Latest GarageGames News

Alex Seropian, Founder of Wideload Games, to Keynote Conference Held on Oct 10-11 in Eugene, Oregon

EUGENE, OREGON - September 20, 2007 - GarageGames today announced more details about its upcoming Independent Games Conference. Scheduled for October 10-11, 2007 in Eugene, Oregon, the two-day event offers a chance for Indie developers to meet face-to-face with their peers, gamers and industry professionals and discuss issues, trends and opportunities in the industry. This year's conference will feature the first ever public developer unveiling of the recently announced InstantAction.com from Garage Games and IAC.

"In addition to being a destination, InstantAction.com is about fostering a strong web game development community," said Josh Williams, CEO of GarageGames."This conference is a great backdrop to finding new games for InstantAction and funding them. At IGC, we'll also unveil much of our future plan for the Torque Game Engine and our continued support of indie developer tools. We are also very pleased to have Alex Seropian, one of the top developers in our industry, join our community and share his vision."

During his keynote at the Independent Games Conference, Seropian will give insights into his company's new venture, Wideload Shorts. He will discuss how Wideload Shorts is focused on creating original games that appeal to players who have grown up with games, but now need games that fit into their lives, i.e. games that require a smaller time commitment.

Other activities at the conference include round table discussions led by veterans of Indie game development, an Indie musical jam session the night of the 10th, the granting of Player's Choice awards to the most popular games in the show-off center, and plenty of opportunity to demonstrate and discover new Indie game projects. Registration pricing for IndieGamesCon is $150.

Check out more info at indiegamescon.com or register here.

About GarageGames
GarageGames is located in Eugene, Oregon and on the web at www.garagegames.com. As the makers of Torque Game Builder, Torque Game Engine, Torque Game Engine Advanced, and Torque X, they have been providing game development tools and technology at an affordable price since 2000. The Torque Game Engine was the original technology behind the Tribes series of games, and has been used since to develop countless games on Windows, Mac, Linux, and Xbox 360, notable among which is GarageGames' own Marble Blast series of games.

About Wideload Shorts
Wideload Shorts is a division of Wideload Games. It was founded in 2007 to develop games that appeal to players who have grown up with games, but need games with a smaller time commitment to fit into their lives. Wideload Shorts will release its first game in late 2007, and already has several other single and multiplayer games in development for release in 2008. The company plans to support all electronic platforms (handheld, cell, and online) for distribution of its products.

Registration pricing for IndieGamesCon increases from $100 to $150 on September 17. Scheduled for October 10-11, 2007 in Eugene, Oregon and hosted by GarageGames, the fifth annual conference is a celebration of Indie games and developers.

"IGC is always a great time to meet with new and old friends alike in Indie gaming, and this year's event is shaping up to be better than ever," commented GarageGames CEO Josh Williams. "We've been a bit tight-lipped about what we're working on here in the Garage, but at IGC we plan to blow the lid off of our activities and talk about the future direction of Torque and amazing new publishing opportunities for Indies."

The two-day conference offers a chance for Indie developers to meet face-to-face with their peers, gamers, and industry professionals to discuss issues, trends, and opportunities in Indie gaming. Activities include round table discussions led by veterans of Indie game development, an Indie musical jam session the night of the 10th, the granting of Player's Choice awards to the most popular games in the show-off center, and plenty of opportunity to demonstrate and discover new Indie game projects.

Check out more info at indiegamescon.com or register here.

IndieGamesCon 2007 - Eugene, OR
Oct. 10 - 11

World Domination Through Collaboration
GarageGames.com

IGC is back! We used last year's "Not-IGC" get-together as a learning experience and tried to incorporate the casual camaraderie of that event into the best parts of past IGCs to create what we are hoping will be the best IGC yet. Round-table discussions on the topics you want to talk about, a show-off center to get your game(s) in front of some new eyeballs (and to check out what your peers are working on), and plenty of networking and gaming opportunities.

