Torque 3D 1.2 - Additional Documentation
by Derek Bronson · 09/30/2011 (5:07 pm) · 31 comments
It’s Friday, Friday getting a Torque 3D 1.2 update on Friday. Before any of you say anything I know that is a horrible joke but things have been a little crazy here with an engine release (go check out Mich’s iTorque 2D 1.5 blog if you haven’t already) and most of us are a little tired and ready for the weekend. Last week I covered the team that was creating the tutorial and unveiled the Table of Contents and a WIP sample of the tutorial. This week I’ll be talking about some of the additional documentation as well as some of the web improvements we are planning on making. The rest of this blog will be short and sweet, we are trying to get everything into a state where we can start the QA and productization (web related stuff mostly) on Monday so my week has been packed, wish us luck.
First and foremost I want to address something I missed in last weeks blog. I covered the team that is currently working on the tutorial material but forgot to give kudos to the team that created a lot of the base documentation that the tutorial was built on top of. So a big thanks to Mich and the rest of the crew that helped put together the documentation for Torque 3D 1.1, 1.0 and older versions of Torque.
While I covered the main tutorial material last week, I didn’t discuss some of the other documentation that we are tackling with 1.2. There have been several blogs covering the new art team we got going but we’ve decided to have them do more than just make pretty things (which they are quite good at). For 1.2 I’ve asked Matt Ostgard to write the type of documentation he would want to receive on creating a player for Torque 3D, including the new arm stuff in 1.2. While we use 3DS Max in house it’s my hope that this tutorial will help anyone regardless of what animation/modeling package they are using.
Dave Wyand will also be transitioning to documentation to cover all the new features in the engine. Luckily Dave is also pretty familiar with the art pipeline so he will most likely be helping out there as well in some capacity. We take documentation very seriously and will continue to try to set the bar. Also, before anyone asks, this documentation will be available on the website for free.
Speaking of the website we decided to do some cool things for the tutorial experience with 1.2. These are not set in stone so they may or may not make it for the release. Due to their web nature I don’t feel like they will have any negative repercussions on the product itself (they help enhance the tutorial experience), but we will make sure to have full disclosure with everyone if they don’t make it. The two major additions are allowing people to comment on each section of the tutorial as well as having an integrated chat for people going through the tutorial experience. The chat does not replace our IRC channel (which we’ve been talking about integrating into the web experience) but instead focuses on creating a support hub for people trying to learn Torque 3D. The comments work in much the same way and make it easier for the Torque 3D team, as well as other community members to also help out in a more static way. It also gives people a voice to assist us in cleaning up any usability issues the tutorial may have. Because of these additions, as well as others, we’ve decided to make the tutorial an online only experience.
Similar to last week this content doesn’t really lend itself well to images so I’ll tease at another art pack we’ve been working on. Enjoy!
Torque 3D 1.2 Development Blogs:
- Introduction
- Chinatown
- Turrets, Proximity Mines and Teleporters oh my!
- Disembodied Arms
- Disembodied Arms, Part Deux
- Tutorial Revealed
- Additional Documentation
- Alien Character Pack - Coming Soon!
#2
Seeing artists, programmers and managers join in with the tech writers to create a powerful tutorial is almost tear inducing. As I said in a previous blog, the separation of 3rd and 1st person models is something Derek and I have wanted to see in Torque for a long time. Add that, plus the turrets, plus the bug fixes. . .well, this is above an beyond what I would ever expect as a consumer.
I'm loving these blogs. Like you all, I look forward to them each week.
09/30/2011 (7:56 pm)
For obvious reasons, this is my favorite 1.2 blog yet. No, I'm not talking about the "shout out" Derek just gave me (though, I deeply appreciate it. Thanks Derek). Overall, 1.2 holds a very special place for me because it is tutorial focused. Years ago, I joined the Torque team as a documentation engineer. I believe in the power of documentation, more than anything else. I took a break from my preferred career to focus on documenting Torque, so sticking with the company to see blogs like this has made it all worth it.Seeing artists, programmers and managers join in with the tech writers to create a powerful tutorial is almost tear inducing. As I said in a previous blog, the separation of 3rd and 1st person models is something Derek and I have wanted to see in Torque for a long time. Add that, plus the turrets, plus the bug fixes. . .well, this is above an beyond what I would ever expect as a consumer.
I'm loving these blogs. Like you all, I look forward to them each week.
#3
10/01/2011 (2:37 am)
O....I very like that... 
#4
10/01/2011 (6:46 am)
I have a question. Will this update 1.2 available only for studio license users? 
#5
10/01/2011 (6:55 am)
Quote:Before any of you say anything I know that is a horrible joke but things have been a little crazy here with an engine release. . . and most of us are a little tired and ready for the weekend.I really don't think anyone here is going to complain to hear that ya'll have been working hard to release new and better products. Besides, these weekly blogs make the wait almost bearable. :)
Quote:Seeing artists, programmers and managers join in with the tech writers to create a powerful tutorial is almost tear inducing.Agreed! If Torque 3D 1.2 was nothing but 1.1 with a new big red bow and all this epic documentation, then I'd still be excited beyond belief.
#6
Just a guess, but i makes sense to me.
