Open Call: Join the Torque 3D Steering Committee
by Dave Wyand · 06/06/2013 (9:57 am) · 57 comments
Open Call: Join the Torque 3D Steering Committee
Back on September 20, 2012, we launched the MIT licensed version of Torque 3D on GitHub. During this time we set up a Steering Committee made of GarageGames members to organize the launch logistics.Pre-Launch Steering Committee (SC-0)
- Scott Burns
- David Montgomery-Blake
- Eric Preisz
- David Wyand
First Community-Based Steering Committee
On October 24, 2012, we announced the first community-based Steering Committee based on the submissions we received.1st Steering Committee (SC-1)
- Michael Hall
- Ron Kapaun
- David Wyand
Michael and Ron are both longtime members of the community and were obvious choices to be a part of the Committee. Over the last 8 months this Steering Committee has created the roadmap for three versions of T3D, launched two new releases (v2.0 and v3.0), and created four demos that show off new technology in Torque 3D. A lot of work and even crunch-time occurred during this period. Both Michael and Ron went beyond what was required of them as community volunteers.
At the beginning of June, 2013, Ron decided to step down from the Steering Committee. We will miss his guidance and expertise. I would like to personally thank him for all of the hard work he has put in and wish him well in the future.
Second Steering Committee
This brings us to a new chapter in the life of Torque 3D. Starting today until June 30, 2013, we are again accepting requests to join the T3D Steering Committee. We are hoping to find two new people this time around, bringing the total number of Committee members to four.We’re not only looking for the most active community members, or those that have been with the community the longest. If you’ve been lurking and believe that now is the time you want to get involved, that’s great! We would also like to hear from people outside of our community that feel they can contribute.
For those that are wondering what the Committee’s role and responsibilities are we have a Charter that is available here: github.com/GarageGames/Torque3D/wiki/Steering-Committee-Charter. This is a living document and may change over time as the Committee sees fit.
Torque 3D Steering Committee Charter
1. Vision
We are dedicated to making the best core version of Torque 3D so that others can build upon a reliable foundation.
2. Mission
To build a foundation for a sustainable environment that fosters collaboration and community development of the greatest open source development platform.
3. Goals
- To maintain the best master branch version of Torque 3D. Performance, reliability, maintainability and scalability.
- Act as a representative on behalf of the collective community.
- Actively communicate in a transparent manner.
- Promote Torque 3D as an open source project.
4. Duties and Responsibilities
- Maintain, enhance and support the Torque 3D open source product.
- Operates under ethical and professional standards with individuals, community, and the world.
- Create and revise the product’s roadmap.
- Review and act appropriately on all community submitted action items.
- Encourage growth of the Torque 3D product through community participation.
- To ensure that all contributions are free from intellectual property encumbrances in order to maintain the integrity of the product.
- Act in a professional manner and lead by example.
- Periodically review the charter and composition of the membership and make changes as necessary.
5. Membership
Members of the steering committee must be willing and able to commit time and energy to fulfilling the committee’s mission. At least one (1) one of the committee members must come from GarageGames LLC or its representative, and shall act as chair of the committee. The remainder of the membership may grow as appropriate according to the committee’s duties, but the total committee size shall remain at or below six members.
To be considered as a member of the committee, the prospective member should meet the following criteria:
- Is available for at least 8 to 20 hours a week of work on the Torque 3D open source product such as programming, documentation, administration, etc.
- Have expert knowledge in game engine and tool development, such as documentation, C++ engine programming, operating system platform programming, etc.
- Agree to the Open Source Software Agreement available on the GarageGames web site.
If a member is unable to serve on the committee for any reason, the vacancy may be filled or left empty at the discretion of the committee. If the committee as a whole is unable to perform its duties, an employee of GarageGames LLC or its representative may step in and provide the course of action.
In addition to the steering committee, we desire two other essential members: project manager and secretary. These roles are not decision making positions; rather, they document, format, and deliver information to the community.
6. Meetings
The chair of the committee is responsible for organizing formal meetings, which should be held at least once a month. During these meetings the progress of the previous month shall be reviewed and goals shall be set for at least the next month. More frequent meetings may be held as required.
All meeting minutes shall be published to the community by the secretary, or another committee member if required. These minutes must be published to the GarageGames web site, along with any other location as determined by the committee.