And we want you to be there! So mark your calendars, book your airline tickets and take the time off. Bring your games, your enthusiasm, and your appetites, and join us for an exciting collaboration of community and developers under one roof. Registration is $100 up until Sep. 16, and will increase to $150 on Sep. 17.

Check out more info at indiegamescon.com or register here.

GarageGames, GreatGamesExperiment.com, and www.mygmgame.com are sponsoring the first Game Development Competition from Combustion Entertainment. The competition began July 18th and continues for 2 months ending September 18th. The contest theme is comedy, so developers are encouraged to incorporate comedic elements into their game in which ever way they wish. The contest site is up and running with forums which contain all of the necessary contest info such as rules and guidelines. One of the guidelines for the competition is that all games must be uploaded to the Great Games Experiment, so be sure to check GGE for new games that are part of the competition.

Entrants will submit their entry and at the end of the deadline 10 finalists (Chosen by a group of judges) from each category will go into a public vote to determine the category winner. Then, the winners are put in for one final round of voting to determine the grand prize winner. The overall winner will be awarded the complete Torque Suite (TGB, TGE, TGEA), and winners of each category will receive the Torque Game Engine. The Combustion Ent Choice Award will receive 1 Year Free Domain Name sponsored by mygmgame.com. We hope many people will enter and are looking forward to seeing the great games that are produced.

Eugene, OR, July 16, 2007 -- GarageGames, the leading technology provider for independent game makers, and Pronto Games, professional PC and console game developer, are pleased to announce the availability of Torque licensing for the Wii console. First shown at the Nintendo Developer Conference in June, Torque for Wii is based on the popular Torque Game Engine, with built-in support for the unique Wii controller, making it a complete package for both disc-based and downloadable Wii games.

"I think every game designer has a few ideas about how they could use the Wii console's extraordinary features to make fun games," commented Josh Williams, GarageGames CEO. "Torque for Wii makes it easier to focus on creating high-quality experiences for the Wii, rather than implementing the technologies and tools it takes to just get started."

Nintendo recently announced the availability of the WiiWare service, which will allow developers of all types to create downloadable games for sale through the Wii Shop Channel. According to GarageGames, heavily discounted license pricing is available for games targeting the WiiWare downloadable service, versus those aiming for shelf space at the local game store.

In addition to Wii Remote support, Torque for Wii supports skinned mesh rendering, advanced character and shape animation, terrains with seamless indoor/outdoor transitions, environmental effects, industry-leading networked multiplayer game support, collision detection and physics, a bevy of rendering effects, compressed textures, and more, all optimized for Wii. Additional features include a powerful WYSIWYG tool chain for designers, scripting language support, a comprehensive Lot Check compliance component, and Wii graphics and audio abstraction layers. These modifications to the Torque Game Engine combined with the existing Torque toolset and pipeline make Torque for Wii a complete game development solution for the Wii console. Pronto Games, who developed the Wii port, is also using the technology for their upcoming Wii exclusive game, The Destiny of Zorro.

"We chose to develop The Destiny of Zorro with the Torque Game Engine because of its proven reliability and our developers' familiarity with it," said Randy Angle, President and Creative Director of Pronto Games. "Partnering with GarageGames to make the Torque Game Engine available to other Wii developers seemed like the obvious next step, and we look forward to seeing the creation of even more quality Wii titles as a result."

For more information regarding the Torque for Wii license, please contact GarageGames at sales@garagegames.com or 541-345-3040.

About Pronto Games
Pronto Games brings depth of experience to all facets of game production: inventive game design, solid project management, quality artwork, and innovative technology. By combining professional expertise with a passion for fun, Pronto Games creates great entertainment for casual and core players on handhelds, mobile, toys, and disc or downloadable content for the PC, Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii. Pronto Games can be found on the web at www.prontogames.com.

Eugene, OR, July 16, 2007 -- GarageGames, the leading technology provider for independent game makers, announced the release of Torque Game Builder (TGB) version 1.5. The new release features the debut of the Behaviors system in TGB, as well as a host of other updates.

