I wrote this guide originally for a good pal, but I thought that it might be helpful for others too. Here it goes... Oh and one more thing it's just the way I would do it. Someone else might do it different way.

Before the guide, shortly said what all the parts contain.

1: Getting the TGE and Installing it.
2 - 5: Adding files to TGE and Creating a batch file for TGE. ( This steps you can skip, but if you do them it will be very useful for you later. If you don't to them you can't place rocks/trees with TGE, use ThinkTanks textures, use ThinkTanks skies. You won't have already done example map, which is easy to edit, and will appear on right place with ThinkTanks objects after you move it to ThinkTanks. )
6: Starting TGE and Getting to a point where you see the terrain from the sky.
7+: Editing the terrain. ( Shortly said how to edit it. )

Tutorial to create your own terrains with TGE(Torque Game Engine).

Firstly,
1. Download the TGE from www.garagegames.com. This is a straight link to download page http://www.garagegames.com/pg/demo.php?id=1
2. Choose Begin Download.
3. Choose download now for the operation system you use.
( Your firewall might ask if you want allow Application Layer Gateway, you must allow it or otherwise the download won't begin. )
4. After you have downloaded it, Install it.

Secondly,
1. Now open up your Torque Demo folder to main view. ( You should see common and demo folder. )
2. Copy your full demo folder and paste it. Rename your just pasted folder to "game" folder.
3. Now move to Torque Demo/game/data
4. Now you open up ThinkTanks/game/data
5. From ThinkTanks/game/data folder copy & paste full skies and terrains folders. Paste them to Torque Demo/game/data folder.
( It will probably ask if you want replace some files, just answer yes to them. )
6. Now you move to ThinkTanks/game/data/shapes. From this folder you copy & paste Blue, Green and Red folders to Torque Demo/game/data/shapes folder.

Thirdly,
1. You go to your ThinkTanks/dedicated folder and copy & paste one of dedicated batch files to Torque Demo/game folder.
2. Example in TT1_1B reads:
cd..
ThinkTanks -dedicated -mission game/data/missions/TT1_1.mis -game B

You'll edit it to:

Cd..
demo -console -mod game

And place it to Torque Demo/game folder. If you don't have dedicated folder with batch files. You can easily create one yourself. Open up Notepad (or other text editing program) copy the lines above and paste them to Notepad. Save the text as xxxx.bat (replace xxxx with a name you want to call your batch file) and it will be a batch file which you can use.

Fourthly,
1. Go download one of Triv's maps (both.mis and.ter files) from http://n.domaindlx.com/Triv/Terrains/ (Site may be seldom down if so try later again.)
(All you need is one map for an example wiztriv07.mis and wiztriv07.ter)
2. Copy & paste your previously downloaded.mis and.ter files to Torque Demo/game/data/missions folder.
_{If you prefer dash's maps you can try to download such as D16.mis and D16.ter from http://thinktanks.jkdg.com/terrains/ , but the site may have gone offline.}

Fifthly,
1. You go to Torque Demo/game and run your batch file.
2. It will start up the TGE.
3. There will appear two MS-DOS windows. First one will have only few lines (this one you can shut down). Second one will have a lots of lines (this one you can't shut down or the TGE will shut down too).

Sixthly ,
1. You go to TGE's main view (Where you see: Torque Engine Overview, Feature Walkthrough, Fps Multiplayer and Multiplay Off-road Racing).
2. You choose FPS Multiplayer which will start up a game with an orc. (You can use the racing one too, if you want.)
3. Check create server box.
4. Now game will load up.
5. You get out of the orc's view by pressing F8. (You control camera from wasd keys.)
6. Press F11 to bring up menu.
7. Go to File > Open Mission... > and there choose the dash's map you downloaded and put to Torque Demo/game/data/missions folder.
8. It will load up the map, you can see the orc falling down. Press F11(to shut down the menu) and then press F8(to get control of the camera).
9. You will probably be right now in a "blue hell" without seeing nothing but blue. To get out of there move your mouse towards yourself and then hold up "s key". And you'll start to raise and see the map.

