Plan for Gonzo T. Clown
by Gonzo T. Clown · 05/23/2005 (11:01 pm) · 21 comments
Getting Close!!!
Some of you may remember from various threads floating about that I was in the process of designing a live, online, school for teaching TorqueScript, and Torque Systems to users...
www.garagegames.com/mg/forums/result.thread.php?qt=27132
www.garagegames.com/mg/forums/result.thread.php?qt=25666
Well, I finally got the TorqueSchool Demo ready. Due to contract work and feature additions, I'm about a month and a half late, but it will be worth the wait. The school interface has evolved much further than I had intended, but the results are very pleasing. Although it's not completely done yet it's getting very close and classes should be starting shortly after the interface is completed and tested. So to keep things simple, my "plan" is to keep working while those who care review the demo and speak their 2 cents about it.
Thanks to everyone for being paitient.
Gonzo
NOTES!!! This Demo is automated and 30 minutes long. You do not need to do anything but pay attention and follow along. I suggest you follow the Tutor first and then come back to see the SSP hints afterwards if you just have to know, lol. If you try to read both at the same time you will likely miss much of both. Be aware your ScreenSaver may try to kick in during this demo if it's set to do so in less than 30 minutes of inactivity.
It would take at least 3 of these demos to demonstrate everything the interface already does and and there is still more to come for it. Dont be fooled by the length of the demo, it's not everything in one shot and there was plenty that wasn't even touched on or mentioned. Also note that nothing you see is a parlor trick or wishful boast. Everything in the demo works exactly as claimed.
Also note that the timing on certain events is not perfect due to various calculations that are currently being corrected and perfected. This issue only affects a few key events and you may not even notice it. As for reading time, it was tested on users that know nothing about what they were reading and they were able to read it all while having to deal with not understanding it. This should allow anyone currently working with torque plenty of time to read the dialog. I'm also aware that there are certain buttons missing(the demo refers to them), the artwork was not completed at the time I packed this up. All known glitches are on the repair list already and will be repaired in time for the second demo that demonstrates the additional capabilities not covered in this demo. For the most part however, everything you will see demonstrated is either completed, or noted in the demo as soon to be completed, not finished, or some other indication of status will be given. If no status is mentioned specifically for a feature it can be considered finished and ready for mass testing.
Because the demo is automated it runs in 800x600x32 OpenGL for maximum compatibility. If this causes you any problems, let me know and I'll arrange for different window sizes to be made available. At this time the demo is not available on Mac. However, thanks to a very generous donation from a great company run by some very good people(They know who they are and why they are not named at this time) I'll soon be able to support the Mac platform as well.
Get The Demo Here!
Some of you may remember from various threads floating about that I was in the process of designing a live, online, school for teaching TorqueScript, and Torque Systems to users...
www.garagegames.com/mg/forums/result.thread.php?qt=27132
www.garagegames.com/mg/forums/result.thread.php?qt=25666
Well, I finally got the TorqueSchool Demo ready. Due to contract work and feature additions, I'm about a month and a half late, but it will be worth the wait. The school interface has evolved much further than I had intended, but the results are very pleasing. Although it's not completely done yet it's getting very close and classes should be starting shortly after the interface is completed and tested. So to keep things simple, my "plan" is to keep working while those who care review the demo and speak their 2 cents about it.
Thanks to everyone for being paitient.
Gonzo
NOTES!!! This Demo is automated and 30 minutes long. You do not need to do anything but pay attention and follow along. I suggest you follow the Tutor first and then come back to see the SSP hints afterwards if you just have to know, lol. If you try to read both at the same time you will likely miss much of both. Be aware your ScreenSaver may try to kick in during this demo if it's set to do so in less than 30 minutes of inactivity.
It would take at least 3 of these demos to demonstrate everything the interface already does and and there is still more to come for it. Dont be fooled by the length of the demo, it's not everything in one shot and there was plenty that wasn't even touched on or mentioned. Also note that nothing you see is a parlor trick or wishful boast. Everything in the demo works exactly as claimed.
