Torque and I
by Phillip O'Shea · 11/18/2010 (11:39 pm) · 13 comments
I woke up, around 5:30am I think, grabbed my phone. Ran my eyes down the list of emails, checking to see if there was anything that required my immediate attention. One email in particular focused my tired eyes, IA is shutting down. Shit.
Sobering; that is how I would describe the feeling.
Most of you wouldn’t know, but I was part of the development team for future Torque technologies. I obviously cannot go into any detail about my work, but I’d like to give you all a very brief insight into my time working with GG/IA.
Did you guys know that Torque was developed 24hrs a day, 7 days a week? The Torque development team lives in New Zealand, Australia, Germany, England, Canada and the US. Consistently, I would ask for help as I left the office and the problems were solved when I woke the next morning. The development team was amazing; simple as that.
Living in Australia, I got the sharp end of the stick on occasion. I had regular 6am meetings (sometimes earlier), impromptu chats with Melv at 10pm and everything in between. Honestly though, it didn’t bother me because it was a great experience. Everyone on the team was so dedicated to the project. Everyone worked longer and harder than was expected of them.
Even now, in limbo, some of the team continues to work on Torque. No one has asked them to... No one expects them to...
Knowing all of this, it’s really hard to read some of the criticisms of the Torque team.
I was lucky enough to have travelled to Vegas for a holiday earlier this year and meet most of the team from IA. I had spoken to each of them a lot over the last 2 years, but never met them in person. Mich was out of town though, so I’ll have to return sometime and hunt him down... Deb too. Though she was in the office, I forgot to tell her I was coming *rolls eyes*. Travel half way across the globe to meet your friends and you don’t see them? Who does that? :P
So, what now? All I can do is take this experience and use it to cement my desire to keep on going in this industry. It is the job I want and I’m going to work my ass off to ensure I continue to do it.
As for Violent Tulip and the products I’ve released? I’ll continue to support them as best I can. The Platformer Kit is stable and well placed at the moment. Verve, on the other hand, is compatible with T3D Beta 1 so my efforts over the next few weeks will be dedicated to making it compatible with Beta 3. If you have any bugs or feature requests that you’d like addressed or implemented, throw them up in their respective forums. Alternatively, I am contactable via email for more urgent or serious requests:
phillip.oshea [at] violent-tulip [dot] com
It has been an absolute pleasure. I’m sorry that we may never get the opportunity to deliver on the vision that was the future of Torque.
If anyone happens to find themselves in Sydney (or Wollongong), a beer or three could be in order ;)
Sobering; that is how I would describe the feeling.
Most of you wouldn’t know, but I was part of the development team for future Torque technologies. I obviously cannot go into any detail about my work, but I’d like to give you all a very brief insight into my time working with GG/IA.
Did you guys know that Torque was developed 24hrs a day, 7 days a week? The Torque development team lives in New Zealand, Australia, Germany, England, Canada and the US. Consistently, I would ask for help as I left the office and the problems were solved when I woke the next morning. The development team was amazing; simple as that.
Living in Australia, I got the sharp end of the stick on occasion. I had regular 6am meetings (sometimes earlier), impromptu chats with Melv at 10pm and everything in between. Honestly though, it didn’t bother me because it was a great experience. Everyone on the team was so dedicated to the project. Everyone worked longer and harder than was expected of them.
Even now, in limbo, some of the team continues to work on Torque. No one has asked them to... No one expects them to...
Knowing all of this, it’s really hard to read some of the criticisms of the Torque team.
I was lucky enough to have travelled to Vegas for a holiday earlier this year and meet most of the team from IA. I had spoken to each of them a lot over the last 2 years, but never met them in person. Mich was out of town though, so I’ll have to return sometime and hunt him down... Deb too. Though she was in the office, I forgot to tell her I was coming *rolls eyes*. Travel half way across the globe to meet your friends and you don’t see them? Who does that? :P
So, what now? All I can do is take this experience and use it to cement my desire to keep on going in this industry. It is the job I want and I’m going to work my ass off to ensure I continue to do it.
