iTorque 2D 1.4 (Release Candidate Now Available!)
by Michael Perry · in iTorque 2D · 05/10/2010 (9:57 am) · 118 replies

UPDATE: iT2D 1.4 Release Candidate IS READY FOR DOWNLOAD
UPDATE: iT2D 1.4 Beta 2 Change log(click link for change log)
Instructions:
1. Download from your account. Windows uses zip, OS X uses .tgz2. Delete your existing iTorque 2D directory. You can keep your projects, but do not have two different versions of the engine installed.
3. Clear your user app data. For example:
Windows Vista/7: C:UsersMichAppDataRoamingGarageGames
OS X: Users/Mich/Library/Application Support/GarageGames
This new version of iTorque 2D uses different settings and functions. You do not want to be calling the old editor settings.
4. When creating a new project or running an existing one, check to make sure the binary exists. For example, iPhoneExample/projectFiles/ITorque2dGame.app exists. If iPhoneiPodExample does not have the ITorque2dGame.app, copy that over. In the next beta release we will make sure this all exists.
5. When reporting bugs, make sure you use our standard. This makes it easier for our QA team to confirm, log, and report what you find.
Bug Report Instructions
Example Bug Report
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New Features
- Four new example projects
- Visual level datablocks editor
- Robust UIKit Support (iPhoneUIExample)
- Media Core support for movies and playing music from device library (iPhoneiPodExample)
- GPS Location (iPhoneLocationExample)
- Storekit Integration (iPhoneStoreKitExample)
- Social networking "manager", which allows for easy integration of 3rd party tech like OpenFeint
- New iDevice Settings section in editor, allows for toggling resolutions between iPhone, iPad, landscape, and portrait
- New iDevice Feature Builder, allows you to pick and choose what OS Features you want enabled for your app: MultiTouch, Location, P2P networking, StoreKit, and so on
Changes and Improvements
- Cleaned and updated iPhoneExample project to utilize new features and improved Xcode project
- Updated documentation
- Level Datablocks now managed through editor interface
- The 100x75 camera resolution is no longer default. Developer is expected to carefully manage device resolution settings along with iT2D camera editor.
- Updated setScreenMode bug based on Sven's instructions. Works for me now.
- Adding missing XCode projects
- Fixing iPad resolution on main.cs
- Adding Fixes for a proper resolution changing setup
- Adding proper XCode projects for each of the examples
- iTorque app no longer kills music that was playing before launch
- CADisplayLink optimisation support
- $pref::iPhone:: is now $pref::iDevice
Known Issues
- It appears some of the project executables were stripped during the packaging. Will update the beta with these shortly. For now you can copy the iTorque2DGame.app from the iPhoneExample and use that in each projectFiles directory for the apps. Sorry, about that.
- Arrows in certain projects do not cause ship to move (iPhoneExample). Script calls still work, most likely a compiler flag issue.
- Occasional resolution bugs when toggling between iPad and iPhone. This mainly applies when you are switching device resolutions on examples made for the iPhone. Be very careful when changing the camera resolution, as 100x75 is no longer the default and 1:1.
- Auto-rotate not implemented yet
- No iPad example yet
- Docs not fully updated
- Examples not fully polished
- Delete button on the editor does not properly remove the items. Clicking around suddenly pops all the removed ones back
(The following list was ripped straight from our subversion change log. Some information is repeated)
Repo Change Log
Features:- Adding proper location example
- Adding media player example
- Allow audio to be used alongside the iphone iPod
- Adding iPod Music Player support
- Adding XCode Build controller scripts, this pushes out a little config that XCode uses to determine included code/frameworks
- Adding level datablocks editor
- Adding UIKit example
- Adding Location Manager Example
- Adding iPhone Social network manager, for easy access to the third party social tools around.
- Adding light Store Kit wrapper for the engine to be able to use in-app purchases (see the game.cs test functions for now, will be moved out)
- IPad and Resolution change support for iTorque. ( common/scripts/canvas.cs and common/scripts/properties.cs )
- New project settings will allow per device/project configurations that are reusable.
- New iDevice settings/iDevice tools inside tgb/tools/levelEditor/scripts/forms/sideBar/iDeviceTools
- Updated setScreenMode bug based on Sven's instructions. Works for me now.
- Adding missing XCode projects
- Fixing iPad resolution on main.cs
- Adding Fixes for a proper resolution changing setup
- Adding proper XCode projects for each of the examples
- Adding missing source files.
