Questions about going from TGEA to T3D

#1 1. Do TGEA add-ons roll over into Torque 3D?
Most content packs will load immediately with little effort. However, any kits or content packs requiring source code changes must be ported manually or updated by the author to support Torque 3D. There are some kits that would be relatively easy to merge, such as the 3D Isometric Kit. Others are best left to the masters, such as Jeff Faust and AFX. There are a couple you should not even attempt, such as the SSAO kit. It's a good kit for TGEA, but completely unnecessary for Torque 3D.

2. Is there a way to start with a plain, basic map in TGEA without having to load a pre-made game?
It is possible to create a blank TGEA project by modifying the existing templates. You do not have to build off any project at all, if you want. You could just build your project from scratch, script by script, if you wish.

Torque 3D has a lot more flexibility in this area. You can build off an existing genre kit, demo, or template. The templates currently available are Full or Blank. The Blank template, as the name implies, is completely stripped of all assets except a single blank level with absolutely no game objects.

The Full template gives you at least 1 of every asset and game object you could use for a prototype. Both templates allow you to create a completely blank level and build from scratch.

#2 Wow, thanks for the quick reply and info. I cant wait for T3D to come out. I did have another question for everyone here:
Is there a way to adjust the intensity of the light effects in game?

I was trying to make the distance of the Flickerlight effect bigger but I had no luck. I tried scaling the light to see if that would do it, but it seemed to have no effect. I probably just haven't seen the right atribute to adjust yet. I tried searching the forums but I couldn't find a topic that was really close to this, so I decided to add it to mine.

I am also curious about importing character models into torque. I have a few that are used in UT3 and am wondering if it is possible to import them into torque to see them in the game? If not its not a big deal, but it would be nice to see some more options for character selection.

#3 Is there a way to adjust the intensity of the light effects in game?

yes, very easily.

why not get T3D now? its at beta3, and nothing is stopping you from purchasing it.
in fact, its better to get it now, its cheaper during beta.

#4 Its good to know that what I want to do is easy. I am very seriously considering buying T3D now and not waiting until full release. There is only one thing stopping me from buying it, money. I know that out of all the engines out there T3D is going to be the best bang for the buck, with all that's included with it.

I have looked up on the forums and the info page for T3d and it says that if you currently own TGEA then with the discount you should only pay $505. When I get to the purchase page it says that it will cost me $606. I have checked several times thinking it was a comp problem on my end. I believe that I own TGEA already and was wondering if anyone else has had this problem. I do not want to sound ungrateful for the already applied discount, but when you are just starting out, like I am, $100 can mean the difference between sink or swim. I will buy T3D, just as soon as I figure out the money issue.

One last question: All the videos that you can watch when you are at the T3D main page, are all those features included with T3d? If not then will they be available for add-on purchase? From what I have read I think they are all included, so im not overly concerned.Its just a mild curiosity.

#5 everthing that you see there was done with T3D,
some of the things there wont be available in the final release,
and a few of the things there will be available as add on packs.

#6 Ok. That's good to know.
I still have a couple questions about the pricing though. I can't seem to find them in the forums and am wondering who to direct them to. Im sure its something really simple, im probably just not seeing it right.

I also have run into an issue with TGEA ( at least thats what I believe I have, Torque 1.8.1 SDK) crashing when I try to add water to a map/terrain. Im not sure if its something on my end or if its a bug. If there is a release between what I have and T3D, would someone please tell me.

Im sorry for being a pain in the butt. I haven't done most of this before and all I know to do is ask the really noob questions.

#7 The pricing "question" that I think you're having is that the pre-order discount for Torque 3D has been slowly dropping off as it has progressed through the various betas. The discount for owning TGEa still applies though.

For the TGEa crashing when adding water issue, check out the TGEa 1.8.1 Known Issues Thread -- I believe it's as simple as a missing material. A quick copy/paste and you should be good to go.

