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
#2
06/07/2013 (2:22 pm)
Is it possible that I attend one Steering Committee meeting as guest and observer?
#3
Sign up and at least TRY... deep down we all wanna be professional level game developers. This is your chance to step up and make it happen! No joke here, if the engine does not improve, the site, community and engine will die. Take a chance. Step up and show everyone that you have what it takes to guide a (NO SHIT) serious game engine into the future. I know there are MANY people on this site that can do JUST that.
Ron
06/08/2013 (12:12 am)
Come on people, this post has been active for a full day now. Should be FAR more people replying! It's a HUGE opportunity for anyone wanting to learn how a Game Engine is made and how a game engine works. It's NOT a huge commitment! Just because I made an error in how I approached this does not mean it requires you to make the same commitment mistakes I did! Sign up and at least TRY... deep down we all wanna be professional level game developers. This is your chance to step up and make it happen! No joke here, if the engine does not improve, the site, community and engine will die. Take a chance. Step up and show everyone that you have what it takes to guide a (NO SHIT) serious game engine into the future. I know there are MANY people on this site that can do JUST that.
Ron
#4
it is not really wise to join or try that this way
there is teh fact that am central europe based along with
a job that has nothin todo with 3d or games
so my time is cut short
another thing is there are plenty of ppl here that have more knowledge
and are longer in this community
still they remain silent......wonder why
However this doesn`t mean that am not goin todo somethin
@Dave shot you a mail
06/08/2013 (2:47 am)
From my povit is not really wise to join or try that this way
there is teh fact that am central europe based along with
a job that has nothin todo with 3d or games
so my time is cut short
another thing is there are plenty of ppl here that have more knowledge
and are longer in this community
still they remain silent......wonder why
However this doesn`t mean that am not goin todo somethin
@Dave shot you a mail
#5
My motivation is in creating authentic virtual worlds and to recreate what other engines achieve.
Also I would be willing to release all my art under a liberal open source license, similar or same to what you have with Torque3D, since I wanted to do an open source game anyway.
So there will be more demo materials others can play with, watch how things process and how things are done.
Could write some tutorials about how to setup art related things as well.
06/08/2013 (4:57 am)
I would be willing to do this, but I don't know if I will be the right person, so far I am only an environment artist, with no real programming experience and my Torque and art/modeling knowledge is based on what I learned the last 8 month, but I think I got the basics now.My motivation is in creating authentic virtual worlds and to recreate what other engines achieve.
Also I would be willing to release all my art under a liberal open source license, similar or same to what you have with Torque3D, since I wanted to do an open source game anyway.
So there will be more demo materials others can play with, watch how things process and how things are done.
Could write some tutorials about how to setup art related things as well.
#6
Please send me an email if you think I am a candidate.
06/09/2013 (12:46 am)
I am interested in joining the committee.Please send me an email if you think I am a candidate.
#7
06/09/2013 (8:36 am)
How many members are planned? I think we need more than just 3-4 people working on the engine, to decently keep up with others engines, at least one experienced in each special field, so if there is something to do there will be one you can talk to, who can take care of it.
#8
@Alienforce:
It would be much better if you followed the procedure outlined in the last paragraph in my blog above and emailed me why you feel you are the perfect candidate. That way you can point out whatever is relevant rather than have us try to scour here and elsewhere for that information.
@Duion:
I completely agree that we need more than 3-4 people to help improve Torque 3D. That is a message we've been trying to get across since T3D was put under the MIT license.
However, you may have the wrong idea about the Steering Committee. It is not solely up to Committee to improve the engine. That is up to the community as a whole. The Committee exists to help organise and to ensure the quality of the main repository of the engine and its support materials, as outlined in its Charter.
We're trying to get the community away from the idea of waiting for GarageGames to improve and fix the engine. We really need the whole community involved. With the last two releases (v2 and v3) the Committee put in a lot of time into the engine and even went through periods of crunch to get everything done that we felt should be in there.
With v4 that can't happen this time around. I will no longer be working full-time on T3D for the next few months (I was the only person full-time on the engine) and the Committee is currently down one volunteer. If we (the community) wish to maintain the same pace of releases, or even improve on that pace, then it will require the community to step up and help out. That requires people to submit bug reports on GitHub, as well as people to actually fix those bugs in the proper way. It also means we need people to work on new features as well.
