Need links to technical infos on Torque TGE 1.5.*

Browser_ICEBrowser_ICE Join Date: 2002-11-04 Member: 6944Members
in Off-Topic
<div class="IPBDescription">Plannign to design a world from A to Z</div>IBM where I work (on a contract) has at least 5 virtual world projects including building in Second Life. But the one that caught my attention is using the Torque TGE 1.5.1 engine, because they have practicly nothing done on it to show the user community what can be done with it. I am counting on designing my own virtual world in it to get hired on IBM on work on this sort of stuff (I would love it!!!).

But now I am discovering that this particular project has a problem. From a developer point of view, when buying a license, they have all the documentations (up to which quality, I do not know). But from a designer point of view, if you do not have access to that licence package (other then the engine itself), there are almost no official technical infos. These infos are either license owner restricted, partialy done by the community or simply like "Where the heck is it ?". Informations are scathered all over the place and the only ones I have access to are the community ones (between 2 to 5 years old) which are covering bits here and there.

Desining in Torque involves knowing their tools (which I am learning), using 3d max & MilkShape & QuarK & Photoshop (which I know and have).

I was giving my self 2 months to do this as I was told this summer that they have enough money to found my contract until december (my contact rewal/ending is May-2008). Things are not so great at IBM. In fact, it sucks just about everywhere.

I was thinking on designing a Domeworld space station. I still have to search infos for feasibility analysis.

Anyway, I've started to update their WIKI on how to create a virtual world from scratch, doing everything !

So my request for this thread is if anyone has links to technical infos about desining in Torque TGE, can you post them here ? I am looking at all possible specs needed to design a whole world from scratch, from A to Z, including terrain, DTS, DIF, datablocks, shaders, player model/animations, ... The whole kitenkaboutal.

In the mean time, I am lerking in Garagegames`s site, looking for any bits of info that can be usefull to me.
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  • ThaldarinThaldarin Alonzi&#33; Join Date: 2003-07-15 Member: 18173Members, Constellation
    Expand on virtual world. From what I understand Torque is based on a basic level BSP system like that seen in Half-Life 1 isn't it?
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  • Browser_ICEBrowser_ICE Join Date: 2002-11-04 Member: 6944Members
    <!--quoteo(post=1657045:date=Oct 21 2007, 01:03 PM:name=Thaldarin)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Thaldarin @ Oct 21 2007, 01:03 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1657045"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Expand on virtual world. From what I understand Torque is based on a basic level BSP system like that seen in Half-Life 1 isn't it?<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    I think but I do not know for sure.

    I know it has its own world editors involving DIF objects (structures you can walk in), DTS (objects) but the terrain is just a plane you model either with a height map or through procedural functions.

    DTS can be produced via 3dmax, milkshapes and the sorts.
    DIF can be produced with QuarK or with their own DIF constructor

    its just that their site sucks on specs unless you are the owner of a licensed product. If not, you are being blocked from their official docs. Dumb idea I say. I found a few links on internet while being not busy at work yesterday.


    Torque is the base engine of Tribes-2 by Garagegames
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  • ThaldarinThaldarin Alonzi&#33; Join Date: 2003-07-15 Member: 18173Members, Constellation
    I'm no coder or web-dev but I don't see how you can create a sustainable virtual world on the torque engine that follow the likes of MMO's and Second Life.
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  • SwiftspearSwiftspear Custim tital Join Date: 2003-10-29 Member: 22097Members
    <!--quoteo(post=1657204:date=Oct 22 2007, 03:31 PM:name=Thaldarin)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Thaldarin @ Oct 22 2007, 03:31 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1657204"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->I'm no coder or web-dev but I don't see how you can create a sustainable virtual world on the torque engine that follow the likes of MMO's and Second Life.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
    The biggest hurdle would be handling map area transfers and writing a persistent server model. (I really have no idea, but I'm of the assumption that if there is currently a torque multiplayer engine it's most likely client server... IE, the same format the HL engine multiplayer uses)

    From what I understand, from a technical perspective torque's only real asset is that it's a mostly finished rendering engine, which is a huge pain to write from scratch.
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  • Browser_ICEBrowser_ICE Join Date: 2002-11-04 Member: 6944Members
    Torque is a multiplayer game engine that can run as a client and server.

    If I am asking for infos for a virtual world creation, it is because my company is using it as a server where all the data will be hosted and any employee can then use a copy as a client to connect to it and interract. Therefore I am searching for any official specs on designing it. Garagegames`s site doesn't supply a proper documentation site.
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  • SwiftspearSwiftspear Custim tital Join Date: 2003-10-29 Member: 22097Members
    Aye bowser... The best I can give you is that other people I know who have experience playing with the engine say similar things. I don't really know anything about it myself.
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  • Browser_ICEBrowser_ICE Join Date: 2002-11-04 Member: 6944Members
    edited October 2007
    Well so far, I am doing good. I made the terrain (map if you like) and textured it. It is inside a domeworld (the sky is a simple 3d rendering I did of the dome ceilling from ground to top and you can see space through it and a planet I made is visible too). The terrain is a desolated place with no vegetation. You can see big metal plates showing through the ground due to wear and tear of the ground itself, suggesting beneeth the terrain shape are metal plates making that shape. In the middle there is a kind of a small island in a small lake.

    Now I have to do the modeling of the structures. Don't know if I will do the avatar from scratch, might not have time for it.

    What I hate about this engine is the fact that no matter the size of the terrain (squaresize=8 gives 65535), the texture tiles on that terrain will always be 32 x 32. So imagine a maximum texture size of 256x256 bits tiles on a terrain texture tile that is roughly 7mx7m !!!!! Boy this engine needs improvement on the texture (I have no control over that).


    Terrain shape +texture done with Torque terrain editor. You can use a height map for the terrain base shape.
    Structures (DIF) are done with either QuarK or Torque Constructor
    Objects (DTS) are done with 3rd party 3d tools like 3dmax, milkshape, ...
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