It's been a few weeks since my last Blog update. I've been working with a new commercial-grade world editor tool from Quad Software, called Grome..

One of the biggest hurdles we have with the Torque engine is the lack of commercial-grade tools. Sure, it is possible to create world objects in 3ds, Maya, or even Blender, but in most cases, the exporters are either buggy, don't export everything, or require you to tweak with the exported object afterward. In fact, it's only been quite recently where we've been able to create terrains and paint them with multiple textures without pulling our hair out in the process.

Grome has been just plain awesome. It's a commercial terrain editor that not only allows us to build the large outdoor areas, but also allows placement of the indoor segments such as shacks, saloons, inns, and the like. Coming in at 299 Euros (about $470.00 USD), it's not a cheap editor for us little indys, but it will allow for world generation at a much faster pace than anything we were trying to do before.

Now, on a completely different topic; I've started a little side project which will hopefully bring in some additional financial assistance for Phoenix. In a little town called Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, Jim Strother is resuscitating the mother of all laser tag systems - Photon . Photon was the first, and in my opinion, the best laser tag system ever. Since Jim's original announcement of opening a Photon facility, he's met many obstacles, but the community around the game seems to be as active now as it was back in the 80s.

With the help of some 3D animator friends of mine (who I'd love to recruit into Phoenix, but alas, they cannot commit to the amount of time required), we're building our own version of Photon. The web site, which is not yet complete, is at: theultimategameonplanetearth.com. The aim of the game is to completely recreate the Photon experience. Everything from the game rules, playing fields, scoring, and the actual equipment that was in use. More information will be available on theultimategameonplanetearth.com.

This does not mean Phoenix is taking a back seat - quite the contrary. The development and eventual licensing of Photon will provide Phoenix with a financial adrenaline rush which we could really use.