Newbie exploring the possibilities and process

#1 I recommend starting by trying the TGE or TGEA demos on the site to see the basics of what those engines can do.

Once you have the demos, mess around with the scripts a bit to get a feel for how things work. There is nothing that teaches better than experience.
If you are new to game programming you may feel a little overwhelmed. The scripts themselves can be puzzling, but more so the engine code itself will probably bewilder the living bejesus out of you if you have never touched on C or seen a game engine at work.

If you can get a comfortable idea of roughly how the demos work, after looking through the scripts and talking here on the forums, I recommend buying and downloading one of the engines and getting your feet wet with creating your first game.

Your first game will suck, but it's a learning experience. You mentioned you wanted to create an MMO, I recommend that you save that for later. Even an experienced coder isn't going to be able to make an MMO out of torque when they are new to the engine, and have it fresh out of the box. That sort of thing requires major engine modifications and code changes. Start with something very simple, such as a basic shooter or something silly.


As for guides on what it takes to make a game, I don't know of any off hand, but I'm sure there are some out there on game design forums/sites like gamedev.net .

#2 The two books by Ken Finney are great places to start, though they're dated. And the Programmer's Guide by Ed Maurina is a great reference. You won't have access to the TDN, which has become a fantastic reference, until you purchase the engine.

Though I'm sure many will disagree, this is a difficult system to get yourself 'grounded' with. But, once you get past the initial brain freeze, it gets better. Give yourself a little time to get your feet wet, you'll be pleased with Torque...

#3 I agree with Terry about the books, The books would be a great place to start as they come with the TGE demo, although its a little dated, its enough to get by and eventually purchase the engine if you feel its right.

#4 Ian, could you explaine what you mean. I have the demo and as interesting and exciting is it looks - I don;t see any literature. What did you men by "they come with the demo"?

#5 Also, don't just jump ahead. Get TGE demo. If you like that you can get TGE. But, it would be good if you had planned out what you are going to do. Maybe like mess around with TGE to get skill. You can plan out your first game though. Like get a small folder and put in all the items (Don't put to much becuase your first game will be very hard) and like what buildings you are gonna have. Then you can put your game together. I recommend trying to figure out the Game Engine first so you know what happens when you click this and that. Also, like Terry said, books are helpful. After you mostly get the hang of it, you would be better off on trying to make a game. When I first started, I tried to make a game right away, but got so fustrated, I almost never wanted to use TGE again. But now I know what to do so it isn't as annoying.

Good luck Justing!

#6 I think it's ok to buy even if you can't bust out an mmo etc.

Just the educational value of study in one day can pay for TGE.