Does Torque Engine supports bumb mapping?
by Alfred Reinold Baudisch · in Torque Game Engine · 06/16/2006 (5:16 pm) · 30 replies
Hello,
I am new to game development, but already have a small commercial game to develop (Auriumsoft - www.auriumsoft.com.br / AuriumGames - www.auriumgames.com).
I am searching for professional engines (paid and open source ones) and I the most I am interested is Torque.
Because I am new to game dev., I haven't understood some of the Torque's features. I have searched for "bump mapping" on Features page, but haven't gotten any result.
So, here are my questions:
1) Torque Engine supports bump mapping? Like the wall in this screenshot:
2) Does is it possible to do a thing identical or better than the screen above using only Torque Engine?
3) Soft and dynamic shadows?
4) Advanced lighting?
5) Or for these features do I need Torque Shader Engine too?
Sincerely, I played the demo (orc village) and didn't liked the shadows and lighting, they seem to be bugged. But, the engine shows to be very complete and advanced if used well.
Thanks,
Alfred
P.S.: sorry for my English, I am from Brazil
I am new to game development, but already have a small commercial game to develop (Auriumsoft - www.auriumsoft.com.br / AuriumGames - www.auriumgames.com).
I am searching for professional engines (paid and open source ones) and I the most I am interested is Torque.
Because I am new to game dev., I haven't understood some of the Torque's features. I have searched for "bump mapping" on Features page, but haven't gotten any result.
So, here are my questions:
1) Torque Engine supports bump mapping? Like the wall in this screenshot:
2) Does is it possible to do a thing identical or better than the screen above using only Torque Engine?
3) Soft and dynamic shadows?
4) Advanced lighting?
5) Or for these features do I need Torque Shader Engine too?
Sincerely, I played the demo (orc village) and didn't liked the shadows and lighting, they seem to be bugged. But, the engine shows to be very complete and advanced if used well.
Thanks,
Alfred
P.S.: sorry for my English, I am from Brazil
#22
The difference between relief mapping and parallax mapping is *not* shadows.
It's that it's running occlusions checks on the pixels to see what covers what. Parallax mapping distorts the texture to give a 3d feel, but you still see all of the texture. Relief mapping will actually cover up parts of the texture because it displaces.
While shadows tend to improve the appearance of relief mapping, they are in no awy the defining feature.
As Alex had said, without shadows you can even manage relief mapping on sm2.0 hardware, so really, in most cases you're better off without the shadows unless you have a god-like machine.
06/18/2006 (2:15 am)
No, actually that was relief mapping.The difference between relief mapping and parallax mapping is *not* shadows.
It's that it's running occlusions checks on the pixels to see what covers what. Parallax mapping distorts the texture to give a 3d feel, but you still see all of the texture. Relief mapping will actually cover up parts of the texture because it displaces.
While shadows tend to improve the appearance of relief mapping, they are in no awy the defining feature.
As Alex had said, without shadows you can even manage relief mapping on sm2.0 hardware, so really, in most cases you're better off without the shadows unless you have a god-like machine.
#23
My final decision is to buy TGE.
TSE I will buy when its final version will be released.
And I will use the TGE resources.
To learn other things, I will check ODE, Irrlicht and other open source engines.
06/18/2006 (9:15 am)
Wow, thanks for all the replies! There is lots of information here. Not only about my question, but about Torque and Adv. Graphics in general. Thanks everyone! I have read everything and even saved this page on my HD. My final decision is to buy TGE.
TSE I will buy when its final version will be released.
And I will use the TGE resources.
To learn other things, I will check ODE, Irrlicht and other open source engines.
#25
That means I will have to pay another $150 to get the updates when the final version will be released??
06/18/2006 (9:54 am)
I havent understood clearly. On the TSE page it says: "Special Note: If you purchase the Early Adopter now, you get all updates including the final version for the EA price of only $150, resulting in a savings of $45."That means I will have to pay another $150 to get the updates when the final version will be released??
#26
When TSE is completed, it will cost $195 for TGE owners to purchase it.
Thus by purchasing now you save $45.
TSE pricing at the moment in its early adopter state:
Buy TGE = $100, TSE an additional $150 - total = $250
TSE pricing when final version released:
Buy TGE = $100, TSE an additional $195 - total = $295
The total EA price is $250.
The total final version price = $295
Savings of $45 if purchased now
Pricing for TSE as a stand alone purchase hasn't been released.
06/18/2006 (10:07 am)
No, you spent $100 and purchased TGE right. It will cost you another $150 to buy TSE in it's early adopter state and this is all you have to pay. When the final version is released it is available to you at no extra cost. Resulting in a total of $250 for both engines. When TSE is completed, it will cost $195 for TGE owners to purchase it.
Thus by purchasing now you save $45.
TSE pricing at the moment in its early adopter state:
Buy TGE = $100, TSE an additional $150 - total = $250
TSE pricing when final version released:
Buy TGE = $100, TSE an additional $195 - total = $295
The total EA price is $250.
The total final version price = $295
Savings of $45 if purchased now
Pricing for TSE as a stand alone purchase hasn't been released.
#27
06/18/2006 (10:39 am)
I'm positive that GarageGames will annouce when TSE will go gold, so you can take your time on buying it and simply keep an it. That's what i'm doing. I will buy it, i have no need for it now, but i'll grab it before it goes gold to save a bit of money.
#28
06/18/2006 (11:06 am)
You might also find that once released, there will bo no reliance on the TGE license. So your money will only get you TSE rather than both engines.
#29
06/19/2006 (7:31 am)
Yeah but the BIG question is when will TSE be complete =P 
Torque 3D Owner iHugMedia
Actually, that is paralax mapping, relief mapping self-shadows aswell as shades, that picture doesn't.