Where should I learn from next?
by Kyle Sloka-Frey · in iTorque 2D · 06/03/2012 (1:03 pm) · 7 replies
I've just gotten iTorque, and have a decent amount of experience in programming. I like to have a solid understanding of things though before I use them for serious projects, and so far I've read through all of the documentation, and I've gone through the standard tutorials in the documentation. Where should I go next?
#2
You could also take a look through the source code for my game at cokane.com/games/bumblebee. I find reading the source for finished games gives me useful techniques I wouldn't have thought of otherwise.
06/03/2012 (7:17 pm)
t2dtutorials.com has some good video tutorials, aimed at beginners though.You could also take a look through the source code for my game at cokane.com/games/bumblebee. I find reading the source for finished games gives me useful techniques I wouldn't have thought of otherwise.
#3
Just wanted to say thanks for sharing your source code. I'm reading through it and already loving it after only checking 4 files.
Great stuff.
Cheers,
David
06/03/2012 (10:09 pm)
Conor, Just wanted to say thanks for sharing your source code. I'm reading through it and already loving it after only checking 4 files.
Great stuff.
Cheers,
David
#4
06/03/2012 (10:34 pm)
@Kyle - Some of the standard Torque 2D tutorials have some insight about other core features, such as scheduling. I wouldn't code-copy from them, but it might be useful to at least browse them to see if you can learn more. Aside from that, David has the right suggestion. It's time to start experimenting with your own code ideas. Try a simple card game, pong, or a simple shooter. The FeatureDemo has a lot of reusable behaviors that you could piece together to make a different game.
#5
06/03/2012 (11:05 pm)
I didn't expect so many useful answers so quickly! Thank you all very much!
#6
You've been offered some great suggestions thus far. I'd like to add in my approach to really learning the nuances of the engine: Find something that doesn't work (the way you expect/want) and fix it.
I've gained so much understanding of the engine by tackling issues I came across during my development efforts. So many "Ohhhhh...so THAT'S where that happens" or "THAT'S why this keeps happening this way or in this order" scenarios presented themselves that I was able to modify/wrap/sneak in unique functionality that I needed. As my first app is nearing completion, I feel extremely comfortable going forward with my next concept.
While understanding how to use behaviors, scheduling, datablocks, etc. is great, knowing HOW they work within the engine gives you an edge. Of course, just be prepared to make it a continual learning experience. As I write this, the engine is getting a serious architecture overhaul for native support of Box2D (something many agree this engine really needs).
There are more than a few of us who are actually still using previous versions of the engine because we had so heavily modified them that the very thought of upgrading to a new architecture was scary. However, I feel confident that most of us will upgrade to the new Box2D'ified version (whenever that comes out) as the benefits it will provide will outweigh the extra effort needed to port any in-progress apps.
Myself, I use a mutated version of 1.4.1. I'm pretty sure Johnny Vo is still using his flavor of 1.3.x. So, in your perusal of the forum, you may see many posts where the solution provided to a problem that has a caveat attached that the user is working from a modified architecture of some older version of the engine. Don't let that dissuade you from getting your coding hands dirty.
Come the release of the Box2D'ified version of iT2D, you will quickly see most (if not all) of the engine veteran users hop on board the new train.
It would be nice to see the forum chatter sway from its current status as a "how do I do THIS" or "this is broken" gathering to be more tightly integrated with the resources area such that one could navigate the forum more like a data repository of grouped, categorized, user-enhanced feature sets (people uploading well-defined behaviors, tricks, tips, etc.), versus the linear approach taken now.
That way, users would have more preemptive measures available by searching on particular functionality instead of reacting to non-working implementations and searching for a fix.
Once a stable release of the Box2D'ified engine is released, I'd love to see (and encourage) users to build up this new forum concept into well-encapsulated, portable code (this is where Mich's championing the behavior effort comes into play) that can quite literally be plug 'n play inserted into ones' individual code base.
TLDR;
Play with the engine; but be prepared for it to change...for the better.
Happy coding!
- Brian
06/04/2012 (8:08 am)
Hey Kyle;You've been offered some great suggestions thus far. I'd like to add in my approach to really learning the nuances of the engine: Find something that doesn't work (the way you expect/want) and fix it.
I've gained so much understanding of the engine by tackling issues I came across during my development efforts. So many "Ohhhhh...so THAT'S where that happens" or "THAT'S why this keeps happening this way or in this order" scenarios presented themselves that I was able to modify/wrap/sneak in unique functionality that I needed. As my first app is nearing completion, I feel extremely comfortable going forward with my next concept.
While understanding how to use behaviors, scheduling, datablocks, etc. is great, knowing HOW they work within the engine gives you an edge. Of course, just be prepared to make it a continual learning experience. As I write this, the engine is getting a serious architecture overhaul for native support of Box2D (something many agree this engine really needs).
There are more than a few of us who are actually still using previous versions of the engine because we had so heavily modified them that the very thought of upgrading to a new architecture was scary. However, I feel confident that most of us will upgrade to the new Box2D'ified version (whenever that comes out) as the benefits it will provide will outweigh the extra effort needed to port any in-progress apps.
Myself, I use a mutated version of 1.4.1. I'm pretty sure Johnny Vo is still using his flavor of 1.3.x. So, in your perusal of the forum, you may see many posts where the solution provided to a problem that has a caveat attached that the user is working from a modified architecture of some older version of the engine. Don't let that dissuade you from getting your coding hands dirty.
Come the release of the Box2D'ified version of iT2D, you will quickly see most (if not all) of the engine veteran users hop on board the new train.
It would be nice to see the forum chatter sway from its current status as a "how do I do THIS" or "this is broken" gathering to be more tightly integrated with the resources area such that one could navigate the forum more like a data repository of grouped, categorized, user-enhanced feature sets (people uploading well-defined behaviors, tricks, tips, etc.), versus the linear approach taken now.
That way, users would have more preemptive measures available by searching on particular functionality instead of reacting to non-working implementations and searching for a fix.
Once a stable release of the Box2D'ified engine is released, I'd love to see (and encourage) users to build up this new forum concept into well-encapsulated, portable code (this is where Mich's championing the behavior effort comes into play) that can quite literally be plug 'n play inserted into ones' individual code base.
TLDR;
Play with the engine; but be prepared for it to change...for the better.
Happy coding!
- Brian
#7
www.garagegames.com/community/blogs/view/15213
06/05/2012 (12:42 am)
More source code - this time from a much bigger game made with TGB for desktop. Most of the scripts are still applicable for iT2D though.www.garagegames.com/community/blogs/view/15213
Torque Owner David Helmer
The Kids
No need to fully flesh something out, just start building something and you'll definitely have plenty of questions which can and will be answered here.
Once you're confident enough, you can start laying down your first game.