TGB export for Xbox360
by Rob Evans · in Torque X 2D · 12/30/2006 (8:36 pm) · 17 replies
I feel a little missled...
On the TGB home page where GG do their sales pitch it says:
"CodeOnce in TorqueScript, then run your game on PC, OSX, or even XBox360"
Well I bought TGB and have been coding my game in TorqueScript but after downloading the new Torque-X beta, it becomes clear that my game can't be ported to the 360 from TGB...
The site makes it sound like you'll be able to click Build Project, set your Target Platform to the Xbox360 option and away you go but that's not the case. In fact, if I understand it correctly, TorqueX cannot load TorqueScript at all so the statment above is actually a lie!
Please tell me I'm wrong...
How do I Code Once in TorqueScript and then run my game on the Xbox360?
On the TGB home page where GG do their sales pitch it says:
"CodeOnce in TorqueScript, then run your game on PC, OSX, or even XBox360"
Well I bought TGB and have been coding my game in TorqueScript but after downloading the new Torque-X beta, it becomes clear that my game can't be ported to the 360 from TGB...
The site makes it sound like you'll be able to click Build Project, set your Target Platform to the Xbox360 option and away you go but that's not the case. In fact, if I understand it correctly, TorqueX cannot load TorqueScript at all so the statment above is actually a lie!
Please tell me I'm wrong...
How do I Code Once in TorqueScript and then run my game on the Xbox360?
#2
Even if it was a seperate license for another GG product, it still says that TorqueScript can be run on a 360...
Please GG, tell me this is something you're working on!!
12/30/2006 (9:03 pm)
Yeah, and the "with seperate license" just sounds like you've got to pay Microsoft for an XNA Creators Club subscription (which I have).Even if it was a seperate license for another GG product, it still says that TorqueScript can be run on a 360...
Please GG, tell me this is something you're working on!!
#3
12/30/2006 (9:46 pm)
Buy an XBox360 Torque license and TorqueScript runs like a charm.
#4
12/30/2006 (9:51 pm)
So I can take the game I've written in TGB and run it on a 360 with this license?
#5
12/30/2006 (10:48 pm)
@Stephen - That statement is still misleading! Yes, you can get TorqueScript to run on a 360 with a TSE360 license, but not a 2D TGB game with TorqueScript!
#6
12/31/2006 (12:59 am)
Well you can load TGB projects and TGB levels in TGBX. But remember TorqueX isn't done. Who knows if there will ever be a Torque Script to C# button. Heck there is a Windows->Xbox 360 generate button! Any programmer who knows TorqueScript can easily port a TGB game to TorqueX in my opinion.
#7
12/31/2006 (7:54 am)
I will agree that in principle, it is easy to convert TS to C#, but my point is that I've spent a lot of time and effort coding in one language, only to find that it can't be ported in the way it was advertised. GG, any comments?
#8
12/31/2006 (8:24 am)
@Matthew - Again, this is misleading. TGB PROJECTS can't be loaded into TXE. The LEVEL can be loaded (in most cases) into TGBX, but not the project (meaning the script is auto-converted for you). TS might not be hard to convert to C#, but that's not the point. The point was, you code ONE time and you're done, not you code one time and then a second time, which might not be difficult, but is still a second step. CodeOnce != Build in TS then convert to C#.
#9
12/31/2006 (9:50 pm)
I think some of you may be missing the point Stephen Zepp was making. There is a Xbox360 Torque engine that is NOT TorqueX. TorqueScript runs just fine in it.
#10
Says who? TGB is pretty much drop and compile into Torque Core Tech, which then can then be easily pushed to the 360 due to the platform layer nature of the TSE360 license.
There will never be a TorqueScript to C# "button". Microsoft does not want non-managed languages running within GSE games, and it makes little sense to build in a TS to C# converter within the TorqueX binary when C# is so easy to convert to from TorqueScript.
01/01/2007 (3:57 am)
Quote:
but not a 2D TGB game with TorqueScript!
Says who? TGB is pretty much drop and compile into Torque Core Tech, which then can then be easily pushed to the 360 due to the platform layer nature of the TSE360 license.
There will never be a TorqueScript to C# "button". Microsoft does not want non-managed languages running within GSE games, and it makes little sense to build in a TS to C# converter within the TorqueX binary when C# is so easy to convert to from TorqueScript.
#11
I'm just being a stickler to the point. I know how easy it is to port TGB to TXE, I've been doing it. Again, that's not the point, the point is, don't say I can code one time and never have to change anything to work across all platforms, when I have to change a few things for that to work.
01/01/2007 (2:04 pm)
Yes, I know about TSE360, but that's not the point of this thread. The point of this thread is that GG is stating you don't have to change ANYTHING (CodeOnce, not CodeAFewTimes) and yet this doesn't appear to be true. I'm just being a stickler to the point. I know how easy it is to port TGB to TXE, I've been doing it. Again, that's not the point, the point is, don't say I can code one time and never have to change anything to work across all platforms, when I have to change a few things for that to work.
#12
How about this instead:
"CodeOnce in TorqueScript, then run your game on PC and OSX".
"If you prefer to target your new game at the Xbox 360, why not head over to the TorqueX home page to find out more."
That's a lot less ambiguous.