7. Voting
Each member of the committee has one vote. Any decision by the committee that requires a vote must have a two-thirds majority to pass. The chair of the committee has veto power over any vote, if required.
8. Removal
If a committee member commits the following acts, they could be removed from the committee:
- Unable to fulfill their time requirements.
- Removed by a majority vote for no longer aligning with sections 3 and 4 above.
9. Amendments
This charter is a living document and may be amended by the committee as outlined in section 4. Any amendments require the approval of the committee chair.
Join the Torque 3D Steering Committee
Does being a part of the Torque 3D open source Steering Committee interest you? Are you ready to be a leader and organizer in the community? Have you read through the charter and have a feeling of awesomeness swelling inside? If so, then please get in touch by email at davew@garagegames.com and let me know by June 30, 2013. We want to hear from you!- Dave
About the author
Producer at GarageGames LLC
#22
however the biggest downfall of the torque 3D game engine is the lack of learning grounds.
now i am sure that updating and dealing with adding new features and fixing bugs is more then a full time job in itself, expecially seeing how i am reading that the team consists of only one man doing it all full time. which doesn't leave alot of time left over to create a good learning enviroment for people just coming into the game engine.
so yes, torque 3D needs more people. that a given.
but trying to get people to put their time and effort into something with no real return other then the satifaction of doing it, is no simple task.
have you ever concidered creating a website such as blendercookie?
create a enviroment that experienced programers, modelers, artists, scropters and so forth could use to teach other people for profit. this could attract the very people you need to keep the engine going forth.
you give them a place to offer their knowledge with return, and in return they help you keep the game engine going forward.
this would help keep the game engine free and open source, but also allow a way for experienced programers to get something back for their time. and could very well attract the very people you need to keep the game engine going forward.
just a thought.
06/14/2013 (2:26 am)
well to put my two cents in here, i was introduced to the torque game engine back in 2005, over the last 8 years i have seen the engine take many turns, and will say most turns have been for the better.however the biggest downfall of the torque 3D game engine is the lack of learning grounds.
now i am sure that updating and dealing with adding new features and fixing bugs is more then a full time job in itself, expecially seeing how i am reading that the team consists of only one man doing it all full time. which doesn't leave alot of time left over to create a good learning enviroment for people just coming into the game engine.
so yes, torque 3D needs more people. that a given.
but trying to get people to put their time and effort into something with no real return other then the satifaction of doing it, is no simple task.
have you ever concidered creating a website such as blendercookie?
create a enviroment that experienced programers, modelers, artists, scropters and so forth could use to teach other people for profit. this could attract the very people you need to keep the engine going forth.
you give them a place to offer their knowledge with return, and in return they help you keep the game engine going forward.
this would help keep the game engine free and open source, but also allow a way for experienced programers to get something back for their time. and could very well attract the very people you need to keep the game engine going forward.
just a thought.
#23
Taking on contractors to do work (I can go into the issues of this if you want), or setting up any web site where we touch any money would require that we go down that path. The T3D Steering Committee doesn't have the resources (it takes money and lawyers to set this up properly) or desire to go down that path at this time.
Sites like Blender Cookie and Unity Cookie have a company behind them that keeps them going (CG Cookie, Inc.), and maintaining sites like those also take a lot of time when done right. If someone else wants to set up the equivalent of Torque Cookie then the Steering Committee can do what we can to get the word out and point people to it. You don't need to be on the Steering Committee, or have our permission, to start these initiatives.
Personally, I'm a little disappointed that we're still talking about us (the Steering Committee) and them (Torque 3D users), where one group acts and the other waits. It isn't that we, the Committee, need people to keep the engine moving forward. It is that we, the community, need people to keep the engine moving forward.
And who are these people that we need? YOU The very people that are using Torque 3D right now. It would be in your best interest to have T3D continue to thrive, not some nebulous work force that is waiting to pounce if only they could be paid.
