Torque Game Engine
The Torque SDK home page

Welcome to the Torque SDK section of the GarageGames site, the home of Torque related news, resources and activity.

New To Torque?

Not yet a Torque developer? Check out the Torque Product Page for more information.

If you're a Torque owner, you can head over to your MyAccount page to download the installer which includes tools and pre-built example app, or view the Torque Setup section below to get the latest full source code. Want more documentation? Head straight to the full official documentation and the new Torque Developer Network (TDN).

Getting Involved. So you want to help? Great! You don't need to be a guru or spend lots of time. You just need a passion for making great games. Are you an artist? 3D-modeler? Scripter? Programmer? Designer? Tester? and are interested in being part of the community. Head over to the Contribute page and see how easy it is.

Common Tutorials Index

Below are listed some of the most useful tutorials and learning resources for Torque.

  1. Torque Setup
  2. Basic Skills: Modifying the Starter Kits
  3. Programming Skills : Digging Deeper
  4. Art Skills : Creating Content for Torque
  5. Game Design : Advanced Techniques for Torque's Built-In Tools
  6. Additional Reference

Torque Setup

Getting Started with Torque

This is the first place you will want to go once you've purchased the Torque engine. It covers the basic steps of downloading the latest source code to your computer and compiling the engine for the first time.

Getting Started with Torque (All Platforms)

Torque Build Environment  by Chris Calef
The Torque Build Environment (TBE) is a ready-to-go development environment for the Torque Game Engine. Designed to help along new users who do not yet have their own C++ development tools, TBE offers a quick, simple way to get a new Torque project up and running. This provides a fantastic, free aternative to tools like Visual Studio for Torque owners who are new to programming.

Essential Guide to Torque by Edward Maurina
This extensive PDF document covers everything you need to know about getting started with Torque. Many thanks to Ed for releasing this to the community!

3D Game Programming All in One by Ken Finney
This book is a must have resource for any starting Torque developer! Over 1000 pages of information to help you over the learning curve of Torque. For beginners and experienced developers alike, it provides invaluable tutorials and reference.
 


Basic Skills : Modifiying the Starter Kits

 

This section covers the basics of scripting and altering the starter.fps application to familiarize you with some of the tools included in the Torque Engine.

Mission Editor Documentation

Learn how to use Torque's built in tools to add objects to missions and edit terrain.

Mission Editor Documentation by GarageGames
Core Mission Editor Documentation.

Basic Scripting Tutorials

Almost all game logic is implemented through the Torque scripting language, a powerfull C++ like language used to control everything from the GUI interface, mission editor to scoring and game victory conditions. Here is a series of basic scripting tutorials to help you get comfortable with the capabilities of TorqueScript.

CodeSampler.com Tutorials by Paladin
A set of extremely informative scripting articles covering: Static Shapes, Creating Triggers, Shapes and Basic Collision, Particle Systems, Weapons, Bot Path-Finding, Weapons Damage, Vehicle Setup, and Increasing Terrain Texture Support. These tutorials are a great starting point for new users trying to get more comfortable with the capabilities of TorqueScript.

MinApp Tutorials by John Vanderbeck
A series of tutorials that take a virtually empty version of Torque and build it up to the level of sophistication of starter.fps. Excellent for any coders who want to see the nuts and bolts of a basic game. Also covers basics of GUI creation.
MinApp 1 | MinApp 2 | MinApp 3 | MinApp 4

GUI Editor Documentation

The GUI Editor can be used to simplify the creation and placement of interface elements for your game. New interface objects can be created in TorqueScript and arranged graphically using the GUI Editor.

GUI Editor Documentation by GarageGames
Core GUI Editor Documentation.

Scripting Documentation

More advanced scripting capabilities and scripting language reference.

TorqueScript Documentation by GarageGames
Core Scripting Documentation.

TGE Console Commands Overview by Ron Yacketta
This is a outline of the default scripting console commands found in the Torque Game Engine. As excellent reference for starting Torque users.

TorqueScript Language Reference by Joel Baxter
The TGE scripting language uses a fairly straightfoward syntax, but there are some low-level concerns and high-level ones that need to be addressed in some detail.


