Torque 2D: New Tutorials and Upcoming Features

New tutorials, branches, and upcoming features

Greetings everyone! In my last blog, I talked about the Editor Plan of Action. To keep the topic focused, I left out information about some other exciting things happening with Torque 2D. I still want everyone to jump in on the other blog and post feedback, but I can't wait any longer to talk about non-editor goodies.

New Branches

Some of you may have noticed two new branches were created recently. Part of working on an open source project is being fully transparent. We, meaning GarageGames and the T2D Steering Committee, have nothing to hide when it comes to our Torque 2D development. I have already forked the repository to my own account, but that is not easily tracked down. I believe that really important work should be shown right on the main GitHub page. With that in mind, these new branches allow visitors to see what else we are working on besides bug fixes:

iOS Refactor
It's no secret that I am a huge fan of iOS development. I love the platform and its the reason I was able able to get back into coding. After we finished the OS X refactor last year, I came to the conclusion that the iOS platform needs the same love. I don't think it will take nearly as long to cleanup, when compared to the OS X work, but it will not be a trivial undertaking. If you are interested or wish to contribute to the iOS platform improvements, you can switch to the branch and submit pull requests. I'm currently spearheading this effort, but I invite any and all iOS gurus to help out.

R&D
The words "research and development" receive mixed reaction. Allow me to really nail down the purpose of this branch. I created RND for two reasons. First, this is the ideal location to test emergent technology. As an example, currently I am working on integrating support for Leap Motion. I'll talk more about that later in the blog. Second, sometimes we need to try something really destructive.

That brings me to the main catch of the R&D branch. No one should assume the code will make its way back into the development or master branches. At any point, you may see me nuke everything. I'll archive the work, then reset the entire branch to match what is in the development branch. You can still discuss what's happening in the R&D branch, even submit pull requests. Just remember everything in this branch is considered buggy, volatile, and could be nuked anytime.

New Tutorials!

Charlie Patterson has added a great Behavior Tutorial:

Quote:This tutorial will take you through the creation of Behaviors. In the process, we will discuss many other bits and pieces of the engine. We’ll make a basic game of survival, where you will control a fish that needs to be fed to stay alive.

Simon Love has also added a thorough Joints Guide:

Quote:Joints are used to connect two physical objects together. The type of joint will determine how the joint will behave when these objects are submitted to physical forces. This guide's main goal is to illustrate the difference between various joint types and the functions related to their use.

Not one to be outdone, I have decided to go all out with video tutorials. Torque 2D now has its own YouTube channel! This will be the new location where Torque 2D specific videos are uploaded. If you wish to subscribe, simply visit the Torque 2D YouTube Channel. The following videos have been uploaded:

• Feature Videos
• Asset Tutorial Series
• Getting Started Series
• Advanced Tutorials

The Asset Tutorial Series is my latest contribution. It has seven parts, which combine into a 1 hour long walkthrough of Torque 2D's asset system. It covers creating assets, editing them, adding them to a project, and showing them in a simple demo. All of our stock asset types are explained (Image, Animation, Audio, and Particle). I'm pretty happy with it overall.

Spine, Spriter, and Leap Motion

I've got some exciting news about new systems being worked on for Torque 2D. This work is happening outside of the core development and master branches. Here's the gist of it...

Spine and Spriter Support


Since it's going to take a little while to get the editor shell and plugins ready for Torque 2D, supporting 3rd party tools is very important. We have already added plugins for TexturePacker and Zwoptex, but what about animation? Going one step further, what about animation systems that are superior to stock Torque 2D?

Well, that's where Spine and Spriter enter the picture. For those who are unfamiliar with the tools, you should check them out. I honestly could write an entire blog on skeletal animation tools...in fact, I probably will.

In addition to being able to create great animations for your game using an intuitive editor, having support for the formats will open a new door for content creators. One of the downfalls of creating traditional 2D packs is you are usually stuck with the style and art itself.

If you like the art and animations, no problem. What if you like the animation for a knight, but want a goblin skin instead? Well, tools like Spine allow an artist to share a skeleton and animations between multiple "skins". Programmers win, artists win, and content sellers win.

You can follow the progress of the T2D implementations in these two forks:
Spine
Spriter

Leap Motion Support

My first stab at integrating Leap support involved porting the T3D implementation. This resulted in a cascading effect. I couldn't just bring over the LeapSDK code Dave wrote. I had to bring over the source module system, auto-pointers, updated math library, Input Event Manager, and so on. I was making great progress, but I felt I was spending more time on merging the two engines than supporting Leap Motion.

Since it was R&D, I halted my progress, archived the R&D branch, then nuked it. I have decided to work on a T2D specific implementation, which should produce results much quicker. Because the work isn't high on the priority list, this will be an "after hours" project. Luckily, the API provided by the LeapSDK is very simple and clean. I'm expecting to post some videos next week of myself manipulating a T2D game using the device.

Conclusion

I don't think I could be more excited and optimistic about the future of Torque 2D. Everything I mentioned in this blog is either available now or will be dropping into the main repositories very soon. If you have been waiting for an exciting time to start contributing to Torque 2D, this is it!

Between the editor work, new features, great docs, and community support, there's something for everyone. Even just posting your own work on our site and other communities would be a huge help. That's it for this week. I've got a mountain of work to do and I'm already having withdrawal symptoms from not coding. Cheers everyone!

Regards,
Mich