Questions about TGB
by Mike G. · in Torque Game Builder · 09/12/2009 (12:32 pm) · 8 replies
I'm new to TGB, and have been considering using TGB to make a PC/MAC 2d platformer RPG (similar to castle crashers). I've been reading the tutorials for about 2 weeks now (dedicating 3-5 hours a day to getting use to the IDE), and I've been impressed with the basics so far. A couple things that may have me choosing a route other than TGB came up though:
1. No native asset encryption - I've read that TGB supports passworded zip files, but there are simple programs out there that anyone who knows how to double click an icon can use to retrieve the raw assets from the encrypted file. I'm not a programmer as much as I am a scripter (only have an associate's in computer science), so it'd be nice to have an easy alternative to encrypting data that the normal user can't easily decrypt.
2. No real-time networking - Even though the TGB was built on top of TGE, from what I've read they removed the networking Garage Games is famous for and replaced it with a weaker version, only suitable for turned based games. With online play being an important issue (for even 2d indie devs), it seems like this should have been something that wasn't skimped on for people who wanted to make fun co-op or competitive 2D games.
3. No way to handle some resolutions - In my attempt to find information on how to allow the user to change his resolution size (from 800x600 to 1024x768), I found complaints of how wide screen resolutions were not supported, and there was no fix for this without making an oddly built level to have black tabs on the side (and it apparently still didn't work for the developer). I still haven't found any info on how to change the resolution mid-game for normal resolutions, either.
Those are my largest concerns with using Torque. I know if you have the source code you can add these features, but it seems that would require a very advanced knowledge of C++ to get all the components to link and work together correctly. Do any advanced/experienced torque developers have any solutions to these 3 problems? Even if it requires getting dirty with the C++ code, if there's step-by-step instructions on how to easily plug in external components I should be able to use it. I'm praying there are feasible solutions to these problems, since I like everything else about Torque so far.
Thanks in advance for any help.
1. No native asset encryption - I've read that TGB supports passworded zip files, but there are simple programs out there that anyone who knows how to double click an icon can use to retrieve the raw assets from the encrypted file. I'm not a programmer as much as I am a scripter (only have an associate's in computer science), so it'd be nice to have an easy alternative to encrypting data that the normal user can't easily decrypt.
2. No real-time networking - Even though the TGB was built on top of TGE, from what I've read they removed the networking Garage Games is famous for and replaced it with a weaker version, only suitable for turned based games. With online play being an important issue (for even 2d indie devs), it seems like this should have been something that wasn't skimped on for people who wanted to make fun co-op or competitive 2D games.
3. No way to handle some resolutions - In my attempt to find information on how to allow the user to change his resolution size (from 800x600 to 1024x768), I found complaints of how wide screen resolutions were not supported, and there was no fix for this without making an oddly built level to have black tabs on the side (and it apparently still didn't work for the developer). I still haven't found any info on how to change the resolution mid-game for normal resolutions, either.
Those are my largest concerns with using Torque. I know if you have the source code you can add these features, but it seems that would require a very advanced knowledge of C++ to get all the components to link and work together correctly. Do any advanced/experienced torque developers have any solutions to these 3 problems? Even if it requires getting dirty with the C++ code, if there's step-by-step instructions on how to easily plug in external components I should be able to use it. I'm praying there are feasible solutions to these problems, since I like everything else about Torque so far.
Thanks in advance for any help.
#2
No program will just decrypt them, granted :)
Script work with that is totally worthless as people could just read out your encryption key when the script is beeing called.
2) Torque 2D, the successor of TGB, has realtime networking added again :)
The TGE networking would be useless to you anyway, you would have to use sources to work with it, a precompiled version wouldn't work.
You can not just take a script object and add new fields, that would not work with the TGE networking as its all purely source driven.
Actually the networking you have in TGB is the same as in TGE, its just reduced to the RPC system (server and client commands)
09/12/2009 (3:19 pm)
1) There is actually a encrypted resources resource for TGB Pro which adds full AES encryption.No program will just decrypt them, granted :)
Script work with that is totally worthless as people could just read out your encryption key when the script is beeing called.
