Hello, the question I have is a little open-ended and a lot of factors could affect the answer, but I've been struggling with this question all through the preliminary design of the game I'm trying to get off the ground. My question is: Is it a realistic goal to develop my game without using an existing game engine? I have just about every aspect of the game's architecture mapped out in a massive hierarchical directed graph, and things such as gameplay elements and lore are extensively documented. So with the game's design stage coming to a close, I need to start considering my options for developing the game.

The reason I'm considering developing the game without an existing proprietary engine is that my game has very specific graphical goals; which I think could be tailored to optimize performance. For example, many environments in the game will be completely statically illuminated, which would allow me to skip a huge amount of calculations for anything within a total-black location. Most proprietary engines such as Unreal Engine don't allow users to modify their core source files, so I would lose many opportunities for improving performance. There are also a huge amount of features that I simply don't need for the game concept. If I were to build the game closer to the metal; only implementing features that are necessary to the game, I feel that in the long-run I would save time and end up with a more streamlined game. Also, from a business standpoint, not having to license an engine and then paying royalties would definitely be beneficial.

What are your opinions on this? Is the added workload of building the game from the ground up worth the potential advantages? And if the answer is yes; other things to consider: Java or C++?, also; what hardware abstraction graphics API to use for rendering system?

I would expect at least a man-year of added development time for basic 3D game "engine-level" features (maths, rendering, asset loading, animation, physics integration, simple UI, sound, input, scripting), possibly more.

Also I'm not talking about AAA quality, but a basic workable level of features, for example similar to what you'd get of open source engines like OGRE out-of-the-box.

I'm also assuming you would use existing libraries for hard problems wherever possible, for example Bullet for physics, and an existing scripting language if you need one. If not, multiply time estimate with anything from 3x to 10x.

Thank you all for your suggestions and recommendations, they were very helpful. I had never heard of the Beast middleware until now, and I'm very interested in seeing if I can integrate it into my game; I'm already using 3dsmax and since Beast is an Autodesk product I bet the asset pipeline would be seamless. Also, thanks for the MegaTexture link Akos, I've been looking for the correct terminology for what I had in mind and this helped a lot.

I think I've decided on building the parts of the engine that I need to learn most about, and use middleware for the rest. The game I'm working on doesn't really need cutting-edge graphics, but it has a very serious tone, so I want the graphics to be able to support the storyline and not break immersion. Thanks again for all your input, I really appreciate it.

One thing you may also find enlightening for a game-from-scratch approach (which didn't remember when I posted my initial reply) is the blog by gamedev.net member spek about the creation of the Tower22 game:

http://tower22.blogspot.com

If I remember right the engine/project has been worked on since 2008, and still going strong. Of course, your plans may not be as ambitious as his.

Hehe, thanks for noticing.

The project is still going on indeed, and I can tell you, doing everything yourself is an infinite amount of work. I don't mind it because it's a big hobby, and it forces me to keep a bit up-to-date with modern technology. Or well, at least I try. It's sometimes frustrating to see you're always behind the facts. No matter how hard you work, AAA engines will be ahead, and smart guys write papers faster than you can implement. I always thought skill would be the crucial factor, but more important is the amount of time you can&want to spend on your project.

And at some point, it becomes so huge that maintenance is getting hard. A perfect engine would be made of modular 100% tested/documented -> working "blocks". But when doing it alone, you simply don't have time to make everything perfect. With as a result that I often waste hours/days on updating old code or tracing bugs in stuff I made a year ago.

In my case, another limiting factor is making the actual graphics. I can draw and model a bit, but certainly not on a professional level. Yet I try to make the game look as good as possible, so I'm dependant on the very limited time of a very small group of artists that is willing to help me in their free hours. You can program supercode, but without artists that generate maps, props, sounds or textures on the fly, you still have nothing. 60" flatscreen or an old tube, an ugly woman on the TV will always be an ugly woman.

That said, it all depends on the size, goals and eventual help you can get. Making a 2D platform game is far less complicated, and thus far more realistic. A 3D engine could be done as well, but be careful not to get sucked away in the graphics-black hole. If you can live with lower end graphics, life gets a lot easier :)