Seriously pissed off
by Guy Nesher · in Torque Game Engine · 01/26/2009 (9:14 am) · 27 replies
Hi guys,
I Recently Bought TGE and even though the online documentation is fairly extensive I was stuck.
I looked around and found out that the book "the game programmer's guide o torque" might just do the trick (link to the book sold from this garagegames site as well).
However the book, which uses its own examples provide them only for pc (I use mac).
Furthermore - the author email is apparently full and his site hasn't been updated for approx a year.
WTF ?
Seriously this engine does not come with the necessery documentations, and referes me to a book which does not support mac...
Did I just waste 200$ ? !
I Recently Bought TGE and even though the online documentation is fairly extensive I was stuck.
I looked around and found out that the book "the game programmer's guide o torque" might just do the trick (link to the book sold from this garagegames site as well).
However the book, which uses its own examples provide them only for pc (I use mac).
Furthermore - the author email is apparently full and his site hasn't been updated for approx a year.
WTF ?
Seriously this engine does not come with the necessery documentations, and referes me to a book which does not support mac...
Did I just waste 200$ ? !
#2
tge cost $150 wile tgea cost $295 it will update the price to $145.
01/26/2009 (10:16 am)
tge is dead and been dead its not being supported anymore. yes you can upgrade to tgea for a higher cost just put tgea in your account and it will update the new cost on its own to what you already payed for tge.tge cost $150 wile tgea cost $295 it will update the price to $145.
#3
Tried to contact garagegames hope this wasn't a total waste of time and money
01/26/2009 (10:21 am)
Shouldn't that been mentioned before I bought the game engine ? ...Tried to contact garagegames hope this wasn't a total waste of time and money
#4
It's a perfect choice for beginners and for situations were your target audience will likely be using low spec hardware.
01/26/2009 (10:37 am)
TGE is not dead. GG has said they won't be updating the engine with new features, the engine is mature and stable.It's a perfect choice for beginners and for situations were your target audience will likely be using low spec hardware.
#5
01/26/2009 (10:43 am)
ok its not dead yet but they said be for next year they getting rid of that engine all together. it has not been updated in years and will not be updated ever again. tgea will not be updated anymore besides bug fixes. they working on a new engine that will cost allot more and will be updated with new stuff here and there. you can use tge still and even after its gone off of gg site you can still use it and there still always be someone using it for years to come.
#6
It's been what - 3 months tops since I bought the engine 2 months of which i waited for a book (they recommend) which doesn't actually give the proper support for mac.
Hope they will come up with an offer of either a refund, or allow for an upgrade for the same cost.
With all due respect I rather get unity for 200$ than add another 150$ for tgea
01/26/2009 (10:55 am)
So why did they keep selling it ? It's been what - 3 months tops since I bought the engine 2 months of which i waited for a book (they recommend) which doesn't actually give the proper support for mac.
Hope they will come up with an offer of either a refund, or allow for an upgrade for the same cost.
With all due respect I rather get unity for 200$ than add another 150$ for tgea
#7
It is being supported, however, by documentation and community resources.
We have not announced the specifics of the next TGEA update, so please stop making assumptions.
The cost Torque 3D is not final, so to say it will cost "a lot more" is speculative and in the "eye of the beholder."
We continue to sell TGE because it is a low cost entry into the game development industry which has a fantastic track record for shipped games (Indie and professional), as well as having a huge community base.
Official statements concerning cost, support, release dates, and future plans will be posted by a GG employee.
01/26/2009 (11:11 am)
Scott's statement of TGE is true. No updates for TGE have been planned because the engine is mature and stable. It is being supported, however, by documentation and community resources.
We have not announced the specifics of the next TGEA update, so please stop making assumptions.
The cost Torque 3D is not final, so to say it will cost "a lot more" is speculative and in the "eye of the beholder."
We continue to sell TGE because it is a low cost entry into the game development industry which has a fantastic track record for shipped games (Indie and professional), as well as having a huge community base.
Official statements concerning cost, support, release dates, and future plans will be posted by a GG employee.
#8
This isn't an argument regarding the TGEA or torque 3d costs etc.
