   game engines
  I have a question:1.) whats the difference between game engines and libraries?2.) do game engines make your life easier while programming something?   
  Game engines are libraries, basically most game engines would be a group of libraries to cover the whole spectrum graphics, sound, etc etc...Where as something just called a library might just handle graphics, or just sound...And game engines will dramatically cut down the time it takes for you to make any game, I think most people say something along the lines of "Why reinvent the wheel";  A game engine is a collection of code used to make development easier.  Sometimes the game engine is structured in such a way that you can put together a lot of the game elements without having to program a single line of code.  You just drag and drop items into your "world" and then make connections using a graphical scripting tool.  It all depends on which engine you choose (if any at all).If you use someone elses game engine you don't have to worry about details like how to load 3D models into memory, how to send triangle data to the video card etc.  All that work is handled for you by the engine.   ;  please google Torque Game Engine for information about Game Engine - it is robust and allows you to import 3D characters directly into it. Feel free to check out other game engines as well, like OGRE3D, Unreal among others.with the permission of the forum, I would like you to have a look at the following external link:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_game_engines   ;  I also suggest you take a look at Torque 3D. Will make it so much easier than coding from scratch and it's a great engine.   ;  thx a lot guys i'm gonna check out torque3d just now. That list gave me enough material for some days now :DEDIT: i was just checking out torque3d and i found a small problem(only a really limited demo is free and no im not gonna pay 250 bucks to get the real thing), so maybe you guys can recommend me something else what i could use in a longer perspective for game programming thx :D   ;  Haha money is often a problem, although all things considered it's pretty cheap for an engine, however there's a large number of free open source ones out there for pretty much every asspect of a game, graphics, sound, input and physics.A very popular one is the Irrilicht engine (http://irrlicht.sourceforge.net/) and here's a very detailed list of most publicly released free and commercial game engines: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_game_engines   ;  Have a look at DevMaster's Game and Graphics Engines Database. All popular engines are listed and discussed there.;  You may want to look at Panda 3D - it's a nice engine, geared towards Python development (although it's also possible to use C++ with it, if you want to). Or Ogre 3D, although that's a 3D engine, not really a game engine, so you'll have to throw some more stuff together to get a working game. Still, it's pretty good at what it does. :)However, if you're just starting out, then you may want to build some 2D games first. The math is a lot less complicated, but you'll still be able to learn about the core mechanics. Haaf's Game Engine is a nice engine in that regard. Again, that's assuming C++ - if you're into other languages, then the number of options radically increases: think of Flash, or Python + Pygame or Pyglet, C# and XNA, or even GameMaker.   ;  oh yeah i forgot completely to tell you what language i was using, but you already guessed it its c++. i like it A LOT. thx for the replies i'll look into itEDIT: now i looked trough all of the free engines and i chose to go with Panda3D if i don't like it i can always choose something else. But i just have to ask :is there really no game engine that says "FOR C++", because even Panda3D was written for python and i would really hate to relearn a new language every time i want to use another engine. Fortunately i don't have to because panda supports c++?[Edited by - sander242 on June 4, 2009 6:10:33 AM]