Summary

Game engines are the heart of video game creation, streamlining and simplifying development by handling graphics, physics, audio, artificial intelligence, and user input. Popular engines, such as Unity, Unreal, and Godot, offer pre-built frameworks and tools, allowing developers to focus on unique content and gameplay.

Have you ever played video games and wondered how they’re made or how they even work? The secret is in the game engine, the complex set of software tools that lies at the heart of every modern video game today.

What Is a Game Engine and How Does It Work?

Imagine you’re an artist, preparing to create your masterpiece. You’ll need tools of some sort to do the job. These could include brushes, paints, and a canvas to bring your vision to life.

Similarly,game developers need a game engineto design, develop, and breathe life into their virtual worlds. A game engine is a software framework that streamlines, accelerates, and simplifies the game development process.

Essentially, a game engine takes care of the heavy lifting of game creation. At least when it comes to the technical aspects of the work. It handles graphics, physics, sound, artificial intelligence, user input, and more.

In the early days of game development, a game would be written in machine code or something close to it (such as Assembly language) after being designed on paper. However, as games became more complex, game developers realized they’d have to create game development tools before creating their actual games. These tools and core game components became what we know as game engines today.

Components of a Game Engine

A game engine isn’t a single monolithic thing. They consist of several components that work together to create the final gaming experience. While this isn’t an exhaustive list, some key components include:

Each game engine has different approaches to these different areas under the hood. Engine developers strive to get the best results in each area as efficiently as possible.

The Role of a Game Engine in Game Development

Game engines play a vital role in streamlining the game development process. They allow developers to concentrate on generating unique content and gameplay mechanics instead of building all the underlying technology from scratch. By providing a pre-built framework, game engines save time and resources, allowing developers to iterate and refine their games more efficiently.

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Moreover, game engines often come with built-in tools and editors for level design, animation, scripting, and more. These tools make it easier for developers to visualize their ideas and bring their game worlds to life.

Game studios with in-house engines benefit by using the same engine across multiple titles. For example, the game Horizon: Forbidden West uses the same Decima engine as its precursor Horizon: Zero Dawn. However, because the studio is now well-versed in the engine, the second game is much larger and more complex than the first.

Some companies develop game engines specifically to license them out to other studios. Developing and maintaining a game engine is incredibly difficult and expensive, so only the largest studios these days bother. For small to medium developers, it’s easier to license an existing engine and spend their resources on making their game with those tools.

Various game engines are available, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. Some well-known game engines include:

These are just a small sample of the engines out there, other notable mentions includeID Tech,Cryengine, andredENGINE. But honestly, the list is enormous.

Iconic Games and Their Engines

Numerous iconic games have been built using these popular game engines. Let’s take a look at some notable examples:

The look and feel of many games are often the result of the engine they’re made with. There’s a familiar character to the various Elder Scrolls games, for example, that translates to Fallout 3, 4 and New Vegas, since they share a game engine. Likewise, it’s often easy to pick out which games have been developed using Unreal Engine, because of its distinctive quirks.