Making your own game engine
by Anton Bursch · in General Discussion · 07/16/2006 (11:43 pm) · 4 replies
I have to make a confession. I bought the TGE license a few years ago to learn to code game engines and after a while I got too lost trying to work my way thru such a giant code system. I am no slouch when it comes to research and experimentation, but TGE was too much for me.
So, about a year or so ago, I decided to take the GG philosophy for making games and apply it to learning to code game engines: start small. And I began to learn to code a game engine from scratch. I decided to start with the simplest game engine i could think of: a 3d adventure game engine.
The engine got some serious boosts starting a few months ago when I started working professionally coding games because i had to start using it to test out and experiment with features I needed to implement. I needed to try them out in an engine I knew top to bottom so I could get it to work period, before trying to include it in a bigger engine used for a game. From HDR to camera systems to shaders for animation, this little engine of mine has been invaluable for me.
Now, it's not ever going to go beyond being used as a sandbox engine or maybe when it's a complete engine it might get used for an adventure game, but the reason I'm writing about it is I am curious how common this practice is? Of making your own small scaled and simple game engine to learn to code game engines. Does anyone else do this?
So, about a year or so ago, I decided to take the GG philosophy for making games and apply it to learning to code game engines: start small. And I began to learn to code a game engine from scratch. I decided to start with the simplest game engine i could think of: a 3d adventure game engine.
The engine got some serious boosts starting a few months ago when I started working professionally coding games because i had to start using it to test out and experiment with features I needed to implement. I needed to try them out in an engine I knew top to bottom so I could get it to work period, before trying to include it in a bigger engine used for a game. From HDR to camera systems to shaders for animation, this little engine of mine has been invaluable for me.
Now, it's not ever going to go beyond being used as a sandbox engine or maybe when it's a complete engine it might get used for an adventure game, but the reason I'm writing about it is I am curious how common this practice is? Of making your own small scaled and simple game engine to learn to code game engines. Does anyone else do this?
About the author
I design and direct games for Somatic Vision. We primarily make games for use with biofeedback, but our latest game, Tropical Heat, a jet ski racing game, is for regular gamers and is available on PC/Mac and will be available on ipad and iphone soon.
#2
Torque has a wealth of code, I get in circles sometimes. But there's many advantages to Torque over starting your own engine project. One reason that always I think is most important is the code's been modified, tested, retested, reretested and it just does its job. You know it works, you can count on it to work, and if it doesn't work the way you want it you can modify it or you have a number of people here that can help you.
A lot of companies seem to develop their own engine that is particularly useful for their type of games and applications. But that's many people working on the engine alone. So it depends on if you want to make a game, or make an engine?
07/17/2006 (9:53 am)
Any developer who starts working for a company that has many years of development history are going to find themselves in a sea of confusion at first. But with time and experience that developer will eventually find the ins and outs of that software, knowing most of the quirks, but again it always takes time and experience. I've heard it more than once that it takes at least a year for someone to establish themselves in most working environments before they can even be greatly productive (8 hour days). Through my own experience I've notice this myself.Torque has a wealth of code, I get in circles sometimes. But there's many advantages to Torque over starting your own engine project. One reason that always I think is most important is the code's been modified, tested, retested, reretested and it just does its job. You know it works, you can count on it to work, and if it doesn't work the way you want it you can modify it or you have a number of people here that can help you.
A lot of companies seem to develop their own engine that is particularly useful for their type of games and applications. But that's many people working on the engine alone. So it depends on if you want to make a game, or make an engine?
#3
07/17/2006 (12:34 pm)
I just mean as a learning experience. Rather than messing around with a giant code system like Torque to learn to implement something like say HDR. Starting out getting it to work in a smaller simpler engine that you made yourself. That's in fact one of the things I did with my little game engine. I found it much easier to learn how to do it in an isolated environment than I a giant game engine that I don't know my way around. Then when I went to torque... i only needed to figure out how and where to put this code to get it to work. I just wondered if I'm the only one who thinks that it may be better to start small before tackling a giant engine like torque.
#4
07/17/2006 (12:52 pm)
Ah yeah I see what you mean. Like prototyping. I always like doing that before diving into a full development. It gives me a better understanding of the whole thing. 
Torque Owner Alex Okafor