How do you load FPS Starter into the editor??
by Cary Howe · in Torque Game Engine · 04/23/2007 (1:47 am) · 9 replies
A dumb question that I'm sure has been asked a billion times before. The problem is all the world editor can see is the tutorial.base file. I wasn't able to do the tutorial properly even because when I created the new file and renamed it Torque refused to let see the file let alone let me save to it. I started out with TGB and finally got around to playing with TGE but it's got the same silly file structure where it only shows you what it wants to and if it doesn't want you to see something you're out of luck. Constructor seems to be a step in the direction of getting rid of the that convention. Pretty exasperating. I've never in my life had this problem before Torque. Literally when I go to file the only option is Open Mission and that seems to take us to the current game. Problem being how do you open and edit another game? The only file options are within the editors themselves. A fatal flaw I find with most Torque tutorials is they show you exactly how to do that specific tutorial so you aren't really learning the structure just how to do that tutorial.
A suggestion. Rename Torque Demo. I just noticed a recent post asking that very question and I asked it myself when first bought TGE. Just call it Torque or Torque Editor. Torque Demo sounds like a demo. Seems like a lot of people get thrown when they can't find the editor. Just bizarre and confusing calling it Torque Demo.
It's very odd that TGB feels a lot more developed inspite of it being built on TGE. There's a icon I can click that takes me into an editing interface. It's one of the reasons I've had TGE for six months and hadn't spent more than a few minutes with it. It really needs to be friendlier. Even Constructor feels radically more developed. I've seen two versions,1.4 and 1.5, now and there hasn't been a single change that I can see to the interface where as TGB has changed several times within that time frame and I actually bought TGE first. For as powerful as the engine is the interface is very simplistic and working with objects is fairly clunky. I'm thrilled with the effort put into TGB and Contructor but man I'd love to see the same effort put into the interface of TGE. It's the foundation product yet it seems to be getting lost in the rush to produce and upgrade the other products.
A suggestion. Rename Torque Demo. I just noticed a recent post asking that very question and I asked it myself when first bought TGE. Just call it Torque or Torque Editor. Torque Demo sounds like a demo. Seems like a lot of people get thrown when they can't find the editor. Just bizarre and confusing calling it Torque Demo.
It's very odd that TGB feels a lot more developed inspite of it being built on TGE. There's a icon I can click that takes me into an editing interface. It's one of the reasons I've had TGE for six months and hadn't spent more than a few minutes with it. It really needs to be friendlier. Even Constructor feels radically more developed. I've seen two versions,1.4 and 1.5, now and there hasn't been a single change that I can see to the interface where as TGB has changed several times within that time frame and I actually bought TGE first. For as powerful as the engine is the interface is very simplistic and working with objects is fairly clunky. I'm thrilled with the effort put into TGB and Contructor but man I'd love to see the same effort put into the interface of TGE. It's the foundation product yet it seems to be getting lost in the rush to produce and upgrade the other products.
#2
Really gotta to say again they need to work on the interface. Looking at TGE, TGB and Constructor without knowing anything about the softwares it'd be easy to assume the TGB and Constructor had been earlier products and TGE was still in it's beta version. There just isn't much interface there and a lot of it is still manually done or code. Not even being able to load a project from the interface is very odd. They need to incorporate Windows or Mac style menuing. Even Constructor has that and it's brand new.
04/23/2007 (2:53 am)
Wow. Gotta be an easier and more obvious way of starting a project. I never would have tried it because I would have assumed there was a "File" pull down somewhere to load from.Really gotta to say again they need to work on the interface. Looking at TGE, TGB and Constructor without knowing anything about the softwares it'd be easy to assume the TGB and Constructor had been earlier products and TGE was still in it's beta version. There just isn't much interface there and a lot of it is still manually done or code. Not even being able to load a project from the interface is very odd. They need to incorporate Windows or Mac style menuing. Even Constructor has that and it's brand new.
#3
Personally I like the way that TGE does the loading.
In a sense it forces you to organize your data files more as you end up creating multiple folders inside of the folders that are there. I have multiple folders inside of sound and shapes folders.
It's really not a hard thing, but it is more elaborate and involving than just telling it to open up a file on your hard-drive.
04/23/2007 (3:16 am)
I will admit that it is a bit wierd, and I agree that TGB and Constructor are better with the opening of files regardless of where they are.Personally I like the way that TGE does the loading.
In a sense it forces you to organize your data files more as you end up creating multiple folders inside of the folders that are there. I have multiple folders inside of sound and shapes folders.
It's really not a hard thing, but it is more elaborate and involving than just telling it to open up a file on your hard-drive.