Seventhly,
1. Now you can start editing the terrain.
2. Press F11 to bring up the menu again.
3. Window > Terrain Editor will start up the Terrain Editor which lets you edit terrain. ( See Action menu for different editing styles and Brushes menu for different sized brushes. )

More things,
1. From Window > Terrain Texture Painter you can choose what kind of textures you use on your map.
2. From Window > World Editor Creator lets you put rocks & trees to your map. So you don't have to do it on ThinkTanks anymore.
3. If you want know more about the ablilities of the TGE and how to use them. You can press F1 to get a help page up.

- Trivox

Last edited: Saturday, June 24, 2006 at 3:37:19 PM

FINNISH:

Kun yritän siirtyy /Applications/Pelit/ThinkTanks.app

Se sanoo

"Kansiota ei löydy."

Kun yritän kopioida 'Demo' kansion, mitään ei tapahu. Siirrän 'Demo' kansion työpöydälle ja vaihan sen nimeks 'game', sitten kun koitan laittaa sen takas TGE kansioon se sanoo: Kohdetta game ei voitu siirtää koska kohdetta TorqueDemo ei voida muokata.

:o

Copy & Paste jutut on Macilla vähän...WEIrd X/

Great work triv. I do have one problem what is the "s key" you told me to hold up when in the blue hell? I tryed the "s" key but it didn't work. I'm not sure if s is short for something els on the key board or what. Plz help. Thanks, keep up the good work B).

@ Trivox. Thanks for explaining!

Although I'm a Mac user and have had severe problems with modeling my own map... :[

I've downloaded the Torque demo and copied things from the ThinkTanks folder into in, what I presume are the right folders in Torque demo, but either I get the message that some files aren't there:

Or, the farthest I could get, was to see the actual objects; e.g. The trees, rocks, ammo gate, etc. But NOT (!) the very terrain surface... So I find it very difficult to do this using a Mac.

So, I'd like to ask a question to all Mac users:

Have any of you modeled a ThinkTanks map using Torque Demo on a Macintosh? If so, do you know if there is some form of guide like the one above for Mac users? Preferably a step-by-step guide.

Ok, see you soon everybody. And to Trivox: :P

Heja Finland!! Sisu!! ;)

Umm.. Why did you blur the "" project name?
Also, I'll get about 14 screenshots of what to do to edit your terrains soon!

I still don't get that step. I'v got to the "blue hell" part and pull my mouce to me and hold the "s" key on the keyboard and nothing happens (more info on my last post). Plz some one restate this in a different way I beg of you :S. Thanks

I get stuckers there too, I go all over the place and no terrain. Stupid Blue Hell...

You can't use the original ThinkTanks maps, because the terrain on them won't show up. Don't ask why it won't show up. That's why I said that download one of the dashs maps. They do work perfectly(This ones have the bluehell), but if you can also start from blank and create the terrain totally yourself. But I say it will be probably a lot easier if you use a map which is already finished and works fine with ThinkTanks. You can get some porblems if you start making maps from blank.

Also Im a Windows user and that guide might not work at some parts for Mac users. Sorry about that and I can't help you if you have a Mac, because I don't understand how do they work.

@Wiz it's better that you don't put any ThinkTanks script object with TGE, because they won't work when you'll use the map on ThinkTanks. Script Objects are objects which have a function on them, like reloadgate, all pads. Myself I finish the map on ThinkTanks by adding to it reloadgate, pads, powerups and spawnspheres.

I figured out what you have to do to get out of blue hell!

1. Press F11 then press F8
2. Now move your mouse to your self untill you see your screen name.
3. Then hold down "s" (the letter) on the keyboard untill you get out of blue hell!

