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What is a Game Engine?
A gaming engine is a software development environment, also referred to as a “game architecture” or “game framework,” with settings and configurations that optimize and simplify the development of video games across a variety of programming languages. A gaming engine may include a 2D or 3D graphics rendering engine that’s compatible with different import formats, a physics engine that simulates real-world activities, artificial intelligence (AI) that automatically responds to the player’s actions, a sound engine that controls sound effects, an animation engine, and a host of other feature.
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In a nutshell, a game engine is a piece of software that is used by game developers to help them create games.
It is sort of an umbrella term, that sometimes gets used interchangeably with other terms like "Game Frameworks" or "Game Editors"
- Rendering Graphics (<-- Display a picture on the screen)
- Physics Simulation (<-- How are things gonna move & interact with each other?)
- Handle Player Input (<-- Can players use an Xbox controller? What about a flight stick or a tablet?)
- Manage Game Assets (<-- What are you gonna do with all those files?)
- Artificial Intelligence
- Animation & Audio Tools
NO!
When making a game, you have multiple options for how to make one. You could:
- Make a game from scratch (code only! <-- This is how a lot of classics got made)
- Make it entirely within the browser (usually Game Frameworks are used)
- Maybe you have some super wacky, never-before-seen core mechanics that won't mesh with a traditional engine
- Maybe you actually want an analog game!
Game Engines provide a lot of pre-made functionality out of the box that makes creating well-defined games faster. -> Do you want to write the logic for a camera or a physics simulation yourself? That answer may be yes, and if it is you may not want a game engine.
You could think about it like making a car on top of a pre-existing engine.
[create image for tech stack]
Pros
- Not genre-specific
- Feature rich with options to extend functionality
- Large community building tools and offering help
- Documentation is pretty good
- Build to a plethora of platforms including consoles & XR headsets
- Free version for hobbyists, indies, and students
- Employable skill
Cons
- Not genre-specific (wait wasn't this a pro?)
- Can get clunky and have long load times
- Multiple versions of Unity
- Pricing for more advanced features
- Limited to no hardware access
- Corporate philosophy...