First I'd like to know, what the hell is gameEngine all about. Let's say, I what to do "A 3D GAME" and I need an engine. Do I make my own or do I use an open source engine? and if I make my own what do I do where do I start what do I need (besides coding skills) how do I import THE 3D STUFF to engine. I just can't figure out the whole concept of a GAMeENGINE! THANKS! [Edit: There is never a need to use more than one question mark.] [edited by - Oluseyi on March 19, 2004 10:16:29 AM]

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T2k

quote:Original post by zerorender
First I''d like to know, what the hell is gameEngine all about.
Let''s say, I what to do "A 3D GAME" and I need an engine. Do I
make my own or do I use an open source engine?? and if I make my own what do I do where do I start what do I need (besides coding skills) how do I import THE 3D STUFF to engine. I just can''t figure out the whole concept of a GAMeENGINE!!!
THANKS!!!!!

A game engine deals with input/graphics/sound/networking. It''s basically a class or library of classes that wrap around an API like DirectX or OpenGL/OpenAL. Example:

GAME ENGINE
^^^^^^^
DIRECTX
^^^^^^^^
HARDWARE

So DirectX makes it easier to deal with the hardware. And a game engine makes it easier to deal with DirectX. You don''t need a game engine, but you''ll spend time writing every little detail needed to make DirectX (or whatever Multimedia API you''re dealing with) work. For instance:

...LPD3DXBUFFER pD3DXMtrlBuffer;D3DXMATERIAL* d3dxMaterials = (D3DXMATERIAL*)pD3DXMtrlBuffer->GetBufferPointer();g_pMeshMaterials = new D3DMATERIAL9[g_dwNumMaterials];g_pMeshTextures  = new LPDIRECT3DTEXTURE9[g_dwNumMaterials];g_pMeshMaterials[i] = d3dxMaterials[i].MatD3D;g_pMeshMaterials[i].Ambient = g_pMeshMaterials[i].Diffuse;// Create the texture.if( FAILED( D3DXCreateTextureFromFile( g_pd3dDevice,    d3dxMaterials[i].pTextureFilename, &g_pMeshTextures[i] ) ) )    g_pMeshTextures[i] = NULL;}pD3DXMtrlBuffer->Release();...// this code fragment deals with loading a mesh into your game// sceen.

// or you could have a class method (function) that takes care// of all that junk for you. Now all you have to do is type this#include "c3DEngine.h" // or whatever...c3DEngine::loadMesh("myMesh.x");// and tada! the mesh is loaded--much easier right?

Now possible game engines could be: Programming Role Playing Games with DirectX w/CD ($40) or the TorqueEngine ($100).

Now the book will tell you how to make your own, but why do that when you can just buy one .



"Do not flame people you don''t know in a public forum. Only amateurs do that. Professionals in the industry know they will run into each other over and over. The person you flame this year may the person you want to do business with next year. Don''t burn your bridges," (Diana Gruber, http://www.makegames.com/chapt6.html).

DIRECTXMEN, you perfectly understood what I meant, Arigatô!