Future of Torque on Linux

#81 I recall a recent blog of the majority of TGEA running on Apples OSX.
OSX uses OpenGL right....?

#82 Yes. OSX uses OpenGL. It is certainly good news. But how many of us has already jumped ship ? I have. I'm too far along with the C4 Engine to back up and use TGEA.

#83 From this new [week-old] .plan from Brett Seyler, I see that TGE is basically being thrown out now.

Here was I, worried that some minor sniglet in GG's only Linux-supporting product would cause Linux support to be a pain! It turned out they're just completely throwing away their only engine that would work on my desktop.

I think it's really sad to consider that if it wasn't for TGE supporting Linux, then the Penny-arcade game [of which I've *greatly* enjoyed both episodes so far] either
1) Wouldn't have been released on Linux, or
2) Wouldn't have been built using Torque [if Linux was a specific requirement]

It saddens me to think that there are probably more legitimately great games in the pipeline that now won't make it to Linux because of this.

Gary (-;

#84 I'm with you, Gary...

On the other hand, there are more indie-friendly engine choices now than ever before.

I've been working with Panda 3D. www.panda3d.org/ Oh sure, it's got it's own set of issues. But... it's free, cross platform including Linux (OSX is still a bit of a chore), full source code via svn, BSD license, shaders, 64-bit clean, and darned near everything inside the engine is reachable from Python.

#85 I've made quite a few purchases through GG, an employee can validate this. Granted most of my dev time is just for learning and self-satisfaction and not to release a product, but I never would have bought my first product from GG, TGE, had it not been a linux product. That would have meant that all of those other purchases would not have happened either. Hell, I've still got a couple of projects in T2D that I won't port to newer versions of TGB because if I ever release them, I want to support Linux.

Please consider the deeper causes of sales rather than the superficial ones.

#86 Now I'm trying to find it..but it seams that TGEA is now available on OSX. Reason I bring this up is that I reason it must have OpenGL support, and therefore, be fairly portable to Linux.

But when you go to the Press Releases section off the GG homepage, it just has media contact info.

And the forum searches don't work right, so I can't find it that way.

Anybody know more about this?

#87 TGEA 1.8 on a Mac
TGEA 1.8 Beta is now available!

#88 Rock.

#89 *sniff* No Linux? ;)

By the way.... what is this Juggernaut I keep seeing people referencing?

#90 @Nathan - No Linux from GG, but it is a lot easier for a community supported Linux port to exist. I'll be doing my best to document TGEA over the coming year, hopefully making it easier for Torque users to push to their favorite platform.

Oy, Juggernaut...

Juggernaut, which is defined through multiple blogs and dozens of threads, refers to a repository of code. This code is the convergence of TGE, TGEA, TGB, and R&D. It is not an engine we offer. It's our internal code representing the convergence of the major Torque engines.

Go through the blogs of Brett Seyler and Matt Fairfax. It's better explained there.

#91 AS OS X is virtually a unix hybrid now, and supports OpenGL surely it must be possible to port TGEA the rest of the way towards linux. Even if all you want to achieve is running the server engine under LINUX. This in all honesty would have massive advantages over the a MS-Only server system.

If there is anything that I can contribute towards a true LINUX port of either TGE or TGEA then please contact me. I have a dedicated Linux Server online and can provide a test platform/shell account if required for the right project.

Fin.

#92 I have to second what Edward says. I would be more than happy just being able to run a dedicated server n LINUX.

#93 Let me add that having just a dedicated server IS NOT something I want. Some of us do more on Linux than just use it to host servers. If I can ever find some time one of these days, I will try myself to help get it working in Linux (unlikely any time soon as I have very little free time).

#94 I'm with Keith on this one, we want to GAME on Linux, not just HOST on Linux.

@Michael: The problem with the community having to support its self for Linux support with Torque Advanced is that it would be sort of acceptable if we still had CVS (or SVN) access like back in the old days before it was ripped away from us before TGE 1.5.0 came out. Instead we're stuck with resources and bug fixies spread across multiple threads, wiki entries, or blogs.

I'm kind of disturbed at the notion that we have to support and bug fix everything our selves all the time as we've currently seen that very fact with TGE 1.5.2 being nearly three years old and Constructor of which was suppose to be the be all tool to deal with DIF objects get pushed into the background and left for community to deal with then on. I'm not looking forward for the very same thing to occur with Torque Advanced once Torque 2.0 comes out, hence why I'm very hesitant to jump on board and purchase the newer engine of which just adds to the problem of no official Linux support of any kind.

#95 Yes, we want the client on Linux too, and it should be far easier with a working Mac port already out. Windowing and input is the real work, while OS X and Linux shares a lot on the output side (OpenAL/GL).

The server is still important, though, and a further wish I have is that it should not require compiling in a whole bunch of libraries which make more sense on a client, like sound or graphics.

#96 I kinda thought the implication was obvious, but to anyone who isn't sure, yes, the existence of an OSX version gaurntees that a Linux version is at least reasonably possible by the community, if not GG themselves.

GG has shown remarkable discipline in keeping the lid on this work for so long despite what I am sure are the deeply annoying and loud pleas from the community for an OpenGL implementation to happen for TGEA, so I am now prepared to believe they are up to anything. Linux may come out next week.

But we shouldn't be too bothered by something being community supported. The simple fact of the matter is that game development requires work, including programming, and that's just reality. As they are, the existing toolset you can get from GG is trivially worth the couple hundred bucks you pay for it, and I for one am deeply pleased with it. But of course I want more :-)

I think in the next few weeks I'm going to try to build on Linux. I'm thinking I may try to port over the TGEA code into an existing Linux TGE 1.5.2 build setup, or something like that--I haven't really thought it through, yet. It'll probably fail, but it might get close enough that some smarter people than me can help bridge the gap, and we can work on it together to make it happen.

The biggest hurdle, it seems to me, might be the interface between the new OpenGL libraries and the Linux system. I wonder if they use any cross platform libraries for that (and btw @Ronny Bangsund don't knock those libraries you gotta have--they're a good thing that allows you to have a platform independent game--it's not bloatware).

Just MHO.

#97 Not knocking the libraries, just think OpenAL isn't necessary on a server ;)
This may no longer be the case, of course, but I'll need to scrounge up cash for TGEA and see for myself next year. Maybe when I'm rich off iPhone apps. Haha.

There's also a chance of a TGB 2.0 anytime soon, and if that inherits some good stuff from TGEA, I think more community members will be willing to take the plunge and get their hands dirty. Big hint for GG there :)