"Because this was the first such conference (at least in recent memory), much of the schedule was devoted to justifying its existence. The reason most often stated was philosophical: there's a sense that it's just a matter of time before an independent game really makes its mark on the world. After all, the roots of modern gaming come from founder-lead companies such as Origin and id. Less explicit is the idea that Garage Games has understandable commercial concerns. The Tribes 2 community was very well-represented, and the company plans to market services for independents.
"One such service is code licensing. Tribes 2 is built on the Torque game engine; an attractive, cross-platform 3D engine with an affinity for outdoor spaces. Much like other A-list titles (Unreal Tournament and Quake), the engine can be--and has been--reused in other games. Garage Games recently announced licensing terms that would let independent developers use Torque in their own games for a virtual pittance. Other proprietary engines go for hundreds of thousands of dollars.
"Of course, Torque is not the only option for a would-be developer with bigger dreams than bank accounts. The Open Source world is producing a staggering arsenal of engines and tools--Crystal Space, WorldForge, and Cube 3D, to name a few..."
