Starsiege: 2845 moves to Torque!
by Eli McClanahan · in General Discussion · 02/16/2005 (1:32 pm) · 19 replies
Quoted from Trajan at Starsiege: 2845:
It's taken me some time to figure out how to approach this thread and present the news it contains, because I know it is going to cause a bit of an uproar. In the end I decided to approach it in typical no-frills Trajan fashion and just cut to the chase up front. Unfortunately there is just too much info that needs to be conveyed to make this short, so read carefully.
In several key areas, Tribes:Vengeance has turned out to be unsuitable for the unique needs that our envisioned gametype requires. That's not to say T:V is a bad game in and of itself, just that the final product is structured in such a way as to make it unusable for our particular requirements. Believe me when I say we've tried approaching the situation from every angle, and it's just not tenable.
So I have discussed the situation with VU games at length, and they have graciously agreed to allow us great leeway in regards to what we can do to make sure this project reaches fruition and achieves success, and have given us their blessing for the following to occur:
It gives me great pleasure to announce that, going forward from today, Clancore will be joining the ranks of developers working with Garage Games and their upcoming Torque Shader Engine in making Starsiege:2845 a full fledged stand alone game project, and it will no longer be a MOD for Tribes:Vengeance.
Obviously we're very excited to be working with all the great guys at Garage Games, particularly in light of the fact that as some of you may remember they have just a little bit of history with the Starsiege and Tribes universe themselves.
To say the staff is extremely fired up about this switch is the understatement of the millenium. For those of you already familiar with the TSE, the advantages inherent in the engine are almost literally made to order for our particular situation. These advantages are in a word "huge", and will allow us to modify our original goals for the game upwards in many key areas.
...
I could go on and on about the benefits, but I'm sure some of you have a few questions about what this means going forward, so here's the scoop on our new timeline:
1. We are still planning on releasing an ATR in March (patch or no patch) on the T:V engine. We've done quite a bit of work on it, we might as well do something instead of just let it drop, and we figure you guys that have been hanging out for the long haul should get something to piddle with while we make the switchover.
2. While the guys continue to work on the ATR, Tsa and myself will be launching a new website and a massive recruiting drive this weekend. The new people we pick up will be paired with some of our existing staff that are not directly involved at this stage with the ATR and assigned the tasks of starting to move things over to the new venue. Switching over to Torque should help us immensely in finding new staff for certain key areas that we've had trouble filling of late.
3. Initially there will of course be a time setback as we adjust and shift our methodologies, but once that's complete we expect the work to fly by compared to our previous pace due to everyones familiarity with the engine, having direct access to the source code, and the extensive support options that we did not have before.
Source and full quote: ccforums.mechnex.net/index.php?showtopic=7900&st=0
It's taken me some time to figure out how to approach this thread and present the news it contains, because I know it is going to cause a bit of an uproar. In the end I decided to approach it in typical no-frills Trajan fashion and just cut to the chase up front. Unfortunately there is just too much info that needs to be conveyed to make this short, so read carefully.
In several key areas, Tribes:Vengeance has turned out to be unsuitable for the unique needs that our envisioned gametype requires. That's not to say T:V is a bad game in and of itself, just that the final product is structured in such a way as to make it unusable for our particular requirements. Believe me when I say we've tried approaching the situation from every angle, and it's just not tenable.
So I have discussed the situation with VU games at length, and they have graciously agreed to allow us great leeway in regards to what we can do to make sure this project reaches fruition and achieves success, and have given us their blessing for the following to occur:
It gives me great pleasure to announce that, going forward from today, Clancore will be joining the ranks of developers working with Garage Games and their upcoming Torque Shader Engine in making Starsiege:2845 a full fledged stand alone game project, and it will no longer be a MOD for Tribes:Vengeance.
Obviously we're very excited to be working with all the great guys at Garage Games, particularly in light of the fact that as some of you may remember they have just a little bit of history with the Starsiege and Tribes universe themselves.
To say the staff is extremely fired up about this switch is the understatement of the millenium. For those of you already familiar with the TSE, the advantages inherent in the engine are almost literally made to order for our particular situation. These advantages are in a word "huge", and will allow us to modify our original goals for the game upwards in many key areas.
...