- Dave
06/14/2013 (8:45 am)
As the topic of money has come up a few times now, let's talk about it: the Torque 3D Steering Committee has no money. In order for the Steering Committee to have money it would need to become a legal entity in some jurisdiction, deal with the paper work and taxes that come with that, and maintain a board of directors and treasurer/accountant. Adding a cash flow to the Steering Committee not only adds legal obligations to itself, but also to its members.Taking on contractors to do work (I can go into the issues of this if you want), or setting up any web site where we touch any money would require that we go down that path. The T3D Steering Committee doesn't have the resources (it takes money and lawyers to set this up properly) or desire to go down that path at this time.
Sites like Blender Cookie and Unity Cookie have a company behind them that keeps them going (CG Cookie, Inc.), and maintaining sites like those also take a lot of time when done right. If someone else wants to set up the equivalent of Torque Cookie then the Steering Committee can do what we can to get the word out and point people to it. You don't need to be on the Steering Committee, or have our permission, to start these initiatives.
Personally, I'm a little disappointed that we're still talking about us (the Steering Committee) and them (Torque 3D users), where one group acts and the other waits. It isn't that we, the Committee, need people to keep the engine moving forward. It is that we, the community, need people to keep the engine moving forward.
And who are these people that we need? YOU The very people that are using Torque 3D right now. It would be in your best interest to have T3D continue to thrive, not some nebulous work force that is waiting to pounce if only they could be paid.
- Dave
#24
Even if the worst case scenario happened (very unlikely) like the community dies away and technology freezes in terms of development, all the files, examples and materials accumulated over the years would continue to help everyone. Everything is there for the taking for the dedicated and interested few.
It will continue to push on either way like a mule making it's way down a dirt road. Many people like the technology, developing it and improving it. Even if the Steering Committee vanished, the hive of interest and development would continue. Some make technology and advance for money and some for love, either way as Charlie Sheen says "Winning!" because the development trudges onwards.
Sometimes a failure can separate the wheat from the chaff and give birth to something more valuable.
06/14/2013 (1:56 pm)
Not matter what happens with Torque, I can now officially say (after years of whinging) that my involvement with the technology and community has helped me improve no end. Still helping to this day. I occasionally go through the source code of previous torque iterations (1.4 to Torque3D current) among other source code segments from other engines.Even if the worst case scenario happened (very unlikely) like the community dies away and technology freezes in terms of development, all the files, examples and materials accumulated over the years would continue to help everyone. Everything is there for the taking for the dedicated and interested few.
It will continue to push on either way like a mule making it's way down a dirt road. Many people like the technology, developing it and improving it. Even if the Steering Committee vanished, the hive of interest and development would continue. Some make technology and advance for money and some for love, either way as Charlie Sheen says "Winning!" because the development trudges onwards.
Sometimes a failure can separate the wheat from the chaff and give birth to something more valuable.
#25
Also you have to work really hard to compete with the big ones on the market and this will be very stressful, since competition on our sector is really hard.
I like that we have an alternative to this now, even if it means that we will fall back a little, but I think we could catch up, if we get a person for each task to work on.
06/14/2013 (2:53 pm)
The problem with commercial is, that you will have all the trouble, paper work, responsibility, taxes and you likely will have to go really commercial to make enough money to keep it working, so you have to take high prices somewhere, for products, for premium features, whatever, but this all is likely going to annoy people and limit freedom.Also you have to work really hard to compete with the big ones on the market and this will be very stressful, since competition on our sector is really hard.
I like that we have an alternative to this now, even if it means that we will fall back a little, but I think we could catch up, if we get a person for each task to work on.
#26
06/14/2013 (5:19 pm)
I have no issue with helping out where possible. I've already volunteered for the master server port. I don't want to bite off more than I can chew, but it seems like we are in some dire need here. I'm also jumping into the HDR realm this weekend as well. So UNLESS SOMEONE jumps in here, I'll help out. 
#27
06/14/2013 (7:08 pm)
Quote:Honesty, that's what we like to see! ;)
I can now officially say (after years of whinging) that my involvement with the technology and community has helped me improve no end
#28
06/16/2013 (9:52 am)
It is quite simple. GarageGames should approach Blender about doing an OpenSource project together. This has worked tremendously well for the Blender Foundation. I am pretty confident if they did a Tribes-like game and tried to raise money on Kickstarter, they could get it done and pay people. I truly feel not much progress was made with Torque was because GarageGames wasn't actually developing any games with it. It stagnated.
