TGEA = Torque 3D?

#1

Quote:I assume they are separate engines and 3D is not an upgrade from TGEA

Nope, T3D is an upgrade from TGEA. It's TGE 3.0 actually. And for differences, you should probably check out the product page.

#2 Much as TGEa was/is an upgrade and improvement from TGE, Torque 3D is an upgrade/improvement over TGEa. New features, fixes, general changes in structure, etc...

Checking out the product pages and perusing the Torque 3D Development blogs should give you a fair indication of what is different or has been added/improved for Torque 3D. You should be aware that TGEa and TGE are at the end of their development cycle... TGEa may receive a bug-fix update but there has been no official word of that.

#3 Thanks for the reply. I've been attempting to quantify the differences, but without a direct comparison it's a bit difficult, since they're both being hyped a bit.

Is there any sort of release date for Torque 3D? Is it worth purchasing TGEA if Torque 3D is basically going to replace it? I'm looking to begin tinkering around in it asap, the web plugin aspect is extremely exciting for me.

Also, slightly off topic but, as far as publishing games made in TGEA or Torque 3D, do they have to be published through GG (instantaction.com etc) or can I have it be a "you come to my website and play the game" sort of setup?

#4 Torque 3D is still in Beta (beta2), which is accessible for those who pre-order. It was hinted that a possible demo would be made available at some later date, upon release. I couldn't say when that release will take place, although things are progressing nicely.

Is it still worth purchasing TGEa? Yes. You can start learning now, especially since TGEa and Torque 3D both are vastly different from TGE in many areas. Even though the current pre-order discount will be discontinued I do believe that the purchase cost of TGEa will still count towards Torque 3D (ie. allowing you to upgrade). Plus you would have access to the vast resource of knowledge contained in the TGEa private forums.

For publishing: the license lets you publish anywhere, and there are no further fees except for those incurred by using some other publisher/portal/store other than yourself.

#5 thankyou again!

another question, do you happen to know if learning TGEA has any crossover or bleed into using Torque 3D? I'd be starting learning from scratch, and if my skills in TGEA will extend into Torque 3D that will definitely make the decision easier

#6 Yes it will. There are some changes, especially the editor, that will cause you to rethink/relearn some areas but for the most part Torque 3D will actually be easier to use due to things like live asset updating and a better suite of in-game tools in general.

The lighting and terrain system has seen a huge change. Some old features have been removed and/or superseded by new ones. Core gameplay mechanics are still just an example that you would want to build off of, and anything you learn in script can definitely be carried forward.

It would certainly be easier learning from TGEa (despite the changes) and moving to Torque 3D than it would be if you jumped from TGE into Torque 3D, especially for understanding the GFX sub-system.

#7 thanks once again.

Ok, im pretty on-board with getting TGEA, but since I'd be buying the indie copy, Once it's installed, I cant uninstall it and re-install it on another machine. Is that correct? I'm on a desktop at the moment, but I'd rather install it on a laptop that I won't be getting for a few weeks. Once the license is locked to a copy, the indie version won't let me swap it to another machine correct?

#8 Nah, the license is to you as an individual not a specific machine. So long as you don't give other people access to it you'll be fine.

#9 TorqueScript is a very powerful, flexible language with syntax similar to C++. It provides all of the features listed above, including those on the 'would be nice' list. The following sections will describe all of these features and provide examples to clarify concepts.

#10 Necro-post?