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Palamedes
06-06-2003, 01:02 AM
Is powerdraw a good engine to use when making a game similar to your standard isometric real time strategy games like the warcraft series or starcraft..etc..

Thanks.

LP
06-06-2003, 04:26 AM
This question is similar in idea to the one "which compiler is the best" and I'd say is irrelevant (sorry :oops: ). The answer is - that's a matter of opinion and most of the time depends on your programming abilities rather than the components you're using. As a matter of fact I'd say that after analyzing most freeware components I consider the best (or at least GOOD, if you want) components (in random order): GameVision (by Jarrod Davis), Omega (by Bobby), XCESS (by Harry Hunt) and PowerDraw (by me, as you guessed :wink:). I believe any of these can be used to create real-time strategy game (or any other type of game).

I hope that answers your question completely
- Lifepower

Palamedes
07-06-2003, 08:32 AM
It does actually and I do appreciate it..

I am still new to the game development side of the house so bear with my questions.

I have an idea that I posted in the Projects forum about making a game.. the one thing that eludes me is the game engine itself..

As I understand it.. Powerdraw and the various other engines you mentioned aren't game engines but rather simply graphic engines ..(er.. okay not "simply".. that's not fair, but you get my point)..

How does one go about programming a game engine to make something as simple as say, chess or checkers?

Once you have a game engine, you should be able to swap out to any graphics engine, be it 2D top down, Isometric, or true 3D.. Correct?

Thanks for your answers.. I hope you don't mind my picking your brain..

LP
07-06-2003, 03:51 PM
Although it's still an opinion, but I'd put the things that way: game engine is the game itself. I'd also say (although this can be very criticized) as example: Half-Life is a game which has game engine. Counter-strike uses Half-Life as game engine. That way, if you reuse a game engine, you're just making another mod (usually critics goes after this :wink:). Once finished you just can't change its graphics core. All game development begins with its design, just like any application. You'd know that you'd avoid changes in the design because it'll lead to changes in the whole system so that when you choose graphics engine you'll be using it for the whole project.
PowerDraw and other similar components are "game development helpers", that is they accelerate your game development and allow you to make games more efficiently.
There're people that work only on "game engine" (which is nothing more but a functional parts of some sort of game), hoping to use it further in the future. There's a code reutilization indeed, but when you develop a game, you'd most probably end up making its own engine. Conclusion: I'd suggest you make a design first, then pick the necessary tools (which includes a graphics library) and then get to work on the game engine in order to make a complete game.

- Lifepower