   New here/game engine advice
  Hi everyone,I am new to the programming side of game development, though I have some experience working as an artist.  I'm currently looking to branch out for a couple of reasons A) to see some of my ideas come to fruition, B) My mindset is more engineering than artistic (not too good at creating "living" art objects).  I have been working with basic programming recently and am in the process of learning C++.  While I do realize that a lot of my first baby steps in programming don't require a game engine I would like to start setting my sights on the right one.I realize that I may not be providing enough information to get the answer I need; however, I am not certain of all the questions that I need to be asking myself.  I have worked on a couple of game outlines and they do share some common traits.  The games I am thinking of would combine FPS elements in a battlefield context, as well as elements of an RPG in that the character would gain rank by adding experience.  I would need the ability to accurately model ballistics and simulate vehicle explosions.  Even if you can't tell me which one is right, perhaps let me know of some of the questions I need to be asking myself.Budget constraints.  While I do have budget constraints due to recently being laid-off (why do you think I have time to dive into this), I have also learned that sometimes free isn't really free, plus you get what you pay for.  I am fully aware that there is a slim to none chance that I'll make a viable commercial game out of the first 20 (does breakout count towards that 20 :) ), if I ever do make anything commercially viable.  However even with those odds I do not want to limit myself by choosing an engine that would prohibit commercial usage.Thanks in advance for the feedback.One more thing, it was either here or another forum with a very similar name where in the posting FAQ they cautioned against FNGs ( in my line of work we call the new guy cherry or FNG, not noob) using l33t speak, wtf is l33t speak?  I'm a wrench turner not a computer geek by trade.   
  I'm afraid I can't help you with your engine question, since I tend to stick to 2D, but leetspeak/l33tspeak is basically a kind of written slang. Depending on who you ask you'll get different definitions, but it tend to include substituting numbers and symbols in for letters (e.g. 3 for 'e', 0 for 'o', $ for 's', etc.) and is generally associated with bad grammar and diction.   ; Hey. I wish I was more ontop of things, but people in your situation are exactly those who I want to help, because there really aren't many resources for people in your position! No offense, but I think it is the newbies who need to be instructed, because they tend to be the most passionate about making games as an art form, even if their art form is programming. We need to foster the growth of newbies, not try to maximize our personal time for our own selfish endeavors! Oh well, I'll get off my soapbox (and back on it soon enough).. Anyhow, I have re-done my site in the name of helping newbies, and I added an articles section, and sadly only one article so far.. But if you would like someone to spend countless hours explaining stuff to you, that would help me remember what a newbie does and doesn't know, and would give me ideas for articles to write.. We could help eachother I guess ? Anyhow.. my site is www.van-noland.com, and your project you have in mind sounds just like the one I have in mind (except I haven't even begun approaching anything in the way of an RPG).. Shoot me an email or whatever...and good luck!;  I think you're already aware of it -- which is a good start -- but it's going to be a while before you're at the stage of worrying about choosing an engine for your FPS-style game ideas, and by the time you get there you'll probably have a better idea of what you need to look for and what sort of questions you should be asking.I'm going to assume for now that you're not interested in advice on how you should proceed with your immediate learning, since you havn't asked about it here -- feel free to start a new thread or ask in this one if you'd like more of that thrown in however -- so I'm going to proceed on the basis that you're just looking to get a feel for what sort of options will be available once you get to that more advanced stage.1. Firstly, there's the DIY route.  You could build the whole thing yourself.  This can be an excellent learning experience, but given your goal seems to be actually getting games done I'd say this is probably something you mostly want to stay away from; you'll do your learning and make some smaller games beforehand, but once you get to trying your FPS ideas you should try to make use of existing solutions to get you a stable, working game faster rather than doing it all yourself.2. Secondly, there's what I'll call the DSOIY, or Do Some Of It Yourself option.  This one isn't as bad as the first with respect to wasting your time, and can be worth considering.  You don't use a full engine solution, but rather choose components such as a rendering engine (OGRE for example), phyiscs library (bullet, ODE, etc), and whatever else you need, and then write your own code to piece them all together and make a game.  Some of the options out there are free, others aren't.  You may be able to save yourself further time however by...3. Using an exsiting engine.  From what you've told us, any of Torque, C4 or the many other solutions available out there would probably be suitable to get you started.  Features range from fairly basic to very impressive, and each have advantages and disadvantages worth considering depending on the specifics of your project.  All will reduce the time it takes you to get your game up and running if used appropriately.  While some of the options out there are very expensive (including some so expensive you won't even have to waste time thinking about them), you can get some very good middleware for a pretty low investment.Does that help, or did you want more specific information?   