The Torque 3D Steering Committee can and will help with all that, but it cannot be the sole workforce to get it done.
- Dave
06/09/2013 (10:56 am)
Thanks to everyone that has applied so far. You don't actually need to also post here unless you want to. Sending me an email is good enough.@Alienforce:
It would be much better if you followed the procedure outlined in the last paragraph in my blog above and emailed me why you feel you are the perfect candidate. That way you can point out whatever is relevant rather than have us try to scour here and elsewhere for that information.
@Duion:
I completely agree that we need more than 3-4 people to help improve Torque 3D. That is a message we've been trying to get across since T3D was put under the MIT license.
However, you may have the wrong idea about the Steering Committee. It is not solely up to Committee to improve the engine. That is up to the community as a whole. The Committee exists to help organise and to ensure the quality of the main repository of the engine and its support materials, as outlined in its Charter.
We're trying to get the community away from the idea of waiting for GarageGames to improve and fix the engine. We really need the whole community involved. With the last two releases (v2 and v3) the Committee put in a lot of time into the engine and even went through periods of crunch to get everything done that we felt should be in there.
With v4 that can't happen this time around. I will no longer be working full-time on T3D for the next few months (I was the only person full-time on the engine) and the Committee is currently down one volunteer. If we (the community) wish to maintain the same pace of releases, or even improve on that pace, then it will require the community to step up and help out. That requires people to submit bug reports on GitHub, as well as people to actually fix those bugs in the proper way. It also means we need people to work on new features as well.
The Torque 3D Steering Committee can and will help with all that, but it cannot be the sole workforce to get it done.
- Dave
#9
When I am ready I will put myself forward for it (Torque3D and Torque2D) but I am sure the community has people who are especially capable.
I wish everyone luck with their work and efforts and look forward to getting involved in the future.
06/09/2013 (12:50 pm)
I would love to join up now but the more I learn in relation to programming and engine development, the more I realize how little I know.When I am ready I will put myself forward for it (Torque3D and Torque2D) but I am sure the community has people who are especially capable.
I wish everyone luck with their work and efforts and look forward to getting involved in the future.
#10
Good luck on the search. Sorry I'm not a good fit to assist.
06/09/2013 (8:55 pm)
... long post removed as it ended up being a moot point.Good luck on the search. Sorry I'm not a good fit to assist.
#11
06/09/2013 (10:16 pm)
Sometimes when you need experienced people to work for you, you need to pay them money...at least I hear that works :/
#12
lets break this down in logical parts
T3D was a payed Engine
(Therefore the Communitys efforts where splitted betwenn creating
Ressources and Paypackages)
but it is no longer
Open Source Spirit gave it new life
now the situation we got here is the following
T3D was enhanced in the past by its commmunity thru pay packages
such us GMK/ AFX/ Verve and so on and on
there are plenty
now GMK went open src - this is the best example
what i want to say with this is pretty simple
How about less focusing on making some half dollars with a paypackage
that enhances some small parts
and instead do something/ contribute to the cause
that can actually bring T3D MIT up to date with the current raining engines
thats a win win situation in the long run
along with that new opportunities
and much more gonna come - for individuals - for ppl who know their way
around T3D - think about that, just once u might be able to see the big picture here
...The Torque 3D Steering Committee can and will help with all that, but it cannot be the sole workforce to get it done.
this sentence makes it pretty clear
its upto the ppl here in this community
06/09/2013 (11:02 pm)
pay?...lets break this down in logical parts
T3D was a payed Engine
(Therefore the Communitys efforts where splitted betwenn creating
Ressources and Paypackages)
but it is no longer
Open Source Spirit gave it new life
now the situation we got here is the following
T3D was enhanced in the past by its commmunity thru pay packages
such us GMK/ AFX/ Verve and so on and on
there are plenty
now GMK went open src - this is the best example
what i want to say with this is pretty simple
How about less focusing on making some half dollars with a paypackage
that enhances some small parts
and instead do something/ contribute to the cause
that can actually bring T3D MIT up to date with the current raining engines
thats a win win situation in the long run
along with that new opportunities
and much more gonna come - for individuals - for ppl who know their way
around T3D - think about that, just once u might be able to see the big picture here
...The Torque 3D Steering Committee can and will help with all that, but it cannot be the sole workforce to get it done.
this sentence makes it pretty clear
its upto the ppl here in this community
#13
But ofc I will help as much as I can on the forums and with bug-fixes etc.
