The question that I ask is, I have morrowwind and it comes with the torque engine on a seperate disc. If I take that program and can mess around in it and create landscapes and place some items does that make me a programmer. The reason I ask this is I mess with never winter and make mods and so on. If I can use torque, can I actually make a full game with what I have there or do I have to locate and or learn other things to add into the already existing program? I know this is a strange question but hell I need an answer. Basically what I really need to know is can I teach myself on a freaking hard engine or even have I already begun making a game? I guess.

Two points:

1) Making a mod using an existing engine doesn't mean you're a programmer (unless you actually write code for it). On the other hand, this doesn't mean you're not a game developer. :)

2) If you want to learn to be a game programmer and you can't program yet, then you've got a long (but potentially rewarding) path ahead of you. Start off simple, hang around in the 'For Beginners' forum. You *can* teach yourself to program, and in fact the best programmers I know learned it this way, in their own time, on their own, because it was fun.

Good luck! :)

Torque's scripting language may teach you many programming concepts and I'm a big fan of learning by doing. It will reinforce concepts relating to logical program flow, data management and even some degree of syntax (as it is very C like). But it is no substitute for architecture, true C/C++ syntax or the plethora of algorithms and data structures you will want to have at your disposal as a true programmer.

You know you're a programmer when if the tools or framework don't give you what you want you have the ability to make it yourself, using the raw power of a language and a compiler.

So without knowing anything else about you I'd agree with fractoid, you get the title of game developer, but not programmer. Alas, you are not a Jedi yet.

I understand that I will have to know alot of other skills in order to go from nothing to something. I see what you fellas are saying though. I was interested in knowing how close to game developement am I if I can use that engine without actually knowing how to code myself. I could be wrong but doesn't everyone do most of the work in the engines program? As you probally know I am new to all this. Mostly I have done a mod for never winter and messed around alot with the torque engine program that came with morrowwind and I myself do not really have the time to actually learn C++ but on the other hand if I am skilled at using the engine I could find others to do other tasks and spend most of my time creating the landscapes and random other things. Is what I am saying impossible and does it make me sound foolish. I kinda think like this. Game dev is a team. Your team consists of Concept artist, writer, programmer, composer, marketing, testing, 3d modelers, textures i know im missing a few. But i am a skilled writer and can help with building, design sound files, draw myself and do alot of photoshop editing. Do i contribute much?

Scripting will teach you the rudiments of programming, but it will probably instill many bad habits that may be hard to break. I would consider starting off your learning with a clean language that is conducive to good programming, like C++ or C#.

Ultimately, it comes down to a choice of whether you want to learn it fast or whether you want to learn it well. (That was hyperbole, but I'm trying to make a point here. ;) )

Is the Tourque engine on the Construction Set disk of Morrowind or something? I never saw it.

I think there is a misunderstanding here.

The PC version of Morrowind includes The Elder Scrolls (TES) Construction Kit, not the Torque Game Engine (TGE).

Bethesda created their own engine to make Morrowind.

Using TES Construction Kit is known as modding or scripting, not programming, although learning how to do that should help you understand the basics of programming.

With it you would be make a mod or expansion, not a complete game (most of the complicated elements have been done for you).

Somebody probably mentioned this already, but using the game editor in Morrowind gives you a great picture of how the game is organized, which is probably useful when creating your own game. If you wanted to program a game with a central game engine where the game itself exists mostly as scripts and external data, Morrowind provides a model to base your own game from.

Programming, by the way, is not much different than scripting, the main thing is, when programming a game, the scale is much larger. There's a lot of different elements that you'll have to write yourself that are simply taken as given when you mod a game. Also you will have to organize every element of your game into a coherent system.