3D Engine
Author
Is it worth writing my own 3D game engine? I see engines like Irrlicht having only one author. How much time does it take for someone to write a 3D game engine of that caliber?
Yes,
You get to learn a lot of things,but it depends on what you are trying to learn too.The time taken depends on your skills.
I am writing my own at the moment [smile]
You get to learn a lot of things,but it depends on what you are trying to learn too.The time taken depends on your skills.
I am writing my own at the moment [smile]
If you want to make a full, complete game, and you have limited time and people then using a free 3D engine is probably worth it.
If however you just like programming game engines, or want to learn lots, then go ahead. Don't think that it'll be easy or quick though.
If however you just like programming game engines, or want to learn lots, then go ahead. Don't think that it'll be easy or quick though.
Author
To write my own 3D engine, should I study the code of other existing engines, or should I start from scratch?
If you are not very experienced in programming, you will have a lot of trouble trying to understand how a full game engine works. Starting from scratch, anyway, it's even worse, so I suggest you to study a _very_ simple engine or framework, and create a simple DirectX/OGL wrapper. Then you will add things and start understanding how stuff works, you will discover that your design sucks and you will write a new version of your engine, this time with a little more planning.
At this point you will probably be able to understand part of the design of a full game engine, so you can start spending hours studying its source code :)
At this point you will probably be able to understand part of the design of a full game engine, so you can start spending hours studying its source code :)
uhhh.... can you do OpenGL on .NET? Program, I mean, or do you need a separate SDK, IDE, something?
If you want to study a very simple framework, you can take a look at my CubeX.It may not be the best in the world but at least it's simple.
I started on it to learn rendering techniques and simple things like collision detection,culling etc.
I started on it to learn rendering techniques and simple things like collision detection,culling etc.
Writing your own engine is not really the big problem while developing games. Mostly, the information you need to write a good engine is given widely on the net. In other words, if your stuck somewhere with lets say, bump mapping, a short time in google will yield you hundreds of results and one is destined to work. I've done it myself and can only encourage anyone who wishes to do the same.
Where the problem actually starts is the game play part. The Game Engine is relativly hard to code since your on your own then. You won't find answers on the net that easily (and if you do, it means your game "idea" has been done before, which is not really the desired situation to be in).
I'd say, at least give it a shot. If you fail, at least you know a bit more about Graphics Programming and appreciate other Engines more and gain a higher understanding of them.
:)
Where the problem actually starts is the game play part. The Game Engine is relativly hard to code since your on your own then. You won't find answers on the net that easily (and if you do, it means your game "idea" has been done before, which is not really the desired situation to be in).
I'd say, at least give it a shot. If you fail, at least you know a bit more about Graphics Programming and appreciate other Engines more and gain a higher understanding of them.
:)
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