
Oolong Engine is an iPad / iPhone / iPod touch Engine - desigooner
http://code.google.com/p/oolongengine/
======
drewcrawford
Help me understand something--why is it the tendency for game/gfx engines to
become all-encompassing?

All the major game engines on the platform have support for

* 3d audio

* physics of some kind

* networking

* touch input

* accelerometer apis

Many of them have their own languages (Unity), UI subsystems, and require you
to architecture everything in ridiculous ways that are non-standard on the
platform.

As somebody coming from a "normal software" iOS development background, this
presents me with a huge learning curve to get up-to-speed on these things. I
already know how to do touch events and accelerometer handling. Apple is
introducing kickass APIs for game networking and such. All I want is to draw
pretty 3D things to the screen and occasionally animate them; _maybe_ some
basic collision detection.

~~~
torpor
The reason for this all-encompassing effort, I believe, is that it gives the
Developer everything they need to get started and get rolling .. while at the
same time giving the _Artist_ everything they need to get started as well. It
doesn't matter what engine you use, if you've got Art assets that don't jive
with what your engine expects, then you've got a massive, extraordinary
headache, as a Developer.

Also, the point of having yet another accelerometer/input suite is platform
compatability .. these engines aren't very useful if they restrict you to a
single platform, so they go for as many platforms as possible .. well all of
these platforms have to have a common input method, and thats why the engines
have to account for it - so that a developer can target the Engine, not the
Platform, and benefit from having all these other target architectures
available to them ..

Disclaimer: I've built my own 3D engine for use on
Android/iPhone/Plaszma/Linux-AngstromOE environments ..

------
andrewacove
It's probably noteworthy that Wolfgang was Rockstar's graphics lead for quite
a while and is the editor of the ShaderX books, and Erwin is the simulation
lead for Sony Computer Entertainment. Pretty strong pedigree.

------
shykes
What's with the fad of naming everything after tea?

~~~
eob
Because its unique, but not _too_ unique. That's the naming suite spot.

Just be thankful the trend isn't burrito flavors.

~~~
aaronbrethorst
Or pornstars. Although there's something to be said for the idea of Ubuntu
26.04 "Randy Ron Jeremy"

