Torque 2D On Android and Linux: Who wants it?
by Michael Perry · 04/22/2013 (7:36 am) · 48 comments
This is your chance to get Torque 2D on Android and Linux
Greetings everyone! I want to keep this blog short and sweet, as I will be posting it on other sites. This is the last week to contribute to the Kickstarter campaign for bringing Torque 2D to Android. Additionally, Max Gaming recently updated the rewards. Now, their work will also included support for Linux.
For the small amount being requested, this is an amazing value. Two new platforms, for the cost of one, at a price that is easily achievable.
If you look at the Kickstarter Campaign, you will see that they are already at $4,011. I'm not asking anyone to dig deep and empty their bank accounts. Any amount will help. My own personal recommendation is the $25 option. That particular tier will result in you getting the port before everyone else.
Android Support
Before I proceed with the update information, I highly encourage everyone to visit the KickStarter for Torque 2D MIT On Android. Direct quote from MGT:Quote:Max Gaming Technologies has launched a kickstarter to fund an android port of T2D MIT as well as a port for the Ouya. Everyone who backs the project at $25 or more will get access to the port once it is complete. Everyone else will have to wait 6 months for the port to go open source MIT on Github.
We also offer some support at the different tiers and the final Ouya port will be delayed until we get access to a console but we will give early access based off the SDK before that. We will also be porting the default toys that come with T2D as well. Any and all donations are welcomes, come help us bring this great engine to the android platform.
LINUX SUPPORT!!!
Straight from the campaigners page:Quote:As part of the intial funding we will be adding Linux support for T2D as part of the package. Thanks to "TRON" from the Garagegames community for contributing to help add to T2D MIT list of platforms.
GarageGames Support
It should be obvious that GarageGames supports this effort. This is what open source development is all about. Beyond our official endorsement, I will also be offering some of my time to help with any core architecture changes that might be required. If core parts of the engine need to be modified to keep the other platforms on par, or support a new feature, I will be available to help.Need more incentive? Alright, how about this. Even if you are not interested in Android, Linux, or improving the core tech, I have something for you. I will create five new modules just for people who contribute to the campaign. Three will offer new functionality, while the other two will be asset packs. These new modules will not be added to the main Torque 2D repositories.
Based on past experience and review of previously available GG store items, the value should easily be over $50. The modules themselves are the kind of add-ons anyone would grab immediately to speed up their game development. So, there you have it. Something for everyone! Of course, the one catch is that you need to be able to prove you made a contribution =).
Conclusion
That's it for this blog, folks. Our community is not the largest on the web, but it is one of the strongest. This is our chance to support each other, but to also get something amazing in return. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask them in this blog. I'm sure I can get MGT in here to answer them, plus I will be following the replies if you have questions for me.Long live Torque 2D!
Regards,
Mich
About the author
Programmer.
#23
04/25/2013 (10:16 am)
HTML5 is also not a finalized spec yet. Also considering it relies on the browser to have a good implementation, you get lots of differences in performance between the different browsers. I think HTML5 has a future, but I think it is more of a replacement for flash than for a game engine like Torque. Of course you could write games in it just like you can in flash now but its always going to be slower and less options than native code like Torque 2D.
#24
We have also given everyone a chance to vote for the features they want to see. If you look at the results, HTML5 or web player is nearly at the bottom with only 11 votes.
#1 Editors
#2 Android
#3 Linux
#4 Tiled support
The list goes on, but there is only so much GarageGames can work on. That's why projects like this Kickstarter are so vital. Time and his team are going after the #2 request, since GG has stated we are hitting #1.
04/25/2013 (10:32 am)
@Hallsofvallhalla - Read what Lukas said. This is not a GarageGames venture. We are simply supporting the project. From GG's side, we are adding some new features, but we will soon be focusing on documentation, bug fixing, and laying a foundation for an editor.We have also given everyone a chance to vote for the features they want to see. If you look at the results, HTML5 or web player is nearly at the bottom with only 11 votes.
#1 Editors
#2 Android
#3 Linux
#4 Tiled support
The list goes on, but there is only so much GarageGames can work on. That's why projects like this Kickstarter are so vital. Time and his team are going after the #2 request, since GG has stated we are hitting #1.
#25
04/26/2013 (2:11 pm)
Somebody dropped another 1K down since yesterday! Lets make it happen! Woohoo!
#26
04/26/2013 (5:04 pm)
We still need like 4k$ but it still feels like we can make it lol!
#27
Spread the word people. Even if you have donated, can't donate, or do not know how else to help, start spamming the Kickstarter link. This deserves to be funded.
04/27/2013 (1:30 pm)
LESS THAN AN HOUR LEFT
Spread the word people. Even if you have donated, can't donate, or do not know how else to help, start spamming the Kickstarter link. This deserves to be funded.
