Beginner with lots of questions. (Warning Life Story)
by Mako · in General Discussion · 05/19/2011 (11:10 pm) · 8 replies
Hello I am thinking of purchasing Torque! I am looking for advice on a friendly forum. Before I get into that please let me explain a little about my search for the "right tool for the job"...
My quest began two years ago when I suddenly got the urge to make my own game, as you can imagine I stumbled on dozens of tools and languages designed to do so. So naturally I gravitated to a beginner program (RPGMaker)I paid the sum $50 they were asking for, and it was easy and fun for a time...but extremely lacking.
A short time past and I got frustrated with the lack of features available, beginning my hunt once more. Thus stumbling upon "darkbasic pro" I thought it a good idea and a fair compromise to learning a complicated language as C++. Boy was I wrong! Somehow I stumbled into a giant money grab scheme! I must have spent $400 on useless addons that they shoved into my account every time I posted on there forum. Not to mention the very rude and non-helpful forum members.
Now after a short test of UDK and $600 poorer, I am here in search for a great game creation tool! So here are my questions (finally).
1) Is this engine ideal for creating RPG's?
2) What Programming language do I have to learn to use this program?
3) Can I make a turn based battle system using this engine? (well)
4) From a beginners stand point would this be worth it? Or is it to complex? My knowledge does not extend to game creation I.E (HTML,CSS,FLASH,ect)though I do have some knowledge of Visual Basic.
Thanks to anyone with interest and help :).
My quest began two years ago when I suddenly got the urge to make my own game, as you can imagine I stumbled on dozens of tools and languages designed to do so. So naturally I gravitated to a beginner program (RPGMaker)I paid the sum $50 they were asking for, and it was easy and fun for a time...but extremely lacking.
A short time past and I got frustrated with the lack of features available, beginning my hunt once more. Thus stumbling upon "darkbasic pro" I thought it a good idea and a fair compromise to learning a complicated language as C++. Boy was I wrong! Somehow I stumbled into a giant money grab scheme! I must have spent $400 on useless addons that they shoved into my account every time I posted on there forum. Not to mention the very rude and non-helpful forum members.
Now after a short test of UDK and $600 poorer, I am here in search for a great game creation tool! So here are my questions (finally).
1) Is this engine ideal for creating RPG's?
2) What Programming language do I have to learn to use this program?
3) Can I make a turn based battle system using this engine? (well)
4) From a beginners stand point would this be worth it? Or is it to complex? My knowledge does not extend to game creation I.E (HTML,CSS,FLASH,ect)though I do have some knowledge of Visual Basic.
Thanks to anyone with interest and help :).
#2
05/20/2011 (3:55 am)
Oops dunno how I could have left that out... Yeah Torque 3D. Thanks for your help. 
#3
2: C++ and TorqueScript. TS is very c-like in nature but far easier to manage (for a beginner) and understand.
3: Yes.
4: Personally I thought it was. Depends on how difficult you find the learning curve.
05/20/2011 (7:12 am)
1: Depends on scope of the RPG. In general, yes, but some aspects may be more difficult to implement in the Torque way if you're not familiar with Torque. For someone with intermediate or greater familiarity then yes, more than possible. If expecting a push-button-make-game rpg maker, then no.2: C++ and TorqueScript. TS is very c-like in nature but far easier to manage (for a beginner) and understand.
3: Yes.
4: Personally I thought it was. Depends on how difficult you find the learning curve.
#4
05/20/2011 (12:37 pm)
Any books you guys recommend for this TorqueScript? I am not expecting this to be easy, plus I have lots of members (on my various websites) that are willing to lean and help.
#5
It gives you a feel what to expect and how things work.
Download the demo and start making small adjustments. Mess around have some fun and try some tutorials that are on TDN and the resource section.
I dunno about a good book. I believe most books out there are for the older versions of Torque. But the scripting hasn't changed much.
Anyway here is a list of them on amazon, you check their comments, about what people think of them:
http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&keywords=Torque&rh=n%3A283155%2Ck%3ATorque&page=1#/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Torque+game&rh=n%3A283155%2Ck%3ATorque+game
05/20/2011 (2:34 pm)
I would recommend to go through the documentation that is available on the site. (http://docs.garagegames.com/torque-3d/official/ and TDN) It gives you a feel what to expect and how things work.
Download the demo and start making small adjustments. Mess around have some fun and try some tutorials that are on TDN and the resource section.
I dunno about a good book. I believe most books out there are for the older versions of Torque. But the scripting hasn't changed much.
Anyway here is a list of them on amazon, you check their comments, about what people think of them:
http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&keywords=Torque&rh=n%3A283155%2Ck%3ATorque&page=1#/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Torque+game&rh=n%3A283155%2Ck%3ATorque+game
#6
There are other options out there. They have plusses and minuses, but none of them have the community that GarageGames has. It may sound like fluffy marketing, but I genuinely believe it is the number one selling point for any of our products. If you ever get stuck, there will be someone to help you.
05/20/2011 (6:21 pm)
When we release the next version of T3D (in a week or 2) it will be accompanied by an overhaul of our existing documentation, plus the addition of some new Getting Started docs, including one that specifically deals with RPGs. Furthermore, we will start overhauling our written and video tutorials. If you buy T3D now you will get the upgrade to the new version for free, although you could also wait to check out the new support materials and make a decision then. No matter what you decide, you will need to learn TorqueScript. Learning c/c++ will help tremendously as well, but that could take years. Long term, our goal is to make our products very easy to use for non-programmers (but always include the source so programers can extend the engine however they wish).There are other options out there. They have plusses and minuses, but none of them have the community that GarageGames has. It may sound like fluffy marketing, but I genuinely believe it is the number one selling point for any of our products. If you ever get stuck, there will be someone to help you.
#7
Also no need to point out your Community, I and many other's have noticed this community rocks.
I am still window shopping, I am mainly concerned with ease of use as there may only be 3~4 people working with me at any givin' time.
05/20/2011 (7:56 pm)
Erik Graham, thank you for the incite...I think I'll start with C because C++ is a high level language, thus very hard to learn. Also no need to point out your Community, I and many other's have noticed this community rocks.
I am still window shopping, I am mainly concerned with ease of use as there may only be 3~4 people working with me at any givin' time.
#8
Actually both C and C++ are intermediate level languages. And high level languages are considered easier, low level languages are more difficult.
I would focus on learning TorqueScript first, which is very high level programming language, meaning it is the easiest to learn. It resembles a bit of C or Java but is easier than either of those.
05/22/2011 (6:05 pm)
Quote:I'll start with C because C++ is a high level language
Actually both C and C++ are intermediate level languages. And high level languages are considered easier, low level languages are more difficult.
I would focus on learning TorqueScript first, which is very high level programming language, meaning it is the easiest to learn. It resembles a bit of C or Java but is easier than either of those.
Torque 3D Owner Matt Huston
Atomic Banzai Games
1) Yes - but you have to know what you are doing
2) C++ and TorqueScript, TorqueScript is a C-like scripting language. Most of your code can be done in TorqueScript
3) Yes - I've created a simple one myself
4) Torque is definitely complex, even more so for a non programmer. But once it clicks it's easy enough. Lots of people in the community here to help. My best advice is - develop the core of the game and do not worry about what graphics you are using, they come later.
A couple of RPGs developed with Torque:
Age of Decadence - www.irontowerstudio.com
Hinterland - store.steampowered.com/app/17140/
Penny Arcade Adventures - store.steampowered.com/agecheck/app/18020/