Beginning Programming All-in-One For Dummies, 2nd Edition

Chapter 6

Game Engines

IN THIS CHAPTER

Getting acquainted with game engines

Choosing the right game engine

Getting a game engine to do what you want it to do

Predicting the future of game engines

In the early days, lone programmers created entire video games. Back then, video games were still fairly simple, but as they got more sophisticated, they became harder to make. Because games tended to offer similar features, game programmers realized they didn’t need to create an entire game from scratch every time. Instead, they could reuse common parts of a game and customize it for their particular needs.

These common game development components, dubbed game engines, made it easy to create new games. Although many companies have created their own proprietary game engines, other companies have developed game engines that anyone can use. These game-engine companies then make money by taking a percentage of the profits from any game made using their game engines.

Although game engines are mostly used for creating video games, they’ve also been used to create virtual worlds for other industries ...