This is one of the hardest things about game development in my eyes… Picking the right engine to develop a game on. Let me give you some background info on what I do with game development before you continue reading though. My name is Neill Silva, and I am the co-creator of PlethoraGames Studios. (http://www.plethoragames.com - Site WIP) On the team, I do Lead Modeling, Project Management/Lead, Writing, and Lead level design. We are currently in the beginning phases of a Sci-Fi MMO, and are working on our presentation for publishers and future Game development conferences. (Concept art is being created, refining the GDD, working on what we will actually say during the presentation, and more.) If you want to ask me questions about Game Maker, FPS Creator, or anything of the sort… Find someone else. I am here to talk about game development, using REAL programming, not some silly “game maker.” That is a discussion for another time though, and on we shall continue. For our MMO project, we have decided on a $950,000 middleware MMO engine, and in the next few paragraphs I will show you why we chose this engine and how we plan to make the money ($2,000,000 budget needed, for those wondering). You must also know that creating an AAA title game is no easy task, and getting the required cash is even harder.

The first thing I want to talk to you about is features. Engines are created so that people don’t have to take years to develop parts of their game, only to have to spend a couple more years putting your game together. This can greatly reduce time and work load, and this is why we have chosen to go with an engine, and work on our own on the side for the future. We picked the engine that we would like to use  HeroEngine.com for more information) because of its features. It has a live world editing feature, so that the rest of the level design team and I can work simultaneously in a live environment and play test at the same time. I couldn’t tell you how amazing it is myself, you should check out the site to see videos of the engines features. We also picked Hero because it has a complete graphics/rendering system already implemented, with an easy process to create shaders, great water system, and next-gen graphics capabilities. The biggest thing that caught me was the way it was programmed. It is known an an MMO Middleware engine. A middleware engine is an engine that focuses mainly on one aspect of game development, meaning the HeroEngine is centered around an MMO framework, and does just that. Its already completely programmed for using to create an MMO. This means we do not have to program the client-server framework, and don’t have to program all of the basics of an MMO, such as registration, zoning, NPC’s, and more, essentially giving us more time to work on the game and not actually getting the game to the MMO phase. To give you an idea of some other Middleware engines, Havok is a middleware engine, focusing on creating top notch physics. Euphoria is also a physics middleware engine per-say, and is used in Grand Theft Auto 4 for things such as damage, explosions, people getting hit, and more. I must also note, out of the blue, there is one feature you will always want to look out for… OpenGL or Direct X. If you want your game to be multi-platform, meaning PS3, Wii, Mac, Linux or more, you will want to work with an engine using the OpenGL (For 3d) graphics library. Direct X has it advantages, but it being a Microsoft product means it will only work on windows and the Xbox.

Pre-Game work is a big deal in game development and design. If you are trying to create a next gen game, you will need a LOT of money. Grand Theft Auto 4, probably the most next gen game I can use as an example, had a budget of $100,000,000 during its development. Lets write that out in words… One-hundred million dollars. Thats CRAZY. OK, so you want to still make an AAA title but not to be as advanced as GTA4? You’re still going to be shelling out a bit of cash. Halo 2, a game now four years old, cost $10-20 million to develop (Not to say this money wasn’t made back quickly… GTA4 made 5x the money they spent on development within the first 24 hours of release). These things aren’t cheap. If you are running a studio, you will need to pay employees salary, you will need to make accommodations for working space, license applications, and more. Just an engine can be half of your budget depending on which engine you use. (Last time I checked, Unreal Engine 3 cost $1.5-3 million to license.) You might now be saying, “Hold the phone… How do all these companies start, where do they get the money?” Don’t worry, I will tell you that right now. Funding. Game developers can be funded in many ways, from straight out investors, to loans, to publishers. To get a loan, you will need a good credit score and you are potentially putting yourself far in debt and far in legal troubles if you can’t pay the money back within the given time. A loan is the last resort for funding. A publisher and investor can be hard to get though. You will need to show that you have initiative to develop your game and prove that you will use the money and create something with it, so that they get something out of the deal. (Speaking of deals, never let anyone get more than 10% royalties in any deal… Think about it, 10% of 1,000,000 = $100,000… Thats $100,000 for them made for doing nothing.) Before you ever look for funding, you should create a GDD, or Game Design Document, get some concept work done, and show work you have already done. At this stage you want to be as professional as possible and work as hard as you can. No one wants some little 1 page story about what your game is going to be about. Go in depth, prove why this game should be made, and make yourself presentable… You can be a kid and make it in the game development industry, but that doesn’t mean you should act like a kid.

When choosing the right engine, you will also want to do your research. This goes hand in hand with features. When researching an engine, you will want to request prototype licenses of engines to see if they are the ones you are looking for, you will also want to see what other games are using the engine, you will want to thoroughly search the site and learn as much as you can, and you will want to see what other people think of their experiences with the engine. You could easy, for instance, miss out on reading the license FAQ for the C4 engine, and not notice that even after spending $20,000+ (Depending on what type of the license you get) you still have to show their logo on the main menu, intro, cover, about, and more sections on your game, and you could be sued if you do not comply. (That’s the one reason I will never use C4, wanting all of that is plain stupid, but I wont talk about that right now.) You will want to learn if you are going to get an indie game engine/license, or commercial. Most indie licenses will not allow you to sell your game or wont let you sell it in stores/make a certain amount of money without upgrading to commercial. (The Torque game engine defines someone as an indie if they make under $250,000 and if they sell their game on-line only.)

Remember:Make yourself presentable, create a GDD, and get your stuff together or else no one will take you seriously. If you are looking to get funding, you will need to show work, show why your game should be made, and show that you have some initiative. This can include content demos, a GDD as said, concept art, complete ideas, and multiple other things. Make sure the engine meets your needs and that the choice is right for you. I can’t tell you how many engines have disappointed me, or things I have overlooked that made me decide for the worse. And last but not least, good luck… Game Developing is becoming ever harder by the day, and there is tons of competition. Make sure you have good ideas and a good team, and put some effort in to what you do.

If you want me to go more in depth on something, or to ask me questions, e-mail me at  nsilva at plethoragames.com or  blackvector at gmail.com