TorqueX and TGE

#1 Your going to write a 3D rpg by april?

#2 Yes, we are 4 member team and specification part of project is now complete so we are ready to code. we are NOT trying to make WoW 2, just small RPG

#3 First, I would SERIOUSLY doubt you'll see official 3D support in TXE by April. I would guess a year to get 3D support based on how things have gone with updates to TSE.

Second, C# is one of the easiest programming languages ever built shy of Visual Basic.net. Since it is the next generation of visual C++, porting anything to it wont be a HUGE deal, but will take a skilled programmer(s) to pull off as moving from unmanaged to managed can be tedious if you aren't experienced.

#4 As Jonathon said, if your goal is a release in April, TorqueX really may not work out for you. Any 3D support, in the TGE sense, is still a long ways out - not to mention the complete lack of support for Networking in any XNA based game (because Microsoft hasn't figured that part out yet).

It really depends on your game and your plans to distribute your game. But, you should probably continue with TGE and build out the game as you envision it - create the models, textures, audio, GUI, etc. Get it working on the PC platform (and maybe even MacOS). Then, when the 3D support is fully baked into TorqueX, port the project over to TorqueX. You should also try to code as much in script (versus engine c++ code) as possible, since it will probably be easier for you to port over to c#.

Just keep in mind that XNA has some issues with it right now. First, your game can not be networked. Second, you can only distribute your game by giving the complete source code and all art assets away for free (makes it hard to earn money). For now, XNA games are best suited for personal hobby games and not for commercial distribution. This will definitely change, but were many months away from there.

#5

Quote:Second, you can only distribute your game by giving the complete source code and all art assets away for free (makes it hard to earn money)

Just to clear this up, that's only true if you want to release an Xbox360 game. If you want to use XNA to release a PC game, you do not have these limitations, you do not need the creator's club or any other licensing.

I don't know why everyone overlooks the fact that this is great potential for the xbox, but also for the PC.

#6

Quote:Second, you can only distribute your game by giving the complete source code and all art assets away for free (makes it hard to earn money)

does this mean that Beta members who only have a .dll of the TorqueX can't deploy that to there XBOX360?

Since as far as the XBox 360 knows TorqueX is just like any other code..

#7

Quote:does this mean that Beta members who only have a .dll of the TorqueX can't deploy that to there XBOX360?

Since as far as the XBox 360 knows TorqueX is just like any other code..

The original poster was incorrect. XNA GSE allows you to deploy referenced .NET assemblies (that support the (Xbox 360's) .NET Compact Framework) and you don't need the source code to do that. Any code in your main project would still need to be compiled in GSE prior to deployment, but that can be as basic as *just* containing the .NET entry point (public static void Main(string[] args) {} in a class/namespace of your choice). (There's a demonstration of F# XNA applications that does just that by compiling the F# code into a Xbox-targetted .dll and referencing it from a C# GSE project.)

Theoretically if you were desperate to distribute an XNA game binary-only you could distribute it solely as a DLL with a simple GSE project with just the entry point class instantiating your real logic. Attempting to sell 360 games in this manner, however, I believe would, for now, violate the EULA.

#8 You could also try to create the 3D support on your own, and use the TEX libraries for the rest. In addition, you can use any network library on the PC(but only on the PC). Unless it is illegal according to the license

#9 Lets not overlook that if someone is developing with TGE and gets a game fully functional, they can still deploy to xbox with TGE, it just requires the license from GG, and a MS publisher, which you'd need regardless of TGE or TGX when deploying anything to the Xbox. The benefit to TGX is two fold:

1. It's based on C#, so instead of learning a proprietary scripting language you have full control in C#.

2. It conforms to the MS XNA, so with a membership to the creators club you can deploy and test your creations on your own person xbox immediately. This still doesn't let you deploy your game to others on xbox, be it free or otherwise. It is however very cool seeing your creations running on the xbox and being able to test with the xbox controller. I've been messing with it for about a week now, and I really like it.

#10 @Laurence - It's not true "deployment", but you can get your game onto other xbox360s if you have creator's club. That's what it's there for, is TO deploy to others. Without it, you can deploy to your own xbox360 all day.

#11 I didn't think so, but then again, I paid for it and never tried without it. I thought what I read was that you need to buy it first, then you can download the software. When you run the software if first logs into MS to confirm your subscription, then will accept transmissions from your PC. Your PC must be on the local LAN to transfer files, so unless you've done it successfully without buying creators club membership, I think the membership is required, but please prove me wrong, that would be better for everyone.

Also, when you upload a game, it only to the console you specify. There is no way at the moment to upload a game to the general public or even the general creators club members. You can only upload to a particular console, which is done through a unique registration key that gets generated when you configure the software on the xbox.

#12 Come to think of it, I never downloaded the launcher first to get the code and see if I could deploy it... Hmmm...

#13 I know people who were running their games on their 360 before creator club even launched (unless I drank way too much at that wedding a few weekends ago).

#14 Yeah. I don't doubt it. But from everything I had read, I was under the impression that you had to be part of the club to do it. But now that I think about it, the Launcher is free to download and it is inside the launcher that the deployment key is created.

#15 msdn.microsoft.com/directx/xna/videos/

xna 3d tutorial here

#16 I hope I didn't just waste $100 :-(

#17 For what it's worth, this quote is directly off the XNA website:

"(subscription to the XNA Creators Club is required in order to run XNA-based games on the Xbox 360)"

#18 That's just propaganda :P It works, I know several people in the forums and in GG community who did it.

#19 "That's just propaganda :P It works, I know several people in the forums and in GG community who did it."

Hmmm, could you point us in the direction of said people and an explination of how to get XNA games on the 360 without blowing a pointless $100?

Thanks in advance

#20 You guys are missing the point. If you want to get it onto the 360, just use the tutorials on the MS site for XNA games.

If you want to get it onto the 360's of OTHER people that ARE NOT hooked up to your home network, then you need the creator's club.