Learning Torque script: Ok to use tribes 2 as example?
by 'Sidikian' · in Torque Game Engine Advanced · 03/21/2008 (6:29 pm) · 2 replies
Ok if I'm correct the game Tribes 2 used the torque game engine and that's basically where torque really took off right. Anyhow my question is, is it ok to look at the Tribes 2 script to get an idea of how to script things for our games, without crossing any legalities? As in, as long as we don't copy the tribes 2 scripts directly could we look at them to figure out things like how to mount a player to a vehicle. Mainly why I'm asking is because I started modifing tribes 2 back in the day when it was a popular game and from playing it I heard about the torque game engine from a friend and that got me interested and 6 years or so later here I am, ugh I'm getting off the point I was trying to make/ask. Basically my feelings are that Tribes 2 really shows the torque script in awesome action and if more people could play tribes 2 and then mess with the script there it'd help them get a handle on how they could script for their games in development. I just really need to know to what extent we could take it; as in are some of the scripts from tribes 2 basically directly the same as we would script them in our game since it is the torque engine.
To further my point when modifing tribes 2 back in the day I learned from the t2 community and messing with the script myself how to get some of the weapons to fire differently and how to offset the graphic image differently etc. and I think alot of it could relate to our projects now days in TGE and TGEA. A perfect example of t2 relation/relevance to torque is how you can modify a short cut for the .exe file; in torque you can use -game then name of the folder where your game is and in tribes 2 you would use -mod then name of the folder of your mod (after modifing alittle script in t2) to run your game or mod.
I guess I'd just love to see TGE and TGEA take off more (have you looked at the products >games section of this site? the games are few and far between when compared to the number of people who actually have a license to the engine sadly) and if people new to torque script could use tribes 2 to mess around with to see what changes in script actually do in the game, it'd make the learning curve way easier I think. I myself don't understand a ton when it comes to torque script, but what I do understand actually comes alot from my tribes 2 moding days.
I'd just love to see us all come together and get our dreams accomplished when it comes to making our dream games and if this could help with the scripting for our games then that'd be one less road block to over come.
To further my point when modifing tribes 2 back in the day I learned from the t2 community and messing with the script myself how to get some of the weapons to fire differently and how to offset the graphic image differently etc. and I think alot of it could relate to our projects now days in TGE and TGEA. A perfect example of t2 relation/relevance to torque is how you can modify a short cut for the .exe file; in torque you can use -game then name of the folder where your game is and in tribes 2 you would use -mod then name of the folder of your mod (after modifing alittle script in t2) to run your game or mod.
I guess I'd just love to see TGE and TGEA take off more (have you looked at the products >games section of this site? the games are few and far between when compared to the number of people who actually have a license to the engine sadly) and if people new to torque script could use tribes 2 to mess around with to see what changes in script actually do in the game, it'd make the learning curve way easier I think. I myself don't understand a ton when it comes to torque script, but what I do understand actually comes alot from my tribes 2 moding days.
I'd just love to see us all come together and get our dreams accomplished when it comes to making our dream games and if this could help with the scripting for our games then that'd be one less road block to over come.
#2
Check out this site and do a Google for Tribes 2 mod
shiftermod.com/
NOTE: in Tribes 2 rename the .vl2 files to .zip. It will now unzip and all of the resources are in there. Be nice to their copyright!!!!
Here's another Tribes 2 mod site I really like.
www.tribaloutpost.com/
They have tons of scripts, all kind of gui scripts and just about everything you could think of. Many are 5 years or more in age but still can be modified and used. I found a great DTS Viewer, and a nice Ping Hud gui file. Lot's of cool stuff and lots of tutorials. If they can do it legally! So can we.
03/22/2008 (6:52 am)
I will admit it because I did nothing wrong. I didn't copy the code, but I did learn a lot about the old engine core. Please remember that Tribes promoted modding and that is one of the reasons it was popular. Learning an engine as complex as TGE or TGEA and the fact that 99% of the documentation is scattered across this web site, is extremely time consuming. My Artist partner and myself have put 2 years into learning TGE and TGEA and we are just starting to feel comfortable about working with it. I'm not griping about the docs, but I will take every advantage I can to learn about this engine and how it works. So the 1st thing we did was order a copy of Tribes 2 and proceed to tear it apart. I learned a lot about the scripting language that was not in the docs. Besides the mods for Tribes 2 that are available on the net are fantastic! I found a complete RPG kit and many vehicles, mech like characters and much more. Also all of the mods can be put directly into TGE. We used several of the RPG mod items because the buildings are .dif files and there are .dts files. Also you can find the script files to animate them etc. Communicating with the designers of these mods can find you some real talented people and many of the mods are done with entire teams.Check out this site and do a Google for Tribes 2 mod
shiftermod.com/
NOTE: in Tribes 2 rename the .vl2 files to .zip. It will now unzip and all of the resources are in there. Be nice to their copyright!!!!
Here's another Tribes 2 mod site I really like.
www.tribaloutpost.com/
They have tons of scripts, all kind of gui scripts and just about everything you could think of. Many are 5 years or more in age but still can be modified and used. I found a great DTS Viewer, and a nice Ping Hud gui file. Lot's of cool stuff and lots of tutorials. If they can do it legally! So can we.
Torque Owner Lee Latham
Default Studio Name
I am not a lawyer, but I've been working in the software development industry for about ten years in a lot of different capacities, and I can tell you that ultimately a lot of these questions are rather vague, and unanswerable. Frankly, my philosophy is "it's easier to ask forgiveness than permission". If you allow yourself to be tied up by Imaginary Property questions, you will never do anything.
Most of the stuff you talk about is quite obvious, and I doubt anyone would try to enforce any imagined IP over them.
I've made all my custom scripting, such as it is, available in my game--feel free to copy what you'd like for your game.