06/10/2013 (2:52 am)
I'd love to if I had the time! Unfortunately my work schedule atm is 45 hours of studying per week + 12-15 hours of working for WLE per week + 20 hours of transport, so don't have the time necessary to commit to the committee!But ofc I will help as much as I can on the forums and with bug-fixes etc.
#14
And since especially creating software is very time consuming there is quite some conflict.
On the other hand if software is commercially created it creates a lot of cost and this represents in the price and so even if Unity for 1500$ sounds expensive it is still one of the cheapest solutions more realistic is something like 10 000 to 100 000 for an engine or even more and even if you have the money, you still have not so much freedom as with an open source software, you just bought the license to use the software, not to own it.
Other engines have a different model, you can use it for free, but if you make profit they take 25% or so and they still reserve their rights, so they can change licensing options if they want.
So compared to that it is free Torque is a pretty good engine and I don't want to miss this opportunity and let it die as most other open source projects tend to do.
06/10/2013 (4:53 am)
This is a problem with open source projects, people do not get paid for working on these projects and so they usually have to do another activity in their life, so there is not much time left.And since especially creating software is very time consuming there is quite some conflict.
On the other hand if software is commercially created it creates a lot of cost and this represents in the price and so even if Unity for 1500$ sounds expensive it is still one of the cheapest solutions more realistic is something like 10 000 to 100 000 for an engine or even more and even if you have the money, you still have not so much freedom as with an open source software, you just bought the license to use the software, not to own it.
Other engines have a different model, you can use it for free, but if you make profit they take 25% or so and they still reserve their rights, so they can change licensing options if they want.
So compared to that it is free Torque is a pretty good engine and I don't want to miss this opportunity and let it die as most other open source projects tend to do.
#15
06/10/2013 (12:36 pm)
I can't help but notice the similarities between the pre MIT engine development progression and post MIT eventual progression.
#16
Duion's post summed up in a manner brilliantly, the big problem that is an inherent characteristic of all open-source projects, and that is usually one of the strongest causes that characterizes and more contributes to a small development or the total failure in the medium and long term of those kinds of projects.
Another important factor is the difference between the levels of commitment of the teams participating in open source projects, and those groups involved in commercial projects, which targeting a profit, due to a number of reasons.
In the first type ( open source projects), is characterized by being small, fragile and unstable carrying on the projects to unpredictable results; however, in the second one (commercial projects); the level of commitment of the participating groups is in general bigger, stronger and stable producing results a lot of more foreseeable.
I sincerely hope that GarageGames team, can find a clever way to escape the dreaded fate common to all open-source projects until now.
Greetings,
06/11/2013 (2:59 pm)
Hi all,Duion's post summed up in a manner brilliantly, the big problem that is an inherent characteristic of all open-source projects, and that is usually one of the strongest causes that characterizes and more contributes to a small development or the total failure in the medium and long term of those kinds of projects.
Another important factor is the difference between the levels of commitment of the teams participating in open source projects, and those groups involved in commercial projects, which targeting a profit, due to a number of reasons.
In the first type ( open source projects), is characterized by being small, fragile and unstable carrying on the projects to unpredictable results; however, in the second one (commercial projects); the level of commitment of the participating groups is in general bigger, stronger and stable producing results a lot of more foreseeable.
I sincerely hope that GarageGames team, can find a clever way to escape the dreaded fate common to all open-source projects until now.
Greetings,
#17
I would make the argument that we already have as we continue to use the engines for internal and contract projects. Bug fixes and new features get rolled back into the engines from those projects, when the contract permits of course.
Torque isn't going to just up and die, and I feel it's important for everyone to stop being concerned about that happening. For the Torque engines to die would mean the company has suffered a permanent death (which is definitely not going to happen, the company health is looking pretty damn good now) and that a massive community of users almost a decade and a half old just walk away completely (which I don't see that happening either).
06/11/2013 (3:18 pm)
Quote:I sincerely hope that GarageGames team, can find a clever way to escape the dreaded fate common to all open-source projects until now.
