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GarageDeveloper Newsletter - April 3, 2007
Published on a nearly regular basis by the guys at GarageGames.com.
This one is April 3, 2007.
IN THIS NEWSLETTER...
CONSTRUCTOR
TGB AND BEHAVIORS
INTEL GAME DEMO CONTEST
FEATURED DEVELOPER: THE TREBLEMAKERS
CONSTRUCTOR
It was no April Fools joke:
Constructor will be available for absolutely FREE on April 9th. The April 1st announcement wasn't an accident either. It was GarageGame's way of poking fun at ourselves for the long development process, while at the same time being
able to watch our users debate about the veracity of the announcement. We're just cruel like that. :)
Why would we give away something that we have worked on for over two years? In the end, it all comes down to trusting and believing in our mission statement, and empowering game developers out there to make their games. We truly believe
that anyone who wants to make great games should be able to do so, and making Constructor available to anyone who wants it brings us one step closer to that goal. The Torque community has stuck with us patiently as we've worked so long and
hard on Constructor, and partially as a way to say thanks, we wanted to make Constructor freely available.
Torque Constructor, releasing on both Windows and Mac, improves TGE and TGEA in an area which has been in need of improvement for some time: the art pipeline.
Constructor is a Constructive Solid Geometry (CSG) WYSIWYG brush editor that supports export of buildings and structures to numerous industry-standard CSG model (.map) formats, or seamlessly exports directly into the Torque Game Engine or
Torque Game Engine Advanced.
To learn more about Constructor visit the
landing page.
TGB AND BEHAVIORS
TGB 1.5 Beta has just been released! If you're a registered users of TGB, there is now a new download link available for the 1.5 Beta build. Simply go to your My Account page to see the link.
The build comes with new and improved Behaviors for both Windows and Mac, which allows developers to add small bits of functionality to objects that can be configured through the editor without having to open a script file and type in
anything. With Behaviors it is possible to create entire games without writing a single line of script or ever leaving the Torque Game Builder tool!
The Beta isn't a complete release, but we wanted to make it available to those users who are already familiar with TGB and are willing to put up with a few bugs in order to be in on the more recent software developments GarageGames has to
offer. If perfectly working tutorials are more important to you than having the very latest build of the engine, we suggest waiting for the release version of the software, which will guarantee the most up-to-date documentation.
Here are just a few of the features that the 1.5 Beta adds or improves upon:
An adjustable editor window
Windows/Mac-specific cursors, menus, file dialogs, and message boxes
A prompt asking if you'd like to save your changes when closing a level
Current 1.5 Beta and 1.1.3 Mac Builds
Drag-and-Drop file importing for PNG, JPG and BMP file formats
Remote file saving
For more complete information on the TGB 1.5 Beta release, visit the release
Plan or the
TGB Beta Forums. The latest info on Behaviors can be found
here.
INTEL GAME DEMO CONTEST
If you like cash and prizes (a long-shot, I know), you might want to check out the
Intel Game Demo Contest. Some of the more interesting development-related prizes include:
Meetings with game company executives -- for a possible bundling deal
A Gateway gaming machine worth at least $3,000
$5,000 in custom art for your demo
A Giga pass to the Game Developers Conference 2008
Copies of Garage Games' Torque Engine Advanced and other content prizes
A full suite of Intel® Software Development Products
A free copy of Constructor (available April 9th)! ;)
The two categories are Best Threaded Game and Best Game on the Go (laptop gaming). You retain ownership of all IP, so there's not too much of a downside, and at worst you'll gain some exposure for your project! You can find more info on
the project
here.
FEATURED DEVELOPER: THE TREBLEMAKERS
Besides having a great name, this weeks developer is the creator of Opera Slinger: a freeware game combining elements of Karaoke and classic platformer action. Seriously. The game was the 2007 Student Showcase winner at the Independent
Games Festival, receiving praise for its unique approach and high production value. Opera Slinger will be released to the
Game Store in the coming days. Until then, here's what The Treblemakers have to say about the making of their new game:
All right. You're going to make your first major video game. You have a team of ten students, three months of pre-production followed by three months of production, and your game concept is… karaoke platforming?
At the Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy (FIEA), this odd idea became our Master of Science thesis project and consumed our lives for more than six months in the process. We conquered technical and design hurdles ranging from the
necessity of a homemade pitch detection system to a massive project revamp halfway through the game's development cycle!
Along the way, we learned that the best game designs are simple, consistent, and polished to a razor shine. We were able to spiral out successfully from one core design - chasing spotlights and singing to win fan favor - in order to create
a complete and professional product.
Opera Slinger was selected as a Student Showcase winner at the 2007 Independent Games Festival, and represents how solid teamwork, polish, and design can create a successful game!
The next Developer Newsletter will provide more update info on Torque X and TGE 1.5.1, as well as a new Featured Developer.
Until then... GG out.
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