#29
04/27/2013 (2:50 pm)
A damn shame...
#30
04/27/2013 (3:18 pm)
Ugh, well that is sad. I didn't find out about this until just today!
#31
Ron
04/27/2013 (4:11 pm)
I want to say something and I know it won't be popular.... WTF? This thing was NOT promoted.... Just like most of the other attempts at crowd funding that have been tried, it was just NOT pushed. The only place I saw this was here. Keep in mind I monitor 100s of sites.... We only have ourselves to blame.Ron
#33
In the end, probably not enough.
04/27/2013 (4:17 pm)
We pushed several threads on Reddit, and bumped them multiple times. We also found multiple sites and sent them to different people to post. It had to be more than GG pushing it, though we helped where we could.In the end, probably not enough.
#34
Yep, I track all of those. Still, I think we actually fail as a group when it comes to promoting our engines overall. I am not excluding myself from this either.... I have dropped the ball a number of times as well. I understand we are all working on our own projects and things but, in the end. If we don't push that the Torque line is relevant and different from everyone's past experiences, we fail as a development group. GG is NOT running the show anymore at least as far as the Torque line goes. We as a community need to get out of this BS WAIT and it will happen mentality! GitHub is hard... I don't get it... Contributing is tuff..... etc etc. I have heard it all. So, this rant is not directed at Garage Games so much as the Torque community. WE NEED TO GET OUT OF THE OLD MINDSET AND MOVE ON! We as a group direct the engines, we as a group determine what happens next, WE are in charge. We stand or fail as an open source group, be it T2D or T3D. We are not a huge number of people therefore, we ALL have to push this stuff out. Lack of knowledge by the general game dev community will kill off the Torque line. I am slightly ticked off by this.... yet again another disappointing FAIL. All I ask is this... The next time those that contribute to a kickstarter or any crowd funded campaign, also add a link to a game dev site you frequent or send a freakin email to a major site. We need dollars and ADVERTISING from all of us.
Sorry, I know this is a rant but, come on.... we have messed up too many times! Open Source/MIT is still a business. Look at the successful open source projects, they push, the community pushes, its not just cash.... but,a bit of pride in knowing and passing along that WE USE TORQUE and LOVE it.
Ron
04/27/2013 (5:10 pm)
Mich,Yep, I track all of those. Still, I think we actually fail as a group when it comes to promoting our engines overall. I am not excluding myself from this either.... I have dropped the ball a number of times as well. I understand we are all working on our own projects and things but, in the end. If we don't push that the Torque line is relevant and different from everyone's past experiences, we fail as a development group. GG is NOT running the show anymore at least as far as the Torque line goes. We as a community need to get out of this BS WAIT and it will happen mentality! GitHub is hard... I don't get it... Contributing is tuff..... etc etc. I have heard it all. So, this rant is not directed at Garage Games so much as the Torque community. WE NEED TO GET OUT OF THE OLD MINDSET AND MOVE ON! We as a group direct the engines, we as a group determine what happens next, WE are in charge. We stand or fail as an open source group, be it T2D or T3D. We are not a huge number of people therefore, we ALL have to push this stuff out. Lack of knowledge by the general game dev community will kill off the Torque line. I am slightly ticked off by this.... yet again another disappointing FAIL. All I ask is this... The next time those that contribute to a kickstarter or any crowd funded campaign, also add a link to a game dev site you frequent or send a freakin email to a major site. We need dollars and ADVERTISING from all of us.
Sorry, I know this is a rant but, come on.... we have messed up too many times! Open Source/MIT is still a business. Look at the successful open source projects, they push, the community pushes, its not just cash.... but,a bit of pride in knowing and passing along that WE USE TORQUE and LOVE it.
Ron
#35
I think that the existing communities (T2D and T3D) are really rooting for the engines and all projects that will improve them. If we didn't care about any of this, we wouldn't be angry / sad at this project's failure to get kickstarted.
I think it bears mentioning however that as independent developers or hobbyists, our monetary resources are kind of limited, even though our passion is overflowing.
I can't even buy games unless it's pay-what-you-want or Steam sales and still I pledged 50$ towards this project.
This has definitely shifted my way of thinking about our roles, not only as Steering committee members but as Torque users.
I also think that Maxgaming technologies deserve a hearty round of applause for spearheading this project.
May we all learn from this experience.
04/27/2013 (7:05 pm)
I agree with Ron 100%.I think that the existing communities (T2D and T3D) are really rooting for the engines and all projects that will improve them. If we didn't care about any of this, we wouldn't be angry / sad at this project's failure to get kickstarted.
I think it bears mentioning however that as independent developers or hobbyists, our monetary resources are kind of limited, even though our passion is overflowing.