I would make the argument that we already have as we continue to use the engines for internal and contract projects. Bug fixes and new features get rolled back into the engines from those projects, when the contract permits of course.
Torque isn't going to just up and die, and I feel it's important for everyone to stop being concerned about that happening. For the Torque engines to die would mean the company has suffered a permanent death (which is definitely not going to happen, the company health is looking pretty damn good now) and that a massive community of users almost a decade and a half old just walk away completely (which I don't see that happening either).
#18
That said, there are some major hurdles that any project faces when moving from commercial to open source, and some companies have navigated those waters well and others have not (usually dual-licensing). Commercial products fail just as often as open source ones, but the key difference is that the communities that have been using those products never have the options that the open source community has.
But it's not as simple as open source = fragile and commercial = stronger. I wish it were. It would have made the decision much easier to make when we were going over it in the months prior to release.
06/11/2013 (3:28 pm)
I wouldn't say that open source projects are inherently doomed to failure. Otherwise Linux wouldn't have a massive server share, Apache wouldn't be the primary web server in the world, MySQL wouldn't run many millions of databases globally, and languages like Python, Ruby, PHP, and their ilk would not be in mass use.That said, there are some major hurdles that any project faces when moving from commercial to open source, and some companies have navigated those waters well and others have not (usually dual-licensing). Commercial products fail just as often as open source ones, but the key difference is that the communities that have been using those products never have the options that the open source community has.
But it's not as simple as open source = fragile and commercial = stronger. I wish it were. It would have made the decision much easier to make when we were going over it in the months prior to release.
#19
If T3D was still commercial it wouldn't matter if it didn't have the users.
I know I feel my time is very limited but I decided to return to T3D after MIT was announced from Unity as my support of the engine. And so far I think T3D has really improved and its usability and stability is great.
I really think we need to branch out and do more to get more users familiar with the engine, ideas could be competitions (possibly community funding) to create great looking scenes in Torque 3D, to flesh out the templates for RTS and Third person shooters cross with tomb raider climbing antics, FPS - standard rag dolls, vehicle models etc.
Maybe enticing some Blender users to fill out some models.
I think the more we get of better examples of what can be done in T3D the more we will attract, who doesn't want to try out T3D and see an example and think "wow, that's my game" they add great artwork and only need to do the coding for their actual features.
For example I have been working on a flying game and found that there doesn't appear to be any standard flying art assets about. So we got the code in the engine but not the scripting or models.
06/11/2013 (4:44 pm)
I think the more users we get the more we will get giving back to the project, people working on open source or commercial products should both provide benefits.If T3D was still commercial it wouldn't matter if it didn't have the users.
I know I feel my time is very limited but I decided to return to T3D after MIT was announced from Unity as my support of the engine. And so far I think T3D has really improved and its usability and stability is great.
I really think we need to branch out and do more to get more users familiar with the engine, ideas could be competitions (possibly community funding) to create great looking scenes in Torque 3D, to flesh out the templates for RTS and Third person shooters cross with tomb raider climbing antics, FPS - standard rag dolls, vehicle models etc.
Maybe enticing some Blender users to fill out some models.
I think the more we get of better examples of what can be done in T3D the more we will attract, who doesn't want to try out T3D and see an example and think "wow, that's my game" they add great artwork and only need to do the coding for their actual features.
For example I have been working on a flying game and found that there doesn't appear to be any standard flying art assets about. So we got the code in the engine but not the scripting or models.
#20
I am sorry, and I apologize if I caused some kind of discomfort in my previous post it's was not my intention, but only showed my point of view, which does not mean it is an absolute, unquestionable and inevitable truth though.
Furthermore, thanks a lot for taking the time to reply to my post, and it is nice to me to know that Garage Games team is alert for unforeseen events and that is all under control in regarding to their Torque engines.
Thanks a lot.
Regards,
06/11/2013 (5:07 pm)
@Scott Burns and David Montgomery Blake,I am sorry, and I apologize if I caused some kind of discomfort in my previous post it's was not my intention, but only showed my point of view, which does not mean it is an absolute, unquestionable and inevitable truth though.
Furthermore, thanks a lot for taking the time to reply to my post, and it is nice to me to know that Garage Games team is alert for unforeseen events and that is all under control in regarding to their Torque engines.
Thanks a lot.
Regards,
Torque Owner Jordan Parsons
GP Interactive