#30
06/16/2013 (4:16 pm)
@Duion - Unfortunately I don't have near the pull that they do. It is beyond me why they don't go this route. 
#31
Things I would like to see:
Realtime or Baked GI (I am aware of Purelight but nobody can actually tell me how it works...also it's 500 bucks).
Vertex Painting / Shading Support
Better control over mip mapping and terrain textures.
I keep looking at Torque every couple of weeks just to see what's going on because I would love to be able to use it for a project. But I get depressed with it because my art looks like crap compared to UDK or even Unity, so as an artist I'd much rather work in those.
So my hope for the steering committee would be for someone to steer Torque towards more modern rendering.
06/16/2013 (4:34 pm)
I'd like to see if you could get someone one the steering committee that can help with the rendering parts. I still don't recommend Torque to people because the renderer is so far behind compared to UDK/Unity/CryEngine and even some open source projects. I think of it as a programmer engine that's good for pet projects, but not any serious game development. This comes from my own grief trying to get a few fairly modern features into the engine. There's always a disconnect between the art and programming sides. Things I would like to see:
Realtime or Baked GI (I am aware of Purelight but nobody can actually tell me how it works...also it's 500 bucks).
Vertex Painting / Shading Support
Better control over mip mapping and terrain textures.
I keep looking at Torque every couple of weeks just to see what's going on because I would love to be able to use it for a project. But I get depressed with it because my art looks like crap compared to UDK or even Unity, so as an artist I'd much rather work in those.
So my hope for the steering committee would be for someone to steer Torque towards more modern rendering.
#32
06/16/2013 (5:22 pm)
The lightbaking is a thing that is really missing, but vertex paint you can do, but it is used for wind animations, so vertex paint is only an option for non vegetation, but I think other engines do it the same way with wind effects.
#33
06/16/2013 (6:51 pm)
The problem with using vertex colors for wind is that you can't use them for anything else. So what I want to do is use vertex colors for blending textures which is a feature of nearly every other game engine. UDK, Unity, Cryengine, Source, NeoAxis, idtech3 and 4. They all enable some sort of texture blending using vertex colors..and it's been a feature since like 2003, so Torque is really behind the curve on this one. I've told a couple of my artist friends about the problem and they have been like: "Really?" I mean it would be nice if someone rewrote the material system to be more UDK like (I mean, look at what you can do shader wise with UDK) but that's a huge undertaking.
#34
Why would you want to use vertex painting for blended textures, we have multi-layered textures (4 layers 0 to 3). If you make your textures correctly (alpha channels are not evil) and some clever layering tricks you can do exactly the same thing as a vertex paint shader.
Image 1: Standard Texture....
.
.
Image 2: Moss Mask in with alpha blending layer 2
.
.
If you understand the material system a bit, you can ALREADY use baked light maps using the advanced materials.
.
Image 1: No lightmap (standard default lighting)
.
.
Image 2: Light Map applied in extended material menu
.
These images are from STOCK T3D 1.2. So these are NOT new features but, they are mostly undocumented. They are also just quickly thrown together. I just get tired of hearing about T3D NOT doing this stuff. We can... Perhaps we just need to DOCUMENT it.
Ron
06/16/2013 (10:53 pm)
Dashiva,Why would you want to use vertex painting for blended textures, we have multi-layered textures (4 layers 0 to 3). If you make your textures correctly (alpha channels are not evil) and some clever layering tricks you can do exactly the same thing as a vertex paint shader.
Image 1: Standard Texture....
.
.Image 2: Moss Mask in with alpha blending layer 2
.
.If you understand the material system a bit, you can ALREADY use baked light maps using the advanced materials.
.
Image 1: No lightmap (standard default lighting)
.
.Image 2: Light Map applied in extended material menu
.
These images are from STOCK T3D 1.2. So these are NOT new features but, they are mostly undocumented. They are also just quickly thrown together. I just get tired of hearing about T3D NOT doing this stuff. We can... Perhaps we just need to DOCUMENT it.
Ron
#35
I think you hit the right spot here Ron.
06/17/2013 (9:13 am)
Quote:Perhaps we just need to DOCUMENT it.
I think you hit the right spot here Ron.
