If I went about developing my own game engine with a couple of other guys.. what would be the best way to structure it, to also be network savvy, and in what order. What are some things we should consider before we begin? Anything about game engines or game design or working other people is greatly appreciated. Andy -=[skillfreak]=-

I first decided if I wanted my engine to be standalone or incorporated with the game. I then decided what features the engine would have and what I would need to do first. I started with the basic applications stuff, created the user interface, wrote the networking, and then I started on the next layer (3d models, particle system, etc..).

What do you mean by basic applications and stuff.. I''m thinking that the graphics output would be the first thing you would work on. And while i''m posting.. is there a site that discusses game engine creation?

you can start with 3d-output if you like, but for me that was the worst mistake i ever made. everything else had to be build around the 3d-stuff and every day i slapped myself for not thinking it through before *g*.
i just used dx8 loaded some meshes and had a simple way to let the player fly around in the scene, but the more stuff was added the more terrible did the code get. so this time i''m ''wasting'' a lot of time thinking about how to handle the objects, if and how i should use a manager for the objects.

for example, you might need the vertex and index buffers for collision detection, store a transformation matrix with the object and sooner or later realize:

3d needs stuff from the main loop
x needs y
y needs 3d and z

and suddenly nothing will compile anymore with a lot of dependencies and you begin mixing stuff just to make it work.

depending on how complex the game is the output would be the last thing to worry about.
before you draw anything it has to be there, must be set up, updatet, interact.

think about what objects you need, what they need to do, how you update the game via network. hard to explain what i mean. just one thing: you wont need more than a piece of paper and something to write ,-)

f@dz
http://festini.device-zero.de