stuff to think about

Ok. I think that I finally found a focus for this blog. One of the many things that I’ve been doing lately is playing around with the Torque Game Engine, and I’ve decided to write a game.  I’m still brainstorming for ideas, and learning the Engine, as well as C++ and Torquescript.  Right now I’m tackling Torquescript, and so far it’s going fairly well.  This blog will be my record of the trials and tribulations that I am going through in order to get this project started and off the ground.  I’m doing this all by myself, but that doesn’t mean that I’m not gonna accept help if it’s offered to me.  Right now I’m digging into the Game Programmers Guide to Torque, a fairly massive volume that seems to be fairly well written and easy to get around in.  Future columns will include reviews of assetts that I use, links to tutorials that I come across and find useful, progress on my game, and anything else I can think of.

As far as the technical aspects so far:

I currently have TGE 1.5.2.  I haven’t decided whether to use the modernization kit or not, I’ll explain why in a future column.

What I will be using:

TGB – maybe at first to get a good handle on torquescript and what it can do.

TGE- I already have it, so that’s a no-brainer.

Torsion- Pretty slick Torquescript editor.  Easy to use and I happen to have it, so…

Blender- Maybe?  If I can get past the steep learning curve.

Milkshape 3D- fairly simple program, but I already have it, and know how to use it.

Houdini- possibly, if I decide to buy it.  Side Effects Software, the makers, have made a pretty sweet deal for torque users. The apprentice addition can be used for commercial torque games for only $99.  Definitely worth considering.

Gimp- textures and so forth.  Decent graphics program, easy to use and a lot cheaper than photoshop.  Did I say it was free? Yup, sure is.  Can’t beat the price.

ok.  That’s enough for now.