GarageGames to Release T3D as Open Source
by Eric Preisz · 09/10/2012 (9:05 am) · 159 comments
Torque 3D to be Released on Github under the MIT license!
Eleven years ago, The GarageGames founders did an incredibly innovative thing when they sold a full source game engine for $100. We are excited to continue in their footsteps by announcing that we will be releasing Torque 3D as the best open source game technology in the world. Once again, GarageGames will be changing game development.
Why are we doing this?
Nine months ago, we realigned the goals of GarageGames; making Torque 3D available via a permissive open source license is a strategic move towards fulfilling the company vision. Our first goal was to use iTorque to build a new product we call 3 Step Studio. We envisioned a game development tool that requires no programming at all and began to build it. This product is available today for free, but it’s very, very, early in development and we expect to iterate many times before it is a commercially viable product. Our second goal was to build a service division. I’m happy to say that we’ve already booked our first million dollars in service work and we expect the growth trend to continue as we make Torque 3D more accessible. You can visit our services site at services.garagegames.com. We are very well prepared and staffed to provide support, training, and custom development.
Our long term plans are to focus on innovative uses of game technology. Currently, all GarageGames employees have the option to work on any project on Fridays. We are working on some really great projects under the initiative and it’s our hope that we will be able to invest in several of these projects as they evolve. We’ve encouraged our developers to open source these projects. If you think you have what it takes to be an innovative developer using game technology, consider applying for one of our open positions.
Dave Wyand will be leading the T3D open source effort and he has posted a blog describing the details around how we will run the development process. But before you dive into the details with Dave, I’d like to leave you with answers to some expected questions:
Is this version different or a subset of T3D?
We've split off some modules as separate downloads and we've removed some art to bring down the payload size. Other than those changes, the versions are the same.
Is this just a way for you to dump Torque 3D?
No. We've been using T3D internally for service projects and we expect that to continue. In some cases, our service work will directly benefit the core code base.
I recently bought your engine, I feel ripped off.
We will be offering refunds for T3D purchases that happened on or after Sept 1st but before this announcement.
What about other GarageGames engines?
We are starting open source efforts with T3D and learning from this experience. For now, the other engines/products are not available via the MIT license.
About the author
Manager, Programmer, Author, Professor, Small Business Owner, and Marketer.
#122
Specifically which licensees?
09/12/2012 (1:47 pm)
"Licensees" is kind of a general term there. :)Specifically which licensees?
#123
09/12/2012 (1:51 pm)
Ah, you're right, especially since it's in a T3D topic! Licensees of T2D and iT2D will get the combined engine for free.
#124
09/12/2012 (3:22 pm)
Btw...yesterday was the second most visited day in GG web site analytics. Had the site not gone down during Slashdot, it would have been 1st for sure. 
#125
09/12/2012 (3:47 pm)
I've seen questions about open-sourcing TGE eventually sometime in the future, but what about V12 perhaps? A friend is interested in that engine.
#126
09/12/2012 (3:58 pm)
The closest thing that we have for that would be TGE 1.4.2. 
#127
Btw, nice tesseract avatar.
09/12/2012 (7:09 pm)
@Robert - V12? Wow, old school. Don't think you can hide your identity =)Btw, nice tesseract avatar.
#128
Best regards
Kaj
09/12/2012 (10:03 pm)
@Robert Yep, i was also thinking out loud in one comment about the V12 and its nice *gameplay* and the AI supporting it... :-) ( And there is also an answer to that one from David.) Anyway, would be fun to look at the ai-code. Best regards
Kaj
#129
09/13/2012 (7:41 am)
=)
#130
But, I am just curious how this open source business model works:
How do you guys expect to get money from this to pay the employees?
09/13/2012 (12:41 pm)
Nice move! I like the idea from the customers perspective. But, I am just curious how this open source business model works:
How do you guys expect to get money from this to pay the employees?
#131
Edit: Oh...and of course 1st and 3rd party packs.
