Torque 3D Development - World Editor
by Brett Seyler · 03/17/2009 (8:53 pm) · 89 comments
And now, for the big reveal...the new Torque 3D World Editor! Actually though, this is a partial reveal. What we're showing here will be the final look and feel to the World Editor, but it's only a partial representation of what's expected in the full release. Not shown here are new editors for materials, decals, creating roads and rivers, etc. In addition to all that, we may also expose some new physics functionality to the World Editor as well.
The viewport in the screens posted below do not show Tom's rewrite of the Terrain system yet either, which we expect will give us a lot greater detail and much better looking terrains.
There are a lot of hands in this project, and a lot is changing, but there were some really key people who contributed specifically to the World Editor. Internally, Matt Langley took his tools experience and contributed to the new direction and helped to prioritize the changes that would give us the biggest productivity gains. The Sickhead crew (Tom, Russell, James, and Ross) also contributed great ideas and helped with the code cleanup that let us do what we've done here.
Dave Wyand, who you all know very well for ShowTool Pro and his long history of contributing to the GG community, played a big role. There are two GG'ers most of you haven't met who've really helped shape the look, feel, and layout of the new World Editor. Steven Garcia and Jason Hetu.
Dave's Bio
"I've been an active member of the GarageGames community since 2002. I wrote the now widely used ShowTool Pro and was a key member of the Torque Constructor team. Having joined GarageGames full-time in 2006, I've been working behind the scenes on lots of brand new editors and now Torque 3D. I enjoy dressing up as a Mountie -- as all Canadians do -- and singing the Lumberjack song."
"I work on the tools side of Torque 3D, including the World Editor and GUI Editor."
Steven's Bio
"I grew up in a small city called, Corpus Christi, Tx. After a good 19 years, I picked up my stuff and moved to Tempe, Az. Then after deciding it was way too freaking hot there (seriously!); I got in touch with GarageGames and moved to Eugene for a QA internship. I worked hard in QA for a little longer than a year. Shortly thereafter I joined the Torque team as a tools programmer. So here I am today; 21 years old, loving my job, and doing my best."
"I've tackled a few projects for Torque 3D, most recently working on the World Editor. I also worked on restructuring each of our games and demo's file structures, and I'm still working on a consistency pass on all of our games and demo's."
Jason's Bio
"I graduated from the University of Oregon with a BFA in Digital Art in 2007. I started working at GarageGames this July as a Web Graphics Designer. I have since been working web graphics, print work, layouts, mockups, and engine GUI's. I really enjoy working as an artist here at GG. I also like the amount of different types of projects I have been able to be apart of since I have been here."
"I am working on updating the Torque 3D GUI's by re skinning them to have a more modern feel. I am also working with Steven Garcia to improve some usability issues with both the GUI system and the World Editor. I am also doing some visual cleanup of some of the GUI layouts and their functionality."
Without further scrolling then, here's a first look at what we've done:
Feel free to fire off questions in the comments. On the next go around (probably post-GDC), we'll show you this stuff in action, hopefully with the new terrain system and some really hot new content. More development blogs to come. This is post #14.
Torque 3D development blogs:
- Post #1 - Kickoff
- Post #2 - Apparatus and Warrior Camp
- Post #3 - Luma's racing kit
- Post #4 - Josh Engebretson and Web Publishing
- Post #5 - Pricing and Licensing
- Post #6 - Pricing and Licensing CONTINUED
- Post #7 - Wetness & Precipitation
- Post #8 - Screeen Space Ambient Occlusion (SSAO)
- Post #9 - Matt Langley and the Torque Launcher
- Post #10 - Chris Robertson and Collada
- Post #11 - Depth of Field
- Post #12 - Advanced Lighting
- Post #13 - Soft Particles
- Post #14 - World Editor
- Post #15 - Pricing and Licensing ANNOUNCED!
- Post #16 - GDC Live Edition
- Post #17 - River & Road Editors
- Post #18 - Beta is UP!
- Post #19 - Light Rays, Undercity, Material Editor
- Post #20 - Mass Market Hardware
- Post #21 - Beta: Part Deux
- Post #22 - Marching Towards Beta 3
- Post #23 - pureLIGHT
- Post #24 - Lighting, Terrain, and Cloth
- Post #25 - Beta 3!
- Post #26 - Coming Soon!
About the author
Since 2007, I've done my best to steer Torque's development and brand toward the best opportunities in games middleware.
#62
03/19/2009 (9:32 am)
That's great news, looking forward to it. 
