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Newcomers DBPro Corner / DBP vs. BP vs. TGE

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Boyrobber
18
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Joined: 30th Jan 2006
Location: USA Rocks!!!
Posted: 6th Sep 2006 21:57
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OK now I know this is the Dark basic forums, but Please give me your honest opinion about all 3 then which you like better and which is easier if any to use. Please don't bite my head off saying this is the Dark Basic Forums you should know better.

Robert
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Richard Davey
Retired Moderator
22
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Joined: 30th Apr 2002
Location: On the Jupiter Probe
Posted: 6th Sep 2006 22:11
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Quote: "Please don't bite my head off saying this is the Dark Basic Forums you should know better"


Seriously though, how many non-biased opinions are you likely to get from here (or the Blitz forums or the Torque forums!)

It's like walking into a Ford garage and asking them how good a Lexus is.

A better way to phrase this question is by telling us how much programming experience you have, and what you want to be able to create with your language of choice. Are you looking to make games to sell on RealArcade? Have you never touched code before in your life? Are you on a tight budget? etc. They all factor into the answer.

"Bite my shiny metal ass" - Bender, Futurama
No pixels were harmed in the making of this post
"Don't ping my cheese with your bandwidth"
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Boyrobber
18
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Joined: 30th Jan 2006
Location: USA Rocks!!!
Posted: 6th Sep 2006 22:24
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ok tight budget yes, games pretty much general different games like FPS, RPG that type, and last but not least Yes i have some experiance on BP.

Robert
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SimSmall
20
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Joined: 7th Aug 2004
Location: United Kingdom
Posted: 6th Sep 2006 23:19
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Quote: "games pretty much general different games like FPS, RPG that type"


Thank goodness you didn't say MMORPG - otherwise I thik I would've had to kill you...

DBP is a good langugage for most type of games, but really to use it, you should expect to pay for as many of it's add-ons, related products as you can... my personal opinion (and I think only I have this opinion) is that DBP seems barely usable without them... that could however be down to a lack of knowledge...

Good luck with your choice...
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Tinkergirl
21
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Joined: 1st Jul 2003
Location: United Kingdom
Posted: 7th Sep 2006 00:12
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While maybe TGC would prefer that I don't say this - I find DBPro perfectly usable without any added expansions or bought upgrades. For example, the Open MMORPG project (an open source team of volunteers, currently making an RPG as a first phase) have specifically avoided all expansions so that as many people as possible can run and contribute to the code.

Of course, if you want to short-cut certain tasks, then yes - some expansions might give you a quicker route (for easy AI, or hardware supported physics etc). But you can use it just fine without.

As for which of the three - well, my bf has tried all three. He is, however, a professional coder and is very used to C++ etc. He didn't get on too well with Blitz, and I don't think he stayed too long with Torque (found them too limiting). He liked DarkSDK (the C++ DarkBasic-a-like) for a while, but is currently using Ogre. That's as impartial as you're likely to get

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jinzai
18
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Joined: 19th Aug 2006
Location: USA
Posted: 7th Sep 2006 04:01 Edited at: 7th Sep 2006 04:03
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Way to take a nice neutral company stance; I like that.

...I have tried Torque, and some of the other all-in-one solutions. Torque has a canned look that I don't like. (Its 3rd person looks terrible to me.) I used the book "3D Game Programming All-In-One", and I was not entirely pleased with the results, although I learned alot about mapping, and texturing there. I have also programmed DirectX and OpenGL with C++. DBPro is miles beyond any of that, in my opinion. I can have all the power (and attendant responsibility) of programming the graphics API myself with C++, or I can do what I need to do in DBPro. The chief advantage of DBPro over Torque is that Torque is a scriptable game engine, whereas DBPro is a game programming language. (You combine learning to program with learning to write 3D games...a little tougher that learning them separate, but they have you covered here with the forums.) In defense of Torque, you can get at it with C/C++, but...do you know C/C++ already? (It is not a simple matter at all for inexperienced programmers. Then again, TGC has DarkSDK, which is better, and is a natural upgrade path for you later, so...TGC wins again.)

...Finally, Torque is written in OpenGL, and DBPro is DirextX which can be important for you if portability of code or assets is an issue.
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Uncle Sam
19
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Joined: 23rd Jul 2005
Location: West Coast, USA
Posted: 12th Sep 2006 04:49
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Quote: "my personal opinion (and I think only I have this opinion) is that DBP seems barely usable without them... that could however be down to a lack of knowledge..."


Correct.

Uncle Sam
Nvidia Geforce 7600 GS 256MB PCIEx, 2.66 GHZ Pentium 4 proccessor, 768MB RAM
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Phaelax
DBPro Master
21
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Joined: 16th Apr 2003
Location: Metropia
Posted: 12th Sep 2006 09:09
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Java beats them all!

*puts on the blindfold and holds up the target over chest*

I tried Blitz, but not too in depth. I sort've liked it due to its more C-like syntax but dropped interest because I'd already spent a year or so learning DB's syntax. Which by the way, DB's syntax will be easier to learn if you're new to programming.

TGE? Not a clue what that even is, but I'm guessing Torque from what other ppl are talking about in here.

"Using Unix is the computing equivalent of listening only to music by David Cassidy" - Rob Pike
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Cash Curtis II
19
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Joined: 8th Apr 2005
Location: Corpus Christi Texas
Posted: 12th Sep 2006 12:11
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DarkBasic has a great license. It's very cost effective, you pay for added functionality as you see fit. A lot can be done without any addons, as Tinkergirl has pointed out.

I'd never invest in any Blitz product because I'm deeply invested in DarkBasic, and it can do everything that I need. TGC is a good proactive company, constantly releasing great tools. I mean, they got in very early with Agiea physics. The folks at Blitz can't make a similar claim.

Another good thing about TGC is that they have released, and will continue to release, great model packs. I suspect that even if I used Blitz that I'd be buying TGCs media and models. Might as well get everything in one place.


Come see the WIP!
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EddieY
18
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Joined: 6th Sep 2006
Location: Waltham, MA, USA
Posted: 13th Sep 2006 04:07
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I definitely was drawn to trying out DarkBasic Pro because of their rich set of add-ins available at a relatively reasonable price, as well as the huge community, and availability of lots of 3rd-party tools at very low prices (or free!).

TGE is much more biased to a 3D FPS-type game, whereas DBPro starts you with a clean slate and lets you go in any direction you want. On the other hand, if you DO want to do a 3D FPS game, then the one you create with TGE will probably end up running faster than similar one created using DBPro. TGE's using TorqueScript and C++ instead of a dialect of Basic can be either a plus or a minus depending on your preferences.

Oh, and if you want to use shaders then you have to get TGE and TSE (Torque Shader Engine), which will run you $300. Shader support just comes with DBPro.

In the end, its having shader support, as well as seeing Dark Physics in action finally gave me the push to purchase that, DBPro, and a half dozen other add-ons a few days ago, and I'm having a blast so far.

-------------------------------
Regard all phenomena as dreams.
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