You shouldn't feel dumb, the a7 templates (aka T7) are currently incomplete, hardly documented and generally not used very much.. So, actually you could be the only person trying to work with them..

The story behind T7 is, Doug started on a new template system where the main code was written in c++ and you got a few main functions in lite-c that would make your life easier. Also, you'd get panels in WED that would store information in .xml files, so you wouldn't have to write code at all. Now the thing is, Doug doesn't work for conitec anymore and the templates have been passed over to George (from the AUM magazine). But until we get some live signals from T7, I'd hardly recommend it for your project..

Your best bet right now would be with the a6 templates. They were a much more complete system and also feature customizable panels so you wouldn't have to write code for them. As for documentation, you could start reading all the AUM issues from last year, each one featuring an article on them. The only real disadvantage about a6 templates is that they are all written in c-script, and although your a7 commercial edition will still support that, it's still a language of the past..

About the a5 templates, I haven't used the new version that quadraxas mentions but maybe they could be better for you if you're willing to do some c-script coding but just don't know here to start. Unlike a6 templates, there's no way to customize them outside SED and they only offer the bare basics like controlling the player, a very dumb AI and maybe some weapons. On the bright side, that could be helpfull if you're a programmer since the A6 templates were a bit more daunting if you ever wanted to modify them.


Btw, all three template versions are already installed to your gamestudio. To get started with the a6 ones just go to File->Map properties->New Script->A6_template_project and then go to File->Project Manager to customize them.