Last edited: Saturday, January 29, 2005 at 11:38:25 AM

^ yes thats brilliant, that u got it! :)

I did that. Still in blue hell

Legendary
another way out of the "basement" is to it
1. Alt+c to change the camera view
2. Then rt click and drag towards you to look down
3. Then use the s key to backout from under the map into an observer position
Roo

Load mission
hit f11
hit f8
now right click mouse and drag toward you at the same time holding s key down

CB

IT WORKS!!!!!!!!!!!!! XD XD XD XD Thank you, Thank you,Thank you, Thank you, Thank you. Nice work buddy!ck
btw- thank again

Okay-but how do you play a mission in TT that you modded in TGE? Everytime I save a mission in TGE I copy and paste it to my TT/game/data/missions folder and Then rename them to TT1_1 or whatever it may be. Then when I load up TT and start a dedicated server utilizing that renamed mod made by TGE, I get bluehell with a black square! What gives? How do I fix it? I have jumbled all my files up trying to figure this out and have just reinstalled TT. I have d/l the dash files and pasted them into my TT/game.data/missions folder. I am now going to re-follow the above steps and try again. I will post what happens later. SOMEONE PLEASE HELP!
ck

But I didnt forget to save my old files!!!!!!!!!!!!! XD XD XD XD XD XD

Oh and what are.ml files?
ck

And this

<div class="quoteblock"></div>

Is that right. Should it be from TT/game/data to TGE/game data?
ck

Last edited: Monday, January 31, 2005 at 9:12:32 PM

You're right about that ck. I fixed it.

.ml stans for mission lighting, which is created by itself when you join any server(your own mod, public server, etc.) When you join the game there are three parts downloading datablock, - objects, missing lighting. When you have once already done mission lighting for one mission, you don't have to wait it again. So you get faster to the game when you next time join, because its skips one loading part. You can freely delete.ml files from your mission folder, if they bother you, but just don't delete any other files from there.

Ck, Im not totally sure whats your problem, but could it be that the spawnpoints of your map are in fog/under your terrain. You can fix this several ways. You can lower the fogs level & take away its killing level. You can change the spawnpoints location higher. You can make your starting tank stronger & faster so you can find out where you spawned. Also you can activate MW and put loads of jumppads and see if you get out of that fog.

Shortly said what does the different parts contain inside them.

1 Getting the TGE & installing it.
2 - 5 Adding files to TGE & Creating a batch file for TGE. ( This steps you can skip, but if you do them it will be very useful for you. If you don't to them you can't place trees/rocks with TGE, use ThinkTanks textures, use ThinkTanks skies. You won't have already done example map, which is easy to edit, and it will appear on right place with ThinkTanks objects after you move it to ThinkTanks.
6 Starting TGE & getting to a point where you see terrain from sky.
7+ Editing the terrain. (Shortly said how to edit it.)

Maybe it is the fog levels and such- any hints on how to do that? In the mission file right? Then plug in what values for fog and set the kill level to what? Am going to also try the jump pad method.Also, I should only be moving the modded.ter and.mis files from TGE/game/data/missions to TT/game/data/missions? Then just rename them to the batch file I want to run?Does it mater if you start a decicated server or launch an game from within TT? Do I need to copy and paste.ter folder from TGE to TT so that it recognizes TGE terrains?ck

Here is the text from my console log directly after starting a ded. Server. Can anyone explain what's going on there?
Loading compiled script game/server/scripts/game.cs.

And whats up with w/ port 28000, never seen port28001.?
ck

Yes, all you need to do is copy & paste the.ter &.mis files to ThinkTanks mission folder. You got two choises how to run your own terrain: Run it from a batch file or run it from create menu. If you run it from a batch file. You need to edit the batch file if your.mis file would be called as chineseknife.mis. The batch would look like this: cd..
ThinkTanks -dedicated -mission game/data/missions/chineseknife.mis -game TS

If you would want to run it from create menu, it would happen like this. You rename the chineseknife.mis to TT1_5.mis and then in create menu will appear fifth terrain on Lush category. You simple click on it and start it like any other map. It can also be called as TT2_5.mis, TT3_5.mis and later if you make many maps, you can put more maps there by nameing them TT1_6.mis, TT1_7.mis and so on...

