Thoughts on Tools

I was able to get some message displayed properly on the editor view. I wasn't sure of the cause, but something wasn't setup correctly and nothing get drawn. Then I use the old code, and re-setup with the new classes and function. Now at least something get drawn properly. Now I am just working on the camera etc to get the proper control and the view. After those basic setup I can start working on the meat itself, but I think it should be easier.

I realize now how important tool sets are to game developments. The following analogy can probably sum it up. I can probably build a shelter with just stones and woods, but that is going to take a while, with lots of expenses, and the result might not be very good. If I have hammers, saws, nails etc, the result would be much better, and with shorter period of time and less expenses. If I have robots...then maybe I can build a house or a castle in a week without much expenses, but of course the robots are actually more expensive than the building itself, with today's technology level.

Games development is not exactly the same, but very similar I think. To build a simple game, I don't need much. But as I go further and further, I need more and more tools to make the work manageable. A lot of the tools and tool integration etc has to be done by the programmers, and some tools like 3D modellers etc might have to be purchased from 3rd party because to construct one would be redundant and cost too much (like construct a robot on your own). I think as the game development progress, more and more programming resource would be put into tools instead of the game itself. Of course there are the "Engines" (graphics and physics engines etc), which I think can be considered as "run-time" tools. So I guess there are 3 major parts in a game program:

1. Game Logic
2. Engine (graphics, physics, sounds,...things that makes the game run well)
3. Construction Tools (level editors, particle editors, modellers..., some available to the gamers for mod, but not necessary components for the players)

The amount of integration in all these different components might vary from game to game I think. For example, in the making of God of War 2 documentary, the game's engine and tools seem to be tightly integrated . So in a way, game construction would be similar to other engineering. But because it's all software (game ideas, art works, programs), there might be some significant differences as well. In any case, it's quite clear that the power of a well constructed tool sets cannot be underestimated and are one of the key in a successful game or franchise.