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Beginning project: ready engine or scratch

Started by am2pm Apr 5, 2006 at 12:52 PM 1 replies 500+ views

Original Post

Apr 5, 2006 at 12:52 PM

Hi guys! I'm looking for a project to join ("ready to rock" in "help wanted" forum), but now I have a problem. Actually, I wanted to join rather a low-level programing team, that is working "bottom-up" - means: write on the granular parts of graphics/physics engine to learn - and mainly - understand all the problems, processes and hints that are involved in a engine. And after that go upwards. The effect doesn't have to be beautiful or perfect, but I would know how this works. The other way to start would be "top-down" - with a ready game engine (i.e. ogre3d). The main benefit of this solution would be probably a better game in my "portofolio" than made with the first method, but the learning effect will be quite limited - I would understand "only" the context and interaction of the whole system. After that, I would like, even though - make and learn the granular parts of a system. In September, I'm going to get a job. It is better to have - in my portofolio - not so a beautifull game, but made from scratch, or to have a better-looking and more advanced game with a ready engine? So what would you - experienced developers - suggest me?? "top-down" vs "bottom-up" - the standard question ;) Thanks for help me in my dilemma :)

templewulf

Apr 5, 2006 at 1:14 PM

If you already know the various things involved in building an engine, don't bother reinventing the wheel. I know how to make my own linked lists, but that doesn't mean I can't use std:: containers.

If you don't know anything about it, I'd recommend looking into building an engine from scratch. It's an excellent learning exercise, not just for games, but in general. Though, it's a lot of work, and whether or not it's worth it really depends on what your career plans are.

An in-between solution might be to use an existing engine, but peek at its source to see what makes it tick.

Ravuya

Apr 5, 2006 at 1:33 PM

It depends on the job. Games jobs will ask you questions about the internal structure of your game -- this may involve the engine, but I think it'd matter more tht you know how a game is put together (unless you're signing up for an engine job). Non-games jobs will probably just care that it's pretty, dumbly stare at you, and ask if you know VB.

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