newbie needing help here, again....
by John D · in Torque Game Engine · 03/13/2003 (10:30 am) · 6 replies
Well i got the SDK not long ago and while it did seem like alot to handle at first i think i'm starting to gain some ground.
I've gotten a sizable collection of links to tutorials and other resources but they're at different levels of needed experience to make real use of them so i'm praying somebody here could help me out with the answers that i'm looking for.
One thing i'm wondering about is the development of a crappy test game from scratch. i've read that early practice should be used on the test demo, but after you've got the feel for that how would you start a new game out or even exract a finished game from the torque folder (i'm not sure if the demo uses files outside of the "example" directory), a related question is when you make refrence to a file in another directory from inside a scrpit file or something, how would you state that? do you state what the games main directory is and type the path out from there? also i'm wondering if theres a hierarchy for the script files, like a main script file that calls functions and commands from other scpripts like a parent/child dependancy (if so whats the general layout of that main script?)
IMPORTANT
Now i know theres alot of nice people in this community and they could do a great service by lending some help with this portion, i found a few things out there that teach what you need to do to get started but they're introduction about torque itself and what its about, and the things you need to know to work with it and blah blah blah, really aren't that in depth.
So for myself and others to come, it'd be an immense help if you could point out the topics a beginner could look up and research on their own to learn. ambigous things like "learn scripting" is a given, but an ordered set of tasks that would give a person the knowledge he/she needs to develop a game from scratch.
the main thing i'm really trying to point out is that what a beginner could really benifit from would be the items that need to be studied in the order that maximizes the understanding of game development with TGE. everyone knows that they need to learn to work with this is, but where to start (especially with scripting)can leave a few people blank.
So just point some things out that need a beginnners attention (common mistakes or misconceptions) woul be a big help.
and if anyone is up to it, a nicely written and in depth outline of torque game development (not an actual tutorial!) would be a nice addition to the community here.
*resumes looking back and forth between 3d Gamestudio and Torque*
"simple...powerful...simple...powerful"
I've gotten a sizable collection of links to tutorials and other resources but they're at different levels of needed experience to make real use of them so i'm praying somebody here could help me out with the answers that i'm looking for.
One thing i'm wondering about is the development of a crappy test game from scratch. i've read that early practice should be used on the test demo, but after you've got the feel for that how would you start a new game out or even exract a finished game from the torque folder (i'm not sure if the demo uses files outside of the "example" directory), a related question is when you make refrence to a file in another directory from inside a scrpit file or something, how would you state that? do you state what the games main directory is and type the path out from there? also i'm wondering if theres a hierarchy for the script files, like a main script file that calls functions and commands from other scpripts like a parent/child dependancy (if so whats the general layout of that main script?)
IMPORTANT
Now i know theres alot of nice people in this community and they could do a great service by lending some help with this portion, i found a few things out there that teach what you need to do to get started but they're introduction about torque itself and what its about, and the things you need to know to work with it and blah blah blah, really aren't that in depth.
So for myself and others to come, it'd be an immense help if you could point out the topics a beginner could look up and research on their own to learn. ambigous things like "learn scripting" is a given, but an ordered set of tasks that would give a person the knowledge he/she needs to develop a game from scratch.
the main thing i'm really trying to point out is that what a beginner could really benifit from would be the items that need to be studied in the order that maximizes the understanding of game development with TGE. everyone knows that they need to learn to work with this is, but where to start (especially with scripting)can leave a few people blank.
So just point some things out that need a beginnners attention (common mistakes or misconceptions) woul be a big help.
and if anyone is up to it, a nicely written and in depth outline of torque game development (not an actual tutorial!) would be a nice addition to the community here.
*resumes looking back and forth between 3d Gamestudio and Torque*
"simple...powerful...simple...powerful"
#2
You call a mod by creating a shortcut to the executable with the switch -mod modname (the same as the folder name).
The scripts start at main.cs (in the example directory). There you can define the default mod to load (if there is no switch set).
Then the game will load the main.cs in the mods folder (so for fps, it is in the examples/fps folder).
Then that will call to other scripts and so on.
