What should I buy?
by Mike Korolenko · in Torque in Education · 10/11/2006 (7:57 pm) · 4 replies
I'm looking to buy the Torque engine and thought I knew what I needed until I started reading the forums which have created some doubt in my mind.
I've got 2 areas in which I'm looking to develop with Torque.
1) Virtual World (serious gaming). I work for a medical school, so think stuff like triage type senerios, operating rooms etc. Basically a fps without guns...
2) Surgical Simulator. This one is going to be a bit more challenging I know. I've been using other solutions to try and accomplish this however I'm not sure either will work out in the long run. Standford Universities SPRING surg sim is pretty good (open source, it's on sourceforge) however they really to have a long way to go and the product is basically in alpha form.
Anyways.. the idea behind a surgical simulator is that you have a model on the screen, say a human's back. There is a needle that you need to stick in their back, avoiding any bones and such, draw out fluid, and pull it out.
In addition to this, I want a haptic device used in place of a mouse or keyboard. I assume I'll have to get into some API programming for this but that's ok. If you don't know what a haptic devices is.. it's basically one that provides force feedback. So when I poke the skin.. you feel it on the device. If I hit a bone.. the device stops not letting you go any further. Google 'falcon haptic' if you want more info.
So... with that being said what should I be looking to purchase so I can accomplish the above?
I've read that some licences can be used for 'games' only, while other can be used for whatever. I've read that some engines are better for faster prototyping.. but don't have all the tools or game polish as another.
Any insite while I go back to weaving through the forums posts looking for answers would be great!
~mike~
I've got 2 areas in which I'm looking to develop with Torque.
1) Virtual World (serious gaming). I work for a medical school, so think stuff like triage type senerios, operating rooms etc. Basically a fps without guns...
2) Surgical Simulator. This one is going to be a bit more challenging I know. I've been using other solutions to try and accomplish this however I'm not sure either will work out in the long run. Standford Universities SPRING surg sim is pretty good (open source, it's on sourceforge) however they really to have a long way to go and the product is basically in alpha form.
Anyways.. the idea behind a surgical simulator is that you have a model on the screen, say a human's back. There is a needle that you need to stick in their back, avoiding any bones and such, draw out fluid, and pull it out.
In addition to this, I want a haptic device used in place of a mouse or keyboard. I assume I'll have to get into some API programming for this but that's ok. If you don't know what a haptic devices is.. it's basically one that provides force feedback. So when I poke the skin.. you feel it on the device. If I hit a bone.. the device stops not letting you go any further. Google 'falcon haptic' if you want more info.
So... with that being said what should I be looking to purchase so I can accomplish the above?
I've read that some licences can be used for 'games' only, while other can be used for whatever. I've read that some engines are better for faster prototyping.. but don't have all the tools or game polish as another.
Any insite while I go back to weaving through the forums posts looking for answers would be great!
~mike~
#2
For team building, be sure to blog what you're doing and make use of our team building tools on this site.
Good luck!
10/11/2006 (8:40 pm)
It sounds like you'll be doing 3D work, so the Torque Game Engine would be the way to go. You can use it to make games, simulations, word processing software... whatever you desire to. This is the case with all our game engines. It's a robust, extensible, market-proven engine. If you're looking for high-end shader support (which doesn't sound to be the case), you could go with the Torque Shader Engine (i.e. Torque Advanced Tech Engine), but your dev costs will likely be higher.For team building, be sure to blog what you're doing and make use of our team building tools on this site.
Good luck!
#3
.. and thanks for the tips on the blog and team building software as well.
~mike~
10/11/2006 (8:54 pm)
TGE here I come. .. and thanks for the tips on the blog and team building software as well.
~mike~
#4
People have done all kinds of crazy hardware hookups to TGE, so what you describe in wanting with a haptic device is certainly possible.
On the GG site, if you click My Account at the top, you can submit blog posts from there. They are displayed on the Community/What's New page. Also from My Account you can go to the Marketplace where you can place help wanted ads, etc. It's software I suppose, but server side :)
10/12/2006 (12:44 am)
Take a look at the TGE product page and demo for sure. Of the 3 it sounds the most appropriate for what you plan to do, and the one I'd pick if I was doing your project.People have done all kinds of crazy hardware hookups to TGE, so what you describe in wanting with a haptic device is certainly possible.
On the GG site, if you click My Account at the top, you can submit blog posts from there. They are displayed on the Community/What's New page. Also from My Account you can go to the Marketplace where you can place help wanted ads, etc. It's software I suppose, but server side :)
Torque Owner Mike Korolenko
I'm already working within a consortium that includes Stanford U for the surgical simulator stuff, and have teamed up with a guy from the University of Oklahoma for the Virtual Worlds stuff.
The idea is that what is created in the end is free along with any code we create. Torque code of course wouldn't be ours to give away.
Pooling resources will ensure you don't have people working individually on the same thing and really is the cheapest way to obtain the best end result.
~mike~