Tutorializing volunteer
by Joel Davis · in Torque Game Engine · 03/15/2004 (1:50 pm) · 5 replies
Hey, so I'm just getting back into the torque engine after a long hiatus. First off all, I've got to say that I am amazed at how much more accessible it is now than at the first release. It's still an immense engine (even bigger, I guess) but it's a million times easier to get going with all the documentation and especially the starter games. It's a sea change.
So anyways, I'm planning to spend some time just messing with torque aimlessly, doing some pointless edits to orc village or something. In the past, I've found that it helps the learning to sink in if I take notes as I go, and it's not a big jump from there to putting together some tutorials.
I'm volunteering to write maybe 2-3 tutorials on getting started with torque. Ultimately, I'll write up what is interesting to me, but I'd like to tackle subjests which come up frequently, are underdocumented, but aren't too simple. I'm trying to get a broad overview of the engine, so everything from mapping to character animation to scripting to C++ is fair game.
Any suggestions on things you'd like to see a tutorial on, and you think a lot of people would benefit from?
Where do newbies (like myself) often founder?
For instance, here's the kind of things I have in mind:
- making a skybox from a qtvr file (or from scratch)
- adding a secret underground passage to orc town
- scripting an elevator
- Adding a custom indicator to the HUD
- making a security camera which follows the player
etc... stuff like that..
Thanks!
Joel
The only caveat is since I'm already used to certain tools, I'll probably use them over the torque reccommended ones. For example, I think blender is great, but I'll use it when you pry Lightwave from my cold, dead hands. :)
So anyways, I'm planning to spend some time just messing with torque aimlessly, doing some pointless edits to orc village or something. In the past, I've found that it helps the learning to sink in if I take notes as I go, and it's not a big jump from there to putting together some tutorials.
I'm volunteering to write maybe 2-3 tutorials on getting started with torque. Ultimately, I'll write up what is interesting to me, but I'd like to tackle subjests which come up frequently, are underdocumented, but aren't too simple. I'm trying to get a broad overview of the engine, so everything from mapping to character animation to scripting to C++ is fair game.
Any suggestions on things you'd like to see a tutorial on, and you think a lot of people would benefit from?
Where do newbies (like myself) often founder?
For instance, here's the kind of things I have in mind:
- making a skybox from a qtvr file (or from scratch)
- adding a secret underground passage to orc town
- scripting an elevator
- Adding a custom indicator to the HUD
- making a security camera which follows the player
etc... stuff like that..
Thanks!
Joel
The only caveat is since I'm already used to certain tools, I'll probably use them over the torque reccommended ones. For example, I think blender is great, but I'll use it when you pry Lightwave from my cold, dead hands. :)
About the author
#2
Joel
03/21/2004 (12:09 pm)
Thanks! I've been going through the existing tutorials, too, they are really good. I think I'm going to write something that is more of a jounal of the steps I am taking in creating a "mini-mod" for starter.fps. It's going well, and I already have a bunch of notes and screenshots.Joel
#3
03/21/2004 (2:18 pm)
Sweet. Looking forward to seeing it, Joel.
#4
03/21/2004 (2:42 pm)
Adding a secret underground passage to orc town is probably what most interested me. Haven't seen anything like that in the tutorials, and I suppose it wouldn't be very easy to implement.
#5
03/21/2004 (3:38 pm)
@Thiago-- It took me a little bit to find it, but the underground passage was the easiest part so far. Just go to "Action", "Clear Land" in the terraformer and punch a hole in the terrain where your entrance is, and then adjust the ground around the entrance so it all lines up. I put a big slab around the entrance, that made it a lot easier. 
Torque Owner Vic
Well I for one am grateful. Don't let anybody tell you that there's too many tutorials already out there, there's never enough for the lost souls like me! On preferences, I'd love some that concentrate on exploiting the various aspects of the mission editor. I've followed through quite a few of the tutorials so far - and there are some great ones out there - but the mission editor doesn't seem to have fired up as much enthusiasm for tutorial writing as say scripting. I've got a handle on the basics by using the tutorials available so far but I'm sure that a meatier tutorial could teach me so much more...
Thanks in anticipation!
Vic
(And many, many thanks to all the authors of the tutorials that I've worked through so far, it simply is the fastest way to learn.)