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How to Get the JamesFPSTest Files Working (Windows and OSX versions)
September 18, 2005

WHAT IS THIS
This is a game. It is an FPS (First Person Shooter). Although don't let the name fool you. You can do more than just FPS. It is also a game that can connect to a central game socket server. When you connect, it will allow you to play with other real people who have connected to the server. You will see them, they have a bright green name just above their orc avatar. This is my test to try out multiplayer gaming the processes involved with making a game. At some point, I would like to make a game that is more kid friendly and accessbile by the general populace.

Just some friendly advice. If you are not familiar with installing games on your computer, be sure to check out the instructions below. They are written for a pc install, but fundamentally, it is the same. Same buttons, same functions. Also, if anyone can provide me with a download link to a free screen capture program for OSX that would be great. E-mail me here.

DOWNLOAD YOUR VERSION NOW
DOWNLOAD PC VERSION Windows 98/SE/ME/2000/XP Pentium III 500, 128 MB RAM OpenGL or DirectX Compatible 3D Graphics Accelerator, DirectX compatible Soundcard	DOWNLOAD OSX VERSION MAC OS-X G4 +, 128 MB RAM OpenGL Compatible 3D Graphics Accelerator

The FPS Starter Kit is a must have for anyone beginning this task of multiplayer game programming. Above are the pre fab graphics, enivronment, and characters that come with the starter pack. The Torque Game Engine is one of the easiest I've seen or so it seemed. The documentation for all the parts is over 2000 pages, easily. It is obvious that to do a game really well, you need an architect, designer, programmers, and artists. This is one program that will be hard to master as it requires several different disciplines. What I liked about the Torque Game Engine was its ability to also run on OSX. I haven't tested it just yet, but will do so the moment my Mac arrives. Weeeeeee!

WHAT IS THE GAME ABOUT
There are two modes. The first mode (when there is no one else connected to the server and neither are you) allows you to practice your navigation and aiming skills. This is a good mode if you don't want someone like no.e or Mike (playahs) joining the game and shooting you down.

The second mode is when you connect to the server (it's the one with my name, James, in it) and you are able to see other players. You can either play with them as a team or play as an opponent. You choose.

This page goes about to explain how to start the test files. I've screen captured the screens so you can get an idea of the initial set up.

WHAT AM I TRYING TO DO?
First of all, learn, then document what I learn so I can benefit and others who may be interested may also benefit. Why would I do that? Well, simply because I can. Period.

This example got me familiar with the process and coding of the Torque Game Engine. It is a game engine being sold by Garage Games. It also had me dabble on the 3D aspects of the program. All the characters and 3D assets you see in the example are part of the FPS Starter Kit. It is very cool. This example also allowed me to set up and fiddle together a game server. That was a bit of a trick as the firewall and program didn't run out of the box. I had to do some modifications to how it actually ran. I also meddled with the graphics and seeing how they correlate with the game. Twas fun it was. Maybe, my next venture will be to customize it with another theme. As I reviewed the program more, I realized this is a very complex undertaking. While the starter kit basically runs out of the box, it is still very complex. I think I will be trying out very simple games on my own.

At some point, I hope to add more info to my Torque Game Journey and compile it into a learning resource so we can all just play :) That's one of the best way to make friends you know :) I will most likely place the resource at the following location: http://www.jamestadeo.com/torque/.

You can find out a bit more of what I do by going here: http://www.jamestadeo.com <--a very self serving domain indeed!

Thanks for trying this out. It was a gargantuous task for me to get it this far. It took a span of a few months during my near non-existent spare time. It was very humbling to figure this out and actually get it working on the server. Bit-by-bit and with a little patience, I was able to fudge this game together with some simple mods.

If you have any questions of comments, please let me know. Visit me at my chat at http://www.jamestadeo.com/chat or
e-mail me via my online e-mail form at http://www.jamestadeo.com/email.php

Best,
James Tadeo
www.JamesTadeo.com

OK, HOW DOES THIS THING WORK? LET'S PLAY ALREADY!

DOWNLOAD YOUR VERSION NOW
DOWNLOAD PC VERSION Windows 98/SE/ME/2000/XP Pentium III 500, 128 MB RAM OpenGL or DirectX Compatible 3D Graphics Accelerator, DirectX compatible Soundcard	DOWNLOAD OSX VERSION MAC OS-X G4 +, 128 MB RAM OpenGL Compatible 3D Graphics Accelerator

The download is about 11 mb, so you may want to grab a sandwich or a cuppa coffee while you wait.

AFTER THE DOWNLOAD...

Assumptions:
You've downloaded the JamesFPSTest.zip file to your computer. You can download it at http://www.jamestadeo.net/JamesFPSTest.zip

• You've unzipped the file.
• You have opened up the folder named JamesFPSTest.

Below are the instructions:

1. When you open the folder named JamesFPSTest, you should see something similar to the following screen capture. We are interested in the "STARTHERE" icon. To launch the program, double click the icon labeled "STARTHERE".

2. When launched, you will see two console windows open. Then you will see the following start up interface after the initial welcome screen:

3. We first need to join the server in order to play with other people. Click on the "Join Server" button.

4. A dialog box pops open and you will see one similar to the one below. We will do a few things with this dialog box. One of the first things we do is to change the default Player Name to a name or avatar you would like to be known by. In this example, I used "JAMES TEST". You can name it just about anything.

5. Once you've entered your name, we need to query the game server. Click on the "Query Master" button. What this does, is make a call out to my game server to see if there are any games or connection waiting. If you have a firewall, it may activate or send you an alert. If you want to continue, allow it to connect to the game server which is on port 28000.

6. The program will start pinging for any game servers available.You will see something similar to below:

7. If there are game servers available, you will see something to the screen capture below. In this example, the name of my server game is "James FPS Test". Make sure you select it. You can tell it's selected because it becomes hilited.WARNING: DO NO CHOOSE "The Alternet VR" it will crash your system.

8. With "James FPS Test" selected, click on the "Join Server!" button. This will then enable you to join the game server.

9. Depending on the speed of you connection, it will start to load after a few seconds with hispeed.

10. When you do connect, you will see a default view similar to the one below. You are now in the "World".

HOW TO NAVIGATE
By pressing letters on your keyboard you can move:

W - forward
S - backward
A - move left
D - move right

Shoot - click on the mouse button
Navigate with the mouse.

You can also go to the About... button to find out more key combos.

If you want to quit during play, press the "ESC" key. This will take you to the main menu where you click on the "Quit!" button to, well, quit.

If you have an account with Garage Games, you can download their logo kit at http://www.garagegames.com/company/logo/