There are many game engines avaialable. But which one i choose?

haha. you came here, on this forum...so choose 3dgs?

explain your question better, your needs of engine...what do you want to create...etc?

there is no how but finding a good game engine which suits to your needs is really hard. I start with 3dgs then BGE, then panda, ogre back to 3dgs but I finish using xna for personnal reason. So it really depens on what you want to do and how much expercience and time you already have. So just try the most you can.
I love Xna but it's not for everyone the same goes for ogre. Shiva could be a good place to start 3dgs is good for starting or ending. I mean if you have been tired of coding all by yourself and you just wnat to make you game and you know how to code program that's a good option. If you want to understand how a game engine works and learn the game making workflow is a good basis.

The first thing you need to do, in my opinion, is determine the type of game you want to create. Some engines are very restrictive. For example, there are engines that are better suited for strategy games. Some engines are better for first person shooters. Some are for adventure games. And some try to be more well rounded and usable for most types of games. Knowing the kind of game you want to make can help you eliminate some engines.

You need to know what programming language you want to use. Do you want to script your game? Do you want to use C++, C#, BASIC or some other language? Then you need to check to see if the engine supports it. If you want to use scripting, then you might want to check and see if you can understand the scripting and if it is extensive enough for what you want to accomplish.

Another factor could be what tools come with the engine. Do you need a modeling program or do you have one? Do you need a level creation tool or do you have that? Do you need a programming environment? Not all game engines come with a lot of tools and some come with none at all.

You need to determine what you want to do with the game. Are you creating it for fun or for sale? You need to know this so that you can examine the game engines license to see if it will allow you to do what you want. Some game engine licenses require a fee to be paid before a game made with it can be sold, etc. So read the fine print.

You may want to consider the target platform for your game. Do you need the latest and greatest features or do you need something a bit less than that? Not all engines have all the features you may want.

Some engines handle indoor areas better than outdoor terrain. Again this comes down to knowing what kind of game you want to create.

Oh! And let's not forget money! How much are you willing to spend for a game engine? And what are you getting for your money?

These are some things to think about and there are others as well, but hopefully this will get you started!

Good points!

If you know all your requirements, you need a way to compare the engines.

One way it to open a spread sheet and write down all your requirements into the first column and all engines which could be used in the first row.
Now check each column if the engine from the current column supports the points from column 1.

This sheet helps you to make sure you don't miss to check an engine for a required feature. Well this depends on your game you are going to develop this time. You should keep this sheet, because you might need it for your next game.

Well you would have to check each feature again for the next game, because some engines might support more features then...


Like:
Engines - Engine A- - Engine B- - Engine C-
Engine facts
- Has Physics
- supports shaders
- supports network
Workflow
- Imports models directly from my 3D tool (best workflow)
- Model converter available (possible workflow)
Money facts
- no extra fee per game sold
Other
- Open Source License (can you sell your game without giving away the source code?)
- Support available (paid/unpaid)
- Online Community still active




I hope this makes a bit more easy to decide. And it documents well, why you did not use any other engine for your game.

-- slacer

Thanks for you answers.

Before anything I have no experience in game development but have little knowledge.

I am searching for an engine that is capable of building an FPS game for fun. I know C++ well so the game engine must support this language. If the engine has its own scripting language, it doesn't matter. The price of the engine is not a problem for me.

if you know c++, making games for fun would be easy for you with gamestudio and lite-c.


p.s. If the price is really no problem, you can use UE3.

If you just want to make FPS games for fun, then perhaps something like FPS creator is the way to go. There are two versions. One is for DirectX 9:

http://www.fpscreator.com/

And the other is for DirectX 10:

http://www.fpscreatorx10.com/

Both are fun and are decent, especially if you don't want to have to hand create all your visual content (i.e. there is plenty there to work with already).

GameStudio, of course, is a good choice for FPS games.

FPScreator certainly looks good, do you think it could be recommended to modellers who just want to see their 3D models in a game scenario ?

It seems so cheap I might buy a copy just to have a play !

Thanks

Drac.

i do tutoring and a lot of my students get fpscreator, and it is nice for me because they throw there models in fpscreator and can instantly see them working, gives them a bit more of a sense of pride.