Questions before I buy.

#1 I wouldn't say it is easy to make a platformer in TGB, there are a lot of quirks with the physics and collision system that would require some time and creative solutions to overcome. If it doesn't put too big of a hole in your budget, I would recommend investing in the PSK.

From looking at the PD particles website, it looks like it supports saving png files; so something like a tree on a transparent background should be possible. Might be best to contact the author of the program with your question. In any case, even if it doesn't have transparent backgrounds, you could import the image into Gimp or Photoshop and convert a solid color to alpha.

If you are already familiar with Torquescript, then the tutorials and reference documents included in the TGB download should help you get started quickly. There's also TDN as a resource for information along with this forum.

#2 The PSK, from what I've seen, is a great starting point for a platformer game. I spent 2-3 days working on getting my jump physics to work, and the PSK Demo had it mostly solved out of the box.

Pieces from pretty much any art program can be brought into TGB. Photoshop, Gimp, anything.

You'll want to get a decent animator to animate stuff for you. In 3D, an animator can be completely divorced from the modeller/texture artist, but in 2D, he's doing ALL of it for each character/prop.

On the other hand - Try to work on art pieces separately. That means work on backgrounds separate from trees and other assets. Have someone paint all of your stagnant objects while someone else animates your moving ones.

Establish guidelines, even if they're arbitrary. Establish art DIRECTION early in the project and have a very clear understanding of what you want it to look like. If you're not an artist, google some art styles you like and be specific on what you want ("I like the bold outlines and graphic shapes", "I like the water-colored look","I want the interface to be shiney/chrome like Mac")

#3 @Mike: well it sounds like the PSK is the way to go. Mind you, TDN has a tutorial on making a platformer...is that any good?

@Daniel: thankyou for the comments

Both of you have been a great help.

#4 TDn article was where I started. It's a great place to start, and it will give you insight as to whether or not you want to fool around with getting your controls *just* right.

Scripting things like smoothed short jumps, Double jumps, wall jumps etc. can get a little hairy.

The kit also works out the problems of moving platforms (inheriting velocity), enemy AI (in a basic sense), ladders, and hazards.

It really includes the framework for any Platformer. It is no small mod, methinks.

Try the tutorial and that will help you guage how much the time/effort is worth to you. Maybe it clicks and is easy for you to code, maybe you get stuck at step 2, pulling your hair out, Who knows.

#5 Well, I wrote the current version of the platformer tutorial on TDN (it is based on previous work from others), so I'm probably not the best person to ask if it is good or not. As mentioned on the overview page, it was for TGB version 1.7.2. Something happened in 1.7.3 or .4 with the clamp collision response and the tutorial code as is will leave you with a very jittery character.

I started an update to the player movement script, this time as a behavior, which is at the bottom of the tutorial page. It is a good start in showing how to work around some of the quirks (instead of using onUpdate and castCollision - X and Y movement is updated based on keyboard input and pickPoint), but it is nowhere near being complete with perfect controls and animation.

If you put a monetary amount on the total time you would need to write your own platformer controls, animation system, and all the other features the PSK has, purchasing the PSK is really a much better value.

#6 :O

#7 @Xanthor: Yes, i am currently having problems with GG concerning iTGE, and I know that the RTS kit is also not in 100% working order, but the PSK seems to have a very active forum section, with plenty of support and help being provided. It would be good if someone with the PSK could tell me whether it is 100% functional, and whether it works with the latest TGB.

#8 @Max - It probably is but until GG/TP fixes a lot of the bugs in it concerning Windows 7/Vista I can't use the damn thing. Plus on top of that a very useful tool Torsion only ran on Windows. Sure I found the trick to get it working on a Mac but there are a few bugs even with that. SHG should really release a mac version of that.

I'm actually getting a little tired of them just pushing out a new product whenever they can't fix the old one. Guess it's a little like Microsoft.
Torque X seems to be the only thing that they are keep constant unless they plan for charging for the upcoming fixes to that.

#9 Are you saying that TGB doesn't work on Windows 7??

#10 The editor gives me issues in Windows 7. For example, if I try the OpenGL Renderer and try to go full screen, the editor just completely fails and doesn't properly align correctly. In Direct X it's completely unusable in Full Screen. If I shrink it down a little it works a little bit more but there are still a bunch of glitches. Not to mention that if you make a change to a preference it will completely cause the coloring in the editor to screw up.


Here are some screenshots of this.

http://s139.photobucket.com/albums/q291/soulman901/TGB%20Errors/

#11 TGB does work on Windows 7, without problems for me.
And it did so on Vista already.

I checked through his screenshots and aside of the fact that I have an NVIDIA there is only one difference and thats that I have disabled this dead annoying gadget bar, especially if you use the glas look.
Its known to cause problems if you work with something that runs basically in an "seperated layer" (the desktop is dx9+) which holds for DX8 as OpenGL.
As there are reported cases where updated drivers even allowed Intel X3100 cards and alike to use even Torque2D for iPhone on Windows 7 which no longer has DX in combination with intel really having the worst opengl track, anyone else should be able to get it to run too :)


The DirectX renderer in TGE / TGB though was always useless.
Its a call redirection "fallback" for the OpenGL, not a real renderer itself. On any of my systems, it performed 30 - 50% worse than the GL end.

Thats why T2D is that needed. If finally gets rid of the TGE upon which TGB is build by replacing it with the much more modern and flexible core of T3D, where the renderer is not hooked in all around the engine (making maintaining it a horror to near impossible) but is an own distinct module basically (so you can hook in even an own one if you don't like the present one, for whatever reason you might want to)

TGB didn't have much room to grow any further visually / render performance technically on the TGE roots, especially it has no chance to get DX9+ on that roots

#12 @Max - Never mind, damn thing works when you disable all of 7's fancy new features.
@Marc - You sir are the man of the year. Had I this information it would made things easier for me.