Looking for more information about Torque 3D...
by Jimmy Hsu · in General Discussion · 09/09/2011 (8:06 pm) · 7 replies
Hello all,
I've been looking at Torque 3D recently and I've noticed the dramatic amount of improvement since TGE 1.4.2.
The new features look great and I plan to purchase it soon, but I am wondering if there are discounts since I've purchased it before (Money's still hard to obtain when your 17.. :P).
Licensing is also a bit of a concern, I looked at UDK's and was kinda concerned on the amount and the restrictions. What is Torque 3D's deal now? Are there still free updates and with the current offer, what restrictions or things do I have to do in order to distribute it? For example, will I still need to have the GG logo splash screen? Also, when does the special offer expire? It would seriously affect my decision as I couldn't manage to purchase everything later at a higher price...
I also saw some of the 3rd party addons, and was wondering if it really is necessary to get some of them, most notably the GMK and the UAISK.
The GMK has a ragdoll system and apparently some improved physics, but does the standard Torque engine have the ability to have ragdolls without addons? The UAISK looks cool, but the guide bot seems better overall...
Are addons really necessary? It seems very, very pricey for all of the seemingly advertised features... would working with default Torque be fine?
Also, Blender doesn't seem to work too well with Torque from what I've read around here. Is there any official Blender support? Along those lines I never saw anything that specifically mentioned source files for the Art Assets, will they be included in formats that can be read easily in Blender? I'm interested in how animations are done and if there was a way to get the default skeleton into Blender.
Also lastly, how much engine modification will be required? I'm only somewhat experienced with C++, (more experienced with Java and Web stuff) and am more of an artist than a programmer. Would a somewhat complex FPS be sufficiently coded with just TorqueScript?
Anyway, awesome job with the Torque 3d and the documentation. I saw some of the tutorials on vimeo and am seriously impressed with how the engine works; there's no need for me to have years of experience or have to hire a team to do something simple like with the UDK...
I've been looking at Torque 3D recently and I've noticed the dramatic amount of improvement since TGE 1.4.2.
The new features look great and I plan to purchase it soon, but I am wondering if there are discounts since I've purchased it before (Money's still hard to obtain when your 17.. :P).
Licensing is also a bit of a concern, I looked at UDK's and was kinda concerned on the amount and the restrictions. What is Torque 3D's deal now? Are there still free updates and with the current offer, what restrictions or things do I have to do in order to distribute it? For example, will I still need to have the GG logo splash screen? Also, when does the special offer expire? It would seriously affect my decision as I couldn't manage to purchase everything later at a higher price...
I also saw some of the 3rd party addons, and was wondering if it really is necessary to get some of them, most notably the GMK and the UAISK.
The GMK has a ragdoll system and apparently some improved physics, but does the standard Torque engine have the ability to have ragdolls without addons? The UAISK looks cool, but the guide bot seems better overall...
Are addons really necessary? It seems very, very pricey for all of the seemingly advertised features... would working with default Torque be fine?
Also, Blender doesn't seem to work too well with Torque from what I've read around here. Is there any official Blender support? Along those lines I never saw anything that specifically mentioned source files for the Art Assets, will they be included in formats that can be read easily in Blender? I'm interested in how animations are done and if there was a way to get the default skeleton into Blender.
Also lastly, how much engine modification will be required? I'm only somewhat experienced with C++, (more experienced with Java and Web stuff) and am more of an artist than a programmer. Would a somewhat complex FPS be sufficiently coded with just TorqueScript?
Anyway, awesome job with the Torque 3d and the documentation. I saw some of the tutorials on vimeo and am seriously impressed with how the engine works; there's no need for me to have years of experience or have to hire a team to do something simple like with the UDK...
About the author
3D Artist, Programmer, Modder, and Gamer. Made mods for almost every game I've owned, most notably Garry's Mod(PHX Triangles Pack, now official) and Fallout: New Vegas(High Def Texture Pack).
Recent Threads
#2
Out of the box just about any game is possible with Torque 3D. You could build a very complex FPS game just using TorqueScript.
My opinion on the necessity of add-ons is this: if it will save you time then it will save you money. All of the add-ons are very inexpensive on a dollar per hour basis if you look at how long it would take for a person to build the same functionality. So, to me it's more about the value of your time and whether you need that functionality.
09/10/2011 (7:48 am)
The license can answer your distribution and logo questions, along with the licensing FAQ. The older license restriction of $250,000 per year requiring an upgrade from the "indie" license to the "professional" license has been replaced with section 1.7, which applies to software that is not a game.Out of the box just about any game is possible with Torque 3D. You could build a very complex FPS game just using TorqueScript.
