Game engines offer huge benefits to game developers. The main functionality they provide is the library of core functions used in a computer game. This often includes a realtime rendering engine for 2D or 3D graphics, physics engine with collision detection, a character animation system, scene graph, sound, artificial intelligence, threading, networking, input, streaming localization support, debugging tools, integration with languages, and the provision of performance monitoring and optimization tools.
Game engines play a crucial role in the fast creation and development of computer games. As they offer a collection of visual development tools, and are often presented in an integrated development environment, they vastly accelerate the development of games. Game engines are referred to as “game middleware” because they provide a flexible and reusable software platform.
We covered game engines in this article. This article recommends more great game engines.
Let’s explore these additional 10 game engines. For each engine we have compiled its own portal page, a full description with an in-depth analysis of its features, a screen shot of the program in action, together with links to relevant resources.
| Game Engines - Part 2 | |
|---|---|
| Bladecoder | Create interactive graphic adventures |
| Castle Game Engine | Cross-platform 3D and 2D game engine |
| DarkPlaces | Gameplay modification and a source port engine based on Quake |
| Delta3D | Fully-featured simulation game engine |
| Doomsday Engine | Doom / Heretic / Hexen port with enhanced graphics |
| FIFE | Cross platform 2D game creation framework |
| GemRB | Implementation of BioWare’s Infinity Engine |
| Irrlicht Engine | 3D engine for creating realtime 3D applications |
| Sauerbraten | Game engine with a very productive content pipeline |
| ScummVM | Run certain classic graphical point-and-click adventure games |
Note: The utilities are listed in alphabetical order.
Eligibility criteria
Free to download. The project must be available to download without charge but the authors may accept donations.
Published under an open source license. Popular open source licenses for games include MIT License, GNU General Public License, and BSD License.
Not in an early stage of development. The utility must be in a stage of mature development.
 Read our complete collection of recommended free and open source software. Our curated compilation covers all categories of software. The software collection forms part of our series of informative articles for Linux enthusiasts. There are hundreds of in-depth reviews, open source alternatives to proprietary software from large corporations like Google, Microsoft, Apple, Adobe, IBM, Cisco, Oracle, and Autodesk. There are also fun things to try, hardware, free programming books and tutorials, and much more. |