#64
03/19/2009 (10:20 pm)
Are there plans for T3D to support Atlas terrain? 
#65
The new terrain system in Torque 3D will be capable of handling *most* of the applications that people have been putting Atlas to. We will be talking about it a bit more in the near future (after GDC).
03/19/2009 (10:47 pm)
No, sadly we decided to drop Atlas support with Torque 3D.The new terrain system in Torque 3D will be capable of handling *most* of the applications that people have been putting Atlas to. We will be talking about it a bit more in the near future (after GDC).
#66
03/19/2009 (11:01 pm)
@Matt: Thanks for the heads up on that. T3D is looking great. 
#67
I don't care if we can't get the huge terrains available with Atlas as long as something has been done to improve terrain detail, e.g. one or more detail maps per texture.
If T3D pricing is anything near what is stated in the Gamasutra article, I'll pre-order for sure. I won't mind a bit of upgrade pricing love, but I can accept $1000. Of course at that price I'll have to finally produce something with it.
The initial post may not have set off fireworks, but the comments section sure did. Great work guys. :)
03/20/2009 (1:50 am)
Quote:
The new terrain system in Torque 3D will be capable of handling *most* of the applications that people have been putting Atlas to. We will be talking about it a bit more in the near future (after GDC).
I don't care if we can't get the huge terrains available with Atlas as long as something has been done to improve terrain detail, e.g. one or more detail maps per texture.
If T3D pricing is anything near what is stated in the Gamasutra article, I'll pre-order for sure. I won't mind a bit of upgrade pricing love, but I can accept $1000. Of course at that price I'll have to finally produce something with it.
The initial post may not have set off fireworks, but the comments section sure did. Great work guys. :)
#68
do you know what kind of starter kits will be available? (gears of torque, maybe)
03/20/2009 (1:54 am)
hey brett do you know what kind of starter kits will be available? (gears of torque, maybe)
#69
03/20/2009 (2:39 am)
@Kory: Right now we plan for a Racing Starter Kit and a new FPS Starter Kit. Other kits being worked on are an Adventure Kit, and RPG Kit, and yes, even an MMO Kit. I expect the MMO Kit, if we ever finish it, will take the longest. The Gears of Torque code is probably not all that usable as a game template, but if you have requests for just code assets, we might just release them as resources. That project was based on TGEA 1.0 and it hasn't been touched, so that's fair warning. It might take some work to bring over some of the game play. 
#70
1. When is the new engine coming out? I don't want to rush it, but will it be coming out within this year? Within Q2?
2. Is the title really called Torque 3D? I don't want to be a critic, but I kind of slightly dislike that name.
03/20/2009 (3:01 am)
Here are a few questions:1. When is the new engine coming out? I don't want to rush it, but will it be coming out within this year? Within Q2?
2. Is the title really called Torque 3D? I don't want to be a critic, but I kind of slightly dislike that name.
#71
http://www.garagegames.com/community/blogs/view/16703
03/20/2009 (3:13 am)
@Tyler: I recommend reviewing the IRC log from today.http://www.garagegames.com/community/blogs/view/16703
#72
03/20/2009 (4:06 am)
Can you consider including the web functionality in the basic version instead of pro like unity. and can we get any updates on TGB 2 ( Torque 2d) web functionality
#73
i was not expecting T3D to come out so soon i was thinking more to the end of 2009 you guys have done lots of work on it already. i cant wait for more info on the full release and what else is being put in it i really hope the cloth gets put in this first release i got so many things i could do with it. that is if you build it really flexible if its not flexible i might have to flex it out my self that is depending on how hard it will be to flex it out though. :P i still not that good with torques code but it seems easy to use to me its allot easier then other codes i have worked with. it still seem allot like html the most to me as its got lots of simulator things that html has and i know html the best out of any code language. :P
03/20/2009 (4:18 am)
tyler did you read page 3 of this blog he kind of read its release just not the final final date. thats good news though i think i might get my hands the pre-order depending on whats the price of it. the sooner i get my hands on T3D the sooner i can really put my work all together though i don't have to much work mostly just allot of 3d objects which still need textures on them.i was not expecting T3D to come out so soon i was thinking more to the end of 2009 you guys have done lots of work on it already. i cant wait for more info on the full release and what else is being put in it i really hope the cloth gets put in this first release i got so many things i could do with it. that is if you build it really flexible if its not flexible i might have to flex it out my self that is depending on how hard it will be to flex it out though. :P i still not that good with torques code but it seems easy to use to me its allot easier then other codes i have worked with. it still seem allot like html the most to me as its got lots of simulator things that html has and i know html the best out of any code language. :P
#74
If what I read in the IRC is true (I didn't make it overtime), what am I supposed to do with all the money I had saved up? :)
I think I will take a break till after next week ......
