Is it worth making games in OpenGL from scratch?

[Chirag Varde]

Hey guys,

I am interested in game designing and from some source I found out that OpenGL is used in making games.So I am learning it now. Till now I was able to develop some simple games like Tic Tac Toe, Snake and Tetris using OpenGL/C++. Now when I look at other game designers, I found out that they are using game engines for making their games rather than making a game from scratch using OpenGL.
Now the doubt comes, should I keep on learning OpenGL or rather try my hand in game engines for making games.
My heart says, "Hey! you are able to understand how things are working by making games from scratch and that is good for you." But people say, "Don't invent the wheel again."

[Limas]

I think it is better when you just do it like you want. First of all I thought about using an Engine just like you but ist is better when you start from scratch because you will understand more and maybe you will be able to programm anything you want.

[ZbuffeR]

As Limas said.
Rather than 'engines' or 'frameworks' I personally prefer toolkits with helper functions that can be used independently.
This allows you to program your style, and whenever you have a part that is boring/difficult/cumbersome, use the helper. Image, sound, and model loading, complex collision detection, this kind of stuff.

[Alfonse Reinheart]

Now the doubt comes, should I keep on learning OpenGL or rather try my hand in game engines for making games.

Well, the question you need to ask yourself is this: do you want to make games, or do you want to make game engines?

If you're just playing around for fine, do whatever you want. But if you're serious about actually making and potentially selling a game, then you need to evaluate whether an engine would be suitable for your tasks.

This article is a good informer of what you want should do. If graphics are not particularly important to your game, if graphics aren't how you're selling your game, then it would be a good idea to use a game engine that is appropriate for your needs. However, if advanced or specialized graphics is key to making what you intend to make, then you will need to make and maintain a renderer from scratch.

[Chirag Varde]

I am an undergraduate computer science student. I want to be a game designer and my institute does not offer courses in game design field. That is why I started learning OpenGL. So the final aim is to get in game designing industry. And as I am good at programming, I guess I will end up being a programmer. In this case what should I do??

[Alfonse Reinheart]

Again, the question is this: do you want to be a game designer or a game programmer? If you want to design games, then you should use whatever tools you have available to make designing the actual game part of your game easier. If you want to program games, then you should practice that.

Contrary to popular belief, programmers don't decide what games are like. Not in the actual industry. That task is relegated to actual game designers. The closest these people come to programming is doing some light-to-moderate scripting.

[strattonbrazil]

We're in the hey day of game programmers. I would go any big site like Blizzard or Insomniac and look at their job positions, which include the descriptions and requirements.

[Chirag Varde]

I am really confused.

[ZbuffeR]

Confused about what ?
If you like game programming, do it.
If you prefer game design, do it.

Knowing that the smaller the game studio, the blurrier the line between those is.
But still :
http://2dboy.com/about.php
1 designer, 1 programmer
Compare to :
http://jobs.zenimax.com/index.php?a=search (then hit "Find Jobs")

[Chirag Varde]

Here at my institute I don't find anyone interested in serious game designing. So the fact is "I am alone here".
I have just put my leg into it and started learning OpenGL. In making some very simple games, I could not distinguish between the work of game designer and game programmer. I did both the work. Now when I am still learning, I have two paths:
1. Game designer
2. Game programmer

Obviously if I want to give some output(This is what I want, I guess), I will have to design a complete game myself and will have to program it also.

So how do I decide my path?

Is is like, if I just want to design a game, I should go to some kind of game engine and if I want to be a programmer, I should concentrate on programming which probably won't include using a game engine.

I am sorry if my questions are stupid, but please help me out considering me your younger brother.
Thank you