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TX or TGEA? What am I missing?

by Michael Cozzolino · in Torque X 2D · 09/27/2008 (1:03 pm) · 3 replies

I have been working on a game feverishly for a few months now using TGEA 1.7.0 probably be moving it to 1.7.1 in the coming weeks. Now could someone give me some reasons why I should move to TX Pro or use it along side TGEA?

I would probably at some point would like to publish it on XNA for 360 at some point I guess. I also think that TGEA is soon to be Mac friendly that I should have a TGEA build for future possible publishing with GG and other online distributed publishers. Basically I'm looking for opinions on work flow and getting the most bang for my time. ie use TX Pro as my main dev platform then port back to TGEA for pc/mac online distribution or vice-versa? Since I am 1 guy in my home office I'm looking to cover the most bases with the least amount of hassle.

Opinions? Suggestions? Am I looking at this all wrong?


Thanks,
Coz
Michael Cozzolino's profile picture
Torque 3D Owner Michael Cozzolino
Big Monk Games

About the author

Indie Developer in the Albany NY area. iOS, PC, Mac OSX development. http://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/michael-cozzolino/id367780489

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    Associate John Kanalakis
    EnvyGames
    #1
    09/27/2008 (3:31 pm)
    The main issue you'll face is that Torque X and TGE/A are completely different and unrelated engines. They share some common design consistency and some of the art assets are interchangeable, but that's about it. The two engines implement different languages: C++ and C#. Torque X only runs on Windows and Xbox360 while TGE runs on Windows/Mac/Linux and TGEA runs on Windows/Intel-Mac.

    So, the first decision you need to make is your target platform. For me, Windows and Xbox360 come first, so Torque X is the only solution. Plus, since game development time is limited, I find that Torque X (and c#) is the most productive toolset. I've been able to put together dozens of game prototypes within days and have helped many other create working prototypes within a couple weeks.

    But it all comes down to your goals and what you're comfortable with. Since everything on the GG site has a trial period, try out each engine and determine which feels is most comfortable.

    John K.

    Torque 3D Owner Michael Cozzolino
    Big Monk Games
    #2
    09/27/2008 (4:05 pm)
    Thanks for your comments John. I guess what I think I should do is probably focus on TGEA for the time being. I will have a slight learning curve with c# since I have no experience with it. I feel pretty comfortable with TGEA TGE and TGB since I have used them for a long time so interestingly enough in the short term it would probably be quicker to prototype for me using them than the torque x engines.

    I guess that answers my question. I think I will try getting my project published with TGEA and move into Torque X soon after or towards the end of development of my current title.

    I want to target Windows and 360 and with this title being pretty casual I really think I should shoot for Mac . One thing at a time though. ;)

    Associate John Kanalakis
    EnvyGames
    #3
    09/27/2008 (5:51 pm)
    Sounds like a good plan, if you already have experience with TGE/A & TGB. For newcomers to game programming, I highly recommend Torque X since you can take game ideas and quickly prototype them out and see them running. Many newcomers that I have come across quickly get frustrated with TGE/A since they need to start by learning about ShapeBase, TorqueScript, Datablocks, etc. That's a lot for someone just getting started. In Torque X, everything is done in one language (C#) with an easy to adopt component framework.

    But in your case, TGE/A might be the better path, and there's always T360 as a path to the Xbox 360.

    John K.