I bought the TGE in the hope of creating games. I soon found out that mac documentations were lacking (at best) and decided to buy one of the 3 books available on the site.
That was mistake num 2 as the book does not come with osx examples and since it only discuss the examples provided with the book i can hardly do anything.
When I came back to the forums to look around I found out the engine is more or less discontinued only 3 months after I bought it. And no, I'm not familiar with the concept of mature products which no longer need support (except for lets say DOS, or Windows 3.11) I assume you wouldn't recommend using them though would you ?
I have very little experience with Garage Games and I hope I could reach some understanding with them, but frankly this isn't a way to start a long and happy co-operation ;)
01/26/2009 (11:41 am)
Michael, This isn't an argument regarding the TGEA or torque 3d costs etc.
I bought the TGE in the hope of creating games. I soon found out that mac documentations were lacking (at best) and decided to buy one of the 3 books available on the site.
That was mistake num 2 as the book does not come with osx examples and since it only discuss the examples provided with the book i can hardly do anything.
When I came back to the forums to look around I found out the engine is more or less discontinued only 3 months after I bought it. And no, I'm not familiar with the concept of mature products which no longer need support (except for lets say DOS, or Windows 3.11) I assume you wouldn't recommend using them though would you ?
I have very little experience with Garage Games and I hope I could reach some understanding with them, but frankly this isn't a way to start a long and happy co-operation ;)
#9
What about the book is Windows only? The install files? The contents of the book is perfect for TGE documentation, both MAC and PC.
I suggest that you don't give up on TGE just yet, it is a really fun engine to use. It might take a while to get understand some of its elements, but it is well worth it.
01/26/2009 (12:06 pm)
Guy, TGE has been around for a long time and has a large following in this community. I am positive that if you have problems you will find solutions to them here on the forums.What about the book is Windows only? The install files? The contents of the book is perfect for TGE documentation, both MAC and PC.
I suggest that you don't give up on TGE just yet, it is a really fun engine to use. It might take a while to get understand some of its elements, but it is well worth it.
#10
as for the book not having osx examples cant help you there and i don't think gg can ether. i don't know if a employee made that book ether i think a user of tge made it to help people even more with tge then the gg's documentation its like a add on of the things gg missed in documentation at lest i think. i looked into the book my self some but as its basically for tge i not going to buy it it looks ok though. i read some reviews on it some said it was bad others said it was ok.
01/26/2009 (12:07 pm)
you can still buy resources and look up work that has already been done with tge i think they will be keeping all that stuff. even if they get rid of it off there site there's still personal sites out there with tge stuff so it will always be out there. there's lots of stuff people have done with tge and if you need help with anything there will always be people in the forums to help you with something in the forums. there will always be a community of people for tge even if it might get smaller over the years but some people like tge allot and will continue to work with it instead of tgea. tgea is about the same thing as tge but with allow of undated stuff like shaders and many other things to make it look allot more eye candy then tge games.as for the book not having osx examples cant help you there and i don't think gg can ether. i don't know if a employee made that book ether i think a user of tge made it to help people even more with tge then the gg's documentation its like a add on of the things gg missed in documentation at lest i think. i looked into the book my self some but as its basically for tge i not going to buy it it looks ok though. i read some reviews on it some said it was bad others said it was ok.
#11
I have recently thumbed through the book and found a lot of the content to be very useful, as it is TGE-centric which is definitely cross platform. File installations can definitely be a problem, though.
As you mentioned, another issue is that the author's site is not maintained for the book as he has moved on to other ventures. I do think the content is still very useful, though.
I would definitely like to see a new book come out, along the same lines of John K's new Torque X book (which is frikkin' awesome). He wrote the book's content to be compatible with the next release of Torque X, so it will be valid for a while.
01/26/2009 (12:23 pm)
@Guy - Sorry, I was trying to respond to a few other posts before I got to your's.I have recently thumbed through the book and found a lot of the content to be very useful, as it is TGE-centric which is definitely cross platform. File installations can definitely be a problem, though.
As you mentioned, another issue is that the author's site is not maintained for the book as he has moved on to other ventures. I do think the content is still very useful, though.
