Which tools should I spend money on?

#21 Eclipse is the third party/freeware IDE that is packaged within TBE, correct. TBE is basically just MingW, MinSys, and Eclipse glued together to work with stock TGE 1.3. It can be tweaked/adjusted (mostly adding files to your build project) for other Torque applications as well.

#22 @Stephen

Your post slightly cleared up some things for me, but I'm still confused about exactly what I should get to program with (I'm artist, beginning programmer). I have been using Devcpp for learning c++ programming, and use ConText for scripting. I know that TGE doesn't work with Devcpp, however, so I'm looking for another coder.

What does TBE stand for? Where can I get it? I've done searches online and get everything but what may be related to c++ programming :-)

Thanks.

#23 Torque Build Environment - There is a link to it on the main page...

oops

#24 @ Chris

I had to do a search, but found it. Thanks!

#25 Http://www.garagegames.com/index.php?sec=mg&mod=resource&page=view&qid=7362

#26 .

#27 Uh... you dont need anyhting special for scripts... You can do it in notepad (which I do) .

As for music and sfx ... You can probably purchase a sfx library fairly cheap online... For music there is a program called audacity (I think) that is great and free (sourceforge) ...

#28 This has been an awesome post thanks to everyone!

#29 .

#30 Ah.. So audacity is an editor, in which you need something to edit. Thanks for the clear up.

#31 Ok question, I want to buy the book becuase it has the engine in it and it seems to be a great start to getting into development. If I buy will the engine it comes with be worth while? Mean will I be able to use it to create, unlike the "demo" download of the engine you get at the site?

#32 The "demo" is a fully functional precompiled version of the engine (without C++ source code) that includes demonstration scripts. You can edit these scripts or create new ones for learning purposes, but you cannot distribute them without a license.

The book includes a precompiled version of the engine (again without source) and several different scripts, plus a number of third party tools, some of which require a registration fee if you wish to use them beyond the trial period.

It is possible to learn how to use TGE without using the book, but you would need to find the tools and information for yourself. In other words, the book saves you a lot of time and effort.

#33 I must have downloaded the wrong Torque Demo all mine does is shows me the different features of the engine. I see no where I can edit any scripts or start adding or removing content. Any pointers for the newb?

#34 Audacity is mainly an editing tool, which would be used more for sfx than music. Personally I use Adobe Audition for audio editing and sfx creation, Cakewalk Sonar for music recording and sequencing, and Reaktor + Kontakt I use for both. There are really many different options for going about producing the music and sound depending on your resources, ability, and the style you're going for but perhaps the simplest is using an sfx library (though editing will still be involved) and using a sequencer (like fruity loops) with a tone generator (like your soundcard) for music

#35 Look for the .cs files....those are the scripts and you can open them in any text editor.

#36

Quote:I must have downloaded the wrong Torque Demo all mine does is shows me the different features of the engine. I see no where I can edit any scripts or start adding or removing content. Any pointers for the newb?

F-10 for the gui editor.
F-11 for the various world editors.
Any text editor (even notepad will do) for changing/adding script files (.cs files) in the /example directory.
~ (tilde key) to open up the console window.

As was mentioned, the Torque "demo" is in fact a fully feature available pre-compiled executable of the Torque engine, with various example scripts that demonstrate dozens and dozens of techniques at the scripting layer. As with any compiled executable of Torque (assuming you haven't removed the capability yourself), you have absolute control over the scripting layer, and can do anything you like as long as it doesn't require source code modification. Yes, you can actually create entire games with script!

#37 F1 for help

#38 So it looks like I can actually make something with the demo? Man I need to go buy that book. Does anyone have it used for sale?

#39 I have 3DGPai1 and I must say: Great book. I highly suggest you grab it. It is long and tedious, but if you are devoted, you can throw down some awesome work after and during reading it. I currently need to finish reading it and doing the tutorials before I get started in any game projects.