rts game engine

[Spectral Paladin]

But if u want u can code ur own 3d engine and then proceed with the rest. For 3d look at articles about software renderers, directX, OpenGL, SDL etc. - you might want to have some knowledge on math - like matrices, vectors, transforamtions, dot & vector product etc.

Let me pipe in there for a second - is the op expecting to make a 3d rts? Certainly for a first attempt a 2d is far simpler to do.

DirectX and OpenGL are graphic APIs with 3d in mind - they employ hardware acceleration and are not very friendly. For a 2d game they may very well be overkill.

SDL is a multimedia library - and so is SFML which I mentioned earlier. SDL is older and more well known. It's based in C and originally only did software rendering - now I believe it offers options to use it along directx or opengl.

SFML is written in c++ - it's already written in an oop manner - and uses opengl 'under the hood'.

Regarding the math, it definitily helps to know what's going on, however various libraries can handle that. SFML will handle translations, scaling, rotations and offers a 'view' class that makes scrolling maps quite easy to implement.

I may be a bit biased, however as I said I recently began toying with graphics in c++ and these were my findings. Other than that, I find game making software a bad idea for a bunch of reasons (from the tools it limits you to, to licencing). Have to concur with MrFibble, if you don't wish to get your hands dirty, starting with a moddable rts is a much faster way to implement your ideas.

[criver]

I wouldn't say a 3d rts is really harder than a 2d one - it may even be the opposite. A 2d game is not necessarily simpler than a 3d one contrary to common belief. Of course considering the graphics engine - a 2d one would be simpler - which doesn't matter unless u want to code your graphics engine from scratch.

"SDL is a multimedia library - and so is SFML which I mentioned earlier. SDL is older and more well known. It's based in C and originally only did software rendering - now I believe it offers options to use it along directx or opengl.

SFML is written in c++ - it's already written in an oop manner - and uses opengl 'under the hood'." -

I haven't used SFML but I'd guess that it actually draws on a textured quad in 3d space in order to benefit more from the hardware acceleration (I mean the VGA). You said that OpenGL and DirectX are kinda "overkill" for a 2d game - but your SFML actually uses OpenGL - I mean u don't need to write a 3d engine with parallax mapping, soft shadows and sub-surface scaterring based on DirectX or OpenGL - u can as well write a 300 lines engine based on DirectX and OpenGL (just some basic functions) that takes care only of the things u need - something like SFML, if u want to start from scratch - and if u don't - well I'd say that Irrlitch isn't really that much harder from a 2d engine - I mean if u use the 3d functions only like a black box (u don't need to know what's happening inside them to use them) it's pretty much the same as a 2d engine but with more possibilities - also if u use a 3d engine - it will give u more freedom in terms of visual effects than a 2d one (and I can't even begin to mention the benefits u'll get from a 3d engine for a rts).

"Regarding the math, it definitily helps to know what's going on, however various libraries can handle that. SFML will handle translations, scaling, rotations and offers a 'view' class that makes scrolling maps quite easy to implement." - that's what I was talking about - it's up to the developer to choose the easy way or the hard and rewarding one. I mean u can alwys benefit from knowing how to write a soft renderer when coding a game.

"Other than that, I find game making software a bad idea for a bunch of reasons (for the tools it limits you to, to licencing). Have to concur with MrFibble, if you don't wish to get your hands dirty, starting with a moddable rts is a much faster way to implement your ideas." - I agree totally that "game making software" is limiting and not really the best option - that's why I was against game maker and the likes of it. However the term "game making software" is a really broad one ( I mean even C++, DirectX and OpenGL can be considered that) - I mean "game making software" varies - game maker is one of the worse types IMO (kinda like a toy for children - something like Blitz3D). The best one I know of is Unity3D (gives a lot of freedom btw) - kinda expensive though. But I still stand by my statement - if u want to make something outstanding or at least good - try some serious language like C++ - it's not as hard as it looks like. However idk about mods - for me it just doesn't seem that great - u're just making a remake of a game - nothing really that innovative - that being said I don't mean a mod can't be enjoyable and innovative - DotA was a kind of a mod for Warcraft 3 (but I should mention thatWarcraft 3 had one of the best editors at the time - and still) - and look now - it turned into a kind of new genre - dota-like games: Smite, LOL, DotA2.

[THE AQIB]

actually when i planned for gamemaker i knew the problems i might face. but ive been an active gamemaker user for 6-7 years. i can clone mario better than anyone and i built a game that had better ai almost rts like but it kinda got deleated when my computer crashed 2years ago. since then ive been gathering data for my next project. then i lost my d2k cd to scratches so there i thought of getting a new one but this thought stuck my mind. why dont i make one instead of playing it. i like building rather than playing. hence i started searching for dune sprites till this year when i found this forum where i got the idea of starting from scratch. i learnt a few rts basics for gamemaker from youtube from a guy caleed fancy penguins or something. there i put my foot completely on gamemaker rts. but still had the doubt hence asked this question. if you want to know about the game go to dune 2000 there will be the post dune 2000: the era of war.

[THE AQIB]

also im called the computer guru by my friends. i can learn anything in computer if you give me the material and time. im known for tht. i learnt c++ when i was little though i had not known its use then. but in mycountry its c++ and nothing else in schools and that too the very basics and implementations of it.

[criver]

Well I gave u the material (check the links in my prev post - especially rastertek if u want to write a 3d engine from scratch)- it's up to u.

And here's a good tut on C++ - http://www.cplusplus.com/doc/tutorial/ - covers most of the things u should know - the rest is 3rd party libraries etc.

And I still think that game maker is not really something to be used for a serious project - as I've said - it's a toy for children - u can't expect anything really good coming from it.

Well - it's up to u - u can choose the easier way (game maker) or the hard and rewarding one (C++, writing ur own engine, working out the various algorithms, trying to solve the problems by urself etc).

If u are interested in writing pro level games I'd recommend u checking through this c++ tut http://www.cplusplus.com/doc/tutorial/ - making the exercises etc. Then u can move onto harder matters. Some good sites to start out would be codesampler (some of the examples are outdated though), rastertek, gamedev. Rastertek is a really great one for writing ur own engine. Also, u can check dev child's soft renderer - http://dev-ch.com/coding/projects/virtualgl

Well good luck whatever u choose to do - most importantly have fun doing it.

[THE AQIB]

@criver: thanx for the pointers,for now ill proceed with gamemaker but later when i actually have time to build source codes and engines. im in my crucial exam and for six months it'll be hard to run studies and coding side by side. this game just puts youback in the shoes of the commander in dune 2000. actually game maker is strong enough for rts as it supports directx but will lack the graphical charm to an extent. but even in gamemaker coding is still head over heels work. easier and powerful.