Also note that the timing on certain events is not perfect due to various calculations that are currently being corrected and perfected. This issue only affects a few key events and you may not even notice it. As for reading time, it was tested on users that know nothing about what they were reading and they were able to read it all while having to deal with not understanding it. This should allow anyone currently working with torque plenty of time to read the dialog. I'm also aware that there are certain buttons missing(the demo refers to them), the artwork was not completed at the time I packed this up. All known glitches are on the repair list already and will be repaired in time for the second demo that demonstrates the additional capabilities not covered in this demo. For the most part however, everything you will see demonstrated is either completed, or noted in the demo as soon to be completed, not finished, or some other indication of status will be given. If no status is mentioned specifically for a feature it can be considered finished and ready for mass testing.
Because the demo is automated it runs in 800x600x32 OpenGL for maximum compatibility. If this causes you any problems, let me know and I'll arrange for different window sizes to be made available. At this time the demo is not available on Mac. However, thanks to a very generous donation from a great company run by some very good people(They know who they are and why they are not named at this time) I'll soon be able to support the Mac platform as well.
Get The Demo Here!
About the author
#2
05/23/2005 (11:48 pm)
I watched quite a bit of your demo and I'm really impressed. I would have watched the whole thing but it moves just a little too slowly for me at the moment. I can't wait to see this completed. 
#3
EDIT:
Doh! Sorry. Somehow i skipped over the part about it being ported to Mac ;P
05/24/2005 (5:16 am)
Sounds like a very cool idea. Are you planning on porting to other platforms when you're finished?EDIT:
Doh! Sorry. Somehow i skipped over the part about it being ported to Mac ;P
#4
From Gonzo's plan.
---------------------------------------------
Nice work Kenneth. Really impressive, the demo is a bit too slow for my taste.. but I watched it for a good 10 minutes.
It looks pretty clean and shows what it should fine already. Looking forward to see where this goes.
05/24/2005 (6:08 am)
Matt,From Gonzo's plan.
Quote:
I'll soon be able to support the Mac platform as well.
---------------------------------------------
Nice work Kenneth. Really impressive, the demo is a bit too slow for my taste.. but I watched it for a good 10 minutes.
It looks pretty clean and shows what it should fine already. Looking forward to see where this goes.
#5
05/24/2005 (7:34 am)
It is a bit slow, maybe add a way to trigger the next window with a click. I personally don't like being locked into watching a power point presentation, I'd rather have some freedom. I didn't have the patence to sit thru it all but would like to see an actual class, and how interaction with the students will work before I make any judgements. 
#7
Prices are the next set of questions, great work though.
05/24/2005 (8:24 am)
The demo definately does move a bit slow, a next/skip button would be great... I managed to get up to the GUI Pad before I had to leave though, its looking great! I'm very interested in all those tools, will you release the ability for others to make tutorials with this ? Know you mentioned the MOD code would be included but will the ability to run and create tutorials with this be open to those who purchase it or possibly a seperate license ?Prices are the next set of questions, great work though.
#8
One minor ding though: I noticed that one of the script dialogs was using a kinda-proportional font. Specifically, the '1' was narrower than the rest of the characters. It was near the end of the demo. Something like:
The other lines were all aligned properly, but the "blah1" line was a touch narrower. Blah and asdfasdf were something meaningful. I believe it was near the keymapping description. Perhaps at the end of the scratch-pad stuff?
05/24/2005 (9:00 am)
Looks great!One minor ding though: I noticed that one of the script dialogs was using a kinda-proportional font. Specifically, the '1' was narrower than the rest of the characters. It was near the end of the demo. Something like:
blah0 = "asdfasdf0"; blah1 = "asdfasdf1"; blah2 = "asdfasdf2"; blah3 = "asdfasdf3"; blah4 = "asdfasdf4";
The other lines were all aligned properly, but the "blah1" line was a touch narrower. Blah and asdfasdf were something meaningful. I believe it was near the keymapping description. Perhaps at the end of the scratch-pad stuff?
