 | This article has multiple issues. Please helpimprove it or discuss these issues on thetalk page.(Learn how and when to remove these messages) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
|
| Torque Game Engine | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer | GarageGames |
| Initial release | September 28, 2009; 16 years ago (2009-09-28)[1] 1.2 (Open Source) : September 20, 2012; 13 years ago (2012-09-20)[2] |
| Stable release | |
| Repository | github |
| Written in | C++,C |
| Operating system | Windows,macOS,Linux |
| Platform | Personal computer |
| Type | Game engine |
| License | MIT License |
| Website | https://torque3d.org/ |
Torque Game Engine, orTGE, is an open-source cross-platform 3D computergame engine, developed byGarageGames and actively maintained under the current versionsTorque 3D as well asTorque 2D. It was originally developed byDynamix for the 2001first-person shooterTribes 2. In September 2012, GarageGames released Torque 3D as open-source software under theMIT License.[4]
Torque 3D features a world editor suite including tools for sculpting terrain and painting forests, drawing rivers and roads, as well as material, particle and decal editing. It supports the openCOLLADA file format as interface to 3D digital content creation software.PhysX provides support forcloth dynamics,rigid body dynamics, destructible objects and joints, as well as fluidbuoyancy simulation. Other features include adeferred lighting model and modern shader features such as dynamic lighting,normal andparallax occlusion mapping,screen space ambient occlusion,depth of field, volumetric light beam effects,lens flare/corona effects,refraction,bloom, blurring andcolor correction, among others. Networking functionality for multiplayer support is included as well. Build support is provided for desktopWindows,Linux,macOS and Web platforms.[5]
The Torque engine and its many derivative products were available for license fromGarageGames, a company formed by many members of theTribes 2 team at Dynamix. GarageGames was later acquired byInstantAction, but by November 2010, InstantAction began winding down its operations and looking for potential buyers for Torque.[6] In January 2011, GarageGames was re-acquired by Graham Software Development, and their name was reverted back to the original.[7]
GarageGames released Torque 3D as open-source software under theMIT License on September 20, 2012.[8][2] Torque 2D followed on February 5, 2013.[9] Torque 3D and most of their other products were to continue being developed and supported. The latest stable release of Torque 2D was marked May 2023 onGitHub,[10] and the latest stable release of Torque 3D was marked February 2023, onGitHub.[11]
The original Torque Game Engine, which has been superseded by Torque 3D, provided networking code, scripting, in-engine world editing, andGUI creation. Thesource code could be compiled forWindows,macOS,Linux,Wii,Xbox 360, andiOS platforms. TGE shipped with starter kits for afirst-person shooter and an off-road racing game. Areal-time strategy starter kit was also available as a separate purchase. These starter packs could be modified to suit the needs of the developer, or the developer could start from scratch.
The engine supported loading of3D models in the DTS and DIFfile formats. DTS models were typically used for characters and vehicles though occasionally for buildings and interiors. They could be animated using eitherskeletal ormorph target animation. It was also possible to blend multiple skeletal animations together by playing them simultaneously or automaticallytweening the different positions of bones in the skeleton. DIF models havepre-calculated lighting and as such are ill-suited for animation. Instead, they were used for buildings and interiors. They automatically hadbounding boxes that perfectly match the visible geometry. This was so that it was not made overly difficult for a player in a Torque Game Engine game to move or fire weapons around them.
The game featured a terrain engine that automatically createdLODs of the ground so that it rendered the fewest polygons necessary at any given time. The terrain was automatically lit, and textures applied to the terrain could be blended together seamlessly. The game's rendering engine featuredenvironment mapping,Gouraud shading, volumetric fog, and other effects such as decals that allowed for textures to be projected onto interiors in real time (for example, a player in a Torque Game Engine game might fire a weapon that left a bullet hole in the wall, and the bullet hole would be a decal). Torque supported networked games over LAN and the internet with a traditional client-server architecture. Server objects were "ghosted" on clients and updated periodically or upon events.
TorqueScript (also known as TS) is a coding language designed specifically for the Torque Game Engine, with a syntax similar toC++.[12]
Torque 3D, version 1.2, was released as open-source software under theMIT License on September 20, 2012, and is being actively maintained, the current version being 4.0.3.[13] Originating as a successor to Torque Game Engine Advanced (TGEA), Torque 3D featuresPhysX support, modern shader features, an advanceddeferred lighting model, as well as build support for Windows, macOS and Linux.[5] DTS and DIF have been superseded byCOLLADA, a more commonly supported interactive 3D model file format. The DIF format has been completely deprecated, while DTS is still used as an internal format.
