Torque 3D Development - Kickoff
by Brett Seyler · 12/17/2008 (9:05 am) · 46 comments
Amidst all the excitement here about shipping a Mac-compatible version of TGEA, we've been doing some serious planning around what we want the next version of our 3D engine to look like. I spoke about this some in my last blog, and now with TGEA 1.8 out the door, we're really ready to start opening up the floodgates with new info about the Torque 3D project.
I thought a lot about what I wanted to share with the community first. There are all the various technical elements of what we're planning to discuss, each broken down feature-by-feature. There's also a whole lot of pretty to show when we're ready. One of the more interesting stories around this project that sort of caught me by surprise involves the composition of the Torque 3D team.
This next release brings an incredible amount of talent to bear on Torque. We've assembled the best team of developers ever on a single Torque project. Have a look at these numbers...
There are currently 31 developers working either directly on Torque 3D development, or on a parallel project that Torque 3D will be leveraging.
These developers are spread across 5 continents and 13 cities.
I was impressed to discover first, that our team was this big, and second, just how much diversity we have in our little project's ranks. Bringing a complex project like this together, especially with so many team members remote from our HQ can be a very tricky process. Matt Fairfax has done a superb job shepherding TGEA along throughout 2008. For 2009, he'll have this, our biggest challenge yet.
I spend a lot of time reading about how products get created, so this kind of thing really interests me. My impulse in writing this, the first official post on Torque 3D development, was threefold. I wanted to:
- Help you get to know the developers who have been building this product.
- Shine some light on our development process by exposing feature targets early, even if they end up being cut for the final release.
- Get you all as excited as I am about what's coming in Torque 3D!
Every week I'm going to introduce two members of the Torque 3D development team and ask them to talk about how their work ties into Torque 3D. Some of these will be short, some longer. There are people you've never met or heard of, or people who've been part of the GG community for a long time. It's a very mixed and talented group, and it will be fun to get to know them all a little better.
To satisfy my other two goals, I'm also going to be posting every week on our feature targets for Torque 3D. Sometimes these will be videos, sometimes just screenshots, maybe even just quick briefing. With all things we have planned, there almost aren't enough weeks before our planned ship date to show everything you everything!
No matter what though, you can bet that Torque 3D development will be worth watching closely. Stay tuned. This is post #1.
Torque 3D development blogs:
- Post #1 - Kickoff
- Post #2 - Apparatus and Warrior Camp
- Post #3 - Luma's racing kit
- Post #4 - Josh Engebretson and Web Publishing
- Post #5 - Pricing and Licensing
- Post #6 - Pricing and Licensing CONTINUED
- Post #7 - Wetness & Precipitation
- Post #8 - Screeen Space Ambient Occlusion (SSAO)
- Post #9 - Matt Langley and the Torque Launcher
- Post #10 - Chris Robertson and Collada
- Post #11 - Depth of Field
- Post #12 - Advanced Lighting
- Post #13 - Soft Particles
- Post #14 - World Editor
- Post #15 - Pricing and Licensing ANNOUNCED!
- Post #16 - GDC Live Edition
- Post #17 - River & Road Editors
- Post #18 - Beta is UP!
- Post #19 - Light Rays, Undercity, and the Material Editor
- Post #20 - Mass Market Hardware
- Post #21 - Beta: Part Deux
- Post #22 - Marching Towards Beta 3
- Post #23 - pureLIGHT
- Post #24 - Lighting, Terrain, and Cloth
- Post #25 - Beta 3!
- Post #26 - Documentation
- Post #27 - Beta 4!
- Post #28 - Shape Editor
- Post #29 - Beta 5!
- Post #30 - Collada Import GUI Dialog
- Post #31 - 1.0 Release!!!
- Post #32 - The only good bug...
- Post #33 - 1.1 Alpha!
- Post #34 - Binary Announcement and Release
- Post #35 - Torque 3D 1.1 Beta 1!
- Post #36 - Coming Soon!
About the author
Since 2007, I've done my best to steer Torque's development and brand toward the best opportunities in games middleware.
#2
12/17/2008 (9:19 am)
Very excited, this is what i been waiting for keep up the amazing work. 
#3
I am very excited to hear more about what's cooking! I am crossing fingers for a few things, but with such a team, I am sure Torque3D will be something worth waiting for.
Btw, so, it's not going to be called TGEA anymore? Also, since you have so many developers, 2 posts each week would be perfectly in order imho. :)
12/17/2008 (9:32 am)
Great news! Only if there was any actual info in this post! :) Hehe, j/k. I am very excited to hear more about what's cooking! I am crossing fingers for a few things, but with such a team, I am sure Torque3D will be something worth waiting for.
Btw, so, it's not going to be called TGEA anymore? Also, since you have so many developers, 2 posts each week would be perfectly in order imho. :)
#4
12/17/2008 (9:35 am)
Woot! Germany represent! (although he/she looks to be in Frankfurt, so not a perfect score, but that's offset by the representative(s) from Austin) 
#5
Besides, you'll get the usual 2 blogs a month from me. December has been the exception because I've been so heads down.
12/17/2008 (9:39 am)
Quote:2 posts each week would be perfectly in order imho. :)Let's not get ahead of ourselves. We could spend our time blogging or doing work =)
Besides, you'll get the usual 2 blogs a month from me. December has been the exception because I've been so heads down.