Yes, fog is in mission file. The lines which you would like to change are.
floor = "114";
fogVolume1 = "1 1 1";
fogVolume2 = "1 1 1";
fogVolume3 = "40 1 60";
to
floor = "0";
fogVolume1 = "0 0 0";
fogVolume2 = "0 0 0";
fogVolume3 = "0 0 0";

^^Does the game start at all? Also you have placed objects(rocks, trees) which seems to be TGE's objects? ThinkTanks dosent have this folders/this objects and it cant find/use them. Take them away and that problem is gone.

What if I copy and paste all the ter files from TGE to TT ter files? Would it then work?
im going to try the fog thing now. Ill post results soon. Thank triv.
ck

Try downloading my.mis file here . Click on the_arena2.mis to download it. Just edit it this:
terrainFile = "game/data/missions/the_arena2.ter";
to the name of your terrain. Put this in game/data/missions folder with your terrain in TT. You also may what to add some music and change the name of the map. To add music change:
musicTrack = "";
to Lush, Spooky, or Frantic in the "". This may or may not solve your problem.

Eureka!!!!!! I was using the arena_2 map, but when I raised the level a bunch it started working. I added a S&*^load of terrain and built it sky high. Whatever works.
Now, can I change the size of the map?
ck

:) :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( lol just like I need help getting buildings for my mod?!.
my modding questions are gone it dissepered somehow I don't get it?

Last edited: Wednesday, February 02, 2005 at 10:13:49 PM

Wiz:
So, I'd like to ask a question to all Mac users:

Have any of you modeled a ThinkTanks map using Torque Demo on a Macintosh? If so, do you know if there is some form of guide like the one above for Mac users? Preferably a step-by-step guide

Wiz if u got 200 dollars u could just buy virtual PC for mac. Sadly most of us mac users can't get around to doing this, so the most I can say is stick to modding the code.

You mean the red box thing when you say the level right? How would I go about fixing this on my map. And whats "S&*^load of terrain"?

Ok ok ok hold up! Stop the presses! XO... :'( XD
I have succesfully got to the part where you are floating in the blue fog with a bit black square under you. So I renamed my terrain, both.mis and.ter (L1: Druids Quills) to TT1_5.mis and TT1_5.ter. It was there in the create place but when I tried to load it, it woulden't load. It never even said "Loading datablocks" or anything. So I tried it the ded. Server way editing the.bat file to game/data/mission/L1:...mis. But then when it loaded it went back to that floating with "blue hell" and the black square. *sigh* I am stuck. :'( Puh-Lease HELP!

^ Did you change this one too? Look for the bolted part.
//--- OBJECT WRITE BEGIN ---
new SimGroup(MissionGroup) {
musicTrack = "Lush";

New ScriptObject(MissionInfo) {
name = "Medulla Mesa";
};
new MissionArea(MissionArea) {
- -
};
new Sky(Sky) {
- -
};
new Sun() {
- -
};
new TerrainBlock(Terrain) {
rotation = "1 0 0 0";
scale = "1 1 1";
detailTexture = "~/data/terrains/details/detail1";
terrainFile = "./L1.ter";
squareSize = "8";
tile = "0";
blockShift = "7";
locked = "false";
position = "-1024 -1024 0";
};
new SimGroup(PlayerDropPoints) {
to
new TerrainBlock(Terrain) {
rotation = "1 0 0 0";
scale = "1 1 1";
detailTexture = "~/data/terrains/details/detail1";
terrainFile = "./TT1_5.ter";
squareSize = "8";
tile = "0";
blockShift = "7";
locked = "false";
position = "-1024 -1024 0";
};

Its not necessary to change the terrain file(.ter) name. Myself I don't never change it to TTx_x.ter. I just keep it as it is. Changing the mission file(.mis) to TTx_x.mis is enough to get it run from the Create Menu.

