ETA- Thanks guys, that was very helpful!
In: Technology
Say I write a program that simulates basic 3D shapes like balls, cubes, toroids, etc and allows them to interact with realistic physics.
I could use this program to make a bunch of different games by arranging shapes in different configurations and setting goals for the player. I could set hoops at two ends of a plane and have the goal to get the ball into the hoops. I could set up boxes as goal posts at either end and make something like soccer or football.
I could invent a game that had nothing to do with a real life sport at all. But at the end of the day, it’s the same underlying program powering all of the interactions that make up the game.
That’s basically what a game engine is. It’s a program with a bunch of pre-built features that can be used to make a game, so that the developers of the game don’t have to reinvent the wheel and build a bunch of basic stuff from scratch. That way, they can focus on things like character or level design, and any real programming that needs to be done can be focused on unique features they want to custom build for their game rather than wasting a ton of time on very basic stuff that has already been done a million times by other people.
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