Torque 2D MIT Coming Soon
by Eric Preisz · 12/12/2012 (2:08 pm) · 72 comments
GarageGames is Proud to Announce Torque 2D MIT!
What is Torque 2D MIT?
Torque 2D MIT is an all new, open source, version of our 2D game development software. Following in the footsteps of Torque 3D, which went open source a few months ago, Torque 2D MIT will be available under the same (very permissible) MIT License very early next year.
It's more than just an open source version of Torque 2D!
Take Torque 2D, combine it with iTorque, add in Box 2D physics, several major enhancements and bug fixes, and make it open source. That is Torque 2D MIT.
So really, this isn't just the future for Torque 2D, it’s also the future of iTorque!
Box 2D | TAML | iOS | PC | OSX | MIT
By unifying Torque2D and iTorque into a single code base, GarageGames will be able to offer a single 2D game engine for iOS, Mac and PC.
The downside is that making such aggressive changes comes at the cost of backwards compatibility. Breaking backwards compatibility is a difficult, but sometimes unavoidable decision. Of course it will be possible to port iTorque and Torque 2D projects to the new Torque 2D MIT, but we aren't letting any constraints from previous versions prevent us from making significant improvements.
Finally, when we made our changes, it broke functionality in several editors. In order to work in an open source environment as soon as possible, we made a decision to publish our initial version of Torque 2D MIT without the editors; in other words, the initial version will be an API only engine with tool development to follow thereafter.
So what about current versions of iTorque and Torque 2D?
Before we release Torque 2D MIT, the current generation of iTorque and Torque 2D will each receive a free update. So if porting isn't in your time frame, we will integrate the latest bug fixes for the version you currently own.
- iTorque will receive bug fixes that resolve issues related to app store rejections and Mountain Lion and up to date iOS support.
- Torque 2D will receive bug fixes and Mountain Lion support.
These two updates will be the final updates for the current generation of iTorque and Torque 2D. All future development will occur on Torque 2D MIT. However, during the transition we will continue to sell Torque 2D and iTorque on our site (with clear notifications about Torque 2D MIT's impending release).
The crowd favorite, Michael Perry, will be following the lead set by Dave Wyand's great work on Torque 3D. Michael will be providing a more detailed technical update in coming days.
About the author
Manager, Programmer, Author, Professor, Small Business Owner, and Marketer.
#42
Oh well. I guess we'll have to get in touch with Mr. Philip O'Shea about this. Is there anything I can update without costing the compatibility?
12/13/2012 (5:38 am)
@Comment #6: *Screams and runs in a circle until slams in to wall*Oh well. I guess we'll have to get in touch with Mr. Philip O'Shea about this. Is there anything I can update without costing the compatibility?
#44
Whoohoo! *Dances*
12/13/2012 (5:40 am)
Looks like Mr. O'Shea's a step a head: http://www.garagegames.com/community/blogs/view/19347/2#comment-152149Whoohoo! *Dances*
#45
12/13/2012 (5:42 am)
@Anonymous JP - Not really. It would be kind of painful since the PSK contains source modifications as well. I'll write a detailed blog about the differences between old T2D and new T2D. We've renamed so many classes, changed the entire physics engine, and even did away with datablocks being used for assets.
#46
12/13/2012 (5:44 am)
Aie. How about scenes? Are those any different? 
#48
12/13/2012 (6:08 am)
Fantastic, I hope this will be very fruitful for you guys! 
#49
I have a platformer framework that I might convert to the new T2D depending on the pain involved.
12/13/2012 (8:11 am)
@JackI have a platformer framework that I might convert to the new T2D depending on the pain involved.
#50
^^^That might take some time to get used to. Looks like XML to me. :) Do we know the release date quite yet? Sometime within this month? Next month?
12/13/2012 (10:52 am)
^*Begins to dance again*^^^That might take some time to get used to. Looks like XML to me. :) Do we know the release date quite yet? Sometime within this month? Next month?
#51
Melv.
12/13/2012 (10:59 am)
Quote:Torque 2D MIT will be available under the same (very permissible) MIT License very early next year.
Melv.
#52
12/13/2012 (11:04 am)
It's more like XAML. We call it TAML, basically a Torque version of XAML. 
#53
12/13/2012 (1:14 pm)
Good News ;-)
#54
12/13/2012 (1:50 pm)
Wait, is the MIT version really going to be free? Won't that like, cut a lot of income?
#55
12/13/2012 (2:10 pm)
@Anonymous - There's a lot going on under the hood these days at GarageGames. Mostly, we are paying the bills doing custom development for big companies/publishers (right now we are doing well in both location based entertainment and education).
#56
12/13/2012 (3:00 pm)
Oh... so that's why. I like that it's free... it just makes me feel like...You get this because of us, you free-bees!
:P Lol
#57
As for what composite sprites are, you'd better ask Melv to explain them - the best I've got is that they're like piling up a bunch of independent images, each with its own transform data relative to the composite sprite object and batching them all up in one draw call. This at first seems weird, but you can actually control the positions of each of the elements individually at run-time, so in theory you could build some sort of hierarchical sprite animation system within one. It's great for quickly displaying something akin to the old tile maps, but it's way more flexible.
12/13/2012 (7:23 pm)
I owned licenses to most of GG's engines before I came to work here, the knowledge of which helped me get to work here I suppose. But as an "investor" in both time and money I'm proud to see a broader audience get to use these awesome tools and take part in their evolution with us.As for what composite sprites are, you'd better ask Melv to explain them - the best I've got is that they're like piling up a bunch of independent images, each with its own transform data relative to the composite sprite object and batching them all up in one draw call. This at first seems weird, but you can actually control the positions of each of the elements individually at run-time, so in theory you could build some sort of hierarchical sprite animation system within one. It's great for quickly displaying something akin to the old tile maps, but it's way more flexible.
#58
12/13/2012 (8:51 pm)
Thanks Richard - very interesting. 
#59
12/13/2012 (11:55 pm)
Squee! I'm sure it's going to be a huge pain to convert my existing engine mods over, but I'm really looking forward to being able to share those mods more easily. Thanks a ton guys! 
#60
12/14/2012 (4:28 am)
Wow, I can't wait! I recently decided to learn C++ from scratch so that I could better understand programming languages. I bought a Torque2D license a year ago, got through all the tutorials, then found myself clueless. It sounds like by the time this new Torque2D MIT is released I'll be ready to dive into a project again :) 
Employee Michael Perry
ZombieShortbus
Overall, the new OS X platform is the cleanest we have to showoff. Melv and I both agree the platform system in general needs to be fixed from the ground up. We did not have time for that kind of effort, so we did the best we could with dusting off some surfaces.
The iOS platform layer is a jumbled mess, so I will certainly be giving it the same kind of treatment we gave to OS X. One user of iT2D has been working on a GLKit implementation, which might fit nicely with that effort.
Overall, we are opening up the doors for our 2D technology and I really want it to be a strong contender for top 2D engine in 2013. Who's with me!?!? =)