Will I be able to compile my game as standalone exe?
by Marc Sandoval · in Torque Game Engine · 10/25/2006 (11:34 am) · 9 replies
I've searched quite extensively and I have not found any clear answer to this. If I make a game in TGE using mostly the scripting engine with a few source code modifications, will I be able of compile it with my custom icon, company information and putting the media files into packages to avoid game hacking?
btw, if I start making my game using the Demo Kit version 1.4, will I have any trouble when upgrading to the full version 1.5?
Depending on this I could decide whether to buy (or not) an indie license for Torque Game Engine.
Thanks in advance.
btw, if I start making my game using the Demo Kit version 1.4, will I have any trouble when upgrading to the full version 1.5?
Depending on this I could decide whether to buy (or not) an indie license for Torque Game Engine.
Thanks in advance.
About the author
#2
Also you can put all asserts and that DSO files in a Zip File, so your game could be a EXE file and a Zip file only (I believe that exist a little Resource that modify Torque to use a Zip file encrypted and/or slight modified (will look like corrupted in conventional unZip)).
10/25/2006 (11:43 am)
All scripts are compiled in a ".dso" file that are "binary" ByteCode.Also you can put all asserts and that DSO files in a Zip File, so your game could be a EXE file and a Zip file only (I believe that exist a little Resource that modify Torque to use a Zip file encrypted and/or slight modified (will look like corrupted in conventional unZip)).
#3
Greetings and thanks for your attention.
10/25/2006 (11:51 am)
@Antonio: That's Great! Is there any tutorial available on the process of compiling the EXE and making the DSO files or is it automatic. Since it would be a multiplayer deathmatch-style game using a central server, could I distribute only the "client" files without the "server" branch of the folder tree?Greetings and thanks for your attention.
#4
The EXE can be compiled in Microsoft visual studio Express (FREE), I recommend (Torque SDK brings a project file for this).
About the Client/Server, I never tried this before, Torque is Client/Server Oriented and should not work without a server side even in Single player games. BUT, when a client connects to a remote server, the server scripts in local machine never executes. You can also remove the button of create server from the GUI :P
10/25/2006 (12:36 pm)
DSO are created when scripts are executed, Almost automatic, you can try this in Torque Demo.The EXE can be compiled in Microsoft visual studio Express (FREE), I recommend (Torque SDK brings a project file for this).
About the Client/Server, I never tried this before, Torque is Client/Server Oriented and should not work without a server side even in Single player games. BUT, when a client connects to a remote server, the server scripts in local machine never executes. You can also remove the button of create server from the GUI :P
#5
10/25/2006 (1:16 pm)
You would need to own the SDK to create an EXE, the DEMO will not work.
#6
Greets!
10/25/2006 (3:48 pm)
One last question about .CS and .DSO files. Once I run my project all .CS files get their corresponding .DSO. However, if I delete the .CS files keeping the DSO ones the Torque Demo still complains about not finding "main.cs". How does the DSO files work then? I suppose I need the full version for this.Greets!
#7
10/25/2006 (4:28 pm)
You need to have main.cs, but that's the only text file you need for the demo executable. if you get the source you can change this as well. 
#8
1 - The user gets a false impression about the size of your game on their hard disk.
If a game has enough space to install then usually you're OK. But if you had a pretty full HDD and a game decided to extract all its files then theres a chance it won't have enough space. It is possible that when you install the game you warn the user that they need so much hard disk space for the game to run, but since the game doesn't use all the extra space when it's not running, that space is most likely going to be filled at some point.
2 - Loading times are longer.
Because everything is packed into one file, the user has to wait some time for the engine to unzip all those files before it runs. Also, when the game ends, you're probably going to want to delete the extracted files and update the zip archive with any new data. All that takes time.
Just my twopenney's worth.
--Amr
11/01/2006 (11:16 am)
Going off at a bit of a tangent, but have you considered the downside of packing everything into one file? I can think of 2 off the top of my head:1 - The user gets a false impression about the size of your game on their hard disk.
If a game has enough space to install then usually you're OK. But if you had a pretty full HDD and a game decided to extract all its files then theres a chance it won't have enough space. It is possible that when you install the game you warn the user that they need so much hard disk space for the game to run, but since the game doesn't use all the extra space when it's not running, that space is most likely going to be filled at some point.
2 - Loading times are longer.
Because everything is packed into one file, the user has to wait some time for the engine to unzip all those files before it runs. Also, when the game ends, you're probably going to want to delete the extracted files and update the zip archive with any new data. All that takes time.
Just my twopenney's worth.
--Amr
#9
Greets
11/01/2006 (12:07 pm)
Well, I do not need the game to be packed in a single file, several packs would be still convenient. I only want to protect my art (models, music...) and code, as I'm sure everybody wants. Encryption could do the work, too.Greets
Torque Owner AllynMcelrath