I would definitely like to see a new book come out, along the same lines of John K's new Torque X book (which is frikkin' awesome). He wrote the book's content to be compatible with the next release of Torque X, so it will be valid for a while.
#12
01/26/2009 (12:54 pm)
Game Programmers Guide to Torque filled in a lot of gaps for me on TGB and TGE, it really doesn't matter all that much when you're focused on TorqueScript (which is a key point of the language). 
#13
Do you ever buy software? I'm not just talking OS's, but if you are, then PPC support for OS X might be on your radar and severely lacking in most of your software apps recently, even if remotely unsupported by the application but seemingly supported by a universal download.
GPGT is a great OS-neutral resource to Torque, just like Torque is; though the installer is for Windows. Publishing houses have specific targets and residual effects and that are reflected in the installers. Which is why, I believe, there was an OSX installer back in the day released on Hall of Worlds (or a zip, I cannot remember now).
01/26/2009 (10:21 pm)
@GuyDo you ever buy software? I'm not just talking OS's, but if you are, then PPC support for OS X might be on your radar and severely lacking in most of your software apps recently, even if remotely unsupported by the application but seemingly supported by a universal download.
GPGT is a great OS-neutral resource to Torque, just like Torque is; though the installer is for Windows. Publishing houses have specific targets and residual effects and that are reflected in the installers. Which is why, I believe, there was an OSX installer back in the day released on Hall of Worlds (or a zip, I cannot remember now).
#14
thanks for the comments.
I'm stuck with fairly basics thing with the tge/mac interface which are simply not discussed on the book and the online documentation regarding it is lacking (at best).
Its somewhat frustrating to spend 200$ or so (software + book) and find out I can barely compile it.
I tested a couple of game engine, one of them was unity which had a stright forward tutorial and after an hour i could do some (fairly basic) stuff.
I still can't do this with TGE, and the funny thing is I choose TGE since it seemed more mature.
And finaly, yes David, I do buy software. The book itself does not come with an OSX installer and while the site does have one it crashes on load.
Anyhow, if any mac user is around and can help do contact me at nesher.guy @ gmail.com
01/26/2009 (10:35 pm)
Hi guys,thanks for the comments.
I'm stuck with fairly basics thing with the tge/mac interface which are simply not discussed on the book and the online documentation regarding it is lacking (at best).
Its somewhat frustrating to spend 200$ or so (software + book) and find out I can barely compile it.
I tested a couple of game engine, one of them was unity which had a stright forward tutorial and after an hour i could do some (fairly basic) stuff.
I still can't do this with TGE, and the funny thing is I choose TGE since it seemed more mature.
And finaly, yes David, I do buy software. The book itself does not come with an OSX installer and while the site does have one it crashes on load.
Anyhow, if any mac user is around and can help do contact me at nesher.guy @ gmail.com
#16
In any case, David If you can give me a few pointers regarding how i operate TGE on a mac I'd be thrilled, kinda stuck atm.
01/27/2009 (7:11 am)
Been there, downloaded the files. The engine/demo crushes at load (can't attach the log but didn't see anything which can indicate the cause of the problem).In any case, David If you can give me a few pointers regarding how i operate TGE on a mac I'd be thrilled, kinda stuck atm.
#17
01/27/2009 (7:17 am)
I'll have to download it from HoW and see. Are you having issues with the latest version of the engine on your account as well, or is it only with the version that you are downloading from Hall of Worlds?
#18
01/27/2009 (10:34 am)
No, the latest version of the engine is working just fine. I only encountered problem with the version hall of worlds (older version of the engine if I'm not mistaken).
#19
I contacted GG about 72 hours ago, still no replay.
I bought Unity.
01/29/2009 (1:31 am)
Just one last tiny note,I contacted GG about 72 hours ago, still no replay.
I bought Unity.
#20
01/29/2009 (5:51 am)
Well I count 5 responses by GG employees in this thread alone. 
Torque Owner Guy Nesher
is TGE still alive at all ?
If not, is it possible to upgrade/get a refund ? I bought the engine approx 3 months ago, only got the book a week ago and the whole thing just seem to fall apart...