01/01/2007 (3:22 pm)
I have to agree with Jonathon. I love everything that GG is doing to make our lives easier and bring developers into the games arena but perhaps a change of wording on the TGB site is required. The fact is that you can't export from TGB to 360 even with a separate license.How about this instead:
"CodeOnce in TorqueScript, then run your game on PC and OSX".
"If you prefer to target your new game at the Xbox 360, why not head over to the TorqueX home page to find out more."
That's a lot less ambiguous.
#13
01/15/2007 (1:54 pm)
That's what I thought too, Hey, I can just write JuggleNuts in TGB and eventually, pay a 2nd license fee and how cool is that, it will run on Xbox 360. I bought TGB based on that multi-cross-platform functionality. Please don't let me down. A Promise is a Promise.
#14
Fact of the matter is that TorqueX and TGB are completely seperate products, the only similarities is that the TGB UI can also be used with TorqueX. I'm suprised with the amount of quoting you do from the TGB product page, you somehow haven't done the same for TorqueX's page. It states that you can CodeOnce in C SHARP, not TorqueScript, for both PC and Xbox360 (along with the Creator's Club subscription). TGB's product page states the same thing EXCEPT that it's CodeOnce in, caps for emphasis here, TORQUESCRIPT. Torque Engine (not TorqueX) Xbox360 development requires the specially ported source code to that platform.
The fault primarily lies in poor research, not false truths or poor wording. Though I'd reckon GarageGames will need to put up a disclaimer to avoid this sort of confusion.
02/01/2007 (11:37 am)
I can't tell if you guys are arguing just for the sake of arguing.Fact of the matter is that TorqueX and TGB are completely seperate products, the only similarities is that the TGB UI can also be used with TorqueX. I'm suprised with the amount of quoting you do from the TGB product page, you somehow haven't done the same for TorqueX's page. It states that you can CodeOnce in C SHARP, not TorqueScript, for both PC and Xbox360 (along with the Creator's Club subscription). TGB's product page states the same thing EXCEPT that it's CodeOnce in, caps for emphasis here, TORQUESCRIPT. Torque Engine (not TorqueX) Xbox360 development requires the specially ported source code to that platform.
The fault primarily lies in poor research, not false truths or poor wording. Though I'd reckon GarageGames will need to put up a disclaimer to avoid this sort of confusion.
#15
I love GG and all the effort they have put into their products... I just want the marketing to tell the truth! I was misled!
02/01/2007 (1:55 pm)
No, this isn't arguing for the sake of it. When I bought TGB, TorqueX hadn't been released. It's not a matter of poor research either; you cannot research something that hasn't yet been written. GG need to make it very clear that games coded using TGB can in no way be ported to the Xbox360. To say otherwise or to imply otherwise is false advertising!I love GG and all the effort they have put into their products... I just want the marketing to tell the truth! I was misled!
#16
You can port to the XBox 360. It will require a TGB Pro and TSE 360 license, an XBox 360 devkit, a Microsoft devslot, and normal console porting procedures (and misery). Your TorqueScript should compile fine as long as you have not made any core engine changes that expose new features (that you would have to port).
The "code once" reference, as noted, is a TorqueScript feature, which rings true with TSE 360 development, AFAIK. TXE is more complicated (as a newer product) since it requires a port from TorqueScript to C#. If GG were not targeting multiple parties (including those who have a XBox devkit and slot) with engine tech that is XBLA aware, then I could see how it could be seen as misleading. And because of the confusion, a FAQ entry might be in line to assist developers in their research of the products.
But in terms of scripted game logic, it is portable. But not everyone is a licensed developer to make use of that script portability.
02/01/2007 (2:05 pm)
Quote:GG need to make it very clear that games coded using TGB can in no way be ported to the Xbox360. To say otherwise or to imply otherwise is false advertising!
You can port to the XBox 360. It will require a TGB Pro and TSE 360 license, an XBox 360 devkit, a Microsoft devslot, and normal console porting procedures (and misery). Your TorqueScript should compile fine as long as you have not made any core engine changes that expose new features (that you would have to port).
The "code once" reference, as noted, is a TorqueScript feature, which rings true with TSE 360 development, AFAIK. TXE is more complicated (as a newer product) since it requires a port from TorqueScript to C#. If GG were not targeting multiple parties (including those who have a XBox devkit and slot) with engine tech that is XBLA aware, then I could see how it could be seen as misleading. And because of the confusion, a FAQ entry might be in line to assist developers in their research of the products.
But in terms of scripted game logic, it is portable. But not everyone is a licensed developer to make use of that script portability.
#17
It's pretty easy to know what's what if you actually try to find out what the Creator's Club actually is, and that they already had a ported Xbox360 Torque game engine that did not use the XNA framework.
02/01/2007 (2:06 pm)
They have let plenty of information in on TorqueX way before this open beta release, that it was specifically made or XNA and the upcoming Creator's Club. The TGB page has always said the same thing, even before TorqueX was announced, that you can CodeOnce in TorqueScript and port it to any supported platform, including the Xbox360. At this time, though, it was known that the only way you can port it to the Xbox360 is if you acquire the licenses for the engine and from Microsoft. Not a word was said about the Creator's Club back then, it was just a partnership between GarageGames and themselves to get some Torque games running on the 360.It's pretty easy to know what's what if you actually try to find out what the Creator's Club actually is, and that they already had a ported Xbox360 Torque game engine that did not use the XNA framework.
Torque 3D Owner Jonathon Stevens
I wouldn't say it's a lie, but I would say it's worded poorly.