The TBG team has the opportunity to buy a Torque license very soon. TGEA now officially supports OS X, and claims to support Linux through the community (like 1.5). The minimum system requirements are higher (I have 2 computers that ran Blockland that won't run TGEA), however the graphics are more powerful and the engine is more stable. Please post here discussing your feelings about upgrading from TGE to TGEA.
From my understanding (I didn't do _too_ much research, so don't hold me to this) TGE isn't officially supported any more meaning they don't have a TGE community anymore, and have dropped many useful tools (for lack of a better term) and such related to TGE 1.5.

The TGE 1.5 license is still $150, but what is the point of getting a license if you can't use it to get the community benefits?

TGEA, however, is $250... Their 1.8 version is out right now though for open-beta. Trying it out would be the best idea in my opinion before we make a decision that could save or lose us $100....
I would definitely be in support o a move to TGEA; I think the benefits of the more powerful, more stable engine would ar outweigh limiting the machines it could be run upon.
I would support the move. I don't think the low-end users would be too offended... Evil or Very Mad
swivelgames wrote:
From my understanding (I didn't do _too_ much research, so don't hold me to this) TGE isn't officially supported any more meaning they don't have a TGE community anymore, and have dropped many useful tools (for lack of a better term) and such related to TGE 1.5.

The TGE 1.5 license is still $150, but what is the point of getting a license if you can't use it to get the community benefits?

TGEA, however, is $250... Their 1.8 version is out right now though for open-beta. Trying it out would be the best idea in my opinion before we make a decision that could save or lose us $100....


I'm pretty sure TGE is still community supported, they've just stopped active development.



Quote:
Scott Burns Torque Owner
01/26/2009 (6:37 pm)
TGE is not dead. GG has said they won't be updating the engine with new features, the engine is mature and stable.

It's a perfect choice for beginners and for situations were your target audience will likely be using low spec hardware.
Okay, so whats the plan? Stick with TGE? or move to TGEA?

I think TGEA would spark some new enthusiasm for TBG as well as motivate the devs...

Moving to a somewhat more advanced engine while keeping the basic techniques the same will not be too big of a hit (from what I'm aware of). I say I support it. $100 is worth it in my eyes (especially since it will be supported for longer (not just by the community, but also GG) and since it's growing I'm sure we won't be left out when it comes to pitching in our own thoughts about the engine to GG.
My only concern is performance. Will it be able to render the same amount of objects that TGE can? I would much rather have greater object count and performance than overall visual quality. Especially since blocklandcentral.com is developing a blockland-like source mod that would have all the visual orgasms one could ask for. Whoa, I feel like I've said this exact same thing before... weird...
lol, Calc, Thomas and I had a discussion about doing it on the Source engine... WAY too much power Laughing ... Who needs it?

And I'm sure it won't be too big of a deal. I mean, I'm not quite sure how TGEA renders its objects but it can't be TOO much different... I'd be surprised if it was much different. Performance shouldn't be a huge issue. Compared to how TBM performs at the moment though, I'm sure it will do better Razz (coding fail? lol)
I'm just saying I'd rather have better performance, no matter how small, than better visual quality. Then again, if TGEA would do baked vehicles better AND could have some semi-realistic airplane physics... I'd bite...
I wouldn't be surprised if it did... (though, I also wouldn't be too much surprised if it didn't...)

I vote "Ja"
I need more information on the differences between the two engines in order to make an informed decision.
DShiznit wrote:
I need more information on the differences between the two engines in order to make an informed decision.



http://www.garagegames.com/products/torque-3d


TGEA supports physics out of the box.
Fixes to object management will be almost the same in TGEA/TE vs. TGE. Rendering may be a bit different, but any object management classes you create should cross-apply assuming proper architecture.

If this were a project of mine at work, we'd get it prototyped up and running on the current engine before making the switch. As you guys still haven't had a release that handles ridiculously large object counts, does it really make sense to do an engine switch right now? No. Also, there will probably be upgrade pricing for TGE users, so it's not like you'll throw your money away.

