Torque 3D Documentation Discussion
by Michael Perry · in Torque Game Engine Advanced · 01/10/2009 (11:15 am) · 28 replies
Torque 3D Documentation Discussion
Introduction
Hello everyone. Since the announcement of Torque 3D, and especially in the Torque 3D Sidebar .plan, there has been a lot of emphasis placed on documentation.Both Tech & Tools and the community have been very vocal about how much influences docs will have on the success of Torque 3D. Through various posts and my own .plans, I have made the following statements:
* Torque 3D will ship with the most polished and useful set of docs for any Torque Engine to date
* I will make the documentation project as transparent as possible
* The new documentation will be written from scratch, with only the most useful older docs copied in if necessary
* You, the community, will have direct influence on what and how I write
Drawing From Existing Sources
Primarily, I will be reviewing the TGEA Documentation Feedback Thread and reading through the most recent comments made in the aforementioned .plans. Recently, there have been two major meetings about documentation at GG. I first had a sit down with Matt Fairfax, project lead for Torque 3D. The second meeting involved developers, marketing, business, QA, and project lead. Currently, I have a very tight schedule and a list of the major subjects to generate content from.Purpose Of This Thread
This is the difficult part you guys. In my past feedback threads, I've given free reign for suggestions and discussion. What I need now is for everyone to provide SPECIFIC information. Here's a fictitious example:Not Helpful:
Quote:Better documentation of the engine modulesPreferred:
Quote:Better Documentation the Console (con::) Namespace
Not Helpful:
Quote:Starting from scratch tutorialPreferred:
Quote:Tutorial that will start a user with a blank project, show how to load a main menu, how to load a single terrain, how to add a single interior, and how to add in a moveable player objectSee what I'm getting at? I need details. Your posts can be as long or as short as you need them to be, but remember scope. You will have a better idea of what "scope" means in regard to documentation as I release more information.
About the author
Programmer.
#22
It would be flippin' great to have tutorials where key parts of the code are explained and hyperlinked to the reference pages for those functions so we can see easily what things do. A mouseover would be pretty great, but with tabbed-browsing, just middle-click on a command and go to the right page and I'll be thrilled.
Also, tutorials which aren't all about the editor. Literally, tutorials which are all in code files are fantastic. When we do have editor tutorials, showing how the editor links to level files would be great.
03/05/2009 (2:33 pm)
For me documentation is pretty important, as you know! Now, we have these tutorials which encourage cut & paste, but don't explain things.It would be flippin' great to have tutorials where key parts of the code are explained and hyperlinked to the reference pages for those functions so we can see easily what things do. A mouseover would be pretty great, but with tabbed-browsing, just middle-click on a command and go to the right page and I'll be thrilled.
Also, tutorials which aren't all about the editor. Literally, tutorials which are all in code files are fantastic. When we do have editor tutorials, showing how the editor links to level files would be great.
#23
i want include car object into tgea.how to include .obj files into tgea game....please reply to me...
04/21/2009 (5:08 am)
Dear Authors i want include car object into tgea.how to include .obj files into tgea game....please reply to me...
#24
Also, this is the 5th time you've asked the same question, spamming the forums isn't going to get you many responses either just people like me asking you not to.
It's a friendly community here that most are more than willing to offer advice when people get stuck and need support but it's generally expected you've at least tried to learn yourself by reading books, code, etc rather than asking lots of questions of how do I do this, tell me how to do that, etc.
I know it's not your first language but clearly written english description of what you've tried to do and where you're stuck will be more likely to get you responses than a one line I want to do this.
Personally I would suggest you purchase the 3D Game Programming All in One book as it gives you a good intro to modelling and importing objects into Torque - players, buildings and vehicles. It's written for TGE rather than TGEA but the approach is the same.
04/21/2009 (6:13 am)
@srihari - I'm sorry but this is completely off-topic for this thread which is to discuss feedback on the documentation for Torque 3D!! Also, this is the 5th time you've asked the same question, spamming the forums isn't going to get you many responses either just people like me asking you not to.
It's a friendly community here that most are more than willing to offer advice when people get stuck and need support but it's generally expected you've at least tried to learn yourself by reading books, code, etc rather than asking lots of questions of how do I do this, tell me how to do that, etc.
I know it's not your first language but clearly written english description of what you've tried to do and where you're stuck will be more likely to get you responses than a one line I want to do this.
Personally I would suggest you purchase the 3D Game Programming All in One book as it gives you a good intro to modelling and importing objects into Torque - players, buildings and vehicles. It's written for TGE rather than TGEA but the approach is the same.
#25
04/21/2009 (6:30 am)
Can we have documentation that dont just spit out a list of engine definitions, but explains how the functions are used? You know like how lighting and terrain and particles are used, but your going to stick the other functions just in the engine area.
#26
Huge convenience feature for reading:
Automatically generate an up-to-date single PDF version of the entire doc found at both (http://docs.garagegames.com/t3d/official/) and ([your_path]\Torque\Torque 3D 2009 Beta 1\Documentation). Just one big long PDF file.
This makes it easier to print, read on a Kindle, read on a Tablet, read on smart phone/iPod, etc. This is for people like me who want to start off Torque 3D development by just reading the entire doc from start to finish.
It also gives you additional options for searching the document beyond that web page search box.
05/12/2009 (12:35 am)
@Michael:Huge convenience feature for reading:
Automatically generate an up-to-date single PDF version of the entire doc found at both (http://docs.garagegames.com/t3d/official/) and ([your_path]\Torque\Torque 3D 2009 Beta 1\Documentation). Just one big long PDF file.
This makes it easier to print, read on a Kindle, read on a Tablet, read on smart phone/iPod, etc. This is for people like me who want to start off Torque 3D development by just reading the entire doc from start to finish.
It also gives you additional options for searching the document beyond that web page search box.
#27
I haven't read much yet, but just suggesting that some orderly form of simple long PDF(s) could be useful/convenient.
05/12/2009 (12:44 am)
I guess should modify my comment about "start off ... by just reading the entire doc from start to finish" to say, depending on how long the full doc is and on which parts of the doc are intended as reference vs. to-be-read-in-full...I haven't read much yet, but just suggesting that some orderly form of simple long PDF(s) could be useful/convenient.
#28
After reviewing the the TGEA Docs and struggling with the 3D Max Exporter, a concise, up to date, step by step explanation of Exporting from MAx. I realize there are other Art Programs, but Max is the Industry leader.
The TGEA Max expoter docs are far from comlete and are out of date. Our artist struggled for days trying to get the exporter to work and it was not until our Programmer walked him through it and to help with the missing holes in the docs.
Thanks,
05/29/2009 (2:54 pm)
Hi:After reviewing the the TGEA Docs and struggling with the 3D Max Exporter, a concise, up to date, step by step explanation of Exporting from MAx. I realize there are other Art Programs, but Max is the Industry leader.
The TGEA Max expoter docs are far from comlete and are out of date. Our artist struggled for days trying to get the exporter to work and it was not until our Programmer walked him through it and to help with the missing holes in the docs.
Thanks,
Torque 3D Owner Glen "ThaBonadingus" Reece