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Ratcheting Up the Fun
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The Torque Game Engine started life at Dynamix, a development division of game giant Vivendi Universal Publishing, where the five GarageGames founders — Moore, Tunnell, Frohnmayer, Tim Gift (director of technology), and Rick Overman (director of technology) — created the engine as part of their work on Starsiege, Tribes, and Tribes 2.
“We tired of the large corporate ownership of the company and wanted to break away and try something different,” explains Tunnell. “Using our position at Dynamix, we were able to negotiate the use of the core 3D engine [we had developed]. That’s what became Torque. “The Torque Game Engine levels the playing field for indie developers” he adds. “Since they don’t have to focus on creating a technology from scratch, our developers can spend all of their time making a fun game. Our biggest goal is to bring attention to, and legitimize, the independent games market, so developers that choose not to go the big corporate publishing route can make extra money, learn their craft or even make a living.” Asked to mention some of the advantages of the Torque Game Engine, Chait rattles off a list: “Multiplatform. Flexible. Genre agnostic. A scripting system that can do almost anything. People implementing great leading edge solutions and giving them back to the entire user base.” Tunnell adds his own: “Multi-player net code that is proven to be as good as any in the industry, large terrains, seamless transitions from interiors to exteriors, scripting language, state-of-the-art skeletal or vertex animation system, and a built-in mission editor.” In other words, almost anyone can create just about any type of game with the TGE. Tunnell estimates that the GarageGames development community now numbers over 15,000 people around the world. The company is based in Eugene, Oregon, where it hosts an annual IndieGamesCon; last November, developers came from as far away as Malaysia and the Netherlands to learn more about independent game development from one of the leaders in the business.
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 Twists and Turns. Can you make it to the goal?  Game, Set, Match. Stage tennis tournaments with the furry critters.  Spooky Stuff. It’s not always easy to reach the stars in Orbz.  Free For All. Invite your friends to join you for large-scale ThinkTank warfare. |