| Version | Release date | Notes | Latest patch release |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.0 | September 2012[2] | Initial open-source software release derived from the proprietary 1.2 version. | 1.1 |
| 2.0 | December 2012[14] | Added a "Project Manager" to replace the "Toolbox" from the proprietary version of Torque 3D that had to be removed due to copyright issues. | |
| 3.0 | May 2013[15] | InitialOculus Rift support. | |
| 3.5 | November 2013[16] | Inclusion of aBlinn–Phong shading resource. | 3.5.1 |
| 3.6 | October 2014 | 64-bit andCMake support.[17] | 3.6.3 |
| 3.7 | June 2015[18] | InitialLinux support. | |
| 3.8 | October 2015[19] | Bugfixes. | |
| 3.9 | July 2016[20] | Bugfixes. | |
| 3.10 | February 2017[21] | OpenVR andOS X support. Final release from GarageGames. | |
| 4.0 | August 2022[22] | ImplementedPBR rendering, assets and modules system, addedAssimp library to support more model formats.[23] | 4.0.3 |
OriginallyTorque Game Builder, is a game engine designed for 2D games and based on theTorque Game Engine.[24] It was first released in 2006, in astandard and apro version, with the professional version including thesource code.[24] Torque 2D started asTorque Game Builder because the ultimate goal was to make it a game-making suite. It was used for instance to create the puzzle gameAnd Yet It Moves (2009, Broken Rules, WiiWare) and dozens of other games. The latest "Torque game builder" release was 1.7.6 from December 2011.[25] In 2012 aTorque 2D MIT edition was created as combination of the previous "Torque Game Builder" and iTorque 2d, an iOS fork.[26] On February 5, 2013,Torque 2D MIT was released in version 2.0 asopen source software.[9][27][28] Torque 2D's development continues onGitHub with latest version being v.3.4 from May 2018.[10]
| Version | Release date | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2.0 | February 2013[9] | Initial open-source software release. |
| 3.0 | May 2014[29] | Xbox 360 controller support. |
| 3.1 | August 2014[30] | Bitmap font support. |
| 3.2 | December 2015[31] | Ogg support. |
| 3.3 | April 2016[32] | Positional audio support. |
| 3.4 | May 2018 | Bugfixes. Final release from GarageGames. |
| 3.5 | June 2020 | NewParticle System. |
| 4.0 | Early Access |
Torque Game Engine Advanced (formerly known asTorque Shader Engine) was an expanded version ofTorque Game Engine made to support advanced technologies includingshaders, per-pixel lighting, and massive terrains. This version of the engine has been ported to Microsoft'sXbox andXbox 360 console systems. Several Xbox Live Arcade games have been released using the Torque engine, most notablyMarble Blast Ultra. First release was January 23, 2007 with the 4.2 Beta, production release of TGEA 1.0 and end ofEarly Adopter Program was on February 15 of the same year.
Although TGEA supported the existing Torque Legacy Terrain, TGEA incorporated entirely newterrain rendering engine, the Atlas Terrain Engine, which is an improvement over the blended terrains of TGE. Atlas used GPU hardware to render a massive terrain block and its textures. This allowed Atlas to scale with faster systems of the future. A shaded water rendering system was implemented with fullreflection,refraction, andFresnel reflection. TGEA incorporated a lighting system based on Torque Lighting Kit, including a light manager tool, scene lighting, and dynamic shadows among others.
Torque Game Engine Advanced 1.0 supportedDirect3D rendering via an API-independent graphics layer. Future versions were expected to support both Direct3D andOpenGL pipelines to allow TGEA to supportmacOS andLinux platforms as well asWindows. There had also been planned TGEA compatibility with Microsoft's game development suite for theXbox 360,XNA Game Studio Express. TGEA contained several ready-to-apply shaders and common shader settings. Custom shaders based onHigh Level Shader Language could be compiled by the engine and applied as custom materials. This could be applied to both interior and exterior type 3D art assets. Fallback materials could be configured to allow support of pixel and vertex 1.x first-generation video cards.
The latest release of TGEA, 1.8.2, became available in November 2009.
Torque Lighting Kit was an expansion pack to the Torque Game Engine developed by John Kabus and Synapse Gaming. It added a variety of enhanced lighting features to the Torque Game Engine. In the latest release,[33] features such asdynamic lighting and shadowing were added. Torque Lighting Kit was later included as part of Torque Game Engine 1.5 and Torque Game Engine Advanced. In 2008, Kabus and Synapse Gaming stopped supporting Torque, began a partnership withMicrosoft, and packaged their lighting technology and other new tech into the Sunburn XNA Game Engine.[34]
After the release of Torque Game Builder, GarageGames began to develop Torque X, a game engine based on Torque Game Builder using a component system that allows multiple game objects to have the same abilities, running onMicrosoft's XNA Framework.[35][36] Many of the 3D features were left incomplete and never finished. Specifically, 3D terrain using RAW height maps suffered from a lack of working examples, shadows were substandard (consisting only of a spherical shadow texture projected on the terrain), the ability to use skinned meshes for animated models was not working (non-skinned meshes worked), and the 3D rigid-body physics suffered from several issues.
The Torque engine and its derivatives have been used in the development of a variety of games, especially amongindependent video game developers.Commercial titles developed using the Torque engine includeBoneTown,Blockland,Marble Blast Gold,Minions of Mirth,TubeTwist,Ultimate Duck Hunting,Wildlife Tycoon: Venture Africa,ThinkTanks,The Destiny of Zorro,Penny Arcade Adventures andindie video gamesThe Age of Decadence,BeamNG.drive,The Cat and the Coup,Dead State,Frozen Synapse,S.P.A.Z. andVillagers and Heroes. Theopen-source video gameUebergame also uses the engine.[37]
Take Torque 2D, combine it with iTorque, add in Box 2D physics, several major enhancements and bug fixes, and make it open source. That is Torque 2D MIT.
