Embarking on my first Torque2D project

I have been interested in programming games for a long time. In fact, I've even attempted a number of them with varying degrees of success. Right before I purchased Torque, I was attempting to write a sprite/tile library in Javascript. My theory was if you use all the JScript optimization tweaks, wrote the code with performance in mind, etc, that the inefficiencies of the language's execution in browsers could be overcome enough to, say, make a game on par with Team 17's 2D Worms games. In some ways, I came pretty close to achieving this. The problem, however, was performance. Hours of tuning would only slightly alleviate issues with physics, collision, and control responsiveness. Further, to even get decent performance, the compter could only be running the browser. Javascript is simply that inefficient!

The experience taught me that engine writing, for me, is no fun. I decided that if I was going to have fun making a game, I could go one of two routes. I could either use my copy of Flash MX (only $100 with my student discount at the time), or I could go out and purchase an existing engine. It wasn't a simple choice. On one hand, I'd already programmed a decent "Star Control II" Melee clone in Flash 4 using some fairly ingenius tricks, and figured MX could provide a much nicer game dev environment than its predecessor. On the other, I'm fluent in C/C++, and having a "real" engine would allow me more flexibility and possibilities.

Of course, I'm blogging on this site because I chose to do the latter. But because I didn't want to throw away some of that Flash experience, I'm once again programming a SC Melee clone. And I'm using the same spaceship art that I'd made before. (When I say "clone" I mean in terms of gameplay... the art/theme is original.) The Torque Game Builder, thus far, has been ideally suited to such a project. Since I work full time, go to grad school part time, and have a full-time girlfriend, I needed an engine that I could make progress on game with in a very limited amount of time. Thanks GG!

So what do I have thus far? I have two spaceships that are both controlled by dual analog joysticks, able to fly around and blow each other up. There's a simple menu to choose each player's ship type, the T2D splash screen, and auto-zoom on the two players ala SCM. What's next? A decent star field scrolling in the background. I can't wait to work on it. :)