Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Torque Network Gaming Library Released Open Source

Posted by simoniker on from the ping-marvellous dept.

An anonymous user writes "GarageGames launched the Torque Networking Library under the GPL today - this is the PC game networking technology behind Tribes and Tribes 2. It's also available under indie and commercial licenses for closed source projects, but OpenTNL.org is the home for the open source release, which also has an official FAQ online. Along with the library itself is a master server implementation for game tracking, a graphical test app, Zap and a retro-styled space shooter."

7 of 183 comments (clear)

  1. Awesome news! by TempusMagus · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I've been using the Torque engine for sometime. And I gotta say, these guys are doing it right! People still play Tribes 2 and it can handle 60 (yes six-zero) players on a beefy box with little lag. Props out to them.

    --
    -_-
    1. Re:Awesome news! by Mark+Frohnmayer · · Score: 5, Informative

      Yes, TNL can easily handle 60 players who all have line of sight to each other. TNL takes a different approach - for most simulations the TNL server allots a fixed amount of bandwidth per client (Tribes 2 was 3K per second), regardless of how many objects are visible to that client. For each packet the server sends, it proritizes objects based on relevance to the client and then writes updates based on that priority. TNL performs a bunch of other tricks to reduce bandwidth usage as well. Take a look at the design fundamentals for more in depth info.

  2. Re:Linux Games by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It's quite likely ID Software is going to release the Quake 3 source under the GPL once Doom III is out, but only time will tell.

  3. I've been working with Torque by oskillator · · Score: 5, Informative
    I've been working with the Torque engine for a while, and my assessment is that it's very solid where it counts (assuming you want to make a tribes-like game), but surprisingly flimsy in areas like extensibility and documentation.

    I imagine it's par for the course in the game industry, where code is written to be abandoned within a few years.

  4. opensource games? by apachetoolbox · · Score: 5, Funny

    Great! 100 sourceforge game project leaders just jumped for joy. Then went right back to not writing and linux games.

  5. Re:Other good network layers by ezavada · · Score: 5, Informative

    Hmm... I guess I really should have hit preview.

    I meant to say:

    Other network layers to look at are OpenPlay and SDL net, both of which are also also free and OpenSource.

  6. Re:OSS MMORPG by QuasiCoLtd · · Score: 5, Funny

    Hey... lets combine the two! See, heres the idea, you want to download something but instead of the search bar you literally have to go out and search for what you want. Perhaps you can bribe the drunk at the bar for some information as to the wereabouts of that song you wanted. Sercheth thou for pr0n? You ust first complete the task given to you by the local flower girl and she will present you with many naughty pictures of her and her sister (who she claims is 18). Watch out though, along the way you must fight many foul creatures such as leechers, corrupt files, viruses, and RIAA lawyers.