03/20/2009 (4:52 am)
@Brett,If what I read in the IRC is true (I didn't make it overtime), what am I supposed to do with all the money I had saved up? :)
I think I will take a break till after next week ......
#75
To script a game I would need:
-Complete free and easy control on Shapes : velocity, animation, collision, with all the callbacks mirroring those already in place in TGB. The T3DShapes must be the new T2DAnimatedSprite, but for 3D.
-Complete free and easy control on camera, easy positionning, moveto, pointing and mounting easily at targets with force, precise control on rotation, with a simple way to immediately know the position and precise rotation of the current camera view (when mounted or not).
-I believe easy shape to shape mounting and triggers are already a part of TGE, so, keep that too.
Don't forget that Unity 2.5, released yesterday on windows (for the same price as basic T3D (hu... there's no coincidences it seems :p)), doesn't require source access at all and gives complete scripting control with Mono.
TorqueScript is an awesome programming language, and if I can stick with it to make 3rd person 3D action games or JRPGs, I will definitely buy T3D Basic (pro is out of my range).
03/20/2009 (6:56 am)
How the scripting was improved need some serious discussion. Because you couldn't do anything except some tribes clone in scripting with TGE, compared to TGB it was just plain painful (how the character animation and velocity were tied into the source, the camera controls needing source mods for anything, etc.). Is it still closer to TGE than TGB?To script a game I would need:
-Complete free and easy control on Shapes : velocity, animation, collision, with all the callbacks mirroring those already in place in TGB. The T3DShapes must be the new T2DAnimatedSprite, but for 3D.
-Complete free and easy control on camera, easy positionning, moveto, pointing and mounting easily at targets with force, precise control on rotation, with a simple way to immediately know the position and precise rotation of the current camera view (when mounted or not).
-I believe easy shape to shape mounting and triggers are already a part of TGE, so, keep that too.
Don't forget that Unity 2.5, released yesterday on windows (for the same price as basic T3D (hu... there's no coincidences it seems :p)), doesn't require source access at all and gives complete scripting control with Mono.
TorqueScript is an awesome programming language, and if I can stick with it to make 3rd person 3D action games or JRPGs, I will definitely buy T3D Basic (pro is out of my range).
#76
I know what you mean compared to TGB and TGE, you can write almost soley in script in TGB whereas that is rare in TGE. You might want to have a look at the Collada Test docs though as this hints in the direction they're taking the system, GG seem to have given the script a lot of control over nodes and meshes. You can dynamically add nodes to a model, add meshes and even save out as a entirely new model file which gives you access to quite a few options just from script that was not possible before.
03/20/2009 (8:27 am)
@BenjaminI know what you mean compared to TGB and TGE, you can write almost soley in script in TGB whereas that is rare in TGE. You might want to have a look at the Collada Test docs though as this hints in the direction they're taking the system, GG seem to have given the script a lot of control over nodes and meshes. You can dynamically add nodes to a model, add meshes and even save out as a entirely new model file which gives you access to quite a few options just from script that was not possible before.
#78
Is the title really called Torque 3D? I dislike that name, and most new people at first look will think TGEA is better then Torque 3D. What will the actually engine be called?
03/20/2009 (11:45 pm)
Ok, let me ask my question that still hasn't been answered:Is the title really called Torque 3D? I dislike that name, and most new people at first look will think TGEA is better then Torque 3D. What will the actually engine be called?
#79
I (so far) have seen nothing that merits a (possible) high license price in this engine, sure, great artwork, great shaders and such, but shader and artwork isnt and has nothing to do with the engine/tools itself, those things can be used in any engine that supports shaders (i can name a few under 200$ for indie, like Unity3D, Blade3D and few more).
But as you guys say, its WIP, and im still keeping a eye on this one with high hopes :)
03/20/2009 (11:48 pm)
NOT to start pissing everyone off, but i have to say im a bit more down to earth.I (so far) have seen nothing that merits a (possible) high license price in this engine, sure, great artwork, great shaders and such, but shader and artwork isnt and has nothing to do with the engine/tools itself, those things can be used in any engine that supports shaders (i can name a few under 200$ for indie, like Unity3D, Blade3D and few more).
But as you guys say, its WIP, and im still keeping a eye on this one with high hopes :)
Torque 3D Owner Matt Huston