- Behaviour directory changed: game/behaviors to game/scripts/behaviors
- removing redundant files
- Adding extra output
- removing silly prov profile
- Full moon fullscreen fix
- Executable updates
- redundant builds
- Executable updates
- Executable updates
- Parity fixes
- Updating to latest project structure
- Out of the box fixes
- Removing mess
- Updating OSX Build Files
- Fixing prov profile remains
- Fixing missing files
- adding missing files
- updating to 1.4 working
- Removing extra files
- removing debug executable
- updating the files in the samples
- Back merging all changes across examples
- Fix resolution issues
- Fix issues with the common Project::game thing
- Adding missing files
- Updating executable name
- Updating LDFlags to be the right output
- adding missing file
- Misc fixes
- removing junk
- making a bit brighter
- Parity fixes, getting projects working out of the box
- Adding mac version
- Removing extra data
- Making a bit brighter
- UsesPhysics
- Fixing defaults to be set to use music player in build settings
- Rebuild
- Fixing resolution settings
- Adding fix for missing defines in project
- Adding shields for build features
- Adding features/fixes/new canvas stuff
- adding minor fixes
- Removing old projectBuilder stuff
- Fixing stupidity on datablock editor
- Updating all behaviours paths
- Adding minor fixes spotted along the way
- adding new build features specifier file
- Fixing executable crash on startup
- Fix crash on application startup on device (CADisplayLink path didnt return true)
- Removing garbage stuff for replacement
- Updating project to be correct versioning
- Fixing the button icon, fixing naming
- Spotted some spelling issues.
- Making the window less lame.
- Fixing new changes not merged
- Fixing new changes not merged
- Fixing setStatusBarType
- Fixing issues with project examples files
- Updating for brevity
- Update directory
- Fixing issues with the template projects
- adding initial working version of the iPhoneUIExample project, proper project will replace this
- Fixing the issues with the resolutions and the common configs in the example. Should work according to its intention now.
- updating out of date code. the file was wrong on local copy
- Removing old iPhone tools for new device tools
- tgb/common/gameScripts/options.cs removing legacy code from PUAP
- fixing a bug in the game/main.cs that used wrong Game::defaultScene?
- Removing iphoneTools as its now any iDevice/
- Removing old iPhone tools for new device tools
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Greetings iTorque 2D developers. As mentioned in our IRC Hour: Special Edition, we have a release plan for v1.4. In the past, we have not fully utilized our bug tracking system or solidified a proper release plan. That's changing (rejoice!) Here are our estimates:
- Week of May 10th: Beta
- Week of May 17th: Official QA
- Week of May 24th: Release (pending QA approval)
Note that I am using "week of" estimates, rather than solid dates. Why? As we speak (5/10), we are finalizing our code commits for a release. Because the release process for iTorque has been vague and inconsistent, I feel the need to cover that real quick. Let's review a few release terms:
- Pre-Alpha: Work has started, nothing is stable, only useful for following code reviews and progression. No official testing process outside of developers.
- Alpha: Testing and feature reviews can start. Core usability starts to solidify and modifications are based around that. Not yet feature complete, but getting there. Internal testing only, with the expectations that work flow and deployment is unstable.
- Beta: First public access. Feature complete. Core work flow and usability are working, which means you can test features and deploy to device. Known issues are posted, bugs are expected, and the community can start posting bugs they run into.
- QA Pass: Running builds through QA can be sporadic, depending on the project's development. For 1.4, QA starts after internal testing and community testing. This should provide a nice collection of bugs for the QA team to confirm, as well as report new ones. During this, the development team will tackle each bug to make the final release solid...hopefully not delaying anything.
- Release: Feature complete. Stable. Bugs related to work flow, deployment, new features, and core usability should be stomped. Any known issues or post release bugs are recorded for the next minor release (v1.4.1). New features are planned for the next major release (v1.5)
We have already made it through pre-alpha and alpha. We have just released the beta. While beta is expected to have bugs, we have to make sure the core functionality is there: feature complete, no editor crash, stand alone executables run, projects deploy to simulator, projects deploy to device. If any of those are broken, the Beta does not go out (hopefully we can catch them all).
We hope you all enjoy the new release as much as we have enjoyed working on it! Stay tuned.
Preview Screens
Level Datablocks Editor (replaces manual copying of datablocks)

New iDevice Settings (manage your device type and frameworks from editor)

GPS Location Example

About the author
Programmer.
#2
05/10/2010 (11:58 am)
Updated original post with preview images.
#3
05/10/2010 (12:09 pm)
@Michael: I love working with the editor so thanks for the new features. I've learned that all iPad apps need to support at least 2 of the 4 orientations. Will 1.4 have support for auto-rotation?
#4
Nice progress on it. Can't wait to play around with it. No, I mean it. Quit making us wait :P
05/10/2010 (3:29 pm)
Auto-rotation is wanted, yes. I think that should be included in all games so you can support home button on either side, at least.Nice progress on it. Can't wait to play around with it. No, I mean it. Quit making us wait :P
#5
05/10/2010 (6:12 pm)
@Michael: Even if we don't get the beta today, any chance we will see the blog post about the features?
#6
Can I suggest OpenFeint for a future release?
05/11/2010 (8:14 am)
Awesome work. In-app storekit is a welcome but unexpected addition :)Can I suggest OpenFeint for a future release?
#7
@Scott - I wouldn't mind shipping with OpenFeint, but I'm holding off for two reasons:
1. We like to maintain the value of our tech providing source code, so users can implement their choice of social networking and advertising software.
