Creating a game from scratch VS using an engine

This is one question that many have on their minds. Is it better to create a game from scratch or to use an engine? There are a few things that you have to take into account first, and those would be whether you have the skills to create your own game, or if you want to create your own game engine.

Creating your own game from scratch is very hard, and it requires a lot of knowledge. In fact, you need to have a lot of programming experience, as well as graphics API programming and OpenGL or numerous other similar technologies. At the same time, you also have to create the engine and work with it in order to tailor it to your needs.

Not only that, but game development involves a lot of math, because you need to add vector, matrix, transformation, projection, scaling and translation math. All of these also require a lot of time to learn and even more time to master.

 

 

But wait, there’s help!

However, there are a few things to help you, and these come in the form of libraries, which are written to help you create your game. In libraries there are helpful solutions that will make creating a game easier, and creating a game with the help of an engine might be one of them.

In fact, the recommended option for beginners is to start with an engine. Sure, you are a little limited, but the massive groundwork is created, and it takes you way less time to learn to use the application, that’s for sure. Engines like Unreal, Unity or Cry Engine are available for free, although you do need to purchase a license if you want to sell the games you create with them. Still, for beginners, this is an insane deal and you get a ton of great results this way, which in the end is all that matters.

 

 

What language to learn?

If you do choose to do everything on your own, or you want to use your complimentary knowledge in addition the engine, I would recommend you to opt for Java, as it’s simpler to learn, unlike C++ for example. If you want to use Unreal or Unity, then you need to learn JavaScript since it has way less syntax to learn. Of course, most of the time you still need to learn C++ because many jobs as game programmer in the game development world focus on this skill.

What you need to realize here is that programming isn’t just something to rush into. It’s a set of skills that have to be mastered, and that takes quite a lot of time. Still, it can bring you an extraordinary set of results and, in the end, it will help you create the games you want. Sure, it does take a lot to learn, but the payoff can be huge in the end, you just have to be positive and create the best game you can!

 

Special thanks to our team for authoring this article.

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