Torque engine - what are people's thoughts on it
Community Forums/Developer Stations/Torque engine - what are people's thoughts on it
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| I downloaded the Torque demo (although I'd be unlikely to make a purchase simply because I don't have the money currently) and thought that it looks very nice. Do any people here have experience with it? What are people's thoughts on the Torque engine? |
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| Its ok, old engine, but its fun. Very easy to build custom zones, add world effects, and it works with Milkshape, GameSpace which is nice. I prefer BB3D. |
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| I like the torque engine. It is pretty good value for money. It has a fairly powerful scripting engine, pretty good client/server functionality, stuff like the world editor is built into the engine and if the scripting language doesn't allow you to achieve what you want to, you do get the entire engine source code to play with. The downfall is the source is written in C++. If you have never done C++ before, it isn't the easiest language to start out with. My vote would go with Blitz3d though. You just have more flexibility. In my opinion, if you are willing to pay extra cash, you have some great libraries and tools such as TerraEd, BlitzTree, BlitzGrass, Gile[s], Particle Candy, BlitzVM, BCF Gui as well as recent integration with libs like Tokamak. |
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| Hi, I downlaoded it again to look at yesterday and I had a few questions which are: (1) What are the real licensing terms for an indie producer (2) What is the scripting side like in terms of user friendliness and documentation. I thought that the feature set looked quite powerful. I was also going to look at the Unreal Engine (the original one) and see how that shapes up, anyone done any scripting/programming work with that engine? IPete2. |
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| I took a long hard look at it and the only benefits are: -scripting -volumetric fog -better terrains The lighting in torque is poor these days and the art path is terrible. Making terrains is the nicest part of Torque though. I didn't go with it because the eventual game image quality and file format is lacking. Fast though. |
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| I have to totally agree with Rob. The terrain editing in Torque is great but some of the other features could do with a bit of an update. I guess what you have to understand is the core Torque engine is quite a few years old now. I heave heard mutterings about Torque v2 but I have yet to see any screenshots etc. Actually, it seems that Eole's forthcoming GeoSpace terrain tool may work in a similar way to Torque's terrain functions. If that is the case, I will be one happy chappy!! |
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| I have heard that it will support shaders soon. Anyway, i haven't tried it, cos a friend bought it and it didn't look very friendly to start working with it. |
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| I read through the forums when I was thinking of splashing a little cash on it, just for fun. I found that - as Rob pointed out - the art path is a huge problem. For me, that's the single most important thing, because it scuppers you before you even start. Terrains are lovely, for sure, but a knackered art path is just a recipe for many long nights screaming and punching the desk. |
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| actually, get stuff into the engine is quite straight forward... i've used Worldcraft (Hammer) and it works like a charm... for inserting structures (interiors, buildings)... and anything i can do in any modeler that Milkshape can import can be bought into the game just as easily... not to mention if you model in MS... their DTS exporter works flawlessly... bones too (me thinks, not 100%). The only thing i find frustrating is getting info on the engine... a programmers manual to get you strted would be nice. The scripting language is easily accessible, and a total mod (a whole game) can be built using it... and the c++ coding part (if you really want to mode the engine or luv c++) isn't to hard... once you figure out what to do and where to do it. the hardest part of that will be getting the compiler to give you a good compile of the source code (WIndows + VC6=no problem MacOSX + PB=some problems) they are realeasing a shader engine, i'm not to familiar with the details... and the net code will also be available as a lib (very fast net code, very easy to implement, big worlds and lots of action run fine over 56K with lots of people 20+ online). --Mike |
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| and the net code will also be available as a lib (very fast net code, very easy to implement, big worlds and lots of action run fine over 56K with lots of people 20+ online). Ought to be good. Tribes 2 had 32 players and was very playable on 56k. |
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| One of my biggest gripes with that engine is that you have to use Worldcraft or Quark for building interior structures; such special purpose level editing tools work very well for certain purposes but not at all for other purposes. One of the biggest upsides (to me) is that Torque is cross platform, so you can compile your game for Windows and Mac. |
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| Itīs an outdated Engine now. Time goes by. There are better ones , like Cipher. Blitz3D is outdated too(DX 7). There are really good addon`s (TerraEd,BlitzTree3d....) but too spare Updates from the Main Programmer. I am learning 3dImpact, Irrlicht Engine (free) and Cipher(100$) at the Moment. I think Cipher has the greatest Potenzial in this Price Range. But i heard something about Torque 2... |
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| Outdated in what way? I mean, I know the obvious answer is going to contain the word "shader" in it somewhere, but do you really need that to make your game? In other words, when shopping for an engine, are you asking the right questions? Think about it. |
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| Good point. btw. there's an answer to the problem of TGE being the 'Engine of darkness' here: http://www.garagegames.com/pg/product/view.php?id=36 How many owners of both Blitz3D _and_ TGE are out there? I am, and I'd like to have a creation pipeline working with both Blitz and Torque. Regards, Dirk |
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| Sound is outdated, Terrains are to slow.... I could say more, but i will not discuss this here. I know how this end`s. :) |
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| I have both TGE and BB3D. I was going to use TGE for a new game but after buying it and spending over a week just trying to figure out the details on how to get started ... I gave up! Yes, the terrain editor in TGE is good and the GUI editor isn't too bad either but there is next to no info that is designed to get you started. After 2 days with BB3D I have a partial game working with terrain, movement, animations etc. BB3D has a very good online library resource and examples and not too mention an active forum. I too find BB3D a little slow on the terrains but isn't that why they keep pushing the cpu GHz limit? ;) my two cents worth kusco |
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| How many people here have both TGE and B3D? I have. |
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| I think any language/engine that's conitnually being 'updated' is the best choice.. |
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| Ciphers problem(for me) is getting media into it. (I like the the code is laid out and its pretyt straight forward) They have beta 3ds converter now...but i couldnt get it working right. Ive never really used torque so i dont know much about it. Zmatrix |
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| I concur that Cipher's biggest shortcoming right now is the limited options for getting conent into the engine. This was my primary complaint with Torque too (see above.) A lot of programmers seem to overlook the point, but the art workflow is VITAL to creating anything interesting, and Blitz has the most flexible and robust art workflow of any engine I've used. Proprietary though the b3d file format is, you can export b3d from a laundry list of 3D tools. |
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| a new book by Ken Finney will get you up to speed and running (fast) on the Torque Engine, as well as various aspects of 3D game development... http://24.43.28.82:800/book/cover.jpg http://www.garagegames.com/mg/forums/result.thread.php?qt=18132 if you don't get it after reading through this one... then you really shouldn't even be trying... this book is that good... --Mike |
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