Game Development Community

Should I wait to I get the book

by Danny Csaky · in Torque Game Engine · 11/21/2005 (6:31 am) · 6 replies

Hi,
been using torque for a week now, and i've ordered the book "3d game Programming all in one", but It won't get here untill a weeks time. I wondering if i should wait for the book before continuing using torque? i spend like 2 hours reading script at a time because of the whole complexity of it. I know other people have got the book, did you find that with the book, it started to all become so much clearear? or will i still be lost with the even if I have the book?

#1
11/21/2005 (6:35 am)
Hell no :-)

Back up your code and get stuck in.

Find out what makes it tick..

Find out how the directory structure works.

Change things

Make notes

Break it

See what makes it work.

Follow tutorials

Investigate

Get familiar

Read Docs

Play
#2
11/21/2005 (10:55 pm)
Well, here's my opinion Danny. I am VERY new to this whole thing. I have played a lot of computer games and now I want to make one. I have basic computer programming skills with C/C++ but not much programming experience. I have never worked with a script language before. I bought the book "3D Game Programming All In One" and am currently about a third of the way through it. I must say I have a much better understanding of how torque works than I did by just reading the intro guide and messing around with script files (since I knew absolutely nothing about what I was reading). For an experienced programmer or someone that has any game programming experience, the book might not be that helpful. But for me, the complete newbie, it's fantastic. It does have quite a few errors in it that I have come across so far (chapter 6 especially and a minor one in chapter 8) but I have been looking at the errors as a chance to learn more about the engine and get some debugging experience.

So for me the book has been a great help. I have been learning not only about how torque works, but also good ways to structure the code and good programming practices. It also goes into how to use a lot of the free software tools for making objects and scenery in the game.
#3
11/22/2005 (2:17 am)
Danny, Just to clarify, in case it appeard that I was saying you don't need to get the book... They are good books and you will learn a lot.
I own both of them. but they're not a complete guide to everything the Torque engine has to offer. They cover a lot of information and are well written. But most of the info in the books is available on the site in one form or another, the author has boiled it down and added his own thoughts to the mix. The section on Torquescript makes it an essential purchase on its own in my opinion.

Basically, don't be scared of experimenting to see what happens.

Check out some of the other tutorials too, combined with the knowledge from the books.

Most of all, have fun.
#4
11/22/2005 (3:38 am)
Have you looked at the Essential Guide to the Torque Game Engine?

www.garagegames.com/index.php?sec=mg&mod=resource&page=view&qid=5661

That should keep you going until Ken's book arrives.
#5
11/22/2005 (6:22 pm)
@Danny: In my last plan I listed several resources with links for beginners. I am working on our first game and I will be recording what we learn in my plans on a weekly basis. There is plenty to read until you get your book. Just getting one book isn't going to teach you everything. You will need to check out the "The Torque SDK home page". Has allot of links for tutorials, code and documentation for getting started with Torque.
#6
11/22/2005 (9:26 pm)
I got the book today,
Time to have fun

I've also got "c++ 3D game programming", which has the same looking cover as "3D game programming all in one" except in yellow.