Dead Install?
by John Gorham · in Torque X Platformer Kit · 02/28/2008 (8:58 pm) · 9 replies
I have not felt this stupid since 6th grade. I installed the Torque X Platformer Starter Kit. Then I try to follow the 5 step guide.
// The readme is no where to be found, and I have installed it twice now
Read the Readme
Create a new Platformer Starter Kit Project with Torque X:
1. Start Game Studio Express
//No problem there loads right up
2. Select File->New Project
//No problem there, I can see the two load options below
3. Select one of the two Platformer templates: PlatformerDemo or PlatformerStarterGame
//so here is the problem when I try to load either I get this message
Project Template Wizard
A problem was encountered creating the sub project 'Game'. The project file 'C:\Documents and settings\Administrator\Local Settings\Temp\y1sbhze0.i3g\Game.scproj' cannot be opened.
So anyone have any idea what I'm missing here?
// The readme is no where to be found, and I have installed it twice now
Read the Readme
Create a new Platformer Starter Kit Project with Torque X:
1. Start Game Studio Express
//No problem there loads right up
2. Select File->New Project
//No problem there, I can see the two load options below
3. Select one of the two Platformer templates: PlatformerDemo or PlatformerStarterGame
//so here is the problem when I try to load either I get this message
Project Template Wizard
A problem was encountered creating the sub project 'Game'. The project file 'C:\Documents and settings\Administrator\Local Settings\Temp\y1sbhze0.i3g\Game.scproj' cannot be opened.
So anyone have any idea what I'm missing here?
#2
To actuly take advantade of my 30$ Platformer Starter Kit I have to buy a 100$ Game builder?
What a deceptive move.
02/28/2008 (9:38 pm)
Oh man what a joke.To actuly take advantade of my 30$ Platformer Starter Kit I have to buy a 100$ Game builder?
What a deceptive move.
#3
02/29/2008 (7:00 am)
You don't have to use TXB. It makes your life infinitely easier (like Adobe Flex does, even though you can use whatever IDE you want with the Flex SDK). It would be nice to give everything away for free, like TorqueX itself, but we can't do that. So there are two TorqueX products currently in circulation: the TorqueX Builder and the Platformer Kit. Both are well worth the money. It's not deceptive, though.
#4
Now that I re-read the whole intro page again I can see that this was never meant to be more then just an Idea to use with the game builder. I just wish they had been more clear on the sales page.
I am very disappointed in the whole thing, and feel as though I have just tossed my 30$ out the window with something that I will never use.
02/29/2008 (9:03 am)
I see what you are saying. However I can't figure out how to do anything aside from playing the two lil levels that came with it. I don't know all that much programming and I don't have a pixel editor. I watched the video of them building the game at the bottom of the screen and said wow that is something I would love to try out. I did not notice in tiny letters that they said this was done with something else. That's why I say it was deceptive. They demo building games in video using tools that do not come with what they are selling. Knowing what I now know there would be no since in getting the Platformer Starter Kit at all. I have no problem coming up with ideas and art work. I wanted to get a tool that made it easier to put my ideas into motion with out have to know a ton of code. Now that I re-read the whole intro page again I can see that this was never meant to be more then just an Idea to use with the game builder. I just wish they had been more clear on the sales page.
I am very disappointed in the whole thing, and feel as though I have just tossed my 30$ out the window with something that I will never use.
#5
I can understand how coming from outside, it could be misinterpreted as deceptive since you did not know that 1) TorqueX is an engine created using the XNA platform, that 2) TorqueX Builder is a commercial application for level/sprite/effect editing, and that 3) the Platform Kit is an extension of TorqueX which supports TorqueX Builder. There are a number of levels of knowledge here that link together, and that may be difficult for someone evaluating a product to navigate productively. I never thought that it was that difficult, but I also have been looking at it with the knowledge that it is an extension of the TorqueX development platform and an understanding of how the products all line up.
Perhaps something like GameMaker or MultiMedia Fusion or (when released) Stencyl would have been a better option for a relatively code-free development environment. GM and MMF have been used by a number of people to great effect, and I'm sure Stencyl will be as well when it is released.
Still, I'd recommend using TXB for the trial period and testing out the platformer kit and documentation. It's a great kit, and with the little learning curve, very nice to use.
02/29/2008 (9:17 am)
I'm sorry you feel that way, but you also should have looked more deeply into XNA as a platform. C# is a great learning language, and XNA is well-suited for educational purposes, but you still have to learn C# to make use of it in any real capacity. TXB makes things a lot easier for placement and ordering your art assets (in fact, for me, I wouldn't want to not use it because it makes my life more convenient). TGB is a much friendlier environment to work with (in that you won't be switching between TXB and the GSE constantly), and a platformer kit is on its way for it. But at some point you would still need to learn TorqueScript to use it effectively.I can understand how coming from outside, it could be misinterpreted as deceptive since you did not know that 1) TorqueX is an engine created using the XNA platform, that 2) TorqueX Builder is a commercial application for level/sprite/effect editing, and that 3) the Platform Kit is an extension of TorqueX which supports TorqueX Builder. There are a number of levels of knowledge here that link together, and that may be difficult for someone evaluating a product to navigate productively. I never thought that it was that difficult, but I also have been looking at it with the knowledge that it is an extension of the TorqueX development platform and an understanding of how the products all line up.
Perhaps something like GameMaker or MultiMedia Fusion or (when released) Stencyl would have been a better option for a relatively code-free development environment. GM and MMF have been used by a number of people to great effect, and I'm sure Stencyl will be as well when it is released.
Still, I'd recommend using TXB for the trial period and testing out the platformer kit and documentation. It's a great kit, and with the little learning curve, very nice to use.
#6
In the last line you mention the platformer kit and documentation. I installed it twice, and I still dont have anything for documentation on how to use it. (other then the open file, hit f5 info)
Where is this other documentation?
02/29/2008 (9:26 am)
Thank you for your responce. I would love to use this thing I have paid for. But I'm not there yet. I dont know enough code to do anything with it. And the 5 step help documentation is not enough to get a "new-b" off the ground. Maby in the feature there will be some better documentation? I will have to take what I do in SGDK2 and work it into this somehow.In the last line you mention the platformer kit and documentation. I installed it twice, and I still dont have anything for documentation on how to use it. (other then the open file, hit f5 info)
Where is this other documentation?
#7
02/29/2008 (9:29 am)
You should have it on your start menu under the Platformer Kit menu. It should have a user guide there to get you started creating and working with levels.
#8
file:///C:/Program%20Files/GarageGames/Torque%20X%20Platformer%20Kit/v1.0.5.1/Docs/default.htm
If so all the builder documentation in there stats with
Begin by opening the Platformer project in TXB.
Well without the expensive program you can go past the first step.
02/29/2008 (9:39 am)
Do you mean this extensionfile:///C:/Program%20Files/GarageGames/Torque%20X%20Platformer%20Kit/v1.0.5.1/Docs/default.htm
If so all the builder documentation in there stats with
Begin by opening the Platformer project in TXB.
Well without the expensive program you can go past the first step.
#9
02/29/2008 (10:23 am)
That's why you use the trial time for evaluation to see if it is worth your while. 
Torque Owner John Gorham