#4
I tried your second idea of copying the contents across to Tutorial folder and all that did was make the game boot directly so it was impossible to access the editor at all. Essentially it by passed the editor rendering Torque useless.
Are the "starter kits" actual starter kits? I thought that was the point? They seem to be just demo games?
I like TGB but so far not having any luck with TGE. Stunned that there is no obvious way to load a project. There has to be a better way. People are building games with it so there has to be a way to load existing games. For my money I'd say to drop everything and get the interface up to the same level as TGB. TGE seems like it's been half forgotten which is very odd given it's the core product. I'm sure more features are being added but the interface is nearly nonexistent. As of TGB 1.5 you can assemble simple games with little or no scripting. With TGE 1.5 I can't even load an existing project and all you seem to be able to do from the interface is paint terrain and place objects. I'm sure there are others things like some basic UI stuff but there really isn't much in the editor interface.
04/23/2007 (3:29 am)
Well Starter.fps.bat was just the demo game starter.fps dedicated.bat seems to be the right batch file. The problem is the game editor still won't open.I tried your second idea of copying the contents across to Tutorial folder and all that did was make the game boot directly so it was impossible to access the editor at all. Essentially it by passed the editor rendering Torque useless.
Are the "starter kits" actual starter kits? I thought that was the point? They seem to be just demo games?
I like TGB but so far not having any luck with TGE. Stunned that there is no obvious way to load a project. There has to be a better way. People are building games with it so there has to be a way to load existing games. For my money I'd say to drop everything and get the interface up to the same level as TGB. TGE seems like it's been half forgotten which is very odd given it's the core product. I'm sure more features are being added but the interface is nearly nonexistent. As of TGB 1.5 you can assemble simple games with little or no scripting. With TGE 1.5 I can't even load an existing project and all you seem to be able to do from the interface is paint terrain and place objects. I'm sure there are others things like some basic UI stuff but there really isn't much in the editor interface.
#5
The starter kits are starter kits, but not the way you are thinking. What most people do is start changing the starter kits to resemble the game that they are making. They don't create a totally fresh project and try to build it up from there, but you can do that if you wish. It would be a waste of time though.
It didn't pass the editor and make TGE uesless. Its not like TGB where the editor loads up first. In TGE the game loads first and you must hit F11 to open the world editors and F10 to open the gui editor.
04/23/2007 (3:40 am)
That's all the editors are for. They allow you to place objects and change the terrain/sun/sky. They don't make the game for you. You will still have to do some programming.The starter kits are starter kits, but not the way you are thinking. What most people do is start changing the starter kits to resemble the game that they are making. They don't create a totally fresh project and try to build it up from there, but you can do that if you wish. It would be a waste of time though.
It didn't pass the editor and make TGE uesless. Its not like TGB where the editor loads up first. In TGE the game loads first and you must hit F11 to open the world editors and F10 to open the gui editor.
#6
*EDIT*
Also with TGB 1.5 you can create a very limited game using the scripts that they provided for the behaviors. True you can make a really small game without any scripting effort, but eventually you will find things that aren't there that you want to have. Like shooting with the mouse instead of having to use the keyboard or a joystick.
TGE doesnt not equal Torque Game EDITOR. It's Torque Game Engine. The reason the TGB is a little more new user friendly is because it is a game BUILDER.
04/23/2007 (3:47 am)
Oh yeah the starter.fps dedicated creates a dedicated server running starter.fps.*EDIT*
Also with TGB 1.5 you can create a very limited game using the scripts that they provided for the behaviors. True you can make a really small game without any scripting effort, but eventually you will find things that aren't there that you want to have. Like shooting with the mouse instead of having to use the keyboard or a joystick.
TGE doesnt not equal Torque Game EDITOR. It's Torque Game Engine. The reason the TGB is a little more new user friendly is because it is a game BUILDER.
#7
I'm not asking it to build the game for me. I use mostly high end software but I'm new to gaming. I come from the art end and am not a programmer. I'm working with programmers even for our TGB projects. What I'm after is enough control to handle our art resources myself. The interface is extremely basic. I can do a lot with TGB but I can do virtually nothing with TGE. I know I'm the heretic in a programmers world but games are a mix of art and programming. TGB 1.5 is getting very close to an interface where even a non programmer can rough out a game. It just proves it's possible. I'd really love to see TGE go that route. It'd be a 100X as valuable to me if it was at the same level as TGB 1.5. I know it's not possible to build games without programmers that's not the point at all. The whole point of products like Torque is to make it accessable. A software like Maya has more power than a game engine yet most things can be done without scripting and even the scripting is fairly easy for a non programmer to understand.
