Learning curve... my eyes!!!
by Ben Wilder · 12/03/2006 (11:47 am) · 13 comments
Ola peeps,
Thought i'd doc / blog my progress with TGE, may go some way to keeping me involved and interested!
A little about me:
Skills:
Developer: C#, VB, Perl, SQL ..and all sorts of scripting languages
Admin: Windows server, Fedora, All sorts of Dbs etc
Game programming skills:
Spectrum 128K (feel the power)
Easy Amos on the Amiga
Gamer profile:
Exceptionally low boredom threshold when it comes to games (where's the gameplay these days?)
Stop sniggering. The speccy ruled! But that's really it - no game programming background to speak of!
So i stumbled across TGE and garage games, thought "what the hell" and bought it, with the intention of having a tinker to see if it was the sort of product i could actually get on board with and create something.
And yes indeed it is. Rather a learning curve. I think the amount of resources is fantastic - but there is a distinct lack of tutorial resource for those that have followed the getting started turorial and want to progress to the next stage. Having said this, i did buy the superb "Game programmers guide to Torque" and it goes a long way in helping!
What i have learnt so far is this:
Fiddle - Tweak, delete and test, it's the only way to really start understanding how TGE works
Backup - I backup every 30 mins, trust me if your new to TGE.... backup up your work often
Gui editing - Fear it. You'll mess it up, and if you haven't got backups.. you'll cry.
Art assets - Unless you have a mate who's good with Photoshop and Max (or Gimp and Blender), you gotta do it yourself!
Enough rambling... what am i creating?
Something FUN.
I haven't the time to spend a year creating the finest textures / models / audio known to gamerkind and i don't have a team of 20 highly qualified game industry nuts. I have me, and most evenings a can of Cider, a rather understanding girlfriend and the telephone number of a very reputable local pizza delivery franchise.
So.. it's a sub game. I've put about 40 hours behind it so far from purchasing TGE and boy is it fun :)
Here's the skinny:
Game concept:
Underwater submarine scenario
Mulitplayer deathmatch style with a twist
Atmospheric without oodles of natty art (yes that IS possible)
Players use submarines, with a focus on control of their vehicle as well as trigger finger
Simple random power-ups / bonuses that don't make player capabilities too uneven but do add some spice
Simple graphics, relying more on entertaining game play than fancy art!
Tools:
TGE - game engine
Photoshop - art
Soundforge / Cooledit pro - audio
Milkshape - 3D modelling
Scrumpy Jack Cider - relief
www.slayradio.org - C64 remix radio ... the ultimate in geek
Intesting TGE bits so far:
Easier to do an underwater game not underwater! Have used plenty of fog and tweaked the sky / sun parameters
Needed to buy and download the Warsparrow content pack to figure out how flying vehicles with weapon mounts were done in milkshape! (awesome - purchased, downloaded, read through and fully functioning submarine model created within a few hours!)
Here's what it looks like so far:
Keep you posted.
Thought i'd doc / blog my progress with TGE, may go some way to keeping me involved and interested!
A little about me:
Skills:
Developer: C#, VB, Perl, SQL ..and all sorts of scripting languages
Admin: Windows server, Fedora, All sorts of Dbs etc
Game programming skills:
Spectrum 128K (feel the power)
Easy Amos on the Amiga
Gamer profile:
Exceptionally low boredom threshold when it comes to games (where's the gameplay these days?)
Stop sniggering. The speccy ruled! But that's really it - no game programming background to speak of!
So i stumbled across TGE and garage games, thought "what the hell" and bought it, with the intention of having a tinker to see if it was the sort of product i could actually get on board with and create something.
And yes indeed it is. Rather a learning curve. I think the amount of resources is fantastic - but there is a distinct lack of tutorial resource for those that have followed the getting started turorial and want to progress to the next stage. Having said this, i did buy the superb "Game programmers guide to Torque" and it goes a long way in helping!
What i have learnt so far is this:
Fiddle - Tweak, delete and test, it's the only way to really start understanding how TGE works
Backup - I backup every 30 mins, trust me if your new to TGE.... backup up your work often
Gui editing - Fear it. You'll mess it up, and if you haven't got backups.. you'll cry.
Art assets - Unless you have a mate who's good with Photoshop and Max (or Gimp and Blender), you gotta do it yourself!
Enough rambling... what am i creating?
Something FUN.
I haven't the time to spend a year creating the finest textures / models / audio known to gamerkind and i don't have a team of 20 highly qualified game industry nuts. I have me, and most evenings a can of Cider, a rather understanding girlfriend and the telephone number of a very reputable local pizza delivery franchise.
So.. it's a sub game. I've put about 40 hours behind it so far from purchasing TGE and boy is it fun :)
Here's the skinny:
Game concept:
Underwater submarine scenario
Mulitplayer deathmatch style with a twist
Atmospheric without oodles of natty art (yes that IS possible)
Players use submarines, with a focus on control of their vehicle as well as trigger finger
Simple random power-ups / bonuses that don't make player capabilities too uneven but do add some spice
Simple graphics, relying more on entertaining game play than fancy art!
Tools:
TGE - game engine
Photoshop - art
Soundforge / Cooledit pro - audio
Milkshape - 3D modelling
Scrumpy Jack Cider - relief
www.slayradio.org - C64 remix radio ... the ultimate in geek
Intesting TGE bits so far:
Easier to do an underwater game not underwater! Have used plenty of fog and tweaked the sky / sun parameters
Needed to buy and download the Warsparrow content pack to figure out how flying vehicles with weapon mounts were done in milkshape! (awesome - purchased, downloaded, read through and fully functioning submarine model created within a few hours!)
Here's what it looks like so far:
Keep you posted.
