I'm very excited

#1 Andy,

From your profile, it looks like not only did you just purchase the engine, it also appears that you recently discovered TGE and its community. If you are like many others who bought Torque without fully evaluating the demo version, then your initial excitement and euphoria may soon be replaced by uncertainty and regret.

In fact, even though I evaluated Torque before purchasing, I still had that period of buyer's remorse. Not because the engine wasn't good enough to do what was rattling around in my head, but because I didn't know how to make it happen. I started feeling overwhelmed by the engine and all that it required of me.

I wanted something easy that magically knew the type of games I wanted to make and simply guided me in the right direction. That didn't happen. Even though I have been 'modding' commercial games for many years, I didn't have reasonable expectations for what a standalone game engine should offer. Unrealistic expectations can happen with $500,000 game engines just as easily, as evidenced by the recent Epic vs. Silicon Knights lawsuits.

Shortly after getting in *way* over my head with Torque, I realized that making a great game with it wasn't about the 'tool', but the person(s) wielding that tool. Purchasing and unsheathing a Hatori Hanzo sword doesn't automatically make someone a master swordswoman. The same applies to game engines.

TGE is a very good engine with its own benefits and quirks -- and yes, its own shortcomings as well. The sooner you can educate yourself on what the engine can and cannot do natively, the sooner you'll be able to shape your own skills toward making it work the way you need it to. That includes C++ coding, scripting, modeling and a number of other 'dark arts' . Game development is an epic journey and you are just taking your first tentative steps out of the Shire.

Remember, in game development, if something sounds too good to be true, then you might be investing too much of your hopes, dreams and wild imaginings into a real tool -- ingenuously but imperfectly crafted -- by talented, yet imperfect people.

So, my long-winded advice to you is this . . .

* read everything you can get your hands on about the Torque Game Engine and game theory
* read about the successes, frustrations and failures of experienced Torque developers
* study other people's games (but don't steal their art, script or code)
* analyze the good and bad elements of every game you play
* start making your own design journals for all the game ideas that settle in your brain
* read through all of the code and script resources on this site and bookmark the ones that intrigue you
* explore the DNA of your game-world objects using the console DUMP command
* experiment with the cool commands and capabilities you discovered while using the DUMP command
* try building multiple smaller game systems and functionalities that can later go toward your game
* ask questions politely and *work* toward the solution *while* waiting for the answers
* post your discoveries, even the small ones, to help out others
* learn patience and practice grace
* have fun

Aaron E

[Edit: fixed some typos]

#2 ^That should be stickied.^ :) Good post.

#3 Like anything that's worth learning, you will have to put some effort into understanding it.
Keep a clear head, be humble about it, and everything should be fine! :)

oh yeah, and I second what Aaron E said above.

#4 Thank you for your earnest reply Aaron, i read it all and i will use it well to guide me through i also have to add that after i made this thread i complied torque using visual c++ and after i started the pdf tutorial included, i found the torque game engine useful in terms of some features like having all the engine ready with an easy enough interface although my c++ and scripting ability is so poor i nearly got lost on that part of the tutorial, i made my first mistake and the mouse will not turn the camera when i was holding the right mouse button while moving up/down and left/right! im not bothered i can remake the tutorial from scratch! or just start with some books like you mentioned. it is true torque could of been better in some areas and i will probably find out slowly... i have also spotted some minor bugs that can lead to frustration!

i love creating games it makes me feel like a god :-) and i will not lose that feeling!

#5 It sounds like you're seeing some successes already. After two years of working with various Torque products, and experiencing both the good and the bad, I'm still happily using them for my projects.