Game Development Community

Back to Torque school!!! Wanting feedback

by Gonzo T. Clown · in General Discussion · 03/10/2005 (3:19 am) · 46 replies

Thanks to a suggestion from LabRat I've been working on a TorqueScript school interface that would allow the teaching of multiple students at the same time via internet in a manner that is very competitive to actual in-person or one on one instruction. I'm getting close to finishing the interface for testing and wanted to share some of the features and get some feedback on what else should be added or considered and also comments on what already exists. In addition, questions or concerns about learning online would welcome. I'm will also be releasing a demo very soon that will allow you to experience some of this firsthand. My initial goal is to have 6 different courses available but additional courses can and will be put on the roster.


Class Scheduling:

My initial plan is for each course to be 10 weeks long with 2 new lessons each week(20 lessons). Each lesson will be given on two different days at two different times to best allow a student to attend one class or the other. This should help people with school or jobs to be able to attend class as well as help those in different timezones. My thinking at this time is one class mid-week during the day and one during a weekend evening.



Courses


Beginners Torque - This class will be centered around those that have absolutely no coding experience at all, and those that WANT to start from the ground up learning about TGE even though they may have skills using other languages. This will include some OOP lessons necessary for the student to understand the nature of it and how it relates to TGE. This class(as well as the rest) could be taken by the public as well as licensed TGE users.


Basic Torque Scripting - This class will be suited to those that are new to TGE who have already taken the first course or already have some background in programming and want to learn TGE quickly. Classes will center around understanding TGE syntax from the ground up and will graduate the student to being able to navigate TGE while adjusting and creating new code. Modding is the first stage in learning programming IMO. There will be some instruction on how the engine and the scripts co-exist and some debugging techniques. Students will also learn to work more efficiently via tips on tool usage and "good habit/bad habit" behavior teachings.


Advanced Torque Scripting - This class will be suited for those that have passed the "Basic TS" class or those that are already familiar to TGE and programming. It will go more in-depth in to TGE scripting as well as understanding the relation of engine to scripts. Students will also learn how to differentiate between a client and the server and how to code for each. Functional details will be better explained and advanced "habit" knowledge will be gained in addition to advanced debugging skills. Students will also learn to make the scripts actually do work for them instead of doing it themselves.



Specialty Courses


Torque Systems Weapons, vehicles, pathcams, triggers, communications, client, server, functions, tools, etc... Here you will learn how to make them all work correctly.


Torque GUI - Name says it all. This is specialty class that is specifically geared toward the TGE interface controls. Students will learn exactly how each control works, what settings are specific to each, and how they are put together. Students will graduate to being able to easily create GUI's as well as how to write script for them and make them interact with both servers and clients.


TorqueScript AI - Also a specialty class, the primary focus here is to teach students some basic AI techniques while reinforcing their TorqueScript skills in relation to AI handling. Students will learn how to plan for AI and get them into the game and by graduation they will know how to program AI in TorqueScript that will interact with players via combat and dialog.


Continued...
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#41
05/25/2005 (10:43 am)
Mark, I think it will be more than $5 to $10 bucks. For the time gonzo has put in, 20 classes could easily cost $300+
#42
05/25/2005 (10:48 am)
Let's see 5 or 10 dollars a class... 300 / 20 = 15$ / class...

Ya, there's not a big difference there.
#43
05/25/2005 (11:02 am)
I don't think Peter is any more informed than the rest of us (but correct me if I'm wrong).

I'd expect each class to be less than one of the start kits/content packs/thingamajigs you can buy off this site... but I'd also expect people to be buying more than one lesson at a time (say in groups of 3 to 5) at a price similar to some of the nicer packs ($40-ish).
#44
05/25/2005 (11:03 am)
Well, there is no point in speculating on price. It is entirely up to Gonzo at this point. Let him dictate the prices.
#45
05/28/2005 (5:25 am)
Hey guys, I posted a little price speculation of my own on my plan near the bottom of the comments.

I was just wondering if anyone had any comments on the syntax coloring, or pad colors or any of that stuff? I know the art is ugly(because I'm no artist) but at least the code kicks ass, lol. Seriously though, colors I use are based on the ones I used in my text editor. I say based because my text editor didn't seek out the objects to handle colors, which gives me many more options, better and more dynamic interface feedback, etc...


I'm working as fast as I can to bring out the next stage, a live interface Beta test.

:-D

I'd like to give people some free samples of what is to come and at the same time gain a better understanding of what I'm up against. This will also give potential students additional chances to request features, changes, make suggestions, or levy criticisms.


Thanks for your feedback guys.

- Gonzo -
#46
05/28/2005 (7:54 am)
Gonzo: I dropped an email in your public contact address, if you get a chance to take a look!
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