09/13/2012 (12:48 pm)
@Ska - We are already forecasting that this year will be more profitable than last with the service work we are performing. We are also working on products built on top of our existing code (as you guys will be doing too). The service work does drain away some of our staff working on the engine, but the open source community will go a long way towards replacing that staff. We hope that going open source will drive even more service work. Things look good for us, but there's a lot of hard work going on to make it all pull together.Edit: Oh...and of course 1st and 3rd party packs.
#132
I just did not understand how to make profit with it.
Now i know.
Thanx for the info & the best luck with the new choice :-)
09/13/2012 (1:17 pm)
Open source is for sure a great thing. I just did not understand how to make profit with it.
Now i know.
Thanx for the info & the best luck with the new choice :-)
#133
Eh, me and a friend are really just Tribes fans. Was hoping V12 would be around somewhere. Aside from that, I'm not even sure if I should be using the tesseract, it's just an image I pulled from Wiki when I first signed up however long ago ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Tesseract.gif ). This account hasn't been used for a few years until now I suppose.
@Kaj Wikman
I agree with that.
09/13/2012 (5:19 pm)
@Michael PerryEh, me and a friend are really just Tribes fans. Was hoping V12 would be around somewhere. Aside from that, I'm not even sure if I should be using the tesseract, it's just an image I pulled from Wiki when I first signed up however long ago ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Tesseract.gif ). This account hasn't been used for a few years until now I suppose.
@Kaj Wikman
I agree with that.
#134
Just a thought, you guys could make an announcement and release the source within a day or two, instead of week(s).
Let the Torque community shine once again!
09/14/2012 (1:19 am)
Congrats on the big change!Just a thought, you guys could make an announcement and release the source within a day or two, instead of week(s).
Let the Torque community shine once again!
#135
I'd like to see the iT3D/T3Dios too. thx
09/14/2012 (2:11 am)
Mich said: "@Steven Saric - I'll ask Eric about it. I still have that code and I think it could be really beneficial to someone who wants to fork and make an iOS version. "I'd like to see the iT3D/T3Dios too. thx
#136
There's still a little bit of logistics and code cleanup on our end to do before it can be released. Getting the repo set up, making sure there's no code left in the code base we don't have permission to release, etc.
09/14/2012 (7:47 am)
@AndyThere's still a little bit of logistics and code cleanup on our end to do before it can be released. Getting the repo set up, making sure there's no code left in the code base we don't have permission to release, etc.
#137
09/14/2012 (3:56 pm)
I'm proud of you guys. As someone who put money into a few of your SDKs over the years I think this is a great step. The MIT license is a great choice as well.
#138
Excuse my ignorance, but what is the actual advantage to the indie developer or commercial or any other kind of developer using the Torque 3D the fact of the Torque 3D to be released on GitHub under the MIT license.
Thanks in advance.
09/14/2012 (9:06 pm)
Hello,Excuse my ignorance, but what is the actual advantage to the indie developer or commercial or any other kind of developer using the Torque 3D the fact of the Torque 3D to be released on GitHub under the MIT license.
Thanks in advance.
#139
Excuse my ignorance, but what is the actual advantage to the indie developer or commercial or any other kind of developer using the Torque 3D the fact of the Torque 3D to be released on GitHub under the MIT license.
Thanks in advance.
Sorry the double post.
09/14/2012 (9:07 pm)
Hello,Excuse my ignorance, but what is the actual advantage to the indie developer or commercial or any other kind of developer using the Torque 3D the fact of the Torque 3D to be released on GitHub under the MIT license.
Thanks in advance.
Sorry the double post.
#140
I do understand that there are/will be some logistic issues. What I had meant was that all this should have been sorted before making the big announcement. You may tend to lose the momentum in the community, if you keep them waiting. At least that's my opinion and I don't intend to put a damper on things here.
09/15/2012 (6:31 am)
@Scott I do understand that there are/will be some logistic issues. What I had meant was that all this should have been sorted before making the big announcement. You may tend to lose the momentum in the community, if you keep them waiting. At least that's my opinion and I don't intend to put a damper on things here.
Associate David Montgomery-Blake
David MontgomeryBlake
EDIT: Decided that I should clarify the "new product" being mentioned is the combination of T2D and iT2D.