10/01/2011 (10:59 am)
I believe they have already stated the 1.2 will be a paid update. This being said I would think it will work much like the iT2D 1.5 release. Paying for the update also automatically gives you the studio license.Just a guess, but i makes sense to me.
#7
Please do correct me if I am wrong.
10/01/2011 (12:21 pm)
I'm a bit confused, from what I read the paid update is on top of upgrading to the studio license... which brings me to the point of why bother buying T3D early? I had paid for the studio license, but if I have to pay for the 1.2 update as well I would end up paying almost the same price if I had just got it Oct 17th...Please do correct me if I am wrong.
#8
10/02/2011 (3:59 am)
On the subject of documentation engine physics seems to be completely missing. It's a bit confusing when the engine seems to have 3 physics engines but no information about them. Is it the case that the physics system needs a makeover before documentation can begin? Or is it all fine but nobody's had the time to make a tutorial yet? 
#9
i have to say the physics docmentation is a good point, im using physx (through gmk) but cannot find any help and havent had any luck asking very simple questions on the forums, its frustrating as i know its all there and working.
http://www.garagegames.com/community/forums/viewthread/127448
10/02/2011 (8:01 am)
sounds good it would be awesome to have chat channels,i have to say the physics docmentation is a good point, im using physx (through gmk) but cannot find any help and havent had any luck asking very simple questions on the forums, its frustrating as i know its all there and working.
http://www.garagegames.com/community/forums/viewthread/127448
#11
thanks for the link id not thought to look in the game builder docs as im using t3d, is it the same setup ?
10/02/2011 (10:44 am)
hi Richard thanks for the link id not thought to look in the game builder docs as im using t3d, is it the same setup ?
#12
10/02/2011 (6:09 pm)
Oh no - no no no.... PhysX is more fun than a barrel of monkeys. For the moment all I can point you to is the Pacific demo and its scripts for examples. The best we have in the docs now is the artist guide for Max in the online docs for T3D. Hopefully we can address that before too long.
#14
10/02/2011 (11:25 pm)
Quote:When can downland T3d 1.2 Release in my Accound?As soon as they release it and you pay for the upgrade, I believe.
#15
Can anyone direct me to that one, or is this merely rag tag gossip?
10/02/2011 (11:51 pm)
Hmm, where did i overlook them saying I would have to pay for further core engine bugfixes?Can anyone direct me to that one, or is this merely rag tag gossip?
#16
They are also running a business. There is no shame in getting paid ;)
It's reasonable to think that at some point you would have to pay to upgrade. Like at a major version, or something like that. I don't think you would have to pay for 1.2 though if you already got T3D at $99.
10/03/2011 (1:58 am)
Well, I don't think we all would be riding the gravy train forever :)They are also running a business. There is no shame in getting paid ;)
It's reasonable to think that at some point you would have to pay to upgrade. Like at a major version, or something like that. I don't think you would have to pay for 1.2 though if you already got T3D at $99.
#17
Those of us that have already at one time or another paied to be studio licensees it's another story.
Ultimatelly i haven't seen any official announcement on this - they will probably only say something closer to release but here are my 2 cents on the subject - whatever they are worth.
10/03/2011 (3:44 am)
Actually, since they are moving eevryone to studio i suspect at least those who haven't payed to upgrade their licenses to studio already will need to pay at least for that (it's only fair towards us who did pay for studio i think).Those of us that have already at one time or another paied to be studio licensees it's another story.
Ultimatelly i haven't seen any official announcement on this - they will probably only say something closer to release but here are my 2 cents on the subject - whatever they are worth.
#19
10/03/2011 (7:02 am)
Before the speculation gets any farther, I just want to remind everyone that we have not nailed down the pricing of the 1.2 upgrade yet.
#20
ah ok, ill try to port some stuff from the pacific demo into my proj, but yeh physics is such a cool feature but its hard / slow to work with when its all through code / script, some simple tools in the editor and decent documentation would make a massive impact on the projects we are able to take on with t3d.
i used to mess around with gmod a lot, its amazing what you can do with a few simple tools and phyics :)
and my 2 cents about the paid upgrade thing ...
id rather have the security and confidence of knowing that the engine im using is from a sustainable company, than they give stuff away and go bust / cut down on their team. GG is growing and that is to our advantage as engine users.
but GG needs to be aware that they need to be more accountable if we are buying into an engine where we need to continually invest for new features then you need to provide a coherent roadmap and stick to it.
10/03/2011 (7:18 am)
@ richard ah ok, ill try to port some stuff from the pacific demo into my proj, but yeh physics is such a cool feature but its hard / slow to work with when its all through code / script, some simple tools in the editor and decent documentation would make a massive impact on the projects we are able to take on with t3d.
i used to mess around with gmod a lot, its amazing what you can do with a few simple tools and phyics :)
and my 2 cents about the paid upgrade thing ...
id rather have the security and confidence of knowing that the engine im using is from a sustainable company, than they give stuff away and go bust / cut down on their team. GG is growing and that is to our advantage as engine users.
but GG needs to be aware that they need to be more accountable if we are buying into an engine where we need to continually invest for new features then you need to provide a coherent roadmap and stick to it.
Torque 3D Owner Morrock