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Doug Seldeen

3D Game Engine Analysis


One of the more recent staples of game development is the 3D game engine. What once was a shortcut used by hobbyists has become a major tool in the development of even AAA games. As they continue to improve, they will likewise continue to gain importance and become less a “convenient option” and more a necessary consideration.

3D engines are software designed to render 3D images onto a screen. When coupled with software designed to assist in the creation and development of games they become 3D Game Engines (Wikipedia, 2009). The 3D game engine uses an API (such as DirectX or OpenGL) to communicate with graphics hardware to handle the low level processes allowing the developer to concentrate solely on the higher level considerations such as what models and textures to use (Vicaire, 2007).

3D game engines first started appearing when 3D games began to gain popularity in the 1990’s, with the release of Wolfenstein 3D using an engine created by John Carmack who then went on to create the Doom engine which really set 3D gaming on fire (Valient, 2001) . The Doom engine was then superseded by the next generation of 3D game engines such as the Quake Engine (once again by John Carmack), Ken Silverman’s Build Engine, and Bethesda Softworks’ XnGine, all of which supplied greater resolutions and introduced hardware acceleration (Laupert, 2008). The late 1990’s saw a move to greater support of OpenGL standard API’s and Microsoft’s DirectX API by graphic card manufacturers, opening the door to more sophisticated 3D game engines and true 3D worlds.

Today game engines such as GarageGame’s Torque Engine, Steve Streeting’s OGRE, and Gekido Game Group’s Reality Factory provide support for software developers to create games using both OpenGL standard and DirectX API’s. By blending together the ability to establish lighting, shadows, texturing, models,...