Torque 2D Editor Plan

Editor Plan of Action

Greetings everyone! Welcome back to another Torque 2D blog. I originally had a slew of topics and announcements to cover in this blog, such as our new branches, new tutorials, and R&D work. However, trying to jam that all together with this main topic was just too much.

I'll cover all the new goodies in my next blog. For now, I want to make sure a very important perspective is maintained during your read...

IMPORTANT NOTE: The content in this blog is my own proposal. I believe it is the best route to take, but I do not have the power to make the final decision. Nor do I want that power. This is the plan I believe will have the greatest success, so this is your opportunity to say "Go for it!" or "Please reconsider because of ____".

Editor Tech Choice

In the Editor Collaboration blog, we discussed the following options:

• TorqueScript, etc
• Qt with T2D embedded
• Editor as a separate application
• HTML 5
• Python
• And more...

I greatly appreciate everyone's involvement and suggestions on the subject. I had to spend some nights and weekends weighing out all the options and considering all the input. Based on your feedback, we believe the best path is to go with Qt as a separate application. The general idea is that T2D would run alongside the editor application, either in a separate window, or on another device entirely. Changes made in the editor will update in the T2D window, either live, at the ‘push of a button’, or when the T2D applications is reloaded.

If you disagree with this approach, now is definitely the time to speak up.

Initial Editor Work

It's really simple. Design first, develop after. Excluding experimentation and tutorial work, no actual coding should occur until we have designed the following:

1. What is the editor shell?
2. What is a plug-in?
3. What is the plug-in system?

After the designs are ready and planning is complete, the development of the shell and plug-in system will commence. Once the shell is up and running, all of us in the T2D open source community will be able to create our own editor plugins, which can be open source themselves, or sold in our store (or on your own site).

Of course, we on the steering committee and at GarageGames will ensure that the necessary basic set of editing tools are included as part of the open source code base. In the end, the editor should be producing data. For example, an XML editor that uses the Torque 2D schema is the a solid start. That plug-in alone can produce all the data needed to create assets, scenes, and other T2D stuff. From there, it's a matter of vocalizing what plug-ins we will be working on so that others can proceed on their own accord.

However, we anticipate (and will encourage) developers to create specialized editors (for RPGs, RTSs, or other genres). We can’t (and don’t want to) control how community plugins are distributed. So if you want to sell them or give them away for free, it will be up to you. I believe this approach can result in having a solid foundation sooner, rather than later. That opens the door up for everyone to start creating plug-ins, making 2013 the year of editor support for Torque 2D.

I hope you are as excited about that potential as I am. Now, what can be done in the short term?

Parallel Development

Depending on who is working on the editor shell and plug-in system, it's going to be a little while before we have something in a polished state. I'm more than likely going to create an entirely separate repository for this project. This does not mean work is going to stop in the core Torque 2D repositories.

While the editor work is happening, we will continue to fix bugs. More importantly, we will be adding support for 3rd party tools that will make development easier for artists, designers, and newcomers. Examples include, TexturePacker, Zwoptex, Tiled, Spine, Spriter, PhysicsEditor, and more. Supporting these tools will dramatically reduce the amount of hand coding required to create assets for T2D.

Until Next Time...

Alright everyone, I don't want to overload you all too much. I'll pause here so you can start asking questions and poking holes in my proposal. I'd honestly like to get started on the editor shell next week. The parallel development for 3rd party tool support has already begun, so the wheels are turning. So let's stop delaying, agree on a plan...hopefully mine :) ... and get to work.

Regards,
Mich