Entering the world of Torque

#1 Hello

well buying " the game programmers guide to torque" besides torque.. would be a great help...

also you would need to have a 3d modeling program like milkshape, caligari gamespace, maya or 3dsmax for static shapes..

a image editing software for textures like paint shop pro , photopaint or photoshop..

other needed tool is constructor.. but it has been released as a free program for torque owners so its no problem

and a couple of extra bucks.. for some content packs here and there .. or sound for your prototype games..

if you already have the 3d modeling program and the image editor

it would be torque at 150$ .. and i really recomend the book that is around 60 .. plus shiping of the book.. you get this one on amazon

and yes.. torque is easiest and cheapest and more user friendly way to get inside the game making world

be sure to check the license terms well.. they are very friendly.. but just to know what are they..


good luck!

Cheers

#2 Here is how I got started (since you wanted to know how we got started ourselves):

after spending many years of my youth programming in quickbasic/gwbasic etc for PCs I came across a language called Darkbasic. It was the first 3d programming language (next to 3d Construction Kit by Domark in the 80s but that's a different story) I'd used and was very simple to get things going, had stability issues though as well as a quirky syntax and method of putting things together. However as an initial foray into 3d game writing it was okay..for a hobby. I've not tested the Pro version, only used Darkbasic Classic, but it may have improved.

I then came across blitzbasic (2d) - which was also a simple to use language, no stability issues, fast to put prototypes together with and a rather elegant language. Upon upgrading my PC I purchased blitz3d which much like the 2d one had few(if any) stability issues, was fast and easy to put together a prototype - and I still use it from time to time. Upon getting into 3d game making it became clear that a lot of tools were necessary. Tools for making animated character modes (I used milkshape initially), tools for making and editing textures (ultimate paint or other free paint programs were my choice), tools for making 3d levels with - initially milkshape then eventually gamespace, lightmapping tools for static lighting.

I had heard of Torque but not really looked into it at first. After downloading the demo and seeing the well put together scenes and effects (although perhaps slightly dated now?not sure been a while since I've used Torque - don't have it sitting on my hard drive at present) I bought it. Fortunately much of the same tools I'd used with Blitz3d were able to be used with Torque. There were a few exceptions as interior structures needed to be built with Quark (when I used Torque last) although it looks like there are other tools available now.

From my limited experience of Torque - there are some really good benefits of the Torque engine. These are, in my opinion - it has a solid and fast rendering engine for both outdoor and indoor scenes. I'd never been able to reproduce the speed of Torque in blitz3d (and darkbasic which was dog slow back then). Torque handles all the culling and occlusion for you unlike in the other mentioned programs where you have to come up with your own method which is still not very fast. Torque has great network code for games with a decent number of players - something the other programs mentioned above you have to code yourself. I would never be able to build network code as solid and fast as Torque.

The limitations I found with Torque are that although it has all these great features it is primarily based on a first person shooter engine meaning that it can be difficult to create a game that is not somewhat 'first person shooterish' in style. For instance the RTS pack which alters the code so that RTS games can be put together easily lacks at least one critical feature which is collision detection between units & structures which is not exactly an easy thing to fix without introducing other issues. Also the huge codebase can be a little intimidating at first. well to me it did. There are many resources though available to extend the functionality of the Torque code that you originally get. Such as AI bot resources, foliage resources, multiple character hit box / collision resources, rigid body resources.

Given you have a good grasp of programming languages (as you mention above) you may find Torque a good investment. It can certainly produce well polished and professional games both in looks and performance. If you want to put a prototype together quickly as a rough and ready test case then a language like blitz3d is acceptable whereas Torque might seem a bit much for that and perhaps be a little difficult to mold to your game design if it is too different to what Torque is best suited for. However if you have a plan for what you want to make, and are prepared to put in the amount of work required then Torque is one of the better options out there.

For me game making is a hobby not something I do for an income so am happy tinkering around with simple languages like blitzplus/blitz3d to easily put simple prototypes together, but if I had more serious plans to make games then I'd probably go back to using Torque.

#3 I want to thank you both for your replies. That is exactly the kind of information I was looking for.

I'm thinking of buying Milkshape to use for some basic modeling. That will be a new area for me as well, however it sounds like lots of fun.

If anyone else has any other info or wants to share their story of getting started I would love to read it.

Thanks again!

#4 Blender is free and can do modeling and animation, you might want to look into it before Milkshape. http://www.blender.org

#5 Thanks for the heads up Gamerkitty. I wasn't aware that Blender was a free program. I'll definitely give it a try.