Torque (game engine)

Torque Game Engine

Developer(s)	GarageGames
Stable release	1.5.2 / May 15, 2007; 9 years ago (2007-05-15)
Operating system	Microsoft Windows, macOS, Linux
Platform	PC
Type	Game engine
License	MIT License
Website	Official Torque Game Engine product page

The Torque Game Engine, or TGE, is a 3D computer game engine originally developed by Dynamix for the 2001 first-person shooter Tribes 2. The current version is called Torque 3D.

The Torque engine and its many derivative products were available for license from GarageGames, a company formed by many members of the Tribes 2 team at Dynamix. GarageGames was later acquired by InstantAction, but on November 11, 2010, InstantAction announced that it was winding down its operations and looking for potential buyers for Torque. On January 19, 2011, GarageGames announced their return to their old name with new owners. Torque 3D and most of their other products were to continue being developed and supported.

GarageGames released Torque 3D under the MIT License on September 20, 2012.Torque 2D followed on February 5th, 2013 with continued development, latest release April 2016, on GitHub.

As well as being a 3D graphics engine, TGE provided networking code, scripting, in-engine world editing, and GUI creation. The source code could be compiled for Windows, macOS, Linux, Wii, Xbox 360, and iOS platforms. TGE shipped with starter kits for a first-person shooter and an off-road racing game. A real-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 of 3D models in the DTS and DIF file formats. DTS models were typically used for characters and vehicles though occasionally for buildings and interiors. They could be animated using either skeletal or morph target animation. It was also possible to blend multiple skeletal animations together by playing them simultaneously or automatically tweening the different positions of bones in the skeleton. DIF models have pre-calculated lighting and as such are ill-suited for animation. Instead, they were used for buildings and interiors. They automatically had bounding 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.