Game Development Community

Atlas

by Matt Brasier · in Torque Game Engine Advanced · 05/19/2009 (8:26 am) · 3 replies

I have read various posts that allude to Atlas terrain being broken in newer versions of TGEA, what exactly is the status of Atlas in TGEA 1.7.1 and 1.8.1? Atlas was one of the main reasons for me upgrading to TGEA but there doesn't seem to be much useful documentation on its current status.

Matt
NextNext Thread
PrevPrevious Thread
More from Torque Game Engine Advanced


Associate Michael Hall
Distracted...
#1
05/19/2009 (8:46 am)
Since Atlas does not work on a Mac, and since 1.8 was the version in which Mac support was enabled, Atlas was left in a "toggled-off" state in 1.8 & 1.8.1. But you can still use it. There are a few issues that some people seem to have found with it (mainly due to the vast differences between 1.0.3 and 1.7 ), yet others have been able to work around/with those problems. Many people in the community are still going forward with their use of Atlas, but by foregoing Mac support at the same time.

Atlas has been removed from Torque 3D all-together, I suppose it was felt it would take up too much time and resources to properly support it, especially when a much-more flexible terrain is now in use that blends some of the best attributes of Legacy and Atlas terrain.

Torque 3D Owner Matt Brasier
#2
05/19/2009 (9:17 am)
Thanks for the answers, is there information available on how to re-enable Atlas (I'm a hobby developer, and am developing games for my own enjoyment, I don't really care about mac users ;) ). I have searched the forums but the search brings up 0 hits for atlas, which suggests that the search is broken still.

Is the new terrain system in TGEA and T3D, or just T3D? I am considering a purchase of T3D, but waiting to see what the GBP/USD exchange rate does.

Matt

Associate Michael Hall
Distracted...
#3
05/19/2009 (9:51 am)
Atlas not included in SetupNewProject thread.
Topic 18 of the "Porting Gotchas" page on TDN.

The new terrain implementation is in Torque 3D only. It's more highly optimized than the Legacy terrain, can be as detailed as an Atlas terrain, makes use of opacity maps for texturing layers, is capable of large sized (although not as infinite seeming as Atlas was) terrains, has support for materials, and can still be edited/painted in-game with the Terrain Editor.

I had personally upgraded to TGEa just for Atlas, but once I experienced first hand the new terrain in Torque 3D I was willing to give it up. Atlas can still be ported to work with Torque 3D, but I do believe that GarageGames has no inclination to support it anymore.