Overwhelmed...

#1 Don't apologize for taking up Forum Space. As you've mentioned..this forum is huge. It'd be like apologizing for pinching a guy after his balls have been ripped off by a rabid dog. (C: Besides, these are legit quesitons...I can't be of much help because I am sort of in the same boat. All I can say is that you are not alone. This is a very complex engine. Keep pounding on it and good luck!

#2 Can't help you too much, but here is where I referred to get set up:
http://www.garagegames.com/docs/torque.sdk/index.php#build

#3 Russ,

Don't worry, we all feel like this at first. The first weeks, I was really lost on the GG site and I wasn't finding nothing. This is because you have lot of things to learn and you feel you want to know all the first day :) It's impossible. Take a breath, then begin by finding something your really interested in. Understand this one, then try another one. One thing at a time. You'll see that your panic will go away in not really much time. Give you at least 1 week or 2 and you'll see that this site is really full of informations, if not all what you need and it becomes your little pet really soon :).

Also, people here are really nice and the majority of them are really excellent in their respectives talents (programmers, artists, etc ...). So, don't hesitate to ask and and you will have those that know the answer that will reply and help.

A good place to begin is by hiting "Torque Game Engine" at your left. You'll find there, at right, the docs, and a lot of usefull things to begin.

Then, try the ressources link. The tutorials links. Do a search at top right, selecting forums when you search for something. Almost everything has been already asked and answered.
The tools to use is really personnal and your the only one that can choose them, depending on your past experiences and what you already have.

Good luck !
Gilles Jr

#4 Okay, thanks for the info and words of encouragement. I will try not to panic as much and see how my learning evolves from this experience.

Thanks again.

- Russ

#5 Try Hall of Worlds:

http://www.hallofworlds.com/pages/Torque/TorqueNotes/index.html

I could list a dozen other good beginner links, but Hall of Worlds already lists them.

#6 I am happy to say that I finally got a good compile of Torque. I rebuilt my computer, then installed VC++ as many people suggested. Installed Service Pack 5 to VC++. Imported the registry file. Loaded in the project and did a debug compile. Everything went good with 0 errors and 1 warning. When I ran it, the main menu displayed but when I selected an option (don't ask because I don't remember which option), the program crashed (Windows XP).

Then I realized that during the install of VC++, I should have selected "register" components for command line usage which I didn't.

So, I will uninstall and reinstall making sure I select that option this time.

- Russ

#7 LOL! Reading your thread made me think of how I felt when I cracked open the SDK for the first time. Veeeerrrry intimidating.

Don't let yourself get panicked... though there will be plenty of oportunity for it! Jst put GG at the top of your favs... get familiar with the forums and the resources section, and always, always, always back up your work. ;-)

Welcome to the wonderful world of Torque! :D

#8 Heck, I've had the SDK for for over 18 months and I'm still overwhelmed by it :)

#9 I'm still intimidated, lol.

Although I am intimidated in a different way. I was expecting tens of thousands of files, millions of lines of code, an insane labyrinth of includes . . . as it turns out, the entire engine is smaller in total size than just one small component of the web application I work on for my day job, and is MUCH better organized and in general just BEAUTIFULLY clean code (hey, Torque isn't written in 6 different languages :P).

The intimidation?

The intimidation is that even though it looks much smaller and cleaner and nicer than I thought it would, I am understanding maybe 1% of the code I read. I have probably read through a good 3/4 of the code by this point, and I'm still lost on most of it. :)

It's not really such a bad thing; I haven't had any *time*, damnit damnit damnit. I mean, my life is going surprisingly well -- no complaints, I was expecting life to suck a lot more, so I'm having fun -- but I am ending up with a LOT less time for game programming, or even to study game programming. 40 hours per week of work, 16 hours per week of studying another language (Thai), 15 hours per week of volunteer work, 4-8 hours per week of extraneous things like household chores, laundry once per week . . . grr, I KNOW that there are 168 hours in EVERY week, but when you get around to adding them together, even if you are an efficient MACHINE (4-day work week), you end up with only a few hour fragments per day, and maybe a couple of half-days on the weekends.

So, I end up with half of a Sunday to open up Torque, look through the code . . . DAMN IT. There is just enough time left in the day for me to play around with changing some variables in script, and reading more and more code examples . . . I can't LEARN stuff with that kind of time constraint.

Oh, well. :)

#10 Thanks everyone for your "words of encouragement". I was so excited that I was able to finally compile it. I was trying to use the Dev-C++ (GNU) program with no success. I finally broke down and got VC++ as instructed by many people.

Hopefully I will have it actually it working correctly by the end of the weeekend.

I have similiar time restraint problemms too.

Church. Coaching a local soccer team takes 2 of my weekday evenings with games on Saturday. Working 5 days a week. It's usually late before I can turn the computer on, then the wife wants to know why I don't want to watch TV with her. It's not because of trying to learn Torque, it's because I don't like the same TV programs that she does.

- Russ

#11 Well, I am very happy to say that I have it running.

Now it's time to get into the meat of Torque.

- Russ