How to get started with C++ / TorqueScript ?

#1 Look around, you'll find a bunch of things.

Try this one:
http://www.garagegames.com/index.php?sec=mg&mod=resource&page=view&qid=5994

Or this one:
http://www.garagegames.com/mg/projects/tge/

That should get you going.

#2 Some things can be learned just by tinkering with it, others can be learned with a few online in-depth tutorials, while other things require a good ole-fashioned physical book. IMO, if youre learning C++ and programming for the first time you really should bite the bullet and just buy a book.

learning programming the first time can be tricky because alot of times the details involve aspects general computer architecture. the two go hand and hand yet most people learning programming dont know cpu architecture so some things will just have be taken at face value.

the issue then becomes what kind of book. you can get one of those "Teach yourself in 5 minutes...." type books, or go with a more in-depth longer and more technical type book. youll automatically want to go with the shorter book because you may feel like you don't need to know all aspects of programming, you just wanna make some cool games. id say go for the in-depth type book because you may not realize how complex code for game engines can be. in the field of software development, game development and graphics programming can be the most difficult and intense area of interest. youll save yourself alot of headache by shooting for a more comprehensive understanding of programming from the start.

also, i dont know about your math skills, but if youre really serious about writing games, eventually you will realize the need for a good understanding of vector math and linear algebra. get a book on this too.

once youve read through your two books on programming and linear algebra, youll now have a good base of knowledge to start looking for resources on how the two are used to write interactive graphics programs.

discouraged yet?

#3 If you are not a skilled programmer, then there are 2 routes you can take.

1) learn c++, and forget game programming right now. because if you want to use C++ with torque, and dont know any programming, you are going to fail miserably if you dont know the language. And to know what you are doing, it will take probably 2 months at minimum, not 24 hours.

2) Since it seems like you want to "write a game" and not nessicarily do C++ specifically, you could do this using only torquescript. This might be a more viable alternative to you if you want to "WRITE A GAME NOW!" I'd say you should consider getting the Torque 2D engine *first* and check out the samples and write a game using only torque script.

hope that helps... I honestly think it is a non-starter to not know any programming and immediatly delve into C++ game programming.. you will never succeed that way.

#4 "Write a game." would be like saying "Paint a red rainbow." when it comes to the ideas that I have for the long run. Torque doesnt have to be -just- a game development platform, or so I am lead to understand, and I am aiming to do more with it as such. Hence why my original post did not say anything about making a game, but a more general skills development in working with C++ and TorqueScript.

I realize too that to achieve what I am looking to do I need more than to just have a specific "quickie" education in programming and [Emeril parody] "BAM BAM BAM!!!" [/parody] I am making what I want in the long run. I come from a family of software development (father worked for Sunoco Petroleum for years when i was growing up) so I have realistic expectations of how much effort it is going to take for me to get to where I want to go - just not entirely sure how to get there.

And I am home schooled by myself (long ass story we need not good there ....) so my math is worldly functional enough to get me by, but I was unable to unravel algebra with the books I had and no tutoring besides that, so I will have to go to lengths to somehow get up to speed with vector mathematics and linear algebra. I knew that was going to be a problem before I found Torque ...

And no - neither discouraged nor intimidated. Take more than "Its gonna be hard work" to do either.

And P.s. - my father is not around to ask him about these sorts of things if anyone thinks to recommend that idea.

#5 I wish you good luck, i wish i could help you with getting started :) i'm just getting started myself. never written a line of real code before (played with scripting in a game though) so i bummed my mom's college textbooks (she's a bigwig at the phone company and gets other people to write her code these days) and i'm starting to dig into C++. i was thinking originally of just doing everything i want to do in TS but i figured TS and C++ are so similar that i may as well try to learn C++ so i can understand what the engine is doing behind the scenes and maybe put the more robust functionality into code instead of script.

so in short, i understand where you're coming from. this is going to be hard work, but should be very rewarding in the long term.

#6 I personally think the most kickass programing language yet developed is C#, tightly coupled with microsoft's visual studio. It is straight sexy compared to anything i've ever come across.

If you want to do serious programming, but cant obtain a "formal college education" to do so, I would recomend you start with C#, full power, great usability, great self-learning materials.

Obviously it's not the same as C++ programming, but if you are learning programing YOURSELF (like I did) then consider yourself very fortunate to have me giving you this advice, as it lead me to a full (and very profitable) career at a major software company.

#7 I would think learning Csharp before Cpuls would be confusing to me ?
I have heard the opposite to this (learn Cplus, then Csharp) but never this ... interesting take.