Torque capabilities
by Jack McMackin · in General Discussion · 07/16/2005 (5:35 am) · 12 replies
Hello everyone, I am new to torque and have been fooling around with it for a while now. I have also been looking around the website and forums to see the capabilities the Torque engine has for Indie developers. I gave the game list a look and all i saw was poker type games and deathmatch/capture the flag games. Is this the only kind of genre you can do with torque? Or can you make bigger games with story lines such as half-life one or unreal 2. My team or company if you will is currently working on a game called Lethal Force which to find the best comparison, would be like half-life 1. I'm not looking for the best graphics ever but I am looking for something that can do story driven games such as half-life. So far, my team and I are torn between 3d GameStudio and Torque. Though we stumbled on to torque by accident in the back of one of our programming books called 3d Game Programming All in One by Kenneth Finney. The book itself was very hard to learn from because the examples had typos in them and you had to figure out how to fix them yourself, but we have a programmer who has done everything in the book and is ready to program. I guess what I want to know is if torque is the best engine to do a Half-Life style game in, not to be confused with half-life 2, we aren't that ambitious yet. And if you know of a better one, could you please point me in the direction of where I could acquire it?
Thanks,
Chuck McMackin
Thanks,
Chuck McMackin
About the author
#2
07/16/2005 (2:48 pm)
I'm confused, does this mean torque IS able to make a half-life 1 type game? Should I be going with a different engine?
#3
of course, if it's *easy* to do is another question. Is it easy to make a halflife game? no.
Is it easier to use Torque to make a custom game than writing the engine from scratch? yes.
Is it easier to use Torque than to use another for-pay engine? Probably.
07/16/2005 (2:51 pm)
Torque is a game engine, you get the source for it, so "anything" is possible given enough resources.of course, if it's *easy* to do is another question. Is it easy to make a halflife game? no.
Is it easier to use Torque to make a custom game than writing the engine from scratch? yes.
Is it easier to use Torque than to use another for-pay engine? Probably.
#4
Keep in mind that in order to make Half-Life, it took a team of professionals a good chunk of their life.
07/16/2005 (2:52 pm)
If you're able to use the source code (Which TGE gives you for a mere $100), you can do anything imaginable.Keep in mind that in order to make Half-Life, it took a team of professionals a good chunk of their life.
#5
The Torque Shader Engine is probably not quite on par with the Half Life 2 engine. But it's still really very powerful.
And yes, the source code is yours, so just as the Half Life 2 engine is DERIVED from the Quake 2 codebase, you can derive your own super-engine for your own game.
As people have stated - it's not so much the engine as your own team & talents. You could start with the Half Life 2 engine and still end up with something miserable - the engine opens up options, but it doesn't create the game for you.
07/16/2005 (3:45 pm)
The Torque Game Engine is pretty much on par with the Half-Life 1 engine --- a little more powerful in other areas (particularly outdoor environments). I really can't think of anything you could do in Half Life 1 that couldn't be done as well or better with minimal engine changes in Torque.The Torque Shader Engine is probably not quite on par with the Half Life 2 engine. But it's still really very powerful.
And yes, the source code is yours, so just as the Half Life 2 engine is DERIVED from the Quake 2 codebase, you can derive your own super-engine for your own game.
As people have stated - it's not so much the engine as your own team & talents. You could start with the Half Life 2 engine and still end up with something miserable - the engine opens up options, but it doesn't create the game for you.
#6
Yes I do know that it is the talent of the team that counts and that the engine doesn't make the game for you, but i seem to have sent a mixed signal. When i said Half-Life 1 i didn't mean i wanted to create something exactly like it, I meant I was going to create a game that in genre would be like Half-Life 1, not the best graphics but a story driven game. So basically, have levels where you proceeded through interiors/exteriors killing badguys and have scripted events here and there with cutscenes and the like. I'm glad to see that you have answered my question in terms of if it is possible, but I guess what I was trying to ask is, is it the BEST engine to make a game like that on? I was a little worried when i only saw multiplayer-like games on the game list and no story driven FPS. Thank you for all of your replies.
-Chuck McMackin
07/16/2005 (4:16 pm)
@JayYes I do know that it is the talent of the team that counts and that the engine doesn't make the game for you, but i seem to have sent a mixed signal. When i said Half-Life 1 i didn't mean i wanted to create something exactly like it, I meant I was going to create a game that in genre would be like Half-Life 1, not the best graphics but a story driven game. So basically, have levels where you proceeded through interiors/exteriors killing badguys and have scripted events here and there with cutscenes and the like. I'm glad to see that you have answered my question in terms of if it is possible, but I guess what I was trying to ask is, is it the BEST engine to make a game like that on? I was a little worried when i only saw multiplayer-like games on the game list and no story driven FPS. Thank you for all of your replies.
-Chuck McMackin
#7
07/16/2005 (4:52 pm)
I'd say Torque would be a very good choice. 
