This is part of the project I've been working on for the past three years at IndieZen.org and the Zen Engine framework.
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For clarification, Zen Engine framework is not a game engine. It's a framework for a C++ developer to use to write his own custom game engine. It's open source using the ZLib license and it's freely available at the IndieZen.org website.
If you want to make a C++ game engine, this is an awesome place to start. There is a lot of grunt work that goes into creating a game engine and Zen Engine framework gives you a huge leg up without getting in your way. It's genre-agnostic and should work well for pretty much any game engine on any nearly any platform including most console platforms.
The caveat is... for most people, the Zen Engine framework is too difficult to use because it requires you to be an excellent C++ programmer.
For everyone else, what I have done is take that framework and create the Indie Game Engine, which is a lot easier to use.
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Indie Game Engine features on the IndieGameEngine.com website don't really do it justice. The lack of screenshots on the website is because I firmly believe that a screenshot of a game misrepresents the game engine. It only shows off the quality of your artwork. I'm sure eventually I'll start posting some screenshots, but hopefully they'll be of your games and not of some artist that I've hired to make it look pretty.
As you can see from the feature list, it can quite handily compete with most game engines on the market today, including some of the top one's such as Unreal, Gamebryo, Source, Torque3d, and Unity3d.... at a fraction of the cost.
Indie Game Engine is a bit of a stealth project and the goal is to make it so that Indies have better tools than the big studios. I would truly love to see the Indie 2.0 Revolution, which is Indies no longer being the under dogs.
Indie Game Engine has been designed from the ground up with you guys in mind using a revolutionary development model.
The upgrade path will take you from an inexpensive binary license to a source license and eventually you turn full circle when you're ready to write your own game engine, at which point you can use the Zen Engine framework and still be in familiar territory.
My first priority in making this game engine is simplicity.
Granted, if you want to make some sort of custom MMORPGFPSRTS thingamajig with customizable characters, player created houses, AI that will make a positronic brain look like a cockroach, etc... don't expect it to be easy.... at least not with a starter kit or three.
But, if you're looking to make a game and you don't mind diving into a bit of Lua code, you're going to enjoy using the Indie Game Engine.
Closed beta testing has been ongoing for the past year. We've identified a few features that are missing and we're currently closing those gaps (mostly related to tools and ease of use).
Essentially what we're doing is the core developers are currently making their own games using the engine, and anything that's missing, we're adding it. I'm making Fractured Universe (a fantasy MMO simulation), another large team is making an MMORPG, and we have a multiplayer RPG akin to Neverwinter Nights (including some tools that make it easier to create an RPG much like the NWN tools). We're also making a 3d tower defense game and a FPS game and another developer is making a space sim.
Some of these games are likely to be repackaged and sold as starter kits.
The Elite version of Indie Game Engine includes all of the code from Fractured Universe and the NWN-like RPG and also includes a large subset of the artwork for both of those games, so if you're planning on making an MMORPG or a multi-player RPG, the Elite version is well worth it.
If you cannot afford the Elite version, make a prototype using the Hobbyist version and then come to me with your game design and prototype.
If it's a fun game, I'll likely cut you a break on the price in exchange for royalties or a publishing deal. Better yet, if it's a fun game, sell it and if it's a success you can fund the development of an MMO with it. If it's not a fun game with the Hobbyist license, you're likely not going to be able to make it a fun game with the Elite license either.
Anyways, that's all for now.
I'll come back here and make some more posts when we begin open beta testing, and you can also follow the blogs on IndieGameEngine.com and IndieZen.org, and I'm looking forward to seeing your tutorials during this next contest!
