The world is changin’, and I’m sure this trend will continue. I can even see some sort of engine-product revenue sharing model pop up with these free versions (think royalty-based sharing with products built using a free engine). My only question at this point is, “Who’s next?”

Granted, it’s the equivalent of the Indie version, but they were offering that version of the engine for $199 USD. That’s $199 I no longer have to worry about spending if I want to use the basic engine to prototype ideas (and maybe sell them).

My intuition is telling me this is a huge deal, not just for Unity but for the industry as a whole, particularly for the hobbyist, scientific, and independent developer.

I finally realized why I, and perhaps many others, have such a hard time with Torque: the engine's interface (the API). Starting with the integration of application code with engine code (no engine library/DLL), the engine's interface is ill-defined. The architecture is a flat hierarchy, and it's difficult to find begin/end points. There's nothing particularly wrong with this type of architecture from a design standpoint, but from a user standpoint, without decent tutorials and/or documentation the barrier of entry is higher for a system like Torque.

My aim is not to detract from the Torque engine, as it's a very capable engine, but I think I now understand that the interface is what prevents the engine from gaining greater acceptance, and in some ways the high barrier of entry created by the lack of a well-defined interface may be turning away potential users.

As for myself, I may still use it, but I need to look at it more. The inherent lack of user focus (re: the person using Torque) in the system's design really bothers me.

But my biggest peeve? The toolset. Embedded Direct3D-rendered tool interfaces with custom widgets are so 1990's.

I’ve actually had a license for a few years now (since the early adopter days), but I’ve never really used it. I’ve always disliked the architecture and really disliked the standard use of their scripting language TorqueScript – proprietary scripting languages just aren’t cool. In addition, documentation has been lacking, performance has needed a boost, and I’m also not a big fan of integrated (re: in-engine) toolsets. What’s wrong with wxWidgets or even a .NET editor application that uses the engine?

Having said that, it sounds like this new version (v1.7) might be addressing some of these areas that I’ve disliked. It doesn’t address all areas, but it looks like they are taking steps in the right direction.

Anyway, I’m just curious if anyone is willing to share their experiences with TGEA.