Torque 3D Status - 7/29/2010
by Matt Fairfax · in Torque 3D Professional · 07/29/2010 (8:02 am) · 111 replies
Hey all,
Let's start with the good news =)
We are fairly confident that we are going to be able to deliver Torque 3D 1.1 Beta 2 in the next couple of days. We have a few more blocker bugs to work through before we will release it and the Docs team is jamming long, long hours to make sure that it ships with a complete script reference. As always, there is risk that something unexpected will pop up and push us into the beginning of next week but we are working hard to make sure that doesn't happen.
After I post this, I am going to be posting a preliminary changelog so that you can start to wrap your head around just how much work has gone into this release.
Here is some statistics that I hope you guys will find very exciting:
New Features - 21
Improvements - 191
Fixes - 254
Now the bad news...
Torque X 3.1.5 took a bit longer than we had hoped and we didn't really begin to ramp QA back up onto Torque 3D fulltime until last week. We have been working hard to capture a complete picture of exactly what is left to fix in Torque 3D 1.1 and the list is longer than we'd like despite the huge strides we have made (as you will see in the changelog). There is still a lot more bugs we want to fix before we call this 1.1 Final...so many so that we think we will need a Beta 3.
Now, before anyone gets too concerned...there will be a much shorter gap between Beta 2 and Beta 3 than there was between Beta 1 and Beta 2. By shorter, I mean closer to a month rather than 5 months. I will also be updating you guys weekly on what we have fixed and what new bugs we have discovered until we ship Beta 3.
Tomorrow, I plan to post a Known Issues list showing the bugs that we will be focusing on for Beta 3. This list isn't completely fleshed out yet because there are still bugs making their way through the QA pipeline that haven't been properly verified, documented, and prioritized for the developers. There are a lot of bug reports on the Torque 3D forums which is an amazing testament to how awesome this community is and we are still playing some catch up. As I mentioned above, this Known Issues list will get updated every week and I will also be adding some lower priority bugs as I get them organized.
There is a slight chance that I won't be able to get the Known Issues list posted tomorrow because I have some family business that could interfere but I will try my best!
Disclaimer: All timeframes in this thread are estimates and should not be considered final
Let's start with the good news =)
We are fairly confident that we are going to be able to deliver Torque 3D 1.1 Beta 2 in the next couple of days. We have a few more blocker bugs to work through before we will release it and the Docs team is jamming long, long hours to make sure that it ships with a complete script reference. As always, there is risk that something unexpected will pop up and push us into the beginning of next week but we are working hard to make sure that doesn't happen.
After I post this, I am going to be posting a preliminary changelog so that you can start to wrap your head around just how much work has gone into this release.
Here is some statistics that I hope you guys will find very exciting:
New Features - 21
Improvements - 191
Fixes - 254
Now the bad news...
Torque X 3.1.5 took a bit longer than we had hoped and we didn't really begin to ramp QA back up onto Torque 3D fulltime until last week. We have been working hard to capture a complete picture of exactly what is left to fix in Torque 3D 1.1 and the list is longer than we'd like despite the huge strides we have made (as you will see in the changelog). There is still a lot more bugs we want to fix before we call this 1.1 Final...so many so that we think we will need a Beta 3.
Now, before anyone gets too concerned...there will be a much shorter gap between Beta 2 and Beta 3 than there was between Beta 1 and Beta 2. By shorter, I mean closer to a month rather than 5 months. I will also be updating you guys weekly on what we have fixed and what new bugs we have discovered until we ship Beta 3.
Tomorrow, I plan to post a Known Issues list showing the bugs that we will be focusing on for Beta 3. This list isn't completely fleshed out yet because there are still bugs making their way through the QA pipeline that haven't been properly verified, documented, and prioritized for the developers. There are a lot of bug reports on the Torque 3D forums which is an amazing testament to how awesome this community is and we are still playing some catch up. As I mentioned above, this Known Issues list will get updated every week and I will also be adding some lower priority bugs as I get them organized.
There is a slight chance that I won't be able to get the Known Issues list posted tomorrow because I have some family business that could interfere but I will try my best!
Disclaimer: All timeframes in this thread are estimates and should not be considered final
About the author
I am a Game Designer at PopCap who has worked on PvZ Adventures, PvZ2, Peggle Blast, and Bejeweled Skies. I am an ex-GarageGames employee who helped ship TGE, TGEA, Torque 3D, and Constructor.