As for Violent Tulip and the products I’ve released? I’ll continue to support them as best I can. The Platformer Kit is stable and well placed at the moment. Verve, on the other hand, is compatible with T3D Beta 1 so my efforts over the next few weeks will be dedicated to making it compatible with Beta 3. If you have any bugs or feature requests that you’d like addressed or implemented, throw them up in their respective forums. Alternatively, I am contactable via email for more urgent or serious requests:
phillip.oshea [at] violent-tulip [dot] com
It has been an absolute pleasure. I’m sorry that we may never get the opportunity to deliver on the vision that was the future of Torque.
If anyone happens to find themselves in Sydney (or Wollongong), a beer or three could be in order ;)
About the author
Head of Violent Tulip, a small independent software development company working in Wollongong, Australia. Go to http://www.violent-tulip.com/ to see our latest offerings.
#2
11/19/2010 (12:30 am)
I'm in Hornsby so you are quite far away for a beer. But I know everything will be fine with Torque. 
#3
Thanks for this blog, Phil. Hope we can continue working together and make our vision of future Torque a reality.
@Guimo
I so hope you'll be right on that.
11/19/2010 (12:42 am)
Thanks for this blog, Phil. Hope we can continue working together and make our vision of future Torque a reality.
@Guimo
I so hope you'll be right on that.
#4
Verve is a great tool - It was made for Torque ;)
11/19/2010 (6:43 am)
great Blog Phil. I'm sure Torque will rise again and be bigger and better than ever before so that you can continue your great work even further.Verve is a great tool - It was made for Torque ;)
#5
I'm one of those sad muppets who's still coding into the wee hours even if the company has stopped. Maybe it'll rise from the ashes as a stronger and more focused beast ... we shall see!
Melv.
11/19/2010 (7:11 am)
Nice blog Phil. I should probably blog but it'd look almost identical to yours. :)I'm one of those sad muppets who's still coding into the wee hours even if the company has stopped. Maybe it'll rise from the ashes as a stronger and more focused beast ... we shall see!
Melv.
#6
11/19/2010 (7:28 am)
You're truly dedicated nutters. 
#7
11/19/2010 (12:12 pm)
That's insightful, thanks. I hope you and the rest of the guys land on your feet eventually. 
#8
11/19/2010 (6:06 pm)
It's good to hear these things from someone who was on the inside. There's no doubt the dev team was good and knew what they were doing. It's not the developers that failed just issues at the top of the chain. It's a bummer but who knows what will happen from here, maybe it all will end up being positive somehow. 
#9
As most have stated, very insightful. Fingers crossed for all involved!
Maybe you might get a few lye in's now ;-)
11/19/2010 (10:26 pm)
Cheers for this Phil,As most have stated, very insightful. Fingers crossed for all involved!
Maybe you might get a few lye in's now ;-)
#10
It was a great experience and the nature of the team was so welcoming and helpful. I'm sure we all feel saddened that we may not get the opportunity to finish our work.
@Melv & Rene: You guys are awesome! I hope this mess gets sorted out and we get back to work!
11/19/2010 (11:11 pm)
Thanks guys, I really wanted to share more, but most of it is fairly sensitive at the moment. I just focused on one aspect that when reflecting on makes me smile, makes me proud to have been a part of it.It was a great experience and the nature of the team was so welcoming and helpful. I'm sure we all feel saddened that we may not get the opportunity to finish our work.
@Melv & Rene: You guys are awesome! I hope this mess gets sorted out and we get back to work!
#11
11/20/2010 (6:05 am)
Great blog... it's always fantastic to hear about the inner workings of the team, however little you can tell us.Quote:I'm in Hornsby so you are quite far away for a beer.Chippendale representing... maybe we'll reach a critical mass ;).
#12
11/20/2010 (3:28 pm)
Great sentiment expressed here Philip. My Associate's inside look had me very appreciative (and admiring) of everything you, Melv, Rene, and the rest where doing. Hopefully things work out in the end and we see you guys back in action. 
#13
I'd come by for one of those beers, but I think it's a tad long of a walk from California. :lol:
11/21/2010 (4:30 pm)
Plillip, Don't listen to the nay-sayers. What you and the rest of the torque team have done with torque is so far above expectations, there are no words to discribe it. Keep the faith, and let's all keep our fingers crossed that someone with buy the company and keep torque going.I'd come by for one of those beers, but I think it's a tad long of a walk from California. :lol:
Torque Owner Luis Rodrigues
WinterLeaf Entertainment