The game engine is the software that actually makes a game work. Without it, you would just have a load of random data not doing much at all. Game engines are designed to work on a variety of platforms. For example, Valve's Source engine works on the PC, Playstation 3 and xbox 360, even though it is about 50 years old :P Still, Team Fortress turned out nicely, except for crappy hit detection and many many bugs.
Anyway, a game engine consists of several smaller engines. These include a rendering engine, physics/collision engine, sound, animation, AI and more. The actual term 'game engine' was used when the release of Doom and Quake appeared. From these, many developers brought licenses to use these engines and then simply design their own visual style, clearly saving them time and money.
Subtractive and additive are terms used for difference level creation processes. The additive process is where the designer must create the level in a void which is endless and empty. If this process is used a skybox is required to seal off the map. A map must have no leaks, otherwise this can cause lighting issues and textures becoming distorted and blurred. If you think about a fish tank, if there is a hole then the water will leak out, the same applies for a level, but it needs a roof of course. Subtractive on the other hand is where there is no void, just an infinite solid which must be carved into. This method means that there is no chance of leaks but it isn’t as easy to manipulate as the additive process. Maps such as Counterstrike and Team Fortress 2 are created with the additive process, in a program called hammer. It is a free program to download off Steam, in the Source Developer Kit.
As for next generation engines, they must have a long life span and to be adaptable for many games. This will help reduce costs, as developing a game can cost millions. Only the highly popular games will easily provide a profitable income.
Gaming Culture
The gaming culture is growing and growing nowadays, what with more and more people having access to broadband and therefore the Internet. I remember playing games a bit around the age of 10, until the day I got a broadband connection at home. Ever since then I have been part of the online gaming community, which tends to occupy a fair chunk of my life. Now that I think about it, I didn’t really play many games online until I was introduced to Steam. This is an online community just for games, it has its own store where you can purchase and download games, as well as friend and chat system. When online, it tells you what games your friends are playing and what server they are on. I have a Playstation 3 at home and Steam is far better for keeping track of friends and joining them. In my opinion I think it is better the Microsoft Live, plus its free :P
Anyway, gone off at a tangent as always. A friend at college said I should buy counterstrike, so I did, and unlike most people I really didn’t like it. Now I’m a big fps fan but it was just so dull, slow and good at killing your morale. Run round a corner, headshot, wait 5 minutes to respawn and same again. Another friend showed me Team Fortress 2 and what a game. I’ve been playing it since it was released up to this day and I still love it. Not just the gameplay, the art direction they took, the humour...crap I’m doing it again. Right, back to steam community. If I look at my friends list, only 5 of them I know in real life, out of 50 odd. Since playing TF2 I have joined a clan where I have got to know a lot of decent chaps, some i know really well now, even though I’ve never seen them in my life.
The clan I am in compete against hundreds of other clans all over Europe; some cups even offer prize money to the winners. There are huge gaming festivals where thousands of gamers go to compete in tournaments.
Some people say that games take always peoples social life, stop them from exploring the outside world and people. On the other hand, you get to meet many new people and talk to them, not just typing, which makes things far better, you really get to know people well, and have a great laugh in game. I’m glad to be part of an thriving community and will be for many years to come, hopefully.
Anyway, gone off at a tangent as always. A friend at college said I should buy counterstrike, so I did, and unlike most people I really didn’t like it. Now I’m a big fps fan but it was just so dull, slow and good at killing your morale. Run round a corner, headshot, wait 5 minutes to respawn and same again. Another friend showed me Team Fortress 2 and what a game. I’ve been playing it since it was released up to this day and I still love it. Not just the gameplay, the art direction they took, the humour...crap I’m doing it again. Right, back to steam community. If I look at my friends list, only 5 of them I know in real life, out of 50 odd. Since playing TF2 I have joined a clan where I have got to know a lot of decent chaps, some i know really well now, even though I’ve never seen them in my life.
The clan I am in compete against hundreds of other clans all over Europe; some cups even offer prize money to the winners. There are huge gaming festivals where thousands of gamers go to compete in tournaments.
Some people say that games take always peoples social life, stop them from exploring the outside world and people. On the other hand, you get to meet many new people and talk to them, not just typing, which makes things far better, you really get to know people well, and have a great laugh in game. I’m glad to be part of an thriving community and will be for many years to come, hopefully.
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