I could go on and on about the benefits, but I'm sure some of you have a few questions about what this means going forward, so here's the scoop on our new timeline:
1. We are still planning on releasing an ATR in March (patch or no patch) on the T:V engine. We've done quite a bit of work on it, we might as well do something instead of just let it drop, and we figure you guys that have been hanging out for the long haul should get something to piddle with while we make the switchover.
2. While the guys continue to work on the ATR, Tsa and myself will be launching a new website and a massive recruiting drive this weekend. The new people we pick up will be paired with some of our existing staff that are not directly involved at this stage with the ATR and assigned the tasks of starting to move things over to the new venue. Switching over to Torque should help us immensely in finding new staff for certain key areas that we've had trouble filling of late.
3. Initially there will of course be a time setback as we adjust and shift our methodologies, but once that's complete we expect the work to fly by compared to our previous pace due to everyones familiarity with the engine, having direct access to the source code, and the extensive support options that we did not have before.
Source and full quote: ccforums.mechnex.net/index.php?showtopic=7900&st=0
#2
Finally now we can have a fully backed production quality game(besides T2 but thats old, so its hard to point to) to show Torque off with!!!!! I'm so excited!
02/16/2005 (2:24 pm)
OMG This is the best news I've ever heard, this bringss new life to this community OMFG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Finally now we can have a fully backed production quality game(besides T2 but thats old, so its hard to point to) to show Torque off with!!!!! I'm so excited!
#3
02/16/2005 (2:38 pm)
Hahah wow... this is cool news.
#4
02/16/2005 (2:49 pm)
Sounds like VU just issued their own death sentence :)
#5
The Starsiege 2845 master page
The Starsiege 2845 Forum root directory
I think you'll find that we have a very strong and friendly community going, and I know everyone from garagegames would be more than welcome to come and check up on whats going on. I certinally look forward to working with all of you as time progresses as I learn to map in Torque.
From the looks of things, the Torque interface has not changed much at all from Starsiege's original DarkStar interface, so I think many people in our community (including myself) will quickly be able to jump right in. Thats always a good thing.
Ironic tho... Starsiege was on the Darkstar engine, the predecessor to Torque. T2 was on Torque, and now Starsiege 2845 is on Torque. Looks like all things do come full circle.
02/16/2005 (4:32 pm)
Well hello guys. I'm from the Starsiege2845 community, and I must say that it seems everyone who knows about the project is absolutley thrilled with the transition. Unfortunetley, im not a dev (don't have the amazing skills they do), but feel free to visit our website and forums.The Starsiege 2845 master page
The Starsiege 2845 Forum root directory
I think you'll find that we have a very strong and friendly community going, and I know everyone from garagegames would be more than welcome to come and check up on whats going on. I certinally look forward to working with all of you as time progresses as I learn to map in Torque.
From the looks of things, the Torque interface has not changed much at all from Starsiege's original DarkStar interface, so I think many people in our community (including myself) will quickly be able to jump right in. Thats always a good thing.
Ironic tho... Starsiege was on the Darkstar engine, the predecessor to Torque. T2 was on Torque, and now Starsiege 2845 is on Torque. Looks like all things do come full circle.
#6
I do think it is Ironic that the project has returned to the Torque engine.
02/16/2005 (5:19 pm)
SO is SS 2845 a Sierra funded game or will they just reap the benifits from your hard work beacuse you are using their IP? I just don't understand the situation. Your faq reads as though you are doing it for a labor of love.I do think it is Ironic that the project has returned to the Torque engine.
#7
The ATR we were going to release after T:V was patched is supposedly going to still come out, if you have that game. It's not even a beta, just a proof of concept thing, but something to have a look at.
Hopefully 2845 will start appearing in the snapshot gallery soon.
02/16/2005 (5:52 pm)
Yeah, it's all being done for free. VU could sell it like a normal game if they wanted to do so.The ATR we were going to release after T:V was patched is supposedly going to still come out, if you have that game. It's not even a beta, just a proof of concept thing, but something to have a look at.
Hopefully 2845 will start appearing in the snapshot gallery soon.
#8
02/16/2005 (6:30 pm)
By the way, because it's using TSE, a Mac and Linux port are planned (believe that info is in the thread I linked to). Thought all the Mac and Linux peoples would appreciate that.
#9
Good luck and I'll be looking to see some screens soon.
