The Future of TT from GG!

[TrouserChili]

Very interesting link, Triv. And if "given" is accurate that could mean they would be open to the same for TT, especially considering it was much less popular than Legions and so less likely to have significant value.

"A team of dedicated community members including new and old faces have been given the source code and permission from InstantAction to continue developing and distributing Legions as a standalone game. No browser will be required! The game will be free for everyone to download."

[supratank]

Someone should approach them and ask for the code.

However, I thought that the reason they denied the possibility of us having the code last time was related to what code was in TT that was also in Torque. That problem is bigger for them, then giving the game away - ie that source code for the product they are still selling would be revealed.

Am i wrong here? Could be.

[Baba]

It seems a very good, and critical time, to contact anyone at GG/Torque that we might know about relieving them of some of their assets (ie TT source code and master server)

by Eric Preisz · 11/11/2010 (1:00 pm) · 540 comments
Today, InstantAction informed employees that it will be winding down operations. While we are shutting down the InstantAction.com website and Instant Jam game, Torquepowered.com will continue to operate while InstantAction explores opportunities with potential buyers for Torque. We thank all of our past and current customers for their support.

- Torque Management

Does anyone know the whereabouts of Mark McCoy (56K)? He (and his brother and father) were active TT players in the earlier days and he went on to work at GG .
Or others who we may have had contact with over the years? I know some had been in contact with some of the original BraveTree peeps (Joe and company).

[Reagent X]

I know that Mark McCoy left GG some time ago. I got an e-mail from him maybe 6 months ago or so. I will try and dig it up when I get home.

I did go so far as to e-mail the CEO (with a cc to Joe M) at one point asking if we could buy the game. They were willing to listen, but were quick to point out that we would still be bound by some legal terms, as they would still own some part of it (like Supra said).

I will dig up the previous e-mail trail and follow up with Joe & Co., assuming he is still there...

EDIT:
OK, inquiry e-mail sent off to Joe.

EDIT:
Ack - it bounced!

[Reagent X]

can someone find out if Josh Williams is still the CEO of GG, and if so dig up his e-mail address? He was sympathetic to my previous inquiry, so if he is still there he would be my 2nd choice of a person to contact. Wonder what happened to Joe.

EDIT:
his linkedin profile says he is "Independent Consultant on hiatus" since 3/2009.

[supratank]

This is what I found over at torquepowered.com:

2 emails that seem to be capturing all of the request right now:

licensing (at) torquepowered.com or sales (at) torquepowered.com,

Also, it looks like Eric Preisz or David Montgomery-Blake are handling inquiries right now.

[Dazzle]

Perhaps the demise of IA was always on the cards as many of us pretty much knew that when it came to TT they probably went about it the wrong way, although TT was not the main focus of IA but I believe could have played a much bigger part in attracting committed players to IA if TT had been produced for IA using some of this communities suggestions. Its quite obvious this statement is correct as this site has attracted a number of players from IA since it shut down and most of their comments are very positive about our version of the game.

On the subject of the source, I have to ask the question do we really need it? What will it accomplish? How many still involved in TT will actually know what to do with it? Sure overtime there are things that could be developed to bring TT up to date but have we not survived incredibly successfully since TT's release, developed our own codes, maps and gametypes without access to the source or having any upgrades?

Having said that I also realise what owning this code could mean for the game and I suggest that something with GG might be negotiated in two parts:

1) Secure the rights to market the game in its current state with additional information for the buyer to download automatic updates that will install modpacks, game upgrades such as rader and hot keys and update the master server information if needed. These should be relatively simple in instigate and any revenue generated could be used to support this website.

2) Once we prove our ability to deliver point 1 above and that we are serious and committed to the development of TT we will then be in a position to negotiate the source and carefully develop the game in a way the community believe will take TT to the next level. There is also no reason why we have to own it outright, it could even be a venture with GG.

I will say at this point that having messed and modded this game for more hours than I care to think, there are many many things that could be added to the game - if the opportunity arises for us to acquire the source great care must be taken so that we do not over complicate or over enhance a game that is basic in its design and take away the number one attractiveness of TT and the thing that keeps us coming back time after time and that is the game play.

Just my thoughts

Daz

As far as I can establish:
Louis Castle (CEO)
Eric Preisz (VP Torque)

[Baba]

Good thoughts there Daz.

I did find Mark McCoy's (56K lagman's) email address, from an email he sent me about a year ago.
I wrote him and asked if he could weigh in here on his thoughts on the matter at hand.
That said, I see he last logged in on the GG/Torque site over a year ago, so he may well have moved on completely.
Though I would value his insight.

Joe Maruschak's last log in at GG/Torque was in June 2010.
His last forum entry was in 2008 when he was responding to Tank Dorks lament over the dropping of the development of TT and giving the "move it to IA" pitch.

(btw whoever Tank Dork is now please give me a shout.)

Apparently Torque (formerly IA, formerly Garage Games who bought Brave Tree) recently moved from Oregon to Las Vegas, they had hired a handful of new employees, then the bomb dropped about a week ago that IA was shutting down, many employee's were getting layed off and they are looking for a buyer for Torque.
The emails below are probably the best to contact anyone in the company.

Employee Eric Preisz
Torque
11/11/2010 (1:45 pm)
Thanks everyone. Its a sad day for us and me personally. But we are holding out hope for opportunities on the horizion. Questions are best sent to support@torquepowered.com or licensing@torquepowered.com. We will need to sort through your e-mails over the next few weeks.

It doesn't sound like they will be around for much longer, at best The Torgue engine will be gobbled up by another company, but that will leave us in the TT community even further away from the origins of the game, and with less of an option to have access to any of it.

[Cloud]

It sounds like Torque is just going out of business. Will they be bought out by another company? I haven't heard from 56k or joe(pokemalo) in years as they have not kept up with the community of TT.

This could be our best shot at attaining the source code though. Last time they wanted 6 figure for it... lol

As for PTT2, there are some issues with seeing the forumes when not logged in. I am in the processing of contacting doc, and hopefully it should be fixed soon. Sorry for the inconvenience.

[Reagent X]

OK, message sent off to licensing@torquepowered.com.

Here's what I sent:

Dear GarageGames/Torque:

In the past, I had been in correspondence with Joe Maruschak and Jon Williams about the potential for releasing the stand alone ThinkTanks source code to the community for continued evolution and development. I now see that they are no longer there, and that Instant Action is coming down.

We have been an enthusiastic and dedicated community of players that has stuck together for over 6 years and evolved the existing stand-alone Think Tanks game considerably. We have several vibrant leagues*, and despite many setbacks our community has somehow managed to stay together (we are now centralized at http://www.planetthinktanks2.com).

We noticed that the Legions code has been released to the community for continued development, and we were wondering if a similar arrangement would be possible for TT. We have many talented coders, passionate players, and many talented league organizers (myself being one of them).

We would love to see TT have the chance to breathe and grow the way it should. There is something very special about this game: so simple, yet very sophisticated group gameplay, and enough realistic physics to make this an unmatchable gaming experience.

Please see the thread below concerning my past correspondence with Joe Maruschak (the original TT creator) and Josh Williams (former CEO of GG).

We would be eager to hear your position on possible arrangements to allow us to take TT to the next level. We are motivated not by $$, but by the opportunity to grow and evolve this amazing game.

Sincerely,

#### (aka Reagent X)
###, CA

*for a recent example of our PsychoScrum League finals matches, check out this movie: http://homepage.mac.com/peptoids/PSL17_finals.mov.

...rest of email thread from before...

Will keep you posted if we get a response.