Being Naive Enough To Think I Can Build A Game Engine

Hello there! I wanted to share my experience building Rogue Engine so far.

I started building rogueengine.io because I wanted a Game Engine like Unity3d with the twist of being specifically for creating browser games using javascript. There was another solution for this but it was hosted. I wanted a desktop app where I could keep control of my files and use my favorite tools (Code editor, terminal, git, npm, Typescript, etc.)

I was naive and I started building it.

When I realized I was making something that could actually be useful for other people I had the very naive conviction that I could turn it into the Unity 3d for Web Developers. Was I being crazy? Well, perhaps yes, I was missing a good part of the skills that I needed.

I still needed the tool for myself so I didn't care and I kept building it.

After a bit more than a year of doing this on the side with some ups and downs here and there, I left my job and decided to go full time. Two months later I launched 🚀

A few people seemed interested to use this beforehand. Many of them showed up for the release, but the product was a very early alpha. It was barely usable. You're trusting your time and sometimes even your livelihood to these tools.

People were playing with it and giving me feedback as I iterated but, something was missing: nobody was creating anything with it.

I'm now in 0.2. Still getting some feedback moving as fast as I can. I built a Marketplace so that people can buy/sell/share game assets (scripts, sounds, 3d models, textures, etc). There's only one product there built by myself.

I'm still naive and I think it'll get filled up soon enough.

What I've learned so far has made me realize some flaws that I need to focus on:

• I need to stabilize the editor, to make it trustworthy enough for creators.
• I need to create more products for the marketplace to make it appealing.
• I need to create tools to make it easier to create AR/VR apps.
• I need to create tools to make networking easier.
• I need to create more no-code tools for non-dev creators.
• I need to promote the marketplace outside dev communities.
• I need to test other branding messages to bring the point across more clearly.
• I need to focus on the biggest pain-points of game creation. (more on this later)
• I need to create subscription services. I'm working on cloud builds right now.
• I need to facilitate publishing.
• I need to consider that I might need to raise capital.

All of these might just be some crazy assumptions. But it's a path that I trust and I believe in wholeheartedly. It's a lot of work, and I'm tackling it as you read this phrase.

I'm still naive, I'm still bloody crazy and I know in my little crazy Uruguayan brain that I can make it happen.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Stay naive,