#82
Is it possible to clean-up the headers of the forums of the previous Beta category? I'm not sure people are using them and it took more than 50% of the first forum page?
Last point, there is no category for Beta2, do you need us to post in another forum? via the submit bug button?
There is a thread that have been updated for T3D Beta2 that describe the way to post "issues" in the forum, so I guess it's just a little miss :(
By the way I'm happy you get an "instant" F11 editor!!!.. and the docs are really instructive...
08/04/2010 (7:12 am)
FYI, the eula agreement is not available so everyone is validating "nothing" to get the download.Is it possible to clean-up the headers of the forums of the previous Beta category? I'm not sure people are using them and it took more than 50% of the first forum page?
Last point, there is no category for Beta2, do you need us to post in another forum? via the submit bug button?
There is a thread that have been updated for T3D Beta2 that describe the way to post "issues" in the forum, so I guess it's just a little miss :(
By the way I'm happy you get an "instant" F11 editor!!!.. and the docs are really instructive...
#83
A couple of QA notes real quick. If everyone could revisit the bugs they've submitted for 1.1 Beta 1, whether they've been logged or not, and let us know if they're still valid that would help us out tremendously. If they're still valid then just edit your original post and check the 1.1 Beta 2 category box. Some of you are doing this already and it's appreciated.
Remember to use the new reporting standard when submitting new bugs.
08/04/2010 (3:49 pm)
Yeah I completely forgot about that last night. Someone beat me to it this morning though. A couple of QA notes real quick. If everyone could revisit the bugs they've submitted for 1.1 Beta 1, whether they've been logged or not, and let us know if they're still valid that would help us out tremendously. If they're still valid then just edit your original post and check the 1.1 Beta 2 category box. Some of you are doing this already and it's appreciated.
Remember to use the new reporting standard when submitting new bugs.
#84
08/10/2010 (4:52 pm)
Any ETA on a Mac release?
#85
08/10/2010 (5:33 pm)
Not yet 
#86
08/11/2010 (3:32 am)
When/how long will be Torque 3D 1.1 will be available for we/Binary users? 
#87
And judging from the T3D Private forums, we're giving their devs plenty of bugs to work out before the next beta.
08/11/2010 (12:39 pm)
T3D 1.1 will be released for binary users once it's out of Beta. We're supposed to be getting at least a Beta3, and then Final. I very much doubt that you're gonna get an official date for release, but you can pretty much figure on at least a month of Beta 2, at least a month of beta3, and then release of Final.And judging from the T3D Private forums, we're giving their devs plenty of bugs to work out before the next beta.
#88
08/12/2010 (2:33 am)
I notice that there has been improvements made to GuiObjectView. Are there any plans to allow mesh hiding for the shape called? 
#89
MATT..Keep up..
I can see dawn....
I hope beta3 can ravel out shapes splice romance flicker ...
08/23/2010 (2:31 pm)
Beta 2,very very bug..but...very very very good...MATT..Keep up..
I can see dawn....
I hope beta3 can ravel out shapes splice romance flicker ...
#90
It very much looks like you've abandoned cross-platform support. Otherwise you would've at least made some effort to keep development on both supported platforms reasonably on the same level. Now you've totally and completely ignored the Mac platform for almost a year.
I find the situation appalling. Next you'll say that 1.1 for Mac will be released "at a later date" than for Windows.
08/27/2010 (8:33 pm)
No Mac time line *at all*? Mac users have seen no updates since 1.0.1, and that was 11 months ago. Windows users have now seen two beta releases, but Mac users have been left completely behind and in the dark.It very much looks like you've abandoned cross-platform support. Otherwise you would've at least made some effort to keep development on both supported platforms reasonably on the same level. Now you've totally and completely ignored the Mac platform for almost a year.
I find the situation appalling. Next you'll say that 1.1 for Mac will be released "at a later date" than for Windows.
#91
We have developers actively working on the Mac version of Torque 3D 1.1 but they aren't far enough along for me to feel comfortable about putting a time line on when it will be ready.
It is extremely hard to find Mac developers for a product as cutting edge and as sophisticated as Torque 3D. We were lucky enough to have one such developer during the 1.0 and 1.0.1 development of Torque 3D but he left when we moved to Las Vegas and it has taken a lot of time to find a way to replace him.
So, yeah, the Mac side of things have lagged behind.
