I've used 3DGS, and recently bought Torque. I'd have to say that 3DGS is definately easier to get into, and to start making the games you want. With Torque, you might muddle along for a bit modding starter.fps, but you're not coding behaviour from scratch like with C-script.
When you really get the hang of Torque, it's great. But that's assuming you can handle the steep learning curve. 3DGS gets you started off far more easily and gently, and it's got a more 'game creation package' feel. You have WED, MED, SED, and that's really all you need. For Torque, you have the engine code, the scripts, world editor, then you need a modeler and BSP editor. It's a bit of a pain to get everything set up and working.
As for the engine's power, I'd have to put them at 'equal but different'. I'll compare TGE 1.5 and 3DGS A6 Commercial - they're the same price. They both do some pretty standard stuff - bones animation, etc. 3DGS does shaders, normal mapping and the like, whereas you need TGE Advanced to do that in Torque. Torque does beautiful repeating terrains, which 3DGS doesn't handle too well. Torque has very nice network support for huge amounts of players - 3DGS can support 4. (Well, with Populace that's up to 32, isn't it? But that costs extra.) Torque can do pretty nice stencil shadows and dynamic lighting, but 3DGS has been pretty restricted in that regard (dynamic lights may be fixed in A7, though. How 'bout dynamic shadows?).

I'd have to say, on balance, that 3DGS is much better for beginners, and probably more flexible. But if you want serious multiplayer or large terrains, go with Torque.

Last edited by Gorthaur; 02/25/07 17:54.