Torque Engine. Hands-on sample programs that you can try are available on the com-
panion CD. We’ll move on to examining the 3D concepts that you will need to understand
some of the more sophisticated activities later in the book. This will provide a foundation
for both the programming and the modeling tasks that you will take on later.
Torque
Once you’ve been powered up with sufficient knowledge and understanding of the main
concepts in 3D game development, we’ll get into using the Torque Engine in detail. You
will learn how to handle client/server programming, how to control the player-character,
how to send messages between players, how to create and control AI bots, and much more.
Concepts will be presented with exercises and sample programs, which are available on
the CD. Although we will cover some of the more intricate low-level workings of the
Torque Engine in order to understand it better, it’s important to realize that as an inde-
pendent game developer you’ll benefit more from mastering the higher-level functions
that utilize the engine for us, so you can worry about other stuff—like game play. With-
out game play, you won’t have a game.
Textures
Next, the book will show you everything you need to know about game textures: how to
create them, how to modify and manipulate them, and how to use them in the game. The
coverage is comprehensive; all of the texture types and their uses are discussed: skins, tiles,
terrain, skyboxes, height maps, GUI widgets, and more. You will be guided through exer-
cises in creating each of the texture types. A library of textures is available on the com-
panion CD to fill in any gaps in your texture needs.
Models
Then we get to the meat of a 3D game—the models. In these chapters we will be delving
into the world of low-poly modeling. We’ll talk about the general principles involved in
ways that can be applied to other tools, such as the expensive 3D MAX or Maya. But the
practical focus will be geared toward using MilkShape, UVMapper, and other low-cost
tools that are included on the companion CD.
I will show you the various model types, such as polygon-rendered or CSG models. You
will create models for all aspects of the game in the exercises: player-characters, vehicles,
weapons, powerups, decorations or clutter, buildings, and structures. You will walk

many other advanced features.
Tools
The following shareware tools are included on the CD:
■
MilkShape 3D for 3D player and item modeling
■
QuArK for 3D interior modeling
■
Paint Shop Pro for texture and image manipulation
■
Audacity for sound editing and recording
■
UVMapper to perform UV unwrapping tasks
■
UltraEdit-32 as the text or programming editor
Introductionxxx
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Goodies
The CD also includes a few extras that aren’t mentioned in the book or that are only
briefly touched on:
■
Retail games created with Torque: Orbz, ThinkTanks, Marble Blast, Chain Reaction
■
Additional image and audio libraries
■
Open Source utility source code
Go Get ’em!
The most important asset you have as an independent, and the key to any success, is your
enthusiasm. Remember to use this book, and other books and training you acquire, as

will be using the Torque Game Engine as our model of what constitutes a fully featured
3D game engine. We will use its architecture as the framework for defining the internal
divisions of labor of 3D game engines.
The Computer Game Industry
The computer game industry is somewhat different than other high-tech fields. The busi-
ness operates more like Hollywood than traditional commercial or industrial software
development; there are properties, producers, artists, and distributors. This industry has
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its own celebrities. It is quite a bit more informal and relaxed than other high-tech fields
in many ways but is quicker paced with a higher burnout rate. There are independent
game developers, or indies, and big-name studios, but the computer game industry tends
to be more entrepreneurial in spirit.
Just as in the motion picture industry, an indie developer is one that is not beholden to
other businesses in their industry that can direct their efforts. Indies fund their own
efforts, although they sometimes can get funding from outside sources, like a venture cap-
italist (good luck finding one). The key factor that makes them independent is that the
funding does not come from downstream industry sources that would receive the devel-
oper's product, like a major game development house, publisher, or distributor.
Indies sell their product to distributors and publishers after the product is complete, or
nearly so. If a developer creates a product under the direction of another company, they
are no longer independent.
A good measure of the "indie-ness" of a developer is the answer to the following two
questions:
■
Can the developer make any game he wants, in whatever fashion he wants?
■
Can the developer sell the game to whomever he wants?
If the answer is "yes" in both cases, then the developer is an indie.
Of course, another strong similarity with movies is that, as I pointed out earlier, games are

