Torque 3D Development - Luma's racing kit

The hardest part about leading off with Apparatus' stuff is following it up with something a proper notch up. Thankfully, not only does Apparatus have a lot more to show us, but so do others in the Torque 3D lineup. Luma is located in South Africa and probably best known in the GG community for their Mini #37 racer made with TGE.

When we saw what Luma was capable of doing, we immediately wanted to talk with them about creating a racer for InstantAction. Talk moved quickly to creative action and the result is a new racing game in closed beta on InstantAction. It's absolutely fantastic.

I also talked to Luma a few months back about their interest in making racing games and better vehicle physics more accessible in Torque by providing a racing kit for Torque 3D based on the work they did in their new game. They took the idea a huge step further and offered to include a mountain of their most beautiful content. The Luma racing kit will included a full map / track from the final game and at least a couple high-end vehicles as well. All this in addition to Luma's new vehicle class code and racing logic will provide a huge leap forward for Torque 3D. If you have any interest in making a racing game with Torque 3D, or doing advanced vehicle physics and networking, this will be a must-have add-on.



As with Apparatus last week, I wanted to give Luma a chance to formally introduce themselves and their work to the community. I've gotten to know this crew fairly well in the past year, and they're definitely stand up dudes who do incredibly high quality work at a feverish pace. Central to the effort on the racing kit being prepped for Torque 3D are Luke Lamothe and Dale Best.

Dale's Bio

"For the last 15 years I have been involved in design, conceptualizing, executing and directing artwork in the interactive and advertising industries. This includes print, multimedia, web, animation, motion graphics and game development. My primary role at includes new business strategies, studio management and creative direction. I also get my hands dirty by being as hands on as I can in most of the projects in the studio."


"We're currently wrapping up a new racing title for InstantAction. The game was built in TGE 1.5. and we're busily going through a port to TGEA 1.7.1, and then TGEA 1.8. With that racing game, we've added a great deal of vehicle class refinements to Toruqe, and we're working on a racing kit as an add-on to Torque 3D allowing rapid prototyping of vehicle racing games. "

Luke's Bio

"After completing high school, I decided to pursue my love of video games by attending DigiPen, a school that specialised in teaching game programming. Upon graduating in 1998, I spent a year teaching at DigiPen before leaving in 1999 to pursue an opportunity to immigrate to South Africa where I became a founding member of I-Imagine, the first console game development studio in Africa. During my time at I-Imagine, I oversaw the completion of titles for Xbox, PS2, and PSP. In 2006 I left I-Imagine to join Luma Arcade where I have since worked on various PC titles including both MINI#37 and our new racer for InstantAction using Torque technology."


"Besides working on 3 game projects using various Torque engines, I've also been busy putting together the new racing kit for Torque 3D. This kit will be based upon a large chunk of the work that went into MINI#37 and subsequently our unnamed racer for InstantAction. The goal is to not only provide users with the ability to once again easily have wheeled vehicles up and running in Torque, but to provide all kinds of functionality that will allow the creation of kickass racing games using Torque 3D, and show that Torque isn't just for FPSs and RPGs!"



To get a sense of what you'll be able to do with Luma's racing kit for Torque 3D, here are some in-game shots from the closed beta of their InstantAction game...

Luke and Dale's Torque 3D Work

We'll revisit Luma's work later on with some more technical details about what will be included in the Luma racing kit. Until then, look for the debut of Luma's new racer on InstantAction.com, and keep your eyes peeled for the next Torque 3D development blog. There's MUCH more to come. This is post #3.

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!