02/17/2005 (9:56 am)
Though I'm not particularly interested in this, I still think it should be in the news section. Like some people said, it's great to see another good AAA game come out of Torque. It will help these guys at GG a lot. And they deserve whatever benefits come forth from it.Good luck and I'll be looking to see some screens soon.
#10
I really look forward to seeing this project come to completion, and with the amazing tools that Garage Games has to offer the change over will well be worth the wait.
*waves at RickO and the gang*
02/17/2005 (1:10 pm)
To us die hard SS fans, this is great news and it's like returning home again!I really look forward to seeing this project come to completion, and with the amazing tools that Garage Games has to offer the change over will well be worth the wait.
*waves at RickO and the gang*
#11
02/17/2005 (8:59 pm)
I'm hoping a snapshot will reer its head soon. It's possible to have some Torque shots in a couple of weeks, but having a snapshot sooner will mean more publicity, since they really need some coders. 
#12
02/17/2005 (9:26 pm)
Hey now all we need is the next tribes to use TSE and everything will come full circle :)
#13
Im not sure if thats possible or not. From what I've found, it looks like you'll have to buy a license to get the editors, or wait untill the game is released and use something similar to Starsiege's -me extension or the T2 editor.
So, if anybody could help out in this department, I and many others would be very grateful.
02/17/2005 (10:23 pm)
Hey, I've been looking a for a basic map editor for Torque. Myself and many from the SS community are looking forward to creating custom maps, and theres no time like the present to get fluent with the editor. Im not looking for a licensed version or anything like that, just a map editor.Im not sure if thats possible or not. From what I've found, it looks like you'll have to buy a license to get the editors, or wait untill the game is released and use something similar to Starsiege's -me extension or the T2 editor.
So, if anybody could help out in this department, I and many others would be very grateful.
#14
02/17/2005 (10:59 pm)
Download the demo. Hit F11. You're done.
#15
02/18/2005 (12:48 am)
Many thanks. I have updated that information at Clancore.
#16
Glad to have SS: 2845 on board. We have many commercial developers using TGE and TSE for projects many unannounced, but we'll try to get a news post up soon.
FYI - I tried to register on the SS: 2845 forums and got kicked out repeatedly (said I'd typed in the control code correctly) I'm Safari.
02/18/2005 (12:51 am)
If you don't hear much from the GG guys its because we have our heads down and are in crunch mode for GDC - lots of news coming soon.Glad to have SS: 2845 on board. We have many commercial developers using TGE and TSE for projects many unannounced, but we'll try to get a news post up soon.
FYI - I tried to register on the SS: 2845 forums and got kicked out repeatedly (said I'd typed in the control code correctly) I'm Safari.
#17
02/18/2005 (1:30 am)
That's... weird. But it's cool that you registered there (or are trying anyway.) It'll probably wet a few pants, maybe more than that time Tycho from Penny Arcade posted on our forums, heh. Not sure what's up with the registration process. I've always considered it an incredibly fast process.
#18
Speaking on behalf of all the 2845 staff we're very excited about moving to Torque and all the freedom it will give us to implement our vision. We're also very excited to have the ability to work with the Garage Games staff and community.
For those that are curious we just went live last night with a revamped website that contains much more information about the game than our previous one. You can check it out here:
http://www.starsiege2845.com
Jay, quick note. I created a forum account for you and sent you an email with the details. Not sure what's going on there.
Anyways, best regards to everyone and take care, you'll be seeing us around.
02/18/2005 (6:24 am)
Hi there guys, finally got a few free minutes away from all the zaniness of the past week to come over here and post.Speaking on behalf of all the 2845 staff we're very excited about moving to Torque and all the freedom it will give us to implement our vision. We're also very excited to have the ability to work with the Garage Games staff and community.
For those that are curious we just went live last night with a revamped website that contains much more information about the game than our previous one. You can check it out here:
http://www.starsiege2845.com
Jay, quick note. I created a forum account for you and sent you an email with the details. Not sure what's going on there.
Anyways, best regards to everyone and take care, you'll be seeing us around.
#19
02/19/2005 (4:23 am)
Welcome aboard guys! Very exciting to see progress on SS:2845, and glad you're getting Torqued! Catch you guys around. :) Of course, feel free to ask q's any time, and we'll be watching for updates on this. :) 
Torque Owner FruitBatInShades