TX2: Getting Started

#1 Hi Trent, at the moment, there is not much documentation around the 3D Framework. I did this writeup a few months ago that steps through the process of creating a 3D object in 3D Studio Max and bringing it all the way into a Torque X game... www.garagegames.com/mg/forums/result.thread.php?qt=71472 Unfortunately, this is as close as it gets to some documentation for now. The API docs are still the best resource for now and I found studying the .txscene level files to be the most help (especially in the case of the 3D Framework).

As far as comparing Torque X features to TGEA goes, there's a lot in common and a lot that's different. As you probably know, they are two different engines written in two different languages, against two different graphics frameworks. TGEA has a lot more features since it's built on the more powerful DirectX. Torque X has fewer features because it has to work within the limitations of XNA. I would say that Torque X has about 70% of the features found within TGEA and about 90% of the features found within TGB. Torque X and TGE are both shader-based with material support, can load levels, can present a GUI, have the same rendering technique, have scene graphs, can load 3D models with polysoup collisioning, can render terrain/sky/sun, and so on. Torque X also adds a solid component Framework missing from TGEA, but TGEA has more environmental features like billboard shapes, foliage, and a water block as well as GarageGame's legendary networking architecture. TGEA is a bit more evolved, but doesn't run on an Xbox 360, like Torque X does.

I believe that Torque X is aiming to have the same core features that TGEA has, but TGEA has been around a lot longer and had a chance to evolve from TGE.

John K.

#2 Thanks for that John.

I saw your 3D model and thats what actually got me going further than nowhere with TX2, so awesome job mate, thanks!

I've been trying to mess with some of the other functions, like responding to input and working with the camera by, like you said, studying the txscene file. I know the the FPS demo will be a good reference but at the moment I think it's too much in one demo which makes it hard to follow, but I've been using that and the TX1 docs to try and get a feel for how it works, hoping that things like the input manager and object database are still similar to what they were in v1.

What has me the most stuck at the moment (besides those previous things) is loading in a .dif. I just can't see how this can be done at present, though it's probably plainly obvious, I just don't have the time to study code the way I'd like to, I may keep using TGEA for a while longer.

It's good to know about the feature comparison, I thought that was pretty much the case but I wasn't sure. I'm reasonably familiar with XNA, I had the starts of a 3D game working then I tried migrating it to XNA2 and well, now it's still sitting in pieces because I decided I wanted to make the code neater. Considering my day job for the last 7 years has consisted of C#, and that I like the language far better than I like C++, I'd prefer to stick with TX2... just hanging for docs of any kind!

#3 There's also a TorqueX book coming out soon (From what I last heard).