Wheeled Vehicle (datablock) Editor in Progress

If you read my last post, then you will know that I have recently finished my second Torque book, "Multiplayer Gaming and Engine Coding for the Torque Game Engine" (forever after to be referred to simply as MGEC).

Finishing my book meant I would finally be able to start digging into the ideas I'd been stashing away over the past years. So, I quickly chose a few of the best sounding ones off my list and got started.

My first project is a datablock editing tool designed to give you full-access to all of the features in each of the datablocks used by a Torque Wheeled Vehicle. For now, I'm calling this tool the "Wheeled Vehicle Editor" WVE.



Why, you may ask, did I choose this particular project to start with?

My primary motivation is quite simple,

"Torque has great built-in tools for editing worlds and world objects, but it
doesn't really have anything for designing and prototyping datablocks."

I recognized this fact way back when I was writing GPGT, and I finally have the opportunity to do something about it.

So, where am I on, "doing something about it?"

WVE is Currently Ready For Testing

I finally had the time over the last few weeks to really push and get a nice first version ready for testing. Sure, it still needs some work and a bit of beautification, but it has most of the features I envisioned for it when I started making it. In fact, as you read this, testers will probably be looking at the tool (in its current form) for the first time.

Of course, your next question is probably, "When can I see it?" The answer to that question is, "right now."

WVE Videos

For you, the reader, I have put together nine short videos demonstrating some of the features of this tool (all of these are DivX encoded):

1. Editor Zooming, Panning, and Test Tracks
2. Generating new datablocks
3. Adjusting Tire Settings
4. Adjusting Spring Settings
5. Adding New Springs and Attaching Them To The Back Axle
6. Adjusting Chassis Settings (including values you can't usually edit after loading a DB)
7. Playing With Steering and Wheel Drive
8. Various Vehicle Tests
9. Impulse Testing

(Get a DivX player here if you need it.)

Note: I know these videos are a little small (screen-wise). I promise to make future videos a little bigger. For now, I hope that you get the gist of what this tool can do.

-edo

Multiplayer Gaming and Engine Coding for the Torque Game Engine - Done!

Yes, at long last, I have completed my second book, "Multiplayer Gaming and Engine Coding for the Torque Game Engine" (MGEC). On Thursday March 20th, I sent the last of my edits back to the publisher, A K Peters, Ltd.

This is the second book in a two-book series that focuses on using the Torque Game Engine for making single-player and multi-player games.

My first book, "The Game Programmer's Guide to Torque" (GPGT) provided an introduction to the engine. It discussed many introductory topics, the built-in tools, and the TorqueScript [scripting] language.

MGEC kicks things up several notches and focuses on multiplayer game development, various advanced topics, and engine modification. That's right, this book teaches you how to modify the engine's C++ source code.

(For those who can't wait to find out what is in this book, a truncated table of contents is provided at the end of this blog. However, if you can wait just a little longer, please read on.)

It is fair to say that I learned a lot while writing my first book. Additionally, I received tons of helpful feedback from my readers. So, although writing this book was several times more challenging than writing the first, I believe I have improved the quality of my writing and the end-value for you.

Some of the improvements you will see (over GPGT) are:

• Fewer Sample Code Errors - Every piece of code in the written book, in every exercise, and in every answer has been tested and re-tested, both by myself and the fabulous technical reviewers who worked with me.
• Many More Exercises - Whereas GPGT had only 21 exercises, MGEC has 62 exercises. Six of these are incorporated in the written guide while the remaining 56 [230 pp.] are included on the CD. (Please see links below for samples of exercise you will find on the CD.)
• Separate Answers - All of the exercises in the book and on the CD come with separate answers and completed source code answers as well. (You have to do the work on your own this time.)
• OS X Ready - The book and the contents of the CD are ready (and tested) for both Windows and OS X users.
• Improved Index - To make sure that the index was valuable, I used it while I wrote the exercises, while working on other Torque tasks, and whenever an interesting question struck me.
• Better Kit - Although I still made a stand-alone starter kit for this guide, you will find that it is much closer to the standard "Starter.FPS". You can easily apply what you learn in my book to the standard Torque SDK.

Table Of Contents

I Introduction
1 Introduction

II Multiplayer Games
2 Torque Multiplayer Games Primer
3 Game Connections
4 Servers
5 Communications
6 Game Phases and Organization

III Advanced Scripting
7 Artificial Intelligence
8 Collision Detection and Response
9 Containers and Ray Casting

IV Engine Coding
10 Introduction to Engine Coding
11 Creating and Using New Game Classes

V Debugging
12 It’s Broken! Debugging Torque
13 It’s Slow! Performance Profiling
14 I’m Stuck! Getting Help

Appendices
A Glossary of Terms
B Essential References

Accompanying CD
a. Lesson Kit.
b. 56 (230 pp.) exercises.
c. C++ Templates for major game classes and GUIs.
d. Answers to all tasks in printed guide and all exercises.
e. More ...


3 Sample Exercises From CD

Chapter 01 - Exercise #1 - Using The Kit
Chapter 10 - Exercise #1 - Compiling Torque In Windows
Chapter 10 - Exercise #2 - Compiling Torque In OS X

-edo