Behaviors are small bits of functionality that can be attached to a game object, defining how that object reacts to certain game events. Behaviors can be configured through the editor with minimal scripting and are modular, allowing the addition of many Behaviors to a single object, or the same Behavior to multiple objects. The TGB 1.5 download includes a new BehaviorPlayground project, which demonstrates Behaviors being used to create a simple Breakout-style game and model some common gametype controls.

''With Behaviors it is possible to create entire games without writing a single line of script or ever leaving the Torque Game Builder tool!'' commented Justin DuJardin, Director of Tool Development. ''This brings us that much closer to creating a true drag-and-drop game builder, while still retaining the power and flexibility of the engine.''

In addition to Behaviors, the new release of TGB 1.5 introduces tick-based physics, better platform support, and several other usability updates and fixes. Version 1.5 is free to all current TGB owners, and is available to independent developers for $100. A 30-day free trial is available from the GarageGames website. Please visit http://www.garagegames.com/products/torque/tgb for more information regarding Torque Game Builder.

Torque Constructor is now available in the Developer Store. It is a free download for any registered user of GarageGames.com. You can download it here now, or read more about Constructor at the Constructor Landing Page.

Torque Constructor is a Constructive Solid Geometry (CSG) WYSIWYG brush editor that supports export of buildings and structures to numerous industry-standard CSG model (.map) formats, or seamlessly exports directly into Torque Game Engine (TGE) or Torque Game Engine Advanced (TGEA).

Torque Constructor features the ability to modify and expand any of the basic scriptable functions with TorqueScript, from plugins, tools, and widgets to customization of the GUI. Additional features include:

MODELING

• Included Basic Brush Primitives (Cube, Cylinder, Sphere, Pyramid, Ramp)
  
• User-Scriptable Custom Tools
  
• CSG Subtraction, Intersection, Knife, Slice & Clip
  
• Hide, Lock, Edit Selection Only for precise control
  
• Face and Vertex Editing
  
• Concave Brush Detection
  
• Export and Import of Prefabricated Shapes
  
• Support for various brush types (Detail, Collision, etc.) and groups
  
• Duplication and Cloning tools
  
• Custom Workplanes allow you to work off-axis
  

TEXTURING

• Material Browser lets you view and organize your textures
  
• Import textures into albums
  
• Lift textures from selection
  
• Copy and Paste textures from one face to another with coordinates intact
  
• Justify, Fit, and Alignment tools
  
• Multi-face texture unification
  

DTS INTEGRATION

• Place DTS Static Meshes in your scene for added detail
  
• Static Meshes are baked into Constructor DIFs and act as part of the object in the TGE Mission Editor (TGE 1.5.1 & TGEA 1.01 only)
  
• Static Meshes receive lighting and cast shadows with their collision volumes as if they were part of your interior
  
• Place Reference Shapes for scale comparisons
  

LIGHTING

• Flexible Light entities
  
• Dynamic Lighting Previews
  
• Support for custom lighting systems
  
• Light maps created in constructor are used directly in TGE and TGEA - no more guesswork!
  

EXPORT

• Export Constructor DIFs with baked in detail meshes and light maps for use in TGE 1.5.1 and TGEA 1.01
  
• Legacy DIF format support for older versions of TGE and TGEA (does not support baked in detail shapes)
  
• Support for command line .map exporters for output to custom formats and other game engines!
  
• Export Debug Previews allow you to view the results of the DIF export process on your map's geometry
  

TORQUE INTEGRATION

• Detail shapes are baked into Constructor DIFs and act as part of the object in the TGE Mission Editor (TGE 1.5.1 & TGEA 1.01 only)
  
• Legacy DIF format support for older versions of TGE and TGEA (does not support baked in detail shapes)
  
• Light maps created in constructor are used directly in TGE and TGEA - no more guesswork!
  