Okay triv,all my TT files are messed up! So To make it eiser, I deleted everything to do with those other maps. And started again, I made my new map right now it's resting in torque demo/game/data/missions/ folder and I'm not to do anything with them untill I get a professional "Terrain Builder"(like u triv) to tell me how to just getting it to run in TT. Tell me how you would do it? Your first method works just fine. Help please :S

I would copy the full 'demo' folder of TGE and paste and rename the just copied folder to 'game' folder.
Then create a batch file called 'ttmod' and write these lines inside 'ttmod'' file:

                                        

                                        Cd.. 

                                        demo -console -mod game

                                        

Then test if the batch file works. If it does work then you can start to playing with it. Note: Make sure that you have moved the 'skies', the 'terrains', the 'Red', the 'Blue' and the 'Green' folders to their right places inside the 'game' folder, which you created and renamed just.

*BUMP*
When I downloaded Dash's maps and terrains, they work perfectly. But when I use a different mod (not made by dash), I can't see the terrain. This is what MS-DOS shows:

(The text in bold/italics isn't part of what was shown.)

Can anyone help?

Last edited: Friday, July 01, 2005 at 11:38:46 AM

Yes Monica
those textures and missing elements are part of Napalms Expansion Pack
This is a tested and verified artwork update
get it here X-PACK
The install is ez - Napalm did a great job!

Sorry for bumping this but I would like to know if this is a "simpler" and effective way to make your own TGE terrain:

The quote above is from DJ Wings. Now it seems to be missing the step about the "batch" file that you were refering Trivox. Is the quote above a more simpler way of making a terrain with TGE?

Thanks.

-CUC-

I wouldn't never do like that and it doesn't even work properly.

Ok, sorry, but this needs to be BUMPED since it is slowly dying.

Thanks.

-CUC-

Good job Triv and CompUComp... With the help from you guys, I will be creating my own terrain very soon!! XD

WOH! HOLD ON

A couple of huge misinformations here. I don't think people are reading and understanding this. Let me point them out!

Please stop giving out this information, and DJ should be corrected! Steps 2, 3, and 4 are all wrong!

[b]Monica[/b[
I'm only copying the bad information

_{MissionAreaEditor::onWake: no TerrainBlock object.
Could not locate texture: fps/data/terrains/grassland/grass
Could not locate texture: fps/data/terrains/grassland/grass
Could not locate texture: fps/data/terrains/grassland/grass
Could not locate texture: fps/data/terrains/grassland/grass
Could not locate texture: fps/data/terrains/grassland/grass
Could not locate texture: fps/data/terrains/grassland/grass}

Normally Rooster is on the ball but this time he's had too much Chicken feed. (I think it gets rooster high.)
Most of the time these kinds of messages are a result of people not installing the Expansion Pack and trying to get into a recent mod.
But, if you look at the path

It's not a valid path. Not even in the FPS demo!
Whoever made this mod severly messed it up.

As I just suggested to Kamikaze™ in two other threads.

Hope this helps!

Last edited: Tuesday, August 09, 2005 at 7:07:39 AM

I cant use TGE cause on my keyboard it says F11 on it but on top of the button it says Save so I cant os there another way I can bind this key? I rely wanna use TGE plz or else I guess I will have too use my cuzins computer :P Which I dont like XO

I doubt that will effect anyway to TGE or saving, if it does you can always bind the F11 to another key e.g. To F12. Have you actually tried to use F11 in TGE? In torque you can save maps by using ctrl + s combo.

Yes I tried Triv and it didnt work cause on top of the button F11 it says Save so how do I change that key I tried binding it but I have troubles pherhaps you can help me or not? :S

La de da..Bump...la de da

Wtf??I dont have a dedicated folder.....help X/

Theres no ThinkTanks/dedicated folder you errrr... You errr... ERRRRRRRR...Nitwit!

?

NaOx what is yoru problem?

I spoke very clearly

There-is-no-ThinkTanks/Dedicated-folder-which-is-mentioned-in-the-guide