The smart @$$-ness of the 3DGS community is well known... It's just something you have to overlook. We have hundreds of members...
(although, hardly any of those smart @$$es even have a project worthy of showing... They just prefer to make fun of the noobs)
Tony Hawk's game was made by some pro's... Real pros... It takes a lot of work to produce such quailty. Game quality is not just a simple shader, it still takes work. Although, a single shader can turn ugly, flat water... into something realistic. :-)
But still... each object has to be created, and put together... and then the code tells it what to do...
Where to start? 3DGS is a tool to make games... The content, still has to be constructed. Start by reading teh "GameStudio Introduction" in the manual. It will briefly explain everything about MED, WED, and SED.