Official TGEA Documentation Feedback
by Michael Perry · in Torque Game Engine Advanced · 03/19/2008 (7:21 am) · 102 replies
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This Thread Is The Official Documentation Feedback Area For ALL Versions of TGEA
If you want to quick search for all TGEA Doc Updates, perform a keyword search in your browser for "Documentation Update:"
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Hey Everyone. I've got my nose to the grindstone working on the documentation and tutorials for TGEA, which was provided in the TGEA 1.7.0 Beta.
By using this thread as a central source to leave documentation feedback, we can keep the other forums clean.
Feel free to post any criticism, suggestions, bugs (missing images or dead hyperlinks), outdated information, etc.
Outside of messing up an object or class name, don't worry about correcting grammar or spelling. Believe me, I'll find those eventually =)
Known Issues:
- Missing images in Mission Editor section (Found the reason and will correct it soon)
- Formatting inconsistent (Created a new template and porting finished sections over)
- Missing or Out of Order Table of Contents for quite a few sections. Let me know what you find
- Reference to a Tutorials Section that does not exist.
I want to elaborate on this last part. I really like how the TGB documentation separates its reference and overview sections from its tutorials. If you read through the GUI Editor section, you'll see there is a mini-tutorial. This is used solely for giving an overview of the Editor and its layout. I'm going to create a Tutorial section, and one example for an extended GUI tut would be "Creating An In Game Inventory GUI."
Look forward to the feedback ladies and gents =)
This Thread Is The Official Documentation Feedback Area For ALL Versions of TGEA
If you want to quick search for all TGEA Doc Updates, perform a keyword search in your browser for "Documentation Update:"
=========================================================================
Hey Everyone. I've got my nose to the grindstone working on the documentation and tutorials for TGEA, which was provided in the TGEA 1.7.0 Beta.
By using this thread as a central source to leave documentation feedback, we can keep the other forums clean.
Feel free to post any criticism, suggestions, bugs (missing images or dead hyperlinks), outdated information, etc.
Outside of messing up an object or class name, don't worry about correcting grammar or spelling. Believe me, I'll find those eventually =)
Known Issues:
- Missing images in Mission Editor section (Found the reason and will correct it soon)
- Formatting inconsistent (Created a new template and porting finished sections over)
- Missing or Out of Order Table of Contents for quite a few sections. Let me know what you find
- Reference to a Tutorials Section that does not exist.
I want to elaborate on this last part. I really like how the TGB documentation separates its reference and overview sections from its tutorials. If you read through the GUI Editor section, you'll see there is a mini-tutorial. This is used solely for giving an overview of the Editor and its layout. I'm going to create a Tutorial section, and one example for an extended GUI tut would be "Creating An In Game Inventory GUI."
Look forward to the feedback ladies and gents =)
About the author
Programmer.
#42
1.7.1 Has Been Released!!!!!
I'm right in the middle of a task, so I'll post the documentation update details in a few hours =)
06/13/2008 (2:15 pm)
For those of you who haven't noticed yet:1.7.1 Has Been Released!!!!!
I'm right in the middle of a task, so I'll post the documentation update details in a few hours =)
#43
The getting started docs are awesome. I love the way you used the "torque" way of discribing things. It makes reading interesting.
I have one question tho....
You have a section entitled "Tutorials".
Are those being written in house? or are they User created? If the latter, are they going to use a template so they all follow one set of rules?
06/13/2008 (4:45 pm)
Been noticed. :-)The getting started docs are awesome. I love the way you used the "torque" way of discribing things. It makes reading interesting.
I have one question tho....
You have a section entitled "Tutorials".
Are those being written in house? or are they User created? If the latter, are they going to use a template so they all follow one set of rules?
#44
The plan is for that section to be written in-house, but in no way will anyone stand in the way of ambitious community members writing their own =). Formatting isn't a big concern, as any tutorials we want to push into the official docs would have to be converted anyway. However, keeping to the TGB and TDN html format can certainly stream-line the process.
Plenty more details on that to come.
Now, about the TGEA 1.7.1 docs: I'm writing two more posts to separate the major changes for easier reading.