My opinion on the necessity of add-ons is this: if it will save you time then it will save you money. All of the add-ons are very inexpensive on a dollar per hour basis if you look at how long it would take for a person to build the same functionality. So, to me it's more about the value of your time and whether you need that functionality.
#3
I wasn't aware there was a working dae to dts tool for the newest Blender, the last one I saw was rather old, and supposedly unsupported...
@Thomas and Richard
Wow, I wasn't expecting TorqueScript to be that powerful, I remember the RTS Starter Kit being the only simple, reasonable way to make an RTS...
@Richard
The license is what I was most concerned with, for some odd reason I never came across that FAQ. I'm not really knowledgeable on what price addons should be, but I think I'll buy them as I go.
I also saw this:
http://www.garagegames.com/company/logo-guidelines
It wasn't clear if I had to add both the Torque or the GG logo to the splash screen or just one or the other... it seems slightly redundant (at least to me) to require both...
09/10/2011 (11:13 am)
@ThomasI wasn't aware there was a working dae to dts tool for the newest Blender, the last one I saw was rather old, and supposedly unsupported...
@Thomas and Richard
Wow, I wasn't expecting TorqueScript to be that powerful, I remember the RTS Starter Kit being the only simple, reasonable way to make an RTS...
@Richard
The license is what I was most concerned with, for some odd reason I never came across that FAQ. I'm not really knowledgeable on what price addons should be, but I think I'll buy them as I go.
I also saw this:
http://www.garagegames.com/company/logo-guidelines
It wasn't clear if I had to add both the Torque or the GG logo to the splash screen or just one or the other... it seems slightly redundant (at least to me) to require both...
#4
With torque 3D, you don't need the dae to dts exporter. Just import your dae into your torque product and torque does the converting for you.
09/10/2011 (2:28 pm)
Quote:Thomas
I wasn't aware there was a working dae to dts tool for the newest Blender, the last one I saw was rather old, and supposedly unsupported...
With torque 3D, you don't need the dae to dts exporter. Just import your dae into your torque product and torque does the converting for you.
Quote:It wasn't clear if I had to add both the Torque or the GG logo to the splash screenJust one or the other. You don't need to use both.
#5
09/10/2011 (4:16 pm)
Thanks guys for all the information, purchased it and gonna start working immediately. Torque's gotten a lot larger... almost 1 gb... not so friendly on my 0.3mbs internet speed haha.
#6
09/10/2011 (8:28 pm)
Technically Part 2 is demos, so it could have been downloaded later. But those demos have good examples of some interesting stuff, so hey....
#7
One issue I ran into though was that the terrain tools seems lack from what I remembered. Wasn't there a procedural texture tool or something? Or Atlas from TGEA? Did they scrap those systems? Custom textures also show up rather poorly...
One last thing, the terrains don't seem to tile anymore, am I missing a parameter or is this just how T3D is now? Is there going to be any updates planned for the terrain system?
If this is the case I think I'll have work around with interiors instead because from what I see from the T3D 1.2 Chinatown level interiors show up rather nicely, but terrain based maps would be really nice to have without having to generate a heightmap in a 3rd Party App.
09/11/2011 (2:14 pm)
I got all of the parts downloaded overnight, and I've been poking around it it. Was almost worried when loading the .dae files for the characters in blender that it was crashing, but after waiting 5 so minutes they loaded.One issue I ran into though was that the terrain tools seems lack from what I remembered. Wasn't there a procedural texture tool or something? Or Atlas from TGEA? Did they scrap those systems? Custom textures also show up rather poorly...
One last thing, the terrains don't seem to tile anymore, am I missing a parameter or is this just how T3D is now? Is there going to be any updates planned for the terrain system?
If this is the case I think I'll have work around with interiors instead because from what I see from the T3D 1.2 Chinatown level interiors show up rather nicely, but terrain based maps would be really nice to have without having to generate a heightmap in a 3rd Party App.
Thomas Fluff Harris
CTRL-INTELLIGENCE Ltd
Use the collada plugin with blender then use the collada to dts tool that comes with torque 3d also i have used UDK and a few other game engines over the last couple of years. I purchased torque engine about 6 months ago and now already set to release my first game with it. I have not modified the engine code itself but then again i am only makeing a basic rts game (to begin with).
Also on another note i dont think u wud even be too harshly bogged down with code the game engines features are easily controlled with scripts u will find dotted around the place for likes of server and client commands and gameplay, i avnt even had to use visual studio yet to modify everything using notepad lol but then again im not too slow wen it comes to programming but not too quick either lol