There’s a specific question I get asked a lot, generally accompanied by sounds of confusion and shock. That question is…

Why would you ever need to make your own engine?!

And the answer is actually quite simple; because it was the easiest solution to the problem I was facing. But you probably don’t think that sounds right… so let me explain why that’s the case.

I make occasional reference to the concept of the magic circle, and I feel that maybe it’s time to explain it for those who have never encountered this before. Of course, it would be easy to assume I’m talking of the occult kind of magic circle, but no, that’s not exactly what I mean. And that should be obvious from context. The term comes from an old book.

It’s generally accepted that books and movies are fundamentally different media, requiring different approaches. The truth of this can be most often found in adaptations and the struggle to turn good books into good movies. Of course, the differences in media are not the only problem with that, but it is a significant contributing factor. But then you have movies and games, and suddenly everyone acts as if methodologies that apply to film fully transfers to games. And this is something I find increasingly dubious the more I think about it. Especially when it comes to writing.