06/13/2008 (5:15 pm)
@Mike - Thanks for the compliment!!!The plan is for that section to be written in-house, but in no way will anyone stand in the way of ambitious community members writing their own =). Formatting isn't a big concern, as any tutorials we want to push into the official docs would have to be converted anyway. However, keeping to the TGB and TDN html format can certainly stream-line the process.
Plenty more details on that to come.
Now, about the TGEA 1.7.1 docs: I'm writing two more posts to separate the major changes for easier reading.
#45
As Matt mentioned, there have been two major updates:
************* PORTING GUIDE *************
When you open the Documentation Overview.html, there is a new section in the left TOC (table of contents) called Migration Guide.
Currently, there is only one doc in this section: Porting Guide. This is a reference guide for users who wish to port their TGE and pre-1.7 TGEA games over to the latest version.
In the past, TGE and TGEA shared a similar structure, in both engine code and folder hierarchy. Keeping that in mind, we didn't create a "TGE Conversion" section and a "TGE Conversion" section.
Those who like to pay close attention to technical details will want to spend time looking over the Summary of changes... section first. This is especially recommended if your old project has been heavily modified in the C++ area.
I've you mostly performed script and asset changes, you could skip down to the Common Porting/Upgrade section.
So, let us know how useful you find the Porting Guide. As always, if you find any errors or come up with your own porting solutions, please us know. You'll spot some other fixes in the doc that we've credited to other community members.
06/13/2008 (5:16 pm)
Documentation Update:As Matt mentioned, there have been two major updates:
Quote:* Added a Migration Guide to the official docs that should greatly help when bringing TGEA 1.0.3 and TGE projects over into the new directory structure and methodologies of TGEA 1.7
* Further refined the Getting Started section of the docs (including coverage of the New Project Generator)
************* PORTING GUIDE *************
When you open the Documentation Overview.html, there is a new section in the left TOC (table of contents) called Migration Guide.
Currently, there is only one doc in this section: Porting Guide. This is a reference guide for users who wish to port their TGE and pre-1.7 TGEA games over to the latest version.
In the past, TGE and TGEA shared a similar structure, in both engine code and folder hierarchy. Keeping that in mind, we didn't create a "TGE Conversion" section and a "TGE Conversion" section.
Those who like to pay close attention to technical details will want to spend time looking over the Summary of changes... section first. This is especially recommended if your old project has been heavily modified in the C++ area.
I've you mostly performed script and asset changes, you could skip down to the Common Porting/Upgrade section.
So, let us know how useful you find the Porting Guide. As always, if you find any errors or come up with your own porting solutions, please us know. You'll spot some other fixes in the doc that we've credited to other community members.
#46
************* PROJECT GENERATOR *************
Under the Getting Started section of the docs, you will find a new tutorial: New Project Generator.
This one is pretty straight forward. The tutorial was written from scratch, and kept very simple due to its nature. It's tightly coupled with the Porting Guide and Getting Started docs, as they all work hand-in-hand at some level.
If you think we've left out a step, one of the steps is broken, or you just have general feedback, please let us know.
06/13/2008 (5:19 pm)
Documentation Update:************* PROJECT GENERATOR *************
Under the Getting Started section of the docs, you will find a new tutorial: New Project Generator.
This one is pretty straight forward. The tutorial was written from scratch, and kept very simple due to its nature. It's tightly coupled with the Porting Guide and Getting Started docs, as they all work hand-in-hand at some level.
If you think we've left out a step, one of the steps is broken, or you just have general feedback, please let us know.
#47
So, let's keep the good feedback rolling everyone! =)
What's next? I'm taking a few hours off to get some sleep. Then, Guess What?? Yup, back to writing docs =)
06/13/2008 (5:30 pm)
Ok, I just went through and made some changes to older posts I made. Make sure you check the original post to see some notes I've made about this thread.So, let's keep the good feedback rolling everyone! =)
What's next? I'm taking a few hours off to get some sleep. Then, Guess What?? Yup, back to writing docs =)
#48
In the 1.7 porting guide, under the audio changes:
alxGetWaveLen changes to ??? "This appears to have been changed to getLength(); in sfxSource.cpp. (I may be wrong tho)
I found what appears to be the same thing in the following function:
bool SFXSource::_allocVoice( SFXDevice* device )
So far, the docs are great. The new project generator works a treat. :-) Super simple and your discriptions of it are perfect. It took me a total of around 35 seconds to create a new project.