Action games come in several forms. The most popular are the First-Person Point-of-View
(1st PPOV) games, where your player-character is armed, as are your opponents. The
game play is executed through the eyes of your character. These sorts of games are usual-
ly called First-Person Shooter (FPS) games. Game play variations include Death Match,
Capture the Flag, Attack & Defend, and King-of-the-Hill. Action games often have multi-
player online play, where your opponents are enemies controlled by real people instead of
by a computer. Success in FPS games requires quick reflexes, good eye-hand coordination,
and an intimate knowledge of the capabilities of your in-game weapons. Online FPS
games are so popular that some games have no single-player game modes.
Some action games are strictly 3rd PPOV, where you view your player-character, or avatar,
while also viewing the rest of the virtual world your avatar inhabits (see Figure 1.1).
Half-Life 2, Rainbow Six, and Delta Force: Blackhawk Down are popular examples of FPS-
style action games.
Adventure Games
Adventure games are basically
about exploring, where player-
characters go on a quest, find
things, and solve puzzles. The
pioneering adventure games
were text based. You would
type in movement commands,
and as you entered each new
area or room, you would be
given a brief description of
where you were. Phrases like
"You are in a maze of twisty
passages, all alike" are now
gaming classics. The best
The Computer Game Industry 3
Figure 1.1

action figures and other toys or
children's books. As was also
true for strategy games, the
more mature forms of these
games first evolved as pen-and-
paper games, such as Dungeons
& Dragons.
These games moved into the
computer realm with the com-
puter taking on more of the
data-manipulation tasks of the
game masters. In role-playing
games, the player is usually
Chapter 1
■
Introduction to 3D Game Development4
Figure 1.2
Tubettiworld
—an action-adventure FPS hybrid
game being developed by Tubetti Enterprises using the
Torque Game Engine.
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responsible for the develop-
ment of his game character's
skills, physical appearance, loy-
alties, and other characteris-
tics. Eventually the game envi-
ronment moved from each
player's imaginations onto the

puzzles that are variations of the
shell game or that are more
The Computer Game Industry 5
Figure 1.3
Myrmidon
—a science fiction RPG, another
Torque-based game, being developed by 21-6 Productions.
Figure 1.4
Marble Blast
—a maze-and-puzzle hybrid game
by GarageGames using its Torque Game Engine.
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Chapter 1
■
Introduction to 3D Game Development6
indirect problem-solving puzzles where you must cause a series of things to happen in order
to trigger some further action that lets you advance. Many puzzle games utilize direct prob-
lem-solving modes where the puzzle is presented visually. You then need to manipulate on-
screen icons or controls in the correct sequences to solve the problem. The best puzzles are
those where the solution can be deduced using logic. Puzzles that require pure trial-and-
error problem-solving techniques tend to become tedious rather quickly. A historic exam-
ple of a puzzle game is The Incredible Machine series by Dynamix. The latest variation of this
type is the new game Chain Reaction by Monster Studios (see Figure 1.5).
Simulator Games
The goal of a simulator (or sim)
game is to reproduce a real-
world situation as accurately as
possible. The measure of the
simulation accuracy is usually

Center World
—a submarine sim in development
by Michael Hense, an independent game developer, using the
Torque Game Engine.
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Sports Games
Sports games are a variation of
the simulator class of games in
which the developer's intent is
to reproduce the broad experi-
ence of the game as accurately
as possible. You can participate
in a sports game at various lev-
els and watch the action play
out in a realistic 3D environ-
ment (see Figure 1.7).
Unlike the action-oriented
flight and driving simulators,
sports games usually have a
manager or season angle.
While playing the game, you
can also take on the role of
coach, owner, or team manager. You can execute draft picks and trades or groom new
players like any major league ball organization would. In a modern sports simulator you
could be managing budgets, and you might play or race a regular year's schedule, playing
in different stadiums or arenas or racing on different tracks.
Strategy Games
Strategy games began as pen-and-paper games, like war games, that have been around for
centuries. As computer technology evolved, computer-based tables and random-number

This book is about computer games written for personal computers. There are three dom-
inant operating systems: Microsoft Windows, Linux, and Mac OS. For some of these sys-
tems there are quite a few different flavors, but the differences within each system are usu-
ally negligible, or at least manageable.
Another obvious game platform type is the home game console, such as the Sony
PlayStation or the Nintendo GameCube. These are indeed important, but because of the
closed nature of the development tools and the expensive licenses required to create
games for them, they are beyond the scope of this book.
Other game platforms include Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), such as palm-based
computers, and cell phones that support protocols that permit games to be played on
them. Again, these platforms are also beyond the scope of this book.
Now that those little disclaimers are out of the way, let's take a closer look at the three game
platforms of interest. It's
important to note that by using
the Torque Game Engine, you
will be able to develop what
amounts to a single code base
for a game that you can ship for
all three platforms: Windows,
Linux, and Macintosh!
Windows
Windows has various historical
versions, but the current fla-
vors are Windows 2000,
Windows XP, and the special-
ized Windows CE. In this book
the expectation will be that you
are developing on or for a
Chapter 1
■