Success; A fork in the road.

[Yokai Kami]

--- Hello, I am posting in regards to a fork in the road for myself and my studio. Don't let that fool you however; I have researched my options very thoroughly for some time now and I have no intention of asking anyone to make a decision for me. I would simply like a few questions directly answered, in order to make my decision as informed as possible.

--- The fork in the road is whether to use a Game Engine or libraries for each component in a game project. IE: Either Torque, GameStudio, RealmCrafter, Baja, etc. Or things like OGRE3D, Ageia PhysX, FMOD, RakNet, etc.

--- It is to my understanding that game libraries and SDKs have more flexibility and possibilities than a game engine. At the cost of greater development time and effort. I am also under the impression this method grants greater control and power to specific game projects.

--- A game engine on the other hand tends to have way faster dev time and project simplicity. It also seems any project a company has the skills to accomplish there is at least one engine capable of handling 90% of the features needed. The features that need to be added by that point are simple enough to work into an existing engine. Meaning in the end there is always a game engine that can fit your project enough to work well, even if some minor tweaking is needed.

--- With games coming out faster, less stressful, and in some cases better with a game engine wouldn’t that be the best option? Or is the increase in possibilities with libraries great enough to matter?

--- It just seems like by using a game engine for at least starting projects you could make them much easier and get more of them out. While at the same time increasing your possible fan base and project belt enough to work on bigger projects. Then once you're good to go there are new engines ready to fit your next level of complexity.

--- So with a combination of smoother, quicker development, and being able to move up in engine quality as your projects advance I am almost seeing no reason not to go with a game engine. However I don’t want to look back later wishing I had used the libraries.

--- This brings us our final questions: Is it better for a small studio that is aiming for the middle shelf, to use Game Engines or Libraries? Why?

--- Thanks for reading it over, if I can answer any questions to help you better answer mine don’t hesitate to ask.

Regards Kain.


Edit: Bold removed, should help a little.

Edit 2: I have gone through and removed a bunch of the more useless information and ramblings. I have also re-worded and moved around quite a few of my paragraphs. I hope it is a little better now ^^;;

[@nthony]

anyone have a nice bordeaux to go with this delicious copy pasta?

[Yokai Kami]

Yes I have copy/pasted this from my post on gamedev.org to here, gamedev.net, and devmaster.net. If you don't have anything constructive to say you shouldn't say anything. None of us are here to be whiney and make fun of each other.

Addition: Holy carp! This is no excuse but I am running on like an hour of sleep and completely missed the edits you made ^^;; Apologies for the bold I've never been somewhere that was against it. Anyway I'll be sure to leave it alone xD Ja ne~

[Yokai Kami]

Apologies for the double post.

I re-typed the post in the attempt to make it easier to read and more to the point. I hope it helps a little ^^

[abachler]

As with most things it comes down to fast, cheap, works, pick the two that matter most.

If this is your companies first attempt at a game, then I would recommend using a game engine. Since its alot faster, and you will be taking longer than normal as you cut your teeth in game development. Using a game engine can cut months off your deve cycle, which will give you some breathing room for when the investors start getting nervous ( and they always do).

If, on the other hand you have an exerienced team, then coding your own engine from scratch is definately the way to go, since in the long run it will more exactly meet your needs, and you can avoid the licensing and support issues.

[KONI]

Several examples have shown that great graphic or special effects isn't everything. Several RTS (Warcraft I,II and III) or Diablo all had very bad graphic and no particularly interesting sounds (well, Warcraft III actually had).

Creating a good looking game will get you a broader player audience but creating a "good", as in innovative and with exceptional gameplay, will get you further in the longer run. I'd say use an existing engine and focus on the GAMEPLAY !

If you're game isn't competitive in the graphics but rocks to play, people will play it. If it's good looking but sucks to play, people will install, run, look around and uninstall it.

[Yokai Kami]

Re: abachler

As with most things it comes down to fast, cheap, works, pick the two that matter most.

Well said.

It seems at least generaly speaking an engine is the way to go for a starting team. I was also considering working in an engine while slowly adding functionality to my own as a side task. Mayhap that's taking on too much.


Re: Koni

I completely agree and couldn't have said it better. Gameplay wins everytime, an engine would help me concentrate on that loads more so long as it can support my project needs.