It's obvious that TGB has a more developed interface. It cost a lot more more but the speed savings more than make up for any difference. If they anounced tomorrow that TGE had a pro version with a TGB 1.5 styled interface but it cost $5,000 I'd be the first in line to buy a copy. I'd seriously consider it for $10,000. The more I can do myself the faster we can work and the more money I can save and just as important the more time I can save. It's just a matter of writing the software. What I'm really getting at is it's pretty obvious the push is with TGB to open up the casual games market. TGE may have new features added but the interface is being pushed aside while TGB is developed. I'm sure there are limited resources and I do love TGB but my first love is 3D games and if you gave me my choice I'd say to put the effort into TGE and not TGB.
I'm a fan and TGE has a lot of power. You've got to admit not even having a load project function is more than a little bizarre. That feels more Alpha not even beta let alone a product that's been on the market for years. Not knocking it just making a point that it's more than a little clunky when you are likely to be working on more than one project at a time. I personally like to run a test game while I'm building the main one just to test things on without screwing up the main project file. It's not that much to ask for. Looks like I'm going to be working on two machines at once just to avoid the loading issues. That's a little extreme having to essentially dedicate machines to a given project.
04/23/2007 (4:15 am)
The F11 and F10 commands are what I was missing. Documentation is sparce to say the least.I'm not asking it to build the game for me. I use mostly high end software but I'm new to gaming. I come from the art end and am not a programmer. I'm working with programmers even for our TGB projects. What I'm after is enough control to handle our art resources myself. The interface is extremely basic. I can do a lot with TGB but I can do virtually nothing with TGE. I know I'm the heretic in a programmers world but games are a mix of art and programming. TGB 1.5 is getting very close to an interface where even a non programmer can rough out a game. It just proves it's possible. I'd really love to see TGE go that route. It'd be a 100X as valuable to me if it was at the same level as TGB 1.5. I know it's not possible to build games without programmers that's not the point at all. The whole point of products like Torque is to make it accessable. A software like Maya has more power than a game engine yet most things can be done without scripting and even the scripting is fairly easy for a non programmer to understand.
It's obvious that TGB has a more developed interface. It cost a lot more more but the speed savings more than make up for any difference. If they anounced tomorrow that TGE had a pro version with a TGB 1.5 styled interface but it cost $5,000 I'd be the first in line to buy a copy. I'd seriously consider it for $10,000. The more I can do myself the faster we can work and the more money I can save and just as important the more time I can save. It's just a matter of writing the software. What I'm really getting at is it's pretty obvious the push is with TGB to open up the casual games market. TGE may have new features added but the interface is being pushed aside while TGB is developed. I'm sure there are limited resources and I do love TGB but my first love is 3D games and if you gave me my choice I'd say to put the effort into TGE and not TGB.
I'm a fan and TGE has a lot of power. You've got to admit not even having a load project function is more than a little bizarre. That feels more Alpha not even beta let alone a product that's been on the market for years. Not knocking it just making a point that it's more than a little clunky when you are likely to be working on more than one project at a time. I personally like to run a test game while I'm building the main one just to test things on without screwing up the main project file. It's not that much to ask for. Looks like I'm going to be working on two machines at once just to avoid the loading issues. That's a little extreme having to essentially dedicate machines to a given project.
#9
http://www.garagegames.com/mg/forums/result.thread.php?qt=61147
I just swapped out some of my textures. they're tileable just not to scale.
04/23/2007 (4:39 am)
Hate to bug you but I have a separate thread going on another problem. I have an image posted. This one is bizarre because when I toggle the camera to player mode the world turns to a white haze. Here's the thread.http://www.garagegames.com/mg/forums/result.thread.php?qt=61147
I just swapped out some of my textures. they're tileable just not to scale.
Torque Owner Anthony Abrams
Run the Starter.Fps batch file that is in the example directory.
This will load up all the starter.fps files and allow you to edit any of those missions.
An alternative option (if you really want to start with the tutorial.base) would be to copy the data folder from the starter.fps folder and paste that inside the tutorial.base folder over it's data folder.
This would essentially give you the art and missions from the starter.fps, but you would not have the scripts that give starter.fps it's gameplay. They are not hard to make though.
I would recommend just running the batch file. So that you have all the scripts and functionality of starter.fps without having to copy and paste a bunch of stuff to get there.
*EDIT*
I forgot to mention that the editors only allow you to access to the folder of the game. Starter.fps, Starter.racing, and tutorial.base can be viewed as different games.
So when you are just loading in the tutorial.base you only have access to the files in the tutorial.base folder.
To be able to load the starter.fps files you need to do what I said above so that those files are in the folder of the game that you are running.
I hope I'm not being confusing ... I just woke up and probably need a few more minutes before my brain is fully functioning.