looks of some pictures...
greetz,
niels