But we are now making forward progress. I even spent a good chunk of my time this week working on Torque 3D on the Mac.
That said, I can pretty much guarantee you that Torque 3D 1.1 will release later for the Mac than it does for Windows. It would not be fair to the majority of our users nor to us as a business to delay it just to make it arbitrarily match up with a Mac release.
08/27/2010 (8:44 pm)
Peter,We have developers actively working on the Mac version of Torque 3D 1.1 but they aren't far enough along for me to feel comfortable about putting a time line on when it will be ready.
It is extremely hard to find Mac developers for a product as cutting edge and as sophisticated as Torque 3D. We were lucky enough to have one such developer during the 1.0 and 1.0.1 development of Torque 3D but he left when we moved to Las Vegas and it has taken a lot of time to find a way to replace him.
So, yeah, the Mac side of things have lagged behind.
But we are now making forward progress. I even spent a good chunk of my time this week working on Torque 3D on the Mac.
That said, I can pretty much guarantee you that Torque 3D 1.1 will release later for the Mac than it does for Windows. It would not be fair to the majority of our users nor to us as a business to delay it just to make it arbitrarily match up with a Mac release.
#92
08/27/2010 (9:06 pm)
You realize, of course, that given what you just have said it very much looks like Mac users will have to wait for another year for the 1.1 release. You need to come up with at least something - a demo, a beta, a release date for OS X - unless Mac users are to lose whatever faith may remain in Torque3D.
#93
Unfortunately, I can't give you a date, demo, or a Beta yet. All I can give you is my assurance that it is being worked on. If you can think of anything else I can give you, let me know and I will try my best.
08/27/2010 (9:29 pm)
I never said or implied that it would lag behind as much as a year. I expect that it will be much shorter than a year if things continue how they are now.Unfortunately, I can't give you a date, demo, or a Beta yet. All I can give you is my assurance that it is being worked on. If you can think of anything else I can give you, let me know and I will try my best.
#94
If you took Mac seriously, if Mac was important to GG, you *would* have made a greater effort to find a developer, the release dates *would* coincide, or you would at least have a tentative Mac release date. You risk losing Mac developers to other engines; you must be aware of that, and you're taking the risk since the Mac platform clearly doesn't mean as much to you as the Windows platform. Which is understandable, but then the cross-platform claims should be restated.
08/28/2010 (9:11 pm)
Well, then the situation hasn't changed very much at all since TGEA; GG still treats Mac as a second class citizen, as described in this thread: http://www.torquepowered.com/community/forums/viewthread/85407If you took Mac seriously, if Mac was important to GG, you *would* have made a greater effort to find a developer, the release dates *would* coincide, or you would at least have a tentative Mac release date. You risk losing Mac developers to other engines; you must be aware of that, and you're taking the risk since the Mac platform clearly doesn't mean as much to you as the Windows platform. Which is understandable, but then the cross-platform claims should be restated.
#95
08/30/2010 (8:29 am)
I agree with Peter : Unity 3 is getting out soon, and I will investigate in it to make a choice regarding my Mac dev tools.
#96
08/31/2010 (12:36 am)
@Nicolas - Wait until you play with it. The addition of Umbra Occlusion culling knocked my socks off. Plus the Beast Lightmapping is great. Torque really needs to get off their arse and start looking at doing this stuff. Unity is growing exponentially right now and if Torque doesn't do something quick it will be checkmate. :( 
#97
09/01/2010 (4:32 am)
Any new status update planned? Thanks! 
#98
09/01/2010 (10:46 am)
If there is one really great thing in this release, it's Bug forum, with LOGGED - CONFIRMED - RESOLVED. We can really follow achievement of the next beta. Since I use TGE, it's the first time I see something like this. It makes me feel that TorquePowered ear their customers and act to have a good quality product. THANKS !
#99
09/03/2010 (6:49 am)
When can download BT3? 
#100
I've got a few that I need to gather more details on and submit for processing myself.
What are you still seeing as broken in beta2 that needs fixed Szzg007? Has it been submitted already?
09/03/2010 (7:29 am)
I don't think it will be soon, there are still lots of bugs to report, QA and address.I've got a few that I need to gather more details on and submit for processing myself.
What are you still seeing as broken in beta2 that needs fixed Szzg007? Has it been submitted already?
Torque Owner Kory Imaginism
innovative imaginations