2. Still waiting to see how the 4.0 TOS and new features (iAd) play out. Shipping with iAd and Game center support makes more sense as stock features since they are native API.
However, the team worked on creating hooks so it's easier to integrate OpenFeint. We added a social networking "manager" that has an example. We will post more details about this with the release.
05/11/2010 (8:54 am)
@Johnny - Sorry I didn't respond yesterday. Was very heads down in the code and testing. We did find two issues that prevented a release yesterday, but things are looking good for today. Let's see how the next few hours of testing play out. I'll definitely be blogging about it.@Scott - I wouldn't mind shipping with OpenFeint, but I'm holding off for two reasons:
1. We like to maintain the value of our tech providing source code, so users can implement their choice of social networking and advertising software.
2. Still waiting to see how the 4.0 TOS and new features (iAd) play out. Shipping with iAd and Game center support makes more sense as stock features since they are native API.
However, the team worked on creating hooks so it's easier to integrate OpenFeint. We added a social networking "manager" that has an example. We will post more details about this with the release.
#8
05/11/2010 (1:01 pm)
This is great news. Looking forward to trying it.
#9
Also playing around with one of the examples while testing. This one is a media player example project. Four icons (play, stop, prev, next) can be dragged into a specific area of the screen. This will play, stop, and skip songs from your iPod library. Full mouse drag, btw. Extremely cool!
05/11/2010 (1:40 pm)
Updated original post with new preview image: GPS Location ExampleAlso playing around with one of the examples while testing. This one is a media player example project. Four icons (play, stop, prev, next) can be dragged into a specific area of the screen. This will play, stop, and skip songs from your iPod library. Full mouse drag, btw. Extremely cool!
#10
1. Simple rendering, movement, touch
2. Media player example
3. GPS location example
4. Store Kit example
5. UIKit example
And that's just for the beta, with more polish and code to-do for final release.
05/11/2010 (1:44 pm)
No full game play example yet, but a total of five sample projects showing a ton of iPhone functionality:1. Simple rendering, movement, touch
2. Media player example
3. GPS location example
4. Store Kit example
5. UIKit example
And that's just for the beta, with more polish and code to-do for final release.
#11
05/11/2010 (2:02 pm)
Amazing. You're killing us (in a good way)! Any chance we'll get it today?
#12
Getting out today is extremely likely.
05/11/2010 (2:18 pm)
@Johnny - Crunching real hard on it right now. We are cleaning up the Xcode projects, making sure there are no missing flags, frameworks, or settings that cause errors. Outside of that, everything looks ready to go. Examples all work, no crashes that I can find, known issues seem to be minor. Should be a painless beta and QA.Getting out today is extremely likely.
#13
05/11/2010 (3:58 pm)
@Johnny I am right there with you, I wanted to start messing with this last night! ;)
#14
Packaging then takes another 30 min. Just so I do not rush anything, I will be releasing the 1.4 Beta tomorrow morning at 9:00am (PST).
05/11/2010 (4:56 pm)
@ALL - Ok. The core functionality appears to be all there. I'm performing a final pass on each example project and creating a new project. This final round of testing is being performed on the Mac and iDevices (iPod and iPad) only. This should only take me about 30 min if nothing blows up. After that I have to write out the known issues, new features, iPad instructions, bug report standard, and a short list of beta instructions.Packaging then takes another 30 min. Just so I do not rush anything, I will be releasing the 1.4 Beta tomorrow morning at 9:00am (PST).
#16
It would be nice if the device had some hardware accelerator support for this actually. Just a thought anyway.
05/11/2010 (10:37 pm)
Just wondering, are ogg audio files supported in the new release, or is that still out because of CPU limitations? It would be nice if the device had some hardware accelerator support for this actually. Just a thought anyway.
#17
05/12/2010 (12:11 am)
These new example projects sound really great. Looking forward to trying this new release out!
#18
05/12/2010 (5:08 am)
We are not planning to ever support OGG as there is no hardware decompression support for that format on the iPhone, and it would be a veeeeeeerry bad idea to do that in software when the CPU is already a limited mobile device one.
#19
Not this first beta, but the second beta or full release will.
@All - Uploading the builds to the download server now. The upload always takes longer than I expect. I'm going to go ahead and update the original post to reflect the beta release notes.
I'll write a new post when I see the builds show up in the account section.
05/12/2010 (9:06 am)
@Johnny - Quote:Will 1.4 have support for auto-rotation?
Not this first beta, but the second beta or full release will.
@All - Uploading the builds to the download server now. The upload always takes longer than I expect. I'm going to go ahead and update the original post to reflect the beta release notes.
I'll write a new post when I see the builds show up in the account section.
#20
Example Bug Report
05/12/2010 (10:19 am)
Check your accounts. Download should be available, blog and change list in just a few minutes. Bug Reporting:
Bug Report InstructionsExample Bug Report
Torque Owner Johnny Vo