So, I’ve spent 5 months rebuilding my game engine. Was it worth it?

It had to be done. If I’d done it 2 years ago I could be making a sequel by now.

Should I have used Godot, Unreal, Unity?

Probably, but I hate working with big engines/frameworks. I don’t ever want to go back to anything like webdev. If I couldn’t build this game in C/C++ with small libaries like GLFW, STB, and MiniAudio, I would have given up.

Gaming is what got me into this, but I’m more of a programmer/engineer than a game designer. Coding game engines and GUI systems is an interesting challenge for me. Even if I never make it big as a gamedev, this stuff helps me create simpler, faster, more impressive software FROM SCRATCH. That’s what the world needs, not more garbage built on top of bloated garbage coded by woke transhumanist trash.

Should I have used 2D graphics?

Oh no no no, I’ve tried that before, 3D is easier. Isometric is the only 2D that looks good, and if I had spent the money for good 2D artwork I would’ve run out of money, gone back to the wagie cagie, and gotten fired for not trusting the coof containment plan.

What mistakes did I make, then?

Twitter - complete waste of time. Worst mistake ever.

Not uploading early prototypes and demos.

Not using a mainstream game engine for early prototypes.

C++ - full of distractions, incomprehensible syntax, slow compilation. Plain C is much better.

Coding everything in C++ instead of using a full-fledged script language. Python is bloated and awkward to ‘embed’ in game engines, but it works for Blender and many successful games. Lua is dumbed down and suffers from the complexity of oversimplification, but many games use it. Something less mainstream also could have worked.

Not considering JavaScript - maybe I assumed there are no lightweight JS engines, or maybe I was just burnt out from webdev, but it’s a great choice: simple, C-like, a happy medium between Python and Lua, and it’s a mainstream standard.

Did I do anything right?

Leveraging Blender extensively.

Starting simple, taking shortcuts to get the game up and running, then filling in gaps like shadows and raycasting.

“B-grade” limitations - not even trying to use all the features of modern engines because I’d have to code them myself, so I don’t have to do all the additional artwork either.

Focusing on the GUI system - a distinguishing feature for RPGs that’s typically neglected by 3D game engines (although Godot’s seems pretty good)

Perseverance - the key to making RPGs.

Now let’s see if I can keep up the momentum, finish the engine quickly, and produce a fun little turnbased RPG. Then we’ll see about polishing, expansion, and sequels.