Post

a thing that makes game engines interesting is that the best engine for a game is one made exactly for it, but the best engine for prototyping and experimenting with a game is one that assumes as little as possible about it.

it feels like there are big game engines that make very few assumptions (unity, unreal, godot) and ones that make many large assumptions (rpg maker, adventure game studio, renpy) but it really feels like for me the sweet spot is in the middle and has little representation

I haven’t used it but it feels like Gamemaker Studio might fit into the middle ground? Every time I see people use it for a specific thing like an RPG it feels like they’re twisting the engine to do something it wasn’t supposed to which implies that it’s got stuff it’s designed for

the middle ground engine i am speaking of would not feel that way, that’s the idea

Ah, so an engine that’s batteries-included for everything instead of being a really full package for one thing or a standard base for everything?

not everything, it’s more like: it covers every kind of game i want to make very well, but not one type specifically and not in a way that is uncomfortable or sluggish like general purpose engines feel

Hm. I feel like Godot might be closer than you think, though it’s definitely not specifically for your games (your current project would be a bit tricky) but it never feels like it’s overly configurable, and I feel like the other stuff is at least pretty decent in Godot

Not that you should switch to it, you’re clearly in the process of making an engine perfect for you, but you should try taking a proper look and using it sometime because it sounds a lot like you’re describing. A lot of batteries included but never that opinionated

i’ve tried godot lots and prototyped in it, i like it but it not really suitable for me. if it sounds good for me it’s just because i’ve failed to describe why it doesn’t work the way i want an engine to