It's kind of like following a trail, basically.
03/13/2003 (11:21 am)
Each folder in the example directory is a "mod."You call a mod by creating a shortcut to the executable with the switch -mod modname (the same as the folder name).
The scripts start at main.cs (in the example directory). There you can define the default mod to load (if there is no switch set).
Then the game will load the main.cs in the mods folder (so for fps, it is in the examples/fps folder).
Then that will call to other scripts and so on.
It's kind of like following a trail, basically.
#3
I run into them all the time when I am looking for different resources.
I'd search resources for newbie, or tutorial, or "game" :)
03/13/2003 (11:25 am)
If you look around, there's gotta be at LEAST 5 newbie tutorials.I run into them all the time when I am looking for different resources.
I'd search resources for newbie, or tutorial, or "game" :)
#4
http://hosted.tribalwar.com/zear/dl/T2ScriptFunctionList.txt
and does anyone know if there's a prog out there that is esentially an offline forum reader that you can set to sync up with a specified forum url? of course the TGE forum would have to support it and allow user/pass authentication, but wouldn't it be nice to have something that just updates in the backround all the new posts and would let you navigate through all this faster than doing it online?
03/13/2003 (1:05 pm)
well i'm gonna look around for info on messing around with the fps demo but if someone could tell me about the compatibility between tribes2 scripting information and Torque. i read somewhere else that one issue is that the GUI functions are quite different and of no use, but besides that the refrence material to T2 scripting can be used. and does anyone know how much of this list could be applied to torque.http://hosted.tribalwar.com/zear/dl/T2ScriptFunctionList.txt
and does anyone know if there's a prog out there that is esentially an offline forum reader that you can set to sync up with a specified forum url? of course the TGE forum would have to support it and allow user/pass authentication, but wouldn't it be nice to have something that just updates in the backround all the new posts and would let you navigate through all this faster than doing it online?
#5
03/13/2003 (5:51 pm)
i were you i would just forget about using t2 stuff, this site has everything you need for torque, if it dont, it aint been created yet.
#6
Certain objects were removed in the conversion from Tribes2 to TGE and since then, many many more have been added.
An example is the tribes 2 health meter. That object no longer exists in the TGE engine so you cant use it, but there is a differnet one there instead.
As far as how it works.
The example directory is the whole game (including subdirectorys). You can rip that directory out and use it by itself and that is all that is required for the game to run. All the other directories are the engine which are required when compiling.
Each subdirectory under example is a mod. fps, rw, racing. When the exe in the example directory is executed it runs main.cs in the example dir. This in turn loads all other scripts and mods.
fps is the default mod (specified in main.cs) and other mods/games can be loaded using
torqueGame.exe -mod racing
or
torqueGame.exe -game rw
The difference is that a mod still loads the fps directory and the game dosnt (I think? someone correct me if I am wrong here?)
That should explain to you the basic game setup.
This tutorial I wrote may help you if you need grounding in scripting.
www.liquid.nq.net/tutorial/
Have fun :)
03/13/2003 (7:11 pm)
Tribes 2 scripting is the same as TGE scripting (essentially), what changed was the engine. Certain objects were removed in the conversion from Tribes2 to TGE and since then, many many more have been added.
An example is the tribes 2 health meter. That object no longer exists in the TGE engine so you cant use it, but there is a differnet one there instead.
As far as how it works.
The example directory is the whole game (including subdirectorys). You can rip that directory out and use it by itself and that is all that is required for the game to run. All the other directories are the engine which are required when compiling.
Each subdirectory under example is a mod. fps, rw, racing. When the exe in the example directory is executed it runs main.cs in the example dir. This in turn loads all other scripts and mods.
fps is the default mod (specified in main.cs) and other mods/games can be loaded using
torqueGame.exe -mod racing
or
torqueGame.exe -game rw
The difference is that a mod still loads the fps directory and the game dosnt (I think? someone correct me if I am wrong here?)
That should explain to you the basic game setup.
This tutorial I wrote may help you if you need grounding in scripting.
www.liquid.nq.net/tutorial/
Have fun :)
Torque Owner John D