GarageGames is pleased to announce that Torque Constructor will be available for download on April 9, 2007 for Windows and Mac. Torque Constructor is a Constructive Solid Geometry (CSG) WYSIWYG brush editor that supports export of buildings and structures to numerous industry-standard CSG model (.map) formats, or seamlessly exports directly into Torque Game Engine (TGE) or Torque Game Engine Advanced (TGEA).

Torque Constructor features the ability to modify and expand any of the basic scriptable functions with TorqueScript, from plugins, tools, and widgets to customization of the GUI. Additional features include:

MODELING

• Included Basic Brush Primitives (Cube, Cylinder, Sphere, Pyramid, Ramp)
  
• User-Scriptable Custom Tools
  
• CSG Subtraction, Intersection, Knife, Slice & Clip
  
• Hide, Lock, Edit Selection Only for precise control
  
• Face and Vertex Editing
  
• Concave Brush Detection
  
• Export and Import of Prefabricated Shapes
  
• Support for various brush types (Detail, Collision, etc.) and groups
  
• Duplication and Cloning tools
  
• Custom Workplanes allow you to work off-axis
  

TEXTURING

• Material Browser lets you view and organize your textures
  
• Import textures into albums
  
• Lift textures from selection
  
• Copy and Paste textures from one face to another with coordinates intact
  
• Justify, Fit, and Alignment tools
  
• Multi-face texture unification
  

DTS INTEGRATION

• Place DTS Static Meshes in your scene for added detail
  
• Static Meshes are baked into Constructor DIFs and act as part of the object in the TGE Mission Editor (TGE 1.5.1 & TGEA 1.01 only)
  
• Static Meshes receive lighting and cast shadows with their collision volumes as if they were part of your interior
  
• Place Reference Shapes for scale comparisons
  

LIGHTING

• Flexible Light entities
  
• Dynamic Lighting Previews
  
• Support for custom lighting systems
  
• Light maps created in constructor are used directly in TGE and TGEA - no more guesswork!
  

EXPORT

• Export Constructor DIFs with baked in detail meshes and light maps for use in TGE 1.5.1 and TGEA 1.01
  
• Legacy DIF format support for older versions of TGE and TGEA (does not support baked in detail shapes)
  
• Support for command line .map exporters for output to custom formats and other game engines!
  
• Export Debug Previews allow you to view the results of the DIF export process on your map's geometry
  

TORQUE INTEGRATION

• Detail shapes are baked into Constructor DIFs and act as part of the object in the TGE Mission Editor (TGE 1.5.1 & TGEA 1.01 only)
  
• Legacy DIF format support for older versions of TGE and TGEA (does not support baked in detail shapes)
  
• Light maps created in constructor are used directly in TGE and TGEA - no more guesswork!
  

But perhaps best of all, Torque Constructor will be free to download for registered users of GarageGames.com. So check back April 9, and until then, you can find out more about Constructor on the Constructor Landing Page.

Buy Torque-Motion Now!

Chiang Mai Digital Works is proud to present Torque-Motion! Torque-Motion provides full realistic animations for use in Torque games production. Using cutting edge motion capture technology to capture and produce realistic looking, simple to import and simple to use animations for Kork, Space Kork, and characters rigged on the Kork rig!

Torque-Motion will work with Kork out of the box as well as any other model that uses the Kork based Bi-ped skeletal frame. Using motion capture animation on your characters is the simplest and best way to produce stunning realistic movement within your games. Give your Torque characters realistic, full 3D animations animations like those you've seen in AAA titles.

Check out all of the product page to see some demos!

PD Particles is a software program for sketching, doodling, painting and drawing with particles. It is loaded with features made for professionals, yet priced low enough for artists, students and hobbyists at all levels. If you like to draw, this is for you!

PD Particles contains a number of fascinating natural fx brushes and can be used as a complete, self-contained painting program. With an emphasis on Particle Brushes you'll be able to create images and artwork with shrubbery, foliage, trees and grass and many more effects based on painting with particles and bristles.

With PD Particles you can quicken the process of creating awesome looking foliage and effects textures for your games! Head over to the Product Page for PD Particles for more information!