Programming Skills : Digging Deeper

 

This section provides a starting point for some of Torque's more advanced capabilities.

Advanced Scripting Tutorials

These scripting tutorials explore some of the more advanced scripting features, such as creating new gameplay elements and interfacing with the C++ code.

Capture the Flag Triggers by Anthony Rosenbaum
Learn how to add the most basic elements for a "capture the flag" style game play. You will using both the scripting language and the mission editor for this one.

Adding a Teleporter Object by Stephan Beffy Moises
Adding a Teleporter Object. Covers the scripting of animating DTS objects, particle effects, and sound in addition to teleporting the player. An excellent reference for the combined use of a variety of basic scripting tasks into one gameplay feature.

Sharing Player Data Between Client and Server by David Michael
This is a small, flexible system for communicating information from the server back to the client. It also includes a mechanism for the client to request certain changes in this information. This is useful for games where long-term character data might be stored on the server.

Car with Weapon Mounts by Harold "LabRat" Brown
A MilkShape format car model showing how to create weapon mountpoints on your vehicles. Includes appropriate script files as well.

Weather and Environmental Effects by Desmond Fletcher
Adding Environmental Effects to Torque: Rain, Snow, and Lightning. This tutorial lists the steps to create the server scripts, the dml files, modify the audioProfiles, and add the effects to the mission.
 

C++ Code Documentation

Scripting has its limits. When it comes time to make major modifications or additions to your game, your access to the C++ source of the engine is your most powerful tool.

C++ Documentation by GarageGames
Core C++ Documentation..

dOxygen Core Engine Reference
This is source level documentation on the engine itself. This documentation is embeded directly in the source and extracted using doxygen. dOxygen extracts, formats and cross links all the embeded comments, class definitions, functions, etc.

List of Script Globals Linked to Engine Code by Joel Baxter
The goal for this resource is a complete list of all the global script variables accessed by the engine code, along with definitions. The definitions are a work in progress.
 

C++ Tutorials

There are many commonly game features that can be added easily using C++. Here are a few examples that will help you learn how to apply the power of C++ coding to your game.

Inventory Manager by Tim Newell
This is an Inventory Manager that is written in C++, contained in the Player class and accessed and manipulated through scripts. This tutorial covers adding it to your engine and modifying the scripts to use it instead of the scripted inventory system.

Object Selection in Torque by David Myers
This tutorial provides one method to enable object selection in your TGE-based game. This implementation will show how to implement a bounding box cursor that will be displayed when an object is selected with the mouse. It could easily be enhanced to allow you to implement a wide variety of features.

3rd-Person Camera Controls by Cory Osborn
A common feature in many game genres. These tutorials walk you through a variety of 3rd person camera and player control techniques.
Part 1: Using a Separate Camera Object
Part 2: Player Movement with a Separate Camera Object
Part 3: Controlling a Separate Camera

Generic Render Object by Melv May
This object gives you all the details you need to get you started with rendering a new object type in the engine.
 


Art Skills : Creating Content for Torque

 

This section cover the tools needed to import new artwork into Torque.

 

Art Tools Overview

There are several formats that art assets in Torque can use, each of which is suited to specific purposes. Learn about these formats and the tools for editing them.

Art Tools Overview

The DTS Exporter Matrix by Alex Swanson
This page provides an overview of features supported by all known DTS creation tools, and links to their download/purchase locations.

The DIF Exporter Matrix by Alex Swanson
This page provides an overview of features supported by all known DIF creation tools, and links to their download/purchase locations.

 

Interior Editing : Quark Documentation

Quark is the prefered editor for DIF Interior files, or buildings as they would more commonly be called. Learn how to set up and export from Quark.

Quark Documentation by GarageGames
Quark setup and export documentation.

Holodeck Quark Tutorials by Desmond Fletcher
Tutorials covering a number of useful tasks in Torque, such as Optimizing for Framerate, Lighting, Interior Render Modes and use of Portals.

BSP Technical Details for Dummies by Planet Quake
Quark and other BSP tools can be frustrating to work with when one is used to polygon modelling tools. Understanding the technical reasons for their limitations is helpful for any beginning level designer. This article lays out the technical capabilities of BSP in a format anyone can understand.
 