There's no engine out there that can serve as a panacea for what you're trying to do. I feel that if you guys decide to switch engines at this stage, the chances of this project ever seeing completion - which is in doubt as it is - will be virtually null.

Work through the object management issues first, get a prototype that can handle >100k bricks up and running, and then you're ready to switch since the hard work - conceptualizing, architecting, and actually coding a management model for a huge number of objects - is already done. Getting that running is a HUGE, huge momentum builder...

Just my $0.02.
Luquado wrote:
Fixes to object management will be almost the same in TGEA/TE vs. TGE. Rendering may be a bit different, but any object management classes you create should cross-apply assuming proper architecture.

That's what I was assuming or I wouldn't be considering the switch at all, so the decision really is dependent on how easily we'll be able to migrate our scripts and resources to the new engine. The changes I've actually made to the 1.5 source I was playing with can be recreated in a single day of marathon coding, and the research I've done on the object management should still apply. Either way, I'll at least have access to TDN and the private GG forums, which will be a huge bonus.
Okay, then lets go with 1.5

I predict this weekend, but it might be a bit later. It all depends.

I'll have posted up whats going on by the start of next weekend.
And, don't forget, TGEA is also "dead tech walking" now, too, with Torque 3D being the scheduled replacement... and, T3D is rumored that it will be more expensive than TGEA.
Luquado wrote:
And, don't forget, TGEA is also "dead tech walking" now, too, with Torque 3D being the scheduled replacement... and, T3D is rumored that it will be more expensive than TGEA.


The TGEA page already uses the Torque 3D url. I don't feel any particular need for shaders in a lego game, but I also don't want to limit our potential modders from cooking up whatever they possibly can.
Why not use 1.5, but write in some of your own shaders like Badspot Did?

@Luqado: I don't think the goal here is rendering shit-loads of bricks, blockland will always top us at that, and to even try to compete with BL's rendering would be suicide. I think the point of this is to do shit-loads with whatever respectable number of bricks we can render, as that is where blockland is limited, and, I think, would be the best way to differentiate the two games.
DShiznit wrote:
Why not use 1.5, but write in some of your own shaders like Badspot Did?

@Luqado: I don't think the goal here is rendering <font color=red>censored</font>-loads of bricks, blockland will always top us at that, and to even try to compete with BL's rendering would be suicide. I think the point of this is to do <font color=red>censored</font>-loads with whatever respectable number of bricks we can render, as that is where blockland is limited, and, I think, would be the best way to differentiate the two games.


actually, my goal is to come pretty darn close to achieving a similar number of bricks *without* sacrificing those features. The biggest advantage from my perspective of upgrading to TGEA is the improved engine stability, and I'm not convinced that outweighs the loss of support for older computers given that 1.5 is pretty stable as it is, but we thought we'd ask for the community's input since you're the ones who will be playing the game.
elfprince13 wrote:
we thought we'd ask for the community's input since you're the ones who will be playing the game.
Honestly, everyone here, just about, as a computer that was purchased in the last two years, give or take a few months. I don't think the people with 1gig of RAM running at 1Ghz are going to care too much about TBG, let alone surfing the internet extensively these days. Honestly. They probably don't have the need to speed up their system.

Any gamer will, eventually, upgrade their system. It's not like you've got people playing Roller Coaster Tycoon anymore. Prices are cheap enough to upgrade. I say get the newer engine, and those with "older" systems will catch up soon enough.

How old of a computer are you planning to support? 95? 98? 2000? Those with non-intel dual-core duo processors?
  
Register to Join the Conversation
Have your own thoughts to add to this or any other topic? Want to ask a question, offer a suggestion, share your own programs and projects, upload a file to the file archives, get help with calculator and computer programming, or simply chat with like-minded coders and tech and calculator enthusiasts via the site-wide AJAX SAX widget? Registration for a free Cemetech account only takes a minute.

» Go to Registration page
Page 1 of 3
» All times are UTC - 5 Hours
 
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum

 

Advertisement