As already mentioned, the game engine handles quite a few things.

One thing that I don''t believe was mentioned is that there are "engines" for all kinds of things. Havoc is a physics engine, for example.

Typically, a game engine(s) handle the rendering, physics (coll. detection), and game loop (conditional ''while loop'').

I would say that the "level architecture" is more of a component of "game data". Where you want to put that is subjective. Some people may consider elements of a car part of the "engine" while others may not.

The reason I would not consider it part of the engine itself is that it is game-specific and the engine itself may not come with it. There are exceptions to that though. Unreal licensing allows the developers to create a game without touching any actual code.

I would classify the engine (including physics) as general code. Everything else is connected to the engine, but not a part of it - the way an axle would be "connected" to an engine. Although it is not direct, they both have to work together or the car aint going anywhere

I have to disagree, The level archeture is a critical component of the engine. With out it the engine the doesn''t known how to do anything. Data is something diffrent, an example of data would be a specific level. While level archetecture is the structure of all levels.

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Writer, Programer, Cook, I''m a Jack of all Trades
Current Design project: Ambitions Slave

But the engine is not dependent on the design of a level. The engine needs to know information about a level so that it can understand the level''s design for processing the rendering (level, textures, draw distance, lighting, etc.) and to a degree - phsyics (if areas of a level behave differently) - but the actual layout of a level is fairly irrelevant to the engine.

It''s all pespective I guess. Where does a car''s engine end and the "rest" begin?

I think a better analogy would actually be the human body. The engine could be considered the circulatory system; the renderer the eyes; the sound engine the ears; the hands as the input system; etc.

Where would the level architecture fit into the equation? The skeletal system? Either way, it''s all dependent but most of the components work individually but collectively. Arguably the other systems would be affected by the "skeleton" (level architecture), but whether or not we choose to walk upright or on all fours is the actual level design itself.

http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1558,594,00.asp

I guess you could consider the "game engine" the hard-coded elements.

Although most of an engine works independently, there are elements that have to be "fabricated" to connect game content to the engine. A engine is useless if it doesn''t work wit the content, and vice versa.

I haven''t read that article of the link I posted, but I would like to when I have the time. It should be a good start, though

I think you are confusing a specific level with level archetetcure. Level archetecutre is how a level is represented by the program. For instance the archetecture defines how a wall is represented with in a level. The engine uses that archetecture to tell it how to draw a wall. A specific level would define where the walls are.

An engine can only proccess levels that where designed under the given level archetecture.

Well your human body analogy is flawed. Then engine would be the brain, the archetecure the nervious system, eyes would be input sources and hands would be the renderer.

tieTYT it may seem over whelming at first and it is a fair bit of work but it really is only as complicated as you make it. Try starting small first, with a 2D grid of colored squares. Create an archetecture to represent a grid, then design an engine the can render a grid. Then try making a simple editor that allows a user to choose the size of a grid and color any of the squares in the grid, that editor then outputs the grid to file that will be read by the engine.

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Writer, Programer, Cook, I''m a Jack of all Trades
Current Design project: Ambitions Slave

Here's a useful link

Also, this is the wrong forum. this forum, this forum and by the sounds of things, possibly also this forum might be more appropriate.


[edited by - Sandman on April 16, 2004 6:02:26 AM]