Elements of Game Technology: Part 1 – Game Engines

Game engines are where the game is brought to life. Stitching together all of the so far separate elements and making them one. Game engines are like the mixing bowl where by you throw in all your prepared ingredients to make something whole and complete. Game engines allow a game developer to enhance the creations further by adjusting lighting, placement of object and assets in contrast with each other and so much more.

The list of different game engines is endless. There is a huge number of free software for small time projects, such as indie game developers or people who just fancy having a go at game creation. There are programs that are used for commercial use that obviously produce a high quality finished project. My personal experiences of game engines only stretches as far as UDK (Unreal Editor) This is considered a freeware software. It is available to students studying game development courses and produces a professional finish. Another engine we use called Cryengine, that produces a high quality result. CryEngine 1 was used to create the whole of Ubisoft’s, Far Cry series. Unreal Engine 4, which is a newer game engine from Unreal, the company behind UDK, was also used for games such as, Mass effect, Gears of War, Bioshock Infinite and Dishonoured. This website shows a list of the considered top 14 game engines  http://www.develop-online.net/news/the-top-14-game-engines-the-list-in-full/0114330

The list also considers 2D games engines that are used to create 2D side scroller games. Obviously for 2D and 3D games, they require different elements. Considering light had very little impact on a 2D object I find the biggest main difference between the 2 modes of engine would be lighting. 3D objects occupy space, an environment, all things that the human eye needs light to see. Also as lighting can help the human eye depict different surface textures and also can create mood and feel within a game. 2D games have to consider strong imagery to get across what they’re trying to communicate. I feel that this would require some clever trickery. With 2D there is obviously less to work with which means using resources more intricately. 3D has a higher technical demand as is has to create space and extreme levels of detail.

A vast pool of easy access game engines, make any budding you g game developers chances to try out their ideas a reality. The engine GameMaker, has been around for a while creating small personal projects. However, small time production games that used this program have become highly popular. Games such as Hotline Miami, made by a small company called Cactus Games.  This link has a review on this particular game engine. http://moacube.com/blog/professional-developers-look-at-gamemaker/

The list of game engines is endless, allowing armatures to produce some high quality, professional looking work. Each and every one has different qualities to produce whatever type of game the creator desires.