#36
But to be honest I also had no idea about all this, I tried a few times with advanced materials and so on, but I could not get it to work and so I thought this is not implemented in Torque.
06/17/2013 (9:49 am)
I think the main difference is, that in other engines you have all these fancy special effects enabled by default, combined with nice demo material and with Torque it is off by default and you don't have much demo material.But to be honest I also had no idea about all this, I tried a few times with advanced materials and so on, but I could not get it to work and so I thought this is not implemented in Torque.
#37
Yep, been there myself too. Here is something I have figured out over the past decade of being here on the site;
I have NOT had a single original thought or idea since I have been working with Torque. I am not the smartest person in the room. I just never stop digging and I don't stop researching and asking 'how?'. These engines were designed by some very smart people, and I know somewhere, there is a solution to whatever problem I have. This is the GREAT thing about having access to the engine source.
Somewhere deep in the MASSIVE amount of data stored here, there is probably a forum thread, resource, or comment concerning whatever it is I am trying to do. The issue is locating the info. Think about the pure MASS of information since these forums and such have been active???? It's a HUGE amount of data. Sometimes, its like looking for a needle in a needle stack.... I swear.
9 times out of 10 I am not using the correct 'search' term or the term has changed over the years. This where research comes in. T3D is FAR deeper than what you see in the UI. We just need to get the info OUT of T3D and make it public.
Unfortunately, I don't have a single solution for that problem other than what I did here. Let everyone know it's possible.
Ron
06/17/2013 (10:10 am)
Duion,Yep, been there myself too. Here is something I have figured out over the past decade of being here on the site;
I have NOT had a single original thought or idea since I have been working with Torque. I am not the smartest person in the room. I just never stop digging and I don't stop researching and asking 'how?'. These engines were designed by some very smart people, and I know somewhere, there is a solution to whatever problem I have. This is the GREAT thing about having access to the engine source.
Somewhere deep in the MASSIVE amount of data stored here, there is probably a forum thread, resource, or comment concerning whatever it is I am trying to do. The issue is locating the info. Think about the pure MASS of information since these forums and such have been active???? It's a HUGE amount of data. Sometimes, its like looking for a needle in a needle stack.... I swear.
9 times out of 10 I am not using the correct 'search' term or the term has changed over the years. This where research comes in. T3D is FAR deeper than what you see in the UI. We just need to get the info OUT of T3D and make it public.
Unfortunately, I don't have a single solution for that problem other than what I did here. Let everyone know it's possible.
Ron
#38
Only caveat there is you would have to write an importer to read the output of it, but it's actually very decent and free.
06/17/2013 (11:08 am)
Instead of purelight you could try gile[s]. www.frecle.net/index.php?show=giles.about..Only caveat there is you would have to write an importer to read the output of it, but it's actually very decent and free.
#39
Again, why? If your 3D app supports baking textures (most do....even Blender) then this is an extra step that is just not needed eats up resources that can be put into game play, and are generally LAZY. Kick your artists in the butt, and tell them to start THINKING instead of just reacting. The right question is not "Can T3D do this... it's HOW does T3D do this".
I will be the first to admit, T3D sometimes takes some 'out of the box' thinking but, what is the point of 'adding' these features when we can already do them. It's a matter of knowing how....not that T3D CAN'T do them.
Ron
06/17/2013 (3:40 pm)
smally,Again, why? If your 3D app supports baking textures (most do....even Blender) then this is an extra step that is just not needed eats up resources that can be put into game play, and are generally LAZY. Kick your artists in the butt, and tell them to start THINKING instead of just reacting. The right question is not "Can T3D do this... it's HOW does T3D do this".
I will be the first to admit, T3D sometimes takes some 'out of the box' thinking but, what is the point of 'adding' these features when we can already do them. It's a matter of knowing how....not that T3D CAN'T do them.
Ron
Associate Scott Burns
GG Alumni
No discomfort taken at all. I had seen other community members voicing similar concerns across the forums and blogs and I just wanted to address it and reinforce the community's confidence.
Sorry if you felt like I singled you out there, that definitely wasn't my intent. I just quoted your post as it was a good summary of a concern others had shared. Sometimes my posts get a little unintentionally terse when I come up for air after being neck deep in code all day. Maybe I need a less gruff looking avatar. =P