What game engine do you prefer?

[Kyle]

It has been quite a few years since I owned a game, and I am planning to get back into it by possibly creating a new game.

In the past I used the MCCodes Engine and created a decent game, but I have noticed nowadays it is pretty over used. I am sure I could still create a successful, and unique game with this engine.

So my question to you all is what engine do you prefer?
Is there something as customizable out there? Something more efficiently coded? Something easier to customize?
Just looking for a nudge in the right direction.

ezRPG seems nice enough.

[133794m3r]

I think that a lot of people here will have the same answer as me.... I don't prefer anyone elses engine or even framework. Everything out there for the language I'm using (PHP) is all Object-Oriented and horribly put together. If I wanted to work with Object-Orientation I'd use java. But I digress, I believe that most here roll their own engine/core library since it seems like that kind of crowd here. At the very least they write their own engine, some may use a framework to bootstrap the process, but I think most use their own.

Outside of that, the only engines I've seen are for Crime games, and that one for Eternal Duel that's been floating around since the beginning of the internet(their hacked release supposedly). I never really looked at any engines since the time it'd take me to learn the ins and outs of it's weird bugs, and behaviors, I could write my own and have everything behave in a known way. In javaScript, I use jquery but only because JavaScript seems to be written without any forethought into how it works, and also I like standardized interfaces to things.

[Chris]

Browser games are ridiculously easy to write (compared to normal standalone PC or console games) so it simply does not make much sense to use any engines made by others (unless you are doing it as a hobby). Especially since these are unlikely to be written by professionals and therefore are very likely to be of inferior quality that one written by you, even if your skills are average (I'm yet to see a BBG engine written by someone who takes performance seriously .

But if you are doing it for fun only and are starved for time I guess ezRPG is worth checking (v0.12 and below, dunno about later versions, there were quite controversial changes IIRC).

[Kyle]

That makes a lot of sense. I have always had more success with websites I have built from scratch..I have been working with PHP for quite a few years so I am pretty fluent in that, and whenever I need to do something I dont know how to do I have always been able to figure it out with google and php.net..

I am lacking a lot in the design realm though, i can do some basic stuff in photoshop but nothing all that fancy, I am pretty good with css but that doesnt mean much if you dont know much else about design. Tings like jquery and other ways to fancificate your sites...

Any good resources for learning the fancier side of coding?

[BlackScorp]

Browser games are ridiculously easy to write (compared to normal standalone PC or console games)

just some examples:
http://dolumar.com/
http://www.drakensang-online.com/
http://www.runescape.com/
http://www.fallensword.com/
i dont think those game are easier to make. browsergames dont have such engines like Cry or Unreal engine. So PC or Console games could take less work hours than a browsergame

if you make just Text Based browsergames, then youre right. but if you make HTML5 Browsergames with all that fancy stuffs like Canvas, WebGL and such then its not really easy to write.
Using Engines will save you much work, for example take a look at Unity3D or Shiva3D .

anythink depends on your need. if you want to make a fancy Browsergame + you want have quick results + you are able to learn from tutorials or using a forum, so use an engine or a framework.

since engines costs some money, i prefer frameworks. Frameworks are basicly the same like engines, just without editors so development is a bit harder and slower but still faster than making your own framework.

greetz BlackScorp

[Chris]

With this way of thinking soon we might be forced to call WoW a browser game too (when they introduce more advanced capabilities of browsers which allows running things inside it)
Calling RuneScape a browser game is a bit overstrethed too, it was a standalone game which was later recoded to Java so it can run inside a browser as an option (also it is extremely primitive for a standalone game standards, at least the version I saw).

I also think the term browsergame should not be used to indicate the platform only (because then you would have to include Flash games which don't feel like the browsergames we talk about here at all). The spirit counts too.

If you need a 3D engine, this is not the best forum to ask for it anyway So, for now I will stick to definition "browsergame = a game with text and some 2D gfx that is played primarily as MMO".

[BlackScorp]

i define browsergame as a game which is played in browser, where you dont have to download a client and install it on your PC. Flash games are Browsergames as well.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browser_game

but Chris is right, most ppls here are making text based browsergames and dont using game engines. but you can take a look at some js frameworks like

craftyjs
caat
treejs

or if you interested in php frameworks, take a look at kohanaframework.org

if you want to add some realtime stuffs ingame , so take a look at nodejs and nowjs

[hiigara]

There are not many examples in the game industry of people who were successful using someone else's engine.
One exception could be the Counter Strike guys, but even they, had to be already highly skilled programmers to be able to hack the half-life engine.
Create something unique, even if it is very simple.

[Kyle]

You can be successful using someone elses text based game engine, you just have to be willing to put the time into customizing it and making surre its not just a carbon copy of every other game using the engine.

[Sim]

MC CODES can easily be hacked!!

[Kyle]

MC CODES can easily be hacked!!

Care to elaborate?
I was under the impression that v2 had most of the major security issues ironed out.
I know v1 has a hundred or so vulnerabilities lol
Regardless, a good programmer can take care of the security holes in MCCodes.

Lets face it, although not many people here like MCCodes, it is probably the easiest engine to understand as far as the coding side goes. As a matter of fact is where I got my start in PHP/MySQL programming. I had absolutely no idea what I was doing when I got my first copy of the script...back before it was even released to the public ..I was struggling to figure out how to change the background color haha. Over time though I learned what things did by changing stuff around and playing with the code, and eventually learned everything I needed to start my own game. Believe me, it took some time, and a LOT of patience. Parse errors out the wazoo that's all I'm gonna say lol.
Since then I have taken some CSS/HTML classes, and earned a BA in PHP/MySQL from the University of My BRAIN. Tuition cost $0, 1000s of hours of reading and typing code, and the majority of my social life.

Nowadays I can write my own engine, which I am actually doing.

My point is, I can't hate on MCCodes. Without it I would probably have never gotten into web development, my #1 hobby. I wouldn't be making this post right now, and I sure as hell wouldn't have Best Text Games.  At least that's what I'd like to think...I did dabble in some NeoPets Guild HTML designing haha.
I can hate on all the script kiddies that buy the script and throw a game up the same day with no knowledge of or intention of learning the basics of PHP and Mysql. They deserve all the hackings they get.