#6
Great blog and great idea. Was surpised myself to see just how massive the current workforce behind T3D is. But it shows. There's so much good stuff currently in the works.
@Brian
It's a 'he'. And the location is far (by German measures... actually probably pretty darn close if seen by an American) from Frankfurt (Tuebingen actually), so that may resue the score somewhat :)
12/17/2008 (10:52 am)
@BrettGreat blog and great idea. Was surpised myself to see just how massive the current workforce behind T3D is. But it shows. There's so much good stuff currently in the works.
@Brian
It's a 'he'. And the location is far (by German measures... actually probably pretty darn close if seen by an American) from Frankfurt (Tuebingen actually), so that may resue the score somewhat :)
#7
12/17/2008 (11:37 am)
@Rene - It looks like Brian is in Germany, so he probably knows the geography. ;) 
#8
12/17/2008 (12:48 pm)
Rock on! 
#9
That might prove to be kinda easy!
12/17/2008 (12:57 pm)
Quote:3. Get you all as excited as I am about what's coming in Torque 3D!
That might prove to be kinda easy!
#10
Edit-> A physics engine has been mentioned for Torque3D? Would this be a third-party one or one developed just for Torque?
12/17/2008 (2:13 pm)
Well shoot. Guess I'm going to have to change my development computer. Not that I've been getting much developing done lately. =PEdit-> A physics engine has been mentioned for Torque3D? Would this be a third-party one or one developed just for Torque?
#11
12/17/2008 (3:04 pm)
You are officially on my "blog watching" list. Can't wait to hear more about T3D! 
#12
12/17/2008 (3:21 pm)
Interesting stuff; but do this mean that T2 or whatever you called it wont be the sum of 2D and 3D combined into a single engine, but the 2D and 3D will continue in their different areas?
#13
@everyone else: Thanks...so much to talk about...I'll be posting the next blog either Friday or Monday I believe.
12/17/2008 (3:54 pm)
@Christain: The "Torque 2" thing has been discussed at length in my previous blogs. Torque 3D will share a codebase with Torque 2D (the next version of TGB...still a ways out), but they will not be a unified product. Being on a unified codebase does hold the possibility of using Torque 2D projects inside a Torque 3D project, or combined with a Torque 3D project as the GUI, or some kind of mini-game, but again, these will not be the same product.@everyone else: Thanks...so much to talk about...I'll be posting the next blog either Friday or Monday I believe.
#14
but this:
*jumping around*
I'm using now TGE152+TGB113, but Torque 2D+Torque 3D is the way to keep me locked on Torque forever haha!
12/17/2008 (3:59 pm)
great blog Brett!!but this:
Quote:kicked me off!
... Being on a unified codebase does hold the possibility of using Torque 2D projects inside a Torque 3D project ...
*jumping around*
I'm using now TGE152+TGB113, but Torque 2D+Torque 3D is the way to keep me locked on Torque forever haha!
#15
One request: a modular, decoupled, pluggable scripting system. Torque Script as the "reference implementation" of a brand new "Torque Scripting API", allowing many other possible implementations, like JavaScript, Ruby, Phyton, etc.
I'm a TGE licensee since 2002. I'll be very honest, this is what would make me look at Torque stuff again. to trust I'm using a stable and functional black box, one I can talk to in my favorite programming language.
EDIT: ... if you're taking suggestions, of course :)
12/17/2008 (8:25 pm)
One question: who's in Argentina?One request: a modular, decoupled, pluggable scripting system. Torque Script as the "reference implementation" of a brand new "Torque Scripting API", allowing many other possible implementations, like JavaScript, Ruby, Phyton, etc.
I'm a TGE licensee since 2002. I'll be very honest, this is what would make me look at Torque stuff again. to trust I'm using a stable and functional black box, one I can talk to in my favorite programming language.
EDIT: ... if you're taking suggestions, of course :)
#16
You'll find that out soon!
While this is a feature that seen much more than just office brainstorming, support for multiple script languages is not part of our next planned release.
12/17/2008 (8:51 pm)
Quote:who's in Argentina?
You'll find that out soon!
Quote:One request: a modular, decoupled, pluggable scripting system. Torque Script as the "reference implementation" of a brand new "Torque Scripting API", allowing many other possible implementations, like JavaScript, Ruby, Phyton, etc.
While this is a feature that seen much more than just office brainstorming, support for multiple script languages is not part of our next planned release.
#17
I just upgraded my TGE 1.52 to TGEA 1.8 (because of Mac support), so I ahve first to educate myself with TGEA.
But T3D is very promising, and seems to mature on capabilities and engineering.
Hope T3D will be Windows and Mac from the start.
Keep the good work GG members !
12/18/2008 (12:50 am)
Very interesting !I just upgraded my TGE 1.52 to TGEA 1.8 (because of Mac support), so I ahve first to educate myself with TGEA.
But T3D is very promising, and seems to mature on capabilities and engineering.
Hope T3D will be Windows and Mac from the start.
Keep the good work GG members !
#18
12/18/2008 (1:02 am)
Torque 3D will support Windows and Mac out of the box =)
#19
12/18/2008 (5:03 am)
Very good news so ! Very good work !
#20
12/18/2008 (10:23 am)
NextGen Gaming really happens in Torque 3D!? 
Torque Owner Dustin Sims
Sounds Exciting.
Is Blog #2 scheduled to come out today as well?