Confused - where are the tools?

#1 Edit main.cs and change the defaultGame to "starter.fps"

#2 I think I'm missing some files - I dont see any starter.fps directories or files under my distribution in the example area where the demo executable is. In fact I see no starter tutorials anywhere - searched all the directories.

There is a terrain_water_demo directory - just no starter.fps. Where should it be located in case I missed it.

#3 Lots of manuals and tutorials you should be reading on TDN about TGEA before you dive in.

Something I should point out, checked your profile to prevent putting my foot in my mouth, but it does not have info on your expertise. TGEA is more geared for people who are experienced in the field of game creation and want that extra "umph" in their indie engine. Just in case you are unexperienced.

Hit F11 to open up the world editor.

Enjoy the engine... its a lot to handle.

#4 Actualy there is no starter.fps in the default install of TGEA. But if you look on the TGEA forums you will find someone (abunch of people) where kind enough to port the starter.fps from TGE to TGEA. You can find the files you need in the private forums.

Otherwise just edit the main.cs to point to terrain_water_demo and you should gain access to the world builder and such.

#5 William, my level of expertise is such that I have been coding C/C++ for over 15 years now; however, that has been in the financial sector, and my game experience is pretty much zip. I do have experience with Maya (hobbyist level).

Thomas, thank you for the pointer. What annoys me here is that you would think that links to mission tools (world builder, gui builder etc..) would be easily accessable. Why are there no pre-compiled executables? Why arnt there even any shortcuts?

I initially looked at the TGB (2D version), and the demo was excellent; however, the project that I have in mind would be better suited to 3D. My decision to buy TGEA instead of TGE was due to the extra visual oomph on the shaders (I've had a little experience with shaders in Maya). Unfortunately, my experience so far has not been a good one. I managed to compile the engine and the libraries (ljpeg etc) only due to my past coding experience.

Trying to find information has been an uphill struggle - honestly, it shouldnt be this hard to get the world builder running!

#6 @Brian - There are no precompiled tools, because the tools are built into the application. Load the application and go into any mission (such as the water demo), and press F11 to get to the editor. Press F10 to get into the GUI editor. If you need to, edit your main.cs to point to the water demo.

#7 Jaimi, thanks - I had been trying to do that, but what I didnt realize was that you needed to be in the actual demo in order for it to work. When you run the demo your just presented with two menu options for "interactive walkthrough" and "torque features". It isn't until you enter the interactive walkthrough that the F10/F11 works.

#8 I managed to find a post by Alienforce which culminated in a converted starter.fps download. Everything is working now, and on the upside I learnt about the -game option in the shortcuts :)

#9 @Brian, if you haven't done so, you should grab the 1.7 beta of TGEA. It's based on Juggernaught (precursor to Torque 2) which means it has a much nicer directory structure (so you can put your game specific code in a separate filter set and folder, separate from the engine code entirely) and a project generator which is useful for adding libraries and the like without futzing with Visual Studio's dialogs. Also, it has a bunch of new features and more demos. I committed some bug fixes to the GUI (should be in there anyway) for usability sake that might not be in 1.0.3 as well.

#10 Ross, I've actually started a 2D project with TGB. It's prooving to be a better jumping off point for me for my first game. If I can get past that game then I will move up to the new TGEA - looking at the visuals that are coming out it is looking mighty nice though .. and very tempting.

#11 I haven't done much with TGB(at Sickhead, the TGB title goes squarely to James Ford), but it's relatively nice. It should at least give you a good foundation for working on the script side of things. IMO though, TGEA requires a different mindset to solving problems, in that most of the time you want to build your objects (or alter the way it already works) in C++ and expose them (or new methods of them) to script for any high level logic.

I suggest poking around the engine as much as you can. You'll get used to things from script anyway, but it's very helpful to understand how Torque does things with its objects in general. I suggest making at least one alteration/improvement to the main source or adding at least one feature.

Another thing to try out is grabbing one of the many resources in the Resources section, and incorporating it into your project. If you take the time to read and understand the code as you make your changes, you can get an expansive grasp on how everything fits together.