2) Torque 2D, the successor of TGB, has realtime networking added again :)
The TGE networking would be useless to you anyway, you would have to use sources to work with it, a precompiled version wouldn't work.
You can not just take a script object and add new fields, that would not work with the TGE networking as its all purely source driven.
Actually the networking you have in TGB is the same as in TGE, its just reduced to the RPC system (server and client commands)
#3
The common resolutions now include 1280x800, 1024x800, 1024x600, 1440x900 and 1680x1050, in addition to the usual old nonwide resolutions. One problem here is that the GUI designer asks for a resolution right off the bat when you create new ones. We need relative positioning, like in a proper desktop GUI toolkit (relative to sides, top, bottom, corners, parent control, previous control etc.).
09/12/2009 (4:43 pm)
#3 is a tricky one. TGB is a 2D engine, so theoretically it should be easy to just extend one dimension of the screen aspect, but what works for 5:4 or 4:3 for the interface might look like crap once you move the GUI controls to fit the new aspect. I'd like to know what people have been doing in their games, too.The common resolutions now include 1280x800, 1024x800, 1024x600, 1440x900 and 1680x1050, in addition to the usual old nonwide resolutions. One problem here is that the GUI designer asks for a resolution right off the bat when you create new ones. We need relative positioning, like in a proper desktop GUI toolkit (relative to sides, top, bottom, corners, parent control, previous control etc.).
#4
"2) Torque 2D, the successor of TGB, has realtime networking added again :)"
When I click on Torque 2D in the menu on the top of the webpage, it takes me to TGB, which is the demo I'm currently trying. Is there another 2d torque program I should be considering for PC live-action networking, or is this the one you're saying has it integrated? It's official tutorials are saying its only good for turn based games. If so, may I have a link? Is there any tutorials on how to use the real time networking, as well?
This is the one I find:
http://www.garagegames.com/products/torque-2d
"There is actually a encrypted resources resource for TGB Pro which adds full AES encryption."
Do you know the name of it or have a link so I can find more info about it?
Thanks again.
09/12/2009 (5:59 pm)
Thanks for all the prompt responses."2) Torque 2D, the successor of TGB, has realtime networking added again :)"
When I click on Torque 2D in the menu on the top of the webpage, it takes me to TGB, which is the demo I'm currently trying. Is there another 2d torque program I should be considering for PC live-action networking, or is this the one you're saying has it integrated? It's official tutorials are saying its only good for turn based games. If so, may I have a link? Is there any tutorials on how to use the real time networking, as well?
This is the one I find:
http://www.garagegames.com/products/torque-2d
"There is actually a encrypted resources resource for TGB Pro which adds full AES encryption."
Do you know the name of it or have a link so I can find more info about it?
Thanks again.
#5
09/12/2009 (7:32 pm)
T2D is the successor to the *current* engine, TGB. So in other words, not available to us mere humans yet.
#6
What it does is integrate AES and offer you the possibility to define new file extensions to load the encrypted ones with automatic decryption through the standard resource system of TGB (the same as TGE)
09/12/2009 (11:03 pm)
1) Its a resource, as such it has no name. but check the TGB TDN once you own TGB Pro and you can find out more about it.What it does is integrate AES and offer you the possibility to define new file extensions to load the encrypted ones with automatic decryption through the standard resource system of TGB (the same as TGE)
#7
09/15/2009 (9:17 am)
I've been scouring for release info on T2D, but coming up empty. Is it still slated for a 2009 release? The real time networking they had on their video blog seemed excellent. 
#8
I've integrated it into my version of TGB and it seems to work reasonably well, though it doesn't include support for every TGB filetype. I'm not sure that I'll use it on my final release. The password protected zipfile should suffice for my needs.
09/15/2009 (11:08 am)
Actually I believe it's called Cipherlib and can be found here http://www.garagegames.com/community/resources/view/9757I've integrated it into my version of TGB and it seems to work reasonably well, though it doesn't include support for every TGB filetype. I'm not sure that I'll use it on my final release. The password protected zipfile should suffice for my needs.
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