#8
My experience with Torque is that it is AWESOME and VERY versatile, but for your requirements, why not just mod an existng game? (you could also look at modding one of the Medal of Honor games, I would recommend Breakthrough for your purposes)
07/16/2005 (5:03 pm)
If you want an engine to make a game with that's on par with Half Life 1... use Half Life 1. Tons of really cool games have been modded off of that engine, and there's plenty of documentation of how to do it. It's free and it has EXACTLY your specs.My experience with Torque is that it is AWESOME and VERY versatile, but for your requirements, why not just mod an existng game? (you could also look at modding one of the Medal of Honor games, I would recommend Breakthrough for your purposes)
#9
TGE, and TSE beat 3D GameStudio hands down in everyother way, especially when it comes to networked stuff. 3DGS has just about the weakest networking I have ever had the displeasure of trying to debug, it turned out to be a total and complete was of several thousand dollars (I bought multiple licenses of there best version).
TGE community is also a heck of alot better than 3DGS
TGE has source code.
Like I said the only reason there even still is a company called Conitec and a product called 3DGS, is because the TGE art pipeline is nearly non-existant.
That said, art tools are being worked on at a fast a furious pace. As soon as they (GarageGames) have finished the art pipeline, I expect Conitec to file for bankruptcy.
In short, don't waste your time, get TGE and get your project done!
07/16/2005 (5:05 pm)
3D GameStudio has a more solid pipeline, that's it's only savng grace.TGE, and TSE beat 3D GameStudio hands down in everyother way, especially when it comes to networked stuff. 3DGS has just about the weakest networking I have ever had the displeasure of trying to debug, it turned out to be a total and complete was of several thousand dollars (I bought multiple licenses of there best version).
TGE community is also a heck of alot better than 3DGS
TGE has source code.
Like I said the only reason there even still is a company called Conitec and a product called 3DGS, is because the TGE art pipeline is nearly non-existant.
That said, art tools are being worked on at a fast a furious pace. As soon as they (GarageGames) have finished the art pipeline, I expect Conitec to file for bankruptcy.
In short, don't waste your time, get TGE and get your project done!
#10
Yes I have done that in my pastimes before, but being an indie developer, I not only want to create a game that is my own, but I want to publish it on this website as well as any others that support Indie games such as the ones featured on this website. Modding is a nice hobby and you CAN use it for a demo reel to show companies if you are looking to be picked up. But if you want to get it published and have the satisfaction of knowing that its your own game and being able to get a few bucks for it, you have to do it on a game engine like torque, which is what I want to do. Now of cource when I say a couple of bucks i don't think that i am going to get rich off this no, of cource not, Im just saying that small amount of money no matter how small is money you got off of a game that you made and that brings a satisfaction that really makes the pain and effort in making a game worth it. I understand that there are challenges and i am ready to take them, so long as I dont give up i can get my self, and my team mates to the finish. Thanks guys for the replies, I think ill use torque.
-Chuck McMackin
CEO Critters Entertainment :D
07/16/2005 (5:45 pm)
@AndyYes I have done that in my pastimes before, but being an indie developer, I not only want to create a game that is my own, but I want to publish it on this website as well as any others that support Indie games such as the ones featured on this website. Modding is a nice hobby and you CAN use it for a demo reel to show companies if you are looking to be picked up. But if you want to get it published and have the satisfaction of knowing that its your own game and being able to get a few bucks for it, you have to do it on a game engine like torque, which is what I want to do. Now of cource when I say a couple of bucks i don't think that i am going to get rich off this no, of cource not, Im just saying that small amount of money no matter how small is money you got off of a game that you made and that brings a satisfaction that really makes the pain and effort in making a game worth it. I understand that there are challenges and i am ready to take them, so long as I dont give up i can get my self, and my team mates to the finish. Thanks guys for the replies, I think ill use torque.
-Chuck McMackin
CEO Critters Entertainment :D
#11
As Jack said, some people don't like to have ownership of all their work automatically signed over to a third party ;)
07/20/2005 (11:42 am)
Quote:why not just mod an existing game?
As Jack said, some people don't like to have ownership of all their work automatically signed over to a third party ;)
#12
07/20/2005 (12:47 pm)
Yes. It can be done. Look at the latest cut-scene questions on the forums for a little more information on script-driven cut-scenes. Actually, there are a number of things that you could do in the demo to make a HL-esque game without engine modification. Sit down and play with it, with Quark (or Cartography Shop), and use the base Orc model as your proof-of-concept model. You should be able to bang out a nice little gameplay demo without ever touching the C++ source code. A lot of little things would need to be integrated into the source (as well as wanting to distribute your game requires a license), but a lot of the core gameplay is already there. 
.
Nope.
"...Im not looking for the best graphics ever..."
Take a look at Torque Shader Engine