TGEA = TGE + Shader Engine?
by Harel · in Torque Game Engine Advanced · 05/13/2007 (2:54 am) · 4 replies
Is TGEA simply TGE with the Shader Engine built in??
I was thinking about buying a license for it, and I can't find any documentation for the TGEA, it all seems to be for the Shader Engine.
If I buy TGEA, will I get a full documentation about it so I can learn how to use it, or am I supposed to guess?
Thank you.
I was thinking about buying a license for it, and I can't find any documentation for the TGEA, it all seems to be for the Shader Engine.
If I buy TGEA, will I get a full documentation about it so I can learn how to use it, or am I supposed to guess?
Thank you.
#2
What you refer to as the 'Shader Engine' was the old name for TGEA (Torque Shader Engine) before it was re-branded a few months ago to reflect that fact that is was more than TGE + Shaders.
The 'full' documentation (as with most Torque documentation, it is still lacking a fair amount of content) is in TDN but you only get access to it if you have bought TGEA.
Edit: Bah, Tim beat me to it :o)
05/13/2007 (3:08 am)
Check out the feature comparison page hereWhat you refer to as the 'Shader Engine' was the old name for TGEA (Torque Shader Engine) before it was re-branded a few months ago to reflect that fact that is was more than TGE + Shaders.
The 'full' documentation (as with most Torque documentation, it is still lacking a fair amount of content) is in TDN but you only get access to it if you have bought TGEA.
Edit: Bah, Tim beat me to it :o)
#3
You did not really answer my second question, I am new to TGE/A and I really don't know if the documentation I'll get once I buy it is worth it.
I assume some people here bought it already :)
Is it enough to understand the engine?
05/16/2007 (10:43 am)
Thank you very much.You did not really answer my second question, I am new to TGE/A and I really don't know if the documentation I'll get once I buy it is worth it.
I assume some people here bought it already :)
Is it enough to understand the engine?
#4
No. Wasn't for me. There are books on scripting for tge that will help since scripting is basically the same except for materials, but there is no docs to my knowlage that will step you through and hold your hand for TGEA. I own TGEA btw and I'm still reluctant to use it because I'm lacking the knowlege to really do anything with it... mainly shaders and atlas...and other oddities.
05/16/2007 (10:50 am)
Quote:Is it enough to understand the engine?
No. Wasn't for me. There are books on scripting for tge that will help since scripting is basically the same except for materials, but there is no docs to my knowlage that will step you through and hold your hand for TGEA. I own TGEA btw and I'm still reluctant to use it because I'm lacking the knowlege to really do anything with it... mainly shaders and atlas...and other oddities.
Torque Owner Tim Heldna
TGEA differs from TGE in the following areas:
- Uses DirectX 9.
- Not cross platform (Mac, linux).
- Rendering and material improvements/optimizations.
- New Terrain system named Atlas. Allows for large terrain environments.
The rest of TGEA is identical to TGE. I.e. scripting, GUI, sound layer, input, networking etc. TGE is mature and more stable than TGEA. You may find that some features that are common to both engines do not work in TGEA.
If you have no C coding skills or are a beginner to game development, I advise you steer clear of TGEA. Use TGE or TGB instead (or another engine altogether).