#8 I thank you for the link to the water fix, I have fixed it and am about to try it soon.

the question about the pricing was that since I have TGEA, it states on the T2D ordering page that a discount of $345 will be taken off for current owners of TGEA, plus the $50 already knocked off for pre-order. When I go to checkout, its only a $295 discount. I don't want to sound like i'm trying to get something for free, but I was wondering if anyone else had run into this or if it was because of GG having to cover costs of development. I still think its a great deal at what would be $655 (that's what its saying my cost is now).

Edit:

I am also curious about importing files into torque, such as character images and textures. Is there any direction someone could point me in to finding out how.

#9 Mike,

I just purchased T3D 2 days ago for 605 dollars. As the time gets closer to release GG is dropping off the discounts until at release you will only receive the discount for owning TGEA. Seems to me that the web page you were looking at stating 505 dollars just did not get updated yet.

#10 Ahh, that makes sense. Thanks for the info. Then it would be advisable to buy the engine soon to make sure and get all possible discounts.

Now that that's cleared up I am still fuzzy on how to get environments, character models and effects into TGEA. I recently bought the ASTE Combo 2 pack and the sci-fi solder model and cant for the life of me figure out how to add them to my project. The sci-fi soldier says its a drag-and-drop folder, but it doesn't tell you where to drop it.

If anyone has any helpful hints, please point them my direction.

I also keep getting a message telling me that I don't have the right version of torque to use whatever it is I select(ex: sky, texture, object...)I will check for any updates to try and solve this.

Edit:
I now crash out when trying to select a character and cant open the basic game file at all. I was trying to add
Kaboom Pack
Sci-fi Soldier Pack
Sticks and Twigs Enviro Pack
Aste Combo 2

I now realized that I screwed up somewhere, is there a link to info for step-by-step instructions on how to add these to a game?

#11 I hope you didn't try adding all of those of once!

I don't actually own any of those packs so can't offer any advice other than to check each one's documentation. All of them should have at least a "needed files" or "how to install" instructions. A few of those packs were written for TGE so you would have to make allowances in the script files for that by opening them up and modifying the filepath directories for things like particles, shapefiles, sounds, etc.

General asset directory names are still the same across both engines so you should be able to tell what goes where: interior shapes go in the interiors directory, sounds go in the sounds directory, etc, etc. Some of those packs will probably have necessary script files also. You don't want to just blindly let these script files overwrite each other -- that's how you end up with some things working and others not working. You'll have to look carefully through the script files and merge the contents if any two packs modify the same scripts.

Kaboom Pack

I wrote that :D The artist wrote the documentation and honestly I never looked at it, but it should detail how to merge into a standard project. Do you have the TGE version or the TGEa version? All shapes, sounds, particles, and special directories are the same across both engines. In the "~/server/scripts" directory you'll need to overwrite two existing files -- crossbow.cs and staticShape.cs. After that you'll need to add files bomb.cs and fxData.cs plus the entire contents of the "destroyables directory (maintaining that directory name). You'll need to exec these files in game.cs with the rest of the exec commands -- I marked/commented every changed and/or added file in there, so you should be able to refer to the Kaboom example's game.cs to see how to add the exec statements. Now is where the tricky part comes in. I don't actually know if the TGEa version of Kaboom ever got uploaded to GarageGames. If not you'll have to make a few minor changes to make the sounds and the particles to work properly, and you'll need to correct any directory inconsistencies. Every instance of AudioProfile or AudioDesciption in the Kaboom scripts would need to be changed to SFXProfile or SFXDescription to work in TGEa. Some of the particle effects will have to be changed for use in TGEa since TGEa doesn't allow multiple particles per emitter -- if you have any problems with that I'll post the changes for the particles in the Kaboom Feedback thread.

#12 @Michel: The blank project is for the moment not available inside Beta3... but should be easy to get from the Full template.

#13 Good to know. Now all I have to do is figure out what I keep screwing up with these add-ons. I may need to borrow someones brain for a few minutes and have them explain script "splicing" to me so I can get these things to work right.