06/13/2008 (6:36 pm)
Get some sleep. You deserve it.In the 1.7 porting guide, under the audio changes:
alxGetWaveLen changes to ??? "This appears to have been changed to getLength(); in sfxSource.cpp. (I may be wrong tho)
I found what appears to be the same thing in the following function:
bool SFXSource::_allocVoice( SFXDevice* device )
So far, the docs are great. The new project generator works a treat. :-) Super simple and your discriptions of it are perfect. It took me a total of around 35 seconds to create a new project.
#49
For example, what's the difference between 1.7.1 and 1.7.0?
06/15/2008 (2:49 pm)
"What's new in TGEA 1.7.x" would be nice.For example, what's the difference between 1.7.1 and 1.7.0?
#50
06/15/2008 (3:19 pm)
Robert, This announcement blog post explains what's been changed. It is quite extensive.
#51
Oh, yeah sorry--I'm aware of that page, I just thought I'd suggest that the content there be added to the documentation so that you don't have to go digging for it.
06/15/2008 (3:37 pm)
> Robert, This announcement blog post explains what's been changed. It is quite extensive.Oh, yeah sorry--I'm aware of that page, I just thought I'd suggest that the content there be added to the documentation so that you don't have to go digging for it.
#52
Hmm...I'm kind of on the fence about this one. I agree that having that information is very handy, especially for developers porting their old projects.
I'm just not sure if that would fall more on the website/engine page side of things, and less so on the docs. I'll keep it in mind though =)
06/15/2008 (4:17 pm)
@Robert - Thanks for the suggestion. Hmm...I'm kind of on the fence about this one. I agree that having that information is very handy, especially for developers porting their old projects.
I'm just not sure if that would fall more on the website/engine page side of things, and less so on the docs. I'll keep it in mind though =)
#53
06/16/2008 (5:59 am)
@Mike - Forgot to reply to your 6/15 post. Thanks for locating that. I'm looking into it now =)
#54
06/16/2008 (2:27 pm)
You are quite welcome. You were getting some much needed rest so I didn't even think about it. :-) 
#55
Edit: Is also used with alxSourcef() which neither have a known SFX equivalent
06/17/2008 (12:13 pm)
Hi guys, any news on alxGetWaveLen() <-> getLength()? Apparently there is no Console Function for it yet.Edit: Is also used with alxSourcef() which neither have a known SFX equivalent
#56
Note that this would load the entire sound file into memory to be able to read the length. Also if you did it on the server side it would load the sound file on the server.
06/17/2008 (1:34 pm)
@Novack - Would something like this meet your needs?U32 SFXProfile::getSoundDuration()
{
if ( !mResource )
mResource = SFXResource::load( mFilename );
return mResource ? mResource->getLength() : 0;
}
ConsoleMethod(SFXProfile, getSoundDuration, F32, 2, 2,
"()\n"
"@return Returns the length of the sound in seconds." )
{
return (F32)object->getSoundDuration() * 0.001f;
}Note that this would load the entire sound file into memory to be able to read the length. Also if you did it on the server side it would load the sound file on the server.
#57
And btw, to everyone else, I was wrong about alxSourcef(), which in this case (chatHud.cs) seems to just be setting the pitch, what in the new SFX system is much more intuitive: %source.setPitch(%pitch);
I found this very helpful with that one.
06/17/2008 (2:24 pm)
Excellent Tom, thank you very much! I'll Add this right away.And btw, to everyone else, I was wrong about alxSourcef(), which in this case (chatHud.cs) seems to just be setting the pitch, what in the new SFX system is much more intuitive: %source.setPitch(%pitch);
I found this very helpful with that one.
#59
- Using Art Assets\Overview\Overview.html: Mission Editor Link
- Using Art Assets\Introduction to Asset Pipeline\Config.html: Additional DTS Exporter Features Reference
MP - Posting here for my own future reference
06/26/2008 (10:58 am)
Bad Links:- Using Art Assets\Overview\Overview.html: Mission Editor Link
- Using Art Assets\Introduction to Asset Pipeline\Config.html: Additional DTS Exporter Features Reference
MP - Posting here for my own future reference
Torque 3D Owner Chengzhen Chai
'CloseCommand'. Am I right? At least I need that to disappear(close) my HelloWorld dialog when following
this tutorial.