Game Design Foundations (Wordware Game and Graphics Library)

Overview

The current trend in gaming is 3D games from a first-person or third-person POV.

Designing and programming a state-of-the-art 3D game engine could take a team of programmers a year or more to develop, and during this game development process, some tweaking and bug fixes would occur. A successful game experience validates and makes other developers and publishers interested in licensing that game’s 3D engine. Some development teams don’t have the time and talent necessary to create their own 3D game engine, so finding one that suits their needs and budget is more desirable.

The current 3D game engines fall into three categories, which I call “economy,” “midsize,” and “luxury.” The less expensive the engine, the older the technology and less features there are available. Likewise, the more expensive the 3D game engine, the newer the technology and more powerful and plentiful its features.