一位游戏开发者基于3年自主研发100k行代码引擎的实践经验，在2023年发表文章探讨了开发者是否应该自己构建游戏引擎的问题[1]。该作者已将其自研引擎应用于十多个游戏项目，并成功发布了一款商业游戏[1]。
自研游戏引擎具有明显的学习收益，能够增强开发编码的乐趣，并减少对第三方引擎的依赖所带来的挫折感[1]。然而，这条路径也存在实质性的成本代价：按照业界标准，AAA级游戏引擎需要投入5年的全职开发时间，同时还要承担持续的维护负担和功能不完整的风险[1]。
作者详细阐述了游戏引擎的核心技术组成部分，包括窗口创建、游戏循环、输入处理、图形渲染、音频混音、资源管理、物理引擎、脚本支持、网络通信、人工智能和UI系统等[1]。针对有意自研引擎的开发者，作者建议采取循序渐进的策略：从参加游戏开发竞赛开始积累，在实践中识别重复代码，逐步提取可复用模块，通过迭代优化最终演化出成熟的引擎系统，而非试图一开始就构建完整的引擎框架[1]。
A game developer with three years of experience building a custom engine has shared insights into the practical considerations of developing game software from scratch.[1] The author's engine, consisting of 100,000 lines of code, has been deployed across more than a dozen game projects and one commercially released title.[1]
The decision to build a proprietary engine offers distinct advantages and drawbacks.[1] Among the benefits are enhanced learning opportunities, increased coding enjoyment, and reduced frustration with limitations in third-party engines.[1] However, the approach demands significant time investment—AAA-grade engines typically require five years of full-time development—alongside ongoing maintenance obligations and the reality that custom solutions may lack complete feature coverage.[1]
A functional game engine requires multiple core components working in concert: window creation, game loop management, input handling, graphics rendering, audio mixing, resource management, physics simulation, scripting capabilities, networking, artificial intelligence, and user interface systems.[1] Rather than attempting to build a comprehensive engine from the outset, the author recommends a gradual approach: developers should participate in game development competitions, identify recurring code patterns, extract reusable modules from completed projects, and iteratively refine these components into a cohesive engine over time.[1]