My revolutionary game idea(you tell me)

Far Cry 2 has mediocre Graphics today, Half life 2 uses Havok physics which is used in ALOT of games (it is very good), Mercenaries 2 wasnt really that destructive, Red Faction Guerilla had DMM, which was real nice.

Instead of videogame companies investing millions into games that can be sometimes hit or miss, there must be a solution that can cut cost in production. I was thinking why hasn't there ever been a collaborative effort to combine all the game designs that have worked in the past into one game engine that can be used for any game ever made. Take the physics engine of half life the blood and guts from soldier of fortune the instant loading from gta iv the ai from freedom fighters the graphics from far cry the infinite destruction from mercenaries 2 throw it all into one ginormous game code and then be creative in what they do with the outcome. All the puzzle pieces are already made, some games like just cause 2 try to get alot of things into its package. After the game is made the code is scrapped for the most part unless there are sequels. I liked how back in 1999 alot of games were using the half life engine. It just doesn't seem like games really need to be started from scratch all the time when a universal code could be created so that every game developer only has to come up with the creative elements of the game. What do you think of my universal game code for all games? I believe it would make games somewhat similar until people started branching off and really exploring the possibilities of this infinite universal code. hahaokaay

as far as graphics goes, crysis is far better than far cry.

Well, I am certainly no expert in these kinds of things, but by using a universal game code wouldn't you lose 1) diversity in games and 2) diversity between different genres of games? If everyone used that as a basis, then (even if you expanded on it) wouldn't it still be recognizable? Nowadays, we've seen pretty much every type of game there could ever be so it's even more difficult for game developers to come up with new and fresh ideas that people will really love. Using a universal code wouldn't allow for enough creativity to satisfy today's short-attention-spanned gamers. Also, part of the creativity is creating the code! Just cause it's all written in letters/numbers/and symbols doesn't mean that it isn't a creative output :).

Because very little of that technology would help if the developer is intending to make an RTS, TBS, MMO, Flight sim, space sim, racing game, fighting game, PSN/Wiiware/XBLA game, most puzzle games, sports games, or party games.

In other words, you'd have this massively complex engine capable of meeting the needs for FPS, TPS, and some adventure games only.

In general the more universal and expandable any software is, the slower and more demanding it becomes. Specialized software will always, always perform faster and better than general software. Its the #1 reason why games are constantly created using tailored engines to meet their needs - because they deamnd great performance. Same reason why a pc vs a console with nearly identical hardwarewill have the console version perform better. The specialized hardware and software of the console allows better performance. The general purpose processing nature of a PC will hinder it until much better hardware is available to overpower the console.

Creating say, Batman AA using your engine which had no need for extensive blood and guts, no need for destructability of that level, and would have zero benefit of the shooting focused AI of freedom fighters, would mean that that version of Batman AA would be extremely bloated with lots of added features that they dont need, but the engine must still process. It would lead to a subpar experience.

Basically, unless a game ended up actually USING all of the things you listed, it wouldn't be a good idea to use it. So basically it'll just be yet another engine tailored for FPS games.

No one says you have to use all the game code. Im saying their is a database of universal code that can be picked and chosen to be tailored for that specific game. If its a flight sim then they cut out all the other junk that they don't need. GTA 3 san andreas has airplanes in it, they could take code from that and create a flight sim by cutting out all the other stuff thats in the game and refocusing on the portion thats usable. I know san andreas isnt anywhere near flight sim, but you get the idea. The code could be imrproved and added to by different developers and then they release a better version of it. It wouldn't be a stale engine, it would constantly be being updated to improve its performance for every game.hahaokaay

Wouldn't this occupy just as much time as coding an entire new engine would? Think of all the possible features that would be in that! And then you'd have to pick out all the "specific" ones you need would take just as long as coding something yourself. Besides, this wouldn't require much skill (if it is a well organized database) therefore job pay for programmers would go down which is no good. I see where your idea comes from and in some ways, yes it would be good, but the cons outweigh the pros I think. However, like I said, I have little to no experience with game coding, only HTML. One other thing, from a coder's point of view. Universal code never works for HTML. Every coder codes things in a different way, the way they prefer. Some like to use flash, others iframes, others HTML tables, and still others use CSS tables. It's all up to the preference of the coder. Using universal code means everyone's code looks similar or the same and it has no mark of the programmer(s) themselves. And, though it's not a huge bad thing for the industry, it would dampen the fun of being a programmer.

No one says you have to use all the game code. Im saying their is a database of universal code that can be picked and chosen to be tailored for that specific game. If its a flight sim then they cut out all the other junk that they don't need. GTA 3 san andreas has airplanes in it, they could take code from that and create a flight sim by cutting out all the other stuff thats in the game and refocusing on the portion thats usable. I know san andreas isnt anywhere near flight sim, but you get the idea. The code could be imrproved and added to by different developers and then they release a better version of it. It wouldn't be a stale engine, it would constantly be being updated to improve its performance for every game.hahaokaay

The problem still persists: General, flexible code always runs slower. Consumers will not sacrifice performance for sake of making things more convenient for the manufacturer.

A heavily modular engine will perform too slow relative to other competing products. Again think PC vs console; PC is heavily modular, general purpose. A console is a closed, specialized system. The engine's physics system will still have lingering bits and pieces of code to support the more complex physics requirements.

What will other developers do that dont have access to this engine? Create a highly specialized engine for their needs that will outperform any game using this generic engine in order to have a competitive edge to sell their game.

Creating an engine like you think isnt a matter of "cut and paste to add X feature." Its a bit like Photoshop vs Paint. You're asking "why not only have Photoshop and then people can add plug-ins for other things they need?" Because sometimes Paint is all you need. If you only need Paint, Photoshop is horribly bloated, complex, and slow. But Photoshop's base is very flexible, modular, and expandable in order to allow additional features to work with it... But it comes with a price. Your engine idea would essentialy become a large, complex, performance demanding Photoshop.

Ammusingly the classic were & are far better games than what has been designed and released with in the past decade. When I say Classics I mean games like blood & Half life as well as the old Nintendo games.

Now it's all "Here's a firearm, **** adventure, just shoot everything."

Ammusingly the classic were & are far better games than what has been designed and released with in the past decade. When I say Classics I mean games like blood & Half life as well as the old Nintendo games.

Now it's all "Here's a firearm, **** adventure, just shoot everything."

MagnumPI