Torque 360 1.5 released

GarageGames today released Torque 360 1.5, the latest revision of its game engine for Xbox 360 development. The update brings performance enhancements and additional functionality -- including support for GarageGames' Torque Game Builder drag-and-drop 2D engine and tools. Torque 360 received numerous improvements in 2007 and now shares code entirely with Torque Game Engine Advanced for PC development, according to GarageGames. Developers can use Torque 360 to build a game on separate PCs with just one development kit for testing.

Torque 360 1.5 features an abstracted graphics layer, physics layer, and a new sound system. The software ships with a sample implementation for Xbox 360 specific functionality including leaderboards, sign-on/sign-off, multiplayer lobbies, and voice chat. Additionally, Torque 360 handles automatic generation of vertex and pixel shaders consistent with the Torque texture pipeline.

"Our Torque 360 code base benefited from a number of significant improvements in the past year. We've made large stability and rendering optimizations and developers should see increased performance in almost every area," said Pat Wilson, engine developer at GarageGames. "Games like Buccaneer, Marble Blast Ultra, and Screwjumper have begun to show what Torque 360 is capable of."

By Electronista Staff