#2
12/03/2006 (12:40 pm)
Very cool. Glad you're having fun with TGE. Same here after two years. :) 
#5
12/03/2006 (4:00 pm)
Great concept... keep at it! 
#6
12/03/2006 (8:01 pm)
Sounds like your making progress, and enjoying it ... keep us posted, I'd love to demo your game when it's ready. I also like the 'underwater while not underwater' concept -- great way to trick your way into simpler coding ;)
#7
So I hope the best with that project, and gameplay is the way to go. I think most gamers would agree they'd prefer a title that has very enjoyable game play and only decent graphics. I just downloaded Doom for Xbox arcade and can't stop playing it and the graphics on that for current time is horrible.
12/03/2006 (9:13 pm)
I found the same problem after the getting started tutorials and did not buy the book, and the progress I've made with TGE is minimal, so I've switched to TGB for now to really get a hand on scripting and hopefully basic networking before trying tge again. I think I got this for all the same reasons you did, I find games to get boring very fast now a days. normally about a month on a new game and it's getting old. Not like in the old days where I'd get a game and play it forever, good example doom and the first command $conquer. So I hope the best with that project, and gameplay is the way to go. I think most gamers would agree they'd prefer a title that has very enjoyable game play and only decent graphics. I just downloaded Doom for Xbox arcade and can't stop playing it and the graphics on that for current time is horrible.
#8
Currently getting everything to look "underwater like" is a fine balance. I'm playing alot with light colours, fog levels, and snow (slowed right down - and have altered the snow.png, to use small semi-transparent plankton images!)
Next step is to do some REAL scripting and get the multiplayer working, i have 2 machines to test on, so it should be fun. As soon as basic multiplayer functionality is there, i can put more work into the gameplay elements.
@JSears - spot on, Doom and C&C were fantastic. I remember playing Duke 3d / shadow warrior etc over null modem cable. I would play for hours and hours with friends. I frequently took 6 hours to complete a mission on C&C (as my PC was rather outdated). I haven't spent that much time in one sitting with a game since! Hope your experience with TBG is a good one!
12/04/2006 (1:15 am)
Thanks for the encouragement all, i'll keep you posted as to developments!Currently getting everything to look "underwater like" is a fine balance. I'm playing alot with light colours, fog levels, and snow (slowed right down - and have altered the snow.png, to use small semi-transparent plankton images!)
Next step is to do some REAL scripting and get the multiplayer working, i have 2 machines to test on, so it should be fun. As soon as basic multiplayer functionality is there, i can put more work into the gameplay elements.
@JSears - spot on, Doom and C&C were fantastic. I remember playing Duke 3d / shadow warrior etc over null modem cable. I would play for hours and hours with friends. I frequently took 6 hours to complete a mission on C&C (as my PC was rather outdated). I haven't spent that much time in one sitting with a game since! Hope your experience with TBG is a good one!
#9
anything that has to do with submarines and related stuff is of interest to me... as i'm also working on a submarine game... and have run into the same things that you are running into now...
the networking stuff... essential to understand, as it is at the heart of the game engine itself, and pervades almost everything you do in TGE... was really first revealed to me in an article titled Scripting For the torque Game Engine, i can't find a good link to it online now...
the next 'great revealations came via Ken Finney's First Book... 3D Game Programming All In One... it covers everything, and though it is based on 1.3, most of it will be applicable to the current versions...
this link also points to a very good and concise introduction to a few scripting basics...
http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~morelanj/game_design_handbook/Handbook_Torque_Engine_overview.doc
and the watercraft resource is the place to look at for some insights to creating water vehicles...
there's a lot to learn... but don't get overwhelmed trying to grasp too much at one time... try and get the basics of scripting, where the scripts are located, and their relations to the structure of the engine understood first...
looking forward to seeing screenshots from your undersea adventure in the near future... good luck...
--Mike
12/04/2006 (3:51 am)
underwater!! did someone say underwater!!! anything that has to do with submarines and related stuff is of interest to me... as i'm also working on a submarine game... and have run into the same things that you are running into now...
the networking stuff... essential to understand, as it is at the heart of the game engine itself, and pervades almost everything you do in TGE... was really first revealed to me in an article titled Scripting For the torque Game Engine, i can't find a good link to it online now...
the next 'great revealations came via Ken Finney's First Book... 3D Game Programming All In One... it covers everything, and though it is based on 1.3, most of it will be applicable to the current versions...
this link also points to a very good and concise introduction to a few scripting basics...
http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~morelanj/game_design_handbook/Handbook_Torque_Engine_overview.doc
and the watercraft resource is the place to look at for some insights to creating water vehicles...
there's a lot to learn... but don't get overwhelmed trying to grasp too much at one time... try and get the basics of scripting, where the scripts are located, and their relations to the structure of the engine understood first...
looking forward to seeing screenshots from your undersea adventure in the near future... good luck...
--Mike
#10
12/04/2006 (4:12 am)
Speccy 16K, I'm still playing Barbarian to this day ;p
#11
@Neo - awesome. many a fond memory of the spectrum family. I remember sellotaping the corner key down while playing Gauntlet, to unlock all the doors :)
12/04/2006 (5:21 am)
@Michael - thanks very much for the advice, i'll be purchasing Ken Finneys book this week!@Neo - awesome. many a fond memory of the spectrum family. I remember sellotaping the corner key down while playing Gauntlet, to unlock all the doors :)
#12
12/04/2006 (9:37 am)
yes I played Duke Nukem 3d over the modem too, great times back then. I was actually stationed on a sub for 4 years which makes it interesting to see where this goes 
#13
12/04/2006 (12:15 pm)
I listen to Slay Radio too... and it IS hard to imagine anything geekier. But I love it.
Torque Owner Stephan (viKKing) Bondier
Spectrum 128k? that was one of the latest ones! a big machine! ;-)