 

The Show Tool

The show tool is used to view Art Assets before importing them into the engine..
Show Tool Documentation
 

DTS Shape Creation : 3D Studio Max

3DStudio Max Exporter Documentation by Joe Maruschak
The official documentation walks you through the use of the max2dts exporter.

Unwrapping your Mesh to create your own Custom Texture by Joe Maruschak and Logan Foster
An indepth tutorial of how you can use 3DS Max to quickly and accurately unwrap your model's UVW coordinates for painting and texture placement.
 

DTS Shape Creation : Maya

Maya Exporter Documentation by Danny Ngan
This document walks you through the use of the maya2dts exporter.

 
 

DTS Shape Creation : Milkshape

MilkShape Exporter Documentation
This official documention walks you through the use of the ms2dts exporter for MilkShape.

Car with Weapon Mounts by Harold "LabRat" Brown
A MilkShape format car model showing how to create weapon mountpoints on your vehicles. Includes appropriate script files as well.
 

 

Other DTS Resources

These Resources are not specific to any particular modelling program.

DTS Node Listings
This document contains a listing and description of all the default nodes that are usable within various DTS shapes such as characters, objects, weapons, and vehicles within the Torque Game Engine.
 


Game Design : Advanced Techniques for Torque's Built-In Tools

 

This section cover the tools needed to import new artwork into Torque.

Advanced Mission Editor Tutorials

This section covers advanced applications of the Mission Editor.

Creating Terrain from GIS Data by Desmond Fletcher
This tutorial demonstrates the conversion of GIS heightmap data into a greyscale heightmap that can be imported by Torque's terrain engine.

Procedural Terrain Texture Placement by Keith Sponburgh
Details use of the procedural terrain texture placement feature of the Torque Terrain Editor.
 

Advanced GUIs

This section covers in-depth GUI changes such as adding new GUI controls and capabilities.

Inventory Manager v2 by Tim Newell
This tutorial will help you create a Graphical Display of the items that the player has on them. This is primarilly a GUI enhancement but does require a few very minor C++ changes.

TgeLobby by Sean Pollock
TgeLobby v1.2 is an advanced IRC-based game lobby system designed for the Torque Game Engine. v1.2.

RPGDialog by Nelson Gonsalves
RPGDialog is a Torque Game Engine modification that adds standard RPG Dialogs support, including multiple choice questions and question linking. Also included is an editor for creating and editing dialogs easily.
 


Additional Reference

 

This section includes links to detailed Torque documentation and community resources.

Official Torque Documentation

Official Tutorials
Many sections of this document have been referenced in the sections above, but there are many sections that will prove very useful, especially as your knowledge of the engine increases.
 

 

Online Resources

GarageGames Resources
The GarageGames Resource database contains community supported articles, how-to's, code snippets and links to other online resources, books, etc. The resource tree contains a section devoted to Torque Game Engine related resources. You can help expand the resource database by submitting your own resources, whether they are Torque related or not.

Official Tutorials
These are the best community-created tutorials available for Torque. They provide excellent reference for a variety of Torque-related topics.

ToRK Game Dev
This site is devoted to 3D game development with the TGE by GarageGames. It has an archive of many useful tutorials and resources, as well as information on the ToRK crew's latest projects.

Hall of Worlds
A truly extensive archive of Torque resources, even includes links to interesting forum threads! This site is also the home of Ed Maurina's Essential Guide to Torque.

 

GarageGames Forums

By joining the GarageGames community, you have become a part of one of the most active development communities on the net! Other members can often answer your questions in the GarageGames forums. Please be careful to phrase your questions so that they can be easilly understood, and to post them in the correct section of the forums.

GarageGames General Forums
This site is devoted to 3D game development with the TGE by GarageGames. It has an archive of many useful tutorials and resources, as well as information on the ToRK crew's latest projects.

Torque Engine SDK Owners Private Forums
These forums are accessable only to registered Torque owners. Questions regarding the core C++ engine should always be posted here.

 

 

GarageGames IRC

GarageGames IRC Channel
Connect with other community members online in the GarageGames IRC Channel, hosted by MGO Networks.