I can't even buy games unless it's pay-what-you-want or Steam sales and still I pledged 50$ towards this project.
This has definitely shifted my way of thinking about our roles, not only as Steering committee members but as Torque users.
I also think that Maxgaming technologies deserve a hearty round of applause for spearheading this project.
May we all learn from this experience.
#36
Agreed! Sorry for not mentioning that! Maxgaming THANK you for your efforts!
Ron
04/27/2013 (7:20 pm)
Simon,Agreed! Sorry for not mentioning that! Maxgaming THANK you for your efforts!
Ron
#37
As of this post: 235
It might not be the best metric for determining how large the community is, but I think it gives a general idea. So yes, it is not only advertising that there is a Kickstarter for a particular project - it is also the advertising needed to get more developers using Torque 2D. Otherwise, getting projects funded is going to always be a struggle.
In any case, thanks to Max Gaming for their efforts.
04/27/2013 (9:39 pm)
While the $10,500 was a very modest sum compared to other funding efforts, to reach that goal would have required 420 backers at $25 (or 210 at $50). The amount of people that have clicked the star button for the Torque 2D repo on Github?As of this post: 235
It might not be the best metric for determining how large the community is, but I think it gives a general idea. So yes, it is not only advertising that there is a Kickstarter for a particular project - it is also the advertising needed to get more developers using Torque 2D. Otherwise, getting projects funded is going to always be a struggle.
In any case, thanks to Max Gaming for their efforts.
#38
I think your metrics example speaks volumes. What this (and previous) experience tells me is that we need to focus on engine exposure rather than crowd funding features right now. I think this means "games moved" or "games in progress" shown on youtube. Get a few million hits on youtube and cycle up the interest immensely.
We also need to be more excited for individual efforts. Some of the users have come through and shown their progress on some amazing stuff and they get like 1 to 10 people saying, "good work". This is crap. We can do better.
Some things hurting us (IMO):
04/28/2013 (9:36 am)
@Mike Lilligreen,I think your metrics example speaks volumes. What this (and previous) experience tells me is that we need to focus on engine exposure rather than crowd funding features right now. I think this means "games moved" or "games in progress" shown on youtube. Get a few million hits on youtube and cycle up the interest immensely.
We also need to be more excited for individual efforts. Some of the users have come through and shown their progress on some amazing stuff and they get like 1 to 10 people saying, "good work". This is crap. We can do better.
Some things hurting us (IMO):
- The website. This is a can of worms I know. It just feels disjointed and not the easiest to find relevant information. Every time I turn around I seem to be asking like a noob for where stuff is or asking basic questions. This might just be me though.
- We need to commend people on their efforts. The technical curve for games is difficult. So people need encouragement. Their victory is OUR victory.
- Act like a business owner. Stop looking to GG to make this, or make that. That shit is getting old.
- Articles, articles, articles... People love seeing good articles on game dev topics. So for interesting topics either blog them or write an article on a website and link it here in a blog.
- Post mortems. When a game does reach distribution maturity we need to get post mortems featured at GG.
#39
It gives us a really nice overview of what happens at WLE etc, maybe we should have a T3D newsletter? There is plenty of things going on we just need people to speak up and show what they are up to.
the WLE newsletters
It could be in the form of a blog post every now and then, just a blog that keeps track of some the technologies thats being developed, like the voxel terrain by Bill Vee or Jacob's vertex color material blending product, or DNT etc.
Edit: Created a thread to continue further discussion of promoting T3D.
04/28/2013 (12:48 pm)
At WLE we have a monthly newsletter where we send in articles to our editor and progress-updates.It gives us a really nice overview of what happens at WLE etc, maybe we should have a T3D newsletter? There is plenty of things going on we just need people to speak up and show what they are up to.
the WLE newsletters
It could be in the form of a blog post every now and then, just a blog that keeps track of some the technologies thats being developed, like the voxel terrain by Bill Vee or Jacob's vertex color material blending product, or DNT etc.
Edit: Created a thread to continue further discussion of promoting T3D.
#40
04/28/2013 (6:10 pm)
Whoo-hoo! :D I just voted RTN to place #4! :D 
Torque Owner Demolishun
DemolishunConsulting Rocks!
Contrast that to T2D with 5000 sprites at like 100 fps. T2D also has physics, joints, a proven art pipeline, and very well could be used as a platform for web deployment.
It is not that I don't think HTML5 is here and getting better, it is just that the two do not compare without some kind of plugin downloaded (like Flash). That plugin makes them incompatible with a lot of platforms to support that binary. There may be a huge boon for lower quality less detailed games with HTML5, but it is a far cry from what T2D or T3D can do. A lot of people choose Torque products because of what they can do rather than being able to work on every phone that has a web browser (even that is hit or miss, WebGL and IE...). HTML5 is not a silver bullet.