#10
05/24/2005 (10:00 am)
=0
#11
Hmmmm. If the response is this good from people that only watched 10 minutes, I'm just dying to know what someone who watched it all thinks. Seriously, if you don't intend to make it past 10 minutes, don't bother, you're not even into the good stuff by then. It starts slow and gets better and better through the entire demo. I guess I should have put a secret code word at the end with a prize to the first one who made to the end, LOL.
As for being slow, there appears to be a performance issue based on machine specs maybe? When I first tested the demo speed, I used test subjects that were not programmers. They complained it was moving to fast at times so I figured the timing would be good. But appearantly slower machines may make the demo run longer than intended?
05/24/2005 (12:09 pm)
Thanks everyone for the kind words.Hmmmm. If the response is this good from people that only watched 10 minutes, I'm just dying to know what someone who watched it all thinks. Seriously, if you don't intend to make it past 10 minutes, don't bother, you're not even into the good stuff by then. It starts slow and gets better and better through the entire demo. I guess I should have put a secret code word at the end with a prize to the first one who made to the end, LOL.
As for being slow, there appears to be a performance issue based on machine specs maybe? When I first tested the demo speed, I used test subjects that were not programmers. They complained it was moving to fast at times so I figured the timing would be good. But appearantly slower machines may make the demo run longer than intended?
#12
05/24/2005 (12:10 pm)
I just think most of us Indie Dev's are too impatient to sit patinetly without wanting to skip through parts :)
#14
05/24/2005 (4:09 pm)
Super Starter Pack
#15
That's what the demo is for. As I stated earlier, if you aren't going to watch it all, don't bother watching any of it. I will not be wasting time answering questions I've already answered in the demo.
05/24/2005 (9:06 pm)
I missed this earlier...Quote:see an actual class, and how interaction with the students will work before I make any judgements.
That's what the demo is for. As I stated earlier, if you aren't going to watch it all, don't bother watching any of it. I will not be wasting time answering questions I've already answered in the demo.
#16
if you make a next bottom so when we finish reading we click next this will be better.
05/24/2005 (10:23 pm)
Gonzo there is a small problem with the demo : it's fast so I can't read everything how can I solve this?if you make a next bottom so when we finish reading we click next this will be better.
#18
Nothing is set in stone at this time. There are certain considerations in time, effort, equipment, etc... that have associative costs that must be covered. The more students that enroll, the faster those costs are covered. My intent here is to find a breaking point that will allow ANYONE who wants to take these classes to be able to afford them.
EDIT:
There is some explanation of what classes will be available when the school launches at this link...
www.garagegames.com/mg/forums/result.thread.php?qt=27132
05/26/2005 (7:41 pm)
@ Firas - I'm currently working on rewritting the demo so it can be controlled by the viewer. As for pricing, let me just say this...Nothing is set in stone at this time. There are certain considerations in time, effort, equipment, etc... that have associative costs that must be covered. The more students that enroll, the faster those costs are covered. My intent here is to find a breaking point that will allow ANYONE who wants to take these classes to be able to afford them.
EDIT:
There is some explanation of what classes will be available when the school launches at this link...
www.garagegames.com/mg/forums/result.thread.php?qt=27132
#19
Thanks
07/09/2005 (9:50 am)
Gonzo, can you give us an update on your schedule for the Mac version?Thanks
#20
Great work! I liked to see how you did all of that so I could learn from it.
08/02/2005 (6:46 pm)
Just went through the whole demo. Real nice...can't wait til you get it up and running. I think adding a next and back button would be very helpful. People learn at different speeds ... so adding those two buttons would be a big help.Great work! I liked to see how you did all of that so I could learn from it.
Torque Owner Todd D. Degani