Why I'm STILL Glad I Didn't Use a Game Engine

I've been making games for 7 years and I'm still glad I chose to use graphics library. The choice of whether to use an engine or not really is something people forget to consider nowadays.

Options for gamedev without engines are discussed here:

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#gamedev #unity #unreal

[DaFluffyPotato]

Still haven’t done that “why Python has huge potential for gamedev” video yet. :(

[yukiomc]

A few months later : "Why I'm Very Very STILL Glad I Didn't Use a Game Engine

[vokoaxecer]

Bro 'Why I'm glad I didn't use a game engine' really inspired me to start learning programming again. I just wanna say thank you for that. 🙏.

[MyMike]

It's good not to use a game engine as you said for educating yourself about programming. On the other hand, you should not reject those amazing tools that will make you more productive and let you polish other aspects of the game. In my case, I personally do different projects that require using engines, libraries, or pure coding. Most important is to feel comfortable with what you do.

[nikudayo]

"Why I'm glad I didn't use a game engine" inspired me to try learning a framework and ultimately decided on picking up MonoGame. Learning a framework was the best decision that I've ever made. I was able to finish many small projects and escaped the vicious cycle of creating and abandoning a project. Thank you.

[maindepth]

As someone who has been relying on game engines for the past years, i 100% agree with your decision.
I say this because it has become several times harder to solve certain issues such asa algorithms, or making your own custom path finding system (unity pathfinding does not work with physics), and many other aspects and things that i can't mention in this comment

[znon]

i just finished my computer class, i used your videos a lot for reference, and they really helped. thank you

[siltoruz]

Making games is not just programming. Game design is a form of art. To be successful you need to know how to actually design good game mechanics, maybe have a nice plot or story, visuals, sound design and many more. Programming is just one small part of game development process. Even if you are the best programmer in the world it doesn't mean you ll make money by making games. It means that your games will have less bugs and be more responsive. Both of these videos are about how to become a better programmer as a hobbyist game dev. If a better programmer is what you want to be you should just study programming and make some apps or game engines or anything you wish. Its irrelevant with game design.

[johnterpack]

I think where a lot of people go wrong is in thinking you either use a "game engine" or you code the entire game from scratch. An engine is just a collection of functions that do the things which need to be done. Even without an engine, you can still have ready-made software for the majority of the complex stuff. It's generally called a "framework". Plug in Vulkan, grab some libraries to tell Vulkan what to do, graphics are done. You don't have to figure out how to talk to a GPU yourself. There are ready-made physics engines, IO libraries, AI, etc. Sure, you still have to tie it all together. But it's nothing like starting from zero. And it gives you a degree of flexibility that the big engines can never match.

[bmorr]

I’m just an intern in cyber security, but I can say I certainly would not be as successful job-wise and college-wise had my school laptop had access to Unity in high school.

I wanted to make a game and I could only use Java, and I learned almost everything I know about programming from trying to program games in Java. Hands down my favorite way I’ve ever learned something.

[peytonfaz]

Wow some people still didn't get the point of the video... he's not saying it's bad to use a game engine and yet people are still yelling at him to "stop reinventing the wheel" which is a quote that I absolutely despise at this point... some people want to know how the wheel was invented, and reinvent it themselves for whatever reason they're gonna use the wheel for... just let them. Never once did he tell you to stop using a game engine he just said why he doesn't.

And you people could actually debate him instead of just the same "that's why I started by collecting copper for a motherboard"

[ketchup_films]

I don’t usually comment on videos, but I just wanted to thank you for all the help your videos have provided me lol. I found your pygame tutorials last summer, and your message about hard work over talent really stuck with me. I’m thinking about pursuing game design as a career, and I just wanted to express my gratitude to you for helping me find this passion of mine lmao. All the best!

[pugo]

personally I chose the middle way, and decided to add my own modules to Godot

[ezzygd]

As a person that used a game engine for most of his life, I definitely approve of this video. My programming skills are absolute garbage outside of a particular engine and I certainly am not glad that I did use a game engine, because I have no idea what I'm doing when I'm coding most of the time and I just be hoping that the I'm using the right function the engine provides for what I'm trying to do. I definitely would like to start using frameworks for game development(with the goal being trying to improve my programming skills) if I ever have the time, and your videos are really inspiring me to manage the time for that!

[jonteguy]

I've worked with UE4 for a while now and most places I've been outsourced to or been hired at build tools for the engine itself as well. They create functions within the engine itself as well. Custom engine addons that are not shared and don't exist within the standard download of UE.
I don't know how other engines work nearly as well or if this is even an option but C++ programmers within UE4 at least, do a lot of things. People who program and people who actually *use* the engine are separate people. *This is the true reason as to why blueprints exist* It was never meant to make a whole game, it was meant for artists and level designers. Now, I'm not saying you CAN'T make a game using BP only, but it was not the intended purposes of the function itself. It was there to close a gap. (this might change in the future, BP might become so fast that it can somewhat compete with the speed of C/C++, I doubt it though)

Now, if we're talking as a one-man show I agree, but for studios, how you talk about it, that is not really how it works. Thought I'd say that since I think it's important. If you're a VERY small team I think the stuff you say apply but if you're a somewhat bigger team none of it applies, the programmers in most cases *do not* use the engine itself, at least not to the extent you talk about.

[djpeterson]

Good news is, the dislikes are now privete! XD
Seriously, this is a good follow up video from your last. I know exactly where you are coming from. I wrote my first engine a while back ago. It's a lot of work, and for that very reason I ended up moving to Unity. I wrote my engine in C++, and so moving to Unity made sense since C# is similar but, honestly, faster for getting things prototyped. Unreal sounded good at the time, but there were some things about its implementation I wasn't sure about. Fast forward to now, and my game has come along nicely, but I've made some sacrifices. I started building my game in Unity back before the HDRP and URP pipelines. Converting to either is not an option now. Sadly, the standard pipeline incorrectly applies irradiance, and the light probes cannot be rotated, nor restricted to certain camera outputs. My engine corrected these things. So my game has taken a visual hit in a way I was not expecting. I'm very sad about this, but I must say if I continued on my engine, I may never have started work on my game. So yeah, it's a choice everyone has to make. Great vid!

[cmdr-reflipd]

I am building a 3d game engine, I am on 3 years or more and almost ready to release a public beta.

[gabitheancient]

I find esier making games with c and some graphic library than using a game engine, also I just love the low level part of computer science and want some experience, so... that's why I don't use game engines

[jerama]

Thanks for making this video (and the past one) - Glad for clarity and curious about gamedev, not sure of your experience but glad to hear an open take on the benefits of learning gamedev one way over the other and how to start depending on which way you take it. Cheers!

[excalizan]

Dude, I'm watching your videos for a while and HOLY SHIT YOU'RE UNDERRATED!!!