4 ms·

The general rule for small (single-developer or maybe teams of single digits) studios is "make games, not engines". Turns out people don't play engines, they p

by bregma 7y ago

The general rule for small (single-developer or maybe teams of single digits) studios is "make games, not engines". Turns out people don't play engines, they play games. Just finishing making a game is hard enough and most don't make it that far. If you have to finish your engine before you start the remaining 90% of game development, well, keep your day job.

jcelerier 7y ago
> Turns out people don't play engines, they play games is it 100% true though ? I remember a lot of hours spent on Garry's Mod with my friend group as a teen, and that's borderline closer to a game engine than to a game
- klodolph 7y ago
  Garry’s Mod uses a well-known existing engine, the Source engine.
klodolph 7y ago
That’s a reasonable general rule but it’s too easy to remember the short version “make games, not engines” and forget the underlying advice, which is more subtle. Making a game engine first and then making a game second is a fools errand, even if your goal is to make the game engine. However, you can make the engine in parallel with the game. Making a purpose-built engine in parallel with a game can be very reasonable. Having made a number of games with and without off-the-shelf engines, whether or not a custom engine makes sense depends heavily on the specifics of your team and the game you are making.
- midnightclubbed 7y ago
  This is a great point and often forgotten at game studios. Without a game driving the engine feature set you will almost certainly end up with an engine design that tries to do 'everything' because your target is Unreal/Unity.
badsectoracula 7y ago
I go into detail in another post (search for make games, not engines) but the original meaning behind the phrase wasn't "do not make engines" (at the time it was originally posted you pretty much had to make your own engine) but "focus on your game's features when making your engine". It was meant as an advice to avoid feature creep in the engines people were making. Essentially another way to say KISS.

by bregma 7y ago

jcelerier 7y ago

> Turns out people don't play engines, they play games is it 100% true though ? I remember a lot of hours spent on Garry's Mod with my friend group as a teen, and that's borderline closer to a game engine than to a game

klodolph 7y ago
Garry’s Mod uses a well-known existing engine, the Source engine.

klodolph 7y ago

That’s a reasonable general rule but it’s too easy to remember the short version “make games, not engines” and forget the underlying advice, which is more subtle. Making a game engine first and then making a game second is a fools errand, even if your goal is to make the game engine. However, you can make the engine in parallel with the game. Making a purpose-built engine in parallel with a game can be very reasonable. Having made a number of games with and without off-the-shelf engines, whether or not a custom engine makes sense depends heavily on the specifics of your team and the game you are making.

midnightclubbed 7y ago
This is a great point and often forgotten at game studios. Without a game driving the engine feature set you will almost certainly end up with an engine design that tries to do 'everything' because your target is Unreal/Unity.

badsectoracula 7y ago

I go into detail in another post (search for make games, not engines) but the original meaning behind the phrase wasn't "do not make engines" (at the time it was originally posted you pretty much had to make your own engine) but "focus on your game's features when making your engine". It was meant as an advice to avoid feature creep in the engines people were making. Essentially another way to say KISS.